Meet The New Competition on The Sing Off
The second season of The Sing-Off debuted last night. Here's all the action that went on during the first episode. Our picks include: an Adam Lambert voice-clone, the real-life version of the Glee cast, a vocal legend, and more!
Last year's The Sing-Off was a huge hit. This years season is full of talent. In case you missed it, the premise of this show involves ten vocal A cappella groups competing for the title of "Sing Off" champion. This season's winning group is granted $100,000 and a Sony Music recording contract. Nice!
This season's host is Nick Lachey, who is definitely unbiased when presenting these groups. He actually barely was phased even when our minds were melted off by some of the talent.
The three judges this season are: Ben Folds, Nicole Scherzinger, and Shawn Stockman of Boys II Men. Ben clearly has a great handle on technical elements of A Capella and clearly makes it known in his comments/critiques. Shawn is also a great candidate as a judge, as Boys II Men are pure vocal genius.
Allow us to introduce you to the ten initial groups, and tell you who ended up going home. Beware: spoiler alert!
"Eleventh Hour" performs "Baby" by Justin Bieber
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This group from Ohio is like the real life version of Glee. There's an art-student, computer programmer, honor roll kid, homecoming queen, and more.
The judges had all great things to say about their performance and seemed to be very impressed that music brought them all together.
"On the Rocks" performs "Bad Romance"
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You may have heard of this Oregon based group. Their rendition of "Bad Romance" went viral on youtube. The 15 member all-male collegiate group performed their Bad Romance hit. As much as I really love their rendition of the song, I wish they would have done something else that no one has seen. They rocked it out, none the less. They really went all out and had better arena to do the song than in the youtube video.
The judges appreciated the choreography and sound. Ben Folds called them a bit "pitchy," but said their entertaining choreography made up for it.
"Groove For Thought" performs "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder
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This seven member group from Washington has a jazz based style. Several of the members are in fact music teachers, and one of the man's daughters is actually in the group too.
Overall the judges loved the performance. Shawn Stockman even compared them to "Take 6."
"Pitch-Slapped" performs "Good Girls Go Bad" by Cobra Starship
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These Berkley college students from Boston really rocked out to this song. I thought they did a great job, but unfortunately the judges weren't very enthused.
They were "a little weak," according to Nicole. However Ben Folds confessed there were "some pretty pitches goin' on." This group unfortunately was one of two to be eliminated.
"Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town" performs "Save the Last Dance" by the Drifters
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This group, based in California, has Persuasions member Jerry Lawson as a member. Jerry recorded 24 albums with the Persuasions, but is ready to make his art relevant in this modern age.
The judges had the utmost respect for Jerry, which moved him to tears. They were referred to as "Godfathers" of A Capella, and lived up to that title. The judges were interested in seeing them sing something more modern.
"The Wiffenpoofs" performs "Grace Kelly" by Mika
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"The Wiffenpoofs" was founded at 1909 at Yale- making it first A Capella group in history. I was a little leery of this bunch at first, but as soon as I heard the lead singer's high notes, I quickly became obsessed. The lead, Brandon, reminded me of (dare I say it) Adam Lambert?
The judges were impressed by their conventional style, and were overall taken aback by their performance.
"Men of Note" performs "For the Longest Time" by Billy Joel
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This New Jersey based a bunch are pure ladies men. They give it their best effort, but unfortunately they ended up going home. Nicole critiqued that they should have had a richer and warmer sound. "They were a little stiff", as noted by Shawn.
"Street Corner Symphony" performs "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears
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This Nashville based group has a Southern influence that makes then stand out. Jeremy, the lead singer in this number, was signed to a record label that eventually did not work out. However, this show may be his second chance.
The judges found them to be outstanding, especially Jeremy.
"The Backbeats" performs Beyonce's "If I Were A Boy"
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These California College students used to compete against eachother in the past. However, they joined forces and do a great job performing together.
The lead female vocalist, Joanna, has a voice that blew the judges away.
"Committed" performs "This Love" by Maroon 5.
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This Alabama based group's title "Committed" stands for their commitment to: God, their music, and each other. All of these men are certainly blessed by a higher power- I flipped out as soon as this group started singing. Shawn stated that they are "pure raw unadulterated talent." Shawn had what Nicole considered a "musical orgasm." If you have ears, you will too.
So, unfortunately, "Pitch-Slapped and "Men of Note" ended up going home. However, I am very excited to see what the remaining groups have to offer this season. I am most interested to see what Yale's "the Wiffenpoofs" have up their sleeves, and would be very content seeing "Committed" sing just about anything.
The Sing-Off Airs Mondays and Wednesdays 8/7c on NBC.