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SOUND OFF: Four Fabulous Features Of This Week's GLEE

By: Feb. 27, 2015
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Today we recount a quartet of highlights from one of the final nights of GLEE ever. Only four left!

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Cool Kids

1. GLEE + Queen = Awesome. From "Bohemian Rhapsody" wowing the crowd thanks to Jessie St. James (Jonathan Groff) to a New Directions high-point thanks to "Somebody To Love" led by Finn (Cory Monteith) all the way to Blaine (Darren Criss) making an early mark with "Don't Stop Me Now", epic stadium rock super-group Queen has always felt right at home in the GLEE universe given their theatricality and over the top accoutrement. Tonight's spunky and funky take on the 80s Queen hit "I Want To Break Free" was no exception, with Mason McCarthy (Billy Lewis Jr.) nailing his performance of the tricky tune. Additionally, another recognizable 80s anthem appeared on the ep, as well, in the form of uber jock Spencer Porter (Marshall Williams) leading The Cure's "Friday I'm In Love", but Queen was the undoubted king as far as classic rock/pop covers on this week's Ned Martel-penned, Michael Hitchcock-directed entry of the long-running series.

2. Current hits. Bringing considerable street cred and radio awareness to a onetime Broadway baby, international pop superstar Ariana Grande has emerged as one of the biggest musical theatre crossover stars of the 21st century - lest we forget she made her professional debut in Jason Robert Brown's short-lived Broadway tuner 13 once upon a time - so her pronounced presence on GLEE in its final season is somewhat expected and all-too befitting given the power that the series has exhibited in the past in liberally and memorably crossing genre lines with much success. A Broadway star in her own right, Lea Michele is the perfect fit for the scale-traversing vocals emblematic of Grande's recent radio hits and proved her mettle with tonight's sensational cover of "Break Free" - that is, with some appreciable aide by Coach Beiste (Dot Marie Jones), Sam (Chord Overstreet), Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) and Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison). Plus, pop heavy-hitter Bruno Mars regularly puts on a live show as spectacular as any on the Great White Way - as anybody who witnessed his recent awe-inspiring SUPER BOWL half time performance can attest - and his current chart-topper recorded and written alongside super producer Mark Ronson, "Uptown Funk" proved repeat-worthy in its GLEE enacting by New Directions, as well. Ditto "Cool Kids" by Echosmith.

3. Weird and wacky one-off appearances. GLEE has featured some unforgettable infrequent guest stars in fabulously idiosyncratic turns over the years, usually accompanied by delectably wild monikers - Charice as Sunshine Corazon, Neil Patrick Harris as Bryan Ryan and Lindsay Pearce as Harmony leap immediately to mind - and this week's showcase for the superintendent's sassy and uniquely talented nephew, Myron Muskovitz (J.J. Totah), was no exception. While his performance piece was unexpected - none other than Destiny's Child ubiquitous millennial hit "Lose Your Breath" - the circumstances surrounding his nepotism-fueled bar mitzvah being held at McKinley High itself were certainly not. As we have come to expect, whatever Sue Sylvester wants, she usually gets - but not without a well-earned and hilariously awful comeuppance sooner or later. And comeuppance is certain to come next week in a spotlight episode all about Sue, no doubt, too. In the meantime, Myron's bar mitzvah provided the ideal avenue by which the new New Directions could find an excellent opportunity to sparkle and shine - which they certainly did. Speaking of which...

4. The new New Directions. While GLEE has experienced significant growing pains in recent seasons with its additions to the stacked ranks of participants - the noted lack of presence of virtually any of the new New Directions introduced in the last two seasons this year besides bitchy Kitty (Becca Tobin) making a clear case for their lack of ability to catch on with the committed gleeks who continue to tune in week after week around the world - there is no denying that the newcomers chosen for the final season have hit their mark; and, in some cases, knocked their parts clear out of the park, too. Case in point, not only is Spencer Porter a fitting extension of the LGBT awareness-raising agenda of the series as a whole given the super-macho persona of his gay football hero character, but the other new recruits have made major strides in pleasing fans and new audiences alike, as well. Indeed, twin cheerleaders Mason McCarthy and his sister, Madison (Laura Dreyfuss), along with Noah Guthrie as soulful social outcast Roderick, Samantha Marie Ware as new student (and former Warbler) Jane and the aforementioned Marshall Williams as Spencer are all winners with palpable rapport and combustible chemistry together and also with the classic New Directions as we know them. The sad fact that we will only have a few more hours to spend with these terrific additions is the only downside - but, then again, the series is really about the core corps that we began this journey with, so it is apropos we will go out saluting them with both a flashback and a flash-forward in the two-hour grand finale on March 20.

Next week? We come even closer to the final episode with a special Sue Sylvester-centric ep appropriately titled "The Rise & Fall Of Sue Sylvester" featuring returning guest stars Michael Bolton, Whoopi Goldberg and Carol Burnett (only in the GLEE universe would that sentence appear).




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