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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.<\/p>\n
Starting this weekend, I’ll be posting a focus on some of the groups.<\/p>\n
As always, drop a comment on posts. My opinions are only mine and I’d love to hear from people who feel differently.<\/p>\n
Intro: In Your Eyes<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In comes Nick LeChay<\/p>\n
#1 Hits; Only half the remaining 8 groups will perform this week<\/p>\n
Judge intros<\/p>\n
Segment: Shawn talks to the groups. \u00a0Video of Shawn taking on the role of mentor for the groups.<\/p>\n
1) Ten – \u201cChain of Fools\u201d – Arethra Franklin<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The judges<\/p>\n
Shawn: He\u2019s the thing that sucked. It wasn\u2019t long enough. The Grit in the voices was the signature of who you are.<\/p>\n
Jewel: I wanna go to that church. It was beautiful. Back up was fantastic support. The band was a band. Great staging.<\/p>\n
Ben: Great space. Starting to sound like a band. The rush was hard for the band to support. You\u2019re dangerous<\/p>\n
2) acoUstiKats – \u201cAmazed\u201d – Lone Star<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The judges:<\/p>\n
Ben: How do they separate themselves from College groups. The bond, the sound. Ross; Beautiful vocal. Gosh Grobin. Manly rich place. Moving.<\/p>\n
Shawn: Was worried about the record. It is so sincere. And all you\u2019d shown was the frat side. You showed your heart. It changes keys every 4 measures. You made it very special.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
3) SCR – \u201cForget You\u201d – Cee Lo<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The judges:<\/p>\n
Ben: Well written song. It\u2019s timeless; you are timeless, crying in time. Good note cutoff. Discover something about yourselves you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
Jewel: Great time machine. Making different styles work for you. Great adaptations. Keeping it classy. Tighten up the harmonies and tunings.<\/p>\n
Shawn: They did their things. Added some dynamic to the performance. Maurice high falsetto. You nailed it.<\/p>\n
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4 The Filharmonic – \u201cOne More Night\u201d – Artist<\/p>\n
Shawn in the pre-song mentoring: Jump out of your comfort zone. More staccato.<\/p>\n
Me: Song felt initially like it wasn\u2019t 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<\/p>\n
The Judges:<\/p>\n
Shawn: Proudest that this is your tightest so far. Intricate dance moves done well.<\/p>\n
Ben: Never had a problem with them being tight. Had a problem with the performance. We\u2019re not all perfect. Missed the sharpness<\/p>\n
Jewel: Interesting things going on. REharmonised the bridge. VJ was charming on the bridge. Missed the dark anger.<\/p>\n
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My rankings:<\/p>\n
Pre-guess: Filharmonic brings the show better than SCR.<\/p>\n
Again, this week the judges take pairs and pronounce one safe and the other to go to the Ultimate SingOff<\/p>\n
Pair 1:<\/p>\n
Pair 2:<\/p>\n
Ultimate Sing off:\u00a0 SCR vs Filharmonic<\/p>\n
\u201cNa na hey hey goodbye\u201d – Stream<\/p>\n
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’<\/p>\n
Afterwards, I feel strongly about Filharmonic, my spouse picks SCR<\/p>\n
The judging:<\/p>\n
Shawn: This is by far the hardest choice so far. Love you both We are saving is: Filharmonic<\/p>\n
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Next Episode: Monday @ 10pm<\/p>\n
Next Theme: More #1?<\/p>\n
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