The Sing-Off: 'Folk Tale

There was a lot to cover in Monday night’s two-hour “Sing-Off” extravaganza.

We had the typically lavish, over-crowded group number (this time it was Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know”) and we had 12(!) competitive performances from six groups, with one unfortunate collection of singers giving us their swan song at the end.

Round 1 featured each group singing a current radio hit, while the second round somewhat randomly turned back the clock to the 1960’s. In the spirit of last night’s jam-packed episode, let’s get on with the recap.

Vocal Point opened the night with a solid performance of Justin Bieber’s “Never Say Never.” As Shawn pointed out, watching grown men sing Justin Bieber is just inherently funny. Fortunately, Vocal Point also had a good arrangement, strong vocals and crowd-pleasing moves on their side. Personally, I think they could’ve used the services of Justin Bieber’s suddenly unemployed swagger coach, but it was still a delightful way to start the evening.

Fortunately, they did much better with “The Way You Look Tonight” in the 60’s round. At first, I was a little disappointed that they didn’t keep the cool, lounge-y vibe that kicked off the song, but when I saw that they were intentionally hopping between tempos and genres to cover as much 1960’s music as possible, I was more impressed, even if it was still slightly schizophrenic to my ears (and eyes).

I really liked that Delilah went lower-key (not literally) with their performance of Adam Lambert’s “Whataya Want From Me” after their bombastic “Grenade” last week. Shawn was right about how it was a lesson in how harmonies are built and each singer pretty much held her own. I actually kind of wish they’d kept things minimalist the whole time because by the time everyone joined in to sing the familiar melody, their time was almost up. (We DID have 12 songs to get through.)

Unfortunately, their 60’s round take on “Heat Wave” was a COMPLETE dud. I thought it was a totally predictable choice for an all-girl group, and I wasn’t thrilled by the unimaginative arrangement (then again, what can you really do to this song?) Maybe I’m just sick of hearing people sing this during Motown Week on “American Idol.” The best thing about it was their retro dresses and their period-appropriate moves.

I thoroughly enjoyed Urban Method’s multi-tasking soloist Troy (and the reggae-ish vibe of his voice) as well as the female soloist whose name I didn’t catch, even if their on-stage interactions were a bit awkward. However, rapper Myke was jarringly over-the-top in the second half of the song, making for an unpleasant end to their first performance.

Meanwhile, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the group finally hit their highest note (yikes, I’m turning into Nick Lachey) when they stopped taking themselves so seriously (“We’re edgy!”) and had fun. Their 60’s round performance of “Dance to the Music” was pure joy, funk, guitar solos and my boy Troy. The only problem I see is that the group was at its best when it abandoned its “Rapapella” identity. So what do they do from here on out?

Afro-Blue easily won the first round with their jazzy take on “American Boy” (I mean, I even feel a little silly pointing that out because it’s so obvious). EVERYTHING about it was brilliant…the cool, effortless scatting at the beginning, easy/breezy performance quality, the groovy soloist and the rafter-rattling bass and beat boxing.

After (arguably) giving two of the best five performances of the season, there was bound to be a bit of a letdown. Their take on “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” was a perfectly solid performance that came off a bit disappointing because of Afro-Blue’s previous excellence. I really enjoyed soloist Trent’s voice (basically everyone in this group is amazing, it turns out) though I wish he’d opened his eyes and connected more with the audience. I also liked the “Everybody was talking about you” add on at the tail end of the song because I love a group that looks at an iconic tune like Marvin Gaye’s classic and says, “It’s really good, but what if we added THIS?”

I don’t know if the Yellow Jackets’ main soloist was TRYING to mimic Taio Cruz’s nasally voice or if that’s what he sounds like, but I did NOT enjoy him at all. It’s too bad because their version of “Dynamite” had a promising opening (those opening chords) and a decent finish, even if they’re choreography way heavy on mugging. The middle section was rescued by featured soloist Aaron.

Speaking of Aaron, his voice is so crystal clear and his performance is so earnest that I didn’t even mind the shameless flirting with judge Sara Bareilles during “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” I also appreciated the horns at the beginning and the faux-conductors off to the side. I thought it was easily the best performance of the 60’s round and probably what kept them in the competition. (Or maybe I’m the only one who thought they were in serious jeopardy after “Dynamite.”)

