|
In Tune for The Sing Off with Nick Lachey and Joel Gallen
by Troy Rogers
After rising to musical fame as a member of the
group 98 Degrees, Nick Lachey knows a thing or
two about singing off to fans in acapella. Although
Nick has gone beyond singing to diversify his
talent potential, Lachey is back in the entertainment
eye with the new four night holiday event talent
series, The Sing Off, which debuts on NBC Monday,
December 14 from 8-10pm.
Featuring Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five, Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men and a rotating surprise guest judge, The Sing Off will see Nick Lachey play host to eight groups all in Sing Off competition for an Epic Records/Sony Recording contract. Debuting on December 14, The Sing Off will pick up December 15 and December 16 as The Sing Off field narrows for the December 21 finale where one group will be crowned the winner of The Sing Off.
Leading up to the NBC premiere of The Sing Off, TheDeadbolt hopped on the phone to get a few Sing Off lessons from Nick Lachey and executive producer Joel Gallen to give fans a mental sneak peek at what we can expect from The Sing Off.
THE DEADBOLT: Nick, what would you have said if they asked you to be a judge?
 NICK
LACHEY: I wouldn't have been opposed to
being a judge. That being said, I enjoy the
opportunity to not have to play that role and
be a friend to the group and a support system.
That's something I enjoy. But at the same time,
having been in the music business for about
thirteen years, you learn what's good and what
sounds good. So that puts you in the position
to be an effective judge. But I'm happy to be
the host!
THE DEADBOLT: How do you think 98 Degrees would've done in a competition like this?
LACHEY: I would have liked to have thought
we'd have done pretty well, man! Acapella is
the reason we got signed and the reason why
we were in the business to begin with. So I
think we would have held our own.
THE DEADBOLT: What's the latest on season two of Taking the Stage?
LACHEY: It's coming back in late January, as is America's Next Dance Crew.
THE DEADBOLT: Joel, do you have any early favorites out of the eight teams?
 JOEL
GALLEN: [laughs] Well, if I did, I can't
share that with you. I would say it's going
to be a very close competition. I think there's
a lot of groups that can contend for the championship.
THE DEADBOLT: Since they all sing acapella, can you mention some of the differences?
GALLEN: Well, I think their styles of
music are very different. I don't know if the
press department has released the names of the
groups and where they're from. If you go through
their backgrounds, you have this group, Nota,
and it's from Puerto Rico and they're very Latin
influenced. You have a group like Noteworthy,
which is an all girl group from Brigham Young
University, made up of nine Mormon girls and
incredible singers. You have the group from
Boston, the Beelzebubs, who have the long tradition
of acapella for a long time at their university.
You have Maxx Factor, which is sort of middle
aged women from Maryland who are former champions
of barbershop quartet competitions.
The Solo group, which is from Nebraska, that is really our group that almost comes close to like a street corner kid of vibe, people that get together to sing just because they love it. They're all trying to make ends meet and going through a lot of hardships. So their styles and their approach are all distinctly different. That's what I think is going to make the show special. None of these groups are similar at all. They all have their own distinct personality.
THE DEADBOLT: So is it like a regional thing?
 GALLEN:
It's not a regional thing, competition-wise,
but it does turn out that we have groups from
all over the country. And we represented the
country very well, I think. But that part will
not play in the competition at all. I mean,
all eight groups are sort of coming from a level
playing field and there's no. Once the show
starts, where they're from and what region of
the country they're from doesn't really play
a part. It's really how well they sing.
THE DEADBOLT: Nick, how much do you interact with Ben (Folds) and Shawn (Stockman)?
LACHEY: Well, I think there will be a judge panel and their decisions and their judgements will be exclusively theirs. I won't have anything to do with that. My role is purely to kind of create that synergy between the artists, groups, and the judges, and keep the show moving along. So in terms of what they do and their jobs on the show is separate from them.
|
