McEntire, Clarkson thrill at Alltel

Country singer Reba McEntire and pop singer Kelly Clarkson shared the stage for a fun night of duets when their "2 Worlds 2 Voices" tour came to Little Rock's Alltel Arena on Saturday.
The concert started a few minutes late, but when the lights went out, the crowd was ready. Before the curtains rose, McEntire's voice sang loud over the auditorium before Clarkson joined in on a cover of The Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," giving the crowd just a sneak peek of what to expect throughout the night.
The concert was a surprise to most, veering from the usual two-separate-acts concerts and instead combined McEntire and Clarkson's voices as well as their bands.
Already, with just one song, the audience could tell it was going to be a great concert and that Clarkson's voice matched perfectly with the country superstar's voice.
They took turns singing McEntire's hit "Why Haven't I Heard from You" before McEntire took the stage alone to sing "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" with Clarkson behind the microphone as backup.
Next up was Clarkson's hit "Behind These Hazel Eyes," and McEntire stepped behind the microphone as backup.
Although Clarkson got a good response from the audience, it was evident that most of the audience came to see McEntire.
During the song, it was hard not to think how far Clarkson has come from the winner of the TV competition "American Idol" to having the queen of country, and one of her biggest idols, sing backup for her.
Halfway through the concert, most of the performances were slower songs not well known to some fans, who sat down through the majority. McEntire sang a Western swing song and Clarkson sang a big band song, which showed the range of talent Clarkson truly has.
“Miss Independent," one of Clarkson's biggest hits, was up next, and McEntire helped by singing half of the song. The song received a big response from a majority of women, although a few men on the floor showed their spirit as well.
By this point in the show, more of McEntire's classic, more recognized songs, came to light such as "Cathy's Clown," a cover of the Everly Brothers classic, and "Does He Love You," which was the biggest crowd-pleaser by far. Another classic McEntire song, "Is There Life Out There," was also a hit.
Melissa Peterman, McEntire's co-star in her much-loved television series "Reba," opened the show with a comedic performance, which was a special treat for fans of both McEntire and her show. Peterman had the entire crowd in hysterics before leaving the stage.
Peterman described McEntire and Clarkson as a Reese's peanut butter cup in that they are delicious together, and the metaphor was actually coming to fruition to most in the crowd by that time.
Clarkson's voice was modern and raspy whereas McEntire's voice was classic and pure.
For more of a comedic relief, Peterman came back to the stage wanting to sing "Survivor," which was the theme song for their show.
The routine seemed somewhat scripted, but by Clarkson's reactions, one could tell some of it was probably ad-libbed.
As the last song of the night, or so the crowd thought, Clarkson sang "A Moment Like This," which was her finale song when she won "American Idol" in 2002.
Clarkson said that on the last night of the "American Idol" tour in Las Vegas, as a surprise, the producers brought in McEntire to sing with her because they knew McEntire was her favorite performer.
The song came to life when one thinks how amazing it must have been for Clarkson to have had her idol sing the song that changed her life.
After the song, McEntire and Clarkson went off stage, but the crowd wouldn't let them leave permanently.
After quickly changing into black shirts, McEntire and Clarkson rose from the stage once again to sing Clarkson's hits "Since You Been Gone," and "Because of You."
For the finale, the two sang together on "Fancy," a song McEntire took to the number one spot on the country charts in 1991.
The night was full of surprises, and even though devout fans of McEntire might not have enjoyed the show as much as others because it wasn't focused primarily on McEntire, the performance was still worth watching.

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