The Singing B-log

While driving with my teen-aged daughters and their friend, I had the good fortune to look inside their fascination with Disney's “High School Musical" franchise.

It seems that Maggie and Julia have memorized every last word of every "HSM" song, and they’re well on their way to memorizing the sequel. They take this job very seriously. If one of the girls fumbles over a line, the others quickly chime in with the correct lyrics. Some of the trickier lines require a group effort to reach consensus. As I listened, it dawned on me that most of us have experienced a similar cultural obsession in our formative years. Before "High School Musical", there was "Sound of Music", "Grease", "Tommy", "West Side Story", and so on.

Our show, "The Singing Bee," actually draws on this phenomenon. Most people have some amount of music from their teens committed to memory. I think this is because our teen years are when we have the time to listen to music constantly, and to concentrate on it, rather than dealing with “real life” while the music plays in the background.

For most of us, adulthood signals responsibilities, careers, and families, and an end to compulsive music memorization. Music becomes a part of our lives, rather than our reason for being.

However, there are a select few whose passion for learning lyrics goes beyond their teen years and sticks with them into adulthood. These lifelong learners, who memorize the music of their generation, plus that of earlier and later generations, make up the impressive group who ultimately become “Singing Bee” contestants and champions.

As we prepare for the new "Singing Bee" season (September 25), expect a few new additions for the Fall. We are planning to have musical guests in studio for the opening sing-in, plus our weekly "Singing Bee" Champion will return the following week to face a new group of contestants. Who knows, we just might find the Ken Jennings of music lyrics.