{alltv} "Sincerity" Helps The Sing-Off's Winning Group Rise Above the Rest

Before stepping onto The Sing-Off stage, Committed had never ventured far from their usual terrain of gospel and inspirational music. While that would have been a disadvantage going into a pop-friendly competition, these Alabama boys won over the judges and viewers.

"I believe it was our sincerity," Committed member Therry Thomas tells TVGuide.com. "Not saying the other groups aren't sincere, but I think it's just our background brings us to a whole other world, like a whole other place and sometimes we don't even imagine where we're going. It's magical."

On the surface, Committed was just as talented as the nine other groups selected to compete on The Sing-Off for the Sony recording contract and $100,000 prize. But it was that something extra, stemming from their experience performing inspirational church music, that gave them the boost needed to make it to the live finale, and to eventually win the competition.

Whether it was Maroon 5 or The Police, Committed worked hard to tackle foreign musical genres. But no matter how far they traveled from the starting point, the group never ceased to breathe new and more personal meaning into their music.

"Seeing that we were used to singing in church, we knew that we were able to reach the audience with our emotional side and that was one of our biggest things," Committed's Tommy Gervais says. "We were able to reach out to them and every time we opened our mouths, we were like, 'Oh my gosh.'"

Judge Shawn Stockman believes Committed won both the judges and fans over precisely because of how the choir came across.

"Not only were Committed awesome vocally, but I think as people the public fell in love with them and who they are and just their innocence and their purity," Stockman says. "It's nice to see these guys with such a pure heart sing as beautiful as they do and I think that's what their edge was."

Committed says its first album will get back to the choir's roots. But no matter what direction the group takes, the judges are confident America picked a winner who can help turn things around for a cappella music and have an effect on the music industry.

Adds judge Ben Folds: "Really, over the course of this season, bands like that are helping a cappella to being taken seriously pretty damn soon, if not already."