In honor of the Glee concert last night at the Izod Center in New Jersey which I attended (YAY), I’d like to list my favorite Glee covers and why they are so great.
If you haven’t seen Glee, it is a television show about a group of misfit high schoolers who make up the school’s show choir and perform for their chance at the state and national championships, with many bumps and typical high school drama and romanced mixed in.
10. Blackbird originally performed by the Beatles, covered by Chris Kolfer (Kurt): I happen to love Kurt/Chris and think he has one of the most interesting voices on the show, that’s not to say it’s the best because it doesn’t compare the powerhouse vocals of either Rachel or Mercedes, but it is still really interesting in unique. Kurt has many great hits (I particularly love his duets with Rachel and find all of them to be really beautiful melodically), but this one really touches my heart. The Beatles song, while slow and sweet is brough alive by Kurt and the Warblers and made all that much better.
9. Maybe This Time from the musical Cabaret performed by Kristin Chenoweth (April Rhodes) and Lea Michele (Rachel): In my house, Kristin Chenoweth can do no wrong. We would see every show she is in and love it regardless of its quality (For Example: The Apple Tree). This song made famous by Liza Minnelli and the cast of Cabaret was actually pretty new to me, in fact the first time I heard it was when it was performed on Glee. Kristin who is usually a powerhouse in her upper register actually sings in a much more mature lower register to get the husky quality of this song. In a duet with Rachel, the Glee club’s resident Broadway belter this song couldn’t be much better.
8. Poker Face originally performed by Lady Gaga, covered by Lea Michele (Rachel) and Idina Menzel (Shelby Corcoran): I can’t say this enough about this song, I LOVE THIS ARRANGEMENT. I know a lot of haters felt like this version lost the Gaga-esque quality by being stripped down and sung slowly, but I found it to be both amazing and inspiring. Idina Menzel is as fabulous as always and Rachel and her (both look alike and sound alike) play an amazing mother/daughter tag team.
7. Like a Virgin originally performed by Madonna, covered by Lea Michele (Rachel), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Naya Rivera (Santana), Cory Monteith (Finn), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuster), and Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury): I chose this number from the Madonna episode not only because it was an ensemble, but also because I felt like it was the most well done of all the Madonna covers (and there were lots). Each character’s voice had a chance to shine (thank you Ryan Murphy for finally putting Santana in the spotlight here!) but it was fun, and frothy, and even lost a bit of the 80’s vibe which made the song so popular back in the day. Kudos.
6. Songbird originally performed by Fleetwood Mac, covered by Naya Rivera (Santana): Ok so this number, a more recent performance, was immediately one of my favorites. Santana has a really interesting sultry and bluesy vibe to her voice, which usually comes out when she sings songs by Amy Winehouse. However on this number, a classic Mac song, she slows it down in one of the most heartfelt and beautiful performances of the entire second season.
5. Aint No Way originally performed by Aretha Franklin, covered by Amber Riley (Mercedes): Oh Mercedes. How I love you. Mercedes to me has the best voice in the Glee oeuvre. She can belt, she is a mini Aretha (no great feat) which is why this song is really brought to life. It’s a pretty underrated Aretha song, taking a backseat to more popular numbers like Natural Woman, and Respect. But Mercedes does this song incredible justice and brings it back into mainstream and the spotlight where it really deserves to be.
4. Teenage Dream originally performed by Katy Perry, covered by Darren Criss (Blaine) and the Warblers (The Beelzebubs): This was one of the biggest surprises for me. As many of you know I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Katy Perry’s music. Sometimes she is good (Hot n Cold/I kissed a Girl), and sometimes she is really bad (Firework, Peacock). Katy’s version of the song was completely overplayed on the radio when the Warblers version came out but what I wasn’t expecting was how different and exciting it would be. The fact that it is an acapella version elevates the song about 20 levels from pop froth to actually good music.
3. Don't Rain on My Parade originally performed by Barbara Streisand from the musical Funny Girl, covered by Lea Michele (Rachel): It’s incredibly hard to beat Barbara, but I think in this number Rachel does it. Her version literally gave me goose bumps the entire song. She can 100% belt out a song, and doesn’t need help from anyone else to make a song great (as noted by the fact that this song is sung without any vocal accompaniment).
