(humming My Girl by The Temptations)
♪ I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. ♪
♪ When it's cold outside ♪
♪ I've got the month of May. ♪
- If you've ever ranked yourself against others
based on a specific trait,
what would it say about how you see them
and how they see you?
We brought together five singers
and had them rank themselves
based on their perceived singing talent.
Then we rearranged them based on our audiences' votes.
This is Ranking.
- Hi my name is Layla. I am 19 years old
and I am a singer-songwriter for about like, 5+ years.
And I'm from Redlands, California.
- Hi, my name is Edmond. I am from Chino Hills, California.
I am not a professional singer.
I just do it for fun in the car or in karaoke.
- I'm Richard. I am from Colombus, Georgia.
And I make music under the name SimplyRich.
I am a singer, rapper, and producer.
By day I am a software engineer.
- Hello, I'm Danny. My pronouns are they/them.
I am 33 years old and I've been singing since
I was, I don't know- fresh out the womb.
- Hello, I am Oksanna. The passion, the dream has always
been since I was a young kid, to be like Hannah Montana.
But I'm trying to figure out what that looks like now
as an adult under the name Osie.
♪ Most days I'm fine but when I'm not I'm falling ♪
♪ in deep into the clutch of ♪
♪ those regrets of what I was supposed to do. ♪
♪ What I was supposed to do. ♪
♪ So wake me up when it's all over. ♪
♪ When I'm wiser and I'm older. ♪
♪ All this time I was finding myself and I ♪
♪ didn't know I was lost. ♪
♪ I'm getting closer and closer ♪
♪ to get you off my brain. ♪
♪ Closure is supposed to ♪
♪ feel this way because I wanna call it quits ♪
♪ and brought us to our end. ♪
♪ Girl I know this might seem strange, ♪
♪ I just gotta let you know 'cause ♪
♪ 'cause I'm feeling this way. ♪
♪ See I've been watching you for a while. ♪
♪ Tired of being a stranger. ♪
♪ Why would you even try? ♪
♪ Can we stay together and I mean forever. ♪
♪ You changed me for the better. ♪
♪ And I know, I know, I know you got this. ♪
(clapping)
- [Layla] It's gonna be hard.
- [Oksanna] What might be an easier way
to say so it's not like, "oh you're the least talented."
More like, maybe experience? Might be an easier-
- [Danny] Well I'm the oldest. So, what?
- [Oksanna] True.
- By a lot so.
- I have no professional experience in this so I will
work my way down. That is totally fine, I'm okay with it.
- [Danny] I'll go here.
- I feel like with music there is like,
kind of an objective way to kind of like, rank.
But there is also like,
a more subjective way of how does this thing make you feel?
So which one do we want to like, go off of?
- I felt things with you.
- Exactly. Yup.
- So I think you and I should switch.
'Cause I feel like, yes.
- [Oksanna] Does technique and knowing that kind of stuff-
Do you feel like that adds to being on your level of skills?
Knowing how to do runs or knowing like, harmonies.
Things like that?
- I feel like yeah, because it is ranking singers
and not artists or singer-songwriters.
- [Oksanna] True.
- I definitely think a great singer
really evokes that emotion
and makes you feel something. So despite technique, like,
just like, really having that- something that resonates.
I think that is really important.
(group agrees)
- [Layla] Maybe base it off that.
- I mean, in high school I was in choir, musical theater.
You feel it. Like, oh high school choir.
Same? Were you a tenor?
- Choir, acapella.
I sang tenor and bass depending on what was needed.
- [Danny] Tenor and bass? Range!
So you're going to stay right there.
Effortless. That's my big thing.
The ability to harmonize.
- [Layla] Yes. That's a skill within itself, yeah.
- I might regret this, but do we wanna try harmonizing?
- I was just thinking the same thing.
Okay so what do we wanna- like just a note?
- Like, "My Girl" or something?
- Yes! Oh my gosh.
