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The Singing Bee (Australian game show)
Encyclopedia
The Singing Bee is an Australia
n game show
which is based on the original American version of the same name. By combining karaoke singing with a spelling bee-style competition, contestants have to sing lyrics to songs without making a mistake or risk being eliminated immediately.
The show premiered on Sunday 7 October 2007 on the Nine Network
, which has ordered the production of an initial eight episodes. Its recording location is in Richmond, Victoria
at the Nine Network's GTV-9 studios. The Singing Bee will follow the basic rules of the American version of the show but some rule changes have been made for the Australian version.
On 22 March 2008, it was announced by the Nine Network
that The Singing Bee is going back into production for a second season, with filming set to take place after the 2008 logies. Tim Campbell took over as host from Joey Fatone
. The new season premiered on the Nine Network
at 8.30pm on Thursday 10 July 2008. The Nine Network
has confirmed that The Singing Bee would return in 2009.
singer and host of the original US version of the show, Joey Fatone
was announced on 24 September 2007 as the host of the Australia
n version (probably because there were many 'N Sync fans in Australia) and is currently in Melbourne for the show.
It was originally announced that it would be hosted by Australian musician David Campbell
but due to other commitments, he was unavailable to host the show. Other media outlets have mentioned that personalities which were being considered for host included Kate Ceberano
, Jon Stevens
, Michael Falzon
, Toby Allen and Rob Mills
. The Nine Network is currently in the process of auditioning people for the series in Melbourne
, Sydney
and Brisbane
and is currently asking for audience members.
Out of the four regular singers featured on the show, Rob Mills
and Andrew De Silva have been announced as two of them. Lucy Holmes
, former host of The Mint is also a regular on the show.
The 2008 season was hosted by Tim Campbell. Singers in the house band for Season 2 include Nilusha Baeder, Lucy Holmes
, Kelly Wolfgramm, Andrew De Silva and Jud Fields. The house band is headed up by Dorian West.
fashion, similar to Don't Forget the Lyrics. As the contestant sings the song, they will see blanks in the lyrics being displayed, each representing a word in the song. The person out of the pair who fills in the most blanks correctly (out of a possible 15) wins and goes on to the third round. If both contestants get the same amount of blanks filled in each, a tie-breaker is played. For the celebrity edition, there are 13 missing words. For every word correctly sung, the player is given a point. The player who culminates the least amount of points in Round 1 and 2 combined is eliminated from the game.
. Up to 7 songs are performed in a similar manner to the first round. For each song, if the lyrics are sung correctly for it, the player wins $5,000. If the player gets five songs right, they win $50,000. However, if they sing the lyrics for a song incorrectly, a strike is given. If three strikes are given (three songs are sung incorrectly) at any point during the round, the game is over but the contestant still wins whatever money was accumulated up to that point, if any. All money round contestants receive a trophy regardless of the outcome.
during the weekend of 18-19 August, with some 125 trying out on the Saturday and more the following day. Auditions are done in the style of Round 1 of the show, with five contestants taking turns to complete a lyric of varying degrees of difficulty once the lead-in music stops. Channel Nine's A Current Affair taped a segment on the Saturday, which was then shown on 20 August 2007 to promote the show. Auditions were held in the Temptation studio at GTV-9
in Richmond, Victoria
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
which is based on the original American version of the same name. By combining karaoke singing with a spelling bee-style competition, contestants have to sing lyrics to songs without making a mistake or risk being eliminated immediately.
The show premiered on Sunday 7 October 2007 on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
, which has ordered the production of an initial eight episodes. Its recording location is in Richmond, Victoria
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
at the Nine Network's GTV-9 studios. The Singing Bee will follow the basic rules of the American version of the show but some rule changes have been made for the Australian version.
On 22 March 2008, it was announced by the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
that The Singing Bee is going back into production for a second season, with filming set to take place after the 2008 logies. Tim Campbell took over as host from Joey Fatone
Joey Fatone
Joseph Anthony "Joey" Fatone, Jr. is an American singer, dancer, actor and television personality. He is best known as a member of the boyband, 'N Sync, in which he sang baritone. In 2007, he came in second place on the ABC reality show Dancing with the Stars...
. The new season premiered on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
at 8.30pm on Thursday 10 July 2008. The Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
has confirmed that The Singing Bee would return in 2009.
Host and singers
Former 'N Sync'N Sync
N Sync was an American boy band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich, *NSYNC consisted of JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick...
singer and host of the original US version of the show, Joey Fatone
Joey Fatone
Joseph Anthony "Joey" Fatone, Jr. is an American singer, dancer, actor and television personality. He is best known as a member of the boyband, 'N Sync, in which he sang baritone. In 2007, he came in second place on the ABC reality show Dancing with the Stars...
was announced on 24 September 2007 as the host of the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n version (probably because there were many 'N Sync fans in Australia) and is currently in Melbourne for the show.
It was originally announced that it would be hosted by Australian musician David Campbell
David Campbell (Australian musician)
David Joseph Campbell is an Australian singer and stage performer. He has performed and recorded many different genres of music from rock to classics. He is the son of singer Jimmy Barnes.-Theatre career:...
but due to other commitments, he was unavailable to host the show. Other media outlets have mentioned that personalities which were being considered for host included Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano
Kate Ceberano is an Australian singer. She achieved success in the soul, jazz and pop genres as well as in her brief forays into musicals with Jesus Christ Superstar and film...
, Jon Stevens
Jon Stevens
Jon Stevens is a New Zealand-born singer of Maori descent, now an Australian citizen. Stevens is the brother of New Zealand Idol judge Frankie Stevens....
