Drew Ryniewicz is taking the nation by storm. This little 14 year old is dominating the X Factor USA as Simon Cowell‘s shining star. Her voice is incredible and her creative song arrangements are inspiring. This is a girl to watch out for. Whether she wins this competition or not, she will make her mark on America. Look out world. “What a Feeling” is my favorite song from her so far. Her arrangement for that song is just magnificent.
Wow! We’ve already made it to episode 9 of The Sing-Off. It’s Rhythm and Blues night for the groups! First they sing their favorite contemporary R&B hits. Second they sing the greatest R&B hits of all time.
Opening Number: R&B Medley comprised of I Can’t Turn You Loose/I Got You (I Feel Good), ABC, and Crazy in Love.
They all got a standing ovation from the judges.
[I've starred my favorite performances...as usual...enjoy!]
Shawn Stockman: I tell you what, there were so many uncomfortable moments. I’ve never seen you guys like that before. [Talking about the guys acting sexy.]
Ben Folds: Always entertaining. The group as a whole is grooving…I’d like to see you do all ten of them…all of R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet series.
*2) Urban Method – Knock You Down by Keri Hilson featuring Kanye West
Their female lead singer, Katy’s voice is tired. Their rapper, Mike, is excited to rap Kanye West.
Beautiful arrangement. Katy really does have a big voice. I’m so glad we get to hear more of it.
Shawn: First of all, I would like to say how proud I am of you guys…Katy, man, I’m so happy. I’m happy for you…out of everybody on that stage tonight, you’ve grown the most and I’m so proud of you.
Ben: Richard, you are one of the best beat boxers on the show.
Sarah: You know, Urban Method, you are like the little engine that could…I love seeing you guys play with the arrangement.
*3) Vocal Point - Every Little Step by Bobby Brown
These poor boys are dealing with school and the competition. They’re trying to do major dancing with this Bobby Brown song. They’re trying to prove that they’ve got soul too.
Their dance moves were fresh. Good Job guys. Their arrangement was on point. Wow.
They got a standing ovation from Shawn…and rightly so. WWWWWOOOOOWWWWW.
Ben: It was really good. That was a lot of fun and uh wow. Tanner…that was all you for a second, singing and dancing and beatboxing …and everyone else shut up.
Sarah: My jaw was on the floor…the fact that you guys just tackled that enormous amout of choreography.
Shawn: Man, that was impressive. Like, yall had the whole new edition coordinating steps here and there… walkin that way…Robert, I see how that goes…the whole low voice talking thing.
It was difficult for one of the members, Kevin, to do this song because of his religious beliefs and the explicitness of the song.
They changed some of the lyrics for Kevin.
Their arrangements are always fresh and exciting…so are their dance moves. They are probably my favorite to win right now.
Shawn: I’m tired of saying that you’re good. Avi did something with his voice that will.i.am needed EQs and a soundboard to do…Kevin and Avi are freaks of nature.
Sarah: I didn’t care for that at all. You know it’s good when we all laughed. It was a joke…you keep finding ways to inject your personality into this arrangement…you guys are great thanks.
Ben: Shawn had the right words…smart arranging…You hit some really interesting chords together too…yeah, that was brilliant. Nice works.
The Dartmouth Aires didn’t have a lot of extras for this song. They relied mostly on their vocals and arrangement. The question is: will that be enough to impress the judges?
Ben: Nice work guys, that was really nice…you’ve got such a timeless style, Michael.
Shawn: Michael, sometimes emotion overrides perfection, if you know what I’m saying.
Sarah: That was beautiful. That was just really beautiful.
7) Urban Method - It’s Your Thang by The Eisley Brothers
The ladies really asserted themselves in this song. Wow. I’m so proud of the ladies.
Shawn: I wanted it to keep going. Honestly, I thought Mike was going to break into something crazy.
Ben: Well you recognized the challenge of the song ’cause it only had 2 chords in it the whole time…Kim, I think you came closest to capturing the feeling of the song.
Sarah: I thought that was a really strong showing for you guys…Kim, that was awesome. That was awesome.
8 ) Vocal Point - Ain’t too Proud to Beg by the Temptations
They set the bar really high earlier tonight with their great singing and dancing stylings to a Bobby Brown song. This song is more about the vocals. They still kept to some of their classic dance moves. It was a pretty good performance for me. I’m not quite as impressed.
Sarah: Oh that was sweet. That was really sweet.
Shawn: Let me shout out to Tanner and Robert for keeping the groove.
Ben: Next time I’d like to see you step up the dynamics.
I’m expecting a lot of this group because they’re my new favorites. If they lose, the group will be broken up. That’s not okay. Their opening sound effects for this song were awesome! How are they going to put a Pentatonix spin on this? They added subtle Pentatonix flares to this song without straying too far from the song. This was incredibly tasteful and soulful. This was one of my favorite songs of the night.
Shawn Stockman stood up mid-song and gave the lead singer, Scott, a ‘yeah boy’. They got a standing ovation from ALL the judges.
Shawn: It was aight [joking]. Man, I can’t express enough how incredible that was. That was an incredible rendition of one of my most favorite singers of all time.
Ben: I love it when Shawn gets that way. I think there’s going to be a suspicious bump in the birth rate in nine months.
Sarah: Oh, Good Lord. That was unbelievable. You guys are incredibly professional and incredibly polished at what you do.
“Oops! I Did It Again,” “Toxic,” and “Hold it Against Me”
This medley was awesome. It was a mash up of Britney songs and Britney dance moves! Then, to top it all off, Pentatonix added their own flair to Britney’s style in their mash up of all the songs at the end of their medley! Wow!
