A Recap of NBC's the Sing-Off Christmas Special

Or a Spoiler for the 2011 Holiday a Capella Special

If you were able to catch the Sing-Off Christmas Special, here is a personal recap of the show. If you weren’t able to then you can actually read about (and enjoy) what you missed right here.

December 5, 2011, after this night, Monday nights will seize to be a cappella nights, at least until Season 4 of NBC's The Sing-Off. If for the last ten Mondays you have joined the millions who followed their favorite groups sing their hearts out week after week for the last ten Monday nights, then you know what I mean. Watch the full Holiday Special here.

If you missed this season's Sing-Off, a Reality TV A Capella Singing Contest, then don't worry you can still catch episodes from this season on the show's page on the NBC website.

But December 5th was not like the previous ten (eleven if you include the announcing of the winner on the Season Finale). December 5 was a Sing-Off Night not about the drama, the excitement and the competition. It was all about the pure vocal talent in celebration of this most special time of the year.

If you haven't seen it and want to read a spoiler then read on! Otherwise, you can actually watch the episode first and come back here. Or you can do both at the same time. Why not? Let's begin.

3 Sing-Off Seasons, 3 Winners

The evening started with none other than all three winners from all three Sing-Off Seasons: Nota, Season 1 Winners, The Committed, Season 2's and newly crowned Season 3 Winner, Pentatonix.

Nick Lachey, the show's host three years running, mentioned that there will be no need for judges that night. But of course they were still there (Ben Folds, Shawn Stockman and Sara Bareilles) to give us their valuable feedback.

The top three groups started the celebrations with singing "Baby Please Come Home". And what a show starter it was!

The Backbeats (from Season 2) with the lovely all-female group of Delilah (Season 3) went next with"All I Want For Christmas Is You", with their rendition of Mariah's (or Buble's) classic holiday song.

And although there aren't any Mariahs or Bubles in the show that night, the members of these two groups served up a good appetizer. And yes, there was no need for a band or an orchestra! You do know that a cappella is Italian for "we can't afford a drum set and a keyboard"?

Dartmouth Aires

Next was a solo of Third Season's Runner-up Winner, the Aires. They sang "All You Need Is Love".
I know, this isn't really a Christmas song, but it is still about love and as they say God is love. And this is the season of love and of giving. Now I cannot really fault the Aires with this performance because for one, they are great at what they do. And they nailed it once again with this piece, singing ala Broadway or bust all the way.

Afro-Blue (4th Placer, 3rd Season) was up next together with Season 2's champ who was back for seconds.
They sang the classic "Ooh Child". It was a wonderful collaboration and it was smooth as silk prompting Lachey to comment that these two groups have performed some of the most memorable performances in the show's history". And I agree.

Judge Ben Folds seconded this as he commented that both these groups were the "standards" of the show.

Street Corner Symphony (Season 2) all solemn and serious sang Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". This was my eight year old son's favorite. And part of it is that he can actually sing this song.

North Shore (Season 3) sang "Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys and I wouldn't have wanted any other group from the three seasons to have performed this oldie-but-goodie. These guys may be from the older generation and their style may be that of our parents or grandparents but they have that vocal talent and charm that you just can't take away from them.

I have always enjoyed North Shore and again they didn't disappoint. They were adorable.

Ben and Sara Duet

Next up was the first surprise of the night. Sara Bareilles sang a duet with Ben Folds and the vocal instruments of the "Sing-Off Five" backed them up. They crooned to "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Ben playing on the keyboards. By far this was my wife's favorite.

They made a sarcastic video segment and showed it before they performed live and it was just the perfect introduction. Both Sara and Ben delivered with some solid singing. Ben showed how to do it with his fingers on the piano keyboard and the The Sing-Off Five just complemented and blended them all in, truly entertaining.

Pentatonix

Seconds for Pentatonix was "Under The Mistletoe". And if you aren't familiar with the song, don't worry. If you are over 25, then that would be quite normal. This is a song by Justin Bieber to which the Pentatonix put in their unmistakable PTX twist. And they just made it a song that anybody would want to listen to. Bieber fans, don't fret, vocally one against five (penta) is no contest!

Now if you haven't heard the Pentatonix yet, let's just say that they can probably make any song sound good. And once you watch them perform, you'll know what their fans are talking about and you'll be familiar with their signature PTX sound.

The Godfather of a capella Jerry Lawson (Season 2) came in next, singing with The Sing-Off All Stars."Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley was their song and the singing was really sweet. It was just soulful blend of the classic and the new sounds and it just made sense to sing this song for this Season's Special Show. This is easily the most entertaining song of the night, for every member of the family.

College A Cappella

The show's best college boys were next, The Beelzebubs (Season 1), On The Rocks (Season 2) and the Darmouth Aires (Season 3). This time the Aires sang the very Christmassy "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town".
And what you'd expect from young college frat boys is what you'd normally get. And if you expected that, you would be dead right. College a cappella all the way -- love it or not, it was a truly entertaining performance. It's just that Santa probably wouldn't go down their chimneys this year.

A Cappella Rap

Urban Method rapped and rocked with the children classic "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch". OK, my son liked this one too and I have to say I truly enjoyed it as well. Well done, Urban Method. And this was the reason why they came knocking at the door of this Season's Finale, nicely done.
The Collective (Season 3) came next with their vocal version of Madonna's "Santa Baby". Or it could have been Eartha Kitt's or Taylor Swift's. Whatever it was, it was nevertheless, good and showcased what the group collectively could do. It might have been a hard song to shine in but it is what it is, "Chrismassy" and everything nice. Ho ho ho.

