I was interested to see what the local version of NBC's The Singing Bee had to offer. Well, to shorten things, I would say that the show needs improvement, but it is quite good. To those not familiar with the singing bee, it is a spelling bee-type of karaoke game show, where the most important thing to do is remember the lyrics of the song. In the ABS-CBN version, the backup band is the "Bandble Bee", led by music meister Mel Villena. There are also the oh-so-needed "Honeybees" dancers.

In the local version, there are four parts:

1. To Bee Continued - This is the first elimination part. The order of contestants is drawn randomly. Each contestant will have to continue the song when the band stops playing. The first four contestants who do make it to the next round.
2. Jumblebee - The four contestants from the first round go in pairs, head-to-head. Each contestant will have to continue the song when the band stops playing, but there are words of the following lines being flashed around them, which they have to unscramble. Added pressure! Only one from each pair will make it to the next round. In case of a tie, there is a tie-breaker, where only the artist and year of release is mentioned, and then the first contestant to buzz in could choose whether to take on the song or to pass the task to the other contestant.
3. Showdown - The two remaining contestants will fight it out like in the tie-breaker round previously mentioned. The winning contestant will have a chance to win a million pesos in the jackpot round.
4. The Final Countdown - The contestant will have to answer five out of seven songs to win the million. Each correct answer is worth 20,000 pesos. If he/she commits three mistakes, then the game's over.

I think the show could be improved by doing the following.

• Make the host Cesar Montano not "read" his lines. He seems too tense and his "energy" seems fake.
• Remove the Honeybees. They are quite distracting and downright annoying sometimes. We've had enough scantily-clad dancers watching noontime shows. The dance moves are ridiculous
  
• Make the vocalists of the band sing the songs' lyrics more clearly.
• Make the vocalists of the band stop imitating the original artists of the song. It sometimes messes up the clarity of the lyrics. This is a "lyrics" show.

I also noticed the presence of Philippine Idol alumni Ken, Apple and Arms. At least they've got stable singing jobs now.

Here's a vid.