The Sing-Off (2009– ) User Reviews

Sing-Off Review (seasons 1-3)/Preview (season 4)

[vinylj45 · 10/10 · 29 September 2013]

I'm so excited! After a year off, NBC's unique singing competition is set to return to TV for the 2013 holiday season. It's unique because it's all a cappella--no musical instruments except the human voice. Surprisingly, with outstanding harmonies, talented bass singers, and amazing vocal percussionists, the viewer rarely notices the absence of instruments; the singers and their vocal arrangements are that good.

This cult favorite show was brought back in part by grass roots pressure from avid fans and especially as a result of the recent successes of the film "Pitch Perfect" and season 3 winners Pentatonix.

From 2009 through 2011, a total of 32 groups competed for cash prizes and recording contracts. While the winners of the first 3 seasons--Nota, Committed, and Pentatonx--were excellent, many of the other groups were extremely talented as well with great lead singers and tight harmonies. Street Corner Symphony, the Dartmouthaires, Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town, North Shore, Groove for Thought, Afro-Blue, Delilah, the SoCals, the Backbeats, Voices of Lee, and the Yellowjackets were all outstanding.

Even though the show is not available on DVD, fortunately, most of the performances are available on YouTube for viewing and purchase.

Hosted by 98 Degrees' Nick Lachey, the show features insightful group performance evaluations by 3 judges: Ben Folds; Shawn Stockman (Boyz 2 Men); and Nicole Scherzinger (Pussycat Dolls), who was replaced in season 3 by the charming and funny Sarah Bareilles. Since Bareilles wishes to pursue other ventures, she'll be replaced in season 4 by Jewel.

I'd recommend sampling the clips on YouTube to see what exciting performances there are. To start I recommend the Queen medley, absolutely nailed by the Dartmouthaires; "Let's Stay Together" by Committed; "The Lazy Song" by North Shore; "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Afro-Blue; the delightful "You Don't Own Me" with Nicole Scherzinger accompanied by the Beelzebubs; and "Born to Run", a mind-blower by all the males who competed in season 3.

I wholeheartedly recommend watching the upcoming 4th season; you won't be disappointed in the countless, entertaining, show-stopping numbers.

Finally!! A singing competition show 4 the best genre - a capella.

[ktwinsm · 10/10 · 25 November 2011]

Pros:

• The judges are actual, tried & tested, vocal music pros.

• The groups are exactly that, groups. There's a sweetness and a genuineness in watching a group do their thing!

• People keep saying it's a spin off of Glee + Idol. Well, I see it as the best of both shows without the weird "drama".

• This is music competition at it's best; just vocals, no hired session instrumentalists, no stoned judges playing "good cop - bad cop", no irky* chest hair... I respect that there's an audience for all that but if you just wanna see guys sing their butts off, this is it!

• The show's season is not too long or too short - I think there's about 10-12 two hour episodes per season. Brilliant!!

Cons:

• I think voting should start slightly earlier - the final 4 or 5 group. AfroBlue should not have left the show this season (2011). They were not the best but I think they were better that 2 of the 3 finalists. That's just me. If voting had started earlier, they would still be on.

A great concept that NBC/Sony can't seem to pin down

[rgforest · 10/10 · 11 January 2015]

The Sing-Off is a unique competition featuring just vocal groups with no instrumental backup. High School choirs, traditional collegiate A Capella, do wop and street corner sounds are represented as well as their more modern descendants where the bass singer and beat-boxer are a dedicated rhythm section. Each episode has one or two themes (classic rock, guilty pleasures, etc.) that challenge the contestants to perform out of their comfort zones. Viewer voting is done for the penultimate episode only (except for the 2014 "special") and like all other TV talent shows the judges are not required to follow the public vote.

The music they make is almost always awesome, especially the opening numbers, where all the contestants sing as a single group, consistently brings the house down. The audio quality has also improved greatly with each season, especially the first, where they had trouble covering large groups and used less than ideal ear mounted microphones. By season 3 they had progressed to the point of producing an opening number with over 100 vocalists.

Since a good deal of the talent comes from within the tight-knit A Capella community there is a real camaraderie among the groups, giving it a more friendly feel than other "Idol" like shows. For instance, when they changed the titular "Sing-off" section to a back and forth "battle" during season 4, each pair of groups ended up collaborating to create combined arrangements that enhanced both groups performances.

The backgrounds of the 5 series winners (latin, gospel, electronica/club, country and collegiate are a good example of the diversity of both the contestants and the current A Capella scene.

Until 2014 the trio of judges had been anchored by Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman with Nicole Scherzinger serving mostly as comic relief for the first two seasons. In 2011 the middle chair was filled by Sara Bareilles and since the 2013 return, Jewel, both pros who have the musical chops to hold their own with the boys. The judges banter rarely feels forced and criticism only rarely strays away from the performance, usually for some lighthearted (and often corny) joking between the judges.

The third season was expanded from 5 to 11 weekly episodes with 16 groups and ran from September to December. After being canceled it returned after a year in its original holiday filler spot, albeit with some tinkering of the format. Despite the massive success of Season 3 winners Pentatonix, 2014 had only a single 2 hour holiday special episode with Patrick Stump trying his best to fill the anchor seat of missing judge Ben Folds.

Here's hoping that NBC/Sony will get their act together for 2015, otherwise The Sing-Off will only be remembered as Pentatonix's springboard to success.

Snooze-Off

[cherold · 5/10 · 3 November 2019]

A Capella singing ranges the gamut of sounds and styles, from the lush vocal harmonies of Honey in the Rock to the eccentric style of The Bobs, but you wouldn't know it from this show, which grabs 8 of the most conventional A Capella groups it can find and sticks them up on stage to do battle. A couple of the songs were interesting, most notably a cover of Queen's Somebody to Love, but even the best groups were more notable for the choreographed showmanship than for doing anything especially interesting with the music.

It didn't help that the sound was off. Consistently throughout the show microphone's would shift in volume, seriously undercutting the bands. It's a fairly shocking failure in a show devoted to lots of people singing; perhaps wireless mikes just don't work as well when 20 people use them at once? Whatever the reason, it made the show feel rather messy.

I only watched the first episode, and even then I wound up skipping past the boring band bios and the judges comments (what do I care what judges have to say about dull songs?) I have no intention of watching any more of this.

gone - thank you very much

[tempx2001 · 1/10 · 4 December 2014]

Is it any wonder that this show is gone? There is no accountability as to how the act voted off is selected. No numbers, no voting. It's as though the show producer, unseen, makes his personal selection.

Otherwise, how can you explain that a group gets absolute rave remarks, one saying, that was your best ever, and it was amazing, the best of the night. Oops, off they go.

A great concept, but really disappointing in execution. The week prior a professional group turns in an amazing performance. What does that mean when before you know it, off they go.

Perhaps they should have had audience voting, or maybe a panel of 10 experts voting between 1 and 10 each, creating a mathematical who goes off decision.

I am currently watching season 3. The only reason being to see Pentatonix. The way the show is done, I plan to watch no more.