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”. Maria Menounos is the host of the program, which was performed live from Stage One at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, New York.

The format was developed by Friday TV from an idea from the Swedish singer and choir leader Caroline af Ugglas. Seven seasons of the Swedish version, Körslaget (The Battle of Choirs), 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. 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 American primetime broadcast television series had run out of new episodes mainly due to the Writers Guild of America strike. 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”.

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. 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.

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. 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.

Team Rowland 17 December: "Freedom" 18 December: ELIMINATED Team Bolton 17 December: "Living on a Prayer" 18 December: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" 19 December: ELIMINATED Team Shelton 17 December: "Life is a Highway" 18 December: "Takin' It to the Streets" 19 December: "Home," "Joy to the World" (medley of traditional carol and Three Dog Night version), "This Can't Be Good" Team LaBelle 17 December: "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" 18 December: "I'll Stand By You" 19 December: "Jesus Take the Wheel," "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" 20 December: "No More Drama," "We Are The Champions" Team Lachey 17 December: "Unwritten" 18 December: "Friends in Low Places" 19 December: "Flight of the Bumblebee" (only a cappella song in entire competition), "All I Want for Christmas Is You," "What's Left of Me" 20 December: "What A Wonderful World", "Sing a Song"

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. The title sequence created by Framework Studio won a Telly Award

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 CountryTitleHostNetworkFirst Aired Battle of the Choirs David Koch Seven Network May 2008 Oh Happy Day Eduard Farelo TV3 September 21, 2013 Mengxiang Hechangtuan 梦想合唱团 Sa Beining 撒贝宁 CCTV-1 2011 AllStars Lisbeth Østergaard TV2 2008 Laululahing Tarmo Leinatamm etv 2008 Kuorosota Kristiina Komulainen Nelonen 2009 La Bataille des Chorales Benjamin Castaldi TF1 2009 Oh Happy Day Rodrigo Vázquez TVG 2015 Harb Al-Karasiحرب الكراسيKhaled NourChannel 1 Jordan2020 Koru Kari Lauris Reiniks (2008; 2009; 2013) Dainis Grūbe (2025) TV3 2008, 2009, 2013, 2025 Chorų karai Vytautas Šapranauskas & Jurgita Jurkutė TV3 January 16, 2010 Korenslag Henny Huisman (2007;2008/09)Mark Dik (2010/11) NPO 1 (2007)NPO 2 (08/09, 10/11) May 24, 2007 Det store korslaget Øyvind Mund TV2 2009 Bitwa na głosy Hubert Urbański & Piotr Kędzierski TVP 2 2011 Битва хopов Valery Meladze Rossiya 1 September 16, 2012 Clash of the Choirs South Africa Bonang Matheba DStv January 27, 2013 La Batalla de los Coros Josep Lobató Cuatro 2008 Körslaget Gry Forssell TV4 March 29, 2008 Kampf der Chöre Sven Epiney SF 1 2010 Korolar Çarpışıyor Behzat Uighur Show TV 2009 Битва хорів Yuriy Horbunov 1+1 November 10, 2013 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.

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 The Sing-Off American Idol Dancing with the Stars America's Got Talent So You Think You Can Dance Battle of the Choirs, the Australian version of the show. Korenslag, the Dutch version of the show.

References

External links Official show site at NBC "Clash of the Choirs" videos at YouTube Nick Lachey's choir videos Patti LaBelle's choir videos Blake Shelton's choir videos Michael Bolton's choir videos Kelly Rowland's choir videos

pl:Bitwa na głosy