Quick Thoughts: THE SING-OFF, Season 2, Episode 4

The penultimate episode of The Sing-Off had a combination of no-brainers and surprises. Episode 4 had the groups sing medleys and a song of the judges' choosing. Much like last week, hour 1 was OK but everyone upped their game during hour 2.

After the Medley Challenge, the top two groups were Committed and The Backbeats.  The former really killed with their Usher medley, and the latter did surprisingly well with their Lady Gaga songs. I didn't think Gaga could be translated to a cappella successfully, especially after hearing On the Rocks' "Bad Romance", but I thought the L.A. based Backbeats made it work. Somewhere in the middle were Street Corner Symphony with their Beatles medley and Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town who took on Otis Redding. By far the worst of the bunch was On the Rocks who had to tackle Elton John. Luckily, they were the first group eliminated.

Judge's Choice allowed the groups to really stay in their comfort zones, which was probably a good idea since they all had their strongest performances of the night during this challenge. Committed kicked things off with their rendition of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together", and they absolutely killed it. I've been lukewarm about Street Corner Symphony, but they won me over by singing Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Down on the Corner". It was hard to not like that performance. The Backbeats slowed things down with "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, and Jerry Lawson and Talk of the Town sang Animal's "House of the Rising Sun". The last two were the weakest of the four, but still really good so I had no idea which group was going home.

Elimination time, and Nick Lachey started reading off the finalists and called out all four groups. Yup, they're all going to the Finals next Monday. My first reaction was, "What is this Glee?" since they couldn't decide between New Directions and the Warblers. Part of me agrees that they're all deserving, but sending them all to the finale was a cop out.

After Monday's show, I felt that Committed and Jerry Lawson were the top two groups left. While I still have Committed as the favorites, the runner-up spot is up for grabs because Street Corner Symphony really impressed me with their Judge's Choice performance. The Backbeats are the dark horses, and I'd be happy if they won it all mostly because I have a crush on Catherine.

Regardless who wins, although Committed pretty much has it wrapped up, The Sing-Off was a fun little show even though it did have some rough spots. I don't think it'll become my favorite show anytime soon, but having it on during winter hiatus or even the summer wouldn't be a bad idea, and I could think of a worse way to kill some time.