‘The Sing-Off’ season 4, episode 3 review: The Filharmonic, acoUstiKats, more battle
For the third episode of “The Sing-Off,” we started to really see some of the differences in the format that NBC is showing us from when the show was last on two seasons ago. For example, there was some mentoring that went on here much like you were watching an episode of “The Voice” … but we didn’t mind when we saw the quality of the performances tonight. These were great! The only bummer was that there were only four of them thanks to the show being an hour long, with one act being eliminated at the end of the night.
Let’s kick things off here by just ranking all of the performers who performed to this rather broad theme of #1 Hits.
4. The Filharmonic, “One More Night” – This was a good performance with only two flaws: The outfits were much too cheesy for what this song is really about, and we don’t really think the guys got that this is really supposed to be a little edgier than this performance was. But here’s the thing: If you forget about all that and are listening simply for great vocals, you weren’t disappointed here.
3. Street Corner Renaissance, “Forget You” – This is a test of how great this night was, since we really liked this performance a lot. Yet, we had to rank some songs above it. It was the best they’ve done all season in our mind, since it combined some humor, great singing, and a popular song. These guys are probably the most like a classic old-school quintet, and we like that we really get to know most of them.
2. Ten, “Chain of Fools” – This expression has been frustratingly overused, but we mean it here when we say that these people took us to church and then some. Seriously, this was a million different degrees of awesome from start to finish, and it makes us wonder if they’re already this good after having so little time to get to know each other, imagine what they could be like later. With all of this being said, their name is terrible.
1. acoUstiKats, “Amazed” – The moment that we first heard that the university group was doing a song from Lonestar that is cheese topped with more cheese, we want to hide in the fetal position. But this was … beautiful? Yes, it was! We almost got choked up by the end of it. This was, despite our fervent distaste for the song, our favorite performance of the entire season.
Ultimate Sing-Off, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” (The Filharmonic vs. Street Corner Renaissance) – We actually feel like the right two groups were picked to battle for their life in the competition, and this performance validated this super-great twist’s existence yet again. This was just pure fun from start to finish, and there is almost nothing in here to criticize, especially the ending with the waves and Street Corner Renaissance making sure they got the last note.
We won’t hate on the judges for keeping The Filharmonic, mostly because saving either one of them would have felt like the right move also because they are both that amazing. You know that you have a good episode when the only thing that that you really have to complain about are that the audience members holding up their signs of support were obviously planted. This show was taped, so it’s not like some random people are bringing in signs to support people they don’t know! Otherwise, a great episode. Grade: A-.
What was your take on this episode of “The Sing-Off,” and do you think that the right act was sent home? Share in the comments below! Also, click here if you have a hankering to see some of our other recent episode reviews.
Photo: NBC