Singing for their supper

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2019 (2370 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some may be ashamed of their love of terrible television, but not me; I revel in it.

Look, l like a good period drama or true-crime thriller or a series that “really makes you think” as much as the next person, but most of the time, all I want to do is turn off my brain and watch a man sing Old Town Road while dressed as a giant ice-cream cone.

Reality TV is the bread and butter of my watching habits. I love competition shows and wedding shows and wedding-competition shows. I love Top Chef and Masterchef and Hell’s Kitchen. I love Survivor and Amazing Race (but not Big Brother, sorry). And if you’ve never experienced the joy of watching the lunacy that is 90 Day Fiancé (which I consider to be the crown jewel of TLC’s lineup), you’re really missing out.

Recently, three new(ish) reality TV shows have caught my attention, so if you’re in the market for something light and fun (and family friendly) to help you unwind at the end of the day, look no further.

The Masked Singer

Fox
Seasons: 2

https://youtu.be/oode4PFfhG4

When The Masked Singer arrived on North American airwaves at the beginning of 2019, echoes of “What the hell is this?” could immediately be heard across the continent. The singing competition, an interpretation of the South Korean show King of Mask Singer, is odd, to say the least, but it’s also so, so entertaining.

Each week, a collection of celebrity participants — who are fully concealed in hilarious and strange costumes — sing a cover song live in a one-on-one, face-off format. The in-house audience votes on whether the celeb can continue on in the competition or whether they will be forced to remove their mask and reveal their true identity. Video packages that play before each performance offer a few more clues as to who each character actually is.

One by one, the characters are unmasked until only one remains and is crowned the winner. Rapper T-Pain, who dressed up as a cuddly blue monster with a surprisingly soulful and powerful singing voice, won the inaugural season.

The Masked Singer is great for a few reasons. First, the costumes are absolutely amazing and confusing, in a good way. On the current season (which airs Wednesday nights on Fox), there’s an egg-man with a bejewelled outfit and a sunny-side-up egg as a hat; there’s a skeleton in a suit and top hat; there’s a leopard who wears an Elizabethan robe and collar; and a panda fully kitted out in winter athleisure. And that’s just four of 16 contestants.

Second, it’s unexpectedly difficult to place the voices of the celebrity participants without seeing them, which makes the guessing and elimination process a lot of fun. Last season, notable names such as Donny Osmond, Gladys Knight, La Toya Jackson, Tori Spelling, Margaret Cho and Ricki Lake all donned a mask but only a couple of their voices were obviously recognizable.

The only downside of The Masked Singer is the panel of celebrity judges the network slapped together — which includes singers Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger, and actors Jenny McCarthy and Ken Jeong — offer little in terms of entertainment or comedic value (Jeong has his moments). If you can get past that, though, it’s well worth a watch.

 

 

Songland

NBC
Seasons: 1

https://youtu.be/DtXXStHIneY

Songland has flown under the radar a bit, but as far as music-related reality television is concerned, this show is the most interesting and possibly the best of the genre. The premise is this: four aspiring songwriters each perform one original song for a panel of three superstar producers — Ryan Tedder (frontman of pop-rock band One Republic), Ester Dean (Rihanna) and Shane McAnally (Kasey Musgraves) — as well as a musical celebrity guest. The celeb musician then eliminates one song; the remaining writers are each paired up with one of the three producers so they can rework their tracks before presenting again to the musician, who chooses one to record and release under his or her own name.

The reason Songland is such an interesting take on a music-competition show is that writing, not singing, is the focus, and because it gives a peek into the process of how a song can be deconstructed, reconstructed and altered to fit a certain performer’s voice and brand. Tedder, Dean and McAnally are production geniuses, picking apart specific riffs or lyrics, inverting chords or flipping arrangements and completely changing a song (for the better) all within minutes of hearing the track for the first time.

And the guest artists — who, this season, included the Jonas Brothers, Meghan Trainor, John Legend, Macklemore and Leona Lewis — also get the chance to show off their production and writing skills, often making valuable contributions during the impromptu workshopping that inevitably happens after each song is presented to the panel.

What might be the most inspiring part of the show is the willingness of the songwriters to have their work essentially ripped down to the studs. Sometimes the bulk of the song stays intact, but most times it’s one lyric, or a melody, or even just an idea that stays and the rest of the track gets rebuilt around that stand-out element. Egos and personal feelings are pushed aside, and while some artists would surely be uncomfortable with this approach, it really highlights the art of collaboration and the miracles fresh ears can bring.

Songland was renewed for a second season, so it’ll be back on NBC some time in 2020.

 

 

 

Million Pound Menu

BBC Two/Netflix
Seasons: 2

Million Pound Menu is like a combination of Top Chef and Dragons’ Den. Teams of hopeful restaurateurs pitch their concept and their food to a panel of four potential investors, all of whom have all had success in some capacity in the food industry. In the first season, two teams would be given the opportunity to open pop-up restaurants in Manchester, England, in an attempt to win over the investors and get them to back their restaurant concept.

In the second season, just one team is given the chance to run a two-day pop-up eatery. The two days includes time for the team to meet with the investors individually and gives them the chance to dine at the establishment. At the end of the second day, the each investor decides if her or she wants to make an offer to the business owners.

Different investors prioritize different things, such as the importantance of a cohesive concept, consistency of food preparation and the dining experience, and they are allowed to back out at any point. If and when an offer is made, the power is shifted back into the hands of the business owners to decide what is the best path for them.

More than just a cooking/business reality TV show, Million Pound Menu offers interesting insight into how investors think about deals when it comes to the food industry, which is simultaneously one of the biggest money-makers globally and one of the riskiest markets with very high turnover.

The only gripe here is the lack of diversity when it comes to the investors — there are a lot of 40- or 50-something white men — but following along from pitch to pop-up to proposition is engaging to watch, nonetheless.

 

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel