The Singing Bee (Australian game show)

The Singing Bee (Australia)

Company type	Television game show
Industry	Entertainment, Television
Founded	October 7, 2007 (2007-10-07)
Headquarters	Richmond, Victoria , Australia
Area served	Australia
Key people	Joey Fatone (host, season 1), Tim Campbell (host, seasons 2 and 3), Rob Mills (vocalist), Andrew De Silva (vocalist), Lucy Holmes (vocalist)
Products	Television game show

The Singing Bee is an Australian game show adapted from the American original, blending karaoke performance with a spelling bee-like contest where participants must accurately vocalize song lyrics to avoid being eliminated.

The program debuted on 7 October 2007 on the Nine Network, which initially commissioned eight episodes. Production took place at Nine Network's GTV-9 studios located in Richmond, Victoria, adhering closely to the American format while incorporating certain localized rule modifications.

On 22 March 2008, the Nine Network confirmed a second season, which was recorded following the 2008 Logie Awards. Tim Campbell succeeded Joey Fatone as host, with the new season launching on 10 July 2008 at 8:30 pm.

Host and singers

The Australian version's host was revealed on 24 September 2007 as former NSYNC member and original US host Joey Fatone, who was in Melbourne for production at that time.

Initially, Australian artist David Campbell was intended to serve as host but was unavailable due to prior engagements. Other candidates considered included Kate Ceberano, Jon Stevens, Michael Falzon, Toby Allen, and Rob Mills. The Nine Network conducted auditions across Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.

Of the quartet of regular vocalists featured, Rob Mills and Andrew De Silva were confirmed, alongside former The Mint presenter Lucy Holmes.

Tim Campbell took on hosting duties for the 2008 and 2010 seasons. The house band for Season 2 comprised Nilusha Baeder, Lucy Holmes, Sandii Keenan, Kelly Wolfgramm, Andrew De Silva, and Judd Field, under the musical direction of Dorian West.

Format

At the outset, the band performs a track while the host randomly selects audience members to sing a segment. Those who perform with enthusiasm become one of six contestants. This describes the original format rather than the current celebrity edition.

Round 1

The host announces the song’s release year, artist, and title. After playing a segment, contestants attempt to sing the subsequent line. Correct responses allow contestants to advance to a "musical chairs" phase. Incorrect attempts pass control to the following contestant. If no one answers correctly, the correct lyric is revealed before moving on to a new song. The first four contestants to answer correctly move forward; two are eliminated. In the celebrity version, contestants receive two points for each correct lyric and none for mistakes; no eliminations occur but scores accumulate.

Round 2

The four remaining contestants are paired off to compete in one of two randomly selected challenges:

Karaoke Challenge

Contestants view lyrics displayed in karaoke style with certain words omitted and represented by blanks. The player who accurately fills in the greatest number of blanks (up to fifteen) advances. Ties result in a tie-breaker round. In the celebrity edition, thirteen blanks are presented; each correctly supplied word earns one point. The contestant with the lowest combined total from Rounds 1 and 2 is eliminated.

Lyric Scramble

During live band performance, scrambled words from the next lyric line appear on screen. Contestants must sing these words in their correct sequence. A correct answer against an incorrect one sends that contestant through to the Championship Round. If both answers are incorrect, a tie-breaker is played; if both are correct, the round repeats.

Round 3 (Chorus Showdown)

The duo progressing from the battle round face off in the "Chorus Showdown". In contrast to previous stages, participants are required to perform the entire chorus flawlessly. Should both contestants either succeed or fail, the round is repeated or a tie-breaker is initiated, respectively.

Round 4 (The Final Countdown)

The last remaining contestant proceeds to the cash prize segment called "The Final Countdown", named after the iconic track. Up to seven songs are presented in a manner similar to Round 1. Each accurately performed song awards $5,000; achieving five correct songs results in a $50,000 prize. Accumulating three strikes due to incorrect lyrics concludes the round, but the contestant keeps all earnings up to that point. Every finalist receives a commemorative trophy.

Tie-breaker

When rounds two or three end in a draw, tie-breakers come into play. Participants are given a year and artist name; the first to correctly identify the song selects who will sing it. A flawless performance advances that contestant, while mistakes grant advancement to their opponent.

Production

Auditions were conducted in Melbourne on August 18–19, with approximately 125 hopefuls attending on Saturday and additional participants on Sunday. The audition format resembled Round 1, involving groups of five who complete lyrics after the introductory music ceases. Channel Nine's A Current Affair produced a promotional feature broadcast on August 20, 2007. These auditions took place at GTV-9's Temptation studio located in Richmond, Victoria.

