"The Sing-Off" Recap, Night 2: No Happy Ending

One should read this (hopefully shorter than usual) recap with two things in mind: I'm starting it 40 minutes before Wednesday's show starts, and I'm still feeling the lingering effects of having my absolute favorite group, one that I had an emotional investment in, go home. (That was kind of a spoiler, but this is kind of 23 hours after it happened...I doubt I ruined the result for anyone.) But I shall press on...contrary to one of my roommates, I'm still watching tonight and Monday, and I still love Noteworthy to the ends of the earth (it's crazy, I'm like obsessed with them now that I can't see them on TV anymore), so it's all good. And with that...I proceed to this frustrating, exhilarating, devoid-of-instruments (as Nick Lachey STILL loves to remind us) world we like to call...."The Sing-Off."

• The Devil Children Beelzebubs: They started off the program with probably one of the worst things I have ever seen in my life...a bunch of dorky White college boys doing "Right Round." The song's bad enough as it is...so why did they feel the need to introduce it into the a cappella world? On top of that, I spotted SEVERAL pitch problems...I usually don't resort to this extreme of criticism, but it honestly hurt my ears at some points. It just...didn't work. At all. There are some hip hop/rap-esque songs that work well in the land of vocal groups--Nota proved that later on with "Down"--but this was not one of them. It was a disgusting, painful performance, and the judges' little love-fest afterwards was inexplicable. (Ben Folds, a little bit of your credibility flew out the window right there.) Their second performance, "Come Sail Away, " was slightly better, but it still suffered from an acute case of Overeager disease. 'Onestly...their facial expressions, can they be more obnoxious? Shawn may have thought they grated their trademark style of cheese into "a fine mozzarella" here, but I saw as more of a slightly moldy Muenster. (I hate Muenster, by the way.) All in all...PLEASE mess up, Beelzebubs. I want you guys on the next plane back to Tufts, and with the judges worshipping your every move, you're going to need a HUGE trainwreck for that to happen.
• Noteworthy (awwwww...): It's kind of hard to write about them now that they're gone...but I'll find the strength. (OK, it's not THAT bad...but honestly! At least I know they have nowhere to go but up...) Now back to the recap...does "Viva la Vida" have some sort of curse on singing competitions or something? First poor Matt Giraud was felled by it on "American Idol" (albeit with a kind of misguided arrangement). Now its spacious, arena-filling quality ended up being the downfall of Noteworthy's stint on "TSO." I liked it much better watching the second time around (it made much more sense as an arrangement)--but I have to admit, it wasn't completely put together. It just didn't kick like the original did, and there were a few pitch problems that made it fall apart a bit. Still...the judges went to town on it in a way that I thought was too critical. Not mean...they just had a lot more to pick on in it than I thought was necessary. This got even worse with the girls' killer performance of "Hold On" (a song I had never heard until tonight)...I saw NOTHING wrong with it at all, and this is coming from the person who loved their performance of "Think" last night but still had a few kinks to point out. It was fierce, on key, energetic, and...I know Nicole said this about Maxx Factor, but I think this applies here..."sassy but classy." I audibly squealed at several points, something that I rarely ever do even with the best musical performances. So when the judges started gently tearing it apart, I was confused..."too much treble," for example? It's a FEMALE a cappella group! It was just a fiery, instantly memorable performance, and I thought it deserved much more credit than it received.
• Voices of Lee: I still can't get started with them. They're just...boring. Really, really, overearnestly boring. Their first performance, "No One," had the vocals there...the lead singer had a pretty nice voice, capable of handling the raw power Alicia Keys put forth in her version, and the other singers framed her voice nicely...but the execution was much too white-bread. Contrary to Ben, when they broke into the "ching-chings" in the middle, I was put off, rather than excited. It was just too square...it's an Alicia Keys song, not a Gaithers number! So they missed the boat on that one...as for their second number, "Freedom '90" by George Michael, it was far too shouty and overdone. It could have been a tender, "Hold On"-like jamfest...but instead ended up being like a shouting match by (yep, I'm going here...) the cast of "Glee" at 12. Unfortunately, the judges fell in love tonight, so VOL is safe going into tonight...but I didn't feel like they really improved, and I hope the judges end up realizing their glaring weaknesses.
• Nota: The boys of Nota deserve some serious props...on a night where they tackled a hip-hop/R&B song I somewhat hate and during their second performance, I was in "aah! Noteworthy is in danger! SOMEONE mess up!" mode, I really, really liked both of their songs. "Down" was a clever (and again Latin-infused) rendition of a normally obnoxious number...unlike the devil boys earlier with "Right Round," they put some soul and excellent harmonies into it, even throwing in their own, fairly unique spin. Their next song was even more interesting...a group of young guys from Puerto Rico taking on a 70s Bee Gees hit sounds like a horrible idea on paper, but it ended up turning out great. They hewed close to the original, but the arrangement was pretty darn cool, and the lead singer's falsetto was, I admit, a bit more appealing than his normal voice. It just worked...I don't know how, but it worked.
• The SoCals: My feelings were improved, but still pretty mixed, about this group tonight. Oddly enough, I loved their version of "Already Gone" (so much, apparently, that it WOULDN'T GET OUT OF MY HEAD for about 2 or 3 hours afterwards, and I kept singing it out loud)...the lead vocalist kicked it, the harmonies were very nice, and it just clicked for me. This might have been a little to do with the song...but I fell in love with the performance, predispositions about SoCal or not. On the other hand..."Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now" was an atrocious, overdone mess. It was like a production of "High School Musical" from Hel...sinki. (You know what I mean...) They shouted way too much, the choreography was obnoxious rather than charming and cheesy, and it was just painful to watch and hear. (The kiss at the end was random, by the way. Not bad, just...what the heck?!?!) I don't mind that they stayed, but with as bad of a second performance as they gave...I wouldn't have minded if they had left, either.
• Maxx Factor: I don't know what to think about Maxx Factor anymore. Their first performance, a harmony-licious reworking of Taylor Swift's painfully ubiquitous "Love Story," was a true triumph. It was beautiful, confident, and really a job excellently done. I don't know why, but I almost wanted to cry afterwards (in a good way, of course). On the flip side...I like them. I like "Rehab." I like radical covers of songs I know. But somehow...it fell apart. The pitch was wonky at a few places, especially during the bridge. It seemed the four lovely ladies didn't click, and it was kind of a worrying sign. Still, I love them...and regarding the current circumstances, I'm rooting for them (along with Nota) to go all the way...but I would have rather have had them go home than Noteworthy in...
• The Elimination: I think the judges were a bit off. As slightly underwhelming as Noteworthy's performance of "Viva La Vida" was, it didn't come close to the crumbly mess that "Rehab" turned out to be. And while "Love Story" was heartbreakingly beautiful, it lost out to "Hold On" in both the energy and dynamic quality departments. On top of that...this is not the bottom 2 I would have liked. Three of the four other groups (not Nota, of course) would have been a better fit for elimination. But that's just my opinion...and the fabulous girls of Noteworthy gave an excellent farewell performance of "Happy Ending" (sadly truncated, though).

