I had someone ask me on my Tumblr blog what my thoughts were NBC’s “The Sing Off.” Little did he know he would be opening up a crazy can of worms. I’d like to show you my response here and then add a few more thoughts. Check it out:
Oh, “The Sing Off.” Well, let me begin by saying that I’m slightly bitter. Only because I auditioned with alumni from my College group and we got past the callbacks and were ultimately not chosen by Producers to be on the show. Disheartening, but also encouraging that we got so far. We’ll be auditioning again next year for sure.
As for the quality of the show, if you only watched the finale this season I’d say you did yourself a disservice. The groups weren’t nearly as tight as they were in the elimination episodes. That said, this year’s crop of groups were incredibly talented. I love that we have a show on TV that has embraced music sans instrumentation. It’s so incredibly difficult to create full, engaging walls of sound with no instruments. Adding nuance and personality to a song (that everyone knows) with just your mouth and your voice (and vocal percussionist) is no easy task.
Do I think these record deals they’re offering will do much of anything for the groups who win? No. I think a cappella is a niche genre, that thanks to this show has garnered mainstream praise. I think a model to look at is what Straight No Chaser has done (the dudes behind “12 Days of Christmas”), with touring and theme albums.
Unless we have a resurgence of 50s/60s Motown (which I hope to God we do), a cappella will stay a novelty. But it’s certainly gained a helluva lot of respect and “The Sing Off” has definitely aided in that. People will say what they want, but a cappella music holds nothing back. If you’re out of tune, the song goes to hell. If ONE person is off, it’s very difficult to reign them back in. There’s no auto-tune, there’s no digital enhancement or beats. It’s all human. Pure music. That’s why I love “The Sing Off.” No other singing show showcases what this show does. Yes, even the sham of a show American Idol. Yeah, I said it.
There’s “Glee” too, but that’s not real a cappella (though everyone thinks it is). What they do is show choir. They rarely sing full a cappella.
Ok, now that that’s out of the way let’s delve a little deeper into this, shall we? I wanted to actually semi-retract what I said about “American Idol”. Why? Well, “The Sing Off” is also a TV show and TV shows need a story line. A show needs characters and a plot arc. American Idol has long been known as a bit of a sham, with producers knowingly picking bad singers for auditions in order to drive viewership and add to the spectacle. I would bet that the casual viewer watches the first few audition episodes (because of said horrendous vocalists), forgets about the ensuing rounds, then perhaps starts paying attention again for the top 10 singers.
Well, “The Sing Off” is no different in that it is TV show. No, it didn’t showcase the audition process or knowingly create drama or theatrics to drive tune-in. They let the music do the talking. However, I’m not stupid, I work in TV. I get how these things work. They pick groups that have an interesting story, be it a bunch of high school students who resemble “the real life Glee,” A legendary a cappella singer making his comeback, or a college group riding their youtube fame. Perhaps this is also where my bitterness comes in. My group did not have a great storyline. We had to make something up that frankly wasn’t that believable nor was it extremely interesting. We felt we had the talent (we did) and the ability to get better and grow (we totally do). We hoped that would be enough, but unfortunately it wasn’t as the producers ultimately didn’t choose us. I don’t think that says anything about our talent (or any other group’s talent that made it that far), necessarily. It says that we weren’t interesting enough.
Therein lies the rub. To be on TV story trumps talent. If you have extraordinary talent but don’t have the personality to back it up, it gets lost. That’s why shows like “So You Think You Dance” and “American Idol” are about America’s favorite singer or dancer. Not necessarily the best. While “The Sing Off” portrays a far more balanced view on talent and the groups involved, it still is very produced and calculated. I’m not saying it’s bad (I still want to be on the show!), I’m just merely trying to bring to light some conclusions I’ve come to. As I said before, “The Sing Off” is the most musically pure and impressive show on TV. It’s a shame that it’s only on 3 or 4 weeks out of the year.
I look forward to see what sort of lasting success both the show and the groups that have won it will have. I’m still not convinced that a record deal is a great prize, especially in this day and age. I understand the goal and appeal behind it, but I’m not convinced. Last year’s champion, Nota, hasn’t been heard of since they won last year (they performed on this year’s competition). Yes, they’re touring and whatever, but frankly when they performed it felt, “meh.” They didn’t feel as dynamic and fresh as they were last year. A cappella doesn’t appeal to everyone because of how empty it can sound, especially if you’re singing a song everyone knows. This will be the downfall of the groups that win – general audience apathy. If they get bored, then you’re just playing to a niche audience. The musicophiles and the college a cappella nerds (like me and my group) that don’t want to give up on their dreams. That’s not a bad thing, but then you gotta wonder what is “The Sing Off’s” actual influence and impact on the future of a cappella?
Discuss in the comments!
