Clash of the Choirs

Clash of the Choirs is a reality talent contest miniseries that debuted on NBC in the United States on December 17, 2007. There were four episodes scheduled in the “quick competition”.[1] Maria Menounos is the host of the program, which was performed live from Stage One at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, New York.

Clash of the Choirs
Created byFriday TV
Presented byMaria Menounos
JudgesMichael Bolton
Patti LaBelle
Nick Lachey
Kelly Rowland
Blake Shelton
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producerJason Raff
Production locationsBrooklyn, New York
Running time2 hours
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseDecember 17 (2007-12-17) –
December 20, 2007 (2007-12-20)

The format was developed by Friday TV from an idea from the Swedish singer and choir leader Caroline af Ugglas.[2] Seven seasons of the Swedish version, Körslaget, have been broadcast on TV4 in 2008-2013.

The format was a multi-city “bragging rights” competition between 20-person choirs assembled in the hometowns of the recording artists that support them. In the 2007 competition, the choirs competed for a cash prize of $250,000, backed in part by Sony Pictures in support of its upcoming movie release, First Sunday. The film, about petty criminals using a choir in a neighborhood church as part of their scheme, was released 11 January 2008, in the United States and Canada and throughout Europe in April 2008.[3] The prize was in the form of a contribution to a charity active in the artist's hometown.

The choir led by former 98° singer Nick Lachey won the 2007 competition, which was decided by public vote after four nights of live performances. Patti LaBelle's choir finished second, followed by Blake Shelton's, Michael Bolton's, and Kelly Rowland's. The remaining teams received $50,000 each of donations, courtesy of General Electric, parent company of network owner NBC Universal.

The miniseries aired right as most US primetime broadcast television series had run out of new episodes mainly due to the Writers Guild of America strike.[4][5] Airing the week before Christmas song choices reflected a spiritual tone with one critic speculating that Patti LaBelle's choir was sure to win unless “it’s all a little too much ‘church’ for America”.[6]

NBC announced its 2008-2009 schedule on April 2, 2008, and it also confirmed that Clash of the Choirs would not return for another season.[7] A similar group a cappella competition, The Sing-Off, took place in December 2009 with Nick Lachey hosting.

Teams and results
Celebrity Hometown Team's hometown charity Finish
  Nick Lachey Cincinnati, Ohio Children's Hospital of Cincinnati Winners
  Patti LaBelle Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lift Our Voices (cancer screenings for African-Americans) 2nd Place
  Blake Shelton Ada, Oklahoma Project Rebuild (disaster relief), Army MWR 3rd Place
  Michael Bolton New Haven, Connecticut Domestic Violence Services of New Haven 4th Place
  Kelly Rowland Houston, Texas Bread of Life (services for homeless people) 5th Place

Format

Choir members were selected in open auditions held in each city with the celebrity officiating. After the top twenty singers from each city were selected, they were sent to New York for rehearsals before the live performances began on 17 December 2007.

I was only interested when they explained that we were going to inspire young, unestablished singers.

— Michael Bolton, commenting on the absence of critical commentary.[8]

Each choir performs, under the direction of their celebrity, and then receives comments from the other competing celebrities. The series has been criticized for not having any real tension or the reality show bite of actual judges.[9] The elimination decision is a public vote by phone and online. The choir with the lowest vote total is eliminated the following night. (In 2007, only the first two nights had eliminations, leading to a "final three.")

As noted, the top prize was a $250,000 donation to the hometown charity.

Season 1

Song list

Each choir performed as part of a multi-choir medley format as well as songs for the finale night of the show (20 December). Of the songs listed below only those performed the first three nights were considered towards the final vote. On the third show (19 December), choirs performed three songs each: one as selected by the producers, then a Christmas carol, then a song in which the celebrity became the lead singer.

Reception

Clash was the top rated show on 19 December and had a viewership of 8.3 million (2.4/7) and "remained steady in adults 18-49" according to Nielsen Media Research.[10][11] The title sequence created by Framework Studio won a Telly Award[12]

U.S. Nielsen Ratings
Episode Number Episode Rating Share Rating/Share
(18-49)		 Viewers
(millions)		 Rank
(Overall)
1 "Episode 1" 5.4 7 2.5/7 8.13 TBA
2 "Episode 2" 5.2 8 2.4/8 7.73 TBA
3 "Episode 3" 5.4 9 2.4/7 8.23 TBA
4 "Episode 4" 5.6 9 2.3/7 8.06 TBA

