Gleeking Out.

Wooooo boy, there is a LOT to talk about with that one!

2010-04-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

I loved the musical numbers...so good!

While we wait for the denizens of the internet to upload the videos I'm just going to post this picture for you:

Hell-o/Hell - NO SNACKS BETWEEN MEALS. PERIOD.

2010-04-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

Glee has finally returned to us, the wait felt eternal and now that it's come I'm ready for the next one already. I think all of the promos for "Hell-o" kinda messed up my viewing experience. I'd already heard some of the best lines, knew that Rachel was pissed at Finn and then during the last song I already had it in my mind being one way, so Rachel's turmoil felt uncomfortable to me. That said, I'm super happy it's back and am going to avoid watching teasers, promos and advance-release clips and numbers from the show. I want to experience it the way they intended for viewers, not through the lens of the FOX publicity machine.

Alright, song #1
Hello - The Doors - Finn

It was a really cute moment to see Finn singing to Tina towards the end of the song.
Sidenote: I interviewed Ray Manzarek of The Doors (he's the keyboard player and without him The Doors would not exist) and he was really nice, but kinda post-age-of-Aquarius crazy. Still very much for hallucinogenics...about acid he literally said "...and it opened the doors of my mind."

Gives You Hell - Rachel

Even though I'd seen this one already it was still super-satisfying. You agree? Love watching Harry dance and everyone jumping in to sing and then the shouting/singing thing at the end was great, great, grrrrrrrrrrreat!

Hello - Jesse & Rachel - crappy tv-to-cam recording:

I have a hard time listening to anything by Lionel Richie. When I was a kid my mom played his albums so repetitively I could play them by ear on the piano. Confession: It just reminds me of when I had a really bad haircut and horrible red-framed glasses. I knew this song would be in the episode and was therefore kinda not looking forward to the moment.

Highway to Hell - Jesse St. James & Vocal Adrenaline - another crappy tv-to-cam:

Meh, didn't do anything for me.

Hello, Goodbye - this version of the video sux - I'll revise all of these as they come up online:

This was so painful to watch...Rachel suffering through the whole thing.

Sneak peek of Vogue - Sue Sylvester:

And here is what I'll say about this. It's awesome, truly, but I wanted to see it in context of the episode. I know it has to do with the "Mercedes is black, I'm gay, we make culture." "How do you two not have a show on Bravo." thing...but I DON'T WANNA KNOW UNTIL I SEE IT FOR REALZ DURING THE EPISODE.

I guess I just have to be better at blocking out all promos/spoilers/pre-released performances until after I see the episodes. During the hiatus I was so Glee-hungry I'd seek out and watch and find anything, but now I'm going old school and mandating for myself "no snacks between meals."

That said, MADONNA EPISODE NEXT WEEK!!!! I may listen to a ton of old school Madonna just to get excited about it...

