Originally posted Thursday, April 4, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
This Sunday and Monday top 20 episodes will feature celebrity duets, ten on each night, five different celebrities each night singing twice.
This is similar to the set up a year ago. This time, some of the bigger names helping out include Pat Banatar, Jason Mraz, Elle King, Brett Young, Shaggy, Julia Michaels, Lukas Graham and Chris Isaak.
Once the top 20 are finished, the numbers will be trimmed to 14 for the five final live shows.
First up on Sunday:
- Kate Barnette with celebrity duet partners Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
- Walker Burroughs with celebrity duet partner Jason Mraz
- Riley Thompson with celebrity duet partner Brett Young
- Uché with celebrity duet partner Shaggy
- Madison VanDenburg with celebrity duet partners Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
- Shawn Robinson with celebrity duet partner Elle King
- Ashley Hess with celebrity duet partner Jason Mraz
- Bumbly with celebrity duet partner Shaggy
- Laci Kaye Booth with celebrity duet partner Brett Young
- Laine Hardy with celebrity duet partner Elle King
On Monday:
- Alyssa Raghu with celebrity duet partner Julia Michaels
- Eddie Island with celebrity duet partner Lukas Graham
- Logan Johnson with celebrity duet partner Julia Michaels
- Wade Cota with celebrity duet partners lovelytheband
- Ryan Hammond with celebrity duet partner Cynthia Erivo
- Evelyn Cormier with celebrity duet partner Chris Isaak
- Raquel Trinidad with celebrity duet partners lovelytheband
- Alejandro Aranda with celebrity duet partner Ben Harper
- Dimitrius Graham with celebrity duet partner Lukas Graham
- Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon with celebrity duet partner Cynthia Erivo
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Credit: Karen Neal
Credit: Karen Neal
“Idol” overnight ratings lag behind season 16 but in these times when younger viewers are fleeing TV, they aren’t horrendous.
This past Sunday’s episode’s overnight ratings: 7.2 million vs. 7.08 million a week earlier. The 18-49 ratings held at 1.2. As usual, the show lost to “The Voice” in head-to-head competition. The Monday “Idol” episode against “The Voice” was 6.2 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating vs. 8.5 million and 1.5 18-49 rating.
The show during its peak in 2006 drew 30 million viewers and regularly broke 8 or 9 among 18-49 ratings.
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“American Idol” aired its first three-hour marathon this past Sunday. The season finale next month will also be three months on May 19 with live voting.
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Jennifer Hudson performed "Memory" in advance of the movie version of the Broadway classic"Cats" for film exhibitors at CinemaCon in Vegas. The film stars Rebel Wilson, James Corden, Taylor Swift, and Ian McKellen.
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Kelly Clarkson, fresh off her "Meaning of Life" tour which stopped by Duluth a week ago, performed "Broken & Beautiful" on "The Tonight Show" to promote the animated film she is part of "UglyDolls."
Besides being on “The Voice” and hosting a talk show this fall, Clarkson will also host the 2019 Billboard Music Awards May 1 on NBC.
During her final date in Greenville, S.C. singing “Piece by Piece” about how great her husband Brandon Blackstock is, he sneaks on stage partway through the song and replaces the guitarist as a surprise. She totally loses it. It’s super sweet.
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Adam Lambert is no longer single.
Last week, he began publicly acknowledging he was dating model Javi Costa Polo in a series of three photos posted to his Instagram.
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Credit: Eric McCandless
Credit: Eric McCandless
"Idol" pushed the story line of Jeremiah Harmon's parents not accepting his sexuality. He said the situation is more nuanced in an Out magazine interview. It hasn't helped his parents' cause because they haven't shown up on screen at all. Read the interview here.
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Season 13 winner Caleb Johnson has a new album coming out in June. Here's the first hard-edged song from it is called "Solid Gold" from "Born From Southern Ground." He worked with the Ramblin' Saints. "Billboard" magazine talked to him recently.
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