I'll admit it: I'm obsessed with this show. I was truly bummed when the show was canceled after its (admittedly bloated) third season ... and totally thrilled when NBC announced it's coming back this Christmas. I think we have the success of the "Pitch Perfect" movie to thank. So, thanks, "Pitch Perfect"! You're hella silly, but if you had any part in bringing my favorite show back, you're awesome in my book.
This time around, the show ran a full half season (previous seasons were shorter, aired as holiday special programming). There were 16 groups, and for the first few weeks, only half the groups performed in any given episode. That was weird. It meant we had to get through a lot of chaff, too.
In episode 1, we met the first 8 groups: Delilah, Urban Method, Afro-Blue, The Yellowjackets, Vocal Point, The Fannin Family, The Cat's Pajamas, and Kinfolk 9. All of the tracks were available for purchase on Amazon.com, so I'm going to rate each performance by saying whether I bought the track or not.
As with all episodes, we started with a group number -- all 8 groups joining together on Pink's "F***in' Perfect." Pink's version was way more badass, but this was still pretty nice. I love the group numbers, just to hear all of the voices blending together. Deke Sharon did the arrangements, and he's pretty much an a cappella god. I didn't buy this one.
The first group to perform was The Yellowjackets, from the University of Rochester. I've long felt that "The Sing-Off" should have had separate categories for collegiate and non-collegiate groups (ha ha -- we were lucky to even get three seasons of this show, let alone a collegiate spin-off). Anyway, The Yellowjackets sang K'Naan's "Waving Flag," and gave me goosebumps. I should admit right here that for some reason, I have a weakness for all-male collegiate a cappella groups. I don't know why -- I just love them. So these boys had an "in" with me. The lead singer -- a white kid -- sang with a somewhat unfortunate island accent, but the energy in this number was fantastic. I especially loved the moment when everyone but one tenor dropped out. Love! I bought this one.
Next up, the Fannin Family -- a group of fresh-faced kids from a big Midwestern family. The lead singer is 14, and she does her best with Selina Gomez' "Who Says," but she struggles for the low notes in the verse. I also think the song was too similar to "Perfect" (thematically at least). Ben says the Fannins' voices are too similar, but family acts have been hugely successful before, so I don't know if that's really their problem. I did not buy the track.
Now we have Afro Blue. They are seriously fantastic, and I say that as someone who generally doesn't like jazz (I had a hard time warming up to season 2's Groove For Thought because they were too jazzy for me -- too "Manhattan Transfer"). Afro Blue is from Howard University, and they give a great first performance with Corinne Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On."
Listen to that bass! Damn!! Oh, and Christie Dashiell's lead vocal is, to steal Shawn Stockman's phrase, "like warm butter on grits." Smooth, warm, and delicious. Ben Folds said they made jazzy stuff accessible, and I really agree. I definitely bought this track.
One more performance before the first elimination, and it's the all-girl group Delilah, singing Bruno Mars' "Grenade." Delilah set the bar pretty high for themselves with this performance, which I would say was their best. They were never this good again. Watching this for the first time, I thought Delilah could win the whole thing. Spoiler: they didn't. But this performance is pretty freaking good.
Listen to that BASS! That's a girl making that sound. The lead singer really sells the song, too. Great passion and energy. I like this better than the original. I totally bought this track.
Time for a booting! I'll cut right to the unsurprising chase and say that the Fannin Family was first out. For their swan song, they sang "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie. I'm not going to say anything snarky about that. She's a 14-year-old girl. It's an age-appropriate song. They seem like sweet kids, and I felt bad for them. Let's move on.
URBAN METHOD, hell yeah! Urban Method is my favorite group from season 3. They were the first (on this show) a cappella group to feature a rapper. It may sound like a gimmick, but it's really well done. The rapper, Myke Charles, has amazing presence. He has this combination of tenderness and swagger that's just hard to describe. The rest of the group is just as strong. Urban Method quickly became one of my favorite groups. Their first performance, Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie," established them as a strong contender.
There were people who had a knee-jerk negative reaction to Urban Method online. Haters gonna hate, I guess. It's silly. Rap/hip-hop has been around for a long time, and it's here to stay. Hating all hip-hop is like hating all rock or all country -- I guess you can do it, but you're cutting yourself off from a wide genre of music, some of which is totally worth hearing. I bought the HELL out of this track!
Anyway, Urban Method is the shit. Throughout the competition, they showed versatility and humor, and they need to put out an album. Where's their Kickstarter?
From innovative and exciting to slick and mass-produced: next up, The Cat's Pajamas. Their performance of "Some Kind of Wonderful" is technically perfect (as it should be, coming from a group that does 200 performances a year in Branson, MO). Their Branson show is full of doo-woppy oldies, and they do things like pull a granny onstage for "Pretty Woman." There's clearly a market for that, and it's not me. I did not buy this track.
After them, we see Kinfolk 9, another supergroup put together just for the competition. I just don't know what to do with Kinfolk. They have some excellent voices, and Moi Navarro is definitely a great lead singer. He has a lovely voice and terrific presence. But ... a great frontman does not a great group make. Ultimately, these guys had a sob story but not a lot to back it up. I didn't buy this track.
Finally, Vocal Point, from Brigham Young University (the second BYU group to appear on "The Sing-Off" -- the girls' group, Noteworthy, was on season 1). I never really liked VP, although their performances were good. I don't know why, but they just rubbed me the wrong way a bit. (It's not because they are Mormon; I loved Noteworthy.) Anyway, they did a very energetic, very credible version of "Jump Jive and Wail," and were in no danger of being sent home first. I didn't buy this track.
Elimination time!
Vocal Point and Urban Method are called first, unsurprisingly. The first time I watched this, I was absolutely sure Kinfolk 9 was about to get the boot. But no -- it's The Cat's Pajamas! There are five very shocked guys in shiny suits on that stage -- no way they expected to be the first out. But as Ben Folds said in his blog, one criterion for the judges is the group's versatility and potential for growth. The Cat's Pajamas didn't seem all that likely to grow, to me. It would've been funny to see them muddle through Hip-Hop Week, though.
Whew! Next time, eight more groups, including two of my favorites (Dartmouth Aires and Pentatonix). Join me, won't you?
