Find Me Guilty; Sing-Off’s a Pleasure

It’s Night 3 of NBC’s a capella guilty pleasure, The Sing-Off, and I’m totally addicted, and not just because of the musicianship and showmanship of the singing groups. The judges themselves are awesome, especially the talented Ben Folds.

Folds has this way of giving critiques that are incisive, illuminating and still very kind. He’s my favorite part of the show, and I want to hire him as my personal critic. Around the house we’ve taken to yelling out, “Critique me, Ben Folds! Critique me!”

Though I liked the Baltimore lady barbershop quartet, Maxx Factor, tonight was the night for them to go. The four groups left to compete — Nota, the Beelzebubs, the SoCals and Voices of Lee — simply have a broader range. The ladies’ swan song, “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” was a touching goodbye.

UPDATE The ‘Bubs have a Web site.

Tonight, the judges challenged the final four groups with songs they recommended, matched to each group’s strengths and weaknesses:

• Nota, “Sledgehammer,” by Peter Gabriel. The song has dynamics that suit this talented Puerto Rican ensemble but their leader didn’t know the song (which made me feel old), and that slight discomfort showed in the performance. The added Latin spice in their arrangement was less clever than it was an attempt to find something they were more comfortable with to insert into the performance.
• The Beelzebubs, “Sweet Caroline,” by Neil Diamond. These Tufts University boys know how to put on a show, and they’ve got the musical chops to pull off anything that’s thrown at them. I might give Nota the edge on pure musical talent, but the ‘Bubs better understand the point of performing is to please an audience. This singalong standard is too easy to simply do well; the challenge is to perform it superbly. And, importantly, they are the best dressed of the bunch. I think this group’s gonna make it all the way.
• The SoCals, “Hazy Shade of Winter.” This song is tailor-made for the brassy Southern California group, but their performance came out uneven. They overreached, substituting gimmicks for interpretation. The three-part harmony by the women didn’t gel. Ben Folds was nice to them but his central point was right: They lost the song.
• Voice of Lee, “Man in the Mirror,” by Michael Jackson. I’m not a fan of this group from Tennessee, possibly because they tend to make the worst costuming choices of each of the groups. They Milquetoasted the song. Poor Michael Jackson is turning over in his grave. “Cruise-shippity,” says my fellow TV-watcher, Junkie1. We’re at the point in the competition where talent alone isn’t enough; it’s all about interpretation, and this group is too vanilla to pull it off. Ben Folds was too easy on them because he doesn’t know the Michael Jackson original.

The judges sent the SoCals home, alas. Mark me, though, Voices of Lee is the next to go.