The pre-performance package showed us an overwhelmed (uh-oh) Kinfolk 9 (pictured, right) obsessing about their blend and talking about how they have to step their game up. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you if their blend was any better this week because I was completely bored by their listless performance of “Price Tag.” Their singing, choreography and arrangement all appeared to be devoid of life. The only thing I remember is featured soloist Mary dropping it as if it were hot for a moment.

That’s probably why their rendition of “Let It Be” turned out to be too little, too late. I’m not as big a fan of soloist Moi as everyone else seems to be, but he absolutely put his heart and soul in this performance. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much all there was to their by-the-numbers performance, which proved to be their last hurrah.

At least Kinfolk 9 proved they had a sense of humor by picking Beck’s “Loser” as their swan song. The choice came down to them and Delilah, who may have had the worst performance of the night with “Heat Wave”, but had a stronger body of work overall.

So what’d you think of this episode? Should Urban Method have been in trouble instead of Delilah? (I was ok with putting them through after their 60’s performance.) Why was Nick’s suit supposed to be retro? (It was a little shiny, I suppose.) Finally, was Moi’s distractingly terrible haircut the REAL reason Kinfolk 9 went home? (To be fair, it was probably the fact that they were the worst group, but still…)

The Sing-Off: Shore Thing

Sorry about the late recap.

I went to see “Drive” on Monday morning, so I’m just now catching on the programming I missed. (Also, I’m still a bit traumatized by all the brutal murders in that movie.)

Anyway, the eight groups in the second bracket of “The Sing-Off” made their debuts on Monday. They kicked off the evening with a solid rendition of My Chemical Romance’s “Sing.” Personally, I liked being able to tell that the dozens of voices on stage weren’t always blending quite perfectly, but it was still a very good way to kick off the night.

Two more groups went home by the end of the two-hour extravaganza. Let’s break them down, in order of appearance.

Darthmouth Aires: Their performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” was a really great, energetic way to start the night. Then again, the song started off with a bang and pretty much stayed there, making for an upbeat but slightly stagnant performance. Lead singer Michael had plenty of charisma, but I was just as drawn in by what the entire group was singing. In fact, (as Ben Folds pointed out) there were a few instances where they kind of drowned him out a bit.

Pentatonix: On the other hand, I LOVED Pentatonix’s electro pop arrangement of Katy Perry’s “E.T.”, even if it did sort of collapse a bit toward the end. The three lead singers are solid (especially soulful white boy/head honcho Scott), but I was really blown away by their bassist and their beat boxer, the best damn vocal percussionist/cello player on the Internet. Definitely looking forward to hearing what else this group has up its sleeve.

Messiah’s Men: The fact that Messiah Men’s story — a group of refugees from Nigeria who bonded together through music — is the most interesting thing about them is both the best and worst thing I can say about their time on the show. On the one hand, they’re a living, breathing testament to the power of music. On the other hand, their performance was completely boring. The lead singer had a good voice, and the background singers created an impressive sound together (much smarter, more qualified people can break down their vocal prowess), but there just wasn’t much else going on performance-wise to compete with the other group’s on this show.

Sonos: Plenty of acapella groups SAY they like to take popular songs and turn them on their heads, but Sonos actually did it. Their take on “Wicked Game” was certainly the most polarizing performance of the night, but I was fascinated by it and I particularly enjoyed their lightning fast vocal percussionist. In fact, I actually tuned out when they slowed things down to match Chris Isaak’s original…and revealed the flaws in their sparse sound. (Special Acapella Correspondent Erica says they need to add a baritone.) Also, even if they fall short of “The Sing-Off” crown, I hope we get to see what they can do with their pedals in the finale. Still, given that the most interesting thing about them was their arrangement, they need to prove that they can deliver awe-inspiring vocals.

The Dartmouth Aires and Pentatonix cruised to the next round leaving Sonos to edge out Messiah’s Men and deliver a swan song that was better than their actual performance. (Hate when that happens!) Anyway, on to the next foursome.

The Collective: The group of Nashville solo artists was put together by Streetcorner Symphony’s Jeremy Lister, so expectations were somewhat high. I thought the opening verse was very strong and highlighted lead singer Ruby’s fantastically husky tone. Unfortunately, things quickly fell apart during the messy, underwhelming chorus. (If you can’t blow it out like Adele — and most people can’t — you shouldn’t even try.) They never recovered afterwards and had the predictable blending issues from a group of soloists thrown together. Oh yeah…there’s also the fact that we’re all pretty much done with “Rolling in the Deep.”

