''Duets'' is a singing competition

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show that premiered on May 24, 2012 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. The show starred

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...

Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...

, and

Jennifer Nettles Jennifer Odessa Nettles (born September 12, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer. Nettles is the lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush, and prior to this she fronted the Atlanta-based band ...

as mentors who search for singers to duet with them as they perform in front of a live studio audience. Quddus serves as the host. The show is a production of Keep Calm and Carry On Productions. Robert Deaton and Charles Wachter are the executive producers. On April 30, 2012, it was confirmed that

had replaced

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

as a mentor on the show; Richie left the show citing "personal scheduling conflicts."

Premise

Clarkson, Thicke, Legend, and Nettles travel across America to find two singers each who serve as their duet partners for the show. Each week, the mentor and one of their two duet partners perform live in front of a studio audience. The contestants then receive feedback from the other stars—and graded anonymously—on their performances. At the end of the night the eight contestants are ranked on a chart. The two contestants at the bottom of the chart face-off. The loser is eliminated. After six weeks, the show goes live and the audience begins to vote on the outcome of each episode. At the end of the competition, the winning singer wins a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...

. "The simple fact that I get to go out and find two people I believe in, sing with them every week and help them accomplish their dream is an amazing thing I can't wait to be a part of," stated Clarkson in a press release statement from ABC.

Artists

: The artist was partnered with Jennifer Nettles : The artist was partnered with Robin Thicke : The artist was partnered with Kelly Clarkson : The artist was partnered with John Legend ¹Johnny Gray was one of the two partners for John Legend on the initial broadcast. He did not return for the second show and was replaced by Meleana Brown. The show's host said this was "due to unforeseen circumstances". Gray did not give a reason on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

but had several tweets that said he did not 'drop out'.

Overview

Episode 1

:Theme: Superstars' Greatest Hits :Air date: May 24, 2012 :Special performance:

, and

– " Let Me Entertain You"

Episode 2

:Theme: Classic Duets :Air date: May 31, 2012 :Special performance:

and

– " State of Shock"

Episode 3

:Theme: Songs That Inspire :Air date: June 7, 2012 :Special performance:

and

–

I've Got The Music In Me "I've Got the Music in Me" is a pop song by The Kiki Dee Band, released in 1974. It was written in 1973 by Bias Boshell, Kiki Dee Band's keyboardist. It is also the title of a Kiki Dee Band album released in 1974 and re-mastered and re-issued wit ...

" Bottom Two

Episode 4

:Theme: Party Songs :Air date: June 13, 2012 Bottom 2

Episode 5

:Theme: Movie Night :Air date: June 20, 2012 ;Bottom 2

Episode 6

:Theme: Songs from the 2000s :Air date: June 28, 2012 :Special performance:

– "

Freedom! '90 "Freedom! '90" (also known simply as "Freedom!") is a song written, produced, and performed by George Michael, and released on Columbia Records in 1990. The "'90" added to the end of the title is to prevent confusion with a hit by Michael's for ...

" :Note: First live show of the season.

Episode 7

:Theme: Favorite Standards :Air date: July 5, 2012 :Special performances:

– "

Crazy Little Thing Called Love "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury in 1979, the track is included on their 1980 album '' The Game'', and also appears on the band's compilation album ''Greatest Hits'' in 1981. ...

– " You Don't Know Me"

Episode 8

:Theme: Superstars Choice :Air date: July 12, 2012 :Special Performance:

and

– " Get Ready"

Episode 9

*Finale: *Air date: July 19, 2012 *Special Performances:

and

– " Would I Lie To You?",

and Bridget Carrington – "

Gimme Shelter "Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. Released as the opening track from band's 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song covers topics of war, murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer ...

and Olivia Chisholm – "

Fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...

", J Rome – " Signed, Sealed & Delivered"

Elimination chart

: The artist was first on the leaderboard. : The artist was in the bottom two on the leaderboard. : The artist was in the bottom two from viewer voting. : The artist was eliminated. : The artist left/removed from the competition.

Broadcast history

''Duets'' premiered on May 24, 2012 on

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

with a two-hour episode. The series continued to air on Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. until June 7. Due to the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

, The show was scheduled to move to Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. for two 90-minute installments starting June 13. The show returned to its original time slot on Thursday, June 28 with one-hour episodes until July 19. It was announced in June 2012 that ABC canceled the series.

International broadcasts

International versions

U.S. Nielsen ratings

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20120625045511/http://abc.go.com/shows/duets 2010s American music television series 2012 American television series debuts 2012 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming Singing talent shows English-language television shows Music competitions in the United States Television series by Disney–ABC Domestic Television