Ariana Grande Replacing Whitney Houston Hologram For Christina Aguilera Duet On ‘The Voice’
Ariana Grande will now be joining Christina Aguilera for a “girl power” duet on The Voice season 10 finale after Aguilera’s performance with a Whitney Houston hologram was pulled last week.
Christina announced the big Ariana duet news on her official Twitter page on May 23, tweeting out to her more than 16 million followers that she was “Excited to share the stage with [Ariana Grande] on tomorrow night’s @NBCTheVoice finale” alongside the hashtags “#GirlPower” and “#XtinasFinaleDuet.”
Ariana Grande then replied to Aguilera’s tweet on her own official Twitter page, where Grande told The Voice coach that she was “beyond excited and honored” to be sharing the stage with her.
The Voice also confirmed the big Grande and Aguilera duet news on the social media site, tweeting out, “Two of the biggest voices in the industry. Together on one stage. Tomorrow night, [Christina Aguilera] and [Ariana Grande] join forces. #XtinasFinaleDuet.”
While it’s not yet clear what Ariana and Christina will be performing when the twosome take to the stage, a slew of fans took to Twitter to express their excitement for what’s sure to be a powerhouse collaboration.
“Ariana singing with @xtina is literally a dream come true. #XtinasFinaleDuet #TeamXtina” @MisraimAmbell tweeted after the big news broke, while @trustacoustics added, “can y’all imagine the vocals of ariana and xtina though like I AINT READY!”
“XTINA AND ARIANA TOGETHER OMG” @daringbuteras added, and Twitter user @grandemymiracle wrote on the social media site on may 23, “my dream is coming true, Christina Aguilera and Ariana will sing together. I hope i survive.”
Ariana Grande hasn’t exactly been shy about her admiration for Christina in the past, even describing Aguilera as one of her “greatest influences” back in 2010.
“Happy birthday to one of my greatest influences ever, Xtina,” Grande tweeted out in December 2010. “I walked next to you on a red carpet and almost passed out. You inspire me.”
The news that Ariana Grande will now be taking to the stage with Christina Aguilera on The Voice finale comes just days after it was revealed that Aguilera’s performance with a Whitney Houston hologram had been pulled by Houston’s estate.
Leaked footage of Aguilera’s performance with the hologram during The Voice finale rehearsals leaked online on May 20 and showed Christina and the late Whitney Houston performing Houston’s 1993 single, “I Have Nothing.”
However, the video was later taken down as Houston’s estate confirmed in a statement issued to Entertainment Tonight that the performance would no longer be going ahead.
You were NOT supposed to see Christina Aguilera's duet with Whitney Houston's hologram: https://t.co/AunIM60mFP? pic.twitter.com/oGklWgdYfH
— ELLE Magazine (US) (@ELLEmagazine) May 21, 2016
Pat Houston, the executive of Whitney’s estate, admitted in the statement that she and The Voice producers had watched Christina’s performance with the technology and decided that “the hologram was not ready to air” just days before the big performance was expected to take place.
“We are so appreciative of the opportunity for the Whitney Houston hologram to appear on NBC’s The Voice with a talent pairing as extraordinary as Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston,” Pat continued.
“We were looking to deliver a ground breaking duet performance for the fans of both artists. Holograms are new technology that take time to perfect, and we believe with artists of this iconic caliber, it must be perfect. Whitney’s legacy and her devoted fans deserve perfection.”
“We have much respect and appreciation for Christina, and she was absolutely flawless,” Houston added.
Christina Aguilera then issued her own statement regarding the decision to cancel the big performance, wherein she revealed that she was sad the performance would no longer be going ahead.
Christina revealed that she was he was “honored that the Houston family asked me to perform a duet with the legendary Whitney Houston” but noted, “the technology could not meet up to the talent that Whitney possessed, but I do know in time the performance the fans and I have been hoping for will come to life.”
The Voice season 10 finale is set to air on NBC on May 24.
Are you looking forward to seeing Christina Aguilera and Ariana Grande perform a duet on The Voice finale?
[Photos by David Becker/Getty Images]
