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The Voice winner: Who is Josh Kaufman?

The Voice winner? The NBC singing competition aired its season six finale. The contestant who won 'The Voice' receives a record deal with Universal Music Group and $100,000. 

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Matt Sayles/Invision/AP
Who won 'The Voice'? The judges for this season were Usher (l.), Shakira (second from l.), Adam Levine (second from r.), and Blake Shelton (r.).
  • By Nicole Evatt Associated Press
  • Piya Sinha-Roy Reuters

Soulful rocker Josh Kaufman has the winning voice.

The 38-year-old from team Usher was crowned the season six winner of NBC's "The Voice" Tuesday.

"It was a lot of nerves and heart-racing and it felt like forever," Kaufman said during a post-show press conference.

The father of three and teacher from Indianapolis, who appeared on “Star Search” as a teen, made it through 12 grueling weeks of the hardcore singing competition and finished victoriously, nabbing a Sony recording contract along with the coveted championship title, reported The New York Daily News.

This is the first win for Usher, who also coached during season four.

Usher relished his triumph over previous winners Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.

He joked that the Maroon 5 frontman was likely "behind the stage counting votes."

Shelton's country crooner Jake Worthington came in second place, and singer-songwriter Christina Grimmie from team Levine took third.

Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, OneRepublic, Tim McGraw, and Robin Thicke performed during the finale.

Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams will join Levine and Shelton for the sing-off's seventh season. NBC also said that Christina Aguilera, of the show's original four celebrity coaches, will return for the eighth season next year. She took a hiatus from "The Voice" after season five.

The Emmy-winning show, which is hosted by Carson Daly, has outpaced competition from Fox's reality singing contest "American Idol," averaging about 13.8 million viewers per episode this season, trumping "Idol" by about 3 million viewers per episode.

The show's celebrity panel of judges led by Aguilera, Maroon 5 frontman Levine, and country music star Shelton, has been credited with helping it draw viewers.

"The Voice" is also considered a coveted spot to promote songs, such as Maroon 5 and Aguilera's "Moves Like Jagger" that became a hit in 2011 after the singers performed it on the show.

The show first began airing in the U.S. in the spring of 2011. Other winners on the show have included Jermaine Paul, Danielle Bradbery, and Tessanne Chin. Shelton has currently won the most victories on the show as a coach, with his contestants triumphing in the program’s second, third, and fourth seasons.

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