Glee/Awesome Music

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Where we list examples of Awesome Music from the Live Action TV series Glee.

Season One

  • The ultimate? The cover of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. Both the pilot version and the sectionals version.
  • Episode 1 ("Pilot"): Vocal Adrenaline sets the bar with "Rehab".
  • Episode 2 ("Showmance"):
    • "Push It" by Salt N' Pepa — doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny.
    • Rachel's "Take a Bow" by Rihanna.
    • Will, Finn, and Mercedes rocking out on "Gold Digger".
  • Episode 3 ("Acafellas"):
    • Mercedes' Woman Scorned song for Kurt, "Bust Your Windows".
    • Finn, Puck, Will, and Ken doing "I Wanna Sex You Up". Actually, anything the Acafellas did.
  • Episode 4 ("Preggers"):
    • Let's just say that while they never actually sang it themselves, they really did put Beyonce's "Single Ladies" to good use.
  • Episode 5 ("The Rhodes Not Taken"):
    • The club doing "Somebody To Love" by Queen.
    • Kristen Chenoweth and Lea Michele doing "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret.
  • Episode 6 ("Vitamin D"):
    • The guys' mashup of "It's My Life" and "Confessions Part 2".
    • The girls' mashup of "Halo" and "Walking on Sunshine".
  • Episode 7 ("Throwdown"):
    • "O Fortuna" being used as the score for Will and Sue's arguments.
      • Also contains elements of CMoF.
    • The club singing "Keep Holding On" to Quinn.
    • Quinn's rendition of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by Diana Ross.
    • Finn and Rachel's duet of "No Air", originally by Jordan Sparks and Chris Brown.
    • Dude, what about "Hate On Me"?
  • Episode 8 ("Mash-Up"):
    • Puck singing "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond.
    • Will's hilariously awesome covers of "Bust A Move" and "The Thong Song".
  • Episode 9 ("Wheels"):
    • Rachel and Kurt's dueling versions of "Defying Gravity" from Wicked
    • Artie's first solo, "Dancing With Myself" by Billy Idol.
    • The club doing "Proud Mary" in wheelchairs.
  • Episode 10 ("Ballad"):
    • Will's mashup of "Don't Stand So Close To Me/Young Girl." Who cares if Emma and Rachel are Completely Missing The Point, it's still pretty awesome.
      • One could argue that they missed the point because it was awesome.
      • Or seeing Emma and Rachel's facial expressions as they miss the point makes Will's mashup even better.
    • "I'll Stand By You", sung by Finn.
    • The club singing "Lean on Me" for Quinn and Finn.
  • Episode 11 ("Hairography"):
    • Tina's first solo - "True Colors".
    • Tina's version of "Tonight". Screw Rachel and the ego she rode in on, she deserved it.
  • Episode 12 ("Mattress"):
    • "Jump" plus the awesome choreography in the mattress commercial.
  • Episode 13 ("Sectionals"):
    • "My Life Would Suck Without You", sung by the entire club and incorporating all the dance moves from the previous episodes.
    • Rachel's bravura performance of "Don't Rain On My Parade" at sectionals.
    • The club's finale at Sectionals - "You Can't Always Get What You Want".
    • Mercedes' awesome rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going".
  • Episode 14 ("Hell-O):
    • "Gives You Hell": Rachel's Woman Scorned song to Finn after he goes out on a threesome date with Brittany and Santana.
    • Finn's "Hello, I Love You".
    • Rachel and Jesse St. James's duet of Lionel Ritchie's "Hello."
    • Vocal Adrenaline's rendition of "Highway to Hell" could have been the best part of the episode. Pity it was cut short after less than a minute.
  • Episode 15 ("The Power of Madonna"):
    • Sue's cover of "Vogue", including the scene-for-scene reconstruction of the video.
    • Kurt and Mercedes's cover of "4 Minutes", with backup Cheerios and marching band.
    • The "first time" choreographed extravaganza between Finn/Santana, Will/Emma, and Rachel/Jesse to "Like a Virgin."
    • The finale of "Like a Prayer", with the club, Jesse, and a full gospel choir.
    • Gotta show some love for the girls doing "Express Yourself".
