Welcome to the first week of the NBC a cappella show, The Sing-Off. Previously a two-week show the past two Decembers, NBC has now placed it against the ABC juggernaut, Dancing with the Stars. For those of us who can’t stand this year’s DWTS supposed “celebrity” cast, The Sing-Off will be a great alternative.

Unlike other singing competitions, there is no on-air audition process for The Sing-Off. Instead, the acts that will compete are chosen prior to the season starting. With the extended season this year, the number of a cappella groups picked for this season has risen to 16.

They are: Afro-blue, The Cat’s Pajamas, The Collective, Dartmouth Aires, Delilah, The Deltones, Fannin Family, Kinfolk 9, Messiah’s Men, North Shore, Pentatonix, Sonos, Soul’d Out, Urban Method, Vocal Point, and The Yellow Jackets.

The host of The Sing-Off is former 98 Degrees boy-band member, Nick Lachey. The judges are Ben Folds (Ben Folds Five frontman), Shawn Stockman (Boyz II Men member), and Sara Bareilles (“Love Song” singer, who is replacing Nicole Scherzinger as a judge).

I’m not fully sure how the format of the show will work with the expanded season. The show will only air on Monday nights, so there is no dedicated results show. In the past, the judges solely decided who went home at the end of each episode, including at the end of the first episode. America only voted following the performances during the next-to-last episode. We’ll have to see if the show keeps this format or modifies it to take into account the longer season.

And finally, the winning group will get $200,000 (up from $100,000 the past two seasons) and a recording contract with Sony Records.

Done right, a cappella groups can provide some really great entertainment. And the show has a good history of picking talented groups to compete. The performances haven’t always been perfect, but in the past the judges usually made short work of them. For those of you use to the horrific a cappella auditions we are forced to endure during the American Idol auditions, you can safely watch The Sing-Off without worry. No William Hungs will pop-up on you by surprise.

So join me after the jump as I live blog tonight’s The Sing-Off.

Groups eliminated tonight: Fannin Family and Cat’s Pajamas

Here we go. Time for the first ever Fall season of The Sing-Off. And my feed of the show immediately begins skipping around. This may be a long two-hours for me.

In the opening sequence, we find out that only eight groups will be performing tonight. And that makes sense, since the show is only two-hours long. Any longer, and there simply wouldn’t be any time for the judges to comment.

As if normally the case with The Sing-Off, the various acts come together to sing a large group song, with each act getting a little time by themselves to sing. I recognize the song but can’t think of the name right now. It is, however, a great start to the show. Unlike those group numbers over on American Idol, which often makes us want to immigrate up to Canada.

With the song done, Nick Lachey comes out to host the show. He tells us the song was Pink’s “Perfect.” I knew that, but had a brain fart at the time. At least, that’s the story I’m giving and sticking to.

Nick introduces the three celebrity judges. While the three judges may not be household names, Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman are beloved by those who have watched the previous seasons. Most of those same fans couldn’t stand Nicole Scherzinger, which means that that new judge Sarah Bareilles may be a breath of fresh air for them.

And now we know that two of the eight acts that perform tonight will be sent home at the end of the show. Nothing like wasting no time cutting out the fat.

The first act to perform this season is The Yellow Jackets. They hail from the University of Rochester, whose mascot is the Yellow Jacket. In their pre-performance video, they mention going to Kenya to do a musical exchange. I’m willing to bet that was a lot of fun. A lot of hard work, but a lot of fun. The Yellow Jackets are singing “Waivin’ Flag” by K’naan. If you have no idea what this song is, don’t feel bad. It was only released in Canada. Unfortunately, the group sounds too amateurish, a real shock considering the pedigree of this group. It’s all over the place musically, with members sounding out of step with each other and the tempo fluctuating all over the place. The first group up this season may end up being the first group to go home this season.

Next up tonight is Fannin Family, a real family made up of eight singing siblings. Based on the applause they got during the opening group number, this group already has a following. Tonight they are singing “Who Says” by Selena Gomez. The song starts off in a key that is way too low for the 14-year-old lead singer of the group, who misses quite a few notes. Even worse, the group picks up on the wrong notes to make matters worse. The singers do manage to get on track with the key about a third of the way through the song to deliver what ends up being a good performance. Nice recovery guys.

Taking the stage now is Afro-Blue, an a cappella group from Howard University. I was busy giving props to the people over at S’mores Radio Show for tweeting that they easily choose The Sing-Off over Dancing with the Stars instead of watching the pre-performance video. My bad. The group sings “Put Your Records On,” one of the all-time classic songs. Not only do they do the song justice, they actually improve it with their jazz version. The group has class and style that is clearly natural for them. It’s a great performance, easily the best of the groups we’ve seen so far. I will be surprised if they don’t last a long time in this competition.

