Amazing Race Recap: What Do These A Cappella Singers Know That We Don't?

The Amazing Race's cast is always a melting pot of my least favorite qualities: aggression, unscrupulousness, and phoniness. But this season, a new characteristic has emerged that makes me just as queasy: a cappella singing. Oh no, lambs. It might be the worst of all. Connor and Jonathan, the Ivy League a cappella singers who've zoomed ahead as the team to beat, are so harmonized (if you will) that you may even wonder how the other teams can keep up. Let's break down their magic together.

Connor and Jonathan's performance in Sunday's episode alone reveals the secret to their success.

1.) Singing to the Cab Driver: TAR contestants can never quite figure out how to communicate effectively with cab drivers. If you're an alpha female, you might bleat, "Please, please go faster." If you're a roid-raging male, you might blurt, "Oh, come on! Faster, buddy! AHHYEAHAH!" But if you're these two guys, you conjure that barbershop quartet charm and trill, "Pleeeease goooo fasterrrrr." It's douchey, but it's catchy! And so the cabbie complies.

2.) Competence: Connor and Jonathan were the only team to motor effectively through the "wordsearch" game, systematically remembering the symbols on the key before finding them on the big grid. While other teams caved to frustration, their logicianship (to coin a phrase) kept them focused.

3.) The Ability to Sort of Find Ghana on a Map: The duo conquered the geography quiz and located Ghana on a map after four or five failed attempts. Sure, most Princeton matriculants probably could have been more efficient, but when compared to most TAR contestants, they were downright acute. Still, their a cappella idols, Rockapella, would be more than disappointed.