  • Episode 16 ("Home"):
    • Mercedes's version of "Beautiful".
    • Will and April's duets of "Fire" and "One Less Bell to Answer/A House is Not a Home". Matthew Morrison and Kristen Chenoweth have never sounded so amazing.
    • April singing "Home" at the end of the episode.
    • Kurt's rendition of A House Is Not a Home is gorgeous - and the section sung by Finn to his dad's ashes is heartbreaking.
  • Episode 17 ("Bad Reputation"):
    • Mr. Shue's version of "Ice Ice Baby," including the conga line and the song becoming "officially paroled."
    • Olivia Newton-John and Sue Sylvester's revamp of "Physical."
    • Rachel, Finn, Puck, and Jesse's heartbreaking rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart."
  • Episode 18 ("Laryngitis"):
    • Kurt's angry and showstopping performance of "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy.
    • Puck and Mercedes' duet of "The Lady is a Tramp" along with their smooth, jazzy choreography.
  • Episode 19 ("Dream On"):
    • Bryan Ryan (Neil Patrick Harris) and Will singing "Dream On" in a singing duel as part of an audition for the role of the lead in Les Mis.
    • Two incredible moments for Artie, "Safety Dance" in the mall with its choreography and his soul-wrenching rendition of "Dream a Little Dream of Me".
    • Rachel and Shelby's duet of "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Misérables. Also doubles as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and a total Tear Jerker.
  • Episode 20 ("Theatricality"):
    • The boys' rendition of "Shout" in full KISS makeup and costumes. Bonus points for Puck being the romantic "Starchild" but points also lost for Puck NOT being Gene Simmons' "Demon", given the man's sexual history.
    • The girls and Kurt doing justice to Gaga's "Bad Romance", both costume-wise and vocal-wise.
    • Shelby and Rachel dueting on an acoustic rendition of "Poker Face". It may be odd in context, but you can listen to it and find that it's one of the less blatantly autotuned songs.
  • Episode 21 ("Funk"):
    • "Give Up the Funk," the ending number of the episode. Complete with Vocal Adrenaline's "We just got p'wned" reaction.
    • Will weaponizing his Chick Magnetude to seduce Sue with "Tell Me Something Good."
    • No love for Jesse and Vocal Adrenaline's "Another One Bites the Dust"?
    • As a major Beck fan, I have to say Glee's version of Loser is just plain awesome. Seriously, it's like something out of a musical that's being directed by Tim Burton.
  • Episode 22 ("Journey"):
    • The entire Journey medley the club sings at Regionals, especially when they burst out into "Any Way You Want It." Plus the rendition of "Don't Stop Believing" tops the performance in the pilot by a mile.
    • Vocal Adrenaline performing "Bohemian Rhapsody" as Quinn gives birth. Soulless and overproduced at it is, wow.
      • There was nothing soulless about it. Jonathan Groff sings with more emotion than most of the cast put together.
    • When the entire club admitted how much Mr. Shue meant to them by singing "To Sir With Love". Not only did it demonstrate that they got the "It's the journey not the destination" message, but it came at Will's lowest point of the episode, perhaps of the season.


Season Two

  • Episode 1 ("Audition"):
    • I'll say it - "Empire State of Mind".
    • Sunshine and Rachel's vicious duet of "Telephone".
    • Charice Pempengco Covering Up Beyonce with her version of "Listen".
  • Episode 2 ("Britney / Brittany"):
    • Heather Morris finally getting a solo; an awesome cover of "I'm a Slave 4 U".
    • Brittany and Santana's "Me Against the Music".
    • Will joining the club for "Toxic", if you ignore the creepy shrieking and fainting from Jacob and Lauren.
  • Episode 3 ("Grilled Cheesus"):
    • "I Wanna Hold Your Hand". Dammit, Kurt.
    • The album version is better, but the club's performance of "One of Us".
    • Troper is not usually a Rachel fan, but Lea kills at Barbra. "Papa Can You Hear Me" was beautiful.
    • Mercedes getting her own gospel choir for an epic cover of "Bridge Over Troubled Water".
  • Episode 4 ("Duets"):
    • Kurt OWNS "Le Jazz Hot". It won't leave my head!
