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Karaoke Wars: NBC's 'Singing Bee' versus FOX's 'Don't Forget the Lyrics'
By now, everybody knows the story of NBC and FOX's Karaoke War.
In May, NBC announced Singing Bee, a competition show to premiere at some point in the fall.
"Fine," said FOX reality guru Mike Darnell, "If you won't commit to a date, we're going to steal your premise wholesale and beat you to the air by premiering in July."
At that point, newly appointed NBC bigwig Ben Silverman snapped his fingers in Z-formation and declared, "Oh no you didn't! We don't care if we have to rush our show into production without a host. We'll premiere the day before you!"
So NBC found a host (Joey Fatone) and shot an episode and indeed managed to get Singing Bee on air before the FOX knock-off Don't Forget the Lyrics. And guess what? Things worked out well for NBC. The Singing Bee drew an impressive 13.1 million viewers for its Tuesday (July 10) premiere, doing a whopping 5.1 rating among adults 18-49.
With Wayne Brady hosting, Don't Forget the Lyrics premiered on Wednesday. It's too early to do a ratings comparison, but here's how the shows look side-by-side.
Format:
Singing Bee -- Although it was conceived of (or at least announced) first, NBC's Singing Bee looked like the more rushed production with the more nebulous set of rules. A group of contestants were pulled from the audience. In the first round, they completed basic lyrics until only four remained. In the second, they were required to do the same thing, only with the lyrics in a jumble in front of them until two remained. The penultimate round required them to sing a full and extended chorus without errors. The prize round was back to basic lyric completion. It looked like they were making up the structure as they went along.
Don't Forget The Lyrics -- Although the format was just ripped off from Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, it was clean and simple. One contestant came out on stage and chose from nine musical categories. The band played a song and the contestant sang along with the words on the screen. The words vanished and the contestant had to finish the verse. Easy. In the case of uncertainty, the contestant has three lifelines -- They can consult two friends or loved ones, they can get two words checked or they can choose between three possible versions of the lyric. It's a tried and true format and it works.
Advantage: FOX
Hosts:
Singing Bee -- Fatone's greatest ability, at least so far as I can tell, is to show enthusiasm for things that a lesser man would have the sense to shun -- N'Sync, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Dancing With the Stars, this silliness. And, at least based on the first episode, showing enthusiasm is all that NBC is asking Joey to do. He doesn't sing, dance or crack jokes, but his energy is vaguely infectious.
Don't Forget the Lyrics -- Brady's an old pro at this. He knows when to stand back and be invisible and when to bring into song-and-dance himself. He knows when to make fun of contestants and when to be supportive.
Advantage: I'm not a Wayne Brady fan, but he's fine here and he contributes more to his show than Fatone does to his.
Prizes:
Singing Bee -- If you beat all of your fellow competitors, you get to be the night's winner and take home... a cheap ugly trophy and as much as $50,000. Whee!!!
Don't Forget the Lyrics -- There was only one contestant in the first episode, the fantastic Katie, a self-professed geek, a quilting entomologist who announced that her first big spree would include "The best microscope and the biggest ant farm $25,000 will buy." She only made it to $50,000 in the first episode, but she'll be back tomorrow night and someday she might make it to the big prize of a million dollars.
Advantage: Even if nobody ever gets to the million, FOX wins because NBC's prizes are pathetic.
Bang-For-Your-Buck
Singing Bee -- In addition to the half-dozen contestants, who got to sing parts of at least 20 songs, Singing Bee had dancing girls dressed like bees and at least three or four different studio band vocalists, a couple of whom really stunk. Singing Bee is the bright, peppy show, almost with the flavor of a cheesy '70s variety hour, though that's a total compliment.
Don't Forget the Lyrics -- Katie only got to sing five songs and with an off-pitch Kristin Chenoweth-style voice, she may not have been Broadway ready. But she was accompanied by American Idol veteran Rickey Minor and his band. While FOX's show had less actual competition happening, it generated far more tension.
Advantage: Credit Darnell for recognizing that viewers don't need to see things happen on game shows. They just need to watch people making tough choices. On Singing Bee there weren't any choices and thus no drama. FOX wins again.
Final results: It's a clean sweep for FOX's late-entering knock-off, not that either show is really great entertainment as far as I'm concerned. I may tune in tomorrow night to see how Katie does on Don't Forget the Lyrics, but it's doubtful I'll be checking in on the Singing Bee any time soon.
