Singing Contest With a Twist – “Duets”
It’s the new kind of singing contest and viewers that are trying to understand how it works are starting to figure it out. Nobody was voted off last week but the next show will include an elimination. Also interesting last week, one of the four professional judges and Duet singer, John Legend, got a second chance with a new contestant.
Johnny Gray unexpectedly left the show for what was slated to be “personal reasons.”
This left John Legend short one contestant so he was able to hold auditions again, helping him come up with a pretty impressive singer in Meleana Brown.
Her first time on stage, Meleana emitted super poise and grace as she knocked the other judges and audience off their feet with the Lionel Richie and Diana Ross favorite, Endless Love, as she and John Legend spewed the melody in perfect harmony. On her very first performance, she found herself at the top of the leader-board and remained there for the night.
Viewers must tune in next week to see who is going to get voted off. The judges vote for the other judges and their contestants, but the viewers never see the scores. No one knows how they are voting, and no one knows if there will be any twists, other votes considered later in the season, or if scoring and judging will continue just the way it is right now.
Contestants who perform Duets with the professional singers are also chosen exclusively by each individual judge in private auditions. Even if you can’t sing, but have belted out a few favorites now and then, it’s definitely an interesting contest. On the last show, professional Jennifer Nettles and one of her two teams members JRome, shared the stage in their performance of a karaoke favorite, “You’re the One That I Want.” Nettles was all decked out in her sexy leather outfit, definitely the best stage performer of the four professionals.
While JRome seems to the most consistent favorite, does he have what it takes to win? Song choice seems to mean everything no matter which singing show you are watching. Since this show and winner hinges on the performance of how well you can harmonize with your professional, it is a bit different.
After the first episode, both of Kelly Clarkston’s contestants ended up in the bottom two but she vows to bring them up into the positions which they deserve. Kelly offered up her blunt comments letting everybody know that the other contestants seem to have way more experience than her two singers which cuts down on them being nervous on the stage. She knows her team has the ability and voice to make it happen, she just has to get them comfortable and in the groove to relax and let the vocals fly to move them up the ladder. She’ll be switching up the song styles for Jordan as she feels she did not spotlight her voice properly for the Duet style performance.
Tune in to a new time slot for Duets this week, Wednesday nights at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.