The SIng-Off 4

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by intrinsical, Nov 14, 2013.

  1. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    Its still a month away, but apparently NBC accidentally leaked footage of one of the groups competing... an award winning high school acapella group called Vocal Rush. The video got taken down later, but anything on the web stays on the web.

    The footage can be seen here (towards the end of the video)
    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqEdwaYEGEg[/yt]
     
  2. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    We finally know the 10 groups that will be in The Sing Off 4! The competition starts on December 9

    The Young & The Old
    Vocal Rush
    Street Corner Renaissance

    The University Groups
    I'm surprised that only two university groups have made it in, and they aren't the groups that I had expected either.
    acoUstiKats
    Princeton Footnotes

    The Professionals
    Voice Play - I love them and have been listening to their amazing covers on youtube for the past 2 years.
    Home Free
    The Filharmonics
    Element - Like Delilah from last season, this seems to be a bunch of ladies who got together just for The Sing Off. In fact, I spotted Delilah's bass singer in this group!

    The Unknowns
    Never heard of them and I can't find any videos of them either.
    Calle Sol
    Ten
     
  3. Spot's Meow

    Spot's Meow Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm looking forward to the season. I saw the first commercial for it while watching The Voice a couple of nights ago. Who was the new female judge - Jewel?

    From the very short bit I heard on the commercial, I think it should be a good season! This show is always great though, the performances are so much fun to watch.
     
  4. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    Yup, that's Jewel. Sean Stockman looks much older this time round.

    I've been digging more info about the groups and it seems nearly half of them are brand new, formed specifically for The Sing-Off (Element, Ten, Calle Sol, Filharmonics).

    Out of the groups I know, I am most familiar with Voice Play mostly because I watch quite a lot of acapella videos on youtube. And honestly only 3 groups stand out and come highly recommended by me. Namely, Pentatonix (Season 3 winners), the current batch of BYU Noteworthy Ladies (Season 1 contestants) and Voice Play. So I will be very happy to see Voice Play on the Sing-Off stage, they certainly have the talent (link). I had hoped that Noteworthy will once again be in The Sing-Off (just listen to this!), but maybe there's some restrictions on having a past group re-enter the competition even if the members are totally different.
     
  5. Spot's Meow

    Spot's Meow Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I was just wondering about that as well, whether college groups whose membership had changed could re-enter. I personally would have no problem with it.

    Why do you think so many new groups formed for the show? Is there a shortage of acapella groups that are really talented? I don't pay much attention to the genre outside of this show, so I don't really know. I would guess that there are many groups doing it, but not a whole lot who are at the top of their game. But maybe I'm wrong.
     
  6. Mark_Nguyen

    Mark_Nguyen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'd think they'd invite some of the more well known groups out there to come in (or come back) to guest on the show. For example, Rockapella may be nearly unrecognizable nowadays, but they'd be fun to see again. Also some Canadian or international groups (like my local heroes the Heebie Jeebies! Yay!) - also not necessarily to compete, as they'd be slaughtered by any audience voting (Season five of ABDC, I'm looking at you).

    I only really know the Footnotes, but that's just form the BOCA angle. Looking forward to this. :)

    Mark
     
  7. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    Pentatonix will definitely be back, its a no-brainer. I hope my fellow countrymen and runners-up of Sing-Off China, Micapella from Singapore will show up as well since they are touring the US this month.
     
  8. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    The Sing-Off is back! Nick Lachey has dramatically improved his MCing skills and I am loving Jewel, as new judge, isn't afraid to have her own opinion and even disagree with Shawn and Ben.

    As for the groups, they are quite well matched with no one really standing out. I'll point out that Princeton's Footnote and Calle Sol didn't really convince me that they will last long in the competition. For the Footnotes, they lack good basses and a good vocal percussionist. For Calle Sol, I just felt rythmically they were not creative and were selling sex a bit too much to cover up the fact that their 4 ladies didn't really harmonize that well. So I wasn't surprised when Footnotes got the foot.