Show notes:
1. Seeing a shot from the pilot of Rachel/Lea in the here's-what-you-missed "if you live in a cave or just got out of prison" made me notice that she's lost weight/gotten in better shape. Makes sense, it's like the American Idol effect...tons of activity mixed with tons of (mostly good) stress = transformation into a lean, mean fighting machine.
2. Still during the catch up: "Rachel loves that she and Finn are the Glee club's new power couple" - WTF, I hate when shows go on hiatus and then take away something we would really want to see, like how Rachel and Finn became a couple. Obviously she just started assuming it and the emotionally comatose Finn didn't have it in him to participate in the choice, but still...they're our Ross/Rachel-Dawson/Joey-Felcity/Ben-Pam/Jim-Meredith/Derrick-Ned/Chuck-Luke/Lorelai...we wanted to see them get together for goodnesssakessss!
3. Love that they used "Don't Rain On My Parade" to score the first scene!
4. Credits don't have Heather or Naya under starring, they're still guest stars even though they totally dominate the episode.***
5. Some time when you're watching an episode for the 5th time pay attention to the kids in the background. There are always a TON of Cheerios in the background of every shot. You'd think they have 175 Cheerios in the school...
6. Sue is horrrrrrible to blackmail Figgins like that! She's so good she makes us want to throttle her!
7. Is Puck's mohawk wider than before? Before it was like the width of a mountain bike tire...not it seems like the width of a dirt bike one.
8. Puck & Quinn's only lines in the episode were pretty great:
P: "I'm not breaking up with you, I'm just saying please stop super-sizing cause I don't dig on fat chicks."
Q: "I'm pregnant."
P: "That's my fault?" Weeeeeheehee!
9. Love that Tanaka gained "40 pounds and stopped showering."
10. Sue really cut off that dudes ponytail. Where's the interview with THAT guy? I love when she hands the ponytail to the confused Cheerio.
11. Loved the answer the phone lines "no she's dead, this is her son," but I had already heard that bit in the promos, so it took away from the in-context joy of it.
12. Rachel's line "I have a slushie stained training bra to prove it" slipped by me the first time because I was thinking the last thought. I love the idea that she still wears a training bra. The thing about high school kids that people often forget is that not that much time has passed since they were in elementary and middle school, so some vestiges of those parts of their lives often stick with them...childhood toys, training bras, etc. I see this type of awareness from the writers all the time and really appreciate it.
13. Jayma is realllllly good at creating the romantic tension. She reacts the way we feel inside during those types of moments.
14. The scene where Sue is berating Brittany and Santana is one of the funniest... "I'd ask you to commit Sepuku" "We were seduced by the glitz and glamor of show biz" "let me drop some knowledge on you" - although Sue was a bit misguided in thinking that Rachel would lose her mind if the girls went after Finn.
15. I love when Mr. Schu invests in his kids the way he did with Finn during the "finding yourself"/Jim Morrison scene. I also think it's another true-to-life thing - when people are going through a positive change they often immediately translate it in to helping another person with their new found knowledge. Good job writers!
16. During the basketball scenes Finn's upper arms looked green...like they did a terrible job in makeup covering up tattoos. He does have tattoos, right?
17. They're really playing up that Brittany/Santana sex thing, eh? Walking around holding hands by the pinkies...
18. Rachel & Finn breaking up was well done.
19. Mr. Schuester laying down the law after "Gives You Hell" was fine to move along the plot, but "Glee club is in jeopardy" plot-line can ONLY happen this season. They're going to need to find another device next season cause I don't think we have the tolerance for it beyond Regionals.
20. Jesse St. James saying "you totally lacked Barbara's emotional depth, but you're talented" was kinda awesome for a couple of reasons. We all know she didn't, but there's this veil of reality where in their world she isn't supposed to be quite as good as the way we see her on TV...she'd never gotten any part she'd auditioned for, etc. Also, she's insecure, so the simultaneous "insult-n-compliment" pickup technique worked perfectly on her. (Boys don't be assholes and use this one in real life. It's crap.)
21. Santana & Brittany are totally right that Puck is hot and Finn is just cute. I love when they call out stuff that's true in real life too.
22. I <3'd how Brittany responded, "Finn, that's mean" when he said Rachel was kinda cool. ("dolphins are just gay sharks" was equally hiarious) I think they need to be careful about how they use Brittany. They know that there was a huge response to her and that everyone loves her, but there's a chance they could overuse her now instead of leaving us wanting more.23. The "Hello Again" song by Neil Diamond blech. I can't stand this song.24. OMG EMMA IS A VIRGIN. TOOOOOOOOOOOOO AWESOME. And so heartbreaking.25. The exercise ball scene where Sue is punishing the girls pretty great too. Looking back the scenes with the three of them are always solidly hilarious.26. Was Idina Menzel super-botoxed or was she intentionally making her character flat-n-stiff? And um, Will IS a mess to be making out with her. WHAT ABOUT EMMA? I get it, I get it, from married with a baby-on-the-way to separated/fake baby is a mind-eff and erratic behavior is to be expected. OH! My husband, who ain't so up on his Broadway trivia (thank God) said "she really looks like Rachel." I got to give him the fullll rundown on her: people wondered if she'd play Rachel's birth mother since she's got two gay dads, Idina was in the original Broadway casts of Rent and Wicked, and she played the Patrick Dempsey's fiance in "Enchanted"...she's the one who went to the cartoon land at the end. Now there's two things she SHOULD have sung in and didn't - Enchanted and this episode of Glee.27. McKinley High Old Maids Club whoa boy...doesn't seeing a scene like this make you think about the actresses who auditioned for the part of "highly unattractive girl"? Sidenote, the black girl next to Rachel actually played a cheerleader on "Heroes," and you can kinda tell a lot of what they did to make the girls look terrible had to do with hair/mu/wardrobe, and you do have to have a thick skin in Hollywood, but it's gotta be internalized for at least a couple of those girls. Awesome lines: "now I spend my Friday nights making out with my cat and watching Ghost Whisperer," (that girl is going to be in an upcoming TV movie with Nikki Blonsky about girls at a fat camp) (Sue's lines) "if i weren't ignoring what these ladies were saying out of an overwhelming sense of deeeep repulsion..." and "you have to become more narcissistic and self-centered than you already are."28. Terri got some Botox or Juvaderm or somethinggggg during the hiatus. You noticed she looked extra "fresh" and youthful right? Aside from that, she did an awesome job being vindictive during the confrontation with Emma. Jessalyn and Jayma are two of the best dramatic actors on the show.29. Jonathan Groff reminds me of the actor who plays Evan Chambers on "Greek." Anyone else?30. Early on in the episode, I think during the library scene, I said to my husband, "wow, this could be realllly bad for Rachel, being dumped by Finn, then falling in love with Jesse only to have him screw her..." then she flat out tells him this on the Vocal Adrenaline stage...then he looks at Ms. Corcoran (Idina Menzel) when he kisses Rachel. Either they're scheming, he's got a vendetta against his coach or they're sleeping together AND scheming. I'm guessing it's just the first thing, but maybe the last?31. I always love when Emma distills things down to the emotional core like in the scene where she breaks up with Will, "how is you compromising yourself for my crazy any different than you doing it for hers?" Oh, and the heartbreak! This poor girl! A virgin and OCD and so sweet and wonderful. I want her to win. I want her to be able to get "messy." I love her.32. What's Rachel mean when she says, "I ended it with Jesse, you can spread the word, I know you know how to do that"? Regardless, now we're set up back at square one of the longing and tension between them again. Emotional reset button! Except now the tables are turned.

***Here are the credits - WTF?:
Starring: (this is alphabetical) Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jessalyn Gilsig, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Kevin Mchale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Jenna Ushkowitz
Then special guest stars:
Jonathan Groff
Idina Menzel
Then guest starring:
Iqubal Theba - Figgins
Patrick Gallagher - Ken Tanaka
Naya Rivera
James Earl - FB player
Josh Sussman
Max Adler - FB player
Heather Morris
Harry Shum Jr
Dijon Talon
HOW do those barely noticeable football players get the same billing as people like Figgins, Brittany and Santana? Would they just add the 4 of them already? They're in EVERY group scene and more in every episode.

Sneak peek - Rachel sings "Hope It Gives You Hell"

2010-04-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

New show performance video!
Hope It Gives You Hell by All American Rejects
(this wasn't embeddable)
Looks like Rachel is pissssssed at Finn.

Dear Heather Morris - You're the coolest

2010-04-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

So, you know I/we love Brittany beyond words. Heather Morris is pretty amazing herself. She was a former dancer for Beyonce:

On Ellen:

On the Today show:

She was one of the "suit" dancers in the How I Met Your Mother musical number about Barney and his love of suits:

You can most clearly see her at the end in the front right area in a purple shirt.

Here's a random acting thing with her:

This is from her personal YouTube channel. Here's a link in case you want to stalk her. I mean, see what she's been up to.

And lastly, here's how Heather got hired as Brittany on Glee.

Seriousy awesome Glee related press-n-bits

2010-04-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

Didja see the great Glee parody on Jimmy Fallon last night? I did...

