Other Great Reality Shows > Other Reality TV Shows & News

The Sing-Off 2

(1/2) > >>

apskip:
This is the second season of The SingOff, which has at the start 10 a cappella groups from around the U.S. competing for a $100,000 prize. 2 groups were eliminated last night, I believe 2 more will be on Wednesday, then 1 to 2 on Monday and Wednesday of next week and finally a finals the following week.

The 10 teams are:

The Backbeats
Los Angeles, California
a cappella singers from the University of Southern California and the University of California Los Angeles, this group of 5 male and 5 female 20-somethings incorporates their disparate styles and tastes into one synthesized sound, fused together by their love of pop, R&B and soul

Eleventh Hour
Kettering, Ohio High School
the youngest group in the competition, 4 females and 3 males

Pitch Slapped
Boston, Massachusetts
music teachers and students from the Berklee School of Music, 7 males and 5 females

Groove For Thought
Seattle, Washington
a jazz/R&B group with a father/daughter duo included, 2 females and 5 males

Men of Note
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
8 males with sports backgrounds, graduates of Cherry Hill High School West

Street Corner Symphony
Nashville, Tennessee
6 males doing country western and R&B type styles

On the Rocks
Eugene, Oregon
15 males

Committed
Huntsville, Alabama
6 males doing gospel style

Jerry Lawson & Talk of The Town
Oakland, California
Jerry spent decades with the Persuasions and it making his comeback as the lead singer with 5 other very talented, smooth singers

The Whiffenpoofs of Yale
New Haven, Connecticut
12 males from the original a cappella group in 1909

The host is Nick Lachey, who does a decent job. The judges are Shawn Stockman from Boys II Men, Nicole Scherzinger (recent Dancing with the Stars winner) and Ben Folds from Nashville. Shawn and Nicole mostly fawn over the groups like Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson used to on American Idol and Ben reminds me of Simon Cowell with his straight talk.

The first night had five groups compete for 4 spots in the next round, then the other 5 competed for the 4 remaining spots. The eliminated groups were Men of Note and Pitch Slapped, which I think was good judgment by the judges. On the Rocks is also weak and is likely to be eliminated on Wednesday.  The final round will be judged by the TV audience.

There are two groups that I expect to make it to the finals. It is almost unfair to have Jerry Lawson, a consummate professional, competing against amateur groups. The one group that has a chance is The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University, who have lush harmony, excellent dynamics and obviously know what they are doing. I think they may capture the imagination of the audience in the final vote tally.



 

apskip:
Sing-Off 2 ep. 2

The competition continues to be interesting. Some groups stick to one style that they do particularly well and others try to showcase their diversity, sometimes with disastrous results.

We start with two halves of 4 groups each and the 2009 Sign-Off 1winning group NOTA performing in between. Here were the results:

On the Rocks
Street Corner Symphony
11th Hour
Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town

In this first group the class act was Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town, who judge Ben Folds challenged to expand their performances beyond their genre (which they own). Street corner Symphony is performing well. I felt On the rocks had great choreography, but was somewhat marginal on singing talent. HOwever, the judges found 11th Hour the weakest, so they were selected to perform their exit song.

The second group:

Backbeats
Committed
Groove for Thought
Yale U. Whiffenpoofs

The Whiffenpoofs went outside of their genre and were punished accordingly. They were trying too modern pop music when they should have stuck to the older, more traditional a cappella pieces that they own. The other 3 groups are all about equal in talent. The Whiffenpoofs were eliminated and performed their exit song.

The next episode will be Monday Dec. 13 but the first two are already up on the www.nbc.com Videos website. Each of the 6 remaining groups will perform twice in 2 hours. That should be interesting.

BamBam:
I watched this show for the first time this week and really enjoyed it.  So much better than American Idol.  Any idea how much time the groups have between taping? 

apskip:
BamBam,

No, I don't know for the first two weeks of 4 episodes total. However, I know that episode 5 and 6 will have to be live in order to have the audience vote be he criteria for determining the winner.

apskip:
The third episode of Sing-Off 2 was televised last night. As in the prior one, I came away disappointed in the judging. With 6 teams left at the start, the team eliminated was Groove for Thought while On the Rocks rolled on. On teh Rocks dances with great energy and sings OK, but this is a singing contest, not a choreography contest. Groove for Thought sang exquisitely, with its only flaw being to not choose a really rock music song for their first of 2 performances (the second was for a "Guilty Pleasure" and allowed more latitude). However, the judges picked what to my ears was the wrong team to survive.

There was little question that Committed, Street Corner Symphony, Back Beats and Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town would move ahead. Jerry Lawson sang an unusual version of "I Can't Get No - Satisfaction" that was outstanding.

Two teams will get the ax tomorrow night , leaving only 3 in this competition. I predict those remaining will be Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town (they could have mailed them the check before this competition ever started), Street Corner Symphony and Committed. What distinguishes all of them are lush harmonies and a strong lead singer.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page