If you hate “American Idol” and can’t stand “Dancing with the Stars” losers Melanie Brown and Joey Fatone then you don’t want to tune into “The Singing Office” this summer.
The tongue-in-cheek vocal competition, which debuts June 29th on TLC is hosted by Brown and Fatone, and as a pair they will grate on your last nerve if you let them.
On each episode of the Dutch reality TV import Brown and Fatone surprise employees at two separate workplaces with impromptu singing auditions.
“It’s not like ‘American Idol’ or ‘Dancing with the Stars,'” Brown told reporters recently. “It’s not a serious competition. It gives people a break from their everyday lives to have some fun with their co-workers.”
Producers say the show’s goal is to find five amateur singers and make up a new (and supposedly legitimate) group.
Once the chosen few are selected they are enrolled in a weeklong dancing and singing boot camp with a professional choreographer and vocal coach. From there each group performs in front of a studio audience and the crowd chooses a winner.
“This doesn’t work if it’s overly produced,” the show’s executive producer told reporters. “The thing about this format is it only works if it’s real and unscripted. It’s more than just a competition. It’s about real people going outside of themselves and performing in front of a studio audience. It can be a very uplifting experience.”
In one episode a quintet of JetBlue employees goes up against a group of workers from the Los Angeles Zoo. The wannabe singers from JetBlue learned choreography and lyrics to Alicia Bridges’ disco anthem “I Love the Nightlife” and were outfitted with custom-made ’70s threads.
Other matchups include pitting 1-800-Dentist employees against Allen Edwards hair stylists and St. Regis Hotel workers against Anaheim White House restaurant employees.
The eight winning teams will go on to compete for $50,000 in a grand finale judged by Taylor Dayne, Jon Secada and choreographer Travis Payne.