As if it wasn’t enough to redecorate her entire room, the crew of ABC Family’s “Knock First” will surprise Bobbi, a contestant on the show and an a cappella fan, with an opportunity to sing with Yale’s Society of Orpheus and Bacchus.

The show, which will air this Thursday at 5:30 p.m., features the group singing “Ride the Chariot” in Bobbi’s backyard.

“Knock First” is similar to TLC’s popular home redecorating show “Trading Spaces.” A young contestant and his or her parents spend a day away from their home while the contestant’s friends and the show’s design team redecorates the contestant’s bedroom. In addition to redesigning the contestant’s room, the crew usually brings along an additional surprise for the end. For Bobbi, that surprise came as a group of a cappella singers in full tuxedos.

“Her understanding was that it just gonna be a few guys, not an entire dashing group of men from Yale,” Chaim Bloom ’04, the group’s leader, or “Bacchus,” said.

Though the SOBs have connections to the show, they did not discover them until after they had made plans to perform on “Knock First.” Director Krista Katsoulis e-mailed business manager Justin Noble ’06 to ask the group to perform at Bobbi’s home in Boston in early November.

“We were all going to be in Boston seeing alumni in the area,” Noble said. “It worked out surprisingly well.”

Katsoulis later told the other hosts about the idea, and discovered that host John Gidding is a former member of the SOBs. On the show, the group sang “Ride the Chariot,” a jazz-style spiritual, and invited Bobbi to join them for a verse, group member Nash Hale ’05 said.

“They gave her the sheet music beforehand, and they did a couple takes so she could get it down,” Hale said.

Though the group is used to performing around cameras, singing for a television show was a different experience, Bloom said.

“All these guys from wardrobe came over to make sure our shirts were tucked in, and everything was proper,” Hale said.

Though the group taped the show in November, members will see the finished product for the first time Thursday, Noble said.

“I’m interested to see how what we did fits into the larger show,” Bloom said.

Members say they were glad to be filmed for television, and are excited to see the show on Thursday.

“It’s a fantastic experience,” Bloom said, “It’s something you can tell all your friends and relatives about.”

[ydn-legacy-photo-inline id=”18444″ ]