Singing Bee vs. Don't Forget The Lyrics: A Karaoke Smackdown

At the request of my (one) faithful reader on this blog, Jacob, I was asked to compare the virtues of NBC's "The Great American Singing Bee" to FOX's lamely-titled "Don't Forget the Lyrics." Let's begin the smackdown shall we:

This show blatantly stole the "Millionaire" format; thus it has one contestant for the entire 1/2 hour. While each contestant has 3 "life-lines" and they can choose the category of the song they have to identify while they hike up the "Pyramid" what everything comes down to is this: a lot of bad singing by one person who tried out but didn't make the cut at "American Idol" + Wayne Brady being his usual annoying self. The only PRO I could come up with for this show was that it's only on one night a week. Save yourself aggravation and switch over to...

NBC's the Singing Bee. Here's why this show is just fun, although I've already written about this:

1. Great band and "song introducers": Like on "Name That Tune" a singer from the band "introduces" most of the song and contestants are asked to fill in the words exactly correctly. The "stable" of singers they got covers all ranges and they really sound like the original artists.

2. Joey Fatone. I hate to say it. It almost makes me cringe. But Mr. Back-Street Boy knows how to host a show. Unlike attention-hogging Wayne, he doesn't sing a note (hey, he concedes his weaknesses) and creates a fun atmosphere full of laughing at the goofy contestants. The picture above is from the "80s Night" Special to which he showed up with a mullet and thin pink pleather tie--10 extra points.

3. Much better choice of songs and theme nights. These are actually songs you can and should sing to. They've already done "80s night" and "Girl-Power Night"--I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

4. Better game show format. It really does work like a spelling bee, only with songs...and singing.

5. Contestants clearly are not trying for 15 minutes (or 22 minutes not counting commercials) of singing success. They were chosen randomly by Joey at the beginning of the show and they come out with some awesomely-bad versions of the lyrics of the songs. It's hysterical.

My only issue: The Honey Bees. They're like the Fly-Girls...only not...and they're annoying and model-y and their presence is somehow exploitive (but thank god they have their own blog...sadly I assumed they were just mindless eye-candy)

CLEAR WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION:

Take that Wayne.

"Singing Bee" Spells Good Singing Fun

I decided early that I was NOT going to watch this show. Possibly my principles had gotten in the way: another stupid gameshow, hosted by Joey Fatone (who I lovingly call Fat One only because his name obviously begs for it), where the singing doesn't count. All of this conceptually sounded like a formula for a loser. But, I was at the gym and stuck with 5 choices of which this show was the best option. From the minute I turned it on, I couldn't stop singing along.

It was simply good, clean, Karaoke-in-my-livingroom FUN. The idea is that contestants sing Karaoke-style but without the words given and must get the song-wording exactly correct to move into the next round. Sounds easy...but it's not. AND you think you won't sing along or get into such a loser-y show...but you will. I was jumping up and down when the first guy won the $50,000 prize at the end of the show.

Joey's great, the contestants have been great, the song selection is good, and the live singers who sing the provided portion of the song are awesome--they've obviously been selected because they sound eerily familiar to the actual artist who made the song great. AND the number of songs to which I've been singing the absolute wrong words is staggering. It gives me a whole new lease on radio-music life.

C'mon...it's on Saturdays which makes me nostalgic for the days when variety shows ruled the weekend nights...just watch it.

Without Prejudice?(!)

I just heard a commercial for this show and I don't know what to think. It's appearing on the Game Show Network, which I don't get, and I'm thinking I'm okay with that. Basically, the premise of the show as listed on the GSN website is:

"Hosted by Dr. Robi Ludwig, a renowned psychotherapist and journalist, this provocative series focuses on five contestants willing to open their lives to examination. A panel of strangers will decide which ONE contestant deserves to receive a $25,000 prize. Both the panel and home viewers will discover more and more about each contestant as the examination progresses and subsequently, contestants are eliminated."

The commercial airing on tv right now shows blatant racist remarks and the tension and fighting that ensues. I think it's interesting that it's hosted by a shrink, attempting to boost the "credibility" factor somehow. I'm conflicted for several reasons: 1) issues aired on this show could actually be discussed as "very bad" within homes watching--which is good. 2) people could tune in and feel that their own intolerant views are vindicated--that's bad. 3) ultimately, this is a show about judgment--and the encouraging of it--that's bad. 4) whoever is judged most "societally acceptable" will win a lot of money--that's just weird.

As a sociologist, this is going to be a treasure trove of interesting and sad social commentaries. Basically, someone has decided that promoting the practice of judging others based on a deeply-ingrained sense of one's own intolerance is not only acceptable, but encouraged. AND...that the most "normal," "acceptable," or "deserving" person will get a lot of money for just living what is relatively the most "notable" life. I don't know...this seems like it could be the opening of Pandora's Box.