On top of that Oprah had a whole special.
Somebody To Love:

Somebody To Love on Oprah's website

Don't Stop Believin':

Behind the Scenes
The Cast Answers Questions
Tour of the choir room by Matthew Morrison
Slushie tutorial

AND they went to the White House (as I'm sure you all know):
Somebody To Love, Somewhere Over The Rainbow and Sweet Caroline:

True Colors, Home and Don't Stop Believin':

So much Glee love! And their promos have been glorious:
Like A Prayer:

9:28/8:28 promo:

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello promo:

Glee is back:

This is allllllll very exciting! (I know you get excited inside when you see these promos during American Idol).
XOXO

Sectionals - jampackedfullofincrediblegleeness

2010-04-09T18:29:00.000-07:00

And I Am Telling You:

How could this girl have not gotten onto American Idol? This song, even outside the context of Dreamgirls, has a huge emotional impact...
"I'm going to hug you now." Rachel to Mercedes

"Well I do have something I've been working on since I was four" - Don't Rain on My Parade:

You Can't Always Get What You Want:

How 'bout the chick from True Blood being Candace Dystra. "They weren't singing, they were like honking..."

The only not awesome thing about the episode was Eve's lame acting...and the soft pretzel craving it gave us.

Terri coming clean with the truth of what she was experiencing kinda made me want to give her another chance in the future, which is good, because I know she's going to be back. She does need to pay some penance though...

Principal Figgins schooling Sue Sylvester was awesome. "My word is official. Let it be written."

"Get ready to board the Sue Sylvester Express. Destination HORROR."

My Life Would Suck Would Without You (Glee):

Anyone notice all the choreography is a call back to previous numbers? Pay close attention for the Tina-KatyPerry-audition-thigh-chop.

And the kisssssssssssssss.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sigh.....swoon...... <3 <3 <3... perfect edit to cut out too.

I can't wait for their prep for regionals. Sigh.

Mattress - aka the yearbook episode - aka the big fight

2010-04-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

Smile:

Jump - couldn't find an embeddable one:
Jump video

Smile - Charlie Chaplin version from the end of the episode:

Favorite lines of the episode:
Brittany about Patches the homeless guy outside the library who was a former Glee club kid shown in the Thunderclap: "he barks at my mom"
"I could use a lieutenant, I have over 65 proposals." Rachel on adding a Glee club co-captain

Most potential prophetic statement, especially since all of the eps were in the can before the show went on the air:
Rachel before shooting the commercial: "guys, I want us to always remember this moment. Soon there may be agents and managers and movie deals, but right now I want us to remember what it feels like to be here together as a team."

The fight that Will and Terri have towards the end of the episode is some for real acting...and was really well done.
Quinn's standing up to Sue Sylvester was where she turned a corner to human...(so says my husband).

Hairography ... aka "The Art of Distraction"

2010-04-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a guest star isn't as bright as the regular cast, and that was the case IMO with Eve. They should have gotten someone with some comedy experience who was at her star-power level.

Bootylicious:
(there wasn't a good quality video to embed, but there's a video link below this video)

http://www.e4.com/video/Da4bWuApwvTKiNLpAUSVp5/play.e4

Papa Don't Preach:

Crazy In Love/Hair hairography mash-up - I couldn't find it, but this is a featurette on it:

Imagine:

This made me cry real tears.

So did this - True Colors:

Favorite line of the episode:
"Rachel somehow manages to dress like a grandmother and a toddler at the same time." -Kirk
Other awesome lines:
Brittany teaching hairography: "K, so you guys, it's like cool epilepsy."
Santana to Quinn: "asking a guy to babysit is so 90s."

A "ballad" is a male duck -Brittany

2010-03-31T17:49:00.000-07:00

Brittany, I love you.

Endless Love: (endless awkwardness)

I'll Stand By You:

Wasn't that moment with Finn and his mom after the song really nice and lovely? I'll stop saying that now because there were a ton of scenes with great acting and heart in this episode.

Young Girl/Don't Stand So Close To Me:

Emma was too good in this scene...and Rachel's takeaway from the song was brilliant:
"Yes, it means I'm very young and it's very hard for you to stand close to me."

Crush (not really a full song on the show, but...)

"I have to go, they'll think I'm pooping" --Finn to Kirk via his cell from the Fabray's bathroom.
You're Having My Baby: (couldn't find a video for this one)

Lean On Me:

General show comments:
--Based on the depiction of Quinn's parents, someone on the writing staff clearly grew up in a WASPy family in New England. The prop department failed though because WASPs don't drink pink wine.
--Wasn't in love with the concept of Suzy Pepper, but loved that they cast Everwood's Sarah Drew. When this Glee aired she was also doing a stint on Grey's Anatomy at the same time, so she had a good October/November '09 for sho.
--The "More Than Words" soundtrack while Suzy ate the superhot pepper was awesome. Anyone else have angst/swoon-ey high school memories attached to that song? I do.
--Wiping the tears from Lean On Me.
--Sue Sylvester was completely absent from this episode...

Fan videos are getting reallllly good folks

2010-03-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Check these out:
Manny Garcia is the man - True Colors/Defying Gravity mashup:

More Manny - X4 - Imagine:

This guy, Jay Norton, is pretty adorable - and I'm almost certain he's a Brit, just listen to his pronunciation:

Another with Jay - Don't Stop Believin' - does he remind anyone else of Friday Night Lights' Matt Sarancean?

This isn't a cover, but these kids (who seem pretty young) made up a rap about Glee:

This girl made a good cover of Keep Holding On - I think her name is Sarah Jade:

This girl seems sweet - singing Defying Gravitty:

Another sweetie singing Defying Gravity:

Cute trio doing Somebody To Love - I'm guessing they're in show choir:

Cute couple doing Smile:

Father-Daughter combo doing Papa Don't Preach:

The beauty of this is not lost on me...dad spends time with daughter creating youtube videos of songs she heard on Glee, she'll probably not get pregnant.

Sassafrasses do Take A Bow:

K, I'm about to get back to it, but...

2010-03-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

...so, I often have to go find new video versions of the songs performed on Glee and I ran across a slew of dudes lip-synching to Quinn's audition for New Directions and I have to share:

Please envision the conversation had between these three guys to determine who would play Quinn:

Know Featherman and the Featherettes? You do now.

I think Martin Short and Ryan Reynolds my have had a baby together.

Something makes me think these fellows are brothers...or from another country:

Not brothers:

Straight dudes? Tough gay dudes?

Again...same questions:

I think Sue Sylvester may have some choice words for they boys in the previous two videos:

These boys might be my favorite (next to Featherman and the Featherettes that is...):

And to finish it - Diana sings it life with George Lopez:

P.S. I hope you know me well enough by now to know that Sue's opinions are not my opinions, I was just making a joke.

Artie Artie Artie Artie Artie Artie Artie Artie

2010-01-28T16:28:00.000-08:00

I love Artie so much and he has a great voice.

Dancing With Myself

Defying Gravity:

Glee - Rachel & Kurt - Defying gravity from Sjumilakliv on Vimeo.

Proud Mary

glee - Proud Mary from JAPH JAPH on Vimeo.

Mash up

2010-01-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

Bust a Move

How 'bout those freestyle skillz on Mr. Shu? And Chris Colfer is especially hilarious to watch during this number...watch with an eye on him.

That is one helluva wedding dress on Emma Pillsbury...

Thong song (I always kinda hated this sleazy song):

(ooh, poor Ken at the end)

What A Girl Wants

"your arms are lovely but..."

Sweet Caroline dedicated to a Jewish Musical Icon":

and a BTS on it:

Finn & Santana Lopez all pissy in the back on the side & Quinn thinking the song is for her...do hoof.

The irony of this number is that it's called "Sing! Sing! Sing!"

I Could Have Danced All Night (how surprised were we all that she could sing like that?!)(couldn't find a video this time around - if you know of one send me a link!)

Quinn's "cool" sunglasses are supposed to be Jackie-O, but they're more glaco-mo.

That's a lot of numbers for one show...

The mother of all inappropriate racial nicknames

2010-01-28T14:56:00.000-08:00

Oh Throwdown, how beautiful are your completely inappropriate racial epithets.

Hate on Me:

I love this song b/c it's live, real signing instead of it sounding like it was pre-recorded in a studio - Ride Wit Me:

Contrasted with the totally convoluted No Air:

GLEE: “No Air” @ Yahoo! Video

You Keep Me Hangin' On

(is it just me or does Quinn sound like she has a cold half the time?)

OMG I'm crying from this last song - Keep Holdin On

No, Sue, not the children....!!!!

Bye white people!

Oh hello there! Time for some Vitamin D in the middle of winter.

2010-01-28T13:56:00.000-08:00

Please forgive me for deserting you. I got a little disheartened by the Kristen Chenoweth episode. For some reason I felt like it was just taking the show in the wrong direction. She's so awesome, they could have made more out of her. Anyway, after that I got really busy, like working 90 hours a week busy, and then I got laid off, and now we're in a Glee drought, so I'm going to get this blog caught up to speed while we wait an interminably long time for Glee to return on Tuesday, April 13th.

Anyway, let's begin where we left off with Vitamin D - the D being for DRUGS or Dextroamphetamine. The episode where Terry comes to spy on Will and takes a job as the school nurse only to drug all of the kids with the same drug in the diet pills she took in high school. And the kids. The kids are being lazy in Glee club so Will makes them compete against each other boyz-against-gurlz and here's what happens:
It's My Life / Confessions Part II

Halo / Walking on Sunshine - this is one of my favorite songs of the show so far:

"...also angels"

April in September

2009-10-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

How'd you like the supra-talented almost-too-perfect doped-up Kristin Chenoweth?

Pretty darn good cover of Take A Bow - and whomever dumped this talented chica, Meghan Tonjes, should get his ass kicked:

BTDubz, this girl takes requests...let's get her to sing another song that Glee did.

So this girl has a studio mic in her office...and did Maybe This Time b/c Kristin & Lea did it on Glee. I'm not sure that I believe that this is the first time she's heard this song. She's too good and too clearly experienced with musical theater.

Don't bother watching this whole thing...but I think it's funny that a dog watches TV/Glee and that the owner thought it was worthwhile to videotape a dog staring at the Glee-playing-TV for like 5 minutes.

Could someone please give "Tina" a little more to do? I want to see the kids more.

Why is that a tiny, famous Broadway star?

2009-09-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

I think it is...
Last Name - not up right now, so here's the recap of the show instead:

Alone (Kristin & Matthew Morrison)

Maybe This Time (Kristin & Lea)

So, I accidentally saw a clip from tonight's episode...there are 3 of them out there and I don't recommend you find them. They're too awesome and I think that it'll just take away from the specialness of watching the show in entirety.

Till tomorrow.
XO

If you like it...

2009-09-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

K, so I'd already seen this ep before, so I'm not new-ep-geeking-out like last week. Plus my poor hoooband is sick and I had to go to a screening of Whip It (it's pretty good), so Glee night was canceled at my house. (That'll be a one time only cancellation)

Anyways, I heart Kurt Hummel tons...and he was such a sweet love when he came out to his dad. They're so different, but he's his dad and he just wants his love. And his dad loves him and it was lovely.

The stuff Sue Sylvester is pulling with getting Sandy back to get Rachel away from Glee club reminds me of Hollywood, so I'm guessing that the writers were injecting some of their own emotional experience into that storyline.

And Rachel...sigh. She'll be battling her ego demons as long as...well...probably forever.

K, the songzzzz-uh.

Put A Ring On It basement dance:

Football team Put A Ring On It dance:

Jenna singing Tonight (BTdubz, we all know that girl (from Broadway) can hit that note, but whatevz, she was just acting):

Real life Rachel Berry:

Taking Chances (just the music)

Somebody To Love

Next week:

We have more than 13 weeks to Gleek out ... Holla!

