The Singing Bee vs. Don't Forget the Lyrics

As a kid I was a big fan of "Name That Tune" and later "Face the Music," so I was excited to hear that there were, not one, but two new music game shows coming to the air in July. "The Singing Bee" is on Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m., and "Don't Forget the Lyrics" is on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. Although the goal of the two shows is the same, to sing the correct lyrics, the format are totally different.


The Singing Bee has the "Cheese" factor going for it: Joey Fatone, colorful sets, and dancing girls dressed like bees--yes really! The show starts with several contestants, narrowing it down until only one is left-- just like in an actual spelling bee. The pace is fast, and quite a few songs are performed during the show. In every episode someone earns the grand prize of $50,000. Don't Forget the Lyrics is more like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The contestant chooses a category and then a song within the category which he must sing. The dollar value gets higher with each song, and the contestant has 3 helplines. The maximum prize is $1,000,000, if he gets that far. In the episode I watched, the contestant sang only 4 songs, and, much to my dismay, the host (Wayne Brady--who I adore) didn't sing at all.

I must say that I enjoy the cheesy approach! I want to hear more songs--and I want to laugh at the bee dancers! Pop and rock music should be fun and so should dumb game shows! (I thought that I was good at remembering lyrics, but these contestants put me to shame.)