‘The Sing-Off’ 2011 – Song Spoilers for October 31

October 31, 2011 at 11:00 AM

The Sing-Off

It’s Superstar Medley week on NBC’s The Sing-Off, and Entertainment Weekly has posted the song spoilers for tonight’s show.

After the jump, I’ve posted my thoughts about some of the songs.

Looking for tonight’s live blog of The Sing-Off? Click here.

Opening number: “This Is Halloween” by Danny Elfman, “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon, and “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr.

Urban Method: Rihanna’s “What’s My Name,” “Umbrella,” and “Only Girl (In the World)”
Vocal Point: Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and “Jailhouse Rock”
Afro-Blue: Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” “When I Think of You,” and “Miss You Much
Dartmouth Aires: Queen’s “Killer Queen,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “Somebody to Love”
Pentatonix: Britney Spears’ “Oops…I Did It Again,” “Toxic,” and “Hold It Against Me”
Delilah: Alicia Keys’ “Fallin’,” “A Woman’s Worth,” and “If I Ain’t Got You”
Yellowjackets: Billy Joel’s “The River of Dreams,” “She’s Always A Woman,” and “Uptown Girl”

Season 2 winner, Committed: Chris Brown’s “Forever,” “With You,” and “Yeah (3x)”

So it’s Superstar Medley week, where each of the Top 7 groups will pick three songs from the same artist to mash together into one giant medley. The thing to watch for with medley, or mash-up, performances is how well the groups do when changing over from one song to the other. Ideally the groups will want to find a spot for the changeover that is similar in tempo and pitch, which will make things easier for them. Realistically, however, a little bit of added arrangement is often required in order to get from song one to song two to song three. A group that misses one of these transitions may not be able to find their way back in time to save themselves.

I have never been a big fan of groups of any size, including duets and trios, singing Elvis Presley songs. The more the people, to me, the worse the song usually is. Elvis’ songs seem to work best with just one person. That could spell trouble for Vocal Point, with nine members. Granted, for an a-capella version, you do need more people in order to have background music, percussion, and other items. We’ll just have to wait and see how they’ve arranged the songs.

Afro-Blue is taking on a medley of three late 80s Janet Jackson songs, which could be appropriate for Halloween night if they bring back those dreadful clothes and hair from those videos. I’ve lost confidence in this group, a former favorite of mine. Even with ten members in the group, my initial thought is that the music is going to be over their heads.

I have mixed feelings about the Dartmouth Aires taking on a trio of Queen songs, including the infamous “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a song that has sunk more hopes than Simon Cowell ever could. With 16 members, some of the songs the group has sung so far this year have been chaotic messes. However, Dave Karger over at EW.com says that he was impressed with “the Dartmouth Aires’ jaw-dropping take on the operatic passage from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’” So maybe they will pull this off after all.

The last group I’m going to comment on here is Pentatonix, who is taking on Britney Spears. It will be interesting to see how the group handles going from Britney’s early, immature sounding days, to her semi-mature days, to her way over the top mature days. In addition, two of the three songs Pentatonix has picked already sound a more futuristic than they were, so it will be interesting to see what sound the group gives those songs.

There doesn’t appear to be any type of sing-off song tonight, so my guess is that the judges will simply pick a group to go home. There is, however, a special guest tonight in the form of Season 2 winner Committed, who will be taking on a trio of Chris Brown songs.

Hmmmm…… Chris Brown and Rhianna songs in the same auditorium? I’ll leave the joke making to you on that one.

What do you think about the song choices for tonight’s The Sing-Off? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

And don’t forget to come back to IdolRadioShow.com tonight at 8 PM ET / 7 PM CT for the live blogging of the show.