    For my favorite group VoicePlay, Ben hit their weak spot right away. They have a great bass, great vocal percussionist, great altos but they simply don't have a mid range. They will need to overcome this somehow if they are going to last in the competition. VoicePlay got lucky with the battle song. NSync's Bye Bye Bye is right in their ballpark (link to their boy band medley) and they added a whole pile of creativity on top of what they could already do very well.

    If I were to pick the top groups, it would probably be Home Free and Filharmonics.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2013
  9. Caretaker

    Caretaker Commodore Premium Member

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    I greatly enjoyed Street Corner Renaissance's cover of What Makes You Beautiful.
     
  10. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    The guys from VoicePlay just posted an explanation of how the ultimate sing-off works from the competitor's perspective. Apparently, every group has to come up with an arrangement of the battle song during the week. When the two worst groups are announced, they are given 15 minutes to "sync up" their prepared arrangements before the battle commences.

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nphxj_p_hN0[/yt]
     
  11. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    I'm kinda bummed that Street Corner Renaissance got kicked off tonight, but based on the performances of the 4 groups I can understand why. Ten and the acoustiKats really surprised me with strong performances.
     
  12. Sakrysta

    Sakrysta Vice Admiral Admiral

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    FINALLY getting a chance to weigh in a bit. I confess I've been a little diappointed by this crop of groups as compared to Season 3. I still go back to performances by Delilah, Afro Blue, Vocal Point, and of course Pentatonix.

    That said, I am starting to see potential. Vocal Rush has really impressed me so far. I'm not normally a fan of the groups that have so many members, but they are blending really well while doing a good job of highlighing their soloists and putting the song forward. Right now, they're first for me.

    Close behind them is Home Free. These guys are just so smooth. You can tell they've been performing together for a long time. I'm not a big fan of country, but they make it accessible, at least so far.

    The Filharmonic are just adorable. I think acapella can lend itself well to the boy band groove, and they have the personality to make it happen. I can totally see them ruling YouTube with crazy fun videos.

    VoicePlay is growing on me. I love how eclectic they are. I think they can really grow, at least I'm hoping to see that happen. "Play That Funky Music" was a big step up from their first performance.

    As for the rest...

    Poor Element. They are having to follow Delilah, who had such a great blend and such great personalities that just flowed off the stage. Element doesn't have the blend, doesn't have the sound, and doesn't have anyone except Jo that gets my attention at all. They need to go.

    Ten - I can see the talent. They have potential. But they really need to learn how to be a group, not a bunch of soloists. I would think that as background singers, they'd be having an easier time supporting each other. But I get the feeling that this a group of people who all want to be stars and are too focused on showcasing themselves to fuse into a group.

    AcoUstiKats (and by extension the Princeton group) - The two college groups are I think the least engaging of all the college groups from any season. Ugh. The sooner the AcoUstiKats are gone, the happier I'll be.

    I thought Street Corner Renaissance was charming, but like with any of the older, doo-wop/barbershop groups, they have a hard time competing with the innovation represented in the more modern groups. I have to admit I loved their One Direction cover, and really all their performances were very good. I just couldn't see how they would go anywhere.

    Calle Sol didn't seem to really understand the point of an acapella group. Too much sassy dance and not enough focus on their vocals and blend. Not at all suprised they're gone.

    While I think Jewel is doing an admirable job, I have to admit I miss Sara. For some reason I don't really believe Jewel knows what she's talking about sometimes. I think it's mostly an effect of her mispronouncing musical terms and maybe too that she talks so fast I wonder if she's really thinking about what she's saying. Still, she is way better than poor Nicole Scherzinger, whom I love as a personality but thought didn't bring much to the table as a judge. Ben and Shawn are doing their usual great job, and Nick is his cheesy, charming self.

