One of the ways I have been escaping all the work is watching NBC's The Sing-Off which features the best A Cappella groups in the nation all competing for $200,000 and a Sony Music recording contract. It is judged by Boys II Men's Shawn Stockman, and singer-song writers Sara Bareilles and Ben Folds. This year the show started with 16 groups, including BYU's Vocal Point (who I have been a huge fan of for years.) Every week, the judges decide who leaves and who stays.
The show was judged pretty fairly for most of the show, until things started getting weird that past 3 episodes. There were groups that were clearly not performing well that were moving on. In fact, it seemed like the judges (or NBC?) already had in the back of their minds who they wanted to bring to the final four, when the audience would start voting.
One of the most blatant and obvious examples of this was eliminating Vocal Point last week. Vocal Point had two performances for R&B week, Every Little Step and Ain't Too Proud to Beg. Every Little Step was maybe the best performance by any group during the entire season. The judges were laughing it was so good, and Shawn gave it a standing ovation. Their second performance wasn't their best, although there wasn't anything wrong with it. The judges immediately gave a harsher-than-usual critique of the performance saying things like the lead singer's voice was "too sweet." It seemed after that performance that no matter what other groups had done, Vocal Point's fate was decided.
Vocal Point was subsequently voted off, having never been in the bottom two before (every other contestant had been in the bottom two at least twice, except for Dartmouth Aires.) Contestants on the show even seemed shocked, as some literally had their jaws drop. Vocal Point to that point had been the most solid, consistent, and was constantly voted fan favorite on the Sing Off website.
There was immediate backlash. Click here to watch the video and read comments of viewers (the comments on the videos posted above are good too.) Countless more comments were made on Youtube and Facebook expressing disgust with the obvious rigging of the show. But why would NBC do this? I have three theories:
1. Favoritism Theory: The episode featured the top 5 groups. This was the last episode that the judges would have a say in who stays and who goes, because the audience gets to decide from here on out. Did the judges have personal favorites that they wanted to move on? Were they turned off by feel-good college groups? Was there simply a distaste to the style and type of music Vocal Point liked to do? Or was Sony looking to make more money by having an a cappella group with more modern tastes move on, like Urban Method or Pentatonix? Those are all questions worth asking.
2. FLIGHT$ Theory: Another rumor I heard was that NBC was paying for Vocal Point to travel back and forth between BYU and LA so that Vocal Point members could do the show and attend school. They did that for two episodes, which is 18 round trip tickets. That can get expensive. Was NBC trying to save a couple bucks by kicking them off early? Vocal point would likely have survived 2-3 more episodes, which is 18-27 more airline tickets. Assuming they made it to the top 2, that would be 45 tickets. 45 tickets @ $400 each = $18,000. This is another theory which might have some merit.
3. Mormon Theory: This theory might be the most controversial, but one that many are leaning towards. At the end of the day, all the judges, media members, and everyone else in show business are liberal. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints helped front a massive campaign in California in favor of Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to define marriage between a man and a woman, thus barring gay marriage. Was NBC worried about the large Mormon audience watching the show voting for Vocal Point and having them win? That would be directly funding a Mormon university, with Mormon students, and giving Vocal Point a record that would more than likely contain some religious songs. Vocal Point was basically neck and neck with another group, Pentatonix. Regardless of who has more talent, the audience was going to decide the winner. Was NBC trying to ensure that Vocal Point couldn't get a shot so they wouldn't be affiliated with the Mormon singers? This theory would also align with why the judges voted off another group with Mormons, Delilah, when there were other groups that were clearly not as good. Another thought, did Sunday performance have something to do with it? Here is one comment made on the NBC website: "It's definitely rigged. I was told by a relative of a member of the group the real reasons they were eliminated. The producers said they would get an "unfair" amount of votes because their religion and school would all vote for them." Interesting.
When it comes down to it, the outcome can't be changed. However, it is infuriating when you play better, have more talent, and put up more points than another team but still walk away with a loss. I hope NBC gets even more backlash from this and learns to play fair in the future.
I'm going to a Vocal Point concert this Saturday. If I get any more inside information, I'll be sure to update the post.