2. River Deep Mountain High originally performed by Ike and Tina Turner, covered by Amber Riley (Mercedes) and Naya Rivera (Santana): This is probably my favorite glee song to date. I wasn’t super familiar with this song before it was on Glee but I can tell you it’s been on the oldies radio station probably 100 times since then. Because it featured two of my favorite singers in the entire cast (Mercedes and Santana) I was bound to love it. The two harmonize beautifully, and belt incredibly. All in all an amazing number.
1. Don’t Stop Believing originally performed by Journey, covered by the entire Glee cast: How could I not have the song that put Glee on the map as my #1. When I heard the preview for Glee I wasn’t necessarily going to watch it that is until I heard a tiny snippet of their version of this song. Again, even in snippet version, it gave me goose bumps (a sure sign in my book that the artists are talented, and that the song is a success). The cast sounds phenomenal in every note, and actually performs the beginning semi acapella which is interesting.
What are your favorite Glee covers?
7. Like a Virgin originally performed by Madonna, covered by Lea Michele (Rachel), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Naya Rivera (Santana), Cory Monteith (Finn), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuster), and Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury): I chose this number from the Madonna episode not only because it was an ensemble, but also because I felt like it was the most well done of all the Madonna covers (and there were lots). Each character’s voice had a chance to shine (thank you Ryan Murphy for finally putting Santana in the spotlight here!) but it was fun, and frothy, and even lost a bit of the 80’s vibe which made the song so popular back in the day. Kudos.
6. Songbird originally performed by Fleetwood Mac, covered by Naya Rivera (Santana): Ok so this number, a more recent performance, was immediately one of my favorites. Santana has a really interesting sultry and bluesy vibe to her voice, which usually comes out when she sings songs by Amy Winehouse. However on this number, a classic Mac song, she slows it down in one of the most heartfelt and beautiful performances of the entire second season.
5. Aint No Way originally performed by Aretha Franklin, covered by Amber Riley (Mercedes): Oh Mercedes. How I love you. Mercedes to me has the best voice in the Glee oeuvre. She can belt, she is a mini Aretha (no great feat) which is why this song is really brought to life. It’s a pretty underrated Aretha song, taking a backseat to more popular numbers like Natural Woman, and Respect. But Mercedes does this song incredible justice and brings it back into mainstream and the spotlight where it really deserves to be.
4. Teenage Dream originally performed by Katy Perry, covered by Darren Criss (Blaine) and the Warblers (The Beelzebubs): This was one of the biggest surprises for me. As many of you know I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Katy Perry’s music. Sometimes she is good (Hot n Cold/I kissed a Girl), and sometimes she is really bad (Firework, Peacock). Katy’s version of the song was completely overplayed on the radio when the Warblers version came out but what I wasn’t expecting was how different and exciting it would be. The fact that it is an acapella version elevates the song about 20 levels from pop froth to actually good music.
3. Don't Rain on My Parade originally performed by Barbara Streisand from the musical Funny Girl, covered by Lea Michele (Rachel): It’s incredibly hard to beat Barbara, but I think in this number Rachel does it. Her version literally gave me goose bumps the entire song. She can 100% belt out a song, and doesn’t need help from anyone else to make a song great (as noted by the fact that this song is sung without any vocal accompaniment).
2. River Deep Mountain High originally performed by Ike and Tina Turner, covered by Amber Riley (Mercedes) and Naya Rivera (Santana): This is probably my favorite glee song to date. I wasn’t super familiar with this song before it was on Glee but I can tell you it’s been on the oldies radio station probably 100 times since then. Because it featured two of my favorite singers in the entire cast (Mercedes and Santana) I was bound to love it. The two harmonize beautifully, and belt incredibly. All in all an amazing number.
1. Don’t Stop Believing originally performed by Journey, covered by the entire Glee cast: How could I not have the song that put Glee on the map as my #1. When I heard the preview for Glee I wasn’t necessarily going to watch it that is until I heard a tiny snippet of their version of this song. Again, even in snippet version, it gave me goose bumps (a sure sign in my book that the artists are talented, and that the song is a success). The cast sounds phenomenal in every note, and actually performs the beginning semi acapella which is interesting.