Soul’d Out: Sorry, but these preppy high school kids looked downright silly and while they were misguidedly singing the hippy-dippy, “Aquarius” portion of the song. At least they sounded good because the performance didn’t get much better when it jumped to “Let the Sunshine In.” I just remember a mish-mash of sound and color punctuated by the lead singer’s spazztastic facial expressions. Other than that, I really liked it.

North Shore (pictured, left): Full disclosure: I was expecting to roll my eyes at these guys the same way I did when Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town lasted WAY longer on this show than I thought they should have. (What can I say? I hate old people, apparently.) Anyway, I’m delighted to say North Shore gave my absolute favorite performance of the night with their fun take on “Runaround Sue.” I loved their lead singer, who gave us just the right amount of charisma without veering into cheese, and I love their bass guy, who really looks like a retired cop to me for some reason. Note to Messiah’s Men: North Shore managed to completely charm and entertain a live and TV audience with a no-frills, low-choreography performance.

The Deltones: To be perfectly honest, I don’t remember too much about this performance. I remember that Randy Newman’s “Feels Like Home” was an oddly somber way to finish the evening, and an even odder choice for a group looking to make a splashy debut. Lead singer Jessica was very impressive early on, and once the rest of the group kicked in they helped carry her to a good performance. The problem is (as you can tell) they didn’t leave much of a mark.

This elimination was a little tougher, but the high school kids of Soul’d Out were sent home in favor of the more experienced (but more train wreck-y Collective). The kids were cute, but I didn’t really see them evolving into anything great. Meanwhile, Jeremy’s group needs to get its Collective ass in gear.

So what’d you think of this episode? Am I imagining things or is Shawn Stockman doing a significantly better job this year as a judge? Anyone else weirded out by the oddly quick cameo from Committed, last year’s winner? (Can they at least get on stage?) Finally, were you surprised that Messiah’s Men were eliminated? (I feel that if we’d been sending them back to Nigeria instead of Minneapolis they might still be around.)

The Sing-Off: It's Delightful, It's Delicious, It's Delilah

What am I doing recapping “The Sing-Off”?!

I have someone in my own household who is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to music, has a great ear (two, actually) and was in a collegiate acapella group for FOUR YEARS.

So consider this both my first recap for the third season of “The Sing-Off” AND the start of my campaign to shame my girlfriend Erica into breaking this show down.

Before we get to the musical performances, I want to welcome new judge Sara Bareilles into the fold. Even though female judges on reality shows apparently have a chip installed into their brains that forces them to do stuff like blather on about contestant’s “journeys” or comment on their looks, I found Bareilles to be a major upgrade from Nicole Scherzinger, who mostly found new and unexciting ways to say nothing. (At least she looked fantastic in HD.)

Bareilles, on the other hand, managed to slip in specific and helpful criticism despite the fact that she was visibly and endearing nervous during her first night on the job. (What was that about Cat’s Pajamas’ “huge package”?)

Last night, eight of this season’s 16 groups performed, with two sorry sacks being sent home by the end of the two-hour premiere.

If Erica were here, she’d tell you all about how much she HATED the fact that two of these poor groups barely had the chance to unpack their bags before being unceremoniously dumped. I, on the other hand, am perfectly ok never seeing the Fannin Family again. (Sorry…but it’s true.)

Let’s get to the evening’s first batch of performances, featuring (in order of appearance) The Yellow Jackets, Fanning Family, Afro-Blue and Delilah.

The Yellow Jackets: The group (which is not from Georgia Tech, as I assumed, but from the University of Rochester in New York) performed “Wavin’ Flag”, more commonly known as the most recent “World Cup song.” (At least if you live outside the U.S. and care about soccer.)

With their bright yellow blazers and flag-assisted choreography, the Yellow Jackets were certainly near the top of the leader board last night when it came to flair and style. Their soloists were strong (especially that particularly angelic tenor), but I think they can make some improvements as a group. As Ben Folds pointed out, their tempo fluctuated a few times. I don’t think they were at their best last night, but I look forward to watching them try to get there.

Fannin Family: To be honest, I was a little creeped out by them during their brief bit in the opening group performance of Pink’s “Perfect.” Got a bit of a “Children of the Corn” vibe. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to learn that this group is comprised of siblings. It was equally unsurprising to learn that these siblings’ voices blend excellently together. Despite being led by a strong performance from their 14-year-old soloist, I found their arrangement of Selena Gomez’s “Who Says” to be too sleepy and everything about their performance was the opposite of dynamic.