And now, it's time for me to move on. Nick Lachey still has a big issue with incessant repetition--he toned down the "no instruments!" shtick tonight, but his explanation of the "guilty pleasure" concept OVER and OVER again was acutely annoying. Nicole slightly redeemed herself tonight with miniscule snippets of actual criticism, and Ben, despite a few disagreements with him tonight, still kept up a high reputation. And now...the show is about to start this Wednesday evening...so I bid adieu.

Apology/"The Sing-Off" Recap: Somebody To Love

So I kind of dropped off the face of the recapping earth here...I still was watching "Dancing" (albeit in a piecemeal, get-it-the-next-day-on-Hulu-sort-of-maybe-not fashion), I just...didn't make time, and the fact that there's only one reader of this thing (and they barely have time to read it), didn't really help. :) (Feelings about results in a nutshell: Would have picked Mya to win but Donny deserved it in his own special way, and I'm happy for him. And I still love Kelly, the salty Brit, and she put in a good performance for the finals, albeit one that deserved the respectable third place finish she got.) But I'm back...for a little bit...to write about a show near and dear to my heart...well, featuring people near and dear to my heart, at any rate..."The Sing-Off"! It's a charming little a cappella competition show, which I admit I would not be so compelled to watch if one of my favorite (and closest) vocal groups ever, the lovely ladies of Noteworthy from right here at BYU, weren't involved. (And yes, I will try to keep this objective. Operative word is TRY. :D) It had its ups and downs...but what awesome reality show (cough cough, DWTS and Idol) doesn't? And I'm pretty tolerant of these kinds of things, so I'll most certainly keep watching (even if, sniff sniff, Noteworthy gets sent home...IT SHALL NOT HAPPEN!!!) til the end. And with that...we proceed into the crazy, totally existing before "Glee" (thank you very much, posers) land of....a cappella singing!

