NBC's The Singing Bee singing competition is heavy on the sting, light on the honey. Fans of the old tv show "Name That Tune" no doubt tune in hoping to find a revival, but disappointment swarms.
The Washington Post newspaper review that came out the day of the Singing Bee premier basically slaughtered the show, which they reported had been hastily released because of Fox's summer release of a similar name-the-lyric show "Don't Forget the Lyrics" the same week. The buzz at the Post was that NBC basically rushed the show out to beat Fox in the hook-the-karaoke-singer market. They should have waited for September.
From the host- badly dressed, dual-earringed former "Dancing With The Stars" contestant and boy band alum Joey Fatone (nicknamed Fat One by someone in the press...) to the barely-clad black and yellow-striped 'honey bee' dancers (whose hip action could earn them the nickname of The Sleazy Bees- or just The Slees), the show is annoying from the get-go.
The band and singers aren't bad at recreating tunes mostly from the 80's, and it is amusing to watch the audience members try to come up with the next line to random songs like Bananarama's "Venus", but if contestants said the word 'the' instead of 'at' or added a 'well' they are thrown off. Sting!
God help us when someone is excellent at remembering song lyrics but has a singing voice that reminds you of fingernails on a chalkboard.
The host, with his cheesy mafia-esque suit, is unfortunately neither funny nor charming. His hip gyrations to N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye" made you want to look away in embarrassment. Glory days are over, dude. When he gives the show's motto "You don't have to sing it well, you just have to sing it right" it's really pretty sad. The lame motto certainly offers evidence of NBC's rush to get the show out.
At the end of the day, it's entertainment. New shows in the summer are few and far between- so really, what else is on? Lucky for the Singing Bee, it follows "America's Got Talent" so kids and families already watching are game for another half-hour of fluff before heading off to bed.
So this is what karaoke's done to America, eh folks? It's pretty sad when a show makes us wish it was time to watch loser auditions of American Idol.
Mary McCarthy - Mary T. McCarthy is the blogger at pajamasandcoffee.com and Editor of Chesapeake Family magazine.
