The Sing-Off

I'm so excited! After a year off, NBC's unique singing competition is set to return to TV for the 2013 holiday season. It's unique because it's all a cappella--no musical instruments except the human voice. Surprisingly, with outstanding harmonies, talented bass singers, and amazing vocal percussionists, the viewer rarely notices the absence of instruments; the singers and their vocal arrangements are that good.

This cult favorite show was brought back in part by grass roots pressure from avid fans and especially as a result of the recent successes of the film "Pitch Perfect" and season 3 winners Pentatonix.

From 2009 through 2011, a total of 32 groups competed for cash prizes and recording contracts. While the winners of the first 3 seasons--Nota, Committed, and Pentatonx--were excellent, many of the other groups were extremely talented as well with great lead singers and tight harmonies. Street Corner Symphony, the Dartmouthaires, Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town, North Shore, Groove for Thought, Afro-Blue, Delilah, the SoCals, the Backbeats, Voices of Lee, and the Yellowjackets were all outstanding.

Even though the show is not available on DVD, fortunately, most of the performances are available on YouTube for viewing and purchase.

Hosted by 98 Degrees' Nick Lachey, the show features insightful group performance evaluations by 3 judges: Ben Folds; Shawn Stockman (Boyz 2 Men); and Nicole Scherzinger (Pussycat Dolls), who was replaced in season 3 by the charming and funny Sarah Bareilles. Since Bareilles wishes to pursue other ventures, she'll be replaced in season 4 by Jewel.

I'd recommend sampling the clips on YouTube to see what exciting performances there are. To start I recommend the Queen medley, absolutely nailed by the Dartmouthaires; "Let's Stay Together" by Committed; "The Lazy Song" by North Shore; "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Afro-Blue; the delightful "You Don't Own Me" with Nicole Scherzinger accompanied by the Beelzebubs; and "Born to Run", a mind-blower by all the males who competed in season 3.

I wholeheartedly recommend watching the upcoming 4th season; you won't be disappointed in the countless, entertaining, show-stopping numbers.

A Capella singing ranges the gamut of sounds and styles, from the lush vocal harmonies of Honey in the Rock to the eccentric style of The Bobs, but you wouldn't know it from this show, which grabs 8 of the most conventional A Capella groups it can find and sticks them up on stage to do battle. A couple of the songs were interesting, most notably a cover of Queen's Somebody to Love, but even the best groups were more notable for the choreographed showmanship than for doing anything especially interesting with the music.

It didn't help that the sound was off. Consistently throughout the show microphone's would shift in volume, seriously undercutting the bands. It's a fairly shocking failure in a show devoted to lots of people singing; perhaps wireless mikes just don't work as well when 20 people use them at once? Whatever the reason, it made the show feel rather messy.

I only watched the first episode, and even then I wound up skipping past the boring band bios and the judges comments (what do I care what judges have to say about dull songs?) I have no intention of watching any more of this.

Pros:

• The judges are actual, tried & tested, vocal music pros.

• The groups are exactly that, groups. There's a sweetness and a genuineness in watching a group do their thing!

• People keep saying it's a spin off of Glee + Idol. Well, I see it as the best of both shows without the weird "drama".

• This is music competition at it's best; just vocals, no hired session instrumentalists, no stoned judges playing "good cop - bad cop", no irky* chest hair... I respect that there's an audience for all that but if you just wanna see guys sing their butts off, this is it!

• The show's season is not too long or too short - I think there's about 10-12 two hour episodes per season. Brilliant!!

Cons:

• I think voting should start slightly earlier - the final 4 or 5 group. AfroBlue should not have left the show this season (2011). They were not the best but I think they were better that 2 of the 3 finalists. That's just me. If voting had started earlier, they would still be on.