Don't Forget the Lyrics! (American game show)

The structure of the show is similar to another FOX game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Lyrics's cousin game show. Contestants are given nine categories (such as "pop", "The Rolling Stones", or "divas"). Contestants pick one of the categories. They are then given a choice of two different songs. The contestant then chooses one of the songs and are told how many missing words they will have to provide. The band starts to play the song and the lyrics are displayed on large monitors in front of the contestant, who sings along, karaoke-style. At some point, the lyrics are shown as blank spaces and the music stops. The contestant then fills in those blank spaces, then decide whether to "lock in" the lyrics (which is the same effect as saying "Final Answer" on Millionaire), choose one of the "backups", which are answer-assistance options that are similar to lifelines, or choose to walk away with the money they have won so far.

The format is based on the syndicated changes to fellow Twentieth Television game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. One contestant plays the entire show, with one song each from four different categories. They are then given a choice of two different songs. Each time a contestant answers a song correctly, he/she earns money; if he/she misses a song, except for the Encore Song, those winnings remain intact. There is also only one "backup"; the three lines, which may only be used once.

• Lyrics are initially filled in with yellow-colored text.
• As each lyric is locked in, the text's color changes to blue.
• Lyrics then revealed to be correct turn green.
• Lyrics that are incorrect turn red, which means the game ends on the Fox or the syndicated version (after ending final broadcast).

Sometimes a few words turn green at a time rather than all of them at once, creating suspense; this is often done if one or more words will turn out to be wrong, and the incorrect word or words generally will show up in the final reveal. If the words are all correct, the contestant's winnings increases, accompanied in the 2007-09 version by music previously used for a correct answer on Show Me the Money (a shorter version of that music accompanies a revealing of part of the lyrics, and the 2010 version uses a variation of the correct answer sound from Duel).

Any incorrect words that turned red (though correct words are still shown in green) can have negative impacts depending on the version. In the 2007-2009 version, any incorrect lyrics results in a game over and the contestant left with either nothing (if they miss the lyrics within the first four songs), $25,000 (fifth to ninth song) or $100,000 (final song; see "Final Song" below). In the 2010 version, the contestant directly plays the final song bypassing any remaining songs.

In celebrity games, the host is allowed to help the celebrity contestants out up until they reach the $25,000 level on the 2007-2009 version or the $5,000 level on the 2010 version.

Similar to the "3 lifelines" concept from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, there were three answer-assistance options, or "backups", that the contestant can use for help at any time:

• "Backup Singer" - Allows one of the contestant's two friends or family members the opportunity to help them by singing along with the contestant. Afterwards, the contestant is given the choice of sticking with their own lyrics or going with their backup singer's lyrics if it is different. The contestant usually chooses to go with their backup singer's lyrics.
• "2 Words" - Allows the contestant to choose any two of the missing words after they have answered but before the answer is locked in, and they will be told what those words are. When the player uses the "2 Words" backup after selecting a word that is incorrect or missing as one of the two, it will automatically be corrected for the contestant.
• "3 Lines" - Gives the contestant a choice of three possible answers, of which one is the correct response. If the choices have common words within them, the lyrics will have the common words automatically turned green.

Each backup may only be used once on any level except the Million Dollar Song (in which only "Backup Singer" is still available, while any other backups are forfeited); contestants may be required to use up their backups on the $500,000 song if they have not done so already, because there is a warning that, if a backup is not used on the $500,000 song when the backup(s) is/are available, the remaining unused backup option(s) will be automatically used (except for the backup singer) after the lyrics for the $500,000 song are locked in.

The 2010 version only uses the "3 Lines" option, and after several episodes this became the GEICO Backup in a limited number of episodes.

Identical to 5th Grader's Million Dollar or 5th Grade Bonus Question, the contestant that makes it to this level must decide whether or not to either end the game with the winnings won or risk it to attempt the final song.

In both versions, the final song is a number #1 billboard hit song featured from one of the categories in the game, with the name of the song only shown once the contestant decided to attempt the final song; if the contestant ends the game, the final song is not revealed in the game.

2007-2009 version

The final song is referred as the Million Dollar Song. During early versions, the $25,000 guarantee is not raised but later raised to $100,000 as of January 2008;) the contestants risks $400,000 upon attempting the song, and only Backup Singer is available to use during the level. After the contestant sings, they can change it if they want but they have the option to lock in something or walk away.

During the show's run, none of the contestants won $1,000,000; seven contestants made it to the final level but two contestants went on to attempt the song and were unsuccessful. A different sound is used for locked-in incorrect lyrics on the million-dollar song.

2010 version

The final song is referred as the Encore Song. The value for the Encore Song is dependent on how many songs they got it before making a mistake; if the contestant misses in any one of the first four songs, the final song is worth double of the contestant's winnings, but the contestant will risk everything to attempt the final song; if they miss, the contestant leaves with a customized MP3 player as consolation. If they sung all the first four songs correctly, the contestant is guaranteed $1,000 (of $10,000) and the final song is valued at the top prize of $50,000. During celebrity games, the house minimum in all cases is $5,000.

During the syndicated run, five contestants won the top prize of $50,000.

• Dottie Harris (first civilian contestant to win $500,000)
• Boyz II Men (February 21, 2008; first celebrity contestant and first team to win $500,000)
• Asia Craft (October 10, 2008)
• Mark Weiser and J'Nae Fincannon (December 19, 2008)
• Meat Loaf and Pearl Aday (May 22, 2009)

• Kimberley Locke (April 17, 2008) - You're Sixteen - Ringo Starr 1974
• Diana Drake (May 15, 2008) - Blame it on the Rain - Milli Vanilli 1989

• Karina Buettgenbach (October 4, 2010[9])
• Bo Bice (October 12, 2010[10])
• Sandra Benton (October 26, 2010)
• Regan Rothery (December 31, 2010)
• Felice Schaeffer (January 11, 2011)
• There were also five wins on the French version (€100,000), two wins on the Polish version, including five for nonprofit organizations (4 in France, one in Poland).