First off, I’m thrilled for a shorter episode. The reviews on a long episode are fairly well, long. Also, finally caught up after the absolute drugging I had on Thursday. My next medical drugging is in January, so we should be good for the rest of this short season.
Starting this weekend, I’ll be posting a focus on some of the groups.
As always, drop a comment on posts. My opinions are only mine and I’d love to hear from people who feel differently.
Intro: In Your Eyes
This song would require incendiaries to damage it. Fortunately, the well intentioned producers of the SingOff gave a truly respectful performance of this classic. Nice to hear.
In comes Nick LeChay
#1 Hits; Only half the remaining 8 groups will perform this week
Judge intros
- Jewel:
- Ben Folds
- Shawn Stockman
Segment: Shawn talks to the groups. Video of Shawn taking on the role of mentor for the groups.
1) Ten – “Chain of Fools” – Arethra Franklin
Me:Slithered into the first note. Shudder. good tempo control. Clear story. speed up seemed a bit jarring but was very fire and brimstone. Top performance. This is a prime example of Ten growing as a group. They are finding their sound and more importantly gaining cohesion each week into a group. Best put, the ten are becoming Ten.
The judges
Shawn: He’s the thing that sucked. It wasn’t long enough. The Grit in the voices was the signature of who you are.
Jewel: I wanna go to that church. It was beautiful. Back up was fantastic support. The band was a band. Great staging.
Ben: Great space. Starting to sound like a band. The rush was hard for the band to support. You’re dangerous
- Ten
2) acoUstiKats – “Amazed” – Lone Star
Me:Harmonies that separate them from College glee. Fantastic range coverage. Sweet ballad. Beautiful. Awesome. This is what I’ve been waiting for from the Acoustikats (See, not casing now) This is a group that knows how to arrange for more than 10 voices and show that they are all singers. The Wall of Sound that I often comment about comes from the concept that you can always just double up parts or increase Unison. All this makes me think is that you’re hiding weaker singers. With this sound; you know you have a well balanced and thought out group.
The judges:
Ben: How do they separate themselves from College groups. The bond, the sound. Ross; Beautiful vocal. Gosh Grobin. Manly rich place. Moving.
Shawn: Was worried about the record. It is so sincere. And all you’d shown was the frat side. You showed your heart. It changes keys every 4 measures. You made it very special.
Jewel: They did it great. They focussed on Jewel. When to the choral roots. Wanted more build up at the end. Overall great performance. Mike: Really making that eye contact. Proposed on stage. Nice touch.
- acoUstiKats – Looks like the Ultimate Sing Off put them in a good headspace.
- Ten
3) SCR – “Forget You” – Cee Lo
Me: SCR takes it up a notch. The song pulls them out of tradtional DooWop into some modern stylings. They could survive better than I thought. The song still is very centered in DooWop and I think in the long run this is going to mean that another classic group doesn’t last. I feel that they may have one more episode left in them.
The judges:
Ben: Well written song. It’s timeless; you are timeless, crying in time. Good note cutoff. Discover something about yourselves you don’t know.
Jewel: Great time machine. Making different styles work for you. Great adaptations. Keeping it classy. Tighten up the harmonies and tunings.
Shawn: They did their things. Added some dynamic to the performance. Maurice high falsetto. You nailed it.
- acoUstiKats
- Ten
- SCR – I like them, but I’m not seeing anything new.
4 The Filharmonic – “One More Night” – Artist
Shawn in the pre-song mentoring: Jump out of your comfort zone. More staccato.
Me: Song felt initially like it wasn’t stopping for a breath. Got somewhere near it towards the end. This song felt blurry for them. There was a tonne of unison and it showed a lot of happy for a song that should have had more bite. They’ve got great personalities, but they don’t have “Righteous Anger” which Jewel alluded to for Vocal Rush. I expect a lot more from them
The Judges:
Shawn: Proudest that this is your tightest so far. Intricate dance moves done well.
Ben: Never had a problem with them being tight. Had a problem with the performance. We’re not all perfect. Missed the sharpness
Jewel: Interesting things going on. REharmonised the bridge. VJ was charming on the bridge. Missed the dark anger.
My rankings:
- acoUstiKats
- Ten
- SCR
- Filharmonic
Pre-guess: Filharmonic brings the show better than SCR.
Again, this week the judges take pairs and pronounce one safe and the other to go to the Ultimate SingOff
Pair 1:
- Safe – Ten
- Out – SCR
Pair 2:
- Safe – acoUstiKats
- Out – Filharmonic
Ultimate Sing off: SCR vs Filharmonic
“Na na hey hey goodbye” – Stream
This song is pretty much a DooWop gimme. This is a plus and a minus for SCR. They can nail this one by doing what they do best. However, what they do best is what is slowly hurting them. Filharmonic can do the style, but now they need to show the ability to be more than just ‘a boy band’ and become ‘the boy band of a cappella’
Afterwards, I feel strongly about Filharmonic, my spouse picks SCR
The judging:
Shawn: This is by far the hardest choice so far. Love you both We are saving is: Filharmonic
Next Episode: Monday @ 10pm
Next Theme: More #1?
« The Armchair Director — The Sing Off S4, Ep. 2 It’s beginning to look like twinkly tree. »
My hopes for the winning group is torn between Vocal Rush and Ten. I didn’t see VR on the season premiere (I was late on turning the television on), so when I saw episode 2 I was completely astounded. Students in high school, at that! The only concern I have for Vocal Rush is that they’re still at the stage where their voices are maturing. If they’re in it for the long run, I fear their biggest challenge would be adapting their dynamics along with their vocal chords.
Ten is hitting the nail, and I really hope they continue to do so. They’re the most consistent in their growth, and I believe that may benefit them later on in the competition.
I’m enjoying VoicePlay’s performance, but I withhold a certain type of indulgence — they sound consistently similar to Pentatonix in my ears. Perhaps there’s a shared vocal arranger or what have you, but I’m still looking for that little nook in VoicePlay’s arrangements that sound innately them.
I would just comment on the previous post but I’ll just drop it in here, heh. I thought Calle Sol really stuck out as dancers being singers, but sticking out isn’t nearly going to help them if they can’t make both ends meet. I enjoyed their Pon De Replay but it was obvious from the start that they were going to have trouble balancing the feet movement with their voices. Which kind of sucks — I have a soft spot for Latin American music!
I will admit freely that the AcoUstiKats’ first song choice is what rubs me the wrong way. Let’s lament over social justice issues mixing in the media, but I’ll settle it by saying that I wasn’t in favor of the frat boy persona they were portraying. I’m almost positive that everything was all directed so it made it seem like that was who they were. I’m glad that they were able to stick out of their usual and sing Amazed. I hope that they’ll continue to find a more mature personality in their songs (but still have fun! That’s definitely where the AcoUstiKats shine).
I’m looking forward to tonight’s performances (and inevitably seeing who gets eliminated. A small part of me is glancing towards Home Free, but they’re good. They’re just not… Not.)
Allyson – what do you think since Episode 3? I missed this comment when you posted (and I didn’t commend on Ep 3).