Sing Along with TRIVIAOKE

For those who know song lyrics, whether from singing in the shower or along with the radio, Triviaoke is as its name implies is a challenging blend of "trivia" and "karaoke". The format premiered as Round IV of Playback, and remains part of the game on Saturday nights, but it was popular enough to be spun off into its own half-hour game on Friday nights (8:30 p.m. EST).

Unlike the normal Countdown and Wipeout formulas, Triviaoke does not use either direct clues or disappearing answers. Rather identifies an artist or genre of music and provides a line of a song, leaving the player to determine how the lyrics continue so as to be able to identify from the five choices which line can be found later in the song. As time passes, additional song lines are provided. For example:

Artist: Neil Diamond
Line: "Where it began, I can't begin to knowin'"

Possible Answers:

(a) "And my love is growing."
(b) "Oh, baby you really get to me."
(c) "In blue jeans."
(d) "To believe they never would."
(e) "I am, I said."

Additional Lines:

"Sweet Caroline"
"Good times never seemed so good"
"I've been inclined."

ANSWER: (d)

Several things make Triviaoke especially tricky. First, it does not identify the piece of music. In the original version, no information on the source of the lyrics was given, requiring people to flip through their mental databases of rock, pop, folk, musical theater, and even children's songs to figure out the source. Even though the information provided narrows that search, many times the lyric is taken from extremely prolific artists such as the Beatles so that pinpointing the correct song remains difficult. Also, as shown in the example, lines from other works by the same artist are fair game, as are lyrics that sound similar to the correct answer.

Second, while sometimes the lead-off line is the first line of the song, often it is not. Many people who would have not trouble identifying "Hello darkness, my old friend" may stumble when presented with "And the sign flashed out its warning." (Okay, Simon & Garfunkel fans, probably you can still get "Sounds of Silence", but younger NTN players may end up scratching their heads).

The third area of trickiness is related to the second -- usually the lyrics do not continue in a straight line from the one given. Instead the line sought may come from later in the song, either in the chorus or another verse. Thus while singing out loud with fellow players may lead to the right answer, you may have to jump much farther ahead in the lyrics. Thus many people end up mentally or physically fast forwarding through the song.

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