Review of TruTV's, 'Killer Karaoke'.

In November of 2012, TruTv premiered a game show that I found to be truly unique. Lets see; what do you get when you take karaoke night at the club, and mix it with wild, wacky, and sometimes terrifying stunts? You get an extreme ball of fun and mayhem of a game show titled 'Killer Karaoke'.

Being that I'm not much of a TV watcher, it took someone telling me about this show for me to even find out about it. All it took for me was one viewing of this ball of confusion of a show for me to realize how both funny and unique it is. The show made it's debut on November 23, 2012, and the season finale took place on January 25, 2013. Now that the first season is done, I'm going to give a synopsis, and discuss the basics of this show.

"No matter what happens, do not stop singing"-Steve-O

'Killer Karaoke' is a singing competition that consists of six contestants in total. The six participants are competing for the chance to win a cash prize that consists of earnings up to a $10,000. The format of the show features three rounds of two contestants going head to head in a singing competition.

Each contestant will perform their own classic song via karaoke style during which, they have to endure extremely wild and scary challenges. Following both contestants performances, the audience members vote on which singer they feel performed the best under the circumstances. One singer advances to the final showdown round, and the other is eliminated from the game.

There are three rounds total, which means that three singers make it to the final round to compete for the cash prize. During the final round, the three contestants each sing the same song(unlike in round one) while atop a spinning disk referred to as "The Worlds Largest Turntable". The three contestants sing to the best of their ability while being spun around on the disk until they fall off. The turntable changes speed while the contestants are on it, and it even tilts itself in various angles in an attempt to make it harder for the participants to stay on.

The last contestant to falls off the wheel wins the competition, and whatever amount of money that is earned from staying on the wheel the longest. In order to win the entire $10,000, a contestant must stay on the spinning disk for 90 seconds total. Up until this point, this is something that has yet to happen.

The host of Killer Karaoke is Steve-O. Many of you may be familiar with Steve-O from the television show, 'Jackass'. Killer Karaoke is based on the British show, 'Sing If You Can'. The theme of Killer Karaoke, which Steve-O says to each contestant before their performance is; "No matter what happens, do no stop singing."

Now that we've covered the basis of the show and it's rules, you're probably wondering what kind of challenges that contestants on Killer Karaoke have to perform right? The challenges are pretty extreme, and I can definitely attest that they're not for the faint of heart. Here is a list of the challenges, and a brief description of each.

• Bite Club: The contestant gets attacked by several aggressive guard dogs while singing.
• Big Stank: The contestant performs, while two sweaty 500 pound male strippers dance all over them.
• Blown Away: The contestant performs in front of three large fans that blow various objects at their face. Also while performing, the contestant has to hold a rope that contains a bucket of water. While holding the rope and singing, oatmeal and paprika is constantly being hurled at their face by the fans.
• Cactus Maze: Contestant has to navigate a maze full of cacti while wearing balloons and 'drunk goggles'. The drunk goggles distort the contestants vision while going through the maze, and the contestant gets pricked constantly as the balloons begin to pop. There are various surprises by Steve-O throughout the maze, and an even bigger surprise at the end.
• Hair Raiser: The contestant has to remove their shirt and pants, and sing while sitting in a chair. While singing, the contestant has body hair from various body parts removed by a wax strip treatment administered by professionals.
• Head Case: Without knowing what is in several containers, the contestant has to sing as they stick their head in the containers. The containers contain various animals and insects.
• Puppet Master: The contestants steps into a body suit with a man who controls their every action. The contestant has to sing, as the person controlling them smash their face into various foods and items on a table.
• Shock Therapy 1: The contestant usually acts as a waiter, and serves Steve-O various food and drinks while singing. The contestant also wears shock collars that shock the contestant at various times throughout their performance.
• Shock Therapy 2: Similar to 'Shock Therapy 1', the contestant wears shocks collars. However, the contestant is attempting to serve drinks while going over a stair case.
• Swamp Swing: The contestant is lowered into an ice cold water tank at several times during which, various reptiles are put into the tank.
• Walk of Fear: The contestant walks down a 'catwalk' barefoot, and has to put their feet in boxes containing various things. Maggots, fish guts, and stink beetles are a few of the things in the boxes.

Now that you're familiar with the host, the format, and the challenges, here are my thoughts on the show.

'Killer Karaoke' is a very entertaining and funny show in my opinion. I can vividly recall the very first episode that I watched. I can easily recall that a few of the challenges caused me to laugh so hard, that I had a hard time catching my breathe back for a few moments.

Steve-O is the perfect host for the show in my opinion. He often spews a bunch of nonsensical jokes and wise cracks, some of which he equate to some of his real life experiences. Steve-O is very hands on during most of the challenges, and he interacts well with the majority of the contestants.

Although it can be easy to be become immersed in the challenges on the show, the show itself is not immune to criticism. For one, the repetitive challenges from show to show can become somewhat boring. The same challenges are often shown on a week-to-week basis for the most part. The topic of animal cruelty has been brought up by many critics in regards to this show as well.

Another criticism that I have noticed is that actual singing ability has little to do with the shows voting process. There have been multiples times where one contestant may have easily performed better than their opponent from a singing standpoint, but the studio audience chose the weaker of the two to end up competing for the money.

It also appears that the level of attractiveness that some of the contestants have is what gets them to the finals. Although it's a singing show, singing ability obviously has little to do with anything. One thing that I noticed Steve-O tell contestants on several occasion was; "The less you enjoy this, the more the audience will." This can be interpreted that singing ability really doesn't count, and that the more terrified a contestant is during a stunt, then there's a more likelihood they'll advance to the final round.

If you're looking for a good laugh, I would recommend anyone to watch at least one episode of 'Killer Karaoke'. It's definitely an hour full of fun and surprises. It was announced in September of 2013 that the show has been renewed for an eight episode second season. Steve-O is no longer the host, and will be replaced by Mark McGrath. Season two of Killer Karaoke will premiere sometime in early 2014. It should be interesting to see how the show runs with a new host. I'll definitely be watching to see what's in store next.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_Karaoke