At the NBC Television Network’s Upfront (a presentation on fall programming for the affiliates) today, the network announced that its popular a cappella competition show The Sing-Off, which features Ben Folds on the panel of judges, will expand for its third season. Rather than being a five-program mini-series, the show will become a regular Monday night two-hour (8-10PM ET) episodic reality show spanning from the schedule debut in September through Christmastime. NBC, which has pretty much locked up the reality music genre, will follow The Sing-Off’s run with the second season of the surprise hit The Voice in the winter.
Part of the retooling of The Sing-Off involves the addition of a fourth judge to the panel. Though for the most part Ben, along wih Nicole Scherzinger and Shawn Stockman, have done an admirable job evaluating the considerable talent they’ve been presented with, the producers of the series are in a search for another critic who has proven musical credentials and isn’t afraid to speak his or her mind and say something negative when the performance warrants. Several names have been tossed about; Entertainment Weekly’s Hillary Busis has mentioned Alanis Morissette, Sarah MacLachlan or even Jessica Simpson, if for no other reason than just to rattle ex-husband show host Nick Lachey.
