Among big stars who are performing with the contestants in this current season 17 of the ABC singing competition include Jason Mraz, Elle King, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.
- Apr 8, 2019
AceShowbiz - The Sunday, April 7 episode of "American Idol" season 17 marked the first night of All-Stars Duet performances. Half of the Top 20 took the stage to sing with some big names in the music industry before three of them would be eliminated at the end of the episode. The remaining 10 contestants would follow to perform on Monday, April 8.
The first duet was from Walker Burroughs and Jason Mraz, who offered a rendition of the latter's song "Have It All." The judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie loved the performance, with Katy saying that it was "so cool and composed."
The next performer was Kate Barnette, who was given an opportunity to sing with Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. They performed a sensational rendition of Pat's hit "Heartbreaker". Despite learning to play a guitar for one year, Kate killed it while playing the electric guitar alongside Neil. Lionel advised Kate to take everything she'd learned from the legendary musicians and use it for the rest of her career.
Riley Thompson later hit the stage to sing "Like I Loved You" with Brett Young. The two showcased a strong chemistry which made Luke whisper to his fellow judges, "Our job just got tougher," when the two finished their performance.
Uche, meanwhile, joined forces with Shaggy in a performance of "I Need Your Love". Although Uche had a great stage presence, the judges noticed that he had a few vocal issues during the duet. Following it up was Madison Vandenburg, who sang "We Belong" with Pat and Neil. It was such a flawless performance with Luke telling the 17-year-old, "You don't know how to hit a wrong note." Lionel added that she "took it to the next level" with her performance.
Performing Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" were Shawn Robinson and Elle King. The song choice got Shawn worried at first, and Elle decided to make it a slower version to make it slower than Tina Turner's original version. Shawn made a flub at one point of the performance, though Lionel praised him for quickly recovering from the mistake.
The next performance were from Ashley Hess and Jason Mraz, who sang a fresh rendition of "I'm Yours". The judges loved what they heard. Later, Bumbly hit the stage to perform her duet with Shaggy. After singing "Angel", Bumbly earned praise from Luke who told her that she had a "really, really great vocal" with Shaggy.
Brett Young took the stage for a second time to sing "Mercy" with Laci Kaye Booth. "That was an incredible performance," Lionel gushed. Rounding out the night was Laine Hardy and Elle's performance of "The Weight" by The Band. All judges gave them a standing ovation and Katy noted that Lionel looked and sounded like a total rock star.
Now it was the time to hear the results. Three singers would be sent home, while 7 others were moving to the next round. Host Ryan Seacrest announced that Kaye Booth, Ashley Hess, Walker Burroughs, Madison Vandenburg, Uche, Riley Thompson and Laine Hardy were moving on to the Top 14. With that, Shawn and Bumbly and Kate were eliminated.
