Lionel Richie, John Legend
ABC's upcoming singing competition Duets is saving room for John Legend, who will replace Lionel Richie, the network announced Monday.
It is unclear why Richie dropped out of the project. He appeared as a guest mentor for Christina Aguilera's team on The Voice earlier this season and is currently promoting his new...
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Lionel Richie
On his new album Tuskegee, one of the year's most pleasant surprises, R&B and pop icon Lionel Richie reinterprets his catalogue with help from contemporary country stars, adding a little twang to hits like "Say You, Say Me" and "Dancing on the Ceiling." Friday night, some of those same artists — Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts among them — reunite with Richie in Las Vegas to show off their creations live onstage in ACM Presents: Lionel Richie and Friends — In Concert (9/8c, CBS).
TV Guide Magazine: Aside from the performances, what else does the special feature?
Richie: The artists' stories about me and how the songs affected them.
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Rookie Blue
Let the countdown begin! Summer's guiltiest pleasure, Bachelor Pad, premieres Monday, July 23 at 8/7c, ABC announced Thursday. Also announced is the premiere date for Season 3 of cop drama Rookie Blue, which returns on Thursday, May 24 at 10/7c.
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Quddus
Former MTV Total Request Live VJ Quddus (real name: Benjamin Quddus Philippe) has been named host of ABC's summer singing competition Duets. He joins a cast that also includes music stars Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Nettles, Lionel Richie and Robin Thicke.
Duets executive producer Robert Deaton called Quddus "the perfect host" for ...
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Colton
Some thoughts on the highs and lows and assorted other TV news that caught my eye this week:
DEAD MAN WALKING: So there I was watching AMC's The Walking Dead last Sunday — the first piece of TV I hungrily consumed after a week of mostly TV-free vacation (except for the Oscars, which I should have passed on) — and as self-righteous Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) yammers on about everyone's humanity being at stake if they execute their prisoner (Randall the Outsider), I start rolling my eyes and going, "Oh, die already, you blowhard."
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Kelly Clarkson, Robin Thicke
ABC is entering the crowded singing competition arena, but with four hefty names: Kelly Clarkson, Lionel Richie, Robin Thicke and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles. The four superstars will serve as mentors and singing partners on Duets, which will premiere this summer.
The show will feature Clarkson, Nettles, Richie and Thicke as they scout for talent across the country. The four will ultimately choose two singers as their duet partners, and together each week, the star and...
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The Voice
Now that the blind auditions have swiveled to a halt, it's time for The Voice's four coaches — Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera — to put their teams to the test. The crop of singers will be narrowed down as they face off head-to-head for the final spots on their coach's team. "The big difference this year is it's way more competitive," says exec producer Mark Burnett...
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The Voice
Where have all the harsh judges gone? Following Simon Cowell's 9-year mean streak on American Idol, it's become increasingly difficult to find a tough-talking judge on singing competition shows like The X Factor and Idol.
However, The Voice's four coaches insist they're getting tougher this time around.
"This year, we are diving more into critiquing. ... You see us more in depth in the coaching process," Christina Aguilera told reporters at NBC's Winter TV preview Friday. "I think this year you're going to see it more. Last year we were all finding our...
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NBC logo
After a "really bad fall," NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt is hopeful about midseason, he said at the Television Critics Association winter previews.
Get more scoop on your favorite shows in our Winter TV preview
On the fourth-place network's deck: Season 2 of ...
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Jason Lee
Noticeably lacking in the ranks of The X Factor's contestants: budding country music stars. (Maybe they didn't want to risk another Scotty McCreery-style steamroller upstaging upstarts like "Astro.") And now, as the Top 11 square off, Fox's overblown singing contest (8/7c) faces its toughest competition to date: another musical extravaganza, ABC's three-hour broadcast of The 45th Annual CMA Awards (8/7c) from Nashville, with Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley co-hosting for the fourth year in a row. (They'll perform their hit "Remind Me" during the show.)
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