The third season of The Sing-Off premiered on September 19, 2011. The number of a cappella groups was increased from 10 to 16, resulting in a new format. The show created two brackets, with only half the groups performing each week for the first few weeks. Nick Lachey stayed as host for the new season, as did Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman as judges. New to the judges' table was Sara Bareilles, who replaces Nicole Scherzinger, who left after 2 seasons to become a judge on The X Factor. The program ran for 11 episodes, and was concluded on November 28, 2011 with Pentatonix winning the title.