    • Mercedes and Santana putting their own stamp on "River Deep, Mountain High".
    • Tina and Mike doing "Sing".
  • Episode 5 ("The Rocky Horror Glee Show"):
  • Episode 6 ("Never Been Kissed"):
    • The short tune that played during Kurt and Blaine's hand-holding scene.
    • The girls rocking out to a mashup of "Living on a Prayer" and "Start Me Up".
      • The boys mashup was equally awesome: "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Free Your Mind".
    • Puck and Artie's fabulous acoustic version of Bob Marley's "One Love".
    • "Teenage Dream" as sung by Blaine and the Warblers - which would go on to outsell "Don't Stop Believing" within a week. In five minutes of screen time and one performance, Darren Criss out-performed Katy Perry on her own song, gained hordes of devoted fangirls, and catapulted himself into the national spotlight. Not bad, Darren. Not bad at all.
  • Episode 7 ("The Substitute"):
    • The combination of "Singing In The Rain/Umbrella" may sound stupid at first, but it's awesome.
    • Gwyneth Paltrow rocking the hell out of Cee-Lo's "Forget You".
  • Episode 8 ("Furt"):
    • Will's "Sway" and Finn's "Just The Way You Are" were both amazing.
    • New Directions' "Marry You" was so completely perfect.
  • Episode 9 ("Special Education"):
    • Santana channeling Amy Winehouse on "Valerie" (yes, the Zutons originally did it, but they're clearly doing the Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson version).
      • Couple that with Mike and Brittany's amazing dancing, and we've got ourselves a winner.
    • "Dog Days Are Over". Yes, Tina and Mercedes do need to have more solos, Rachel.
    • Both Rachel and Kurt's versions of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina".
    • Blaine showing off his dorky side at Regionals with "Hey, Soul Sister".
  • Episode 10 ("A Very Glee Christmas"):
    • Kurt and Blaine upping the UST to four-billion with "Baby, It's Cold Outside".
    • "Island of Misfit Toys" It's a perfect Christmas theme song for the club.
      • Would it count as the club's collective Image Song?
    • "Welcome Christmas", if for only one reason: There's no solos. None whatsoever, it's the first straight choir number the show's done.
    • Can we just say ALL the songs from "A Very Glee Christmas"?
  • Episode 11 ("The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle"):
    • The "Heads Will Roll"/"Thriller" mashup, complete with zombie dance. Not only does Kevin McHale completely hold his own with the King of Pop, but the football team joining with New Directions was epic.
    • Rachel and Puck's version of "Need You Now" was pretty awesome, too.
    • Cory Monteith tearing up lead vocals - along with the rest of the boys - with the Zombies' "She's Not There".
    • And let's not forget the Warblers - "Bills, Bills, Bills" was hilarious.
  • Episode 12 ("Silly Love Songs"):
    • "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Puck, via an actual electric guitar.
    • "When I Get You Alone" by Blaine and the Warblers. It's so over the top, but still completely awesome at the same time!
    • Katy Perry gets outsung again by Rachel in the latter's version of "Firework."
    • Artie/Kevin McHale does it again with Michael Jackson's "Pretty Young Thing" (with some sweet moves from Harry Shum Jr.)
    • Kurt, Blaine, and the Warblers serenading New Directions with "Silly Love Songs". Total heartwarming moment.
  • Episode 13 ("Comeback"):
    • The cover of My Chemical Romance's "Sing" was epic!
    • Rachel and Mercedes' Diva-Off with "Take Me Or Leave Me" was just incredible!
    • Lauren Zizes letting loose and actually having fun in Glee club while singing "I Know What Boys Like." Sure it's a little shaky and she's inexperienced, but she's showing a level of joy that she's never shown before.
  • Episode 14 ("Blame It On the Alcohol"):
    • I suddenly have the urge to "Blame It (On The Alcohol)".
    • "Tik Tok" was fantastic... up until the purple vomit attack.
    • I don't know which was more hilarious, Blaine and Rachel's hilariously drunken rendition of "Don't You Want Me Baby", or Rachel's hideous 60's dress.
    • What, no love for Shannon 'the Cannon' Beiste and Will Schuester's tipsily adorable version of "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer"?