2009-09-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

Part of today's press release about the show:
FOX has ordered a full season of the critically acclaimed comedy GLEE, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company.

“The response we’ve received to GLEE has been remarkable,” said Reilly. “It’s already got the makings of a cultural phenomenon. I’ve seen all 13 episodes, and Ryan Murphy, his team and the talented GLEE cast have knocked our socks off with their incredible work. We’re happy to pick up this gem of a show, and can’t wait to see what they’ll do with the rest of the season.”

“It’s fantastic to be the first show picked up and that this underdog series, like its characters, will get the chance to keep singing,” said series co-creator/executive producer Ryan Murphy. “There are so many more stories to tell. We’re grateful for the incredible passion shown by everyone involved – the unbelievable fans, the cast, crew, our partners at the network and studio and even music artists and labels.”

In the next episode of GLEE, airing Wednesday, Sept. 23 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), Kurt (Chris Colfer) takes center stage when he tries out for the football team in order to impress his dad. Sandy (guest star Stephen Tobolowsky) and Sue (Jane Lynch) join forces to carry out their plans for disbanding the Glee Club. Meanwhile, Quinn (Dianna Agron) and Finn’s (Cory Monteith) relationship is tested when they receive some life-changing news.

Whaddya Say to Celine Dion? (Down Under)

2009-09-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Aussie promo:

Hmmm...how do we feel about that?

2009-09-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

Alright darlings, a thought crossed my mind before watching Acafellas. I thought to myself, "This is the first new episode I've seen, what if it's disappointing in some way, what if it doesn't live up to the 3 I've seen so far? What if they take it in a direction I'm not crazy about?"

Within 5 minutes my fears were confirmed.

By the end I kinda got past it though...

I wasn't too keen on Mr. Schuester getting distracted away from Glee club this quickly. In the pilot he was bogged down by the pressure to provide for his baby-on-the-way and abandoned the kids, now he's reacting to his dad talking about "having guts" to follow a dream, Rachel criticizing his choreography and Quinn pointedly asking him if he'd ever performed after high school. And how does he react? Emotionally withdrawing from Glee club and chasing his lost dream of being a performer himself, with the benefit of male bonding, sex and adoration from the wife, a small feeling of success and the avoidance of dealing with the complicated feelings of being hurt by kids who shouldn't be able to hurt him and the huge challenge ahead to make the Glee club into a contender at regionals.

Alrighty, here is where I will give the show credit - they are very good at showing the audience the ways that the littlest things in a person's life can affect them deeply and change the course they're on. I just wasn't ready for Mr. Schuester to abandon the kids so quickly. Think about how that'll affect them? Are they going to be able to easily forgive and keep trusting him so completely? If I was one of those kids I'd be waiting for him to bail again.

So here are the songs from the show:
For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow – into – This is how we do it (Montell Jordan) - it ain't up yet...but this cover of This Is How We Do It is:

The video never came up online, probably b/c it's less of a song and more of a segment of the episode: (update, it's still not up, so I put up the recap that has the scene in there)

Poison (as in that girl is) (Bel Biv Devoe) – didn’t think Ken Tanaka or Howard Bamboo, the guy from the Sheets-N-Things would be able to sing, but hey, they can...

Mercy – Vocal Adrenaline – IMO, cheap. I want to see the Glee kids sing dammit. Imagine Mercedes or Rachel or Tina singing the lead on this...or Artie. Comedy gold. Of course I got it "I'm begging you for mercy, mean choreographer Dakota Stanley" but MORE NEW DIRECTIONS PLEASE AND THANK YOU!:

Bust Your Windows – looks like they’ll have 1 song an ep that breaks the rule of “the kids don’t just break out in song to express their feelings like in HS Musical” - this one was in the form of a fantasy. Interestingly, instead of tapping their feet and grooving their heads the boys who were watching over here just felt it important to discuss how much $$ this scene must have cost to shoot.

I Wanna Sex You Up - most satisfying song of the show...Puck made his singing debut and joined the Acafellas to gain more access to the cougars than just his pool business could supply. I’m fairly certain it worked...in real life. When you watch, in the beginning of the song don't be blinded by the Matthew Morrison juice, pay attention to Sandy Ryerson, he's really funny:

Um, how awesome is the shot of Puck then Sue Sylvester reacting to him? Superawesome.
Then Sue not standing up during the standing ovation was beauty incarnate.

Other bits I must mention:
We got to see some good Finn stuff...calling Rachel out, Rachel calling him out, his supereagerness to have a relationship with Mr. Shu... All that was good and enjoyable. I think I'm starting to see why ppl think Frankenteen is a star.

The Mercedes-Kurt-I’m-Gay scene was lovely...and while the speech by Mercedes is a little trite, it’s the point of the show...expressing what’s really inside you and having a place to be yourself.

Daktota Stanley...In case you kinda sorta recognize him, I'll give credit where it's due, my friend Cayce called it, Whit Hertford WAS the kid brutal in the beginning of Jurassic Park. Ringing any bells?

Lastly, let's discuss the fact that VICTOR-broadway-GARBER DID NOT SING A LICK...WTH? He did a good job making me believe he was a man who had not taken charge of his dreams and was weaker for it though. I hope he comes back and sings at some point. (And drunkenmummy was adorable) (Josh Groban hitting on her was kinda funny too)

I jotted down some notable lines from the show:
MOST DISAPPOINTING LINE: “okay, from the top” - I thought we’d get to see the kids do a flipping flapping freaking fracking song....argh

The rest of the quotes are just plain good:
Sandy, we voted, and when you’re in the group it’s creepy.
-Will

See anyone else with a plate of "I’m sorry" cookies? I don’t, just you.
Finn to Rachel

Have you ever been kissed by anyone? - Mercedes
Yes, if by "someone" you mean the tender crook of my elbow. -Kurt

And I didn’t have to show any of them my bosoms. -Will's mom
Honey, why don’t you go get yourself a Sanka. - Will's dad

The way you use your mental illness to help these kids is inspiring. I’m shocked you’re not married.
-Sue to Emma

Artie, you’re cut, you’re not trying hard enough. -Dakota
At what? -Artie
At walking. -Dakota

You’re freakishly tall. I feel like a woodland creature. -Dakota Stanley

Let’s roll Artie. -Tina

I’m going to have to ask you to smell your armpits.
-Sue Sylvester to Quinn & Santana Lopez

I’m revoking your tanning privileges for the rest of the semester.
Sue Sylvester to Quinn & Santana Lopez
(BTW, anyone else confused when Santana started weeping? I thought she was naturally that color. That's obvi the joke.)

