‘Duets’ Week 3 Recap Alexis Foster Sent Home on Inspiration Episode

On tonight’s episode (June 7) of ‘Duets,’ the superstars and the amateurs performed songs that inspire the contestants. It was also the first elimination of the season, with Alexis Foster sent home. It was a shocking elimination.
Foster and Jason Farol were in the bottom. Farol sang ‘Me and Mrs. Jones’ a capella for his life, while Foster ripped through a soulful, voice-only rendition of ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.’ We thought she was better, but we’re not on the superstar panel, hanging out in the celeb lounge!
Three weeks in and there’s a clear top and a bottom, teamwise. Jennifer Nettles by far has the strongest assembled team, while Kelly Clarkson is struggling to help her charges emerge and open up.
Robin Thicke: First up was Alexis Foster. They partnered up for ‘Killing Me Softly.’ It was steamy and good. But was it great? No. For his second charge, the chart bottom dweller Olivia Chisholm, he forced to her to come out of her shell with Beyonce‘s ‘Crazy in Love,’ since it’s a fearless song done by a fearless pop diva. He wanted Liv to become fearless. Was she? Oh yes. She was tactile, confident, had legs for days and owned that short, sparkly flapper dress. But she was just okay as a singer. Still, it was a rebound from last week’s snoozefest.
Jennifer Nettles: The Sugarland singer and John Glosson tackled ‘How Great Thou Art.’ Glosson began the song a capella, joined by Nettles moments later. It was effective. J Rome sang ‘How Am I Supposed to Live Without You’ by Michael Bolton. The Bolt is a pop culture touchstone, and he really can sing, with that raspy heat. J. Rome is a smoother singer, but imparts just as much emotion, especially since the song reminded him of his late grandfather, with whom he sang ‘Amazing Grace’ before he died. He and Nettles delivered a quintessential “he said, she said” power ballad.
Kelly Clarkson: Clarkson and pink-haired Jordan Meredith, who has consistently landed in the bottom of the judge voting, tried to make a comeback with Miranda Lambert‘s ‘Mama’s Broken Heart.’ Meredith can sing, but she has lacked presence. Did she gain it by going barefoot? Yes. It was her best delivery thus far. Jason Farol tackled ‘Hallelujah’ with Clarkson and it was pretty, but he still feels like he is stuck in a shell. He ended up in the bottom, yet again. We think he is distracted by the fact that his parents didn’t support his decision to be a singer and participate in the show. But now his parents have changed their tune, we’re thankful it wasn’t too late for him to focus on his.
John Legend: Newbie Meleana Brown offered another strong showing with Alicia Keys‘ ‘If I Ain’t Got You.’ It was dinner party-ish, but if you like that style, this perf was all you. ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ was the song Legend tackled with Bridget Carrington. It was quite a quality jam between the two. We liked it.