  • Episode 15 ("Sexy"):
    • Holly's rendition of "Do You Want To Touch Me" there was fantastic. And to answer you question Holly, yes. Also her's and Will's cover of Prince's Kiss.
    • How is it possible that "Landslide" hasn't been mentioned yet? Paltrow's cover was pretty good, but the performance was made so much better by some unbelievably emotional acting by Naya Rivera and Heather Morris. Just mind-blowing.
    • Speaking of mind blowing, my god did "Animal" get my attention. The thing was one of the most rocking Glee songs yet!
  • Episode 16 ("Original Song"):
    • New Directions finally wins Regionals with their original song: "Loser Like Me". Rachel's song "Get It Right" also gets props for being a sweet ballad.
    • Kurt. Blaine. "Candles." That is all.
    • Kurt doesn't knock "Blackbird" out of the park. He knocks it across the state line and into the Pacific Time Zone.
      • Yeah... it landed in my window. I'm charging the producers of Glee for paying for that thing...
      • Kurt's "Blackbird" is so good, it makes Blaine finally realize he loves him. That's pretty epically awesome.
    • "Misery". Just "Misery."
    • "Big-Ass Heart" is hilarious! If it wasn't for the profanity it could have been written by Weird Al!
    • The Warblers raising the roof with their subversive, tongue-in-cheek cover of "Raise Your Glass."
    • Mercedes's hilarious diva sendup of her own catchphrase with "Hell to the No".
    • "Trouty Mouth". Santana tries to compose a song to declare her love to Sam, but all it does is make fun of the size of his mouth. What makes this song so incredible is that the hilarity mixes perfectly with Naya Rivera's sultry 1940s lounge-bar-singer voice.
  • Episode 17 ("A Night of Neglect"):
    • This one begins and ends with Amber Riley and a gorgeous "Ain't No Way".
    • Averted (by the writers) with "I Follow Rivers", by Tina. The beginning is awesome, but her performance is soon disapointingly interrupted.
      • Listen to the album version. Jenna Ushkowitz knocks the song out of the park.
    • The awesomeness of "Turning Tables".
    • Sunshine's triumphant return - "All By Myself".
  • Episode 18 ("Born This Way"):
    • The episode namer, "Born This Way". Kurt, Tina, and Mercedes should always sing Gaga.
    • Kurt's stunning, utterly flawless rendition of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard.
      • It's so amazing, it's the first song that has (as far as I can recall) been used in the show without a single second being trimmed. Considering that this episode was already so jam packed that they had to extend the air time, leaving all 4:55 minutes of this song intact is a pretty big clue that this song is so perfect no one could bear to cut any of it.
    • "I Feel Pretty/Unpretty" is possibly the best mash-up the show has produced, with some beautiful and haunting vocals from Quinn and Rachel.
    • "I've Gotta Be Me" is easily the best song that Finn has sung on the show by a long margin-especially outside of the more rock-based songs. The addition of Mike's dancing throughout only helped.
      • This troper's jaw hit the floor. It took a rewatch before she could wrap her head around Cory Monteith (who is not horrible, but not precisely known as an excellent vocal performer) singing like that.
    • And since the episode was flawless, musically, we can't forget the (likely) final song from The Warblers, "Somewhere Only We Know", which started as a wonderful a cappella, added in the ND band and then climaxed with an amazing mix of Warblers, band and ND Chorus. The performance by all of the actors was also exceptional, as a perfect farewell from The Warblers to Kurt and from the show to The Warblers.
    • They may not have been singing it, but the "Barbra Streisand" epic dance number still definitely goes here.
  • Episode 19 ("Rumours"):
    • Rachel's cover of "Go Your Own Way" is fantastic.
    • "Never Going Back Again". With guitar chorus, awesome.
    • And don't forget "Don't Stop". Pure True Companions moment of the entire club banding together to support Sam.
    • "Songbird" was gorgeous, though it's really a Tear Jerker and Crowning Moment of Heartwarming rolled into one.
    • Cheno and Morrison once again schooling everyone on the art of duets in "Dreams".
  • Episode 20 ("Prom Queen"):
    • Say what you want about the original, but their version of "Friday" is legitimately awesome.
