The Sing-Off Season 3 Episode 4 – Highlights

Aw man! I’m kinda bummed out. I admit, I was rooting for Sonos because they were one of the few competing groups that I was familiar with before The Sing-Off even started, and I love some of the stuff they are doing online. But alas, they didn’t make the cut this week. They stuck to their signature style, but it just didn’t shine as it’s supposed to without their effects pedals.

Also, what people might not know is that last februari, only a few months before the show was taped, their sixth member left the group. A male voice they decided not to replace, and a male voice they could’ve used so well in all three songs they were allowed to perform. So much of their elimination comes down to choice. Chris was so nice to explain some of their choices in an interview with “Yakkety Yaks”. I’ll post a link to that at the end of this article.

Now let’s get going with this week’s highlights!

Credit where credit is due

Two weeks ago the Dartmouth Aires absolutely killed it, but I didn’t post their video. This week they killed again… twice. So there’s no way I could start with anything else than them. Their first performance Animal was a complete joy to watch but their sixties song Pinball Wizard brought it up to spectacular.

Like Vocal Point, they use the energy of a group of college guys in their advantage, but also know how to rise above “just energetic”. The choreography is just so darned strong, they have a very steady beat going and most groups couldn’t pull off that low bass note in the intro. All of this gives rockstar lead singer Michael a chance to shine. This guy has good looks, a killer voice and there’s just something in the way he moves around the stage with confidence.

I’d just love to see him do Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar! And I hate you, Ben Folds, for mentioning Jesus Christ Superstar as well, cause I swear I thought of that first!!

Second up is, yes, Pentatonix. This week they showed they can very well take on songs that aren’t based on electronics. While this one isn’t as over the top as their other performances, they very effectively reinterpreted a classic sixties song to current attention span-standards. They mix it up, bring in some insane horn-solo, slap on a live band-ending and end up being once again a bunch of incredible performers.

Sixties night

Well, there were top 40 songs too, but all the fun happened in the sixties. And I can’t leave out the only band that’s old enough to remember them: North Shore. I didn’t give them a chance at first mainly because of their doo wop-background. But these guys have some character and I can safely say they are the most awesome doo wop group I have ever seen.

It can be a big risk to cover an all time classic like Unchained Melody cause we all have heard the song a thousand times and there’s a lot to live up to. It’s slow, and it’s not complicated. (Which doesn’t say it’s not hard.) But they completely nailed it and blew everyone away.

And what else happened on the show, RJ?

Ok, I just gotta mention this. At a certain moment, in a certain intro-clip, there was a mixed vocal group rehearsing a cappella in a hot tub. I’m gonna repeat that for ya. A mixed vocal group. Rehearsing. A cappella. In a hot tub!! I’m gonna stop it right here and leave the rest to your imagination because this is an all-ages blog. Let’s just say this is as close to perfection as a fantasy is ever going to get.

Conclusion

We lost another group, and the quality of the performances in this second bracket is rising as well. Next week we’re going to see the ten remaining groups in the biggest opening number yet. Although I am wondering how they’re gonna fit ten groups in those eight balconies! One way or another, we’ll be back next week with mooore Sing-Off!

further reading:

• Interview with Chris from Sonos on Yakkety Yak – link
• Weekly blog by Shawn Stockman – link
• No blog (yet) by Ben this week!