Shing!!!

The Beelzebubs (or Bubs) end their rendition of "Sail Away" with a fun, Titanic-like finish.

When I first heard about Sing-off, I thought to myself, this show will never make it. Surprisingly, I love it. Not only am I extremely entertained and delighted by each of the a capella group performances, I'm also learning something in the process about how to improve my own singing technique.

TVgrrrrl (aka Jenny Penny), when she isn't blogging, is also singing in a band, or should I say "shinging," a term coined by Ben Folds when evaluating one of the a cappella group's performances on Tuesday night's show. "Shing" was the actual word the backup singers were singing, but the term picked up new life as the sound the backup singers make behind the lead singer to sound like instruments.

The three judges, Ben Folds, Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men, and Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, are incredibly insightful, positive, and intelligent in their evaluations. While I am blissfully entertained, the judges are pinning down specifics of why one group sounds so good and why one group doesn't. Together, they point out the finer details, such as: subtle pitch mismatches, impressive vocal rises, dynamic arrangements, vocal intensity issues, and so on. The lessons a singer can learn from watching this show are good enough to put on a University accredited online education program.

Three groups, BYU Noteworthy, Face, and Solo have been eliminated to date. Remaining in the competition are: Maxx Factor, SoCals, Voices of Lee, and my two favorites, Nota and Beelzebubs.

Nick Lachey of 98 degrees hosts the show.

Sing-Off will air the last of three two-hour, taped competition episodes tonight on NBC from 8PM to 10PM. The live finale will air on Monday, Dec. 21. You can also catch the show online on NBC.com.