Northshore Acappella Departs NBC's "The Sing-Off" With High Hopes

With their heads held high, Boston-based Northshore Acappella was reportedly voted off NBC's The Sing-Off last Monday, Oct. 17. Group members Paul Lopes, 57, and Tom Duarte, 58, are both from Tiverton and attended  and .

The other three members are Guy Chiapponi, James Martin and Vinny Straccia, all from the Boston area. The group flew home and came to do a show.

Elaine Chase of Rolling Stone wrote that Northshore's departure from the show was "the a cappella crime of the century." Other arts and entertainment news outlets had Northshore pegged to go further in The Sing-Off.

Lopes, reached Tuesday by phone, said the group is not disappointed and appreciates the exposure they received from the show. NBC invited Northshore Accapella back to perform on the show's finale in November, and then go back to NBC a few weeks later for a Christmas show. He said being booted off the show has kept their phones ringing.

"It's been nothing but good," he said. "It was a great experience. The people were great. Everybody's very talented there. It was quite an honor and a privilege."

Making a notable run in the contest, Lopes said they knew they didn't perform their best on the Oct. 17 episode where they were voted off.

"We weren't really shocked," he said.

Lopes credited his group's ongoing work, as well as their contestants, who, for the most part, are younger than Northshore.

"This music is going into the future," he said. "The young people are really stepping it up."