    • "Jar of Hearts." This troper has been waiting for Rachel to sing that song since the pilot, and she is definitely not disappointed.
    • "Rolling in the Deep". Oh my god. One expects Jonathan Groff to be excellent, but he absolutely blows everything away in that song. Lea Michele is good as well, but Groff owns the song.
    • With what might be the longest Glee song title yet, "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You." As seemingly random as the Blaine-Tina-Brittany combo was, they made it work. Finn-and-Jesse fight aside, it was one of the funnest numbers of the episode.
    • Let's face it: the whole episode was a big Crowning Moment of Awesome. It's this troper's favorite one.
  • Episode 21 ("Funeral"):
    • "Pure Imagination." Kurt, Finn, Tina, and Mercedes all sound lovely.
      • As does Artie.
    • Kurt's rendition of 'Some People' and Santana's 'Back to Black' are both jawdroppingly good in their different ways.
      • The awesomeness of "Some People" increases substantially when you see the choreography. It goes through the roof when you realise that Chris Colfer--self-admitted klutz--choreographed the entire thing. Including that power slide into a flat backbend...
    • Mercedes's rendition of 'Try a Little Tenderness' is amazing.
    • This troper absolutely loves it when Rachel belts out things like "My Man." Kurt and Jesse are right, she handled it amazingly.
  • Episode 22 ("New York")
    • The mashup of "I Love New York/New York New York" was really cool, especially with New Directions dancing around the city!
    • Can we just have an album of Kurt and Rachel singing everything from Wicked already? Please? Because the two of them singing "For Good" was just gorgeous.
    • "As Long As You're There". Sunshine and Vocal Adrenaline do it again.
    • "Light Up The World", by New Directions
    • "My Cup", by Brittany S. Pierce.


Season Three

  • Episode 1 ("The Purple Piano Project")
    • Blaine's Adorkable rendition - complete with Carlton-esque dance moves - of "It's Not Unusual" for his audition for the New Directions.
    • Rachel, Santana, Brittany, and New Directions covering the Go-Go's "We've Got the Beat".
    • A song this troper's been waiting three years for - "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray.
    • Kurt and Rachel's remixed "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead". Can we just have Chris Colfer and Lea Michele do all the duets?
    • The Glee Project's Lindsay taking lead on a hilarious mashup of "Anything Goes"/"Anything You Can Do". Great way to break the Rachel Expy ice.
  • Episode 2 ("I Am Unicorn")
    • Shelby and Rachel's duet of "Somewhere" from West Side Story. Absolutely beautiful.
    • Blaine proving Kurt's earlier comment that he'd be a perfect Tony right with his gorgeous rendition of "Something's Coming" from West Side Story.
    • Kurt's vocally flawless, characterful, powerhouse rendition of "I'm The Greatest Star" for his West Side Story audition - scaffolding, athleticism and sai swords free of charge! When Coach Beiste later said he "owned that song like it was his prison bitch", she was actually understating the case quite considerably.
  • Episode 3 ("Asian F")
    • Brittany, Santana, and the rest of the McKinley girls owning "Run the World (Girls)"!
    • "Cool". Mike finally gets to sing! For real this time!
    • Let us all be agreed that Will needs to sing Coldplay more often. Or not. I think we'd run out of tissues. His gorgeous rendition of "Fix You" nearly had me crying. Especially in context.
    • Oh no, this episode begins and ends with Ms. Amber Riley! A gorgeous and heartfelt "Spotlight", an amazingly gutsy "It's All Over", and an "Out Here on My Own" that everyone knew was better than Rachel's. Mercedes is right, she IS a star, and she should get to show it.
      • To give credit where credit is due, "It's All Over" is a collaborative effort. Kurt and Santana match Mercedes every step of the way; Finn, Puck, and Will all solo; and Mike shows off his new voice.
  • Episode 4 ("Pot 'O Gold")
    • Blaine absolutely rocks Katy Perry for the second time with his rendition of "Last Friday Night" with Mike.
    • Mercedes, Santana, and Brittany with Christina Aguilera's "Candyman". As Shelby says, now that's what I'm talking about!
