By ROBERT LINNEHAN
Forming an all-star lineup of previous Men of Note singers, the famed Cherry Hill High School West a cappella group will be featured on a popular singing series on Monday, Dec. 6 on NBC. The group will appear on “The Sing Off,” in its second season on NBC, hosted by Nick Lachey.
The group consists of eight past performers in the award-winning Men of Note a cappella program in the high school, said Richard Crandle, 21, a 2008 graduate of Cherry Hill West. Crandle recently completed a nationwide tour of the musical “Hairspray” playing the character of Seaweed. He was approached by the group to perform in the audition for the “Sing Off” last spring.
He and fellow members Rajeer Alford, Kevin Catanella, Perry Hudicka, Kurt Knecht, Jason Nop, Bobby Waldner, and Michael Williams traveled to the national auditions and won a spot after their set. Crandle said the group performed Beyonce’s “Halo,” “As Long as We’ve Got Each Other” from the hit television show “Growing Pains,” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley.
The group won a spot on the singing show and will be featured on at least the premier episode on Dec. 6. They will be competing against nine other groups for a chance to win a $100,000 grand prize and a Sony Music recording contract.
The format of the show is similar to other singing shows, where the groups will perform in front of celebrity judges, and one group will be voted off each week until just a final winning group remains. The a cappella groups will perform without backing bands and no lip synching is allowed in the competition.
Recording artist Ben Folds, former Boys II Men member Shawn Stockman, and singer-songwriter Nicole Scherzinger will judge the competition each week. The groups will perform songs from different musical genres and time periods each episode.
Having performed extensively with the Men of Note program at Cherry Hill West gave him and his fellow members the poise to perform on the national show, Crandle said. He credited the choir director, Christine Bass, for much of the group’s success.
“A lot of my foundation work with singing and performing came through my experience with Men of Note at West,” Crandle said. “I learned so much about performing on the stage and engaging the audience as a Men of Note member, which ultimately put me in the place I am now in college.”
Crandle attends Rider University and has recently formed his own a cappella group at the university. He is a musical theater major.
As for what happens on “The Sing Off,” Crandle wouldn’t give any hints. He just told music lovers to tune into the show on Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. on NBC.
