The group number this time is "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane. I actually thought the title of this song was "Simple Thing." Dork. Pretty good song. I love these group numbers. Deke Sharon (who arranges them) is a wizard. Seriously, how would you like to take a pop song and arrange it for a vocal choir? And make it sound awesome? If that sounds easy, I would like some of what you're smoking. I didn't buy this track, but I'm going to.
Tonight's theme is radio hits and 60s classics. First up is Vocal Point. Once again, we get to hear about Ben's ailing dad. Ugh. I'm sorry his dad was sick (and then died), but I didn't need to hear about it all the damn time. Less of the contestants' personal lives, please! Anyway, they sing Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never," and it's pretty good. Something about Vocal Point is just too ... slick? ... for me. And they chose a Justin Bieber song. Blech. I didn't buy this one.
Next, we have Delilah doing Adam Lambert's "What Do You Want From Me." I like the way they do it, all breathy and serious, one girl joining in at a time. I'm still blown away by the fact that an all-girl group has a bass. Another strong outing from Delilah. I didn't buy this one but maybe I should have.
Hmm. Urban Method does "Just Can't Get Enough" by the Black Eyed Peas. I'm not a big fan of the Peas, and I didn't buy this track ... but I'm a *huge* fan of Urban Method. I liked this performance. Putting Troy out there to sing the lead was a good choice: he has a great voice and he's a good frontman. And of course, Myke's rap was great. Yeah, I'll have to go buy this track.
And here we have one of my all-time favorite Sing-Off performances: Afro-Blue singing "American Boy." Oh man. Christie's scat singing at the beginning? The adorable dance moves? Danielle's lead? The boys? It's just a great rendition of the song (way better than the original), done impeccably. I bought this track and so should you. If you watch the video, stick around long enough to see Shawn Stockman's critique. It's worth watching. Hang on, I'm gonna watch this one again.
OK, moving on. The Yellowjackets sing "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz, and it's OK. Not that special -- I think this could have been it for the boys in yellow, but they (spoiler) really brought it later this episode. Jamal sings the lead, and he's such a little cutie pie, but I'm not sure I liked his performance. I think the guys really sold this song. They have a ton of energy, and that always helps. I didn't buy this one.
Finally, Kinfolk 9 does "Price Tag" by Jessie J. It's OK. I was never a big Kinfolk fan, but this was probably their best performance. I didn't buy it.
No mid-show elimination ... we're off to the second part, where the groups sang 60s hits.
First up is Delilah, doing "Heat Wave" by Martha and the Vandellas. It's a great song, and they don't do a bad job with it, but something's lacking. It's not innovative. Ben Folds thinks they don't have the altos for this song, and I think maybe he's right. I didn't buy this track.
Urban Method does "Dance to the Music" by Sly and the Family Stone. It's a fun song, and they do a great job with it. It's probably their only performance that doesn't have any rap to it, but Troy gets to show off his amazing bass, and Kim really kicks ass on the lead. This is another UM track that I didn't buy, and will likely buy now.
Vocal Point, I must admit, does a really good job with "The Way You Look Tonight." It's very rat-pack jazzy, and the Jake's voice is perfect for the lead. I didn't buy this track, but it's probably my favorite VP performance.
Afro-Blue is back with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." The girls' background vocals are quintessentially 60s -- really well done. The judges didn't have much love for this performance, but I don't think it's bad at all. Maybe it's just too iconic a song. I didn't buy this track, but it's good.
Here is the performance where the Yellowjackets show they have more than just showmanship. "Can't Take My Eyes off of You" is just freaking perfect. The boys are ON. The vocal horns are awesome, the lounge-y percussion is beautiful, and the lead (sung by Aaron) is spot on. Thankfully, he didn't try to imitate Frankie Valli -- he just delivered the song, and it was excellent. One of my favorite performances of the season. This is definitely the one where they earned another week. I absolutely bought this track.
Last, and least, we have Kinfolk 9 doing the Beatles' "Let it Be." It was time for them to go home. I hope their individual careers took off, but they weren't really a cohesive group. Moi Navarro really is an excellent singer/frontman, and I would be happy to see him again ... but a great frontman does not a great group make.
Kinfolk is eliminated, and does "Loser" by Beck as its swan song. This was my favorite performance of theirs. It had more energy than all the others put together.
It's a snow day, so I'm going to plunge right ahead into episode 4!
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