    • Being Green. 'Nuff said.
    • "Take Care of Yourself". Who knew Damian/Rory could hit those high notes[1]?
  • Episode 5 ("The First Time")
    • In an episode full of gorgeousness, this troper has to give the Crowning Moment to the rendition of "America" from the movie version of West Side Story (which is saying something as this troper was originally a little annoyed that they were going with the movie version not the theater version.) The vocals were excellent, the choreography was gorgeous, and the little character moments like having Mercedes still in the audience and Mike with his Mom just made the scene perfect.
    • Santana and Rachel's pitch-perfect rendition of "A Boy Like That".
      • On that note, the continuation of the song with "I Have a Love." Amazing!
    • Rachel and Blaine's take on "One Hand, One Heart" was gorgeous. Their voices blend beautifully.
    • Hats off to the Warblers still being great with "Uptown Girl".
  • Episode 6 ("Mash-Off")
    • The "Rumour Has It / Someone Like You" mashup absolutely deserves the honor of being the first Glee on VEVO song to reach two million views. It's wonderful, with Mercedes and Santana belting out those emotional notes just beautifully.
      • That's not the only reason it deserves mention. It is by far the saddest and one of the most beautiful songs Glee has ever done, with Santana's heartbreaking cries of 'Don't forget me!' and Mercedes sorrowful almost-(musical)commentary over them.
    • The "You and I" mashup of the Lady Gaga song and the Eddie Rabbit song.
    • "Hot For Teacher" when sang by Puck. The entire sequence is outrageously awesome.
  • Episode 7 ("I Kissed a Girl")
    • Dot Marie Jones singing her first solo on the show as Coach Shannon Beiste- a tear inducing rendition of "Jolene" by Dolly Parton. The emotion she imbues the song with is absolutely heart-wrenching and gorgeous.
    • Ignore the context and Finn's stripped-down rendition of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" is very good.
    • It suffers from being cut down in the episode itself, but Kurt and Blaine's rendition of Pink's radio-friendly version of 'F*cking Perfect' is...pretty much perfect.
  • Episode 8 ("Hold On To Sixteen")
    • The Troubletones Sectionals mashup of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" with Destiny's Child's "Survivor".
    • New Directions' triple-Jackson number: Tina, Mike, and Kurt with lead on "ABC", Quinn, Blaine, and Artie with lead on "Control", and Finn, Blaine, Puck, and Sam with lead on "Man in the Mirror". All with some of the slickest, best dance moves yet. That is how you showcase all of your talent and win Sectionals. The moment New Directions started singing "ABC", this troper was sure that The Troubletones had no chance at all.
    • "Buenos Aires". Ryan Murphy, extend Lindsay's contract!!!
    • "Red Solo Cup" and "We Are Young" are really fun and relaxed group numbers.
  • Episode 9 ("Extraordinary Merry Christmas")
    • Mercedes does it again: "All I Want for Christmas is You".
    • And so do Kurt and Blaine, with a gorgeously harmonized "Let It Snow" and classic soft-shoe choreography.
    • Brittany covering The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" (with back-up Cheerios!) is perfect.
    • Rory's "Blue Christmas" actually makes this troper like the song.
    • "My Favorite Things" takes my breath away every time... even if the ivories never got tickled.
  • Episode 10 ("Yes/No")
    • Whoever decided on doing the rendition of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" the way it was done by Tina, Santana, Rachel and Mercedes, I bow before your brilliance! Gorgeous!
    • "Without You" sang by Lea Michele made the song 20% More Awesome!
    • Artie (and Mike and Mr. Shue) have "Moves Like Jagger". Blaine, Finn, and Puck providing mashup and backup vocals for "Jumpin' Jack Flash" was awesome.
    • The amazing synchronized swimming proposal number "We Found Love."
  • Episode 11 ("Michael")
    • Naya Rivera blows "Smooth Criminal" out of the water. It can be summed up by the fact that Sebastian loses his shit eating grin for the first time ever.
      • What are you talking about, Grant Gustin was just as glorious!
      • You're both wrong. In the battle between Santana and Sebastian, these guys won.
    • New Directions and the Warblers teaming up for "Black and White", led by the adorably sassy Trent. Sebastian isn't happy.