Nota and Shawn Stockman performed Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas". Shawn, who wasn't able to perform in the Season Finale, finally got his one chance this season that night. And sang he did. He was even rapping and singing in Spanish. And it was "muy bueno". Now even though Nota hasn't been in the show since Season one and Shawn hasn't been with Boyz II Men since I couldn't even remember, they both could still get it on.

Vocal Point followed the act with their group's version of "Let It Snow". It was a real treat and then came the show's second surprise. Nick Lachey suddenly joined the singing midway. With that surprise move, everything just stepped up a notch. Although the snowflakes falling and the snow angel making at the end was what topped everything, it was a real treat to watch and listen to.

Flo Rida

Urban Method, Pentatonix and a rapper called Flo-Rida joined forces and sang the rapper's song entitled "Good Feeling". Now this was a show. They were all smoking! Although I wasn't really sure who was supporting or backing-up who. The Pentatonix was their useful best, Urban Method was at the top of their game and Flo was, I cannot really say because that was actually the first time I have seen and heard of him. Sorry. I couldn't tell who was the pro among them.

The Sing-Off Season Final Song

And to end the two hour special, Nick Lachey said his goodbyes on behalf of the show and introduced the last song for the night. It was a salute to the troops who will be coming home for good this Christmas this year. All the top groups of the three seasons went on deck to sing "War Is Over".

And when it was done, it was indeed over. The Sing-Off Season Three comes to a fitting end and all we have are recaps such as this, online videos on NBC and sites like Youtube and all the songs in iTunes.

If you are like us though, you would have DVRed all the episodes or you could purchase the Season's DVD when it finally comes out. Merry Christmas everyone!

Goodbye Associated Content -- a Personal Perspective

November 30, 2011. Today is the last day of Associated Content (AC).

But don't worry. If everything happens as planned (it better), then tomorrow it would have resurrected as [to be announced]. Yahoo! has really been so secretive on what the new domain name will be. But chances are by the time you get to read this you will have already known what it shall be called.

World's Largest Source of Community-Created Content

Associated Content was started in 2005 and Yahoo! bought it in May of 2010.

And for better or for worse, the original AC contributing writers embraced their new masters, their new domain and the new guidelines that came with it. And they continued to write for the online platform, this time also having the opportunity to write for and get published in Yahoo! websites and partner sites. They made such a great job at it, AC continues to be tagged as "the world's largest source of community-created content^TM."

Although, I am pretty sure that AC's first year with Yahoo! was full of growing aches and pains with so much twists and turns that would have made mere mortal beings sick and nauseous.

Yahoo! Contributor Network

I joined AC (under the Yahoo! Contributor Network) way past all those initial kinks and conks. I actually signed up about a year later in March of 2011. And I was so excited I didn't write anything for the next two weeks. In fact I didn't publish my very first article until after three.

Now, the funny part is that the first article I submitted for consideration didn't even publish in Associated Content! Instead it got published in a Yahoo! Website (in Yahoo! News no less). And I only got to find out about it three days later, yes and it was old news by then. After that I got my very first Associated Content article published a handful of days afterwards.

Now, eight months later, this is going to be my 88th AC article (not counting articles which I wrote and got published in Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports and other Yahoo! sites).

Page Views

It has been a great (but bumpy) ride so far. For the most part because for a long time since I got here, I was always checking and looking at my few hundred and then a few thousand page views. And doing so, I can't help but feel discouraged even embarrassed because to me, my numbers seem to be increasing at a very, very slow rate. And this is particularly true when I read articles from original AC contributors and get mesmerized by their millions of PVs and their 5 to 6 digit additional PVs in a single day. Amazing!

But then I find out and realize that even these highly successful, seasoned and very talented contributors were complaining with their dwindling PVs (and paychecks). And I go ask myself, "it used to be better than this for them?"

Google Had To Spoil It

So what gives? Yes, Panda did. No actually Google Panda didn't give them any, in fact it took away from them. Because before I joined AC, Google had made a change in the search algorithm of their very popular search engine. With this smart (read almost illegal or unfair) business move, Google singled out AC and a few other sites and labeled them with a most derogatory term, as "content farms". And they have relegated these site's contents almost unsearchable, hence unreachable, unread and unpaid.

And then I rejoiced and told myself all my PVs up until now are all post-Panda and post all the Panda updates! And that should be reason enough to be happy at my PV numbers. Yahoo!

But getting past the numbers, I now truly enjoy writing not for the numbers but for myself and for a few friends and fans who still continue to encourage and motivate me to write and to share what is inside my mind and my heart.

AC Revamped

Starting December 1, 2011, we will begin a new season in AC. It will no longer be known as Associated Content but AC contributors who have seen all the changes that happened to it and continue to happen to it, will once again embark on a new online journey and turn a leaf on a new chapter. And as I now humbly join this remarkable group composed of lovely and helpful people, we will all face all the consequences of this new change--the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly. And all those, we will need to accept.

And just like the most recent AC change that happened only a couple of months ago, when AC contributors needed to log-in into their accounts using a Yahoo! account there will be new adjustments that will come with the new change (I know this new transition is totally different, a thousand times more painful and most probably the most chaotic).

For one, gone is the multiple page format of AC. And in is the single page article format, as used by Yahoo! websites and most other sites. Second, all the URLs to all past AC articles will be changed and so if you have written links to any of them, you will need to eventually edit all that, that is if you are able to. Change, for better or for worse, it is inevitable. And so we struggle past it and we even embrace it.

So goodbye Associated Content. Goodbye AC. And hello to a new open publishing platform where writers and aspiring writers are still able to share their passion with hundreds of millions of people worldwide. I just did! Thank you for reading.

Originally Published at Associated Content and Yahoo! Voices.