Afro-Blue: This group (who performed Corrine Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On”) is just cool. Their soloist set a relaxed, self-assured tone and their bassist was insane. This group from traditionally black Howard University was my favorite group from the first batch. I mean, they’ve even got a token white girl! I know Afro-Blue is proud of their jazzy vibe, but I look forward to seeing how they interpret something a little more upbeat.

Delilah: All-female acapella groups have it tough. The fact of the matter is their basses (and other singers who comprise the bottom end) can’t go as low as guys, so their sound often winds up being tinny and a little irritating. (Do you think it's an accident that all-male groups have won the first two years?)

I don’t know if that’ll be Delilah’s downfall down the line, but last night the group dealt with that problem by featuring an astonishing solo from singer Amy and an interesting re-working of a super-popular (overplayed) song, Bruno Mars’ “Grenade.” This super group — comprised of former Sing-Off castoffs — is definitely a cut above the other all-girl groups we’ve seen on this show. (If Erica were here, she’d tell you how annoyed she is that people who’ve already been on this show got another chance to resurface and possibly robbed a new, deserving group of a spot.)

Afro-Blue and Delilah easily advanced and the Yellow Jackets edged past the Fannin Family, who clearly were not ready for prime time. (As evidenced by their messy swan song performance of “Tomorrow.”)

The next four contenders, in order of appearance were Urban Method, Cat’s Pajamas, Kinfolk 9 and Vocal Point.

Urban Method: I don’t think I’m breaking news here by saying that acapella is inherently dorky and cheesy, so I can appreciate the fact that this Denver group is trying to set itself apart with an “edgier” style. However, I think Urban Method takes itself WAY too seriously. They got off to a strong, dramatic start, and their lead singer/rapper Mykal DOES have some star quality, but I don’t think their arrangement really had anything special. The background singing wasn’t strong enough to support this performance when the singing and rapping parts came together in the end, which made things sound like a bit of a jumbled mess. Luckily, their vocal percussionist and bass helped pick up the pieces.

Cat’s Pajamas: This all-male group is pretty much exactly what most people would imagine of if you mentioned acapella music to them. Unfortunately, I don’t mean that as a compliment.

Their professionalism and polish on “Some Kind of Wonderful” is admirable, but they came off WAY too cheesy and I just didn’t see enough evidence to suggest they’d be able to do something vastly different or interesting. Oh well, at least they have those 200 shows per night (Ben!), I mean per year in Branson, Missouri. Also, why was their swan song (“Bye Bye Love”) better than their actual performance? (And somebody get their poor, overworked VP/bassist a glass of water.)

Kinfolk 9: Once I got over how terrible lead singer Moi Navarra’s hair is, I was mostly able to enjoy this group’s musical stylings on OneRepublic’s “Secrets.” Kinfolk 9 appear to be a collection of struggling musicians who assembled as a group to win this show. There was also a strong emphasis on artistry in their pre-performance package. Maybe I was influenced by their slightly pretentious pre-performance package, but I detected more than a hint of unease and desperation in Moi’s performance when I watched him, despite the fact that he actually sounded really good. (Or maybe I was just predisposed to disliking him because of his stupid hair and his stupid clothes…you’re a dad, Moi…dress like a grown up!) Maybe next time they perform, I’ll close my eyes and just listen. (Which reminds me…open your eyes when you sing, Moi!)

(If Erica were here, she’d point out that the reason the background singers didn’t gel very well is probably because they have a bunch of soloists trying to blend.)

Vocal Point: The final group of the evening (from BYU) delivered what was probably the most entertaining performance from both a visual AND musical standpoint. Like the Yellow Jackets before them, Vocal Point brought the bright blazers (and the punny!), but also brought a sense of joy to the stage without sacrificing any of their musical chops. That first modulation was sickly smooth. (The judge say “modulation”…I yell out, “key change!”)

So what’d you think of this episode? Is Ben Folds the best reality competition show judge? (Honestly…who’s better?) Will I ever NOT think of soft rock radio station mainstay Delilah (“De-lye-laaahhh”) when I see this group of girls perform? Is Nick Lacey human or an animatronic puppet programmed to robotically deliver terrible puns? (For the record, I think there’s a decent host buried in there somewhere…Lachey shows potential when he goes off script like he did when he accidentally interrupted Ben for a bit.)

Finally, do you think either Fannin Family or Cat’s Pajamas got a raw deal? (I’m ok with both eliminations.)