Fox and NBC kicked off their karaoke wars this week with the premieres of "The Singing Bee" and "Don't Forget the Lyrics." While I was secretly hoping the shows would slink away into "National Bingo Night"-style obscurity, "The Singing Bee" became the summer's most-watched program on Tuesday, and "Lyrics" held its own on Wednesday (it also airs another new episode tonight). Lest you be confused by the similar-sounding shows, I've put together this handy guide to help you tell them apart:
| "The Singing Bee" | "Don't Forget the Lyrics" | |
|---|---|---|
| Network | NBC | Fox |
| Host | Joey Fatone | Wayne Brady |
| Prize Money | $50,000 | $1 million |
| Cute Mascot | Cartoon bumblebee | None |
| Use of "Walk Like an Egyptian" | Yes | Yes |
| Philosophy | "You don't have to sing it well; you just have to sing it right" | "Can you keep singing when the music stops?" |
| Obvious attempt to embarrass the host | Contestants had to sing "Bye Bye Bye" | None yet |
| Go-go dancers | Yes | No |
| Descended from | The National Spelling Bee | "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" |
| Similarity to actual karaoke | 6 out of 10 | 9 out of 10 |
Photos courtesy of NBC and Fox
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'I watched "Don't Forget the Lyrics, I wasn't impressed. It didn't have enough energy and it was way too "Millionaire" for me. Maybe "Singing Bee" is better.
1I watched part of Don't Forget the Lyric. It was pretty bad. But I have never been into the whole karoke thing anyway. I wonder if Wayne Brady is just desperate to stay on TV.
2Both shows look ridiculously dumb.
3okay i'm in the minority here.but i was super excited for these shows. I didn't see Singing Bee yet, i was working. But i watched Don't Forget the Lyrics. I thought it was cute.
4I'm actually kind of embarrassed to admit that I enjoyed The Singing Bee. I doubt I'll watch it again, but it was pretty fast-paced and high-energy.
5snore
6I guess I'm in the minority about this comment, but I copied and pasted below a comment that I added earlier about "Don't Forget the Lyrics" in the what to tivo section....
7.
see below...
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Everyone has to watch "Don't Forget the Lyrics", I saw the premier yesterday and it's AWESOME!!!
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ch-ch-ch-check it out!
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Seriously, the producers picked a phenominal first contestant. She is bubbly, energetic, sings atrociously, but LOOOOOVES the songs, heck she was even dancing to the songs.
Oh, and when she picked the Jakson 5 - ABC, Wayne Brady (the host) picked out a guy from the audience and they danced as her back-up dancers for the duration of the song. I will say, in all of the things that I've seen Wayne Brady in, none of them seemed to quite fit. This one looks a bit better macthed to his multi-faceted performance style. All in all I was amazed by the production quality of the show.
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Final note: WATCH THE SHOW, IT'S GREAT!
I watched The Singing Bee and it wasnt that bad, cause i like Joey Fatone, hes fun! I might check out Don't Forget the Lyrics tonight to compare them, but otherwise I think both are just filler shows.
8I liked the Singing Bee. It's not something I'm going to TiVo, but if I happen to catch it on I'd watch it again. It was MUCH more fast paced than Don't Forget the Lyrics.
9Don't forget the lyrics seems a little too easy for a million dollars. I haven't watched the singing bee yet, I like the choice of hosts though
10Last night I caught both shows. I wound up liking (as much as you can like summer-pablum) "The Singing Bee." "Don't Forget the Lyrics" doesn't do justice to Wayne Brady's talent, is too long and drawn out, and lets the contestant pick too much. I enjoyed Joey Fatone, but then again, I USUALLY enjoy him. I also like the way that "The Singing Bee" is resolved within the show.
11I liked Singing Bee the least. I can give it another try though.
12I dont think anyone should be embarrass to admit they like something especially certain television shows, i think it's a rather silly thing to say, who cares about what others think, we're all different, we're bound to like certain things. Well i lovveeeeee the Spelling Bee, though those ppl sometimes freak me out with their weird excitment, lol, but i like Don't forget the Lyrics alot also
, it's so fun, entertaining and educational, i
really use to get some of those words wrong too, I love them both!! 
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