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arqueeteI'm not a big TV person in general, and I'm not very much into competitive type shows. However, there are two shows that I'm totally in love with from that category, The Sing Off and America's Best Dance Crew, and I wanted to gush about how cool they are and why I like them better than their more mainstream related shows like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
First of all, America's Best Dance Crew. I followed most of the first season of this show, and I haven't kept up with it (because I fail at TV) but I was watching it last night and was reminded of my love for it. What it is is... dance crews, which are groups of people who dance together generally to hip hop, from what I gather, competing against each other.
Second, The Sing Off, of which there's only been one season so far and idk if there will be a second but there better be, which is an a capella singing group competition.
The biggest reason I love these shows is the mind blowing extent of the talent there. Shows like American Idol draw on the appeal of the sort of classic American story of some struggling waitress in Nowhere, Wyoming who gets her shot at fame as a singer... ABDC and Sing Off are about groups that are generally already established as some of the best talents in their respective genres -- they just happen to be of an obscure genre that the mainstream public is not so familiar with.
ABDC and Sing Off are professional. They do not do the pull of American Idol showing off funny failures of auditions. The groups that get onto the show are all quality. After the first few rounds, things get really competitive and tough because everyone is so good that you know several of the groups could take the prize and you could still feel like the best group won. When groups are at that high of a level of skill it's all about the details. There is no way you can't have a good and entertaining show -- there's rarely a time when you're sitting through some group you hate and can't wait for the real talent to come on.
There's also a greater sense of camaraderie, I think. It's a competition, but in a way everyone wins -- unlike, again, American Idol, where if that waitress doesn't get far in the competition no one hears of her again and she goes back to nothing, with ABDC and Sing Off it's like every group involved does not end up worse off if they don't make it. They are still able to perform and be successful in their type of art because they didn't need the show to bring them to success in the first place. What everyone does get, regardless of who wins, is exposure for that art -- so people like me who never paid attention to a capella groups or dance crews before is suddenly interested, and that's good for everyone.
VIDEOS? YES VIDEOS.
Here's one of my favorite Dance Crew performances from the season 1 winners, Jabbawockeez:
Aaand here's one of my favorite Sing Off performances from the Beelzebubs:
First of all, America's Best Dance Crew. I followed most of the first season of this show, and I haven't kept up with it (because I fail at TV) but I was watching it last night and was reminded of my love for it. What it is is... dance crews, which are groups of people who dance together generally to hip hop, from what I gather, competing against each other.
Second, The Sing Off, of which there's only been one season so far and idk if there will be a second but there better be, which is an a capella singing group competition.
The biggest reason I love these shows is the mind blowing extent of the talent there. Shows like American Idol draw on the appeal of the sort of classic American story of some struggling waitress in Nowhere, Wyoming who gets her shot at fame as a singer... ABDC and Sing Off are about groups that are generally already established as some of the best talents in their respective genres -- they just happen to be of an obscure genre that the mainstream public is not so familiar with.
ABDC and Sing Off are professional. They do not do the pull of American Idol showing off funny failures of auditions. The groups that get onto the show are all quality. After the first few rounds, things get really competitive and tough because everyone is so good that you know several of the groups could take the prize and you could still feel like the best group won. When groups are at that high of a level of skill it's all about the details. There is no way you can't have a good and entertaining show -- there's rarely a time when you're sitting through some group you hate and can't wait for the real talent to come on.
There's also a greater sense of camaraderie, I think. It's a competition, but in a way everyone wins -- unlike, again, American Idol, where if that waitress doesn't get far in the competition no one hears of her again and she goes back to nothing, with ABDC and Sing Off it's like every group involved does not end up worse off if they don't make it. They are still able to perform and be successful in their type of art because they didn't need the show to bring them to success in the first place. What everyone does get, regardless of who wins, is exposure for that art -- so people like me who never paid attention to a capella groups or dance crews before is suddenly interested, and that's good for everyone.
VIDEOS? YES VIDEOS.
Here's one of my favorite Dance Crew performances from the season 1 winners, Jabbawockeez:
Aaand here's one of my favorite Sing Off performances from the Beelzebubs:
