''Can You Duet'' is an American reality-competition show on CMT. The show was produced by

FremantleMedia Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in ...

, the same company that produces ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

''. The show premiered on April 14, 2008, and the first season ended on June 13, 2008.

Sixwire Sixwire is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The group consists of Andy Childs (lead vocals, guitar), Steve Hornbeak (keyboards, vocals), John Howard (bass guitar), Steve Mandile (guitar, vocals), and Chuck ...

, runners up from Fox's ''Next Great American Band'', performed as the house band for ''Can You Duet'' with Steve Mandile serving as the show's musical director. Two additional musicians, Steve Hornbeak on keyboards and Andrea Young on violin, performed with Sixwire during the show. The show was cancelled after two seasons.

Seasons

Season One (2008)

The show was hosted by

Rossi Morreale Rossi Morreale (born April 27, 1977) is a television personality and former college football player. Career Morreale was a starting wide receiver/ punt returner for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks football team, lettering from 1997&nda ...

, and the judge panel was made up of

Naomi Judd Naomi Judd (born Diana Ellen Judd; January 11, 1946 – April 30, 2022) was an American singer and actress. In 1980, she and her daughter Wynonna (born Christina Claire) formed the duo known as The Judds, which became a very successful country ...

, Brett Manning, and

Aimee Mayo Aimee Mayo is a Grammy Award-nominated songwriter from Gadsden, Alabama. Biography Aimee Mayo grew up in Gadsden, Alabama. She moved to Nashville when she was 17. She was signed as a songwriter with BMG There she met her husband Chris while she ...

. The eight finalist duos for season one were: Three of the season 1 finalists,

Caitlin & Will Caitlin & Will were an American country music duo, consisting of members Caitlin Lynn and Will Snyder, that rose to fame when they won season one of CMT's '' Can You Duet''. After winning, they signed with Columbia Nashville. They initially intend ...

, Kate & Kacey Coppola, and

Joey + Rory Joey + Rory was an American country and bluegrass duo composed of singer-songwriters Rory Lee Feek (born April 25, 1965) and Joey Feek (September 9, 1975 – March 4, 2016), who were husband and wife. Both members of the duo were vocalists and ...

, have signed record deals; Caitlin and Will with

Columbia Nashville Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the Amer ...

, Kate & Kacey with Big Machine, and Joey + Rory with

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

/ Sugar Hill. Caitlin & Will released their debut single, " Address in the Stars", on March 30, 2009. The single peaked at number 42 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart, and the duo subsequently broke up in October 2009 and their debut album went unreleased. Kate & Kacey released their debut single, "

Dreaming Love "Dreaming Love" is a song written and recorded by American country music, country duo Kate & Kacey. The song was released as their debut single on April 27, 2009. It was intended to serve as the lead-off single to their debut album with Big Machine ...

", on April 27, 2009, via Big Machine. The single underperformed and the duo parted ways with Big Machine in early 2010 without releasing an album. Joey + Rory, who finished in third place, were the most successful act from the first season. They released their debut single, "

Cheater, Cheater "Cheater, Cheater" is the debut single from American country/ bluegrass duo Joey + Rory, from their debut album, '' The Life of a Song''. The song debuted on the Hot Country Songs chart at #57 for the chart week of September 27, 2008. Co-written b ...

", in September 2008, which reached a peak of number 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Their debut album, '' The Life of a Song'', followed on October 28, 2008. Joey + Rory have released six further studio albums and a Christmas record, and produced one further chart single on the Hot Country Songs chart in "That's Important to Me," a number 51-peaking single in March 2011. Lewis Brice is the younger brother of

Curb Records Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of ...

artist

Lee Brice Kenneth Mobley Brice Jr. (born June 10, 1979), known professionally as Lee Brice, is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Curb Records. Brice has released five albums with the label: '' Love Like Crazy'', '' Hard to Love'', ...

Season Two (2009)

Auditions for the second season began on March 7, 2009, and the show premiered on June 20, 2009. Over 5,000 auditioned, and was cut down to 10 duos for the show's competition. Naomi Judd returned as a judge for season two, and Lance Smith from CMT's ''Top 20 Countdown'' became the new host. The other two seats in the judge panel were made up of

Big Kenny William Kenneth Alphin (born November 1, 1963), best known by his stage name Big Kenny, is an American country music singer. He and John Rich comprise the duo Big & Rich, who recorded four studio albums and charted fifteen singles on the '' Bill ...

(of

Big & Rich Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a solo ...

) and

Scott Borchetta Scott Borchetta (born July 3, 1962) is an American record executive and founder of the Big Machine Label Group. He started the label in 2005 with 13 employees, as its president/CEO and encompasses four imprints: Big Machine Records, BMLG Recor ...

(CEO of

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...

). Having won the competition, Steel Magnolia signed a recording contract with

; their debut single, " Keep on Lovin' You", was released in August 2009, and their self-titled debut album followed with a January 2011 release. The album produced three further chart singles in " Just By Being You (Halo and Wings)," "

Last Night Again "Last Night Again" is a song written by Steel Magnolia members Joshua Scott Jones and Meghan Linsey, along with Hillary Lindsey. The song was recorded by Steel Magnolia for their self-titled debut album. The song is the third single from the al ...

," and "Bulletproof." In January 2012, Steel Magnolia ended their relationship with Big Machine.

Meghan Linsey Meghan Linsey (born December 10, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. A Ponchatoula, Louisiana native, Linsey started her musical career by forming Steel Magnolia with her boyfriend of three years, Joshua Scott Jones. Before trying out for ...

appeared on the eighth season of

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

, coming in Runner-up.

The Stellas The Stellas are a married Canadian country music duo from Whitby, Ontario. They finished in fourth place on the second season of the CMT series ''Can You Duet'' in 2009. Their self-titled debut album was released by EMI Music Canada in September ...

and

O'Shea O'Shea is a surname and, less often, a given name. It is an anglicized form of the Irish patronymic name Ó Séaghdha or Ó Sé, originating in the Kingdom of Corcu Duibne in County Kerry. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Alicia ...

found success in their home countries (Canada and Australia, respectively). The Stellas released their self-titled debut in 2011 via

EMI Music Canada EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, and O'Shea released their debut, ''Mr. and Mrs.'' via Sony Australia in 2011. Additionally, JB Rocket was later signed to Valory Music Group, a sister label of Big Machine Records. However, JB Rocket was eventually released from the label without releasing anything. Brandon Green was previously on ''

'' as one of the top 50 contestants in its seventh season, and Kassie Miller was previously on CMT's Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search where she won the first season.

References

External links

Can You Duet's Official Website
{{CMT (American TV channel) Singing talent shows CMT (American TV channel) original programming 2000s American music television series 2008 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings