Ignore my bad singing! It was just to get them to not be so shy and start singing along. They know all the words and they’re just so darn adorable! By the way I love how Christiana is like, “Miss press it?” because she wasn’t sure if she should press the button.

♥I super love Glee!!!♥

Oh well…the story is not really my type..too typical American high schoolish kind of story with all the unnecessary sex scenes and all those sexual references.. But I have to admit that it’s selling point is really the songs. I love the music, the performances, the songs, the dancing, the choreography. I love singing (and dancing) with them. The songs from the soundtrack have been my LSS these days. Maybe I really have a weakness for these kinds of shows (those with singing involved) which may explain my liking for shows like High School Musical, Hannah Montana, Lizzie Mcguirre, and others. Maybe if the story was more wholesome and insightful, I might call this show the best..hehe :Þ

But I love the songs.. here’s my LSS for today, “Take a Bow” originally by Rihanna performed in Glee by Rachel Berry (Lea Michele).

You look so dumb right now,
Standin’ outside my house,
Tryin’ to apologize,
You’re so ugly when you cry,
Please, just cut it out

Don’t tell me you’re sorry ’cause you’re not,
Baby when I know you’re only sorry you got caught,
But you put on quite a show (oh),
You really had me goin’,
But now it’s time to go (oh),
Curtains finally closin’,
That was quite a show (oh),
Very entertainin’,
But it’s over now (but it’s over now),
Go on and Take a Bow, ohh..ohh

Grab your clothes and get gone (get gone),
You better hurry up before the sprinklers come on (come on),
Talkin ’bout girl, I love you, you’re the one,
This just looks like a re-run,
Please, what else is on

Don’t tell me you’re sorry ’cause you’re not (mmm),
Baby when I know you’re only sorry you got caught (mmm),
But you put on quite a show (oh),
You really had me goin’,
But now it’s time to go (oh),
Curtains finally closin’,
That was quite a show (oh),
Very entertainin’,
But it’s over now (but it’s over now),
Go on and take a bow, ohh

And the award for the best lier goes to you (goes to you),
For makin’ me believe that you could be faithful to me,
Let’s hear your speech out?
(But you put on quite a show you really had me goin’),

But now it’s time to go (oh),
Curtains finally closin’,
That was quite a show (oh),
Very entertainin’,
But it’s over now (but it’s over now),
Go on and Take A Bow

But it’s over now

EDIT: 3 new songs from Rated R reviewed HERE!  Enjoy!

EDIT 2: the full Rated R album review HERE

Rihanna’s new song, “Russian Roulette”, premiered today and it has taken a lot of people by surprise.  Namely, because the Ne-Yo produced track is a dark ballad.  Now, a lot of people don’t like Rihanna when she sings songs like “Unfaithful” and “Take A Bow”.  They tend to prefer her uptempo material, and with songs like “Umbrella”, “S.O.S.” and “Sell Me Candy”, who can argue with that?  But “Take A Bow” was a fantastic, simple song with a touching lyric and nice piano chords, and this new track also delivers the goods.

Rihanna’s vocals have improved – she still sounds somewhat like a goat, but this is probably one of the best vocals she has turned in.  I remember when she first came on the scene, and seeing her perform “Pon De Replay” live, I saw some vocal potential which had yet to be developed.  That potential seemed to disappear during the campaigns for A Girl Like Me and Good Girl Gone Bad (a fantastic album, but one driven more by production and songwriting than the talents of the singer herself).  In short, she often sounded like a goat bleating, and many many blogs and people I know have compared her to that animal.  On “Russian Roulette”, there is less bleating and more vocal promise – the dark lyrics and strong melody allow Rihanna to stretch her vocal cords without ever sounding strained or out of her comfort zone.

Lyrically, the song is smart too.  It never uses the words “russian roulette” (perhaps avoiding censorship from over-zealous radio stations, though references to “guns” and “triggers” are still present) but leaves the metaphor ambiguous – she could be talking about an actual game of Russian roulette, or she could be talking about a dangerous, damaging love. (Hello Chris Brown.) The tension between feelings of vulnerability and strength is explored as the theme of the song, and despite it being lyrically concise, words like “I’m terrified but I’m not leaving / Know that I must pass this test” convey that conflict effectively.  The song ends ambiguously, with the bridge lyric being “It’s too late to pick up the value of my life” and a gunshot signalling the song’s climax.  We don’t know whether that gunshot means that Rihanna has lost the game of Russian roulette, or whether she put the gun to her head only to survive and play another game.  Either way, it is suggested that the singer is brave enough to play the game and confront her demons / love / whatever you think the song is about.  It’s very open to interpretation.

I’ve read a lot of complaints about the song – it’s a ballad and Rihanna can’t sing them; we wanted another “Umbrella” or “Don’t Stop The Music”; we thought it would be catchier and an uptempo dance smash; it’s not edgy enough.  I was pleasantly surprised by Rihanna’s choice to use a ballad for her lead single.  I don’t think that it will be massively successful, simply because people’s idea of a smash hit record seems to be anything (particularly coming from RedOne or Ryan Tedder – *yawn*) with a 4/4 beat and vocals which repeat the same line / word / syllable over and over again (see: Lady GaGa, who has built a large part of her career on writing songs which go “mamamama papa-papa po-po-po-poker face po-po-po-po-po oh ohhhhohohoh oh oh ra ra ha ha ha ra ra ha ha ha ga ga” and then dancing around to them in silly, ‘avant-garde’ outfits).

“Russian Roulette” was not what I expected.  Like everyone else, I expected an uptempo, faux-’edgy’ stab at R&B-rock-pop with a dance edge and a repetitive, multi-hooked chorus.  But I am pleased with what we got, which was a dark, brooding ballad showing long-overdue vocal promise and interesting lyricism to match the music and tense vocal delivery.  After getting bored with Rihanna and her awful collaboration with Maroon 5 and that annoying “Disturbia” song (“bum bum be dum bum bum be dum bum” – why is singing stupid rhythms with non-existent words deemed the high end of songwriting these days? *smh*), this song has opened my ears again and I am once more interested in what she has to offer.

Uma nova forma de lucrar com um seriado. É isso que ‘Glee’ e a Fox vêm ensinando a seus concorrentes.

As canções do programa estão por toda a Internet. Ao preço de $1.99, o clássico ‘Don’t Stop Believin”, do Journey, na voz do elenco da série, já foi baixada mais de 400 mil vezes no iTunes gerando um lucro de 800 mil dólares.

‘Glee’ vem se tornando não só o seriado mais “moderno” da televisão, mas também o mais rentável. Ryan Murphy, criador do musical, acredita que é um novo modelo que as emissoras devem começar a adotar em massa, pois ao contrário do senso comum, há muito mais a lucrar do que apenas TV, DVD e a venda dos episódios para canais a cabo.

Cinco canções de ‘Glee’ já estão no Top 100 do iTunes. Em décimo lugar, ‘Take a Bow’, de Rihanna. Em 28º, ‘Don’t Stop Believin” do Journey. ‘Golddigger’ do Kanye West aparece em 45º, ‘Push It’ do Salt’N'Pepa em 88º e ‘Can’t Fight This Feelin” do Speedwagon na 89º posição.

Não, o iTunes não é tudo. Cinco álbuns do elenco já estão planejados, o primeiro para 3 de novembro. Em maio de 2010, também é esperado uma compilação com as 75 músicas que serão exibidas na comédia musical.

E a grande notícia aqui é a confirmação de que no próximo verão norte-americano acontecerá uma turnê do elenco da série. Murphy afirma ainda que a idéia é seguir os passos de ‘American Idol’, também da Fox, e lançar os jovens estrada afora.

O sucesso e a economia não podem parar. Os fãs agradecem. A Fox deve anunciar em breve que ‘Glee’ terá uma temporada completa com 22 episódios. Não poderia ser diferente.

Some CDs are extremely easy to listen to.  They don’t require too much thought and can be tossed into the CD player regardless of your mood.  Sister Hazel’s latest release, “Release,” happens to be one of those CDs.  I have listened to this while working on the most boring homework assignment, while I was extremely upset and during a drive on one of the sunniest days of the semester.

It is music like this that I respect quite a bit.  I can’t deny that I like a challenge when I listen to certain music.  I love to analyze the lyrics and try and figure out what the artist/songwriter is trying to say.  However, there are definitely times where I would rather just sit…and listen.  With “Release,” I can do just that.  This rock CD is the group’s 7th release.  Each member contributed at least two songs to the 12 track album, creating track list with a whole slew of full sounding songs.

[Random sidenote: If you can't think of why you know the name "Sister Hazel," look up the song All for You on Google, and relive the memories you created in 1996.  Otherwise, it could be because the band has sold over 2 million records and is on Twitter's "Recommended User's list.  Then again...it could be the mere fact that they have had 7 top 3o singles.  No big deal.]

The “chill” vibe heard on “Release” is addicting.  It relaxes me almost immediately and let’s me truly enjoy what I’m listening to.  Yes, it is possible for music to have a relaxing effect.  Once you sort through all of the computerized music that is attacking radio stations everywhere and take a second to appreciate the full sound a band like Sister Hazel can create, you may take a trip back to the days where instruments created music.  Trust me, it’s better there.

Lead singer Ken Block uses the same conversational tone he used on his solo album.  Just as it did on his own album, his voice makes the CD comfortable to listen to, as if the band happened to be hanging out in your living room with you, performing nonchalantly.

Choosing standout songs made me realize something else about this album.  After looking at my “final list,” I went through and listened to the songs again.  None of them sound the same!  Sure, all of them are the same genre, but the general feel emanating from each song is different.  This truly makes me appreciate the talent the group has in the songwriting department.  They have an understanding of what it takes to make a well rounded album and used each bandmate’s strong points to create one great sounding CD.

The songs that best showcase this diversity are Take a Bow (a song driven by a rock vibe, more reminiscent of their previous work), Run for the Hills (a catchy, upbeat song that will be stuck in your head for days–not to worry, this is a good thing), Better Way (a slower, soft rock piece with strong lyrics and a string section ranging from violins to electric guitars), and Vacation Rain (a buoyant song that makes me want to skip down the street with the shoelaces of my bright pink Converse untied…listen and you will understand).

One song served as a pleasant surprise to me, too, and I feel as though I can’t finish this review without commenting on it.  One Life, an “almost ballad,” flew out of my computer speakers with an unexpected smoothness.  A song that deals with an individual looking back on a past relationship and longing to be with that person once again, One Life made me stop working on outside things for the entirety of the song.  It made me curious, and made me listen to it again…and again.  The vocals and softer instrumentals come together to create a sound representative of the vulnerability the aforementioned individual is feeling.  When the lyrics and instrumentals form a relationship like that, the song leaves me in awe.

If you’re in the mood for an upbeat song, grab “Release.”  If you’d rather take a 5 minute break and listen to a slow song, scroll to “Release” on your iPod and veg out.  If you feel like joining me in running around like a little kid with your shoelaces untied to escape reality for a bit, blast “Release” from a CD player on your front porch and go for it.  The diversity offered on this CD is amazing, and is sure to speak to you, regardless of your mood.

Take a Bow:

This is a repost of a review from AfterElton.com – I enjoy this take on the show.  I also enjoy the first picture on the page…I just picture me instead of Rachel. (By the way, I can’t believe the review didn’t mention Finn’s premature…ahem…you know…when he kissed Rachel. I enjoyed seeing that…I’m awful…)

I’ll admit, I’m one of the people who finished watching the Glee pilot feeling a bit wary. The characters were overly broad for my tastes — including tired, cliched characterizations like the witty, fashion-conscious gay guy, the butch, authoritative female coach and the sassy, overweight African-American. Still, I had hopes there would be more to Glee if given the chance. Ryan Murphy’s previous high school series, Popular took a little while to fully find its voice and Glee showed potential with Rachel comments about the necessity of finding online fame.

But with the second episode, “Showmance”, I’m feeling hopeful Glee will find its voice quickly. “Showmance” offered some hilarious barbs at conservative pressures in schools thanks to screen time devoted to queen bee cheerleader Quinn, who just might be the Mary Cherry of William McKinley High School.

Our first glimpse of Quinn in “Showmance” sees her negotiation how many bases she’ll let her football boyfriend Finn pass if he would only quit the glee club. Quinn, we further learn, leads the schools’ Celibacy Club where she advises other girls to live up to misogynistic stereotypes of using sexuality to bag a man (“It’s all about the teasing and not about the pleasing.”) before having the boys and girls get together to practice maintaining a respectable distance while grinding on the dance floor (aka “The Immaculate Affection”).

Rachel smartly sees an opportunity after witnessing the horror of the celibacy club and arranges for the glee club to perform a sexually charged “Push It” at the pep assembly. The song turns out to be a crowd-pleaser but it brings down the wrath of outraged parents and leaves the glee club restricted to a list of “family friendly” songs. There’s plenty of powerful comedy potential to taking on the culture wars and, happily, Glee looks like it’s going there full blast.

“Showmance” didn’t give us much time to see gay student Kurt, unfortunately, but he got some good one-liners. Before the jocks gave him his regular toss into the dumpster, he warns them “One day you will all work for me.” and later he tells Mercedes she looks like a “technicolor zebra”. I’m hoping we’ll get to know Kurt better soon, but at least he’s delivering plenty of funny in his short appearances.

Speaking of funny, “Showmance” also delivered a few deliciously subtle, blink-and-you’ll-miss-them jokes. When Rachel tries to deny that she was sick, she tells Emma that she has no gag reflex. That prompts Emma to tell her “One day when you’re older, that’ll turn out to be a gift.” Meanwhile, when Rachel sees the list of approved glee club songs (where all the songs had Jesus or balloons in the title) Rachel asks, “What’s a luftbaloon?”

My big complaint about this episode is that the performances didn’t quite sound right. Glee’s been great at putting the performances in an organic context, every time someone breaks into song it makes sense that they’d be singing. I just wish those performances sounded as organic as their place in the story. When “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Rehab” were performed in the pilot, those performances sounded like a live performance recorded and cleaned up. A few of this week’s songs –”Gold Digger”, “Push It” and Quinn’s “I Say a Little Prayer” audition — were too slick and distractingly sounded more like people lip syncing to a CD.

That’s probably a minor complaint amid the signs of growth Glee is already showing. What did you think of the episode? True, Kurt and Mercedes remain broad stereotypes but the improvement from pilot to “Showmance” has me hoping that we’ll see these characters fleshed out, which is what Murphy accomplished on Popular.

By the way, the overnight ratings are in and the news is good. Not only did Glee add viewers from its lead-in So You Think You Can Dance, more people in the advertiser-friendly demographics tuned in than those who watched the series’ debut in May — suggesting that people watched the pilot over the summer and liked it enough to addGlee to their schedules. Meanwhile, Glee’s time slot competitors –America’s Got Talent and Wipeout — hit notable lows, which might suggest they were hit hard by the new competitor.

Rihanna’s presence on this list might seem obvious. She’s an artist who makes her living selling her appearance and sexuality as much as her music. But she’s pretty much the only singer of that sort I like who works for me in both areas. I listed Shakira and Christina Aguilera as two performers who shouldn’t have to sell sex to sell CDs, but that’s probably because I don’t find either of them all that sexy. Rihanna, on the other hand…

But it is still very much about the music. On the flip side you have Beyonce, somebody to whom Rihanna is often compared. I find Beyonce sexy as hell but her music doesn’t do much for me. I’ll never change the channel if I come across her on TV but I have no interest in listening to any of her albums. I discovered Rihanna through her music before knowing much about her appearance.

It’s kind of like having a hair stylist who does a really great job on your hair and happens to look like, well, Rihanna. If she looked like Linda Hunt, you’d still go to her for the haircut but the fact that she looks like Rihanna makes the process a lot more exciting.

‘Take a Bow’ is a great song that was released as a single and then added to the “Reloaded” version of Good Girl Gone Bad. It was written by Chris Brown. How bizarre that he wrote this when he and Rihanna were a couple and wound up providing her with a perfect song to sing to his dumb ass after he beat her up on Grammy night. I mean, other than the one line about being unfaithful, this song could have been written about that whole ugly situation.

I cannot stress enough, just how much I loooove this show!  It’s like one big musical!  I don’t think enough people acknowledge just how good and entertaining this show really is.  Please…if you do anything with your life…WATCH THIS SHOW!  And as a side note, I am inlooove with Mr. Schuester.  I wish I had him as my vocal teacher in highschool.  I would have definitely went to class!  It’s only on the fifth episode this week.  So you’ve got plenty of time to catch up! Go, Go, Goooooooo!

Oh, Glee. I love you so much. How on earth has a show gotten this feverish of devotion from me after only two episodes? I blame all the singing and dancing. I am totally a sucker for singing and dancing, and this show is like a mini-musical every week!

But let’s discuss the fall premiere.

Stand-Outs:

“Take A Bow”- Wow. Another amazing performance. Lea Michele killed it this episode, and has somehow made the certifiably insane Rachel a sympathetic character. I was a little taken aback with how much happened between her and Finn this early on in the season, but their little picnic/practice was hilarious. “I was wondering what that was about.” Priceless.

Jane Lynch- She gets the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress next year or I storm the castle in fury. I can’t believe America is lucky enough to get a weekly dose of this woman now instead of just waiting for her to steal another movie from Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd.

“Push It”- So dirty, so wrong, so Ryan Murphy. It’s good that network TV forces a slight repression of his dirty little Nip/Tuck tendencies, even though that show was once great, but now ridiculous. But at least he got some outlet for his crazy ways, and Finn politely setting Rachel down after she rode that cowboy was one of my favorite little moments of the episode.

Emma- Love the actress, love the character, loved her anti-bulimia speech to Rachel. (“What made you want to puke your guts up?”) That would so be me as a guidance counselor. And she has killer style. Very naughty librarian.

Let-Downs:

Quinn Fabray- This girl needs to learn how to lip-synch if she’s going to be stealing performances from Rachel. That “Wishing, Hoping, Dreaming” thing was just bad, bad, bad. They’re giving her great material- (“Did you see the way It was undressing him with It’s eyes?”) but I’m not sure she’s quite up to the task. I hope I’m proved wrong in episodes to come.

Types, Not Characters- I feel like Terry and the rest of the Glee kids are being drawn REALLY broadly at this point. I know this is a symptom of trying to establish a new show, and hopefully it will get better as the season progresses, but for now, it seems like we’re presented with Token Black Girl, Fabulous Finger-Snapping Gay, Chinese Girl Who Stutters (that could get annoying real fast too), and Will’s Bitchy Wife. Who are these kids outside of Glee? Why on earth does Will love Terry? Hopefully upcoming episodes will fill in the blanks.

Overall, another strong showing with a lot of momentum for the season to come. Can’t wait to see what these crazy kids are singing and dancing about next!

I usually try to keep my posts fairly short (and hopefully therefore easily readable) but have kind of failed at that recently. There’s enough that I could write about Muse and religion that I’ve decided it’s going to be a trilogy. Part 1 covers the pre-Resistance era.

I’m not aware of anything about religion on Showbiz, so we begin with the end of Origin of Symmetry.

Megalomania

“Paradise comes at a price
that I am not prepared to pay.
What were we built for?
Could someone tell me please?
Take off your disguise,
I know that underneath, it’s me.”

I would say “Paradise comes at a price that I am not able to pay.”

“Q. 3. Why did God make you and all things ?
A. For his own glory.”

Bellamy seems to think God (or at least the traditional idea of God) is just part of the imagination.

Spot The Difference

Sing For Absolution

“There’s nowhere left to hide;
in no one to confide.
The truth burns deep inside
and will never die…
Our wrongs remain unrectified…”

Definitions of absolution on the Web:

“the condition of being formally forgiven by a priest in the sacrament of penance
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn“

Ok, well only God has the authority to forgive sins (the Jews wanted to kill Jesus when he claimed to be able to), so if we are only absolved by a priest, then our wrongs do indeed remain unrectified. When we meet God there will be nowhere left to hide, and if he hasn’t forgiven us there will be no one to turn to. The truth burns deep inside, and will never die.

The Small Print

“I’m a priest God never paid.”

I wonder what sort of payment he expects.

Thoughts of a Dying Atheist

“Are you afraid to die?
It scares the hell out of me.”

There was hell in you? I wonder why, if our lives are just chemical reactions anyway, it should be so scary that they should end.

Four Horsemen?

Take A Bow

“You will burn in hell.”

The possibility needs to be taken seriously. You need to be absolutely sure that you’re not going to hell. If you don’t believe hell exists, is there any possibility you could be wrong?

City of Delusion

“build a fortress and shield your beliefs…
Can I believe
when I don’t trust?
All your theories turn to dust.
I choose to hide
from the All-Seeing Eye…
You will not rest
or settle for less,
until you’ve guzzled and squandered what’s left.
Do not deny
that you live and let die.”

In some ways I think he has a point here, a lot of us Christians don’t live our lives as very good examples. I can only point to the example that Christians are aiming to imitate (that would be Jesus) and suggest that trying to hide from the All-Seeing Eye might make quite a cool lyric, but in practice it’s not sensible.

Knights of Cydonia

“I’ll show you a god
who falls asleep on the job.”

This could possibly be interpreted as a criticism of one or more politicians.

Oh, How about a round of applause, Yeah
A standing ovation
Oh, Yeah
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

You look so dumb right now
Standing outside my house
Trying to apologize
You’re so ugly when you cry
Please, just cut it out

[Chorus:]
Don’t tell me you’re sorry cause you’re not
Baby when I know you’re only sorry you got caught
But you put on quite a show
Really had me going
But now it’s time to go
Curtain’s finally closing
That was quite a show
Very entertaining
But it’s over now (but it’s over now)
Go on and take a bow

Grab your clothes and get gone (get gone)
You better hurry up
Before the sprinklers come on (come on)

Talking’ bout’
Girl, I love you, you’re the one
This just looks like a re-run
Please, what else is on (on)

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
Oh, And the award for
The best liar goes to you (goes to you)
For making me believe (that you)
That you could be faithful to me
Let’s hear your speech, Oh

How about a round of applause
A standing ovation

But you put on quite a show
Really had me going
Now it’s time to go
Curtain’s finally closing
That was quite a show
Very entertaining
But it’s over now (but it’s over now)
Go on and take a bow
But it’s over now

My new obsession, GLEE!  Here are some of the songs from this week’s show.  Kanye West’s “Gold Digger”, Rhiana’s “Take a Bow“, the song from My best friend’s wedding, “Say a little prayer for you.”  Seriously, you’re not watching this show, you’re really missing out on pure entertainment. (the video quality isn’t all that great)

Back in May, after American Idol, Fox ran the pilot episode of this little upcoming show called Glee. It was pimped incessantly on television, but they do one of my favorite Journey songs, so I thought “what the hell, I’ll watch the free episode on my commute to work.” And let me just tell you, I fell in looooooooooove with this show. Finn (see poster) is totally adorable, they mix up the oldies with the newbies as far as song choice, and manage to make the stereotypical high school roles funny. But, as I’m sure many american glee clubbers were, I was concerned the show wouldn’t live up to it’s Pilot when the season premiere aired on Wednesday (which I actually had to watch Thursday since the USA was playing at that time). So what’s my verdict you may ask?? Let me break it down for you, win/fail style.

