The third episode of The Winner Is… aired tonight on NBC. Without The Voice as lead in and a several week hiatus, I wonder how it will do in the ratings? At any rate, I watched, so you didn’t have to!
This show is not about the singing. Good thing, because most of it is karaoke level mediocre. It’s all about the moment when the performers face off and have to decide whether to take the money and run, or take a gamble and assume they won the round. After the two acts sing, 101 “bloggers and Youtube stars” vote. The numbers are revealed, but not where they belong. The acts are given the opportunity to opt out for a cash prize. If they didn’t win the round, they made the right decision. If not? Whoops. They go home empty handed.
Tonight, there wasn’t too much drama. Making the show even cheesier, are the sob stories. There is a million dollar prize at the end of the series for the last singer standing. And in the first two episode, there were sad stories galore. Except for one singer with a sick mom, tonight’s singers thought it would be SUPER AWESOME to win the million.
So here we go.
The first round features a quartet of older gentlemen who call themselves Senior Sounds of Touch. They’ve been together for 15 years and all have day jobs, except for one who is retired. Surprisingly, they sing Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” and it wasn’t half bad. I was expecting these senior dudes to croon some Motown. The audience seems to be thoroughly entertained.
Up against the Seniors is Miranda Rae Mayo. Singing is just a hobby for this young church singer, and no kidding as she warbles unconvincingly through Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.” She’s a model now, but was once a tall, skinny, awkward kid. Her singing is really boring. I can’t imagine her beating the adorable and energetic Seniors.
The ONE OH ONE IN THE W vote. It’s 80 to 21. Good lord, Miranda should take the 10,000 offered to leave the game. But she doesn’t. Miranda is confident she won the duel. The senior dudes also feel confident, as they should.
And the winner is….The Senior Sounds of Touch. Yep. Cute old guys for the win. Their high score of 80 could fast track them to the next round.
The next round features a country singer and a young, Bieber-like pop singer.
Kenny Ray Horton – “God Bless the USA” – He’s in the military and is the lead singer for a Naval country band. His mom is fighting a second bout with breast cancer. He wants to win so he can pay her medical bills. Eep. This is barely serviceable karaoke. He has a terrible tone and sounds strained on the high notes. But he’s pulling the patriot card pretty hard here.
Jesse Mayo – “Glad You Came” – Dude joined the high school show choir TO MEET LADIES NO HOMO PEOPLE. He’s a super adorable boy band type. If the 101 were filled with 14 year old girls, he’d SO TOTES WIN. I would say he’s a marginally better singer than Kenny. He’s also cuter. This is a tough one.
It’s 73 to 28. Not close. Will either singer take the 10,000 dollars? Kenny feels confident. But Jesse waffles…but ultimately does not take the offer. And the winner is Kenny. Jesse, dude, you shoulda taken the money! Kenny does NOT have the highest score of round one, so he won’t be fast tracked.
Next, a trio of female harmonizers face off against a would-be standards crooner.
American Bombshells – “Feeling Good” – This trio were born of the USO. They want to sing for the troops overseas. They do a sexified Andrews Sisters thing, wearing cleavage-baring Wac style dresses. As singers, they aren’t bad. They’d be perfectly at home in a USO show.
Douglas Roegiers – “Luck Be A Lady Tonight” – A Frank Sinatra style crooner. He’s super-generic, but I think Doug has this. He’s got the corny moves and the hat. I think he’s going to win because of the hat..
WHOA. It’s 90 to 11. That’s crazy. Doug is confident that he won. The girls think they won too. Doug goads the girls, tempting them to take the money. He’s kind of an asshat. And Doug wins. The fedora rules the day. Douglas, who has the highest score of round one, is fast traced to round 2.
Now it’s time for round two. Since Senior Sounds of Touch did NOT have the highest score of Round 1 after all, they’ve got to compete against Kenny in round two
Senior Sounds of Touch – “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch” – Now they bust out the Motown. They’ve got the Motown choreo down. It’s a very crowd pleasing performance.
Kenny Ray Horton – Chicken Fried – Will Kenny’s upbeat twang rule the day? This is so generic. But once again, he’s pulling out the AMERICA CARD. WE LOVE FRIED CHICKEN AND THE USA. It’s 68 to 33. Hm. In this round, it’s $25,000 to cash out before the results are revealed.
Senior Sounds of Touch are totally confident they won the round. And so is Kenny. “It took four of them to sing their song, and only one of me,” he quips. Ooooh. Not that it matters, the entertaining Senior Sounds of Touch win the round. Bye Kenny.
Douglas Rougiers is back to face off against Senior Sounds of Touch.
Douglas Rougiers – “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” – He’s wearing his GRANDAD’S hat! It is a magic hat. I knew it. This is going to be a tough round, because while the old guys are adorable, there is something irresistible about the rat pack, even if the song stylings aren’t particularly original.
Senior Sounds of Touch – Get Ready – More Motown. The dudes bust more moves. Who will prevail? The cute old school dudes or the crooner with the magic hat?
Ohhhh. The score is 60 to 41. Kinda close. The stakes are high. One of the acts can walk away with $50,000 before the vote is revealed. Doug asks his sister what to do. After watching the crowd reaction, sis thinks he needs to take the money. Senior Sounds of Touch are once again SUPER CONFIDENT. Doug TAKES the 50,000 dollars. Senior Sounds will move on to the next round. And the winners of the round is…Senior Sounds of Touch. Doug made the right decision.