Miss Sylvester, I want to thank you. -Quinn
For what. -Sue Sylvester
For teaching me a valuable life lesson. When you really believe in yourself, you don’t have to bring other people down. -Quinn
...but reallllly that was a thank you to Rachel...and maybe we’ll see the girls become friends.

Peace out yo.

This isn't new, but I'm soooooo excited about tonight I have to post it

2009-09-16T13:15:00.001-07:00

(what, am I five?!) T-MINUS 8 hours and 45 minutessssssssssssss aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhcan't wait. (clearly I'm five)

Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh

(actually I might be closer to 4 1/2)

Man alive - is there NO MERCY?

2009-09-15T08:36:00.000-07:00

So a couple of HQ songs were posted online & embedded in my last post and lickety split Fox did a copyright infringement claim. I get it, but come on, we just want to enjoy the songs from show...no one is making any $ from this and everyone can tell the difference between a fan video and an internet scam trying to make money. And no one who wants to watch the entire show is going to not buy it from iTunes just because the videos of just the songs are online...blah.

ANYWAYZ....here is part of a press release about new musics on iTunes:
Beginning today and continuing every Tuesday, Columbia Records and Twentieth Century Fox Television will release select songs featured in the upcoming episode of GLEE for fans to purchase and download on iTunes. Today’s new releases include the GLEE cast’s versions of Jazmine Sullivan’s “Bust Your Windows” and Grammy Award winner Duffy’s “Mercy.” “Bust Your Windows” and “Mercy” join seven songs already available on iTunes, including “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which shot up to No. 1 after the GLEE preview event in May.

With only two episodes broadcast, GLEE has an incredible five songs in the iTunes Top 200: RACHEL BERRY’s (Lea Michele) version of the Rihanna hit “Take a Bow,” WILL SCHUESTER’s (Matthew Morrison) take on Kanye West’s “Gold Digger,” FINN HUDSON’s (Cory Monteith) performance of REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and the Glee Club’s renditions of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It.”

GLEE airs Wednesdays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. A special encore broadcast of tomorrow night’s episode will air Friday, Sept. 18 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Columbia Records and Twentieth Century Fox Television will release “Glee: The Music, Volume 1,” the first in a series of soundtracks that feature some of the music heard in the first season of the critically acclaimed series on FOX. “Glee: The Music, Volume 1” will feature spectacular renditions of several chart-topping hits, including Queen’s “Somebody to Love” and Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”

Yeah, so the fact that Glee has 5 songs in the iTunes Top 200 just tells me that little Glee song videos online are NOT GOING TO HURT THEIR PROFITS...it'll only get people more invested in the show. Being jerky/overprotective will just frustrate fans. And I do get all of the legal issues, I get it, I get it. I just disagree.

2009-09-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hey-o, someone's Leavin On A Jet Plane:

Oh look! Here's Take A Bow:

Say A Little Prayer:

Here's another causing me to ponder why boys are always playing the role of the head cheerleader. I think it's just a psychic premonition of Preggers (you'll see what I mean soon):

To make up for it here's Aretha circa 1960-something:

Here's another sweet and good cover of Don't Stop Believin':

And here's a sweet cover of Leavin' On A Jet Plane:

If you recognize this boy, it's b/c he also covered Don't Stop Believin'.

(2 days till Acafellas!)

All by myself

2009-09-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

Not sure if this counts as a musical number, but whatev:

This Acafellas promo has 2 great songs - This is How We Do It & Mercy (<3 Duffy):

Wine, Dine & Showmance me baby

2009-09-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

Hello darlings..........

I realize a fatal flaw of this "musics only" blog might be that FOX might want you to only have access to them by buying the show/songs on iTunes only and be hyper-vigilant about making posters take down their videos. We shall see. For now...there are only "wassup, i taped my tv playing and i din't even use a tripod" versions of Gold Digger, Take A Bow & Push It, but that's better than nothing...
Gold Digger

Take A Bow

Push It

But hey, here is the whole episode blahhhhhhhh.

What about Say A Little Prayer? Got it

What about Sit Down You're Rockin The Boat?

Oh well, I've worked for FOX before, I should know better. To console myself I'll just post my new favorite fan vid:

la la la la la la what a sweetie pie. bye!

Glee premiere last night...

2009-09-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

So, I say JUST musics on this blog, but I must report on the Glee premiere last night. Working in teevee I somehow got on the gold list for FOX publicity, which is how I got the Cheerios jacket and a bunch of other Glee-rific stuff sent for my overenjoyment. Anyway, I got invited to the premiere and of course I went, feigning total coolness, but in reality on the inside I was like "look it's Chris!" "look it's Amber!!!" "OMG IT'S JANE LYNCHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

K, so here is the rundown:
We (my husband, Greg & I) drive up to the valet - there are HUGEEEEE Glee hot air type balloons everywhere.
We go to the check in desk and get our red sparkly FOX VIP wristbands, but not before I see Chris Colfer in his bright blue shirt:

He was chatting with (overwhelmed and bombarded by) a huge crowd of suited FOX execs, publicists, agent types.

I didn't see Kevin till later, but Greg had eagle eyes and spotted him in his bow-tied, clam diggered glory:

So, we walk by these cheerleader girls who were awkwardly washing that Chevy...I think it was a cute idea in concept, but skeevy in execution because there were no high school boys to see it, just middle-aged publicity/studio types. The car company clearly was an event sponsor though b/c we had to watch one of their commercials before the screening started.

