Tag: cory monteith

In defense of Fuinn…

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The Glee fandom is officially the most petty group of viewers I have ever been a part of. Just read the comment section after Entertainment Weekly or E!Online posts spoilers or recaps, it’s completely nuts. And the main source of this division, like most fandoms, is shipper wars. Now, I would love to take the next 300 words or so to bitch about how much I despise all things Finchel and how I enjoy Glee significantly less when they are together. I would so love to do that, but I’m not. If you are a true fan of a show, you will not stop watching just because your OTP is no more and you should be able to show support for your favorites without bringing down fellow ships. And just for the record, I am not delusional enough to believe that Fuinn will be endgame. With what the show has told us, it’s going to be Finchel and (most likely) Quick. Does that make me particularly happy? Not necessarily. Will I throw a fit when Finchel inevitably reunites? Most likely. But for the time being, I am taking the high road and I am simply going to say why I continue to support the highly-hated relationship of Finn Hudson & Quinn Fabray.

1. The First Cut Is the Deepest (yes, I went there)

I think it’s important to keep in mind that while Finn may have been Rachel’s first love, Rachel was not his. Take a look at the F13 of season one. There is a reason why Finn was so supportive of Quinn when he thought she was carrying his baby. There is a reason why he brought her the baby blanket. There is a reason why he was so hurt when Babygate went down. I don’t deny that Finn also loved Rachel, but he loved Quinn first. And there is no reason why his love for Quinn is/was not just as pure and true as his love for Rachel.

2. They could be great if given the proper chance

This season’s superbowl episode, The Sue Sylvester Shakedown, proved that Fuinn has the potential to be a power couple not just at McKinley but the fandom in general. And while they have ability to bring the worst out in each other, they also inspire the other to be brave. Man, I’ve gone soft, that was so cliche- but so true. The pessimist in me is saying that after their current little stint is over, they will probably never be revisited. And that’s a complete shame because there is so much potential here…we just need the right writers to pull it off.

3. They never really got over each other…

…and they probably never will. If Fuinn gets anything positive out their renewed relationship in the end, it needs to be closure. And it needs to be told in a way where the relationship ends on their own terms and not because of a third party (Rachel, Jesse, Puck, Sam, etc). They have been a part of each other’s lives for too long to not be able to at least be good friends.

So ends my Fuinn sermon. Now I can go back to hating Finchel in peace…silently, of course.

The Five Worst Glee Covers

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I like Glee, this is obvious. As someone who is not a huge fan of music staples such as The Beatles, Queen or Journey (I know, insert gasps of horror here), I often find their covers refreshing. Sometimes the music is amazing. Sometimes it sounds like a cat being beaten to death.

Entertainment Weekly recently posted a poll of who sang it better, the original artist or the Glee cast. I viewed the results out of curiosity and New Directions was the victor in nine of 15 songs featured. I think the secret to Glee’s success is that they take a song and make it their own i.e. Toxic, Teenage Dream or Don’t Stop Believin’. When their covers start to sound like less impressive replicas i.e. Need You Now & I’m a Slave 4 U, it becomes easier to compare the two.

So here are my least favorite Glee covers in comparison to their originals. I’m not taking into account the actual performance on the show or how crappy the song was in the first place:

Tik Tok (originally by Ke$ha): This was autotuned to hell and back. I wanted to puke like Santana and Brittany after listening to this torture. It sounds like Kidz Bop to the nth degree.

No Air (originally by Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown): Firstly, I loathe Finchel duets with a fiery passion. Secondly, I hate when singers pronounce “me” as “meh” when they sing. I’m looking at you, Cory Monteith. Thirdly, oh, Cory. You sound like a malfunctioning robot.

Bridge Over Troubled Water (originally by Simon & Garfunkel): Amber Riley easily has one of the better voices of the cast. And I love this song. But I was seriously let down. I was not a fan of the back-up gospel choir. I really like the soft rawness of the original and Amber’s voice was just way too powerful for my taste.

Bad Romance (originally by Lady Gaga): I think it would’ve been interesting to see this performed acoustic like Poker Face. Check out the Lissie cover. Quinn or Santana could have rocked the crap out of that one.