International versions
Country Title Host Network First Aired
 Australia[13] Battle of the Choirs David Koch Seven Network May 2008
 Catalonia[14] Oh Happy Day Eduard Farelo TV3 September 21, 2013
 China[15][16] Mengxiang Hechangtuan 梦想合唱团 Sa Beining 撒贝宁 CCTV-1 2011
 Denmark[17] AllStars Lisbeth Østergaard TV2 2008
 Estonia[18] Laululahing Tarmo Leinatamm etv 2008
 Finland[19] Kuorosota Kristiina Komulainen Nelonen 2009
 France[20] La Bataille des Chorales Benjamin Castaldi TF1 2009
 Galicia[21] Oh Happy Day Rodrigo Vázquez TVG 2015
 Jordan Harb Al-Karasi
حرب الكراسي		 Khaled Nour Channel 1 Jordan 2020
 Latvia[22] Koru Kari Lauris Reiniks TV3 2008, 2013
 Lithuania[23] Chorų karai Vytautas Šapranauskas & Jurgita Jurkuté TV3 January 16, 2010
 Netherlands Korenslag Henny Huisman (2007;2008/09), Mark Dik (2010/11) NPO 1 (2007), NPO 2 (08/09, 10/11) May 24, 2007
 Norway[24] Det store korslaget Øyvind Mund TV2 2009
 Poland[25] Bitwa na głosy Hubert Urbański & Piotr Kędzierski TVP 2 2011
 Russia Битва хopов Valery Meladze Rossiya 1 September 16, 2012
 South Africa[26] Clash of the Choirs South Africa Bonang Matheba DStv January 27, 2013
 Spain[27] La Batalla de los Coros Josep Lobató Cuatro 2008
 Sweden[28] Körslaget Gry Forssell TV4 March 29, 2008
  Switzerland[29] Kampf der Chöre Sven Epiney SF 1 2010
 Turkey[30] Korolar Çarpışıyor Behzat Uighur Show TV 2009
 Ukraine Битва хорів Yuriy Horbunov 1+1 November 10, 2013
 Vietnam Hợp ca tranh tài Nguyên Khang VTV3 February 24, 2012

Production

Clash of the Choirs was produced by BBC Worldwide America, also responsible for the ABC hit series Dancing with the Stars. The format is distributed by Friday TV, which is owned by the Scandinavian production company Metronome Film & Television.

The first and third episodes were two hours in length. The second was one hour long, and the finale was also initially scheduled to be an hour. However, on 20 December 2007, NBC announced it would expand the finale from one to two hours.[31]

Clash of the Choirs now airs on The Gospel Music Channel (GMC).

Sponsors

On the first episode, GE pledged $250,000 to the Disabled American Veterans. This was announced just before the performance of the Shelton choir, which features two soldiers from the Army base at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. T-Mobile was another sponsor of the miniseries.

See also

References
  1. "Remaining choirs will raise the roof as competition ends". December 19, 2007.
  2. "Caroline af Ugglas succé i USA-TV". Svenska dagbladet (in Swedish). 2 June 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  3. "First Sunday (2008) - Release dates". IMDb.
  4. Dos Santos, Kristin (December 18, 2007). "Strikewatch: Dear Santa, Make It Stop".
  5. Kohanik, Eric; Service, CanWest News. "Clash of Choirs finale goes up against lots of reruns". Archived from the original on 2007-12-25.
  6. "About Last Night: Clash of the Choirs Is No Contest". December 18, 2007.
  7. "NBC Makes Big Plans for '08-'09 - Network takes gamble on year-round programming". Zap2it. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012.
  8. Kevin D. Thompson. "'Clash of the Choirs' is a kinder, gentler type of reality show". The Palm Beach Post.
  9. ""Clash of the Choirs" strikes a dull note". Reuters. 19 December 2007.
  10. "CBS Is Repeat Offender Wednesday: Crime dramas carry network to top of ratings heap". Zap2it. December 20, 2007.
  11. Paul J. Gough (December 21, 2007). "CBS prevails in quiet Wednesday primetime". The Hollywood Reporter.
  12. "TELLY Awards / Winners". Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  13. "Battle of the Choirs". 7. 2008.
  14. "Oh Happy Day". TV3 (Catalonia). 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  15. "Dream Choirs". China Central Television. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
  16. "Clash of the Choirs (China)". China Central Television. Archived from the original on 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
  17. "AllStars". tv2.dk. Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  18. "Laululahing". etv.err.ee. Archived from the original on 2012-07-12.
  19. "Kuorosota". nelonen.fi. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  20. "La Batallie des Chorales". tf1.fr. Archived from the original on 2011-08-30. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  21. "Oh Happy Day Galiza". Archived from the original on 2019-01-25. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
  22. "Koru Kari". tv3.lv. Archived from the original on 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  23. "Chorų karai". tvdb.1. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
  24. "Det store korslaget". tv2.no. Archived from the original on 2011-09-24. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  25. "Bitwa na głosy". TVP.pl. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  26. "Clash of the Choirs South Africa". DStv.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  27. "La Batalia de los Coros". cuatro.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-04. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  28. "Körslaget". tv4.se. Archived from the original on 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  29. "Kampf der Chöre". sf.tv. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  30. "Korolar Çarpışıyor". showtvnet.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
  31. "NBC delays Apprentice to avoid clash". December 20, 2007.
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