So what'd you think? Did you watch both shows? Either show? And which one might you watch again?
I watched both and checked out of DFTL halfway through. It's too much of a rip off of almost everything else and it got boring. At least with Bee there seemed to be a competition that was fun to watch and I prefer hearing a bunch of no talents butcher songs than listen to the same screechy girl do the same two nights in a row. And then there's the too obvious fact that the game on DFTL is just too easy. They get to pick their songs and categories, even if it's only out of a choice of two that's still not as 'put them on the spot' as The Singing Bee. Fox 'structured rules' as you praise them, make it easy for someone to win or get a high prize. Like most of Fox's reality shows, it's just a cheap rip off and not half as entertaining as the original.
Advantage: NBC
Agree that the FOX version is at a certain disadvantage if the featured contestant is as terrible sounding as tonight's knitting, tap-dancing (and apparently tone-deaf) entomologist was. Agree with your assessments DF, but I'm with Jyoti in one regard: I had to turn her off after the first commercial break. She was unbearable. Also, is Wayne Brady not The Most Boring Man on television?
ciw | Jul 11, 2007 10:24:21 PM | #I liked your comparison, Daniel, even though I don't agree at all. Joey has natural enthusiasm and while I like Wayne, I can't sit through the same girl shrilling through some of my favorite classic songs. At least on Singing Bee the contestants were halfway able to carry a tune, and the format was kind of exciting. FOX's ripoff was nothing more than the singing version of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader."
Advantage: NBC
Nolette | Jul 11, 2007 10:53:34 PM | #Don't Forget the Lyrics is the far superior show with the much better host. That being said, The Singing Bee will outperform DFtL as long as it continues to follow "America's Got Talent".
I may watch The Bee again, I will watch Lyrics again.
In the end, I can see 1 or both ending up as syndication type game shows like Millionaire became after it ended its prime time gig.
Rishi | Jul 12, 2007 12:57:39 AM | #The Singing Bee won hands down, there was always something going on and something to watch. The dancers were fun and it was much better to hear real singers perform the first few lines than listen to an amateur torturing one of your favorite songs for an eternity.
Al Sal | Jul 12, 2007 2:39:38 AM | #Bee was MUCH more fun and enjoyable to watch! Had a Price is Right feel to it, whihc is awesome. I like Wayne Brady and he was the only thing good bout DFTL. Bee is a different sort of competition than we see on tv today. DFTL is just ANOTHER LAME game show.
Eric | Jul 12, 2007 4:56:23 AM | #Bee was better. Moved faster and involved more people. Now Fatone can say "Bye, Bye, Bye" to DFTL!
CMack | Jul 12, 2007 6:27:00 AM | #I agree with most sentiments here that Bee is the better show. It moved quickly, with no strung out, artificial tension like you see in Deal or No Deal, or Millionaire...come on contestant, AGONIZE over those answers, over-analyze, second guess yourself 3 times. I taped DFTL and ended up fast forwarding through the majority of it. On Bee, you get your chance. You miss, you're gone. Next! Bee was fun, kept my attention, and I didn't even attempt to switch channels. That's way more than I can say about DFTL.
baldie | Jul 12, 2007 6:47:14 AM | #I agree with most others here, Singing Bee was far superior to DFTL. The host was energetic, the show felt like it moved quickly, and we didn't only have to listen to the same bad singer over and over. It was fun.
Plus, its actually a competition.
Kman | Jul 12, 2007 7:23:54 AM | #Naw...liked Lyrics better. But probably won't watch either again. Too many other GOOD shows on.
Kate 2 | Jul 12, 2007 7:55:29 AM | #Singing Bee wins - campy, fast paced, lots of ground covered in 30 mintues. Definitely more fun to play along. Who cares if the prize is a million dollars if it takes an eternity to get there? I tried DFTL and I got tired of waiting for the decisions.
Sarah | Jul 12, 2007 8:05:52 AM | #Did not see Singing Bee but watched DFTL, too slow moving with way too many Ad breaks in a 30 min show, i thought they would at least get through 1 contestant. I will record tonights episode that way i can skip the ad,s and the boring bits.
Alan | Jul 12, 2007 8:22:36 AM | #I thought that NBC did a good job for a throw together show. FOX show was too long and boring. I loved the hot dancers on "BEE", and thought Fatone was not too serious for a non-serious medium.
