Sing off Finale

December 22, 2009 by USA Post

Sing off Finale:As I mentioned last week, when The Sing Off began its holiday run on NBC, there were eight a capella groups in the running for America’s favorite a capella group. During the initial three-night competition, which aired consecutively last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, host Nick Lachey introduced the viewing audience to the eight finalist.

After performing an a capella version of Bon Jovi‘s Livin’ On A Prayer, Face, a six-member group from Boulder, Colorado was eliminated by the show’s judges Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of The P**ycat Dolls, Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five fame and Boyz II Men‘s Shawn Stockman during Monday’s premiere two-hour event. For their swan song, they sang Daughtry‘s Home.

Also on Monday, Solo, a seven-member group from Omaha, Nebraska performed Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo. What the judges said following their performance wasn’t enough to keep them in the competition and despite their hopeful final song, Gloria Gaynor‘s I Will Survive, they did not.

The ladies of Provo, Utah and Brigham Young University’s Noteworthy were eliminated during Tuesday night’s show. On Monday night, their version of Aretha Franklin‘s Think was enough to keep them around, but after performing both Viva la Vida by Cold Play and Hold On by Wilson Phililps on Tuesday, it was time for them to let go of their hopes of a victory. For their goodbye, they chose the ironically titled Happy Ending by Mika.

Wednesday night, like the first night, saw another double-elimination. After performing everything from ABBA‘s Dancing Queen during the first night of competition, Taylor Swift‘s Love Story and an unexpected version of Amy Winehouses‘ Rehab on the second night and A Beach Boys medley on the first half of night three, the ladies of Maxx Factor representing Baltimore, Maryland were voted off the show. For their finale, they chose John Denver‘s Leaving on a Jet Plane.

Los Angeles-based The SoCals, made up of 8 former and current UCLA students, performed Queen‘s Somebody to Love on Monday. They held fast with Kelly Clarkson‘s Already Gone and Starship‘s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now on Tuesday and got great praise for their Journey medley on Wednesday. Unfortunately, after their performance of Hazy Shade of Winter by The Bangles on Wednesday they too were eliminated. For their last number, they bid goodbye with Whitesnake‘s Here I Go Again.

The Final Three

Nota
Nota, six guys from San Juan, Puerto Rico performed Jason Mraz‘s I’m Yours on Monday night. Tuesday night saw them perform Down by Jay Sean and Stayin’ Alive by The Bee Gees. They amazed the judges and the studio audience on Wednesday with their Jackson 5 medley and despite their unfamiliarity with the judges’ pick of Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, they survived to compete in tonight’s finale.

Beelzebubs
Beelzebubs of Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, not only have the largest number of members (12), but they have also been in existence the longest, first being founded back in the 60s. With diverse performances of The Beatles‘ Magical Mystery Tour, Right Round by Flo Rida, Come Sail Away by Styx, A medley of The Who songs and Neil Diamond‘s Sweet Caroline, they are definitely the team to beat.

Voices of Lee
Voices of Lee. a ten-member group hailing from Lee University in the lower part of East Tennessee have proven themselves to be the little choir that could. Being from a faith-based school, like the girls of BYU, they have managed to make the audience think about the lyrics of the songs they’ve chosen to perform. With that in mind, they’ve turned Natasha Bedingfield‘s Unwritten, Alicia Keys‘ No One, George Michael‘s Freedom! 90, a Beatles medley and Michael Jackson‘s Man In The Mirror into songs that could just as easily be about faith: faith in one’s self, one’s god and fellow man. Proving it’s not the song, but how it’s sung that matters.

The Finale
While last week’s eliminations were strictly based on the judges decisions, like most reality competitions, tonight’s winner will be determined by the viewing audience. At the close of Wednesday’s show, host Nick Lachey recapped the journey-so-far and revealed phone and text numbers corresponding with the final three contestants. Voting lines were open from Wednesday through yesterday.

Also like most reality competition shows, instead of revealing the winner in what could essentially be a half-hour show, tonight’s two-hour finale will be chocked-full of special guests and performances.
Legendary singer Smokey Robinson will be paired with one of the final three groups for an a capella performance, as will Natasha Bedingfield and Bobby McFerrin.

In addition to these special duets, two of the show’s three hosts, Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman will also perform special a capella numbers, Stockman will join the two remaining members of Boyz II Men for a television reunion of sorts. Of course, fans of the daytime chatfest, The Bonnie Hunt Show got a sneak of the BIIM reunion last week when Shawn and company took to the stage to perform two songs, including their classic, Motownphilly.

Here a little retro BoyzIIMen video to whet your appetite