Win: Finn. He’s totes adorable. And really awkward. Trying to do the hip-hop bounce and shoulder thing to Gold Digger was hilarious to watch, mostly because I know I could do it better than he did. And what’s even better?? I’m not actually cradle robbing. Having a crush on a high school charcter is a bit creepy mc creeperson. But having a crush on a high school character played by a 27 year old man is totally ok.

Fail: Finn is one half of the Finn and Quinn relationship. Seriously? Seriously. Finn and Quinn? Could we be anymore sappy and ridiculous. And rhyming couples kinda make me wanna vomit. Projectile.

Win: Celibacy Club. Not because Celibacy is the answer. Because Quinn is so freakin’ hilarious as the president. She won’t let Finn feel her up, and they practice slow dancing with balloons between them “Now remember: if the balloon pops, the noise makes the angels cry.”

Fail: Jesslyn Gilsig as Will’s wife. She’s whiny. She’s annoying. She’s a beast. And compared to Emma, she’s like totally a troll. I love Emma, and I’m all about Team Emma. Has Team Emma been created yet?? If not, you heard it here first. I think it’s because she makes OCD look fashionable, and the scene with the chalk in the classroom was fraught with sexual tension!

Win: Will Schuester’s rendition of Gold Digger. For a white boy, it wasn’t bad. And again, the fact that it was awkward made me laugh. He had rhythm, and he had style. And he did it in a tight fitting t-shirt that showed off impeccible arms (leading to the automatic win even if the performance had been shite). Mercedes’ background vocals for the Jamie Foxx hook were fantastic. But my favorite part of Gold Digger had to the Artie Abrams. He’s this hilarious kid, geeky, and in a wheelchair, and he’s more gangsta than anyone else in Glee Club.

Fail: Will Schuester’s lipsynching skills. You can totally tell he recorded the track and then was bopping around and miming to it on camera. Hopefully that business will right itself, cuz it’s annoying and could detract from the shows awesomeness.

Win: Rachel’s version of Rihanna’s Take a Bow. I’m not gonna even lie to you, I rewound it (the greatness of the DVR) and watched it a second time. And I’ll prolly be scouring the internet looking for the mp3 later. She’s got a fantastic voice, and she completely captures the emotions surrounding teenage crushdom and subsequent heartbreak. And yes, I will be on iTunes on November 3rd to buy Vol. 1 of the soundtrack.

Fail: Jane Lynch as the Coach of the Cheerios is totally obnoxious. And weird. She’s not her typical funny self. I’m hoping that as the show goes on she settles into the role and finds a comfort zone. But I mean, I would totally send my dry cleaning to Europe as well.

Win: Ensemble performance of Push It. It was awkward. And a little raunchy (at least for the 9 o’clock hour). But it was hilarious. None of those kids, except for maybe Mercedes, has the style and attitude to pull of that song, and that’s why it was so great. The butt slapping, and Rachel dry humping Finn, Finn doing hip-hop, and Rachel rapping. It was kinda uncomfortable to watch. But watching them do Freak Out would have been worse. By doing Push It, they totally won over their fellow students, hopefully leading to some of them joining up with Glee. Like mohawk guy on the football team. He’s hot.

So I’m interested to see how Glee progresses. I loved the pilot, and I loved this episode as well. And with American’s Got Talent almost over, I’ll soon be able to watch it as it airs, instead of having to wait until Fridays (Thursday night is a very busy tv night). I think that they have a good thing going here. It’s not brilliantly acted, but the singing is great, and it’s funny, and very good guilty pleasure.

The Wife:

Before I actually talk about the meat of this episode, let me take a minute to be super girly and praise resident beefcake Matthew Morrison, who originated the role of TV dance hunk Link Larkin on Broadway in Hairspray. Dear. Sweet. Mother of all that is holy. That periwinkle cardi! That tie! Those shades! That murse! Morrison looked so superbly hot in this week’s opening scene that I was pretty much beside myself for the rest of the episode. Why wouldn’t Jayma Mays’ Emma be all up on that shit?

One major change in last week’s re-edited pilot was the addition of a romantic foil for Will in gym teacher Ken Tanaka. The re-edit added a few scenes in which he makes his interest in Emma known, as well as her disinterest in him, and I’m glad for those scenes, as I think they help to anchor Emma’s desire for her unattainable beau, who is preparing for the expansion of his family by purchasing a far-too-expensive house simply because Terri wants something shiny and pre-fab, with a $14,000 grand foyer.

“I’ve already did the math, Will. All we have to do is give up Applebee’s and not run the AC for the first couple of summers.” — Terri

Sue continues to rage against the very idea of Glee Club and this week’s methods of sabotage include finding an arcane rule that would required the Glee Club to have at least 12 members in order to show at Regionals, which they presently do not have. (By Sue’s count, it’s only 5 and a half, because of “that cripple in the wheelchair.”) Will’s idea for a membership drive is to show the student body just how awesome Glee Club is by having the kids perform a disco number at an upcoming assembly. Rachel, knowing that this is going to be social suicide for everyone involved (and will likely get her several more slurpees in the face), recruits Finn to help make flyers in lieu of doing the assembly, but gets caught using the Cheerios copy machine, which simply provides more fuel for Sue’s anti-Glee fire. Fortunately, the kids are only asked to pay for the copies they made (much to Sue’s chagrin) and they press on with the assembly.

“Lady Justice wept today.” — Sue

Straight hustlas.

