The ‘Glee’ Effect: a cappella singing sweeping TV
Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) from "The Office," current paper salesman and one-time member of Cornell's Here Comes Treble. (Image via Wikipedia)
As anyone who went to a northeast liberal-arts college can tell you… this announcement from NBC is a mixed blessing:
“The Sing-Off,” NBCs upcoming a capella singing competition series, will be traveling to four U.S. cities in September searching for the most talented a capella singing groups to compete on the series for a chance at an Epic Records/Sony Entertainment recording contract. (via NBC.com – New A Capella Singing Competition Series The Sing-Off Travels to Four Cities in Search of the Most Talented Groups in America).
On the one hand, it’ll be nice for all the prepsters from New England small colleges to have a chance for a professional a cappella career after they get their sheepskins. They’re talented singers and deserve a chance at stardom in an industry that, until now, has not taken their skills (or their pun-tastic band names) seriously.
On the other hand, is there a branch of the entertainment tree that runs the story arc from novelty to grating in a shorter amount of time? In my college days, the best a cappella groups (and, seriously, you wouldn’t believe how many there are strolling around the leaf-lined paths of New England colleges, belting out cutesy, ironic versions of Hall & Oates songs…) incorporated a very large amount of self-deprecating humor into their shows, because they knew two hours of pure harmonizing, however lovely, can’t hold an audience looking forward to a Saturday night of beer pong and hooking up.
Interesting side item: are we seeing a renaissance of a cappella singing on television these days? First, we had Andy Bernard from “The Office,” the (forgive me) pitch-perfect emodiment of everything cloying about the a cappella singers I went to school with:
Next, this spring we saw the meteoric rise (and crash) of Anoop Desai, former “American Idol” contestant and one-time member of the University of North Carolina Clef Hangers (see?):
And now we’ve got “Glee”… we need to be on alert, people.
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There is a subtle difference between a capella and the kids on “Glee” – the TV show singers have musical accompaniment (and apparently a lot of vocal effects as well). A Capella is indeed fine…in small doses.
It’s one of the maddening messes of Glee — they’re supposed to be a glee club, but even their glee performances are slickly produced, lip-synched, studio-remastered productions — fellow T/S-er Lisa Cullen took exception and I think you’ll agree with her.
In response to another comment. See in context »I disagree. Anoop Desai is still rising. He just performed at the NC State Fair this past Thursday. And some of his youtube videos from the show have already received over 8,000 views in just the past four days. Notable artists such as Jordin Sparks, Mario, and Chrisette Michele have all commended his covers of their songs. Anoop has moved to LA and is currently writing his own songs. Check out “Give In to Her Love,” which he co-wrote with fellow talented UNC Clef, David Mikush. Anoop has a very dedicated and enthusiastic fanbase and I believe his presence will be felt in the music industry for many years to come.
I meant only that he crashed on “Idol.” I hope he has a long and fruitful career and you get much enjoyment out of it.
In response to another comment. See in context »Thanks for clarifying that point!