The Sing-Off season 1

The first season of The Sing-Off premiered on December 14, 2009. The show featured eight a cappella groups performing popular songs live. The winner's prize was $100,000 and a Sony Music recording contract.^[1] Nick Lachey hosted, while Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five, Shawn Stockman from Boyz II Men and Nicole Scherzinger from The Pussycat Dolls were judges. The show ran for 4 episodes, concluding on December 21, 2009 with a live finale. The group Nota won the title.

The Sing-Off
Season 1
Hosted by	Nick Lachey (NBC)
Judges	Ben Folds Shawn Stockman Nicole Scherzinger
Winner	Nota
Runner-up	Beelzebubs
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	December 14, 2009 (2009-12-14) – December 21, 2009 (2009-12-21)
Season chronology

Groups

Contestant	School	Finish	Number of members
Nota San Juan, Puerto Rico	NA	Winner	6
The Beelzebubs Medford, Massachusetts	Tufts University	Second Place	12
Voices of Lee Cleveland, Tennessee	Lee University	Third Place	10
The SoCals Los Angeles, California	University of Southern California	Eliminated Episode 3	8
MAXX Factor Baltimore, Maryland	NA	Eliminated Episode 3	4
BYU Noteworthy Provo, Utah	Brigham Young University	Eliminated Episode 2	9
Solo Omaha, Nebraska	NA	Eliminated Episode 1	7
Face Boulder, Colorado	NA	Eliminated Episode 1	6

Elimination table

Legend

Eliminated

Last safe

Safe

Third

Runner-up

Winner

Date:		12/14	12/15	12/16 (A)	12/16 (B)	12/21
Place	Group	Result
1	Nota	1st (1)	1st	3rd	2nd	Winner
2	Beelzebubs	1st (2)	2nd	1st	1st	Runner-Up
3	Voices of Lee	3rd (1)	3rd	2nd	3rd	Third Place
4	The SoCals	2nd (2)	4th	4th	Eliminated
5	Maxx Factor	3rd (2)	5th	Eliminated
6	Noteworthy	2nd (1)	Eliminated
7	Solo	Eliminated (2)
8	Face	Eliminated (1)

Performances

Episode 1 (December 14, 2009)

• Group performance: "Under Pressure" by Queen/David Bowie

A summary of the groups' performances on the first live show, along with the results.

Group	Order	Song	Result
First Half
Nota	1	"I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz	Safe
Voices of Lee	2	"Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield	Last safe
Face	3	"Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi	Eliminated
Noteworthy	4	"Think" by Aretha Franklin	Safe
Second Half
Beelzebubs	5	"Magical Mystery Tour" by The Beatles	Safe
Maxx Factor	6	"Dancing Queen" by ABBA	Last safe
The SoCals	7	"Somebody To Love" by Queen	Safe
Solo	8	"Whatcha Say" by Jason Derülo	Eliminated
Swan songs
Face	1	"Home" by Daughtry
Solo	2	"I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor

Episode 2 (December 15, 2009)

• Theme: Big Hits (first song) and Guilty Pleasures (second song)

A summary of the groups' performances on the second live show, along with the results.

Group	Order	First song	Order	Second song	Result
Beelzebubs	1	"Right Round" by Flo Rida	7	"Come Sail Away" by Styx	Safe
Noteworthy	2	"Viva la Vida" by Coldplay	8	"Hold On" by Wilson Phillips	Eliminated
Voices of Lee	3	"No One" by Alicia Keys	9	"Freedom! '90" by George Michael	Safe
Nota	4	"Down" by Jay Sean	10	"Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees	Safe
The SoCals	5	"Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson	11	"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship	Safe
Maxx Factor	6	"Love Story" by Taylor Swift	12	"Rehab" by Amy Winehouse	Last safe
Swan song
Noteworthy	1	"Happy Ending" by Mika

Episode 3 (December 16, 2009)

• Theme: Superstar Medleys (first round), Judges' Request (second round)
• Group performance: "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra

A summary of the groups' performances on the third live show, along with the results.

Group	Order	Song	Result
First Half
Nota	1	A medley of The Jackson 5: "I Want You Back", "I'll Be There" & "ABC"	Safe
Beelzebubs	2	A medley of The Who: "Behind Blue Eyes", "Who Are You", & "Baba O'Riley"	Safe
Maxx Factor	3	A medley of The Beach Boys: "God Only Knows", "Wouldn't It Be Nice" & "Good Vibrations"	Eliminated
The SoCals	4	A medley of Journey: "Any Way You Want It", "Open Arms" & "Don't Stop Believin'"	Last safe
Voices of Lee	5	A medley of The Beatles: "Paperback Writer", "Oh! Darling" & "All You Need is Love"	Safe
Second Half
Nota	6	"Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel	Safe
Beelzebubs	7	"Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond	Safe
The SoCals	8	"Hazy Shade of Winter" by Simon & Garfunkel	Eliminated
Voices of Lee	9	"Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson	Last safe
Swan songs
Maxx Factor	1	"Leaving on a Jet Plane" by John Denver
The SoCals	2	"Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake

Episode 4 (December 21, 2009)

• Group performance: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2
• Guest performance: Medley of Hits by Boyz II Men

A summary of the groups' performances on the final live show, along with the results.

Group	Order	First song	Order	Second song	Result
Voices of Lee	1	"Stand by Me" by Ben E. King	4	"Pocket Full of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield (with Natasha Bedingfield)	Third Place
Beelzebubs	2	"Where is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas	5	"You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore (with Nicole Scherzinger)	Second Place
Nota	3	"Lean on Me" by Bill Withers	6	"The Tracks of My Tears" by The Miracles (with Smokey Robinson)	Winner
Nota, Beelzebubs, Voices of Lee	7	"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by Darlene Love (with Nick Lachey)
	8	"Drive" by Bobby McFerrin (with Bobby McFerrin)
Nota, Beelzebubs	9	"Why Can't We Be Friends?" by War (with Ben Folds)
Swan songs
Voices of Lee	1	"So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music			Third Place
Beelzebubs	2	"We Gotta Get out of This Place" by The Animals			Second Place
Victory song
Nota	"Down" by Jay Sean (with Jay Sean)				Winner

Ratings

Episode Number	Airdate	Rating/Share (18-49)	Viewers (millions)	Rank (Night)
1	December 14, 2009	2.3/6	6.9	2[2]
2	December 15, 2009	2.6/7	6.9	2[2]
3	December 16, 2009	2.2/6	6.5	3[2]
4	December 21, 2009	2.3/7	7.2	2[3]