#TheSingOff and its Place on Twitter
For the past three falls, The Sing-Off has graced our television sets with a cappella music. Beginning with eight vocal groups in 2009, the show has doubled in size with 16 vocal groups in the 2011 season. Part of what makes this a successful show is its presence on Twitter. Since the show started airing, fans tweeted about how great it was. NBC created a Twitter account designated for The Sing-Off so viewers could follow and stay updated with the show. The judges and contestants also tweet regularly during the season, both promoting the upcoming episode and complimenting each other on their performances. Naturally, a new hashtag appeared in the Twitter feeds of The Sing-Off fans: #TheSingOff. Promoted by the show, the hashtag has grown in popularity and is used to search for tweets related to The Sing-Off. The presence of The Sing-Off, its judges, and contestants on Twitter, with the use of #TheSingOff, help us become more involved in the show allowing us to directly tweet the stars, judges, and other fans.
Something new that has happened in the 2011 season of The Sing-Off is the promotion of #TheSingOff during episodes. A few times throughout the episode, a message will show up across the bottom of the screen saying, “Join the conversation,” followed by, “#thesingoff.” Since its promotion, it has appeared more and more in fans’ tweets about their favorite moments on the show. The official Twitter account NBC created for The Sing-Off uses it in its tweets even though it is listed as coming from “thesingoff.” We can see what other viewers think of the show by doing a search for #TheSingOff. For example, @BKBrandi disagreed with the judges’ decision and said, “So the judges are saying Urban Method > Afro Blue. omg do you understand how INSANE that sounds?! #thesingoff.” Often between episodes, contestants will use #TheSingOff to promote the upcoming episode. Delilah, one of the competing vocal groups, posted in anticipation of an episode, “East coast, get excited! Top five comin’ atcha!! @PTXofficial @UrbanMethod @DartmouthAires @BYUVocalPoint @AfroBlueDC.”
Contestants tweet during the show as well. Since The Sing-Off is taped a couple of months in advance, the contestants and judges have returned to their daily lives. Most of them are still able to watch the episodes on Monday nights. They offer some commentary during the show, as well as compliments for each other. Viewers tweeting and watching the show simultaneously are able to tweet the contestants directly for questions or compliments as well. For example, the Darmouth Aires retweeted @bcauseirock during an episode: “yo @DartmouthAires that rkelly mix was #legit hands down my fav so far #greatjob” to which they responded, “thanks! We’re glad you liked it.” We can feel more connected to the show when we can tweet the singers while they are on television and get a response in a short time.
Contestants appreciate and love and comments fans give them through Twitter. They receive numerous tweets throughout an episode and into the following week. For example, @PghPopTart commented on one of Pentatonix’s performances; “@mitchgrassi I like how @PTXOfficial used you as their secret weapon! Waiting until the last minute to single out your voice! #biggestfan.” After Pentatonix’s big win of the 2011 season, they tweeted, “We trended worldwide. We’re seriously in tears. Thank y’all so much! This is surreal.”
Judges also seems to have a good time on Twitter during the airing of The Sing-Off. On multiple occasions, Ben Folds has had amusing tweets, such as, “Jo – holding down some BASS! @singdelilah #thesingoff” and “WHAT! @ptxofficial What a groove! #thesingoff.” At the beginning of the Christmas special, Ben Folds tweeted during the opening number; “Sneaking in under the desk tweet. #thesingoff opening number!” Shawn Stockman and Sarah Bareilles have also used Twitter to communicate their love for The Sing-Off and how much of a good time they have had. Viewers are also able to tweet the judges directly if they feel so inclined, which allows them to be more connected with the show.
If The Sing-Off did not have a presence on Twitter, it would be a less interesting experience. We could watch the show and that is it. With Twitter, we can connect with contestants, judges, and other fans of the show. We feel more involved with Twitter. The separation of the tweeting is not as big as the separation of the television screen.
What a fun show. Some of those videos gave me real chills. I thought that it was interesting how the participants, judges, and viewers all communicate through Twitter even during the show! I was especially surprised about how judges Tweeted during performances, do you think this should be allowed or no?
Normally, I don’t think it should be allowed. The judges aren’t getting paid to tweet during the show, they’re being paid to critique the groups on the show. With it being the last episode of the season, and during the opening number, which is a collaboration of multiple groups and doesn’t affect anyone’s outcome, they probably let that one slide. I doubt that the producers would accept the judges tweeting during the show because they have a job to do. It would be incredibly disrespectful to the performers, whereas this under-the-desk tweet was right at the beginning of the show probably before the singing started.
I thought it was really cool how the groups tweet during the show and interact with their fans. It’s also fun how they use twitter to ask the fans questions and then allow them to answer during the show. It makes it that much more interactive. It seems like the show has taken huge advantage of using Twitter to involve its fans and promote the show.
