Beat Shazam

"Beat Shazam" is a game show in which three teams of two try to identify popular songs the fastest. (In the first episode, the teams consisted of a father-son team, a sisters team, and a brothers team.) They compete for cash prizes that start at $1,000. Early rounds are multiple choice.

As they go through the rounds, teams are eliminated and the cash prizes increase. In the final round, the winning team competes against the song identification application Shazam. The amount of money at stake is significant. And if the team can identify six consecutive songs faster than Shazam, they win the maximum prize of $1 million.

The songs cover all genres. Sometimes they are grouped by artist. Don't expect to hear "Chattanooga Choo Choo", because most songs are from the 1970s on.

This is a fast moving show. Host Jamie Foxx (aided by DJ October Gonzalez) is there to keep things energetic and interesting. Other than when he resorts to race-based humor, he does a good job.

In the first episode, guest Terrence Howard chose the titles for one round. This was the best part of the show, because he obviously loves music and his passion elevated the proceedings. I missed this feature in the second episode. Future guests should have similarly diverse tastes.

Although I could not identify many of the songs and (unlike "Jeopardy", for example) I was not taught much, the quick pace and the unabashed joy for music made the show very enjoyable.