"The Voice": Final three take the stage

From left, Terry McDermott, Cassadee Pope, Nicholas David and Carson Daly on Dec. 17, 2012. / NBC

The final three "Voice" contestants gave it their best shot Monday night in an effort to garner as many votes as possible before Tuesday's season finale.

Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott and Nicholas David each performed one of their "breakout" songs, sang a new track and teamed up with their respective coaches for a duet.

The episode got under way with a performance of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting. Each of the artists held a sign with a victim's name and age on it.

After the touching performance from the contestants and their mentors, it was time for a live round of competition. Nicholas David from Cee Lo Green's team kicked things off with a rendition of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire."

"Your fire tonight burned this house down," Green told David, who also performed Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" -- his "breakout" song -- and linked up with Green for Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music."

Pope from Blake Shelton's team revisited Miranda Lambert's "Over You," a song that held even more resonance in the days following the elementary school shootings.

"America's heart is heavy, and that's about healing," Shelton said. Pope also sang Faith Hill's "Cry" and joined Shelton onstage for a duet of "Steve McQueen" by Sheryl Crow. After singing "Cry," Shelton told Pope, "I've never heard you sing as good as you've seen tonight, and that's saying a lot."

And McDermott took on Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" again, as well as trying out a new track: Mr. Mister's "Take These Broken Wings." McDermott then teamed with Shelton for Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)."

"The Voice" returns Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC for the live season finale. The Killers, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson and Rihanna will perform.