I agree; NBC has definitely used Twitter to promote their shows. The interactive part of tweeting gets viewers involved and gets them thinking about the show in-between episodes. This means they will be more likely to look forward to the next episode. Twitter is the perfect way to promote the show as well. When someone checks their Twitter feed, they will see tweets from their friends, coworkers, whoever, and will also see tweets from The Sing Off saying something along the lines of, “Are you excited for Master Mixes and Judges’ Choice episode of #TheSingOff? Which are you more excited for?” It gets the viewers that much more excited for the next episode.
I was amazed that the judges actually tweet while the show is going on! Both the judges and the participants use social media in a wide variety of ways. Have you seen any evidence of the judges and participants communicating with each other via Twitter?
I did not notice much for communication between judges and contestants during the taping of the show. I’m guessing there were strict rules about that. Between the taping of the shows and the live finale, there was communication between judges and contestants. After the taping, the judges have no more decisions to make, so the contestants would not be swaying any decision. I think it’s interesting how the contestants are able to communicate with popular music artists after being a part of the Sing-Off. They come onto the show as complete strangers, but they leave as more well-known and leaving a mark with the judges that they won’t forget for a long time.
I found it pretty interesting that a majority of advertising for ‘The Sing Off’ takes place on Twitter. I think it’s cool that judges on the show as well as contestants, have Twitter accounts. The videos you showed the class really added to your presentation! I really enjoyed them and I will probably be looking up some more videos from the show later. I know you said that most of ‘The Sing Off’ community exists on Twitter but I was wondering, are there any forums for the show too?
I did find a few forums on with The Sing Off threads. They were more a cappella music blogs with a section for The Sing Off. The Twitter communication interested me most which is why I focused on that and the live-tweeting. NBC does have a forum for The Sing Off as well as blogs for the judges and the host of the show.
The concept of the judgers and contestants tweeting during the show makes the online community seem almost essential to the show. It enhances the experience that the viewers get and creates a community atmosphere between the stars of the show. In many other television shows, the stars can seem distant, but this brings them closer to the fans.
The live tweeting is most definitely an added bonus to watching The Sing Off. I agree that on other shows the stars are very distant. In reality, most of the people on the show have never been on television and have not been introduced to stardom. They come onto the show as strangers to viewers, and many of them leave as well-known artists. They don’t live lives too different from our own. Many of them are college students that still have homework and studying to do. They are at a closer level to the viewers and we can connect with them more easily.
andersdh88: I’ve never been a real big fan of these shows, but I can see the appeal. American Idol is a pioneer in this area and has inspired shows like this. Not to mention it is funny how remarkably similar they all are to each other. I enjoyed your presentation (especially seeing some clips of the show) and there is clearly a lot of talent. Nice job on the presentation, I’m sold!
I’ve actually never seen an episode of American Idol… I’ve heard good things about it and feel as if I should. The only judging show I’ve seen is America’s Got Talent and Britain’s Got Talent, and it was because I heard of Susan Boyle’s performance. Although, the judges didn’t seem to give feedback; they just decided whether they would advance or not.
Beyond all the Twitter promotion and supplementary conversations, it sounds like a lot of the selection and voting processes happen online as well. What might The Sing-Off look like without the internet?
I feel as if The Sing Off process would take a much longer time. The audition videos would need to be mailed in before the season started as oppose to uploading them to a website, or emailing them in. Then the whole voting process would take a much longer time than doing it online. Counting the votes would take as long as it takes to count Presidential votes.
In terms of watching the show, viewers would only be able to watch the show on TV. There would be no reconnection or communication online. The only way we could communicate would be to mail a letter to an address we don’t have. The internet has enabled viewers to easily communicate with the stars on the show in a quick and easy way.
I really liked your presentation. I think that this live-tweeting phenomenon is interesting to study. Your project focuses a lot on live tweeting.
The live-tweeting was one of the first things I noticed when starting research for this project, and seemed the most interesting to me. I watched the first two seasons of the Sing Off without taking notice to the Twitter community, but it became a part of how I watched the third season. It is interesting how it adds to the show. They’re fun to read as well!
I think it’s really cool that a cappella music is becoming more popular because of TV shows like this! Also, the fact that the groups on the show communicate with their fans via Twitter is interesting. It definitely allows for a more direct relationship with the fans, and maybe even gets the individual groups more votes if they use the resource well. The performances were awesome! I’ll for sure be watching more of them.
Studying how the groups use Twitter has been interesting. I watched the first two seasons of The Sing Off without even knowing about the Twitter community. I know it has been more interesting for me watching the third season while also keeping up with the groups’ and judges’ Twitter feeds. It’s a lot of fun to read some of the things they tweet, either about the show, others’ performances, or things that have nothing to do with The Sing Off.
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