Rachel attends a meeting of Quinn’s celibacy club just to see what all the fuss is about, which, naturally, turns out to be an exercise in complete ridiculousness, replete with dancing against balloons and mantras such as, “Remember, it’s all about the teasing and not about the pleasing.” Rachel can’t stand the hypocrisy of the club, and speaks out against it, which earns her some points with Finn. In fact, the two later share a kiss on a not-so-impromptu indoor picnic during a vocal rehearsal, a scene that, by the way, reminded me very, very much of “Mirror Blue Night” from Spring Awakening.

“I’m still on the fence about this celibacy club. I only joined to get into Quinn Fabray’s pants.” — Finn

So while Will picks up some nighttime janitorial shifts to help pay for the house he and Terri are buying, Rachel devises a plan to change the song for the assembly into something that the student body will actually respond to. Teenagers are horny; they want sex. And so, on assembly day, the Glee Club performs the most hilariously inappropriate song to sing at an assembly . . . ever: “Push It” by Salt n’ Pepa. Frankly, this was a pretty amazing performance, and I think it accurately captured most of the crazy shit we came up with in my high school drama club. (High school friends, that’s accurate, right? I mean . . . right?)

“That was the most inappropriate thing I’ve ever seen in 20 years of teaching, and that includes an elementary school production of Hair.” — Sue

Rachel’s little stunt, rather than getting Glee Club entirely disbanded as Sue would hope, gets them slapped with a list of approved songs, most of which are either about Jesus of balloons. To keep tabs on Glee Club, Sue sends Quinn and a couple of other Cheerios to audition and join the club. I must say, Quinn did give an amazing audition to “Say a Little Prayer for You,” but I feel Rachel’s pain in that her solo in “Don’t Stop Believin’” is given to Quinn. Especially because this means she won’t have anymore alone time with Finn, and her episode-ending performance of Rhianna’s “Take a Bow” was certainly heart-wrenching.

However, nothing in this episode was more heart-wrenching than the scene where Emma helps out Will with his janitorial work, and he confronts her about her OCD, which stems from the time her brother pushed her into the runoff pool on a visit to a dairy farm. Since that day, she hasn’t ever felt clean, nor has she been able to stop smelling that smell. So she lives her life not eating dairy and washing her hands repeatedly and polishing every single grape before she puts it in her mouth. It was sheer beauty to watch Will put a tiny bit of chalk on her nose, and wipe it away after 10 seconds, but incredibly sad to see that Ken Tenaka had witnessed this act, and even sadder when he later confronts her about it, assuring her that he’s really the best that she’ll ever be able to do in their town, and that he’d put up with her crazy if only she’d stop chasing after a married man.

Le sigh.

Stray thoughts:

• Jayma Mays’ Emma has inherited my Chuck Charles wardrobe envy. I want every single thing this woman wears, and it’s appropriate she should inherit this distinction, as she, too, was on Pushing Daisies.
• It’s a major plot point, but so emotionally insignificant that I didn’t feel like talking about it: Terri is having a hysterical pregnancy, but rather than tell Will, she’s apparently going to fake a pregnancy. Good news, though. Now they’re not buying that crazy-ass house.
• I just realized the jock-cheerleader pairing is Quinn and Finn. That’s amazing.
• Hands down, the funniest part of this episode is Finn’s anti-ejaculation flashback of him hitting someone with his car. HILARIOUS.
• “They’re gonna throw fruit at us. And I just had a facial.” — Kurt
• “My dad always said you become a man when you buy your first house. I’m not sure what he meant by that, since he burned ours down after a drunken argument.” — Will
• “This is where our daughter or gay son will sleep.” — Terri, about a room with a sign reading, “A Princess Sleeps Here”
• “This banister was made by Ecuadorian children!” — Realtor
• Every single one of Emma’s guidance pamphlets was hilarious. I can’t decide if my favorite is “Radon: The Silent Killer” or “Wow! There’s Hair Down There!”
• Rachel: I guess I don’t have a gag reflex.
  Emma: One day, when you’re older, that’ll turn out to be a gift.
• WANT: Rachel’s horse sweater.

The Husband:

My favorite guidance pamphlet was “My Mom Is Bipolar And She Won’t Stop YELLING.”

I am very glad to see the musical aspects of this show open up, because there are still plenty of people out there who are trying to convince the world that this show isn’t a “musical.” Yes it is. It is a musical. It’s a backstage musical, which was a subgenre for much of the first couple decades of the movie musical. A musical is not defined by simply having people break into song without lead-up, otherwise dozens of already determined musicals would cease to be considered musicals. (Seriously, I was involved in a major IMDB message board argument over this shit. I know musicals, bitch.) But unlike the pilot, we got glimpses during Rachel’s rendition of “Take a Bow,” which opened up outside of the auditorium to have her singing it into her hairbrush and, most importantly, in the middle of the school’s hallway as Finn and Quinn flirt nearby. So now the show can have its musical cake and eat it, too, and for that I am grateful.

I decided a few days ago that I need to dedicate more time to writing in all forums, blogging particularly. As a challenge to myself, I’ve decided to (barring technical difficulties) post an entry each day with a song that resonates with me, be it due to the day’s events, my emotions, or simply as one worth sharing. This will be in addition to the usual critiques and musings within.

Can I manage to pull this off? I’ve done 100 poems in 100 days; I think I can handle it.

Without further ado, Day One: Take A Bow – Rihanna

I’m not a huge fan of R&B, nor am I necessarily a huge Rihanna fan. This song, however, has been resonating with me for two months now, and it’s been haunting me hourly once more courtesy of its usage in last night’s episode of Glee (already one of my favourite TV shows two episodes in).

