Don't Forget the Lyrics! (American game show)

Don't Forget the Lyrics!
Genre	Game show
Created by	Jeff Apploff
Directed by	Ron de Moraes
Presented by	Wayne Brady
Narrated by	Mark Thompson
Theme music composer	The Doobie Brothers
Opening theme	"China Grove" by Rickey Minor
Composer	David Vanacore
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	19
Production
Executive producers	Jeff Apploff Chris Coelen Greg Goldman Brad Lachman
Original release
Network	FOX
Release	July 11, 2007 – present

Don't Forget the Lyrics! is a singing game show that premiered on FOX on July 11, 2007, hosted by comedian and former Whose Line is it Anyway? panelist Wayne Brady. The launch of this show prompted NBC to move up the launch of their similar game show The Singing Bee. The show's contestants compete to win one million dollars by recalling the lyrics of songs from a variety of genres.

Overview

In this show, a single contestant is prompted to complete song lyrics for increasing amounts of money. After each correct answer, the contestant can continue playing, risking what has already been earned, or quit the game and take home all the money he or she has already earned. If the contestant continues playing and correctly completes nine song lyrics, he or she will be given a lyric from a No. 1 hit to complete. If the contestant completes the final lyric correctly, he or she wins the grand prize of $1,000,000. The band is led by Rickey Minor of American Idol fame.

The producers of the show are RDF USA, Apploff Entertainment, and Brad Lachman Productions.

Gameplay

Song Value 1 $2,500 2 $5,000 3 $10,000 4 $25,000 5 $50,000 6 $100,000 7 $200,000 8 $350,000 9 $500,000 10 $1,000,000

The structure of the program is somewhat similar to another FOX game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. Contestants are given nine categories (such as "Pop", "Rolling Stones" and "Divas"). Contestants pick one of the categories. They are then given a choice of two different songs. The contestant will pick one of the songs and then Rickey Minor and the band will then play the song. The lyrics are displayed on large monitors in front of the contestant. At some point, the lyrics are shown as blank spaces and the music stops. The contestant then fills in those blank spaces. They can then decide to "lock in" the lyrics or go for one of the "backups", which are helps. The filled in lyrics start as yellow and turn blue when the lyrics are locked in and turn green if correct and red if incorrect. If they sing incorrect lyrics before they hit the $25,000 mark, they lose all of their money (this has happened three times so far; one contestant lost on their first song). If they have passed the $25,000 mark, they will go back to $25,000 if they miss. After nine correct answers, they can go for the "Million Dollar Song".

Backups

There are 3 helps or "backups" that the contestant can use. "Backup singers" allows one of 2 family members the opportunity to help the contestant. "2 words" allows the contestant to be given any 2 blanks for free after they have answered but before the answer is locked in. "3 lines" gives them 3 possible answers, of which one is correct. Each backup may only be used once, right up to the $500,000 song.

Million Dollar Song

Identical to 5th Grader's Million Dollar Question, the contestant that makes it to this level, must decide whether or not to either attempt the song, or play it safe and take the $500,000. There is no other information on the song's title, artist or genre, but only to know that the song is a #1 hit. All remaining backups are out of play at this point, and the other info is only revealed if the player decides to go for it.

Ratings

In its debut, Don't Forget the Lyrics! averaged 3.4 million viewers in adults 18-49.

FOX has since ordered 13 additional episodes of Don't Forget the Lyrics!. These episodes started airing September 6, 2007, and they currently show on Thursdays at 9:00PM/8:00PM CT.

Contestants

Many of the show's contestants are professional actors and comedians which have led to speculation (mainly on internet game show chat forums) about the show's authenticity.

• Contestant #1, Katie Moeser, was reportedly a grad student in entomology though her MySpace page shows her education to be a partial completion of an undergraduate degree in communications
• Contestant #2, Luke Adams, is a professional actor with an entry on imdb.com. The show reported that Adams is a "bar manager" however his personal website states, "I consider myself lucky to have been able to make a living performing on stage for over 10 years."
• Contestant #3, Eddie Mui, is a professional actor who has appeared in a number of roles, including a guest spot on 1990s hit show Beverly Hills 90210
• Contestant #4, Theresa Ryan, is a professional actor and comedian who has spent time at Second City in Las Vegas and received a degree in acting from SUNY-Purchase University
• On the season premiere on September 6th, Taya Asimos, is an actor appearing in The Wanderer and Voyeur
• Also on the season premiere, the minister from Topeka, Kansas, Venson Quarles, is actually a musician with "Venson Quarles & Company" and was performing as recently as August 19th, 2007 at the Pechanga Casino in Temecula, California
• Dottie Harris became the first contestant to make it to $500,000 before she passed on the Million Dollar Song opportunity. The Million Dollar Song was not revealed.

Trivia

• Both Wayne Brady and Joey Fatone, host of the competing show on NBC The Singing Bee attended Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida.
• When a contestant selects a song from a band with more than one backup singer, Wayne Brady will call one or two audience members at random to be the contestant's backup singer alongside him.
• In a recent episode, a contestant asked for a backup choice (in this case singing the correct lyrics); the "back-up singer" was actually Raymond Peavy, a recently-retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Captain, and chief of its Homicide Bureau. Most L.A. viewers almost instantly recognized Capt. Peavy when he was introduced.
• The show was parodied at the 2007 Primetime Emmy Awards, when Wayne Brady had Kanye West compete with Rainn Wilson from The Office for the chance to become a presenter. The category was "Kanye West songs," and each participant had to sing the correct lyrics to West's new single, Stronger. West inadvertantly sang the last line as "...That's how long I've been on you", and Wilson won by using the correct ending word ("ya"). Afterwards, as both men presented the next award, West complained: "I never win," alluding to his own recent awards-show losses.
• As it had happened on Deal or No Deal back in April, 2006, on September 20, 2007, a proposal was being made by one of contestant Gabrielle's supporters--her boyfriend Nathan Reid. Gabrielle picked the "Motown" category and both songs were "written" by Nathan, one "I finally got the ring!", and the other "Will you marry me?". Everyone appeared clueless (apparently thinking that that was the real title of the song) until the camera zoomed in on the "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" part of the screen. Both Gabrielle and the audience caught on at the same time. Nathan promptly approached Gabrielle and posed the question once again; Gabrielle accepted without hesitation. Gabrielle walked away with $350,000.
• So far, unlike most big-money quiz shows (and The Singing Bee), no international versions of the show have been announced yet, however, the first international version may be in the works by later this year or in 2008.
• When the player uses the "2 Words" backup and selects a word that is incorrect, it will automatically be corrected.
• Don't Forget the Lyrics!, along with The Singing Bee, was nominated for a 2007 Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer TV Show but lost to Degrassi.
• While Don't Forget the Lyrics! is more of a quiz show, The Singing Bee is more of a word show because it is like a spelling bee.
• San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice made an appearance on the show to help boost contestant Michael Oliver's confidence after Michael got off to a shaky start.

External links

Official site