The Voice: Kelly Clarkson openly weeps after Desz performs debut single Holy Ground on season finale

Kelly Clarkson wept openly after listening to her contestant Desz sing her debut single on the first part of The Voice season 19 finale on Monday.

The 38-year-old coach was overcome by Desz’s performance on Holy Ground, a powerful gospel-infused barnstormer that urged listeners to rise above personal challenges with lyrics such as, ‘My spirit needs lifting to a better place… I’m looking up, I ain’t ever looking down.’

Desz, 30, looked stricken when she finished and her reaction apparently triggered something in Kelly.

Getting emotional: Kelly Clarkson wept openly after listening to her contestant Desz sing her debut single on the first part of The Voice season 19 finale on Monday

The American Idol winner has been going through a tough time during her divorce from ex Brandon Blackstock, 43, with lawsuits filed by and against his management firm.

When show host Carson Daly, 47, asked Kelly what she thought of her singer’s track, she exhaled heavily and struggled to collect herself, saying, ‘Whoo! I’m gonna try.’

Kelly paused, and almost whispered her next words to Desz as she grappled with what the lyrics of the song had meant to her and the Houston-based contestant.

‘I needed that song,’ she offered quietly, as Desz nodded back and softly said, ‘WE needed that song.’

Powerful voice: The 38-year-old coach was overcome by Desz's performance on Holy Ground, a powerful gospel-infused barnstormer that urged listeners to rise above personal challenges

Powerful voice: The 38-year-old coach was overcome by Desz’s performance on Holy Ground, a powerful gospel-infused barnstormer that urged listeners to rise above personal challenges

Tears filled both women’s eyes, and Kelly told Desz, ‘You did such a beautiful thing. I know it’s for the finale, but everybody needs that message right now.’

‘You’re hands down the greatest vocalist I’ve ever worked with on this show,’ she added. ‘You’re crazy talented. I’m so proud to get to be your coach.’

Holy Ground was one of two songs that Desz sang during the finale, as she and the other four remaining contestants were each asked to perform one original track and one cover.

Houston singer: Desz, 30, looked stricken when she finished and her reaction apparently triggered something in Kelly

Houston singer: Desz, 30, looked stricken when she finished and her reaction apparently triggered something in Kelly

Viewer voting will determine the winner of season 19 of The Voice and the results will air on Tuesday.

In rehearsals for her cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide, Desz made Kelly wipe her eyes again.

‘It’s so beautiful,’ Kelly said of the rendition, after expressing surprise that Desz had picked the low-tempo song. ‘You saved something in your back pocket that no one has heard from you.’

Second song: In rehearsals for her cover of Fleetwood Mac's Landslide, Desz made Kelly wipe her eyes again

Second song: In rehearsals for her cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide, Desz made Kelly wipe her eyes again

‘I wanna open up emotionally and I want to be vulnerable,’ Desz affirmed in a confessional.

Kelly called Desz ‘super-versatile,’ and compared her to Beyoncé, Chaka Khan and the late Whitney Houston, noting, ‘She could make any kind of record she wants to make.’

Desz’s cover subsequently earned her a standing ovation from Kelly, Gwen Stefani, 51, and John Legend, 41, who called out ‘Incredible!’ and ‘Yes!’ as she finished.

Standing ovation: Desz's cover subsequently earned her a standing ovation from Kelly, Gwen Stefani, 51, and John Legend, 41, who called out 'Incredible!' and 'Yes!' as she finished

Standing ovation: Desz’s cover subsequently earned her a standing ovation from Kelly, Gwen Stefani, 51, and John Legend, 41, who called out ‘Incredible!’ and ‘Yes!’ as she finished

‘Okay, I’m not crying anymore,’ Kelly said, laughing. ‘I compartmentalized all feelings.’

‘You do things vocally that no one I know can do,’ she then told Desz, as John nodded in the background. ‘Your runs, your precision with it, and also it’s believable, it’s felt, it’s raw. It’s all the things that I desire to be as a vocalist, and honestly to God never reach.’

‘If you win or not, know that you sang your behind off on this stage, and you deserve it,’ she concluded, as John shouted, ‘Yes Desz!’

High praise: 'You do things vocally that no one I know can do,' she then told Desz, as John nodded in the background. 'Your runs, your precision with it, and also it's believable, it's felt, it's raw. It's all the things that I desire to be as a vocalist, and honestly to God never reach'

High praise: ‘You do things vocally that no one I know can do,’ she then told Desz, as John nodded in the background. ‘Your runs, your precision with it, and also it’s believable, it’s felt, it’s raw. It’s all the things that I desire to be as a vocalist, and honestly to God never reach’

Team Gwen went first on Monday with Carter Rubin, the talented 15-year-old from Shoreham, New York, who had previously made his coach cry with The Muppets’ Rainbow Connection.

Carter sounded like an experienced pro on his cover of Miley Cyrus’ The Climb, and a thrilled Gwen noted that his calm, confident demeanor suggested he was ‘meant to be doing this.’

