Sing-Off Sound-Off: Quick Finale Notes

Not really up for going into a full recap of The Sing-Off finale today, because it's Christmas Eve and in between dealing with a sick husband and over-eager kids and a wonky monitor it's just not doable, plus the whole thing is basically a victory lap for the three finalists and for the season in general with a side of holiday fun.  So you're getting the quick and dirty version.

~First off, yay Home Free!  Totally called it!  (Okay, I also thought Filharmonic was going to make it to the finals, but you can't be right all the time.)  I really love these guys (again, big coming from me as I'm not a huge country fan in general), and hope they can capitalize on this rather than just disappearing into the ether.

~Speaking of not disappearing into the ether, Pentatonix descended upon the scene like the gods of a capella they've become, and pretty effortlessly owned it.  The Sing-Off must be thrilled to have a legitimate success story they can trot out, even if the series arguably had relatively little to do with it.  (Learn from the masters, Home Free--use that money you just won to put together some seriously awesome YouTube videos.  Do a number with Peter Hollens or something.  You'll rock the social media world.)

~Kind of throwing the holiday performances into the finale mix means a little less holiday cheer (and nothing as awesome as, say, Urban Method singing "You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch") but I'll take what I can get.  And when I can get Street Corner Renaissance performing "White Christmas," that isn't bad at all.

~I swear, Nick Lachey looks forward to this part of the season every time because he gets to show off.  He even gets to call in his old bandmates to get in on the act.  When did 98 Degrees become a bunch of suburban dads?

~Shawn Stockman, buddy, I love you and your musical knowledge and your crazy fashion sense (where the Hell do you even buy plush velvet bow ties, anyway?), but it is okay to sing one line of a song without going into an elaborate melisma (that's singing sixty-five different notes per syllable for you non-music types).  Trust me, we'll forgive you for it.

~I am developing almost in spite of myself a fondness for Katy Perry's "Roar."  Part of that is because it'a cool down song in my Zumba class (there's nothing like the feeling of "thank God I got through another session without passing out or falling on my ass in front everybody" to make you appreciate a song), but Vocal Rush's arrangement (even if it was a little, well, rushed) is certainly helping matters.

~Will Sing-Off be back for a fifth season?  Goodness, I hope so.  Even if this was a weaker season than the last one (then again, last season had friggin' Pentatonix), it was still a lot of good cheesy fun to watch.  There are worse holiday traditions to have.