• Nota: It doesn't take much to awake the fiery Latin music lover within me...heck, it's pretty much always awake...but the Puerto Rico-based Nota certainly did it with their spicy performance of "I'm Yours." I can't recall any serious pitch problems, they had a good blend, and when they did that zippy little salsa dance break, I was sold. Their intro package was just the beginning of many 'sob story' moments, but thankfully NBC's editing is slightly less manipulative and heartless than Fox or ABC. (Key word: slightly.) I'm pulling for these guys...to get second place. (You can probably guess why, but my reasoning is further explained below.)
• Voices of Lee (I'll be one of the few critics to not insert a "G" before the Lee...though they deserve it): So religious it made the gals at Noteworthy look like skater chicks, Voices of Lee, from Tennessee (hey, that rhymes!) was...OK. Their arrangement was indeed too earnest, though they admittedly kept the pitch fairly well. They just seem uncomfortable with the whole "moving to the music" concept...and not a good sign, it seems like they'd rather be singing a hymn or spiritual instead of stuff from the pop world. All in all, nice but not up to par...they're not long for the Sing-Off world, I suspect.
• Face: True to their name, Face is a very "in-your-face" group...they're a vocal rock band, apparently. Sadly...that didn't show too well on the TV screen and through the sound those mikes were trying to crank out. They were good (slightly uneasy/over-the-top facial expressions and all), but underwhelming. They had a bit of blend issues, and the lead singer just didn't scream "legit, awesome RAWKer" to me. Face didn't put a smile on my face, exactly...though I have a feeling they have major potential/hidden reserves of awesomeness, and probably rock much more when not placed in a national-TV situation, singing in front of millions (unfortunately, the judges did not agree...see below).
• NOTEWORTHY!!! (Can you tell who my favorite is?): I'm trying my hardest to keep my "objective observer" status, but...they were dang good. I was a bit worried when they said they'd be singing "Think"...I'd seen Amy (the lead singer, who's in Jazz Voices with me!) bring her voice to the skies with the killer opening number of "Under Pressure," but I was afraid the whole performance-on-TV thing might cause the soulful Aretha Franklin number to fall apart. It did not...Amy sang to the stratosphere, the girls brought the harmonies (and in Courtney's case, the hoppin' vocal percussion), and they really sold it. Amy did get a bit screechy...don't push so much, girl!...but she hit her notes with the precision of...a really precise thing. (It's finals week. Give me a break. :D) They just need to fine-tune their already-excellent balance and blend...the judges' comments (save Nicole's pointless rambling) were very spot-on, and also very refined and specific...a sign that Noteworthy is leading the pack? Perhaps.
• The 1st Elimination: I was a bit...OK, a lot...taken aback when they came back from commercial break and the first four groups were standing on the stage...I had no idea they were doing TWO eliminations! Naturally, I was scared to heck for Noteworthy, but they were announced safe second, so I could breathe easy. (And Nota was announced first as making the cut...go Nota!) As for the final two left...Voices of (Not Glee, LEE) and Face were left hanging...for a second (thank goodness they didn't cut to commercial...another reason why NBC beats Fox in the "let's manufacture drama & suspense" department), until ultimately Face was announced as the group going home. I personally...along with probably everyone else who watched, judging from the fiery (and eerily, almost universally pro-Face) comments on the NBC message board and the other recaps already gone up...would have sent Voices of Lee home. They just were...pretty darn boring. The whole vocal rock band thing was much more exciting, even if Face gave a performance that was somewhat of a non-starter.  (Their farewell performance of "Home" was a bit more put together and rocky, ironically.) Still...I'm not terribly distressed about it (the NBC message board posters are a different story, I saw so many "Face is amazing! The judges are stupid! I'll never watch this again!" posts that I wanted to slap them about the face...that pun was really not intended, for once), and Voices of Lee, barring a heinous mis-decision, will have their "Swan Song" pretty darn quickly.