Episode 1 (7 October 2007)

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Episode 2 (14 October 2007)

Round Number	Year	Artist	Song
Contestant selection	1983	Cyndi Lauper	Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Round 1	1985	Katrina and the Waves	Walking on Sunshine
1982	Men at Work	Who Can It Be Now?
1981	Joan Jett and the Blackhearts	I Love Rock 'n' Roll
1967	Marvin Gaye	I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Round 2	1981	Toni Basil	Mickey
1972	Bill Withers	Lean on Me
1997	Aqua	Barbie Girl
1979	Little River Band	"Lonesome Loser"
Round 3	1983	Donna Summer	She Works Hard for the Money
1963	Lesley Gore	It's My Party
Round 4 Champion Shane Money won $20,000	1998	Britney Spears	...Baby One More Time
1979	Mental As Anything	The Nips Are Getting Bigger
2005	Ben Lee	Catch My Disease
1980	Blondie	The Tide Is High
1975	Kiss	Rock and Roll All Nite
1982	Billy Idol	White Wedding
1978	Gloria Gaynor	I Will Survive

Round Number	Year	Artist	Song
Contestant selection	1980	The Romantics	What I Like About You
Round 1	1981	Rick Springfield	Jessie's Girl
	1979	The Pretenders	Brass in Pocket
	2005	Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes	Don't Cha
	1985	Bananarama	Venus
Round 2	1983	Billy Joel	Uptown Girl
	1964	The Drifters	Under the Boardwalk
	2001	Kasey Chambers	Not Pretty Enough
	1987	Crowded House	Something So Strong
Round 3	1979	Robert Palmer	Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)
	1981	The Go-Go's	Our Lips Are Sealed
Round 4 Champion Glenn Money won $50,000	1978	John Paul Young	Love is in the Air
	1980	Blondie	Call Me
	1983	Pat Benatar	Love Is a Battlefield
	2005	Bernard Fanning	Wish You Well
	1988	The Bangles	Eternal Flame
	1977	Bonnie Tyler	It's a Heartache

Episode 3 (21 October 2007)

Round Number	Year	Artist	Song
Contestant selection	1987	Kylie Minogue	The Loco-Motion
Round 1	1982	Hall & Oates	Maneater
	1983	Cyndi Lauper	Time After Time
	1991	Nirvana	Smells Like Teen Spirit
	2003	Delta Goodrem	Lost Without You
Round 2	1990	Heart	All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You
	1996	Savage Garden	Truly Madly Deeply
	2004	Kelly Clarkson	Since U Been Gone
	1981	Christopher Cross	Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)
	1996	R. Kelly	I Believe I Can Fly
Round 3	1984	Madonna	Like a Virgin
	1998	The Goo Goo Dolls	Iris
	1991	Billy Ray Cyrus	Achy Breaky Heart
	1973	Billy Joel	Piano Man
	1971	Daddy Cool	Eagle Rock
Round 4 Champion Melanie Money won $15,000	1975	Queen	Bohemian Rhapsody	[[File:Gtk-stop.svg\|\]20px\|\]	-	1979	The Police	Every Breath You Take	[[File:Gtk-ok.svg\|\]20px\|\]	-	1992	Whitney Houston	I'm Every Woman	[[File:Gtk-stop.svg\|\]20px\|\]
	1988	The Bangles	Walk Like an Egyptian	[[File:Gtk-ok.svg\|\]20px\|\]
	1964	The Kinks	You Really Got Me	[[File:Gtk-ok.svg\|\]20px\|\]
	1980	The Romantics	[[What I Like About You (The Romantics song)\|\]What I Like About You\]\]	[[File:Gtk-stop.svg\|\]20px\|\]

Episode 4 (28 October 2007)

Round Number	Year	Artist	Song
Contestant selection	1999	Vanessa Amorosi	Absolutely Everybody
Round 1	1984	The Bangles	Manic Monday
	1975	Rocky Horror Picture Show	Time Warp
	1985	Mr. Mister	Broken Wings
	1987	Kylie Minogue	The Loco-Motion
Round 2	1987	Belinda Carlisle	Heaven Is a Place on Earth
	1984	Mondo Rock	Come Said the Boy
	1982	Eurythmics	Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
	1997	Sixpence None The Richer	Kiss Me
Round 3	1975	ABBA	Dancing Queen
	1979	Kiss	I Was Made for Lovin' You
	1970	Rod Stewart	Maggie May
Round 4 Champion Sarah Money won $50,000	1980	Cold Chisel	Cheap Wine
	1978	Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta	You're The One That I Want
	1987	The Choirboys	Run To Paradise
	1997	Shania Twain	Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
	1965	The Righteous Brothers	Unchained Melody
	1982	John Cougar	Jack And Diane
	1977	Status Quo	Rockin' All Over the World

Episode 5 (4 November 2007)

Round Number	Year	Artist	Song
Contestant selection	1990	John Farnham	Chain Reaction
Round 1	1991	Jimmy Barnes	Ain't No Mountain High Enough
	1982	The Waitresses	I Know What Boys Like
	1975	KC and the Sunshine Band	That's the Way (I Like It)
	1968	Dusty Springfield	Son of a Preacher Man
Round 2	1985	Madonna	Material Girl
	1973	Steve Miller Band	The Joker
	1964	Petula Clark	Downtown
	1982	Culture Club	Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?
Round 3	1977	Queen	We Are The Champions
	1997   John Farnham and Human Nature   |   Every Time You Cry   |
Round 4 Champion Vanessa Money won $0   |   1968   Tammy Wynette   Stand By Your Man   [[File:Gtk-stop.svg|}   20px]   |-   1964   Roy Orbison   Pretty Woman   [[File:Gtk-stop.svg|}   20px]   |-   1993   Dannii Minogue   This Is It   [[File:Gtk-stop.svg|}   20px]   |- } External links