(harmonizing My Girl by The Temptations)
♪ I've got sunshine ♪
♪ on a cloudy day. ♪
♪ When it's cold outside ♪
♪ I've got the month of May. ♪
♪ Well I guess you'd say, ♪
♪ what can make me feel this way? ♪
♪ My girl. ♪
♪ Talking about my girl. ♪
♪ My girl. ♪
(cheering)
- [Edmond] We just started a band!
- Well we sound really good together
but we're supposed to rank each other.
- [Layla] Okay. Okay.
- I mean, I'm okay with the level I sing at.
But compared to you guys,
you got more experience and can actually play instruments
and pursue it semi-professionally.
- I mean, it's hard to say because in a similar way
I started singing when I was very young.
But singing well, that didn't come till later.
Like the voice lessons, how to play more instruments,
and learning how to just be with other musicians.
- I wanna be like Prince and play at least 28 instruments.
Right? That would be cool?
- You can hear the musicality in your voice.
- Can you? Oh, I appreciate that.
- After college I was kinda like, existential crisis
a little bit because I didn't know what I wanted to do.
I know I wanted to not be broke.
(laughing)
- [Richard] So I focused on software engineering.
My sister convinced me to start making my own music
and it's been like, healing alongside like
journaling and therapy.
- [Danny] Music for mental health.
- Same thing actually. All of my songs are kind of all
around mental health stuff so I'm with you on that.
- Is anyone not content with what they put forward
and wanna sing?
- I kinda wanna show like a different side.
♪ I don't wanna wait for our lives to be over. ♪
♪ I want to know right now ♪
♪ what will it be? ♪
- [Layla] Yes!
- [Oksanna] So gentle.
(clapping)
- It's when you get to the vowels, like that "e".
It just becomes just very angelic.
- Okay, humble brag but I have heard angelic before.
(laughing)
- He's like, not to brag-
- [Oksanna] Well for good reason then.
- Okay, are we content- is anyone unhappy with their spot?
- I mean, I'm competitive so I wanna be the first but-
- I mean he sang a second thing. I can sing a second thing.
- Yeah, let's hear it. Let's hear it.
- [Richard] Okay.
♪ Hey, can I go, wanna go deeper. ♪
- You better stay right there.
- Soul Train, yeah.
- How do we feel?
- I feel content because genuinely like,
you guys are great
and you guys are also great.
I feel like emotion is just, yeah.
I think we can all agree that we really felt that too.
- We did.
(hip hop music)
- [Male Voice] First off, Layla I'll have you
switch with Ed.
Ed I'll have you switch with Oksanna.
- [Danny] Now I'm nervous.
- [Male Voice] Oksanna I'll have you switch with Danny.
And then last but not least, Oksanna I'll have you switch
one more time with Richard.
- [Oksanna] What?
- [Male Voice] And these are the audience results.
- I feel like the emoji that- (explosion sound).
I did not expect that at all because I do believe
that there is always something
where you can learn as an artist.
And I know I still have a long way to grow.
- I like how everyone brought our unique sound
and tone and style and everything.
- I'm surprised about-
- I can't lie, I'm also surprised.
- I don't know maybe it was her song choices.
I was just a big fan of her voice.
- I guess I need more variety and range.
I wish I would've came out and showed that more.
But I think that's the beautiful thing about music.
It's that art is so subjective and sometimes it doesn't
always resonate with anyone and like,
that's the beauty of it.
- As long as Richard's ahead of me like,
then things are correct.
- I never would have put the ranking this way but
honored that it went that way.
- The purity though, the purity.
- Out of all five of us, she was the most original sound.
It's like, oh, it's something new.
- Fresh.
- [Danny] It felt fresh.
It was so fun to sing together.
- [Edmond] Let's all go for karaoke.
- That choir thing will always be one of the coolest
moments I've gotten to experience in a long time.
- [Edmond] It's like the wave.
- [Danny] Well, let's do a wave.
You said wave, let's do a wave.
- [Edmond] Am I starting?
- [Danny] Yeah, you start.
(cheering)