OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Let's bring up our next two contestants. We have Catherine Sommerfeld and Steven Strafford.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Welcome. Catherine, do you ever sing karaoke?
CATHERINE SOMMERFELD: Oh, yeah.
EISENBERG: Oh, yeah. I like that answer.
(LAUGHTER)
SOMMERFELD: Not well.
EISENBERG: That's the whole point of karaoke, as far as I'm concerned.
SOMMERFELD: Then I'm excellent at it.
EISENBERG: Well done. Do you have a go-to song?
SOMMERFELD: No, not really. We've done a really bad rendition of "I've Got You Babe."
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Who's we?
SOMMERFELD: Me and my husband.
EISENBERG: Oh, that is adorable. How's that marriage going?
SOMMERFELD: Oh, well.
EISENBERG: Yeah, that's why. That's why. You sing together.
SOMMERFELD: The song goes on forever, hopefully, the marriage will too.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: And welcome, Steven. Are you a karaoke person at all?
STEVEN STRAFFORD: I enjoy a karaoke tune.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Do you have a favorite karaoke song?
STRAFFORD: I like the song "At This Moment" by Billy Vera and The Beaters. It's the song that Alex and Ellen danced to on "Family Ties."
(APPLAUSE)
STRAFFORD: And now they're married in real life, so it worked.
EISENBERG: It works. The power of song. John Roderick, what do you have for us?
JOHN RODERICK: We have a game called Sing What? It's all about misheard song lyrics, also known as mondegreens. There are some very famous examples of misheard lyrics, such as the following.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: Oh, don't go around tonight. Well, it's bound to take your life. Yeah, there's a bathroom on the right.
(APPLAUSE)
RODERICK: The real line in that Credence song is, of course, there's a bad moon on the rise, right by the bathroom.
EISENBERG: Ah.
RODERICK: So I'm going to intentionally mangle the lyrics of famous songs, and you have to tell us what the real lyrics are, and you have to sing the lyrics. The contestant who gets more right moves on to our final round at the end of the show. Here we go.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: Am I hard enough? Am I rough enough? Am I rich enough? I'm not too blind to see. I'll never leave your pizza burning.
(LAUGHTER)
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Catherine?
(LAUGHTER)
SOMMERFELD: I'm just going to make it up.
(APPLAUSE)
SOMMERFELD: I won't be your beast of burden.
EISENBERG: Yeah, I think that's it.
(APPLAUSE)
RODERICK: Audience?
EISENBERG: Yep.
RODERICK: It's actually, I'll never be your beast of burden, because a beast of burden is not a thing you would want.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: No.
RODERICK: All right, next question.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: She says, we've got to hold on to what we've got. It doesn't make a difference if we bake it or not.
(LAUGHTER)
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
RODERICK: Catherine?
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
SOMMERFELD: Doesn't make a difference if we make it or not.
RODERICK: Exactly.
(APPLAUSE)
RODERICK: Jon Bon Jovi, part of the New Jersey school of songwriters who rhyme make with make.
EISENBERG: Oh, yeah, that does rhyme.
RODERICK: Doesn't make a difference if we make it or make.
(LAUGHTER)
RODERICK: This is the third question.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: Come on. Shake it. Shake it. Shake it. Oh, oh. Shake it, shake it, shake it. Oh, oh. Shake it like a polar bear ninja.
(LAUGHTER)
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: Oh, oh.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
RODERICK: Steven?
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
STRAFFORD: Shake it like a Polaroid picture.
RODERICK: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
RODERICK: Well sung.
EISENBERG: Beautiful.
RODERICK: Well sung. I see you have backed some Lucy Lius and some Beyonces up on the dance floor.
(LAUGHTER)
RODERICK: Good man.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: Don't go making melon balls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
RODERICK: Steven?
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
STRAFFORD: Don't go chasing waterfalls.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Although I think it's just a good PSA to not make melon balls as well. I think we should all be aware that is...
RODERICK: Word.
EISENBERG: It's a tough night. That is a tough night of melon balls.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Have you ever had that melon ball night that you just don't want to talk about?
RODERICK: Actually, melon ball is my stripper name.
EISENBERG: Really?
RODERICK: You guys are some musically articulate and knowledgeable people.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: Whether you're a brother, or whether you're a mother, you're a steak and a knife, a steak and a knife.
(LAUGHTER)
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: Feel the city breaking and everybody shaking, you're a steak and a knife, a steak and a knife. Ha, ha, ha, ha, a steak and a knife, a steak and a knife. Ha, ha, ha, ha, a steak and knife.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
(APPLAUSE)
RODERICK: Catherine?
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
SOMMERFELD: Stayin' alive.
RODERICK: Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
(LAUGHTER)
SOMMERFELD: I'm not going that far.
RODERICK: I just sang for two minutes.
(LAUGHTER)
RODERICK: I sang "steak and a knife" seven times.
SOMMERFELD: It's stayin' alive every time.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Can you give us some ah, ha, ha's just for fun?
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
SOMMERFELD: Ah, ha, ha, ha.
(APPLAUSE)
RODERICK: Yeah.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
RODERICK: Our next question is a song that I barely know.
(LAUGHTER)
RODERICK: But I feel it.
EISENBERG: I love the transparency of this show.
RODERICK: But I feel it in my heart is the thing. So that is, as you all know, the secret of art. You don't need to know the chords or the words.
EISENBERG: No, you just need to believe.
RODERICK: You just believe.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: Scars of your love remind me of us, keep me thinking that we almost had it all. The scars of your love, they leave me breathless. I can't help feeling we could have had it all. Putting in the tea.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
RODERICK: Catherine.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
SOMMERFELD: Rolling in the deep.
RODERICK: Yeah, good job.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: I love how you pretended not to know that song. That's so adorable. Every day listening to it.
RODERICK: You know what...
EISENBERG: Singing along.
RODERICK: You know what I'm metal.
(LAUGHTER)
RODERICK: I don't know about all this pop music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: I've got flu, rickets and parasites.
(LAUGHTER)
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
RODERICK: Won't you pack your bags; we'll leave tonight. I've got flu, rickets and parasites.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
RODERICK: Catherine?
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
SOMMERFELD: Two tickets to paradise.
EISENBERG: Yes, that is correct.
(APPLAUSE)
RODERICK: Well done.
EISENBERG: Although, with flu, rickets and paradise, they're leaving tonight for quarantine. That's when they're on their way. You won, Catherine, this round. Congratulations. You'll be going on to our Ask Me One More final round at the end of the show.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Thank you so much, Steven Straffod.
RODERICK: Thank you, Steven. Good job, Catherine.
EISENBERG: Bringing beautiful voices to our stage. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.