The Sing-Off: Season Premiere

Attractive.

Today was the second season premiere of "The Sing-Off". I didn't see the first season, but as a choir nerd, I already feel like I will become obsessed. And thus, I will tell you of my budding obsession.

By the way, I love how every show of this format (i.e. American Idol, America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance) has a formula of judges. The "expert" and/or "Brit", the "super-nice female", and the black guy.

The Eleventh Hour: They're great. For a high school group. But I can already tell that it revolves around Kendall, the homecoming queen. And I kinda hate her, even after the only five minutes I saw of her. Seriously, the other people in the group are doormats. On another note, I really hope the judges won't be biased because of their age. My pick to leave. Not happy they stayed, and Pitch Slapped didn't.

On The Rocks: Even before watching their intro, I was in love. I, like so many others, discovered their "Bad Romance" video on youtube. They are adorable. And their performance was even better than the hilarious and jaw-dropping viral video. They were clearly more mature than The Eleventh Hour. But then again, they are four years older. I also loved that there weren't individuals--it was a group, not a soloist accompanied by a few other people singing "oohs" and beat boxing. My only qualm is that they could have had better tuning.

Groove for Thought: I love how unique they are! But I hope they will show more diversity in other genres of music. They, however, were fantastic. Mature. Extremely impressive. And the seven-part harmony? Perfect.

Pitch Slapped: First of all, hilarious name. And did you notice how they're all gorgeous. Awesome percussion and bass. And the sound effects? Hilarous/Impressive. Kinda reminded me of that Honda commercial with the choir in the car garage. They seemed to be rushing. A lot. But the musical talent was very obvious. The judges are are idiots for sending them home. Speaking of which, their "Swan Song"--phenomenal. Still a little rushed, but extremely impressive.
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Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town: From the very beginning, it was established as Jerry Lawson and the men riding on his fame. Which is sad--I'm not a fan of individuals in acapella groups. But I can't really criticize, because that's their style--just as I can't criticize Groove for Thought for being jazzy (and I don't know who would want to), I can't complain about the backup singers of this group. But they really were fantastic and extremely put-together. Extremely classy. However, I wish the judges wouldn't talk so much about Jerry Lewis--he's been around the block, he knows what he's doing--he was in The Persuasions, for Pete's sake. You can't judge his performance. And as the judges pointed out, they really are the "godfathers of acapella". You don't compare Bach to Gershwin or Joplin.

The Whiffenpoofs: Well... they're intimidating. And snooty. I love it. Almost as much as I love the word "Whiffenpoof". Awesome song choice. Actually, perfect song choice. I love their indescribable style. It's so... classy. The lead is one of the biggest queen I've ever seen. In the words of the judges, "very sassy". I love the lack of percussion. My personal favorite group of the night.

Men of Note: Adorable. They remind me of a quintet from my high school a few years ago. Actually, they practically are the quintet from my high school. They did the same exact song for Pop Show my freshman year, and followed a guy around IHOP while singing. The main difference is how refined this group is, and the fact that they have a black guy. "For the Longest Time" is the quintessential barbershop quartet song. Honestly, I am not shocked whatsoever that the song was performed. Compared to the other groups, it was average. I don't think they deserved the hate they received from the judges, though. But from the judges' reception, I understand how they were selected to go home.

Street Corner Symphony: I love old country. And I'm excited about them. However, in the intro, they had more of a barbershop feel, which I wish transferred to their performance. Poor song choice, in my opinion--they weren't really set apart from the other groups. The rhythm was incredible. I wish the accompaniment was a bit louder, as the soloist seemed kinda shaky. The ending was perfection. It definitely really felt like a lot more people were singing than just six. They also felt... average.

The Backbeats: The name kinda sounds like a boy band. I feel like they're a bunch of divas, which isn't definitely a bad thing, but it's something they'll have to work with. They certainly are talented. They were incredible, frankly. It sounded like 40 people were on that stage. The song was a perfect diva song--the right song for a bunch of divas. Interesting that they didn't highlight the little gay Asian that organized the whole thing. But the soloist was incredible. I'm not usually one for soloists, but it was very cohesive.

Committed: I'm very excited about this group. I really hope they'll be able to show diversity, because I think they could really shine if they can handle the various genres. There is no way they made those noises only with human voices. They were in-cred-i-ble. I love the contrast between the quiet moments and the percussive sounds. It's no wonder the producers on the show saved the best for last.