Bobby McFerrin – Live A Cappella Improv on The Sing-Off – Video

Bobby McFerrin leading The Sing-Off Finale groups (Nota, Beelzebubs, Voices of Lee) in a LIVE a cappella improvisation. Woohoo!

The Sing-Off and Bobby McFerrin just made it all about the music again.

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale, using audience participation, at the event “Notes & Neurons: In Search
of the Common Chorus”, from the 2009 World Science Festival, June 12, 2009. The “Let’s Help Out ‘Men of a Certain Age’” miniseason of “The Closer” (TNT, 9 p.m.) ends. Mary McDonnell returns as Captain Raydor, the self-righteous cop we love to hate — this time she’s asking for Brenda’s help (sort of) in an investigation involving a female officer who appears to have been abused.

Nota, the Beelzebubs and Voices of Lee. No, it’s not the lineup for a death-metal concert: it’s the three a cappella groups with a shot at the $100,000 top prize in the finale of “The Sing-Off“ (NBC, 8 p.m.). Boyz II Men, Smokey Robinson and the high priest of pop a cappella, Bobby McFerrin, will also perform.

Bobby McFerrin – Live A Cappella Improv on The Sing-Off – Video

Bobby McFerrin leading The Sing-Off Finale groups (Nota, Beelzebubs, Voices of Lee) in a LIVE a cappella improvisation. Woohoo!
The Sing-Off and Bobby McFerrin just made it all about the music again.
View the results of the Sing-Off Finale here.
Watch the video here:

Ben Folds Kicks Off NBC's 'The Sing-Off'

There are a few key things you should know about NBC's a capella singing competition show "The Sing-Off," which premiered Monday night (December 14). First, it's not very good. Unless you're one of those people who are super-enthusiastic about the Whiffenpoofs, singing groups get pretty grating after a few minutes — even the good ones. On the bright side, the talent assembled to judge the competition is a top-shelf group of folks who could use the work. Plus, it's hosted by the always-charming Nick Lachey, who should really have his own talk show (or perhaps some sort of outward-bound experience type of thing — like "Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations").

The judges include Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men and former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, but the highlight of Monday night's episode was Ben Folds, the manic piano player and former frontman of the Ben Folds Five. Folds is one of the most underrated songwriters of his generation, responsible for high-profile hits like "Brick" but also some fantastically melancholy tunes like "Evaporated" (from Ben Folds Five's 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen) and "Fred Jones, Pt. 2" (from Folds' 2001 solo album Rockin' the Suburbs). He's no stranger to a capella music either, as he oversaw the recording of a bunch of his songs by college groups and often lead voice-only versions of his songs during concerts. This happened most often with the song "Army," the first single from The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner and a good summary of Folds' entire world view.


"The Sing-Off" continues tonight — here's hoping some Folds tunes will sneak into the broadcast.