During its first season in 2012, "Jackass" star Steve-O brought a bit of nihilistic fun as host to the already silly premise that is TruTV's "Killer Karaoke." (Think "American Idol" meets "Fear Factor." You can see plenty of clips on YouTube that have received millions of views.)
But Steve-O was not available for the second season. So the network called up Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath, who previously hosted the brief syndicated run of "Don't Forget the Lyrics" for the same executive producer Tony Yates.
"Thank God Steve-O is a busy man," McGrath cracked in an interview last week to promote the show. "I was on the road touring with Sugar Ray and had some down time and had just watched the show. He didn't even have to finish his sentence before I said, 'Tell me where!' I'm happy to carry the torch for Steve-O."
McGrath isn't quite the crazy man Steve-O is, but the show producers decided to add more players and create more game-play complications to the second season. McGrath plays the nice guy supporting the contestants, who try to stay in tune while being tortured.
"The production is bigger and brighter," said McGrath.
The first episode will actually air on YouTube Tuesday, two days before its official debut on Thursday on TruTV.
The new game play works like this:
Each episode starts with six contestants singing an opening number. They are ranked based on a scoring system [via a mix of crowd popularity and singing skills.]. One person gets cut immediately. The remaining players will earn advantages throughout the show, such as deciding which competitor goes first, or choosing what obstacles their opponents will face. Eventually, two finalists face off for a prize worth up to $10,000.
The obstacles are there to evoke screams and curses from the contestants and laughs from the audience: getting electrocuted, having gross food thrown on them and having snakes and spiders near or on their faces. Balloons are popped at inopportune times or in inopportune places. People are thrust into vats of freezing water with scary looking fish.
Here's a sampling:
As the host, "I laughed the entire time," McGrath said. "I didn't count on it being so damn funny." At the same time, he said he had to put on his empathy hat and encourage them to "keep singing!"
And the singers aren't supposed to be horrible. Most can carry a tune - when they aren't having cow brains placed on their heads. "Ninety percent of the contestants sing better than I can," he said, "and I get paid to do that."
(Don't worry about the various animals on the show. McGrath assured me "they're treated better than me and I'm a big diva!")
Although McGrath will sing at karaoke bars himself, he said he won't sing his own songs. "It's a bad idea," he said. "The karaoke versions always are in some weird key."
McGrath himself is a game-show nut with a rock-solid memory. He won "Rock and Roll Celebrity Jeopardy" three times. "People loved that show," he said. "Ninety percent of the time people at airports will bring that up before anything else."
And he does some acting. His next gig: "Sharknado 2" which also features other famous folks such as Kelly Osbourne, Andy Dick and Vivica A. Fox.
"I didn't audition," he said. "The call came out of left field. I'm such a fan of the first one. I'm a perfect candidate to do 'Sharknado.' I've got scenes with Judd Hirsch. I'm playing Finn, Ian Zirring's brother in law. They come to visit my family in New York when the insanity begins."
He said the appeal of "Sharknado" was the bad acting so "I'm going to do a really good job."
McGrath the past couple of summers has organized 1990s-themed tours, the first year with the lead singer of Everclear Art Alexakis. Last year, they split off and did their own tours because Alexakis wanted a more guitar-focused grunge feel. McGrath wants a broader pop-oriented palette. He'd love to mix the tour up a bit more down the road with acts such as En Vogue, Tone Loc, the Cranberries and Collective Soul on his wish list.
This summer, he plans to bring Uncle Kracker, Smash Mouth and Blues Traveler along with Sugar Ray for the third incarnation. They're all acts with multiple top 10 hits.
"We are known as a 1990s band even though the last hit song was technically in 2001, 'When It's Over,' " he said, not noting the irony of the song title. "I'm a face of the 1990s." But he's not going to penalize an act like Uncle Kracker, who had his first hit in 2001. "The tour is more era specific," he noted, for Gen Yers who are now in their 20s and 30s.
The song he will never get sick of singing? Breakthrough 1997 hit "Fly." "I can see a shift in people listening when we perform it. There's a sea change in energy. That song meant a lot to people. It sank into their bones. It brings so much joy. It's the reason I'm talking to you."
And why didn't he perform during last month's Howard Stern birthday bash? "I was just happy to be asked to be at the party," he said. "I didn't want to push it. Look at the talent that made it on the stage!" One minor quibble: 1990s cohort Jewel sang Stern's song "Silver Nickels and Golden Dimes." Sugar Ray put another Stern song "Psychedelic Bee" on their greatest hits album so he could have performed.
But he still enjoyed the party: "I go to sleep listening to Howard Stern in my earbuds. To say I'm a fan is an understatement. I miss none of the show." "
TV preview
"Killer Karaoke," 10 p.m., Thursdays (starting Feb. 20), TruTV
Eight episodes are scheduled for season two
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