Aretha Franklin was in a great mood, but she didn't have enough solos for herself. I know it was "duets," but Franklin only had one solo, her then current single, "Honey." Obviously, there wasn't a lot of rehearsal for the show, but Aretha is not used to singing with other people, especially those that can't keep up with her. She tended to "help" her partner along during all the duets. Gloria Estefan is so mechanical, she didn't realize that Aretha was trying to relate to her during their song together ("Alone in the Dark"). Rod Stewart was so intimidated by Franklin that he started acting like a haphazard rock star, jumping around and acting silly to make up for his nervousness.
Bonnie Raitt seemed awed just to be standing next to The Queen. Raitt is a marvelous singer on her own, but she and Aretha chose the wrong song on which to duet (Aretha's "Since You Been Gone"). They should have chosen something NOT in either's repertoire.
It was nice seeing Elton John and The Queen on dual pianos singing Elton's "Border Song." Franklin, once again, "went to church." Franklin looked really nice in that white knit outfit when she sang her duet with Smokey Robinson. She proved that you don't have to be a size 8 to look good in tasteful clothes.
Aretha killed Stewart in their "People Get Ready" duet. Moved, Aretha went off script and "went to church" while Rod just stood there, baffled. To compensate, he started jumping around and fell to the floor. Silly, silly! All in all, I enjoyed the show. I'd like to see Aretha do another one, DUETS II starring Franklin with Bettye LaVette, Patti LaBelle, Bobby Womack, Wilson Pickett and Mavis Staples. Now THAT would be some show!
