'The Voice' finale: LI's Carter Rubin sings, is praised by Gwen Stefani

Shoreham wunderkind Carter Rubin, the 15-year-old singer on Gwen Stefani's team who has ascended to the finals of NBC's "The Voice," opened Night One of the live two-night closer with a performance of Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" that brought vocal admiration from a rival coach on the show.

"I've got to say," country-music star Blake Shelton told the teen, "even though I'm supposed to be your competition over here, I've never felt that way because there's just — listen man, this has been a tough year for everybody in the world, and to be able to end this year and sit in this chair and listen to somebody with your talent, with your heart, that I'm finding out every day more about the kind of person that you are, just — I'm a fan, man. Unbelievable."

His own coach, Stefani, told Rubin after his song, "My heart is still beating out of my chest with nerves for you, just because I care so much and I'm so happy for you. … You're just so calm and it feels like you're just meant to be doing this." She expressed confidence that the viewing audience voting for their favorite of the five singers Monday night would crown him the season-19 champion on Tuesday's show, "because you are just so special and so gifted and so natural, and I'm so happy to be your coach and be part of this."

Before his song, Stefani told host Carson Daly that during Rubin's blind audition — where the four coaches face away from singers and judge whether the contestants continue in the competition based solely on vocal performance — "I turned around to look at this 50-year-old woman I thought I was going to see singing … ! It was a very extreme moment for me."

She told Daly that every time Rubin went onstage to sing in the various rounds, "There's a little bit more confidence that comes through." Rubin replied appreciatively to Stefani's comment, saying, "You helped me unlock artistry that I didn't even know I had."

Rubin, like each of the other finalists, sang two songs Monday night. Returning as the second-to-last performance of the night, he sang a new number, "Up from Here," written by Justin Jesso, David Björk and Andreas Moe, and coached by both Stefani and songwriter-producer Justin Tranter.

"I definitely relate to this song," Rubin told them in a prerecorded rehearsal session, "because we all have highs and lows in our lives and we can recover from the lows as long as we have people in our lives that'll support us. Like, as long as you have that firm foundation you can rise up from any situation."

"I don't think America understands what everybody goes through, all the contestants," Stefani said after Rubin performed the song live on the show's Universal Studios stage, "but to be 15 years old and just to be so incredibly calm and cool and in the moment and just enjoying the moment — I'm so proud of you. … Thank you for trusting me."

Viewers can vote for any of the five finalists on "The Voice" app, at NBC.com and through Xfinity and Google Assistant.