The Sing-Off 3.8

It's the Final Four.  


Group Performance: Mash-up of a bunch of songs by Gwen Stefani, The Verve, Katy Perry and The Who


I'm really annoyed by Nick saying that a challenge is "all-vocal".  What the hell else would it be on this show, Nick?!  OK, I know that he's reading a teleprompter, but he needs to say something to the writers of this show, or else I'll continue to think he's an idiot.


First Challenge:  Master Mix of 2 songs with different tempos and styles


Pentatonix: "Forget You" by Cee-Lo Green and "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson
The key of the Cee-Lo is too low for the female lead, because she had an intonation problem in her solo.  I don't really like the chord progression of the KC song.  I like the way the lyrics in the mash-up mix, but I don't like the music.  I do agree that the rhythm section was great, though.


Urban Method: "Hot in Here" by Nelly and "Fever" by Peggy Lee


Ooh, those are really differently styled songs.  Let's see how they do.  I like that!  Go, girls with the "I wanna take my clothes off" move!  Sexy.  See?  Sara agrees with me.  


Afro-Blue: "I Believe I Can Fly" by R Kelly and "Fly" by Nicki MInaj & Rihanna
A little trouble with those opening chords, guys.  It got a lot better, though, and turned into the lush jazz that I'm used to from them.  The rap kicked butt, Mariah!


Dartmouth Aires: "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga and "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones
So what's with the palm leaf fans?  Is that a devil thing?  I like the pause before the battle between the leads.  Very cool.  


My pick for this set:  Urban Method


Second Challenge: Judges' Pick


Pentatonix: "Dog Days are Over" by Florence + the Machine
I like how they start the song slower than I'm used to, then the beat picks up.  They did this song really well, and redeemed themselves from the first song.  19 year olds?!  Wow, that's incredible.  


Urban Method: "All of the Lights" by Kanye West
I don't think it's much of a challenge to give a hip-hop song to the hip-hop group.  Oh, they want to combine talents.  I see.  Ooh, what was that spacey sound that they all did together?  That was neato.  


Afro-Blue: "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke
That's a great choice of song for them.  Kristi's voice is really smooth and comforting, I just sit back and smile when I listen to it.  Sara, if y'all didn't confuse them along the way, you sure as hell confused me.  Thank you for accepting who they are, even if it's just for today.  


Dartmouth Aires: "Shout" by The Isley Brothers
This should be fun!  But, wait.  If you want them to show that they're not just entertainers but also  recording artists, then why would you give them a song that is automatically entertaining?  I don't get it, but I do love the way they perform this song.  Michael's very bendy.  


This is a diffcult one....my pick for this challenge is Afro-Blue.


Results


Moving on to the finale:  Urban Method & Pentatonix


I'm so tired of Afro-Blue being in the bottom, especially when other groups' pitch issues are brought up, and they don't have that problem most of the time.  


Reprise do-or-die encore for Afro-Blue: "American Boy" from episode 3.2.1
Dartmouth Aires: "Somebody to Love" from episode 3.5
Hmm...both of those were the favorites of the judges...but they're considering that song along with all of the other live performances from the season.


Sara's choice:  Dartmouth Aires (emotionally moved her every time)
Shawn's choice: Afro-Blue (could have a long-standing career in music)
BTW, I'm feeling like this is contrived, but whatever.
Ben's choice: Dartmouth Aires (going with the most consistent)


You all know how I feel about the judges trying to change Afro-Blue's style every frickin' week.  So just imagine how annoyed I am at this moment.  How is someone supposed to be consistent when they're being told that their own style is wrong every week? AUGH!


Afro-Blues' swan song: "We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters
Man, how could they let this group go home?!  Stupid judges.  The song was gorgeous.  


So it's our turn to vote.  Hmmmm....I really don't have a favorite out of the remaining 3, nor do I hate any of them enough to vote against them.  So maybe I'll just sit out from this voting session.  Or maybe I just won't tell anyone in this post.  :)


Next week:  The Finale