The Four: Battle for Stardom determined the season's final "The Four" artists -- comprised of two previously-eliminated and two brand new artists -- heading into next week's finale during Thursday night's broadcast on Fox.

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The Four's official finalists are Zhavia, a 16-year-old from Los Angeles, CA; Vincint Cannady, a 26-year-old from Philadelphia, PA; Evvie McKinney, a 20-year-old from Memphis, TN; and Candice Boyd, a 28-year-old from San Bernardino, CA.

Zhavia and Candice had previously been eliminated from the competition but were voted by America to come back and fight for a chance to battle one of "The Four" again, while Evvie and Vincint were new challengers.

The panelists, who determine whether an individual even deserves to challenge on of "The Four" onstage, are music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, Republic Records president Charlie Walk, music producer DJ Khaled, and Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Meghan Trainor.

The goal for artists on The Four: Battle for Stardom is to hold onto their seats over the course of the season as talented artists attempt to replace them. There will be only one winner, and that person will have his or her music career guided by the panel of hitmakers. 

The penultimate episode of Season 1 kicked off with the initial "The Four" -- Nick Harrison, Tim Johnson, Kendyle Paige, and Jason Warrior -- ready and willing to defend their seats from challengers.

Newcomer Vincint sang "Magic" by Coldplay and was granted the opportunity to challenge one of "The Four." Vincint picked Jason, the longest running member of the foursome.

Jason then performed "Ordinary People" by John Legend, after which Vincint belted out "Sittin' Up In My Room" by Brandy.

Meghan wanted Vincint to stay because she said Jason wasn't better than John Legend himself and the performance didn't really do anything for her, but Diddy fought for Jason, saying he deserved to stay in his seat after weeks of putting his heart on the line and performing incredibly.

In the end, Vincint advanced, and it was a choice that seemed to surprise the panel.

On his way out, Jason told Meghan that she sometimes hurts people's feelings, and Meghan looked shocked and offended by the contestant's decision to confront her on national television like that.

Diddy agreed Jason's behavior was "rude" and "disrespectful." If anything, Jason's comment assured Meghan that the right decision had been made, because she didn't want to work with a person like that.

Newcomer Evvie then walked onstage and sang "Rise Up" by Andra Day. The panelists agreed she was talented enough to battle, so Evvie opted to face off against Kendyle.

Kendyle then sang "Stay" by Alessia Cara, and Evvie followed that up with a performance of "I Never Loved A Man the Way I Loved You" by Aretha Franklin. Meghan was speechless over Evvie's performance and Charlie noted that a star was born. Evvie was named the winner of the challenge as a result.

Zhavia and Candice were later welcomed onstage with fellow previously-eliminated artists Saeed Renaud and Ash Minor.

First, the returnees had to battle each other for only two opportunities to challenge one of "The Four." Since Vincint and Evvie already took the stage a couple of times, their seats were locked and only Tim and Nick could be chosen for a battle.

Candice performed against Saeed. Candice sang "Love" by Keyshia Cole, and Saeed belted out "All My Life" by Kaci & JoJo. Candice won and then chose to challenge Nick, who had been uber-confident going into it.

Nick then performed "All the Way Up" by Fat Joe, and Candice sang "Ex-Factor" by Lauryn Hill. Candice was able to reclaim her seat after showing she has what it takes to be a star.

Zhavia was then matched with Ash. Ash sang "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars, and Zhavia followed that up with "Bodak Yellow" by Cardi B.

Zhavia beat Ash out for the chance to battle one of "The Four," and then Zhavia chose to take on Tim. After Tim sang "Earned It" by The Weeknd, Zhavia showed a new side of herself by singing "Say Something" by A Great Big World.

In the closest vote of the night, Zhavia won one of the four seats. Only two percent of the vote separated Zhavia and Tim, whom the crowd clearly also loved and respected.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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