His original song, Up From Here, made her equally ‘proud,’ she said.

First up: Team Gwen went first on Monday with Carter Rubin, the talented 15-year-old from Shoreham, New York, who had previously made his coach cry with The Muppets' Rainbow Connection

First up: Team Gwen went first on Monday with Carter Rubin, the talented 15-year-old from Shoreham, New York, who had previously made his coach cry with The Muppets’ Rainbow Connection

Proud coach: The No Doubt singer gushed about her teenage singer

Proud coach: The No Doubt singer gushed about her teenage singer

The tune was produced by former Semi Precious Weapons lead singer Justin Tranter, 40, who also produced Desz’s single and worked with Kelly on her 2015 tune Nostalgic.

Team Blake’s Ian Flanigan, 31, from Saugerties, New York, then opted to cover Jamey Johnson’s In Color, turning out what Blake, 44, called an ‘iconic’ version of the song.

‘I can’t figure out if Ian is from the past or the future,’ the coach added after he sang. ‘I can’t figure out where he belongs; there’s never been anyone that sounds anything like you, man.’

Iconic version: Team Blake's Ian Flanigan, 31, from Saugerties, New York, then opted to cover Jamey Johnson's In Color, turning out what Blake, 44, called an 'iconic' version of the song

Iconic version: Team Blake’s Ian Flanigan, 31, from Saugerties, New York, then opted to cover Jamey Johnson’s In Color, turning out what Blake, 44, called an ‘iconic’ version of the song

Ian’s single, Never Learn, described a parent hoping their kid never learned hard lessons—and it moved John, who understood feeling torn between protecting his kids and educating them.

The song was produced by Nashville’s Ross Copperman, 38, who wrote Blake’s last two number-one singles, Nobody But You and Happy Anywhere.

Gwen and Blake sang the latter song during the show, beaming amid a battalion of lights.

Virtual audience: Kelly, Gwen, John Legend and Blake Shelton were joined by a virtual audience amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic

Virtual audience: Kelly, Gwen, John Legend and Blake Shelton were joined by a virtual audience amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic

Team Blake’s Jim Ranger, 38, from Bakersfield, California, put his heart into his original love song Last, also produced by Ross, and John envisioned people ‘getting married to it.’

‘Now that you say it like that, it was almost like you were giving me advice,’ Blake told Jim.

‘Yeah! In case someone is getting MARRIED soon,’ John teased him, alluding to Blake and Gwen’s engagement.

Into it: Team Blake's Jim Ranger, 38, from Bakersfield, California, put his heart into his original love song Last, also produced by Ross, and John envisioned people 'getting married to it'

Into it: Team Blake’s Jim Ranger, 38, from Bakersfield, California, put his heart into his original love song Last, also produced by Ross, and John envisioned people ‘getting married to it’

Life finale: John wore a mustard suit and teased Blake about marriage advice in the song

Life finale: John wore a mustard suit and teased Blake about marriage advice in the song

‘Now I know how to make it last!’ Blake joked.

Jim later got all four coaches to give him a standing ovation for his cover of The Beatles’ With A Little Help From My Friends.

Team Legend’s John Holiday, a 35-year-old music teacher from Rosenberg, Texas, has long been one of the show’s frontrunners for his incredible tone and unusual choices.

Good one: 'Now I know how to make it last!' Blake joked of the singer's song titled Last

Good one: ‘Now I know how to make it last!’ Blake joked of the singer’s song titled Last

He had originally planned to choose Kelly as his coach for the show, but said that when John turned his chair for him during the blind auditions, he saw a ‘halo’ over the man.

It was fitting, then, that his cover for the evening was Beyoncé’s Halo, which wowed everyone.

‘There is no one like you,’ John told the contestant.

The frontrunner: Team Legend's John Holiday, a 35-year-old music teacher from Rosenberg, Texas, has long been one of the show's frontrunners for his incredible tone and unusual choices

The frontrunner: Team Legend’s John Holiday, a 35-year-old music teacher from Rosenberg, Texas, has long been one of the show’s frontrunners for his incredible tone and unusual choices

During rehearsals, John’s wife Chrissy Teigen, 35, called the studio, and he turned the phone toward Holiday as she told him he’d done a wonderful version of Coldplay’s Fix You.

Holiday performed that song on a recent episode of The Voice, and dedicated it to the couple as they healed from the loss of their son Jack in September.

His original single Where Do We Go was produced by Justin, who’d previously done songs for John’s album Darkness And Light.

Kelly praised Holiday’s range and the ‘Céline Dion lungs’ that carried him through the song, as John told him, ‘It’s just magical to see all the things that you’re able to do.’

Part two of The Voice season 19 finale will air Tuesday on NBC and a winner will be named.

Original track: John's original single Where Do We Go was produced by Justin, who'd previously done songs for his coach John Legend's album Darkness And Light

Original track: John’s original single Where Do We Go was produced by Justin, who’d previously done songs for his coach John Legend’s album Darkness And Light