I Know What Boys Like (originally by the Waitresses): I don’t think much needs to be said here. Just listen.

FALL SEASON REVIEW: Glee

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Even though Glee has not yet been able to reach the same caliber of the first 13 episodes of season one, I have been very pleased with the way this season has turned out. Episode 2.04 “Duets” is my favorite so far, with “Never Been Kissed” at a close second.

I must be the only one who was happy to see Finchel split. I typically am not Finn’s biggest fan, but I personally wanted to kiss him after he rejected Rachel’s apology not only once…but twice. Score. Less Finchel on my screen makes for a happy Kate. The only person I can stand Rachel with is Jesse, bring back the Groff asap por favor.

Okay, favorite performances time. If I had to choose, I think Sam and Quinn’s “Lucky” is my favorite song and performance so far. Even though Quinn is my favorite Glee character, I admit that Dianna Agron has one of the weaker voices of the cast. That being said, I also really like her voice, it’s light and airy and a nice break from the typical wailing we get from Lea, Naya & Amber. Besides, Sam and Quinn are just so darn cute together. “Marry You” is also one of my favorites. I mean, they did the “Crank That” dance down the aisle…that’s gold. I love when the whole cast gets featured in songs and this time even Mike Chang got to sing.

What’s on my wishlist for the rest of the season? I would love a Finn/Quinn or Puck/Quinn duet. Or what would be even better is a Finn/Puck duet where they’re fighting over Quinn. This is the one triangle I actually like because I would be fine with either outcome. We all know Sam is just an interim fling that will eventually push her towards one of these two guys. I hope it’s Finn, but I’d be perfectly okay with it being Puck.

I love Darren Criss’ voice and I don’t mind his presence on the show, but I don’t feel any chemistry between him and Chris Colfer whatsoever. If Kurt is indeed going to get a boyfriend this season, it needs to be someone we already know has chemistry with him. I’m talking about Karofsky or Sam. Before the “Kurtofsky” haters jump down my throat, I’d like to make a few points. First, you can’t deny that the two have sparks. Second, the writers wouldn’t have outed Karofsky unless this storyline was going somewhere. Third, Ryan Murphy mentioned during the past summer that Kurt would be helping his future boyfriend come to grips with his sexuality. Is this ringing any bells at all? Of course, any Glee fan knows to take anything RM says with a grain of salt, but still…it all fits.

Brittany has also become so dumb that I am puzzled as to why she knows how to walk upright. She’s the stock “blonde, ditzy cheerleader,” but I think it has been taken too far. Last season, Brittany had some great one-liners and a few moments that reflected her airheadedness. This season, Brittany is a slut who was probed on a spaceship, still believes in Santa Claus and thinks Dr. Pepper is a dentist. I’d like to see her have a moment of semi-clarity and say something smart for once.

Lastly, and I sound like a broken record, I’d like to see the show revert back to the geniusness that was the front 13 of season one. We’re headed in the right direction and the writers have proved to us that they are capable of producing high-quality material. A little more consistency, a little less random guest stars and a more equal distribution of songs will not only please me but the majority of the Glee fandom. Until February 6, gleeks.

Favorite quotes & songs so far…

RECAP: Glee, Never Been Kissed

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I really should be writing a paper that’s due in t-minus 12 hours, but I don’t care. Glee, you my friend, are on a roll. Three decent episodes in a row? What kind of game are you playing? I seriously haven’t yelled at the television that much since last year’s season premire of Lost. It was even enough for my roommate to shout from her room, “And tonight’s Glee commentary is brought to you by Kate!”

First, I’m loving this whole equal-screentime-for-the-entire-cast thing that’s been going on recently. Every character had at least one line and had their moment to shine during the mash-up numbers. The only thing that would have made this episode better is a reaction from Puck about Sam & Quinn. I kept waiting for an epic bro-throwdown and was sadly letdown. Puck needs to lose the gages, but he made an X-Men reference tonight, so he’s back in my good books. Although, he was more of an ass-hole than usual tonight and is back to his playa ways. But thank God the nipple ring is finally gone.