Some dudes with headsets and sweaty, creased brows tell everyone to start to head in to the screening, so we head that way en masse. In front of us was the girl from the other Fox show Dollhouse, Dichen Lachman:

On the way there was a spot to get a McKinley High Student ID...we skipped it, but got one when we came out:

We swung by the Popcorn-Candy-Drinks spot and saw the Glee napkins and vowed to steal a fat stack for our Gleemiere-gathering at our pad tonight. We got popcorn, Red Vines AND an In-Your-Face-Rachel-SLUSHEE. Yip yip!

We go in and grab seats - and guess what I got...you'll never, so I'll just tell you: A GLEE L-is-for-LOSER FOAM FINGER!!!!!!! And some Cheerios pom poms...I'm so excited to watch Glee with them tonight. Rah Rah Sis Boom Glah!

We hang out for awhile watching the actors mingle around with the Fox peeps, they take these type pics:

If you're facing them like the photog we were sitting about 20 feet back in line with Diana...the front of the house was 90-degrees to their right. Anywayz, we saw everyone mingling around...Lea Michele was a social butterfly flitting around the seated folks from pal to publicist to family member (I'm assuming, no idea who she was actually talking to)...then Jane Lynch had a funny air convo with a lady who was sitting to our left. There was a lot of mouthing and gesturing and it made us laugh.

Then the CEO of 20th Century Fox, the unnaturally-hot-for-a-TV-exec Dana Walden got up and displayed her mediocre public speaking skills:

She did make this (could-have-been-funny) joke:

Ryan Murphy couldn't be here tonight b/c he's in Italy filming a small independent film with an unknown actress...okay, the film is Eat, Pray, Love and the actress is Julia Roberts...but he asked me to convey this message blah blah blah...he gained 10 pounds..blah blah blah...and I know he wishes he could be here and also that he was 10 pounds lighter.

Then the guy on her left who is the Fox Broadcasting, president of entertainment, Kevin Reilly, came up and talked and brought up the entire cast, but forgot Jenna (who plays Tina) and so he brought her to the middle. Then he had everyone-everyone come up including the actors who play the characters we don't really know yet:

They are:

Heather Morris - who is one of Quinn's hench-cheerleader, Brittany

Dijon Talton - who just looks unfriendly in this picture and who plays Matt Rutherford, no clue who he is, I assume a FB player turned Glee kid

Naya Riviera - who is the other hench-cheerleader, Santana Lopez

And Harry Shum Jr. who plays a character named Mike Chang, who I can't remember at all...he has a LOT of dancing experience so I'm guessing he's a football player who eventually ends up in New Directions.

NOTENOTENOTE: They were all VERY chummy with the rest of the cast which indicates that they're a pretty big part of the show later on.

Then they did the thing where they give the charity chick a huge check for $25,000. (National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts - they do really good stuff like get arts programs in the LA public schools who have NO ARTS FUNDING - blah LA)

Thennnnnnnn they showed us SHOWMANCE! (after the car commercial)

Here is who, pound-for-pound, got the biggest laughs:

-->Jane Lynch - obviously, duh, she's a superheavyhitter

-->Kevin McHale - he is a brilliant comedian...and I think that he will have equal division of the fangirl love between he and Cory

-->Chris Colver/Jayma Mays - tie

The songs in the show that got a huge reaction were:
Golddigger - obviously

Push It - the audience actually ruined the HUGE moment after the end of the song b/c we were so screamy/cheering/laughing-like-4-year-olds

Take A Bow - Lea killed it...and this is the only song that "breaks" the Glee rules. This song was begun as a rehearsal, but then we see Rachel singing in the hallway of school at Finn/Quinn (just realized their names rhymed) who don't acknowledge that she's there and belting out a Rhianna/Leona Lewis song by the lockers.

P.S. These songs are all on the iTunes, but I gotta say the broadcast version of the songs seem to be way better than the studio recording iTunes versions. Maybe not for Lea, but the big group numbers are...

Sidenote: I have to say, a friend of ours who is in publicity and shall not be named did an event with the cast before the pilot ever premiered last spring and she said a few of the cast members were like TRUE drama/musical theater geeks - super hyperactive, very loud, etc. I also won't say who so I don't tarnish your image of them...it's not who you'd expect. Anyway, hey have come a LONG way in their PR skillz since then. Everyone was poised, polished and still very accessible.

OH...forgot to mention...a very tallerthanhe, sexy Latinasian woman was by the side of Mr. Schuester and boy-oh-boy was he happy about that. They were kissysmoochytouchyfeely for sure. I don't ever think anyone wondered if he liked boys, but he does not.

K, onwardsnupwardz...after the awesome screening...we come out and they've transformed the area to a cocktail-reception-meets-highschool-cafeteria place. There are a few open bars, then inside there are super-gruff cafeteria ladies with hairnets barking at everyone to get their trays and keep moving. "I can't do everything, get your own silverware!" (BTDubz, that's Greg with the cafeteria lady in the Gawker link) The food was like upscale high school fare - Mac-N-Cheese, Beef stew type stuff, chicken breasts, pasta, salad, etc.

After we got our food it was funny to walk out of the "cafeteria" to try to find a seat at the picnic tables b/c everyone had the "omg-who-am-i-going-to-sit-with-omg-where-do-i-sit" high school lunchroom panic face. We sat. We ate. Some people sat with us and we discussed the panic face. I recognized a slew of Fox ppl and they recognized me, but am terrible with publicist names even if I've met them dozens of times, so I just avoided that part and enjoyed staring at the cast who were walking around.

One of the nicest things I saw was Ian Brennen with his family. He is this guy who wrote a screenplay called "Glee." It got into the hands of Ryan Murphy who decided it should be a TV show and now this guy who doesn't even have his own wikipedia entry is a Creator/Writer/Co-EP of one of the most highly anticipated TV shows in a long time. The Hollywood dream is alive and well. Anyway, the cast kept coming over and meeting Ian's family, which was really sweet.