Rob G | Jul 12, 2007 8:33:59 AM | #Since when is ripping off Millionaire a good thing? DFTL may have the better personality (Fatone isn't bad though) but at least Bee knows its kinda campy and cheesy.
up05 | Jul 12, 2007 9:38:33 AM | #I watched both and have to admit I will probably TiVo both as long as they last, call it a guilty pleasure.
I think Bee won as far as being the 'jazzier' and much faster paced show. I also think it was a harder competition. Fatone could have done a little bit more in his role as host, but can't say he wasn't enthusiastic.
Lyrics had a tried and true format, but it took forever. I think it is funny to watch someone without Idol talent get up there and belt it out. Brady was a good host, enjoyable. Prizes are better, but the songs are going to have to get harder if I am going to believe it.
Andrea | Jul 12, 2007 9:38:43 AM | #I really didn't like either. Summer is for reruns, not a whacked out singing competition. I'm sorry, but if I want to watch a singing based reality show, I'll wait 6 more months for Idol.
Steph | Jul 12, 2007 9:49:46 AM | #Although DFTL had a better set, better lighting, better graphics and a better cast the show was absolutely god awful. In the most uncreative way they managed to use every overplayed and derivative game show cliche in the playbook. 30mins of DFTL moved slower than a 90 minute Fear Factor episode.
'Singing Bee' may have looked rushed with it's Bee logo ripped right out of a Flonase commercial, but the show was fun to watch and it moved fast. Singing Bee is so simple and fun. I'll watch again.
Singing Bee was Awesome!!!!! It was fast paced and fun and left you wanting more! Plus hot chicks dancing...too funny:) Daniel Fineberg you must be smoking something cause I was bored stiff after the first five minutes of NOTHING going on in DFTL...they didn't even get through 1 contestant so you were left completly unsatisfied and you only got to sing along to 4 songs... isn't that kind of the point of watching????? I'll BEE tuning into NBC!
ColeyCole | Jul 12, 2007 10:03:32 AM | #I agree DFTL is more refined, but polish can come later. What's important is host likeability, songs and format. I really like Singing Bee better. And remember, Fatone's NSYNC girl-fans still live somewhere in the dark crevaces of American pop culture - they will support him anywhere doing anything. Wayne Brady.... well, maybe he's got Drew Carey watching/supporting.
Victoria | Jul 12, 2007 10:11:55 AM | #Don't Forget the lyrics was far better than the singing bee. Wayne Brady was a did a better job hosting.
Rickers | Jul 12, 2007 10:20:25 AM | #Bee: I felt like I was watching people having fun playing goofy games at a party. Lyrics: just left me with a very Brady boredom.
Ken | Jul 12, 2007 10:25:24 AM | #How does a larger grand prize make the show better? "Singing Bee" was much more entertaining, and more fun to watch. Lyrics is nothing more than "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" with songs instead of grade school trivia. And like most of the other shows, it's offering away about 50 times more than it should. Jeez, have we gotten to the point to where we scoff at $50,000 on a game show? Tell you what, anyone who says it's not enough, give ME the 50G's...I'll gladly put it to good use!
Brandon | Jul 12, 2007 10:28:12 AM | #I watched both shows and probably will NOT watch either again. It wouldn't surprise me if both contestants were actors or at least coached to appear on the show. Katie, especially, seemed a little too comfortable on the stage. Not impressed that DFTL is a complete ripoff of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The Singing Bee looked disorganized. I would much prefer if each show had a DJ who played the original music and did not use a band.
Alisha | Jul 12, 2007 10:31:42 AM | #Watching Bee was so much fun. It reminded me of the old Name That Tune that went from refined and dull to a wild disco version in the 80's. DFTL was ok, but I'm tired of hearing people doubt themselves, instead of answering with confidence. I will gladly watch Bee and will probably suffer through DFTL. Advantage: Singing Bee
Ozzie B. | Jul 12, 2007 10:32:51 AM | #Is this review for real? I think I disagree wih every conclusion, but the bottom line is BEE was fun and fast and new (throw-back, but new), and LYRICS was painfully boring, slow as molasses, and recycled from parts of other game shows. Game set and match to BEE.
Cal | Jul 12, 2007 11:19:01 AM | #
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