Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara has never been interested in looking like everybody else. Labelled “nonconformist,” from the very beginning of her career, Cara is known for sporting the same super-casual looks onstage that you see on her Instagram page. Picture lots of plaid and denim, with a streetwear-inspired edge—and #nomakeup on red carpets.

“I dress like [Ed Sheeran] probably 70 percent of the time,” she told Harper’s Bazaar last year. “Before anyone really knew who I was as an artist, they tried doing things and suggesting things, and it was never in an aggressive way, of course. They just hadn’t figured out who I was yet, and it took me putting my foot down and just telling people, ‘This is who I am,’ for them to back off a little bit,” she said. “Now I think my team is really, really cool and they let me be me. I don’t think a lot of artists have the freedom that I have when it comes to dressing in general.”

So when she appeared on the finale of The Voice last night looking completely comfortable (and, might we add, cool) in a long T-shirt and roomy plaid pants for her performance of “Stay” with Zedd, fans didn’t flinch. Her second look, an oversized sweater and skinny ripped jeans, worked just well—and allowed her to move around the stage easily.

 

While most viewers (both in the audience and at home) were much more focused on her killer performance than on anything wardrobe-related, amongst the tweets praising Cara was one user who decided to throw in his two cents about her look. “I’m glad Alessia Cara got dressed up for ‘The Voice’ finale,” he wrote. “She looks like she’s ready for bed. She looks God awful!”

And while we’re usually encouraged to ignore the Twitter trolls, Cara’s clap back at the unnecessary comment was just too good not to relish. She quote-tweeted her reply: “it’s called the voice, not the outfit, David.”

Did David forget that the whole premise of the show involves the judges’ chairs turned away from the singers so that they can evaluate the auditions impartially? If Gwen Stefani doesn’t care what Alessia Cara—or anyone else on that stage—is wearing, then David certainly shouldn’t be bothered. High five to Cara for putting him in his place and steering the conversation back where it belongs: on her megawatt talent.

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