The airwaves are flooded with talent competitions these days, and as you read earlier today I don’t really care. Except that the contestants for the third season of The Sing-Off were announced, and now I have to care.

Competing on the show is the group Messiah’s Men, refugees from the country of Liberia, whose mission, as they write on their website, is “To proclaim the Gospel of God’s love, testify of His goodness by evangelizing through music.” They are actively reaching out to the less fortunate in Africa, holding peace concerts and supporting schools and orphanges with educational materials.

Of course the Gospel Soundcheck needs to cover this.

Also on this season is the group The Yellow Jackets, from The University of Rochester, right here in my hometown. This summer, they traveled to Maseno, a small town in rural Kenya, devastated by AIDS, hunger and poverty, to work with a school choir. The group members  not only encouraged the children musically, but personally; the kids started going to school and making plans for higher education. Their trip will be the subject of a feature-length documentary, United We Sing, which they hope will “share the message with Americans that we cannot be so quick to view music programs as frivolous or expendable when considering budget cuts; such programs can and should be a vital tool to drive kids to attend and excel in school.”

So I have to make sure I cover them, too.

Which means that you may find me blogging live again during a talent show come the fall. Oh joy.