noted local singing troupe goes national with a capella act

Think of it as “American Idol,” only without Simon Cowell. Or instruments. Or any background music. Or any individuals singing in pop-star-wanna­be fashion.

This is about the voice. The group voice.

A cappella.

And if you tune in to NBC tonight at 8, you’ll see a national TV show with some local flavor — the guys from On the Rocks, the Eugene all-male a cappella group consisting of current and former University of Oregon students best known for their popular and amusing Friday afternoon performances on the UO campus.

The group is one of 10 a cappella groups from across the nation competing on the second season of “The Sing-Off” for a $100,000 cash prize and a Sony recording contract. Taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif., in August and September, the first of four recorded episodes airs tonight, with the others airing also at 8 p.m. on NBC on Wednesday, Dec. 13 and Dec. 15. The live finale will air on Dec. 20 with the final three groups competing. A couple of groups are eliminated per episode by a panel of celebrity judges, and then viewers will vote by text message for the final episode.

Will On the Rocks be seen in more than just tonight’s episode? Will they perform live in the finale?

“Well, I can’t tell you that,” said group member Teigh Bowen, who graduated from the UO last spring. As is done on most any reality show, contestants sign contracts that forbid them from revealing the outcome of future episodes, lest they want to be held liable for million-dollar penalties.

But you can at least see them perform their wildly popular rendition of pop star Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” which has already been viewed millions of times in viral videos on the Internet since last spring, on tonight’s episode.

On the Rocks was formed in 1999 by two UO students, Peter Hollens and Leonardo Silva. Hollens, now 30, has come back to join the 14 current members of the group to appear on the NBC show hosted by singer and actor Nick Lachey. Hollens, along with representatives of the other nine groups on the show, performed U2’s “Beautiful Day” in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC.

“It’s going to be really, really good,” said Hollens, standing last week near the outdoor amphitheater at the UO’s Erb Memorial Union, where On the Rocks has been performing every Friday afternoon for years in front of hundreds of appreciative and often amused students. “It’s going to be much better than last year,” Hollens said of the first season of “The Sing-Off,” which aired last December. That competition was won by a group called Nota from San Juan, Puerto Rico, which released its first album last month.

On the Rocks has performed live plenty of times over the years, from shows at local churches and the UO School of Music, to East Coast universities while on tour. But appearing in front of NBC-TV cameras was something they were not used to, said Bowen, 22.

“It was a very different experience with cameras,” said Bowen, who knows something about performing in front of crowds, having been the Duck mascot at UO as recently as last winter. There were dress rehearsals and stage blocking and a studio audience and, of course, the celebrity judges, Ben Folds (“Ben Folds Five”), Shawn Stockman (“Boyz II Men”) and Nicole Scherzinger (“The Pussycat Dolls”).

Asked if the judging was intimidating, Bowen said with a grin: “I would say some of the judges know more about a cappella than others.”

Added Hollens: “And I think Nicole practices her lines and looks really gorgeous.”

The competition was stiff, Bowen and Hollens said. It includes The Backbeats, an a cappella group formed by the best from the University of Southern California and UCLA; Fever Pitch, a group from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston; The Whiffenpoofs of Yale, 14 male seniors from Yale University in New Haven, Conn.; and Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town from Oakland, Calif. Lawson was a member of The Persuasions, one of the most influential a cappella groups of all time, for 40 years.

“We were like, ‘What are we doing with all these professional groups?’ ” Bowen said. “We’re just a bunch of goofballs. But people seem to like us.”