Killer Karaoke


Killer Karaoke was an American karaoke game show broadcast on the truTV cable channel. The series debuted on November 23, 2012 and features contestants attempting to sing in front of a live studio audience while various bizarre attempts are made to disrupt their performances. It is based on the British game show Sing If You Can. In the first season, the program was presented by Steve-O with Dee Snider as the announcer. It was announced on September 16, 2013, that the series has been renewed for an eight-episode second season with Mark McGrath replacing Steve-O as host. Steve-O said that he was fired after expressing his discomfort with the show's treatment of animals.
Season 2 premiered on February 20, 2014, and the full season premiere episode has been uploaded on truTV's YouTube channel on February 18.

Format

Season 1

Six different contestants appear in each show. They are separated into three preliminary rounds of two contestants, and each have approximately 90 seconds to sing their song. Contestants are introduced to the audience and told their challenge. Before every challenge, Steve-O tells the contestant: "No matter what happens, do not stop singing." The winner for each round is picked by the live studio audience via popular vote and is automatically advanced into the Killer Karaoke Final Showdown.

Season 2

Round 1

Six contestants take turns singing portions of one song, occasionally being given electric shocks or sprayed with water from their microphones to distract them. They are scored on a combination of audience response and accuracy of pitch and lyrics, and these scores are used to assign rankings to the players for further rounds. The lowest-ranked player is immediately eliminated.

Round 2

The second through fifth-ranked players go through two battle rounds, with the #2 seed facing the #5 seed, and the #3 seed facing the #4 seed. In each battle round, the higher-ranked player's choices determine who plays which challenge. Winners are determined by the same method as in Round 1.
In the #3/#4 round, #3 is presented with a choice of two objects, each of which corresponds to a different challenge. The challenges themselves are revealed only after he/she has chosen one object, and #4 takes the challenge for the other one. #3 takes his/her turn first.
In the #2/#5 round, #2 is shown one challenge and can either take it or pass it to #5 in favor of an unknown one. The known challenge is always played first, regardless of who receives it.
A third battle round is then played, in which #1 takes a challenge. The audience then selects one of the two losing players from the previous battle rounds, and that player takes a different challenge that incorporates an object/element chosen by #1 from two options.
After this round, two of the three winners are selected by audience vote to continue in the game.

Challenges

Season 1

The three preliminary round winners battle against each other for up to $10,000 in prize money while singing on the "World's Largest Turntable," a spinning disk approximately eight feet in diameter and decorated with a radiation warning symbol. The jackpot grows throughout the round; as time passes, the turntable speeds up and begins to tilt, and the jackpot grows at a faster rate. The first two players to fall off win nothing; once the last player falls off, the jackpot stops building and he/she wins it. If the player can stay on the turntable for 90 seconds, he/she wins the full $10,000. To date, the largest amount won is $7,800 in episode 104.

Season 2

The two finalists wear suits with $10,000 cash attached to them, and must go through three obstacles designed to cause the money to fall off while singing the same song. Once they complete the obstacles, they return to center stage as clear boxes are lowered onto their heads and filled with one of their worst fears. The player with the higher score, based on audience response and technical accuracy, wins the competition and gets to keep whatever money is still attached to his/her suit.

Episodes

Season 1 (2012–13)

Note: Episodes are not broadcast in truTV episode number order.

Season 2 (2014)