Jermaine Paul has been crowned the winner of NBC’s popular singing competition “The Voice”, a program that has gotten a fair amount of press on this website due in part to my thinly-veiled dislike for Christina Aguilera. However, I won’t let my personal prejudices stand in the way of reporting this story. If, along the way, a barb gets tossed in the singer’s general direction, I apologize in advance. But, I digress.

Paul managed to snag the top position in the televised contest, while Juliet Simms ended up in second place. According to host Carson Daly, only a four percent difference separated the two, which means that Simms fans will probably fill various social networking sites with complaints before too long, I’m sure. Tony Lucca, also known as Christina Aguilera’s arch enemy, wound up in second place, leaving “manly” Chris Mann to flounder at the bottom of the proverbial heap.

For several years, Paul served as a back-up singer for the likes of Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige. Now, it would seem, he’s poised to have his own stable of talented accompanists to support him on tour. To help him begin his career and a superstar, Paul has won a contract with Universal Republic Records and a cool $100,000. Not too shabby.

Since fans of these types of shows can be, shall we say, vocal in their opinions, I’m almost afraid to ask if Jermaine Paul is deserving of the title. Should someone else have won the competition? Let us know in the comments section. A smattering of responses to the outcome have been pulled, sorted, and embedded below. Have a look if you have some time to kill.