I'm going to try to finish blogging Season 3 of "The Sing-Off" before season 4 starts (in less than a week). Anyone want to place any bets on whether I'll make it? I think I'd bet against me.
Let's get right to it! In this episode, we meet the Dartmouth Aires, Pentatonix, Messiah's Men, Sonos, The Collective, Soul'd Out, North Shore and the Deltones. The group number is "Sing" by My Chemical Romance, a song I hadn't heard before and didn't buy.
First up is the Dartmouth Aires, singing Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground." It's a great song choice, and Michael Odokara-Okigbo (henceforth to be known as Michael O.) is a great choice for the lead. He has an incredible voice (he's also just absolutely gorgeous). The Aires really show their energy and cohesiveness here, and I think they were always the collegiate group to beat. I bought this track.
Pentatonix is next. I absolutely love them ... and when I saw their intro video, I viscerally hated them for this one little bit where they go into a coffee shop and order a coffee by singing. Something about that just made me barf -- it was just too cutesy. Somehow, from that low point, I ended up adoring these guys by their fourth performance. That's real talent, I guess.
They sing Katy Perry's "E.T.," and it's good. I especially like the moment at 2:50 (in the video below) where Mitch takes a solo. He has one of the prettiest tenor voices I've ever heard. Anyway, I'll be saying a lot more about Pentatonix as this blog goes on. Let's drop it for now and move on. I bought this track.
Messiah's Men is a group of West African men who immigrated to the U.S. after some sort of hardship (I don't remember and I'm not going to watch their intro video again). They do "People Get Ready" and it's not terrible, but it's nothing special either. I could've done without the religious stuff in their intro. I didn't buy this track.
Last group before the elimination is Sonos, a five-person group from LA that relies heavily on effects pedals when they perform. Of course, they couldn't use those on TSO -- it's just them and their microphones, and unfortunately I think that got the better of them. For their first performance, they did a speeded-up version of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" that actually works pretty well, and makes the song seem a bit darker (to me). I didn't buy this track, but it's not bad at all.
Elimination time! It's Messiah's Men, naturally. Of the four groups, they were the one that brought neither energy and excitement (Dartmouth Aires) nor anything new and innovative (Pentatonix, Sonos). Their swan song was "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," which ... whatever. I felt bad for them being the first eliminated.
Four more groups!
The Collective is a group formed by Jeremy Lister (frontman of the season 2 runner-up Street Corner Symphony), made up of professional musicians from Nashville. The lead singer, Ruby, has an interesting voice, but I don't feel like she has a really good handle on "Rolling in the Deep." Maybe it's simply that I don't like this rendition. I don't feel like The Collective ever lived up to its potential -- it's more of a group of singers, than a singing group. I didn't buy this track.
Soul'd Out is the second high school group to compete on TSO (the only one for season 3). They're from Wilsonville, OR (just up the road from me). I wanted to like them ... but then they did "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" with really stupid fake-60s style choreography and stupid headbands and I just fucking can't. It's cutesy and dumb and I'm neither surprised nor sorry that they were the first eliminated. Oops. Spoiler. I didn't buy this track. Obviously.
Let's have a palate cleanser! Next up we have North Shore, five middle-to-retirement-age guys from Boston who sing street corner doo-wop. After last week's summary elimination of the Cat's Pajamas, I was worried for these fellas ... but there's something special about them. They're not nearly as slick as Pajamas (thank goodness) and they seem like they can have fun. They sing "Runaround Sue," and it's about what you'd expect. But I love them. It's like watching your friends' dads sing (if your friends' dads were good singers). Amazing bass. (Oh, and their frontman, Guy, is just adorable.) I don't think I bought this track, but I kinda want to now.
Almost done! Finally we have the University of Delaware's Deltones, who made virtually no impression on me the first time I watched. They sang Randy Newman's "Feels Like Home," and ... maybe a ballad wasn't the right place to start? At least, it wasn't the right place to start with me. I didn't buy this track, and I don't have a lot to say about it. I didn't buy it.
Elimination time! It's Soul'd Out. Their swan song is "Mama, I'm Coming Home" by Ozzy Osbourne, and it's way better than "Aquarius." Damn.
Next week: another shitload of groups. Maybe season 3 really was bloated ...
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