After two weeks of competition, season four of The Sing-Off came to an end on December 23. The Sing-Off is a singing competition featuring a cappella groups who compete for a recording contract and $100,000. This season’s holiday-themed finale showcased three finalists: Home Free, Ten and Vocal Rush. The three a cappella teams opened the night with an uplifting group performance of “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson and were joined in the second part of the performance by the season’s eliminated groups.
Each a cappella group performed a holiday song with one of the three judges and delivered their final performance as a group before the results. Ten performed first with “Joyful, Joyful,” from the film Sister Act 2, with judge Shawn Stockman. Ten is composed of ten vocalists, some of whom are professional background singers. Ten never performed together before their debut on the Sing-Off but quickly gained popularity this season with their gospel inspired music and soulful performances.
After Ten’s performance, Pentatonix, The Sing-Off season three winning group, performed “I Need Your Love” by Calvin Harris. After winning the third season of The Sing-Off, Pentatonix released two albums and reached over three million subscribers on YouTube. Their impressive harmonies, percussions and bass earned them a standing ovation at the end of their performance.
Next, Home Free, a professional country vocal band, sang “I Want Crazy” by Hunter Hayes. All three judges praised Home Free for their rhythm and unique arrangement of the song. Host Nick Lachey performed “I’ll be Home for Christmas” with his band 98 Degrees.
After that, Vocal Rush and judge Ben Folds sang a medley of “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Peace on Earth.” Vocal Rush is composed of all high school students. Although Vocal Rush is the youngest team to have performed on The Sing-Off, its singers have surprised both the judges and audience with their mature voices and harmonies. After Vocal Rush’s performance, Ten returned with “Love on Top” by Beyoncé. Although “Love on Top” is a tough song to perform because of its demanding vocals, Ten impressed the audience with its exceptional arrangement, which included multiple key changes.
Afterwards, judge Jewel Kilcher’s and Home Free’s voices blended beautifully together with a performance of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Vocal Rush later returned to give the final performance of the night with “Roar” by Katy Perry.
After all of the performances, the three finalists stood together on stage to hear the results of the competition. The winner of season four of the Sing-Off was Home Free. The runner-up was Ten and the group in third place was Vocal Rush.
By KRUTHI RENDUCHINTALA
Staff Writer