“This is a really good show.” – Shawn Stockman
“Kevin, dude, do you have an on and off switch on your throat?” – Shawn Stockman
“The freaking out that you obviously were doing over the week, just pullin’ your hair out trying to get this stuff together, completely paid off. Keep freaking out.” – Ben Folds
“You packed a punch tonight, guys. This was awesome.” Sarah Bareilles
“Fallen,” “A Woman’s Worth,” and “If I Ain’t Got You”
“I would go buy that song tonight – right now.” – Sarah Bareilles discussing Delilah’s version of “Fallen.
“Another smart arrangement by using the right vocalists for the right leads, first and foremost. Hannah, I loved the way you flipped that riff in the beginning. That was ill, that was ill. I was wondering where you were going when you ended, then I was like oooo snap, that was crazy.” – Shawn Stockman
“No band was ever a great band without a star drummer and you’ve got one in your group.” – Ben Folds
1) Dartmouth Aires – Club Can’t Handle Me by Flo Rida
The Dartmouth Aires primarily do rock songs so it was a hard transition for them to do hip hop. They chose Henry to rap for them. He’s only rapped once before, so they were a little nervous. They had very entertaining choreography. It sounded very white. (No offense) It sounded more like a chorus singing, not like a total hip hop song, but the performance was really good. They got a standing ovation from Shawn Stockman.
I love this song! Afro Blue was in the bottom two for the first time last week. They’re a jazz group singing a hip hop song this week. This song was originally sung by Roberta Flack a Howard Alum. This group is from Howard as well. They Jazzified this song! Wow. I enjoyed this performance a lot. It was easy to watch and easy to love. Ben and Nick Lachey had a little rap battle after the song.
Ben Folds: I don’t know what to say Nick Lachey. I got some rhymes today.
Sarah Bareilles: That was such a flawless arrangement and performance and you did it justice.
Shawn Stockman: Reggie, I wouldn’t call you a bass. I’d call you the foundation of the whole group.
3) The Collective -Give me Everything by Pitbull featuring Neo
The Collective is a collection of solo artists from Nashville. This song was a struggle for them. They don’t normally do hip hop. They approach songs in a soulful, southern way. This is a club song. The guy, David, that rapped during this song made me giggle! Hahaha! The song didn’t really sound as great as I was hoping. They were so focused on the beats of the song, they kind of let go on the melody and the musicality of the song.
Shawn Stockman agreed that it was good but it dropped the ball in certain places.
The judges clearly weren’t blown away. They sugar coated their comments on the song.
4) Vocal Point – I’ll be Missing You by Puff Daddy
This group is from BYU. To cope with the passing of their group member Ben’s father, this group turned to music. For an added emotional punch to this song, Ben sang the solo. They didn’t really channel the hip hop in this song. They stayed true to themselves. They took off their hats toward the end of this song. I thought was really nice. Except for Ben, he kept his on. You could tell the song really hit Ben hard he was crying at the very end when he took off his hat. Shawn called them out on some key issues, but he understood that the emotional nature of the song caused most of that. Sarah agreed about the key issues but still applauded the authenticity of the song. Ben said this was the first group that made him cry.
*5) Urban Method – Airplanes- BoB featuring Hayley Williams
Urban Method has been a rapappella group from the beginning. This is their niche and everyone is expecting a lot from them. I really liked this song. The group’s sound effects were so cool: a ticking clock, grasshopper sounds, and plane engine sounds. Michael stepped it up and killed the rapping part. I think this is my favorite number of the night so far.
Shawn Stockman: We’re in yall home right now.
Ben Folds: I thought that was brilliant. That was great. I really dug that.
[Shawn cut in after Ben to give Richard props for the cricket sound effects at the beginning of the song.]
Sarah Bareilles: I was going to give Richard props for the crickets.
Pentatonix is the futuristic acapella group that puts a techno spin on things. They decided not to rap in hip hop week. Before they even started I was hoping that they did well this week. I really like this group. Their beat boxers were on point for this song! This seemed like a darker techno version of Love Lockdown. I almost like it better than the original Love Lockdown. I thought this was great! Shawn Stockman gave them a standing ovation. For me, this topped Urban Method. This was definitely my favorite song of the night.
Nick Lachey: Pentatonix, that was sick.
Sarah Bareilles: You guys delivered on that performance.
Ben Folds: That was primal. It just had this primal thing to it and Kevin still looks pissed off.
Shawn Stockman: You know how when it sounds real good, you make an ugly face…why do you do that? Listen, being on the Sing-Off isn’t just for yall, it’s for me too.
I have very high expectations for this group. They’ve been in the bottom twice already. They’ve had trouble with their arrangements, but they are a powerhouse of female talent and I know they have it in them to go all the way in this competition. They did a great job on this song. Their dynamics were great. Their soloist was great. Despite being an all female group, they still hit the incredibly low notes of this song. Sarah Bareilles gave them a standing ovation.
Shawn Stockman: Wow, that was amazing.
Ben Folds: Jooooooeeeee.[Ben tried to sing the female Bassist's name, Joe, as low as he could.] I can barely hit that.
Sarah Bareilles: You guys have a very strong, powerful, feminine energy.
8 ) Yellow Jackets- The Show Goes On – Lupe Fiasco
The lyrics talk about overcoming struggles you’re facing. Before this show, the Yellow Jackets came back from Kenya and working with kids there. They are all about singing for a higher cause. They’re trying to represent the kids in Kenya so they can help them with the money they win.
The guy, Jamal, that rapped for this group was really good. He had to rap Really fast. I was very impressed. The song was good. The performance was good. The rapper was really good. Still, they didn’t blow me away.
Ben Folds admired the powerful emotion that this group always brings.
Sarah Bareilles: Ben said it, I said it, you guys are all heart.
Shawn Stockman: Jamal, you were working hard up there. I saw you son.