It’s got a hell of a hook in its beat, it’s a raw break-up song about a woman scorned, and Rihanna’s vocals are beautiful. It also manages to not only capture the sorrow at betrayal, but finding a strength in anger, and knowing one cannot tolerate mistreatment in a relationship. I can tie this song to multiple relationships of the past, friendships and romances, not merely the last one. I think we’ve all encountered that love that wasn’t what we believed it to be, the one where it was a mirage, where we loved a mirror of our own devotion, not a true reciprocation. This isn’t to say that the other parties didn’t love us back; in many cases, I’m sure they did. But did they love with the same level of unconditional regard? Did they fight as hard to make things work? Did they understand the concept of a relationship being work at all? Those are the questions that define when we’ve watched ‘quite a show’, or whether we’ve found a true love.

The trouble for me is this: between the cheater’s cabaret and the defeatist’s drama, I’m always left with my heart bleeding out proverbially, my tears falling as silently as the words I wish I could speak fall from my lips. And when this pattern replays in new forms, over and over, one has to question whether the time and energy spent is worth it. I’ve lost dear friends that I dated, because their relationship selves hurt me so deeply, even the sight of them made me ill. Is it worth it?

I’m starting to believe it isn’t. And I’m also starting to believe it’s okay to not believe in love as something necessary in life – at least, not the romantic sort. Love between friends, love within families, love for humanity – yes, without question. The truth of it is, I found the love I wanted – want – but it doesn’t want me. And, as Rihanna sings, ‘This just looks like a rerun.’

After all of these years, maybe the curtain’s finally closing. And with it, maybe a new one opens. Maybe a curtain call awaits, applause willing a return to a familiar stage. I just know that come what may, it’s time for the ghosts that haunt my dreams to take a bow.

And because I think her version is equally delicious, and because she will forever be my first Wendla, and because the greatest love to break my heart met me after I returned home from seeing her in Spring Awakening, the Glee cast version featuring Lea Michele:

“Showmance”

September 9th, 2009

As a critic, there are two ways one begins to have doubts about a show.

One is the immediate knee jerk response to a particular development: something happens onscreen which calls itself to your attention as if it were someone wearing a T-Shirt which said “Problem” written on it and waving a giant banner that said “Criticize me.”

The other is a more subtle feeling, a sense that something is wrong that’s below the surface of what you’re enjoying and undermining the show as a whole if not any particular moment.

What worries me about Glee is that for all my love of the show and its basic premise, it managed to illicit both of these responses in the span of its second episode, an hour which went from 0-60 and yet never seemed to go anywhere at the same time. What’s fascinating about it is that the things that make the show so charming one moment grinds it to a halt in the next: its fast pace works great in its dialogue, but when its stories start to move at the same pace it all seems like a blur; and while its quippy dialogue feels right in high school, when coming from someone who’s supposed to be a mature adult it sounds entirely wrong and takes a bad storyline and only makes it worse.

This is the kind of show that I don’t want to have to work to like – I enjoy musicals, I know a lot of popular music, and those elements of the show are obviously its hook. However, as long as the show around it feels more like labour than a labour of love, I’m not entirely convinced that I’m ready to commit to becoming a gleek just yet.

What’s unique about “Showmance” is that, for a second episode, it fails to accomplish what most post-pilot premieres tend to do. Perhaps due to the show’s staggered release pattern (airing first in May), this really doesn’t tread any new ground for the show. While it uses the Pilot’s development as shorthand in a few instances, what it does with them does nothing to advance them or add any new dimensions, and if anything the world seems a lot smaller in this episode instead of expanding into any sort of new direction. This isn’t to say that things don’t happen with those various storylines, but it’s all essentially the same thing that happened in the pilot.

We knew that Finn and Rachel were headed towards a romantic connection based on being male/female leads in a show aimed at a teen audience (to some degree) and in a hormone-dominated high school setting. And the show wastes no time, having them share a romantic music lesson and share a not so innocent kiss. This wasn’t some sort of quick peck, it was a full makeout session only interrupted by a premature response from Finn. I understand the impulse to get them “together” as soon as possible, but there was nothing elegant about the way it was handled. Finn was too simply portrayed as a hormone-crazy youth (only going to celibacy club to get into Quinn’s pants), and Rachel actually seemed flat as a character when not singing as she went from enigmatic and interesting to, well, pining after a boy and trying to throw up in the toilet. It technically rushed its way to a new stage in their relationship, but they’re back where they were: Rachel likes Finn, Finn is stuck with Quinn, and Quinn is paranoid about it all.

The same goes for Will and Emma, really. The show wastes no time contriving a reason for them to be together, having Will stay late at night and sharing an intimate chalk moment with the lovely guidance counsellor. Combine with the ever so subtle discussion of Rachel’s problem while Will takes an impossibly long time reading a bulletin board right outside Emma’s door (“Look at me! I’m a parallel storyline!”), and you have really the exact same situation you had before. Emma likes Will, Will is married and expecting a baby, awkward sexual tension ensues; the storyline didn’t get any further than that, and the sweetness of the romantic moment only feels like a tease that we know can’t immediately be acted on. I’m fine with the tension existing, but it felt as if Emma, in particular, couldn’t find a character moment to define herself independent of her own pining (in other words, she and Rachel really are the same, but in a way that makes them devoid of any real character).

The problem with these two storylines is that I like both of them. I think Jayma Mays is beyond charming, and her Emma is perhaps the most likeable part of the show. And I think Rachel has a sweetness to her that brings out a different side of Finn than we see in his internal dialogue, making for an interesting pairing that nicely complicates the Glee club dynamic. The problem is that I already knew I liked these two storylines in the pilot, and this episode actually made me enjoy them less by repeating the same basic tropes and not really taking them anywhere. These are not storylines that need to be present every single week, but rather let simmer over time: by rushing out of the gate to repeat the pilot’s basic events, it’s just making the show seem more thin than it needs to be.