So, the episode’s title, “Never Been Kissed” applied to the two characters of Kurt and Beiste. Technically Kurt’s been kissed “but not one that mattered” and Beiste is the female version of the 40-year-old virgin. These two moments were when I yelled a constant stream of four lettered words. Looking back, it is clear as day that Karofsky is so far in the closet he’s approaching Narnia.  But still, I was thrown for a complete loop when he planted a wet one on Kurt and then went back for seconds. Mind, meet brain explosion. That doesn’t even compare to the Beiste / Will kiss, however. I swear my television burst into flames. We didn’t need to see that…really. Yes, she’s a 40-year-old who is still a member of the Virgin Lip Club, that sucks. But in the end all she got was a pity kiss from a guy who was probably thinking about the not-so-anymore-mysophobic guidance counselor.

Onto Kurt and Blaine. While I find Kurt already having a framed picture of Blaine in his locker is mildly creepy and I laughed hysterically during their slow-mo run down the hallway, I loved the whole “Teenage Dream” sequence. I’m late to the “Teenage Dream” party, I don’t understand how I had never heard that song before. But anyways, I’m a fan of it now. I had previewed the scene when it leaked last week week and I’ve been fangirling for the past few days. I’m thinking that since Ryan Murphy dropped that he wants Kurt and his boyfriend to be Prom King and King that Karofsky will end up opening the closet door soon and become Kurt’s first BF. Don’t know how I feel about this yet, there’s a part of me still on the Kurt/Sam train…TBD. Oh and this Darren Criss fellow? I approve.

Another plus of the episode, hardly any Finchel disgustingness and lots of Sam/Quinn & Mike/Tina. Sue also made her comedic moment for the night with her confetti cannons and her one-on-one chat with Quinn. What I like about watching Glee is that I don’t have an OTP yet, unless there is a bunch of Finchel, I am usually not disappointed on the relationship front.

There is a paper on Modern Militant Islamic Ideology calling my name, so I should probably peace out. But this week’s worth of television is turning out to be just as quality as last week’s and that makes for one happy television fanatic.

RECAP: Glee, The Rocky Horror Glee Show

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And an ab-ulous night it was.

I have three confessions to make: One, I have no idea what the Rocky Horror Show is about. Two, I never liked/watched Full House, I had no idea who “Uncle Jesse” was. Three, I loved the Rocky Horror Glee Show…and I don’t know why. Before the RHPS fanatics come at me with pitchforks and torches, let me reiterate: I don’t know what the RHPS is supposed to look or sound like. I only have vague memories of my hometown theatre putting on the production, but this was circa 2001.

Was the plot advanced in any way? No. Character development? Nah. Did the episode really serve a purpose? Not really. Bottom line: I was entertained and it had the right amount of snark. Feel free to disagree, I am full of unpopular opinions.

Overlooking John Stamos’ horrible lip-syncing, “What Happened to Saturday Night?” was pretty damn near perfect. I have to disagree with the vast majority of the reviewers on iTunes, I personally liked his “John Travolta-esque voice.” Oh and Will, please stop moping. Your pity party ended last year.

I know that the fact that a girl was going to be playing Frank-n-furter was one of the main gripes RHPS fans had a problem with. I thought Mercedes sounded fine in the song. Obviously she’s going to sound different than Tim Curry so there’s really no sense in comparing the two. Also, there’s no use in blaming the writers/producers for this, John Stamos was originally supposed to play Frank and the network shot him down. Got a problem? Drop FOX a line. Do you really think that Ryan Murphy would have planned all along for a female Frank?

I think my favorite song had to be “Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a Touch Me.” Jayma Mays sounded like a chipmunk that inhaled helium, but it strangely worked. Watching the scene was uncomfortable at times; Will was obviously about to spontaneously combust at any moment. I also thought the “Time Warp” was very good. Cory Monteith has his moments when he actually sounds like he can sing and this was one of those times. I YouTubed the movie scene and I personally prefer Dianna Agron’s version to the scratchy throat-sing/talk of the movie Magenta. But I’m also a fan of Dianna’s so I might be a little biased.

