The fall season upfronts (the TV networks’ announcements to affiliates of their fall schedules) are complete, and notably missing is the breakout a cappella show The Sing-Off, which of course starred Ben Folds as one of the celebrity judges. NBC-TV has confirmed that The Sing-Off won’t be on the schedule, though it has renewed the vocal competition series The Voice to run in the fall on Mondays and Tuesdays, where it will benefit from promotion during the NFL season and avoid competition with Fox’s similar X Factor.
The cancellation has drawn out fans of the show who are trying to get a reconsideration of the decision, mainly through a Twitter account, @SavetheSingoff, and a #SavetheSingOff hashtag campaign. (Update: There is a website as well.)  Ben hasn’t said much other than to acknowledge the Twitter effort and encourage fans to make their feelings known. At least one TV writer, Phil Gallo of Billboard Magazine, speculates that NBC could return The Sing-Off to its former post-Thanksgiving run, but no such announcement has been made.
The a cappella craze, inspired in large part by Ben’s embracing of the multitude of college a cappella groups covering his music, flourished a couple years ago, leading NBC-TV to schedule The Sing-Off as a pre-Christmas mini-series in the fall of 2009. Renewed in 2010 in the same format, it expanded in fall of 2011 into a half-year series. While the concept worked well over the short term, the half-season format didn’t attract the same viewership. Too much of a good thing, perhaps.
We’ve written about The Sing-Off throughout its run; check our archive for past articles.