• Beelzebubs: The second wave of 4 kicked off with a group I admit I had opinions formed about from the start...that would be the group of hopelessly dorky college guys from Tufts, the Beelzebubs. Starting off, their name is the devil...second, the performance clip that NBC had on their site the week before the show was "Right Round"...an ode to, well, something that should only occur after marriage, and even then it's an awkward subject. So we can safely say I was not very much a fan of the Beelzebubs (I refuse to use their annoying "Bubs" nickname, sorry) before this premiere performance. But I actually enjoyed it...the song was fun, their execution wild and free (though most certainly a bit too overbearing), and their pitch...well, like Ben, anytime I might have noticed them going flat or something, they distracted me with a really cool bit of choreography. Like that human train thing...that was amazing! All things considered, I still don't like 'em, Jasper (101 Dalmatians quote!), but they did definitely earn their spot in the Tuesday show with this energetic performance.
• Maxx Factor: Their name totally reminds of Max Factor, and then of lipstick, and then I'm confused because I'm not entirely sure who Max Factor really was. Anyhow...these ladies really charmed me. I mean, it's cool enough that they're in their 40s and 50s, still singing a cappella music and keeping the barbershop tradition alive...but they even picked an ABBA song! OK, that aside, I do admit their performance was a bit...unintentionally (or maybe intentionally?) hilarious/embarrassing-looking, but watching them was tons of fun (they totally had spirit!) and their harmonies were fairly tight, though the 4-member situation was working a number on their blend. I want them to go through and keep on truckin'...but I fear they may get lost in the shuffle with all the younger groups, and the lead vocalist's subpar solo in the opening number was a bit worrisome. Still, I love these ladies, and I wish them the very best. Even if they do inadvertently remind me about the awkward subject of lipstick.
• The SoCals (why do so many bloggers/commenters have issues getting this right?): For the record, this particular group is the SoCals, officially. They're alumni of the SoCal VoCals, a group at USC. There, got it straight? Good. As for their performance...ehhh. It didn't strike me as too creative an arrangement, the lead vocalist is obnoxious, and they lost their key quite a few more times than one would like. (To their credit, which...I'm shocked to say this, Nicole pointed out...they were excellent at uniting around whatever key they had drifted to. I know personally I have a problem shifting to a flat/sharp key and try to stand my ground with the note I know is right...but in an a cappella group, that's pretty much murder.) It just left me kind of cold. I fear this group seems a little too...boring. The fact that they live in LA (not to say it's very easy to get discovered even there, but it does help matters a bit), and that the biggest "sob story" producers could find was that a particular singer has acid reflux in her throat, certainly doesn't help matters. Still, they seem talented and could make this work. But to be truthful, with other groups I like and am interested in much more...I'm not sure I want them to.
• Solo (but not so low you couldn't hear it): The producers saved the most inspiring story for last...then gave us a sucker punch to the gut when it turned out this fledgling group, well...sang just a fledgling group would--not very much together. Shawn's comment that they were living up too much to their name of "Solo" was spot-on...it seemed like they just let everyone sing a solo, and put some random, not very cohesive harmonies behind it. The song choice did not assist them in this--"Whatcha Say" by Jason Derulo (it has an Imogen Heap sample!!) is not regarded as a goldmine for a cappella harmonies--and aside from the initially awkward but eventually charming "low" moment for probably the largest member of the group, this performance was kind of sad to watch. Even more sad to watch...
• The 2nd Elimination: Wherein Solo met their unfortunate end, at least on this show. With Maxx Factor and Solo the last two groups to learn their fates, I was a bit worried...and I honestly thought the result could have gone either way. (Sadly, two of my least favorite groups, the devil people and the SoCals, advanced first and second. Bother...) Maxx Factor could have got the axe for their lack of choreography and perception that they're out of their element...but Solo was equally in danger because despite their heartstrings-tugging backstory, they kind of sucked. The judges went for the jugular, and cut Solo just minutes after they gave their first, and last regular performance of the competition. Ouch. Again, I'm not horribly sad that they were the ones chosen to leave...after all, they didn't really bring anything to the "cohesive, amazing a cappella group" table...but this was their chance! Well...hopefully they'll get another one. And practice a bit more. (Or maybe those people are right and they really were created by NBC, in which case they'll be just fine.) Then again, they did choose "I Will Survive" for their "swan song"...of course, Kelly Osbourne chose that for her freestyle and got third place. So--it could go either way.