It was also nice to see the guys having body image problems for once and not the girls. Best line of the night:

Sam: Stop knocking yourself out, just be you and the sexy will flow through.

Finn: Yeah you’re right, I don’t need to hide behind my muscles like you do.

Sam: Awesome, I think. Are you insulting me? Where are you going?

Finn: To show everyone how hot and sexy I am.

I think we all knew that Cory doesn’t have the best bod out of all the Glee guys. Don’t believe me? Get out your season one dvds and watch closely during “My Life Would Suck Without You.” Well, the camera does add ten pounds right? Anywho, it looks like he did tone up for this episode. I guess he can stop showering with a shirt on now.

So happy to see the return of Sue’s Corner. This needs to become a weekly thing again. Puck, oh where art thou? Glad to see you’ll be returning to McKinley in two weeks. I can deal with a return of the Mohawk, but the gages have got to go. And I fully expect you to get in a fight with Sam over Quinn. Don’t let me down. All in all, I enjoyed the RHPS tribute, even if it was an extremely watered-down version of the original.

I am going to leave you with the rest of the great quotes in the episode and there were many. Nice work, writers.

Santana: Earlier today Artie asked  if he could make a gigantic omelet when I’m done with the giant ostrich eggs I’m smuggling in my bra.

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Sam: There ain’t no carpool lane to sexy.

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Sam: (about his Rocky costume) Is there a way I could wear some gold board shorts or something? These are really short I’m afraid I’m going to show off some nuttage.

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Sue: Take your sick, perverted sex games out of this school.

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Sam: I got asked to be “June” in the “Men of McKinley High” calendar.

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Becky: Get me some chocolate, or I will cut you.

Regarding the Glee GQ Controversy…

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Since everyone and their dog seems to have spoken their mind regarding the recent controversial GQ photo shoot that featured three members of the cast of Glee, I thought it was time to throw my opinion into the mix.

First things first, argue what you want, but Glee is not a family show. It may have the 7 p.m. timeslot, but it is still not appropriate for young children. The first season included everything from premature ejaculation, talk about gag reflexes, “sexting”, a teen pregnancy storyline and three of the main characters are known for their promiscuous natures (Puck, Santana and Brittany).

Since Glee has many similar qualities as the High School Musical series, it’s presumable that there was significant carry over from HSM to Glee.  Musical numbers aside, the two franchises are nothing like each other. With HSM, it was clear that Kenny Ortega et al were very conscious of their younger audience. It took nearly two films for Troy and Gabriella to kiss, there was no swearing and even the stereotypical mean-blonde, Sharpay, nowhere close to evil. Yes, there are going to be drastic differences between something shown on the Disney Channel and on FOX, but Glee is obviously geared toward at least 13+ teens.

If I was a parent of a younger child who watches Glee, I can see how these pictures might be an issue. The pictures were shot in a high school setting and Lea Michele and Dianna Agron were wearing what could be characterized as “school-girl” outfits. Cory Monteith was also pictured playing the drums, a trait of his character, Finn. I understand how the photos could be misconstrued as them representing their characters. The provocative poses and choice of dress/props were certainly out of character for their respective roles. Personally, I didn’t go there. They don’t look like high schools students to begin with. The Parents Television Council needs to take a chill pill. The actors are ages 28 and 24, well beyond the age to qualify as victims of child porn. GQ’s primary audience is also males ages 18-49; I’m betting there was no complaints about the scantily clad actresses.

Dianna has since issued an explanation on her Tumblr. She wrote,

“Now, in perpetuating the type of images that evoke these kind of emotions, I am sorry. If you are hurt or these photos make you uncomfortable, it was never our intention. And if your 8-year-old has a copy of our GQ cover in hand, again I am sorry. But I would have to ask, how on earth did it get there?”

My thoughts exactly.

Participating in the photo shoot was probably not the smartest move by any of the three actors, but what’s done is done. The whole thing has been blown so out of proportion. Lea, Cory and Dianna are adults. They perfectly in their right to show some skin during a photo shoot. Taylor Momsen flashed the crowd at her latest concert. Miley is grinding and dry humping in her music videos. Stars acting raunchy is not something new. People, it’s time to move on.