10 Voice Contestants Who Should Have Won... But Didn't

Now that Season 27 of The Voice is in rearview, "back" is exactly the direction in which I am looking. In particular, I am fixing my gaze (and hopefully doing the same with yours) on contestants that should have won NBC's enduring sing-off over the years but, alas, didn't.

It happens. Sometimes the audience sitting at home and casting their votes just doesn't hear it the way you or I do. Or viewers at large take a shine to a contender and simply will not be swayed, no matter how many off notes the contender in question hits.

You don't have to remind me; I know that I was 100 percent that way about Lilli Passero in Season 12. Her brilliant rendition of "A Town Without Pity" completely erased her "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" cover from my mind.

But our topic du jour isn't vocalists for whom we really, really rooted even though they probably weren't the best on the show. (I can admit it not just wholeheartedly but enthusiastically: Chris Blue, not Passero, was hands down the cream of the crop in Season 12.) We're discussing contestants who actually had the chops to earn the trophy yet went home empty-handed. Take a scroll through my picks below, then hit the comments with the losses that still aggravate you when you think about them.

Season: 15. Team: Jennifer Hudson. Finish: Fourth place. Highlight: Most viewers harken back to the teenager's cover of Whitney Houston's "The Greatest Love of All" as her showstopper, but for my money, she really earned the trophy when she killed, resuscitated and again killed Demi Lovato's "Confident" in the finale. Who won: Charisma-free country singer Chevel Shepherd (Team Kelly Clarkson).

Season: 5. Team: Adam Levine. Finish: Wolpert was sent packing in the Semifinals. Highlight: Despite a major misstep in the Knockouts, the alt-rocker redeemed himself in the Playoffs with a rendition of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" that left the audience with a major case of him. Who won: Tessanne Chin (Team Adam Levine).

Season: 2. Team: CeeLo Green. Finish: Second place. Highlight: Covering "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" in the Semifinals, Simms didn't just leave it all on the floor, she left it all and then some. She was, in a word, scorching. Who won: R&B singer Jermaine Paul (Team Blake Shelton).

Season: 3. Team: Adam Levine. Finish: Brown made it only as far as the Top 6 before being eliminated. Highlight: Brown upped the ante in the Playoffs with her blistering performance of Aerosmith's "Dream On." Who won: Cassadee Pope (Team Blake Shelton).

Season: 6. Team: Adam Levine. Finish: Third place. Highlight: The vocalist, who was murdered in 2016, literally "came in like a wrecking ball," turning all four coaches' chairs with her rafters-shaking take on Miley Cyrus' hit in the Blind Auditions. Who won: Blue-eyed soul singer Josh Kaufman (Team Usher).

Season: 17. Team: John Legend. Finish: Third place. Highlight: Week after week, the quick-witted belter with style for miles knocked it outta the park. But the performance that hit hardest — and should have clinched Kadan's victory — was her impossibly robust cover of Mary J. Blige's "I'm Going Down." Who won: Run-of-the-mill Jake Hoot (Team Kelly Clarkson).

Season: 10. Team: Christina Aguilera. Finish: Bautista sang for the Wildcard Instant Save in the Semifinals but came up empty-handed. Highlight: Bautista turned his Battle with formidable teammate Malik Heard into a fight to the finish on their "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" duet. Who won: Former child star Alisan Porter (Team Christina Aguilera).

Season: 13. Team: Adam Levine. Finish: Second place. Highlight: Pitch-perfect throughout the season, Agen ascended to a whole new high in the finale with an emotionally resonant rendition of Tim McGraw's "Humble and Kind" that reduced her to tears along with viewers. Who won: The wholly uneven but hella popular Chloe Kohanski (Team Blake Shelton).

Season: 8. Team: Christina Aguilera. Finish: Nichole made it as far as the Top 6 before failing to earn the Wildcard Instant Save that would've taken her to the Semifinals. Highlight: We've all heard Radiohead's "Creep" covered a zillion times, but few and far between are the renditions that are as packed with pathos as Nichole's was in the Top 8. Winner: Sawyer Fredericks (Team Pharrell Williams).

Season: 27. Team: Adam Levine. Finish: Fourth place. Highlight: Hard to choose a favorite when virtually every performance wowed. But, if you twisted my arm, I'd go with Flores-Wiseman's cover of the Beatles' "In My Life" in the Playoffs. Can't say the winner wasn't altogether deserving, but damn, Flores-Wiseman should have at least placed higher. Who won: Fellow standout Adam David (Team Michael Bublé).