All Together Now (U.S. TV series)

All Together Now is an American reality TV music talent show for aspiring singers aged 16 or older and is based on the British show of the same name.

Format
In each episode, a range of singers take to the stage, but waiting to judge each performance is "The 100" – a panel of one hundred music experts and performers from across the United States, headed by former NSYNC member, JC Chasez. The 100 comprises a plethora of judges from all genres of music thus in most cases being covered in a way by someone of "The 100". The judges also come from a diversity of backgrounds, some with a lifetime of nearly half a century in the professional music industry to others with only a few years who have had success early in life. Obviously not all agree with each other's opinion and this is what makes this show interesting, and the goal of the contestant is to attempt to get all 100 judges on their feet and buzz in order to part of the season finale.

Heats
During each heat, performers try and outscore their competitors in order to earn a seat on the top two podium. Whenever a performer scores high enough for a podium place, the act in 2nd place is eliminated as a result. From each heat, one acts go through to the season finale. Once all acts have sung, the acts in 1st and 2nd sing-off against one another and the winner of that sing off earns qualifying for the final spot.

Prior to filming, all performers cover a well-known hit of their choice. The 100 learn the words to all the songs before the show, but they do not know who is going to come out and sing said songs to them. Each cover is shortened to 90 seconds in order to make each episode "run quick", but importantly the 100 can only join in for the final 60 seconds as signified by a lighting change. This means that the 100 have the same amount of time to join in the singing for every act.

Tie-breaks
In the event of a tied score, the 100 reviews the full performances of both acts on monitors in the studio. Each member of the 100 decides which act they prefer and votes by pressing their button. The act with the most votes takes their seat on the podium, meaning that the act with the fewer votes either drops down a podium place or exits the competition. In the event that the tiebreak vote is also tied, JC Chasez, as captain of the 100 has the casting vote.

Sing-off
For the sing-off at the end of the show, scores are reset to zero and the 1st and 2nd placed acts perform a new song chosen from a given shortlist. In the event that both acts wish to sing the same song from that shortlist, the performer in 1st place has priority. In the grand final, there were three positions in the sing-off.

Wildcard
A wildcard was chosen by the judges, who could pick just one contestant out of those who failed to win their weekly heat, who participated in the grand final, along with the seven weekly winners

Season finale
In the final, the winners of each heat, along with one wild card - an act who failed to qualify via their heat but was voted for by The 100 to qualify for the finale - perform again in front of The 100 with a new song. As with the heats, the top two acts sing again and the act with the highest score after this final sing-off wins the series and with it the $100,000 cash prize.