Nick Lachey and Joel Gallen on The Sing-Off Season 2: "A Cappella Was Always a Real Passion — It's Great to See It Celebrated on National Television"

Multi-platinum recording artist and former 98 Degrees member Nick Lachey returned as host of NBC's The Sing-Off Season 2 alongside producer-director Joel Gallen, whose credits include America's Best Dance Crew, CNN Heroes, the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert, and the Comedy Central Roasts. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.

The Sing-Off Season 2 premiered Monday, December 6, 2010 (8-10 p.m. ET) on NBC, hosted by multi-platinum recording artist Nick Lachey. The five-night event continued December 8, 13, and 15, culminating with a live finale on December 20. Celebrity judges Ben Folds (Ben Folds Five), Shawn Stockman (Boyz II Men), and Nicole Scherzinger (The Pussycat Dolls) critiqued the top ten a cappella groups competing for $100,000 and a Sony Music recording contract. The show was produced by Joel Gallen's Tenth Planet Productions, Outlaw Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Television.

On why Nick joined: "I love the idea of the show. A cappella was always a real passion for myself and for my group. I've always appreciated the art form. It's great to see it celebrated on national television. It's great to be a part of something that celebrates real musicians who are out there doing a very, very difficult form of singing and doing it very well."

On bringing Nick back — Joel Gallen: "He was a great host, of course. He was by far our first choice the first time around. The guy is a great singer and has a great connection to this kind of singing — group singing, harmonies, 98 Degrees. Just listen to their records; take those instruments out and they could have been doing a lot of a cappella themselves."

On the show's future — Joel Gallen: "We developed the show to become a weekly show on the air for several weeks. NBC had the idea of bringing it in for a limited run. This year they expanded it by one more episode. The hope is that after this December, a lot of people will tune in and we'll be back in a much more expanded, more typical music reality competition structure. I'd like to see it on beyond these five episodes, I'm sure Nick would too."

The ten competing groups: The Backbeats (Los Angeles, CA — USC/UCLA singers); Eleventh Hour (Kettering, OH — national high school champions who opened for LeAnn Rimes and The Beach Boys); Pitch Slapped (Boston, MA — Berklee College of Music, 2nd place International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella); Groove For Thought (Seattle, WA — National Harmony Sweepstakes champions 2005); Men of Note (Cherry Hill, NJ — three-time Best of High School A Cappella winners); Street Corner Symphony (Nashville, TN — two sets of siblings, gospel roots); On The Rocks (Eugene, OR — University of Oregon, 6.5 million YouTube views of their Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" cover); Committed (Huntsville, AL — Oakwood University, powerful lead vocals and booming bass); Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town (Oakland, CA — Jerry Lawson of The Persuasions for 40 years); The Whiffenpoofs of Yale (New Haven, CT — founded 1909, world's oldest collegiate a cappella group, 14 senior Yale men).

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