tvdinner&amovie

Previously on Duets: Superstars’ Greatest Hits 

This week answered some lingering questions from the pilot episode–and emphasized the already-known information several times. New information included the fact that America (aka all the viewers watching at home) will be voting for week six, whatever that means. My stellar math skills combined with the fact that I’m not sure how often and how many contestants are voted off each week mean that I don’t know how many people will be left for week six. The winner will be given a recording contract with Hollywood Records. Interestingly enough, the superstars are given full-reign over everything about the performances, including what song they will be singing.

As all singing tv shows are, this one will inevitably be compared to American Idol. While they do sing the entire song–which is one thing that annoys me about AI (especially when they pick and choose random lines of the song to sing. Sing an entire verse, weirdo!)–it is incredibly lacking in other ways. I’m not much of a Ryan Seacrest fan, but he looks amazing compared to Quddus, who continually makes creepy jokes and appears to be reading cue cards most of the time. A Simon presence is also missing on this show. While the judges did make an effort to give more constructive criticism, most of their talking was left-handed compliments, snarky remarks to other judges, or just random crap. Thicke told Bridgette that she “looked like bag of skittles.” What in the world does that mean? I don’t even want to know.

Johnny Gray’s replacement Melena Brown singing “Endless Love” with John Legend, which won her first place.

Onto the singers!

John Legend:

• Poor Johnny Gray had to leave for undisclosed reasons, so Legend went off in search for a replacement singer and found Meleana Brown. Singing “Endless Love,” tied her with J Rome for first place! Their harmonies were amazing, and she showed no signs of nervousness even though this was her first time on stage.

• Bridgette Carrington sang “I Know You Were Waiting (For Me),” which got her third place. Legend, insightful as ever, said that the previous song was too low for her vocal range. As this song was originally sung by Aretha Franklin and George Michael, Bridgette’s voice didn’t measure up to Aretha, and Legend overpowered George Micheal’s sections. Although they sounded good together, it was kind of boring. Like most of everyone’s performances on Duets, they’re not bad—they’re just not amazing or mindblowing.

Kelly Clarkson:

• Jason Farol sang “Whenever You Call,” and came in seventh place. Because he cried during his audition with Clarkson, I thought he would work on proving that he wasn’t star-struck anymore, but this wasn’t the case. Instead, he looked to Clarkson to lead the song, so he was more of a back-up singer than her partner. Also, he didn’t hit the right  note on their key change. What’s more painful than that?

• Jordan Meredith sang Pink’s “Misery” and came in fifth place. She started pretty strong, but by the end Meredith looked a bit tired and over it–and Clarkson sang the last few notes alone. Their harmonies were nice,  but the song seemed to be a bit too low for Meredith’s vocal range. Legend also said that she was kind of pitchy–which Clarkson through a fit about.

• Olivia Chilsolm sang “Where Is the Love,” originally sung by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. First off, she didn’t know this song–blasphemy! And when they performed, Robin’s voice was stronger than hers. Impossible. She came in eighth place. They were both weak during the chorus, and parts were also nasally.

• Alexis Foster sang “You’re All I Need to Get By,” which got her sixth place. Again, Robin and his partner had weaker–and softer–voices than original singers Marvin Gaye and Tammie Terrell. The chorus seemed to be too high for Foster, and Clarkson said she seemed disconnected from Robin during the performance .

Jennifer Nettles:

• J Rome tied again for first place singing “You’re the One That I Want.” Everything about their performance was extremely over the top and cheesy, including the backup dancers. He seemed to be voted number one because of his natural on-camera charisma and attitude, because all the superstars agreed that this  did not show off any of his vocal talent.

• John Glosson sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” which earned him fourth place–again. I think that Glosson has a great voice, but they didn’t to anything amazing to the song, and they also looked at each other the whole time. So awkward. Thicke gave his only normal and genuine advice for the night, saying that he would have done better with a different song.

I seriously think Thicke picked his singers based on their looks–because they don’t have stellar vocals or an amazing presence on stage.

My thoughts:

• I think this show has the chance to become something amazing–the superstars just need to pick better songs and stop being so snarky and defensive. It would also be nice for Quddus and Thicke to stop acting so creepy.
• We’ll see what next week has to bring. The next episode is “Songs That Inspire,” so hopefully the songs will be amazing–and mindblowing!

Emily thinks that music is amazing. Her favorite musical artists include The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Mumford and Sons, Coldplay, Kanye and Eminem. If writing doesn’t pan out, she plans on becoming a rapper… once she learns how to do so without laughing. (Maybe that’s what happens when a tornado meets a volcano! )