    Lastly, I'm glad the show finally broke free from Hulu's "web only" list of death. I can finally watch on my TV! For some reason it's not up on Amazon for sale, and all my computers are so old that Hulu's streaming lags too much to make watching on the computer enjoyable.

    Looking foward to next week! And hoping Pentatonix will be invited back for a performance at some point. :D
     
  13. Mark_Nguyen

    Mark_Nguyen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    This season is reminding me how much I missed the show. :) Liking it, but I agree that there aren't that many groups that are blowing me away. Big fan of Home Free and Filharmonic though - great sounds.

    Mark
     
  14. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    I really enjoyed tonight's battle between Element and Vocal Rush!

    By the way, the current Sing-Off groups have been promoting (as well as cross-promoting) themselves with videos on youtube. Here are the few that I found:

    Wake Me Up - acoUstiKats
    Back At One - acoUstiKats
    Wake Me Up - Home Free
    The Chain - Vocal Rush
    Fallin' - Vocal Rush
    Fine China - Filharmonic
    The Way - Filharmonic
    Wrecking Ball - VoicePlay with Sarah Vela from Vocal Rush
    Can't Believe It - VoicePlay with Emoni from Ten
    Suit and Tie - Calle Sol

    There's going to be a collab between VoicePlay, Home Free and Filharmonic to be released soon.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2013
  15. Spot's Meow

    Spot's Meow Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I haven't finished the most recent episode yet, so I don't know who was eliminated. My favorites so far are Filharmonic and Home Free. I was surprised that the Acoustikats are still around, when they were in the bottom two a couple of episodes ago I thought for sure that they would have gone home. Ten has potential. Vocal Rush is good but not quite as captivating as I would want.
     
  16. Morpheus 02

    Morpheus 02 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Wanted to respond briefly...

    I have been watching it on and off (hectic schedule)...but the 1st episode this season was phenomenal...a LOT of great groups. Great opening episode.

    I was sad about Street Corner Renassaince leaving...they added the cultural & age diversity.

    I missed the last couple episodes...so i am hoping that it won't be just one minority group in the top 4....what disappointed me about The Voice & X Factor was how white the top contestants were...i have a hard time believing that there aren't many talented African Americans who could win these contests. (Happy about the Voice results)
     
  17. Spot's Meow

    Spot's Meow Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I was sad to see Filharmonic go, they were my favorite. :( I hope they find success elsewhere. At least Home Free is still in it. To me they should be the clear winners, based on performances so far. Ten and Vocal Rush are good but don't stand out as particularly special to me.
     
  18. intrinsical

    intrinsical Commodore Commodore

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    This is fun!

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYzwzbqUJXk[/yt]

    I have to say Sing-Off battles are not only better, they are also a lot more fun than Voice battles.
     
  19. Sakrysta

    Sakrysta Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well, I just rewatched the finale. I agree with the winner. Home Free has a lot of polish and a lot of promise. But Vocal Rush really should have been second as far as I'm concerned.

    In fact, had this season had the longer format of the third, I think they could have outgrown Home Free. Their ONLY weakness that I could see was just how their enthusiasm & nerves would cause them to rush. I LOVED every one of their performances.

    I thought Ten absolutely butchered "Love on Top" in the finale. I do confess that their style of performance is not my favorite, but I can appreciate their talent. I just don't think they sang with nearly the skill and emotional connection that Vocal Rush displayed from the very beginning.

    Loved getting to see Pentatonix perform. I thought it was sweet that Shawn went up and hugged them all afterward. I WAS disappointed that we didn't get to hear the judges comment on how they've done since the show. I know that had I been them, I would feel like a proud parent. :techman:
     
  20. Caretaker

    Caretaker Commodore Premium Member

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    I was a little disappointed that the season finale didn't involve a live show and audience vote this time around. That being said, I didn't have too much disagreement with the judges on the finale.

    I just hope that NBC doesn't wait too long to decide on a season five. I'd hate for another two-year gap.