The 3 Gs of The Sing-Off: Season 3, Episode 9

In addition to full reviews of each episode of The Sing-Off, this season we will offer extended coverage most weeks via the 3 Gs format.

Great: Represents my thoughts on the best performance(s) of the night—these are the star-makers, the tearjerkers, the ones we’re all going to remember.

Gone: Represents my thoughts on the final showings from the group(s) we’re seeing for the last time in a given week.

Give it a second look: Represents the act(s) you might not remember, or that we might not have expected much from, but which delivered just the same, and deserve another listen.

Here are my thoughts from this week’s episode:

Great
Pentatonix gets it on (and the US birthrate spikes, late summer 2012). Pentatonix scaled things down this week for a performance that was far softer than their signature style, but deceptively complex, and that took fantastic advantage of each group member’s talents. I’ve, frankly, never hear harmonies or a solo that strong from this group, and everything else seemed to fall in place around them. You just don’t get much better than that.

Gone
Vocal Point may not be too proud to beg, but every step they take brings them closer to home. Despite killing it on “Every Little Step,” Vocal Point came off far too clean and didn’t really build the drama they needed on “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” We’re at the point in the competition when a single outlying performance is enough to push a group off the show, and so we bid VP farewell. Just the same, the guys confirmed their ability to bring tears to audience members’ eyes with a very simple, and absolutely lovely swan song take on Michael Buble’s “Home.” And so, the BYU boys finished number two in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella the same year they finished in fifth place on The Sing-Off. Not too many groups in the world can compete with that record. Much respect, gentlemen.

Give it a second look
The cast takes us on a journey through R&B history. As I noted in the full episode review, the way in which the cast has shrunk down via eliminations has actually helped the cohesion of the opening numbers. The medley of “I Feel Good,” “ABC,” and “Crazy in Love” was spirited, fun, well-executed, and truly worked as an introduction to the night’s theme and trajectory.