So that's it...or is it? You didn't think you'd get away without me critiquing the judges and the host, would you? (Well, you might have, since if you're reading this now, you probably haven't read anything else on my blog.) Well, brace yourself for the good, bad, and the (very attractive, as one of my roommates correctly noted) ugly...

• "Ben Folds: the best reality TV judge ever." Many a blog about "The Sing-Off" today (there should be more!) has had some form of this headline grace it. And they're right...Ben Folds, in addition to being an interesting and fairly talented/amazing singer/songwriter, can judge an a cappella singing competition like nobody's business...he knows music! He's critical by being constructive, not like a viper! (Cough cough, Simon...) He doesn't play favorites maddeningly! (I continue my cough.) And he's pretty darn funny, as demonstrated during the hilarious moment when he gave the deadpan instructions to Noteworthy that "it needs more cussing." (Unfortunately, I'm not sure all of the members realized that was a joke...well, Ben Folds DOES cuss a bit in his music...so that's understandable.) Anyhow, Mr. Folds is fun ("ahhh...LOOK OVER THERE!"), to the point, helpful, and just plain awesome. I'd be willing to replace Randy (oh please, please!) or even Kara (who I like, but she's expendable) on "American Idol" with this model of judging-related brilliance. Viva la Ben!
• Shawn Stockman: In the immortal...oh, who am I kidding...constant words of the completely annoying Randy Jackson (aforementioned): "It's a'ight, dawg." Shawn put on his best Randy impression last night...and made it a bit better. He actually had some good points, and stuff to say, so he wasn't completely annoying or pointless, but at times he spoke in sound bites, rather than constructive bits of criticism that would actually help the groups get better. (That was dope? I used to wear sweaters like that? 'Onestly, Mr. Stockman, 'onestly...) Still...I don't really mind him. He can stay. On the other hand...
• WHY in the name of Vocal Point is Nicole Scherzinger here at all? She makes Paula look like a Supreme Court justice. (Probably Antonin Scalia.) Between her vapid, "ooh! people singing! without instruments!" comments, the mysterious blowing of her hair, and the fact that she seemed to know nothing about music, and made even kind, "I just can't say anything bad" comments sound stupid...I want her off. Now. (Originally, NBC had a "guest judge" system where the third judges' seat was rotated between the four shows. Unfortunately, they hired Scherzinger for the whole shebang...which means we have three more glimpses of hell shows to endure the utterly nonsensical crap that comes out of the Pussycat Doll's mouth. (By the way...since when does being the lead singer of that group qualify one to judge an a cappella competition? That's like being the lead singer of a computer choir...well, they pretty much are that...albeit with much more scandalous dancing.)
• And of course, the host...Nick Lachey wasn't that great, and in the first part of the show I was mentally calling for him to get fired and replaced...but he sort of grew on me, in his own special way. He's still bland at many moments ("They're singing! A cappella! No instruments, no band! I'm going to tell you this again after the commercial, because you STILL need to know that!"), but he has his charm in some cases. At least we've learned that while looks run in the family (he and his brother Drew share a heartthrob quality that cannot be extinguished, even after most of the teenage girls who lusted after them are now married...), talent does not...Drew did MUCH better than this with his temporary hosting gig on "DWTS" (and permament, albeit short one on "Dance Wars") a few seasons back.

NOW that's it. I just changed the settings on Facebook so this will be posted there...which is probably where you just read this, which I hope you did, because I generally like people to read my posts. Just generally. Anyways, I'll have another recap I'm doing despite the need for studying tonight or tomorrow. Enjoy the show!