Interviews, Television
Dec 8, 2013

THE SING-OFF RETURNS WITH NEWEST JUDGE JEWEL

PPLA recently attended the press junket Summer Wonderland for NBC’s, The Sing Off. The show stars Nick Lackey, Jewel, Shawn Stockman and Ben Folds as judges. The talented Mark Burnett produces the show which was renewed for a third season.

This program showcase new and upcoming acappella groups to the rest of the world. Each acappella groups is competing in a singing competition to win a grand prize.

It was interested to hear what Jewel, Nick, Shawn, and Mark had to say about working and being a part of this production. They each had nothing but positive feedback about working with one another. One of the questions that stood out and was asked to each of them was- did you know what sort of judge you would be?

Jewel responded saying, “It’s all heart, you have to let your heart be your guide, and being honest with people and yourself. For me, it’s to build people up. I try to treat people like I would want to be treated if I was up there.” She continued, “We are all here by the grace of God. People want to make a living on something they love, and especially with this type of show there is a synergy. There is our show, there is Glee, there is Pitch Perfect the movie. There is a synergy around letting people know that this can be an option for them.”

Mark mentioned that viewers and contestants “find us, that’s the truth, and the numbers just go up. With social media and ways to reach television producers in shows, it’s so much easier than it ever was.” He said, “It’s really a welcoming environment for artists.” Jewel agreed calling the internet “the new wild west of the music frontier.” Nick Lackey said, “It’s exciting to see what I really think is a renaissance of acappella music and it was really not at the forefront like it is now.” Nick continued, “We all do this because we have a huge passion for acappella and music in general.” Shawn added, “What the show is doing is putting a spotlight on a culture that already existed. I didn’t realize their were acappella groups before The Sing Off actually started, just looking on the Twitter pages and looking at all these acappella groups with thousands of followers, and groups I never heard of before. This is a cool thing.”

When asked what the cash grand prize for contestants would be, Mark Burnett said that the show is “way more about the experience than the prize.”

That could be evidenced by the wide array of talent the show pulls in. The groups that are participating are from all over the country and beyond. I was able to meet Nota from Puerto Rico. They were incredibly outgoing and had fascinating energy. Also, I got to watch a live performance by the Arlington Texas group, Pentaonix. They did one of the most dynamic performances I have ever seen. They have a real shot to become the next Backstreet Boys or Macklemore and Ryan Lewis!

As an artist, you aim to express yourself by reaching as many people as you can. This show is a clear depiction of helping upcoming artists showoff their talents.

The Sing- Off returns to air tonight Dec. 9th after more than a year off!