photo: ABC"Duets," ABC's summer talent show with an allstar judging panel consisting of Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Robin Thicke, and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles, started off with promise, but then everything went wrong with the show--so much so that by the time it wrapped up this Thursday, so few people were tuning in, the "Duets" finale was actually THE lowest-rated episode of its entire season.
And the few fans that did turn in probably didn't find it to be a particularly dramatic finale, when the contestant that had been the leaderboard-topping frontrunner all season long, Team Jennifer's soulman J Rome, was crowned the champion. It was an easily predicted victory that made Javier Colon's triumph on"The Voice" look like a shocking upset.
The colossal failure of "Duets" as a TV franchise most likely does not bode well for J Rome, who won a barely-worth-the-paper-it's-printed-on contract with Hollywood Records. I mean, if "The Voice," a hugely successful, Emmy-nominated talent show watched by millions, has been unable to spawn a true superstar who actually sells records, I can't imagine J Rome would even have much luck selling records out the trunk of his car. However, if Hollywood Records pairs him up with the right material and producers, and promotes him properly at radio, the guy might still have a slim shot. There's no doubt that he is talented, and of the eight somewhat unimpressive finalists who competed on "Duets" this year, he certainly was, far and away, the most professional and marketable.
Good luck, J Rome. You're gonna need it.
But on the plus side...now that it's pretty much a done deal that "Duets" will not be renewed for a second season, maybe that will free up Kelly Clarkson to be an "American Idol" judge! She deserves a better show than this.
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