Video of the Week: Ben Folds Five and Fraggle Rock, “Do It Anyway”

If you thought that Ben Folds had ‘jumped the shark’ by appearing as one of those reality TV competition judges, think again…the new Ben Folds Five album is full of the kind of joyous, filled with abandon piano pop that they made their mark with originally. The video for “Do It Anyway” is a treat for fans of the old Jim Henson show Fraggle Rock, as it features the Fraggle puppets in starring roles. Stick around until the end as Folds and the Fraggles along with the cast of the video do a chorus of the original show’s theme song.

If you didn’t care for the Fraggles, and not many did, apparently, given the show’s low ratings and short lifespan, you might enjoy this classic from Happy Flowers more:

The Honorable Ben Folds, “Sing-Off” Judge?

Was I the only one weirded out by Ben Folds being a judge on the new a capella singing competition Sing-Off? Sitting next to a Pussycat Doll and a member of Boyz II Men who didn’t have a solo career, Folds is way out of place from a talent perspective.

He did have some constructive and interesting things to say each time he got a chance (when the Boyz II Men guy would let him speak without interrupting him), and most were actually musical suggestions or compliments about technique instead of the others’ “put some more feeling into it” or “you sounded just like ____ singing that.” Here’s one clip of Folds, the judge:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/115195/the-sing-off-judging-moment

The talent on the show is actually pretty good from a singing standpoint, though you can find thousands of a capella clips on YouTube that are as good or better than the groups featured on this particular competition. As a choral singer myself, I know it takes a tremendous amount of vocal talent and discipline to sing without any accompaniment, and for a group of 8-12 voices to do it so seamlessly takes a lot of practice and rehearsal, so I tip my wannabe vocalist hat to all of them for making it this far–If I had to pick one to win the whole thing, the Puerto Rican group NOTA would be my choice, however.