Next up is Delilah, a group of all girls that is made up of some of the standouts from the acts that performed on the previous two seasons. Their pre-performance video shows how the group came about and how the girls that were on previously felt when their groups were sent home. Delilah is the type of group that has the ability to be really, really good since they had their pick of the previous seasons. There is also a danger since they are a new group and don’t have a history with each other. They are taking on Bruno Mars’ “Grenade,” and they nail it. They have a huge diversity of singers in this group, including some bass singers, which is often rare in female groups. They are on pitch throughout the song, keep a steady tempo, and demonstrates what girl power is all about. They are another favorite of mine already this season.

It’s time for one of the groups to go home. The judges have decided between the first four acts that performed tonight.

The first group going home this season is: Fannin Family

That means Delilah, Afro-Blue, and The Yellow Jackets will all be performing again on the show. I would have preferred The Yellow Jackets going home tonight, as I felt they had the worst performance of the first four. The Fannin Family sings “Tomorrow” as they walk off the stage.

Time for the second half of the show. Four more acts will perform followed by another act getting axed.

First up for this segment of the show is Urban method. The founder of the group says he has pulled all the best singers from other groups that have come into his recording studio over the years. The group includes a rapper, which could make for some really good rap-appella. I missed the name of the song they are singing. The group starts off on an amazing note with a tremendous lead vocal. The rapping, while good as a whole, doesn’t really fit in with this song. It just doesn’t work at all. The background music interferes with the rapping. Interestingly, however, once the lead singer starts singing again while the rapping continues, the song comes together perfectly. So a great effort that didn’t fully work out all the way through. I’m hoping they get another chance.

Okay. I took my eyes off the show for just a moment and saw something about Sam Tsui having something to do with the show. I hope this means he will perform on the show at some point, because he has one of the BEST voices in ALL of the music industry. Yes, I said it. One of the BEST in ALL of the music industry. And Sam has the voice to back up my claim.

Next up is an oddly named group, the Cat’s Pajamas, a former cruise ship group who now sings in Branson, Missouri at the Dutton’s Theater. They are an old-style group that focuses mostly on the 50s, 60s, and 70s. True to form, they sing “Some Kind of Wonderful” tonight. Vocally, it’s spot on. No mistakes with missing the notes, no tempo issues, and they are all connected with each other. But for reasons I just simply cannot put my finger on, it doesn’t work for me. Maybe it’s the song choice or something, like the song shouldn’t have been performed a cappella. The audience loved it but the judges sort of agree with me, though they are able to form into words why it didn’t work for them.

Sarah may have said it best when she talked about them being slick and showy. I think that’s what was bothering me. Felt too rehearsed without feeling natural. Thanks for the assist, Sarah.

Time for kinfolk 9 to take the stage, a group of struggling artists who came together to sing a cappella for the first time. This is the hardest type of group to put together, because singing a cappella is not as easy as it might look. With normal singing, you have the music to help guide where you are suppose to go. With a cappella, you are dependent on the person who is keeping the beat. And if one person goes off-key, all the members can go off-key. The group is singing One Republic’s “Secrets.” The tempo suffers in several places, both in overall speed as they speed-up and slow down unintentionally and in the singers not being synced up with those singing background. But there is definitely a lot of talent there. If they are given another chance, they could really end up being something special.

With one act left to go, can I just say that even when one of the groups on The Sing-Off fail to deliver, it’s still better music that just about any other singing competition on the air. That tells you the level of talent these groups have and how well the producers did in picking the groups to participate this season.

The final group of the night is Vocal Point, an a cappella group from Brigham Young University. In the pre-performance video, we find out that one member of the group, Ben, had to go home to Australia because his father is ill and may not make it. That has to be tough, both for Ben and for the group. A stupid advertisement popped-up on my screen just as they showed the name of the song, so I missed it. I recognize the song, but can’t place the name to it. Either way, it’s a good performance. Unlike most groups, who remained fairly still while singing, Vocal Point take advantage of moving all around the stage. They have great vocals, good chemistry, and have just become my third favorite of the night. Amazing performance.

Time for the second group of the night to go home.

The second group eliminated from the first night of competition is: Cat’s Pajamas.

That means Vocal Point, Urban Method, and kinfolk 9 are going through to the next round. I’m fine with this pick, as it was a very tough group to be up against, and their flashiness and showiness just didn’t work for this song. They leave the stage singing their swan song, “Bye Bye Love,” and it’s actually much better than their previous performance. They might have remained in the contest had they sung that song instead.

There you go. The first two groups axed this season were Fannin Family and Cat’s Pajamas. Next week, the other eight acts will take the stage, with two of them being eliminated as well.

My favorites tonight were Afro-Blue, Delilah, and Vocal Point. Can’t wait until next week to see who I will be adding to this list.

So what did you think of tonight’s The Sing-Off? Were you happy with who the judges sent home? Or do you think the judges need medication and therapy to get over their issues? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

And join me next Monday at 8 PM ET / 7 PM CT for more live blogging of The Sing-Off.