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by my Dutch blogging buddy and Sing-off specialist Robert-Jon Eckhardt (original article posted at http://a-cappella.robert-jon.nl on October 2nd, 2011)   

Wow. I almost thought my blogging-adventure was over. I even reached out to the a cappella gods on the day I was supposed to publish my second review of season three. But the a cappella gods answered my prayers and the second episode of The Sing-Off appeared online in high quality, allowing me to give you the highlights of this week!

Lots of good

I’m finding it very hard this week to choose which videos to show you guys, since there were many good performances, but no clear winners that were completely amazing or flawless. Since this is my personal blog, I decided to start out with the only performance that really touched me: Feels like home by the Delaware Deltones.

I love their motto “Friends First, Singers Second”, which can easily be mistaken for a lack of professionalism. I love it, because for me it says: We accept each other completely. We are able to give each other space. And we are able to be completely honost with each other when necessary. All of which I consider to be essential when singing together.

The jury was divided on whether or not the lead singer was suffering from nervous-pitchiness. But on the first listen, I was so taken in by her beautiful voice, the warmness of the backing choir and the skillful gradual build-up that I didn’t even notice.

Second up is Sonos. I knew them from before The Sing-Off and it’s safe to say these guys are really good. But in their intro-video, I was touched by how they apparently struggle to make a living and keep the band together, even with multiple albums and tours on their collective resumé. It’s gonna be very interesting to see them participate in a contest like this.

The group radiates professionalism. They all have great voices, Ben has some insane beatboxing skills and they occupy the stage as a single unit. I was sucked into their performance, but also found myself criticizing the emptiness in both their arrangement and their stage presence. Thoughts that were echoed by the judges’ commentary afterwards.

These guys do have the chops, big time. It would be amazing if the judges and coaches on The Sing-Off could help them find that special something, change that little bit in their style that would transform them into a group that has the chops and appeals to a massive audience.

The shape of things to come

The last video i’m featuring is E.T. by Pentatonix. I’m not posting this performance for being flawless, because it wasn’t. In some parts they were sloppy on the timing, which is unforgivable in a clubbing-song. Also, giving four people each their fifteen seconds of fame within a two-minute song made it a little messy and some effects, like the skipping beat, weren’t tight enough to be really effective.

No, the reason I’m featuring this video is because when they win The Sing-Off Season 3 in november, you’ll be happy you saw all their performances from the get go. These guys are just so innovative and I know they can perfectly pull off the minor things that didn’t work so well this time. They look good, they move well, their voices are amazing and they have a really, really good mix of people in their group.

What will get them there is their immense ambition that shows from their arrangements and presentation. Look out for a special feature later this week, where I will dive deeper into why these guys are so amazing, based on a performance they did about a year ago. (When there were still only three of them.)

Conclusion

I didn’t get to show all I wanted to show here. Right now you should really go watch Higher Ground by the Dartmouth Aires and Runaround Sue by North Shore, as their performances were probably technically better than the videos I showed you above. I just didn’t know as many interesting things to say about them.

Also I need to say this to the guys from The Collective: I have my doubts as to why you are on the show. If you don’t sing a cappella for the love of the artform, please don’t do it at all. If you are on the show to boost your individual solo-careers, you won’t make it and it is showing in your performance!

PS:

No sexual innuendos from Sara B. this time. I’m disappointed!! Haha. Maybe next time! You can expect some more background pieces on The Sing-Off later this week on a-cappella.robert-jon.nl, but if you need some more reading now, here’s some links to keep you busy:

• Ben Folds on Episode 2 – link
• Shawn Stockman on both episodes (second blog is really nice) – link and link

See you next time!

By Robert-Jon Eckhardt, our Sing-Off co-blogger 2011.

So I imagine something like this going down at the NBC offices:

“Dude, we should make the intro super epic.”
“Dude… totally.”

And then they did.

A whopping two minute introduction starts off the show. Ground rules, prizes, interview soundbites, jury feedback and lots of clips from upcoming performances. Judging from the outfits, they are taken from the entire season. Man, we are off to a good start. As stated before, I’m not gonna be able to go over all details every week. (For general information on season 3, go here.) What I can give you, are the highlights of this season’s premiere episode. Let’s do this.

Personality

Personality is your only chance to set yourself apart in a high quality show like The Sing-Off. Remember how season 1 winner Nota introduced themselves with a latin-infused rendition of Jason Mraz’ I’m yours? Sadly, only a few groups managed to show true personality. The one that stuck most with me was “rap-appella” group Urban Method. With their lead-rapper they have a clearly defined and recognizable style.

I just think they’re good. First off I love that they don’t stick to a much heard “vocal” or “choir-like” style but are really going for a hip-hop sound. I was completely drawn in by the “at ease-ness” and emotion of the female lead vocalist. Both leads had a great delivery and the chemistry between them only added to the drama of the song. This showed especially when either of them did not have the lead: they both jumped in on the backing vocals without losing any intensity in their facial expression. Now that’s one of the things that can lift a performance from good to great.

Vocals, rap, beats and bass were all awesome. How I would want this group to evolve is by improving the sound of the harmonies. In my opinion they could be even harder and synthier to really give that rough edge to a song. If they manage to be versatile, while having a rapper in the group, I expect to see them reach the finals.

The other group with a real strong personality was Afro-Blue. I’m not going to go in-depth with them because basically, I don’t know enough about their kind of music (black jazz/r&b) to make any sense. What I can say is that they’re incredibly smooth and do what they do with full conviction. Obviously, Shawn went nuts about them because this is just his cup of tea. (Watch a clip including the judges’ feedback here.) I suggest just listening to them and making up your own mind. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the finals either.

Girl power

The last special mention is for all-girl group Delilah. Consisting mostly of chicks from earlier seasons, the group is here to prove that they can be successful in a cappella without men. Hmm, okay. Sure. Well, let’s see. They brought in a female bass, which I’d never heard of before, but it does add depth to the arrangements. Also they have a great female beatboxer. But still, I did miss the warmth of baritone-harmonies in their arrangement.

Nevertheless, their performance pretty much kicked ass. Their styling was amazing, their performance was musically sound, powerful, emotional and lead vocalist Amy just brought it down. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. They got legs. Lots of ‘em. I did not have a problem with that.

And the winner is…

Hands down: premiering judge Sara Bareilles. Man, does she bring air to the show. She’s funny, sexy, authentic and not afraid to embarrass herself with some hilarious sexual innuendos. Having her on the judges has The Sing-Off now be a complete fun and positive experience. It shouldn’t be long before someone creates a “Crazy Sara moments on The Sing-Off” compilation video and yes, I will post that on a-cappella.robert-jon.nl.

I also think it’s fair to mention Nick Lachey here. It’s sometimes mentioned that he’s cheesy or something, but I think he’s doing a great job hosting the show. He’s humble, respectful and positive. So yeah, good job Nick!

Conclusion

As Ben said a few times during this episode, “that was a good first performance”. Which says it’s good, but also implies that more will be expected the next time. Same goes for this episode: it was good, but the cream has yet to rise to the top. With ten more episodes to go, there’s time enough for that to happen. See you next week, and keep an eye on a-cappella.robert-jon.nl for more Sing-Off posts!

further reading:

• The Sing-Off Season 3 Primer – link
• Shawn Stockman blogs on Access Hollywood – link
• Ben Folds blogs extensively about this episode – link

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by Robert-Jon Eckhardt, originally posted at www.a-cappella.robert-jon.nl. Check out RJ’s blog, it’s awesome and we can be so happy that he will write about the whole Sing-off season both on his and on Vocal Blog. Keep doing the Sing-thing, my dear co-blogger.