, Michael Falzon
Michael Falzon
Michael Falzon is a Member of the Maltese Parliament of the Malta Labour Party . He stood as a candidate for the second and tenth electoral divisions of Malta for the PL...
, Toby Allen and Rob Mills
Rob Mills
Rob Mills is an Australian singer best known as one of the finalists from Australian Idol 2003. He was a co-host on the late-night quiz show The Mint as well as a regular singer on the game show The Singing Bee both on the Nine Network...
. The Nine Network is currently in the process of auditioning people for the series in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and is currently asking for audience members.
Out of the four regular singers featured on the show, Rob Mills
Rob Mills
Rob Mills is an Australian singer best known as one of the finalists from Australian Idol 2003. He was a co-host on the late-night quiz show The Mint as well as a regular singer on the game show The Singing Bee both on the Nine Network...
and Andrew De Silva have been announced as two of them. Lucy Holmes
Lucy Holmes
Lucy Holmes is a British-born Australian performer, TV presenter and radio host.She has studied a degree in Music Theatre and has since worked as a professional singer, actress and presenter, recording artist and backing vocalist...
, former host of The Mint is also a regular on the show.
The 2008 season was hosted by Tim Campbell. Singers in the house band for Season 2 include Nilusha Baeder, Lucy Holmes
Lucy Holmes
Lucy Holmes is a British-born Australian performer, TV presenter and radio host.She has studied a degree in Music Theatre and has since worked as a professional singer, actress and presenter, recording artist and backing vocalist...
, Kelly Wolfgramm, Andrew De Silva and Jud Fields. The house band is headed up by Dorian West.
Format
At the start of the show, the band plays a song and the host randomly gives audience members a chance to sing part of the song. If they sing along to it enthuastically, they become one of the six contestants on the show. This section refers to the original format of the show and not the current celebrity series'.Round 1
The host provides the year the song was released, the performer, and the name of the song. A portion of the song is performed, and then the contestant has to attempt to sing the next line of the song. If they are correct, they advance to the next round are told to walk over to the "musical chairs" and sit down. If the contestant gets the lyrics wrong however, they have to take a step back, and the next contestant in line must sing the same line of the song. This continues until someone gets it right. If no one correctly identifies the exact lyrics, the answer is given, the song is thrown out, and a new song is put into play. The first four people to correctly sing the given lyric go on to the next round, and the other two contestants are eliminated. For the celebrity edition, the contestants are given points, two for a correct lyric, and zero for a wrong answer. No one is eliminated, but the scores carryover into the next round.Round 2
For round two, the four contestants who advanced through get paired up to play a game chosen at random in each episode from the following games:Karaoke Challenge
The contestant sees the words to the song in karaokeKaraoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
fashion, similar to Don't Forget the Lyrics. As the contestant sings the song, they will see blanks in the lyrics being displayed, each representing a word in the song. The person out of the pair who fills in the most blanks correctly (out of a possible 15) wins and goes on to the third round. If both contestants get the same amount of blanks filled in each, a tie-breaker is played. For the celebrity edition, there are 13 missing words. For every word correctly sung, the player is given a point. The player who culminates the least amount of points in Round 1 and 2 combined is eliminated from the game.
Lyric Scramble
While the band is performing, words from the next line of lyrics to a song are shown scrambled on the screen. The contestant is required to sing the words shown, in their correct order. When one contestant is correct and the other is wrong at any point, the one who was correct moves on to the Championship Round. If both contestants are incorrect, a tie-breaker is played, but if both contestant are correct, the round is repeated.Round 3 (Chorus Showdown)
The two contestants who advanced through battle each other in a game called the "Chorus Showdown". This follows a similar format to the first round, but instead of singing a line, the contestant is required to sing the entire chorus without making a mistake. If both contestants sing their chorus lines correctly, the round is repeated. If both contestants sing their chorus lines incorrectly, a tie-breaker is played.Round 4 (The Final Countdown)
The last remaining contestant who advanced through gets to play in the money round called "The Final Countdown", based on the song of the same nameThe Final Countdown (song)
"The Final Countdown" is a rock song by the Swedish band Europe released in 1986. Written by Joey Tempest, it was the first single from the band's third studio album which was also named The Final Countdown. It is considered by some to be the band's most recognizable and popular song. The song...
. Up to 7 songs are performed in a similar manner to the first round. For each song, if the lyrics are sung correctly for it, the player wins $5,000. If the player gets five songs right, they win $50,000. However, if they sing the lyrics for a song incorrectly, a strike is given. If three strikes are given (three songs are sung incorrectly) at any point during the round, the game is over but the contestant still wins whatever money was accumulated up to that point, if any. All money round contestants receive a trophy regardless of the outcome.
Tie-breaker
Tie-breakers apply only to rounds two and three and are used when contestants get even results while playing the games. In the tie-breaker, the two contestants are given the year and the name of the performer and the first person to answer the name of the song correctly is given the option of singing the song themselves or letting the other contestant sing it. If the singer sings the tie-breaker song without mistakes, they win and move on to the next round. If they make a mistake, the other contestant goes through.Production
Auditions were held in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
during the weekend of 18-19 August, with some 125 trying out on the Saturday and more the following day. Auditions are done in the style of Round 1 of the show, with five contestants taking turns to complete a lyric of varying degrees of difficulty once the lead-in music stops. Channel Nine's A Current Affair taped a segment on the Saturday, which was then shown on 20 August 2007 to promote the show. Auditions were held in the Temptation studio at GTV-9
GTV-9
GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at a new high-tech, purpose-built studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands.-History:...
in Richmond, Victoria
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
.