NBC's 'The Sing Off' to Feature Prison Outreach Timothy's Gift With Christian Singer Melissa Green
"The Sing Off" competition show produced by Mark Burnett premieres Wednesday night on NBC and will feature groups of acapella singers competing for a chance to win $50,000. Melissa Green, a worship pastor and former member of the Christian contemporary group Avalon, will be competing on the show with the prison outreach group Timothy's Gift.
In an interview with The Christian Post, Green said she went to a casting interview for the show after a friend encouraged her to try out.
"'The Sing-Off' was casting and a friend of mine who knew that I did this said I should audition," Green told CP. "I said I'd do that, but I want to come and represent the prison outreach that I'm a part of. And they loved the idea of it, so I took five other girls that traveled with me to prison, we went and auditioned and NBC loved it."
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Green explained that "The Sing Off" not only gave her and Timothy's Gift the opportunity to sing, but also to tell their story about the work they've been doing in prisons.
The 35-year-old singer began her career with Avalon in 2002 and toured with them for seven years. She now serves as a worship pastor at a church in Nashville and expressed her excitement over her first appearance on a televised singing competition.
"I'm 35 now, so when all of the reality singing shows [became popular] I was already an artist and had a career and it seemed like an exciting thing to try to be a part of, but never seemed to fit my life. I already had a gig so I [didn't] need to leave the gig to try to make it on one of these shows, even though it sounded like it would be an amazing opportunity. Low and behold, this 'Sing Off' opportunity comes and it matched," Green said.
"I get to go and experience the show and do reality TV, but also bring my platform to it and what we represent as Timothy's Gift to it."
Green said she also hopes to convey the message of Timothy's Gift, which says "no one is forgotten." This message is normally focused toward inmates and staff inside prisons. However, she believes the statement is more universal.
"The fact that we got to share that on this national platform to millions of viewers that the 'Sing Off' reaches was very exciting for us. Music is not just about entertainment, it's much deeper than that. It's [about] reminding people they have great worth and great hope, and they let us tell that story and that's what we wanted to accomplish," Green said.
"The Sing Off" premieres at 9 p.m. E.T. Wednesday on NBC and features singers Nick Lachey, Shawn Stockman, Jewel and Patrick Stump as judges.
