'Songland' season 1: John Legend finds his next hit song in Tebby Burrows' 'We Need Love'
With 'The Voice' season 16 coming to an end, NBC has once again come to the rescue of fans and viewers with a new reality TV series that focuses solely on music.
Early reactions to the show do suggest that 'Songland' might just be your new addiction. The new competition series premiered on Tuesday night right after the two-hour premiere of 'America's Got Talent' season 14.
This is how Songland's format works: Every week 'Songland' invites four/five songwriters who then go on to compete with each other to be one among the three songwriters who will be chosen to work with the three mentors - Ryan Tedder, Ester Dean, and Shane McAnally.
Once chosen, the three featured songwriters will work with their mentors who will critique their performances and help them produce/rewrite their songs. In the end, one of the visiting guest artistes, that include John Legend, Jonas Brothers, Meghan Trainor and many more can pick one of their songs to record on their own.
'Songland' season 1 was opened with EGOT winner and 'The Voice' season 16 winning coach, John Legend who was joined by the judging panel/mentors Ryan Tedder, Ester Dean and Shane McAnally.
The four songwriters who were invited to perform for Legend and the judges were Max Embers who hails from Herne, Germany, Tebby Burrows who is from the Bahamas but lives in Miami, Sam James from Nashville and Ollie Gabriel who hails from Southwest Louisiana.
After listening to all the four contestants perform, Legend narrowed it down to the Top 3 tracks he liked the most. He picked Embers' song titled Back Home, Burrows' acceptance song 'We Need Love' and Gabriel's love song titled 'Something New.'
After the songwriters were selected, they had one-on-one sessions with the judges/mentors to refine their original song which included changing the tempo of the song, rewriting the lyrics and much more.
Burrows worked with McAnally who helped her slow down her song a bit and gave her the courage to go acoustic with it. Embers worked with Tedder who helped him increase the tempo of the song and even change the lyrics and the title of the song. Gabriel worked with Dean who helped him work with his lyrics and cut some off to help it flow much better.
After listening to the fine-tuned versions of the three songs Legend picked, in the end, he chose Burrows' We Need Love which was not one among the judges' favorites when she first performed it. But after her mentoring with McAnally everyone was left impressed by her song.
"The verses feel really nice now. It's super conversational. ... It really gave me chills, I felt it and (I'm) ready to record it," Legend said. Legend's version of 'We Need Love' was released at the end of 'Songland' and we can't wait to see what next week brings.
'Songland' airs every Tuesday on NBC. Check your local listings for more information.
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