<p>I LOVE Pentatonix, but always thought Afro Blue was a strong second. Sorry to see them eliminated.</p>
<p>The judges are so enjoyable–always have something helpful and positive to say. And Sara is so much better than Nicole last year…she was an airhead when it came to music, to put it bluntly. </p>
<p>Wait, the shows were all taped months ago, except for the last one which will be on next week, after we vote? But surely they’re not all taped back-to-back…the contestants have to have a week to learn their 2 songs, with choreography.</p>
<p>As I’ve mentioned before, Michael Odokara went to high school with my daughters…so of course, I’m rooting for the Aires! (although I think Pentatonix will win) I agree with Consolation that the Aires are fun to watch and would be great in concert, but I’m not sure I would buy their album. I’m not that keen on Urban Method…I just don’t like rap very much.</p>
<p>Well, I like rap fine, but it’s hard to do well. Urban Method does sometimes, and sometimes not. I thought their “All Of The Lights” was the weakest of the final performances, but it was awfully good.</p>
<p>I think a couple of things may have contributed to them winning their mini-contest with Afro Blue. From a commercial standpoint, they ARE unique, and have a potential to attract new fans, while Afro Blue is really best at something that is old-fashioned. Also, the judges – and perhaps their commercial masters behind the curtains – seem to like identifiable male stars a whole lot. That’s really what separates their final three from the rest of the pack – each of them revolves around a single charismatic frontman, much more so than any of the excellent groups cut in the past few rounds.</p>
<p>And of course, one may have noticed that while both Urban Method and Afro Blue had a decided African-American musical orientation, Urban Method is legitimately multi-ethnic, while Afro Blue has a token white chick who doesn’t stand out on any other basis. Last year’s contest produced a clear winner that was deeply in the African-American gospel tradition, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the businessmen believe it’s easier to promote a group that isn’t almost all black.</p>
<p>JHS, I wondered about the apparently-white girl in AfroBlue, but I assume that if she is a Howard student she must be multiracial. </p>
<p>Something I was thinking about: are all of these groups REALLY doing all of their own arranging? That would really be stunning. I know that long-established acapella groups have arrangements done for them over the years in their musical library, but most likely this contest demands that they come up with a substantial amount of new material, since it’s hard to imagine that they can cover ALL of the requirements out of their established repertoire. And certainly the clips show them working out arrangements, and never show a “coach,” so to speak.</p>
<p>If so, I am even more blown away by their talent and skill.</p>
<p>If she is a Howard student you should assume she may be anything at all. The days of segregation are over, if you haven’t noticed. Seriously, our friends’ daughter (white) went to a “historically” black school because she wanted to major in Afro-American studies, then something to do with cultural diversity, and I’m not sure what her final major was. Anyway…</p>
<p>Urban Method is multi-ethnic, but none of their folks appeal to me, whereas Afro Blue has some talented and beautiful young women I predict will make it in show business whether or not their group “makes” it.</p>
<p>I’ve wondered about the arrangements also. There is some serious arranging going on there!</p>
<p>We are rooting for the Aires- just learned that one member went to BS with D2- she sang in his a cappella group (which he ended up leading) starting freshman year.
WooHoo Aires!
(but I love all the other groups, truth be told…)
p.s. the arrangements on this show are SOOOOPERRRRRB!</p>
<p>Question: do the groups have their own arrangers, do they arrange themselves, or does the show provide the groups with arrangers? </p>
<p>The arrangement of any given song is a huge factor in how well the song plays. I’ve always wondered about this, particularly with groups whose arrangements seem really brilliant. Committed (last season) and Pentatonix come to mind.</p>
<p>I think Pentatonix has it sewn up. They are soooo amazing. I was bummed to see Afro Blue go, though. </p>
<p>As for the white girl in the group, she may be attending an Historically Black College, but it is in no way exclusively black. In fact, many HBCs work to recruit white students and offer them scholarships, much in the same way that some predominantly white colleges do minorities. What makes anyone think that HBCs wouldn’t value diversity as well?</p>
<p>I don’t think it is a matter of “valuing diversity.” There is a certain historic mission, and there is a value to that. (One could also argue that women’s colleges and HBCs offer a kind of diversity within the big picture in and of themselves…) I thought that Howard and Morehouse and the like existed to serve black students in a completely positive way, just as my alma mater was founded as a women’s college and remains so today. There are male exchange students on campus–we called them “coeds” – but no males are admitted as regular students/granted degrees. I gather that is no longer the case, even for the “flagship” HBCs?</p>
<p>The name AfroBlue makes a pretty unmistakable statement, don’t you think?</p>
<p>Many of the “flagship” HBCs are public institutions, and thus cannot exclude anyone on racial grounds. Morehouse and Spelman, probably the wealthiest of private HBCs, each has white enrollment in single digits (absolute numbers, on a percentage basis far less than 1%). Howard, which is also private, does not publish figures, although it does have a prominent non-discrimination policy governing admissions.</p>
<p>They spend a lot of air time asking the singers lame questions like “How important is it to your group to win the competition?”. Answer “Very important.” Why don’t they ask questions that we really want to know like “How did the white girl get in AfroBlue?” </p>
<p>Seriously, I wish they would tell us more about
What the real schedule was and how much time the groups had to prepare for each show.
How the groups come up with the arrangements. I can see a small group like Pentatonix sitting around and collaboratively working them out, but a larger group like the Dartmouth Airs probably needs a designated arranger to take charge and write out most of the details.<br>
A guy name Deke Sharon, who is a very well-known and prolific a cappella arranger, is associated with the show. What does he do?</p>
<p>^I just googled “who does the arrangements for Sing-Off” and the only thing that came up was the NBC web site, with people asking these questions and not being answered. :(</p>
<p>Ben Folds’ song with Dartmouth was absolutely a hoot! I love that he gets up there with all those amazing singers with his own “character” voice that cannot do all the intricate things the other singers can do. Yet he uses his own gifts to lift the gifts of the others. </p>
<p>Agree that Nick’s song with Pentatonix was great. He is a much better singer than host, IMO! :)</p>
<p>The results were right on for me. I thought there were more pitch issues with the performances tonight, though…really for all the groups.</p>
<p>Yes, there was a lot of…pitchiness. They were all excited and nervous, I’m sure. I caught Kirsti looking at one of her guys as they finished singing, and it was a look musicians give each other when they don’t want the audience to know they almost blew it. :D</p>
<p>Boo-hoo. I missed the whole thing except for seeing (with the sound muted) that Pentatonix won. (Shocker. Not.)</p>
<p>It’s likely that Deke Sharon does the arrangements for the group songs that open each show. I’ll bet he or some other “coaches” are available to help with the groups’ arrangements for the songs they perform, but I would think that at least in theory the groups are doing their own arranging (as most quality a cappella groups would for most of their repertoire). Each of the groups probably has 1-3 people who do most of their arranging, together or separately.</p>
<p>I’m coming in late, and might have missed this, but there are plenty of white LOOKING students at HBCUs that are “really” “black”…whatever that means. Also, in my medical school class at Howard, white students were not rare.</p>
Seriously, our friends’ daughter (white) went to a “historically” black school because she wanted to major in Afro-American studies, then something to do with cultural diversity, and I’m not sure what her final major was. Anyway…</p>
– but no males are admitted as regular students/granted degrees. I gather that is no longer the case, even for the “flagship” HBCs?</p>