Oh! BTW, dessert was hosted by some cheerleaders as a bake sale...that's how we scored a bazillion napkins for the Gleemiere gathering @ my house tonight..."oh I'll just take a cookie and um, I need 20 napkins under it, thanks!"

We meandered and mingled around for awhile and then got our GLEE SHIRTS and went home. All in all a very fun night.

Random notes:

These kids are sporting some serious hipsterjuice:

And can I just say this...Jessalyn Gilsig is like the nicest person ever. I interviewed her a few years ago and the fact that my skin crawls whenever she's onscreen as Terri is a huge testament to what a great actress she is.

BTW - I heart her necklace AND I bet she's going to sing in the show eventually. Apparently she has a lower voice and was always cast as the male lead in all of her high school musical productions.

Here are some other pics of the cutiepies:

K, until tomorrow! Hopefully the denizens of the internet will be productive and get vids up of all the musics in Showmance - fingerscrossedprettypleaseinternettheives!!! XO

Casting of the kids...

2009-09-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

These are more featurettes - but there is singing:
Casting:

Casting Kurt:

Casting Artie:

Casting Mercedes:

Casting Tina:

Casting Will Schuester:

Casting Rachel:

Casting Finn:

Casting Quinn:

I wish there were more casting videos for at least Sue, Puck, Terri, Emma and Brittany.

It's My Life/Confessions

2009-09-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

Not sure where this crappy audio is from...but here's a new song/medley from an episode TBD:

A little Le Freak

2009-09-08T14:07:00.001-07:00

Teen PSA style:

Kristen Chenowith on Glee - wheeeeee!

2009-09-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

I didn't think there'd be anything out there about this yet, but check this out:

Director's cut

2009-09-08T13:30:00.003-07:00

Here it is yo:

Somebody to love - live from the upfronts

2009-09-08T13:17:00.001-07:00

Dig it - as much as you can with the digital cam:

Errrrrr, okay, someone took their video down, so I replaced it.

Hmmmm...

2009-09-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

So, as the Glee premiere rapidly approaches, I realize that there are several songs from the pilot that are not on YouTube b/c either FOX makes people pull them down the second they're posted on YouTube or no one has put them up.
I couldn't find these:
Rockin' The Boat - Glee cast
You're the One That I Want - Glee cast
Leavin' On a Jet Plane - Will

BUT, I just tried to track them all down, and here are the ones I found:
On My Own - Rachel (although I do have a link to the free iTunes download of the video a few posts back) (and here it is on YouTube - no video exists on the internet that I can find)

Can't Fight This Feelin' - Finn (just the song - video wasn't up anywhereeeeee)

Here's a cute fan version of this:

Audition sequence - Glee cast

P.S. Here's a glimpse of Push It

Mark Salling - super bass

2009-09-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

So, I was wondering what Mark Salling was going to sound like when he sang on Glee...

I can't really tell if I like his music with his band, but I think he will probably sound pretty darn good singing with the group...maybe not Kevin McHale good, but good...

What a sweetie...

2009-09-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

Just watch her facial expressions....

Here's another...this girl is doing the girl part to the boy who did the girl and boy parts:

I'm going to make a call and say this girl is a sassafras in real life.

This is too funny

2009-09-04T10:06:00.001-07:00

Some dude was at Starbucks and saw these Gleeks doing their own off-key version of Don't Stop Believin'

Can you hear the espresso machine in the background? I can.

Why isn't Leavin' On A Jet Plane on the internets yet?

2009-09-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is though:

Another adorable Glee cover

2009-09-03T08:37:00.001-07:00

How sweet is this boy?

Glee Soundtrack announced - in stores 11/3

2009-08-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

Check out the official info from the press release (songs in bold we've already seen):

The full track listing for “Glee: The Music, Volume 1” is as follows:

“Don’t Stop Believin’”
“Can’t Fight This Feeling”
“Gold Digger”
“Take a Bow”
“Bust Your Windows”
“Taking Chances”
“Alone”
“Maybe This Time”
“Somebody to Love”
“Hate On Me”
“No Air”
“You Keep Me Hangin’ On”
“Keep Holding On”
“Bust a Move”
“Sweet Caroline”
“Dancing with Myself”
“Defying Gravity”

On my own - not on my webpage

2009-08-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

There is a pretty great version on iTunes of Lea Michelle doing On My Own. It doesn't seem to exist anywhere else, so here is a link-a-doodle

I'm going to guess I'm not the only girl who used to belt out this song whist doing laundry and wallowing in humid teenage angst. Actually, I don't need to guess...I know you waz' singin' and cryin' and whimperin' and feelin' like Eponine, wishin' to be in the arms-o-Marius. Don' lie, I knowz.

Here are the auditions
Rachel:

Mercedes:

Kurt:

Tina:

Artie didn't have an audition part did he? This is the bit on him that goes in this series though:

Here's a bit on Chris & Amber's real auditions, plus vid of their New Directions auditions:

All that a cappella scoring the show...

2009-08-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

So, yeah, this group called The Swingle Singers are the group who provide the a cappella music scoring the show. They never do a whole song on the show, but I'm going to post a song since we have to wait forever and a day for the show to come on.

The show does a really good job with their scoring...Sue Sylvester seems to have a theme song. See if you can pick it up once the show is on.

While we wait...

2009-08-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

Let's see some awesome coverage:

And:

Don't hate, but I've seen the first 2 episodes of Glee, not counting the pilot that was televised, and they do an awesome version of Golddigger - Kanye

(And double don't hate, but I'm wearing a Cheerios jacket FOX sent my work as part of a press kit.)

XO

Somebody To Love

2009-08-25T16:57:00.001-07:00

(as part of a promo)

Rehab

2009-08-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

At least Amy is doing something positive in the world:

Bust Your Windows

2009-08-25T16:51:00.001-07:00

I love this girl...

Let's start at the very beginning...

2009-08-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

A song made better by coverage:

Glee - Don't Stop Believe
by Bugabookas