Those were, for me, the subtle problems. The glaring one, of course, remains Will’s wife, perhaps the most infuriating character I’ve seen on an otherwise good show in a while. What fascinates me is that it’s not only the predictability of her storyline that bothers me: we all knew it was an hysterical pregnancy, and that this was all going to turn into a ploy, so again this episode did nothing to change my expectations. The funny thing, though, is that it tried to. At the end of the episode, we’re to believe that she decides to lie to Will not out of self-delusion, but for his best interest due to him using the child as his motivation to life live to the fullest. We see her backpedal in that moment, saying they don’t need a new house and that she can give up her craft room, as if she’s preparing for the eventual backlash when he discovers the truth.

I’m fascinated by how the show wants us to read this as a quasi-noble act, but yet writes this character as so absolutely annoying that it’s impossible to root for her. It’s clear we as an audience will root for Emma, but if they don’t want that to seem like such a foregone conclusion and make us wish for a quick and speedy divorce, they shouldn’t be having her be as delusional as possible and suggesting that a Grand Foyer and a Sun Nook is in any way a Sophie’s Choice situation. That joke works for Michael Scott on The Office because inappropriate references are his thing: for her, it feels false, like an attempt to marry the quirky high school dialogue into a character who shouldn’t be speaking it and who only comes out like a caricature when she does.

The thing is, the episode as it was will go down as perfectly adequate: Jane Lynch got a couple of great lines as Sue Sylvester, we got our newest complication to the Glee club membership (the need for more members), and we even got a better sense of how the Cheerios/Glee rivalry will unfold in the weeks ahead. My problem is that all of this felt secondary and shortchanged compared to fairly redundant work on the above three storylines. It’s not that any of it was bad, and there were some moments (like, you know, Finn running over someone during drivers’ training) that had me chuckling, but the struggle to market Glee Club and avoiding disco felt more uneventful than they should have. It was like the entire show had an enormous stone rock rolling after it, and it was running through the motions in an effort to get to the end as quickly as possible only to find that it was back at the beginning again.

Perhaps that’s taking the metaphor too far, but that’s the problem Glee faces. For all of its slick production numbers and social networking potential, the show wasn’t perfect from its pilot, and its second episode doesn’t feel like it really understood those problems. At this point, things are already in motion so there’s really no taking it back now. I just hope that, in the weeks ahead, the show is able to flesh out the rest of its universe more, giving us more time with the other members of Glee club and less time on storylines that shouldn’t be rushed and could remain under the radar and remain far more effective.

Cultural Observations

• There was some talk of this when the screeners went out to critics, but I’d tend to agree: while the production on the final number (Lea Michele’s take on Rihanna’s “Take a Bow”) fit its use as a montage piece of sorts, there are times when the slickness of it all takes you out of the moment in a way that wasn’t present in the pilot. This was especially true during “Gold Digger,” which was a lot of fun but which also didn’t feel spontaneous at all. There’s different ways the music can be implemented, and I think the production needs to differ depending on which is utilized.
• The “gag reflex” line is getting a lot of attention for its clear sexual connotation, something that was present throughout the episode: I actually found it a bit much, especially Finn’s American Pie-esque malfunction of sorts. It’s a side of the show that feels a bit too bawdy for my personal tastes, I guess.
• The show often feels trapped between realism and broad comedy: 30 Rock would have had a lot more fun with those pamphlets in the Guidance office, but Glee couldn’t NOT make a joke about them because it wants to walk that fine line.
• Jane Lynch did a mighty fine job of delivering it, but I thought the fakeout of Finn and Rachel ending up in the Principal’s office for using her copier as opposed to, well, copulating was a bit too clever for its own good. It’s one thing to mislead the audience, but the punchline has to be worthwhile, and I didn’t think it was outside of the genius of Lynch’s shock at the gall of it all. They need to be careful, as Lynch can’t carry all material…or, well, she probably can, but still!

It’s been a long time since the last time I heard a new song from Rihanna.

Chris Brown: see what you have done! Oh no I take that back. I don’t blame him. I don’t know. I don’t care actually. But what I care is Rihanna coming back. Where are your great songs, dear? Can you come back soon? Please…please…

For now, let me post some of my favorite Music Videos of Rihanna!

REHAB

DISTURBIA

TAKE A BOW

SOS

Don’t you just miss her?

Take a bow, take a bow, jom do gang hage
Take a bow, take a bow, jom do jin hage
Never chance, never chance, jumunul goro
To love, it’s alright

Do it, do it, do it, do it, you’re my boy
Gatgo sipjanha, algo itjanha
Do it, do it, do it, do it
Aljanha tugbyol han noran gol, nomu jal aljanha

Just do it, gu nunbic, just do it, gu ipsul
Just do it, ajjilhangu misoga
Hana hana ne maumul jechokhe
Otte sumi makhyo oji

Take a bow, take a bow, jom do gang hage
Take a bow, take a bow, jom do jin hage
Never cry, never cry, jumunul goro
To love, it’s alright, oh baby

Do it, do it, do it, do it, I’m your girl
Dagaga bolkke, barabwa julle
Do, do, do, do it, do it, do it, do it
Mal hebwa tuk byolhan haningol, nomu jal algoya

Let’s go it, nal bwabwa, let’s do it, nukkyobwa
Let’s do it, sumgyojin ne meryokul
Hana hana nunul gamgo sang sanghe
Otte sumi makhyo oji

Take a bow, take a bow, jom do gang hage
Take a bow, take a bow, jom do jin hage
Never cry, never cry, jumunul goro
To love, it’s alright, oh baby

Malhejwo nonun ne kko
Saranghejwo nanun nikka
Onul buto sumi makhyo
Nodo nukkyo nodo nukkyo

Take a bow, take a bow, jom do gang hage
Take a bow, take a bow, jom do jin hage
Never chance, never chance, jumunul goro
To love, it’s alright, baby, yeah

Take a bow, take a bow, jom do gang hage
Take a bow, take a bow, jom do jin hage
Never cry, never cry, jumunul goro
To love, it’s alright, oh baby