Lauren Alaina Duets With ‘American Idol’ Hopefuls Emily Brooke & Mackenzie Bourg

The competition between American Idol’s Top 24 is fierce this year, so fierce in fact, that the show brought back former Idols to put the contestants to the test.

During this week’s episodes, the Top 24 was split into two groups of 12. On Wednesday night (Feb. 10), the contestants each had solo performances, but Thursday (2/11), they performed a duet. Season 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina returned to the hit show to perform with hopefuls Emily Brooke and Mackenzie Bourg.

For Emily’s performance, the two took on a song Alaina sang during her season… Carrie Underwood’s “Flat on the Floor.”

“I learned a lot from that. One thing I learned was you could hear the difference in age because Lauren’s been doing it for a little bit longer and her voice has had a chance to grow,” Harry Connick, Jr. explained after the pair’s performance. “And you still sound like this young, young singer. And I love the sound of your voice, but it also showed me that that may not be the type of song I like hearing you sing the best, because it was big and loud and rocking, and I’m wondering if you might sound better a little bit more under-produced. So, interesting for me to hear, but I thought you hung pretty well with her.”

“Yeah, I agree. I said to Jen, you know, it was interesting in watching the two of you because Lauren has obviously been out beating the boards now, particularly since coming off of Idol,” said Keith Urban. “She’s been touring so much and there’s no substitute for that experience. But you held your own against her. I agree with Harry, I think it’s not necessarily your lane. You got another thing that you do.”

For Mackenzie Bourg, the duet was a bit outside of his comfort zone. Not only was Bourg singing a country song, he was also intimidated by Lauren.

“It’s going to be fun. I get to share the stage with this hottie,” she said during their rehearsals, making him turn red in the face. “Gosh, my hands are slowly sweating,” he nervously replied.

The two took on Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance” for their duet.

“That takes a lot of guts to get up there and sing a song that’s built for somebody with Lauren’s type of voice. Your performance of ‘Say Something’ last night was extremely strong,” Connick told Bourg. “I thought that this was sweet. I thought that it was a nice duet, but I’m thankful for last night because to me, that set the bar for how talented you are.”

“That might be the first time I’ve seen Lauren blush. I mean, that girl likes you, Mackenzie, I’m just saying. Sparks were flying up there! It was great, at the end of the performance, she’s like singing and like reaching for his elbow and he’s like ‘I don’t know what’s going on.’ She wanted to dance with you,” Urban teased. “You know what’s great though? I love what you do with songs, more than your hair. It was cool. If you had done that song, you probably would have changed the key a little bit, but when you do a song, you always make it your own. Really, really good. I love the way you do things, Mackenzie. I really do.”

“It felt really nice. It felt, in a weird way, mismatched, but somehow, still felt really nice together,” Jennifer Lopez agreed. “I think you did a good job, especially with her kind of singing up in the stratosphere the way she was, which is hard to compete with. You did nice by changing the melody and holding your own.”

At the conclusion of the show, five contestants from the 12 who performed were sent home. Unfortunately for Emily Brooke, the road ends here. Mackenzie Bourg will be moving on in hopes of making the Top 10 and performing during the live shows.

What did you think of their performances with Lauren Alaina? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!