* * *
It’s the fourth night of our holiday edition of The Sing
Off. We open with “Talkin’ Bout My
Generation” for the group number. Does
anyone want to guess which group is dressed in sparkly short body-con
dresses? No? Only me throwing shoes at the television? OK.
The groups transition into “We Will Rock You” and then to...Imagine
Dragons “It’s Time,” which is when I officially declared confusion on this
medley.
First to sing tonight is Home Free. They’ll be singing “Ring of Fire” by Johnny
Cash. Ben wants them to be vulnerable in
order to reach and move people. Home
Free tonight is slowing the song down at the beginning. Does slow = vulnerable? They then rock the beat up to normal. Tim, the bass, is singing the verse solo
tonight and surprises the judges by quickly jumping into falsetto. He pulls out a low F# at the end and my jaw
dropped. (That is really, really, really
low.) In the judging, Ben likens Tim to
a walking refrigerator, which is ridiculous, but also hilarious. Jewel liked that the group brought out the
vulnerability that June Carter wrote into the song. Unfortunately, she pronounces the word
“octaves” strangely and I go back to being annoyed with her. Shawn liked the reggae dance hall beat that
Adam (the VP) brought in.
Quick note: the vocal bumps and intro/outro music you hear
coming in and out of commercial is all music from The House Jacks, the a
cappella group of TSO producer Deke Sharon.
If you like it, you should download some of their stuff. Might I suggest you start with “Red
Dress”? It’s hot.
VoicePlay will be up next, singing “Don’t Speak” by No
Doubt. This is actually one of my
favorite songs ever. The group talks
about how they are not ballad singers normally, and Ben coaches them to focus
on the story. Phenomenal harmonies on
the “it looks as though you’re letting go” line between Honey and the tenor. Honey is killing the solo, and the group has
some really interesting modulations in the bridge that really drive home the
emotion. I do not understand why each
member of the band is wearing 42 different fabric patterns, though. They literally look like they came out of the
rejected costumes for the orphans from Annie. Despite my beef with wardrobe, I
loved this performance. So did the
judges.
Oh great, it’s yelling at sparkly dresses time! Element’s package is about them “running and
working out and doing cardio” and I am literally screaming. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I actually have never been more angry at TSO
than I am right now. I wanted to make a
point, sometime tonight, to address how great I think it is that TSO includes
more women of all different shapes, sizes and colors this year than they have
in any previous season. But now I am
just livid at them. So anyway, Element
will be signing “You Keep Me Hanging On” by the Supremes. Ben advises them to create a clear space for
the soloist so that she doesn’t get overshadowed by the background. Rachel’s VP beat is really great tonight but
the first solo is nasal. There are
tuning problems towards the end and this just isn’t doing it for me. Jewel points out first that they look
beautiful and I should just give up now.
She goes on to discuss how Diana Ross doubled the lead vocal on the
original but Element ended up doubling the harmonies and it was effective. Shawn also points out that they look
lovely. I’m dying over here. A great step to making me less mad about the
state of all-female a cappella on TSO would be to either a) stop the judges
from first mentioning how the all-female group looks before getting to
substantive musical comments, or b) get the judges to mention how beautiful
every group looks first. Seriously, if later in the season someone says "Home
Free, you guys just look beautiful tonight" and Home Free swishes around
their hair or something I would be a lot happier than I am now.
Finally tonight is Vocal Rush, still my favorite group in
this show. Help me, Vocal Rush, you’re
my only hope! They’ll be performing “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler
and they say it’ll be challenging because they weren’t born when the song came
out. Hey, I thought the theme for
tonight was “MY” generation? Sarah is on
opening solo again, yay. I already feel
better. Shawn is doing some serious
head-bopping. It was another strong
performance from the group. Ben points
out the strong work on bass and VP. Shawn
likes that they give 100% of themselves to a performance. He thinks that something happened during the
double chorus that knocked them off a bit, but they got back on. Jewel loved the rap. But then she points out that despite “so many
female voices” they sound “so warm and so rich.” This is exactly the crap that I hate, and the
stereotype against women in a cappella that is untrue. I thought we’d all moved past this during
Pitch Perfect?
Time for deliberation.
The two groups who will be competing in the Ultimate Sing-Off tight are
Element and Vocal Rush. This is
completely unsurprising based on the judging.
The two groups will trade off on “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child. Vocal Rush just sounds infinitely more
interesting. Why are the Element
soloists high-pitched talking through half of this song? They are performing but not singing. Vocal Rush is absolutely bringing the
attitude of this song in a way that I find more effective.
I think the decision is clear, and so do the judges: Element
will be going home. Goodbye sparkly
dresses! I hope I never see you ever
again! TSO is back on Wednesday at
8pm. Try not to get confused by the new
time.