    • Artie, Blaine, Santana and the rest of the New Directions against the Warblers for "Bad." Just... wow!
    • "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", especially the end, where all of New Directions is decked out in various MJ outfits. Perfect. Oh, and Darren can dance...
    • Kevin McHale and Harry Shum Jr's perfect re-creation of "Scream", complete with jaw-dropping dance moves.
    • Sam and Mercedes' totally sweet "Human Nature".
    • Dianna Agron hasn't had a solo in a while, but "Never Can Say Goodbye", done in a jazzy style, changed that. She knocked it out of the park.0
  • Episode 12 ("The Spanish Teacher")
    • Once again, Mercedes absolutely kills her bilingual version of "Don't Wanna Lose You." Someone, seriously, just give Amber Riley a Grammy already!
    • Naya Rivera and Ricky Martin performing "La Isla Bonita" and a jaw-dropping salsa dance.
  • Episode 13 ("Heart")
    • Mercedes does it again by beautifully covering Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You," complete with a stunning red dress. The episode coincidentally aired a couple days after Houston's death, giving it an extra emotional punch.
    • Blaine making a surprise appearance at the end and kicking off a performance of "Love Shack". It's hard to watch this and not want to just get up and dance wildly.
    • The God Squad's rendition of "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes and Adam Levine.
  • Episode 14 ("On My Way")
    • Darren Criss's rendition of Young The Giant's "Cough Syrup" was exceptional enough to incite comments from self-proclaimed Blaine haters about how much they'd enjoyed it, even ignoring the potentially triggering cuts to Karofksy being bullied to the point of attempting suicide.
    • New Directions' Regionals numbers:
      • Artie, Santana, Rachel, and Finn with lead on a mashup of Rihanna & Nicki Minaj's "Fly" with R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly".
      • Mercedes, Santana, and Brittany on Kelly Clarkson's "What Doesn't Kill You".
      • Finally, Rachel soloing on Halestorm's "Here's to Us".
    • No love for "Stand" and "Glad You Came" by the Warblers? Grant Gustin owns them both AND looks like he's having the time of his life.
  • Episode 15 ("Big Brother")
    • Blaine's cover of "Fighter", especially if you yourself grew up in an older sibling's shadow. And if you factor in his reason for taking up boxing, it makes the performance absolutely chilling. The Shower Scene doesn't hurt either.
    • On that note, "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Blaine and Cooper was so... gutwrenching is the only word I can think of. Here's Blaine, who was talking earlier in the episode about wanting to have a relationship with his brother, but he's singing a really depressing Break Up Song that literally says "You have screwed me over," looking torn between crying and punching something. That's pretty blunt for the dapper one, and it hits home! And then you get Cooper who looks like "Wow... I have really messed up here, how do I fix this before I lose my little brother entirely?" Just wonderfully, poignantly done.
      • Matt Bomer and Darren Criss ran away with the entire episode in that song. Especially for fans of Bomer's from White Collar, this is a performance no one expected out of him - an over-the-top character, singing and dancing. And their tandem "Rio/Hungry Like the Wolf" kicked all sorts of ass too.
    • Quinn's triumphant return to the Glee club - a wheelchair-dancing duet with Artie of "I'm Still Standing".
  • Episode 16 ("Saturday Night Glee-ver")
    • Alex Newell of The Glee Project makes his debut with a faaaaaaahbulous cover of "Boogie Shoes" as Wade/Unique, the trans star of Vocal Adrenaline.
    • Mercedes, Santana and Brittany's scorching cover of "Disco Inferno". Especially Mercedes; no wonder Sam couldn't take his eyes (and camera!) off her.
    • Finn, Santana, and Mercedes getting their John Travolta on for "Stayin' Alive".
  • Episode 17 ("Dance With Somebody")
    • Chris Colfer does it again with "I Have Nothing". Not only does he blow it out of the water, he sings it in the original key. Just... wow. Wow. Can he have a Grammy now?
    • Chris also did an awesome job together with Naya Rivera, Amber Riley, and Lea Michele on their rendition of "How Will I Know" to open the episode. Just gorgeous. Sung in impeccable four-part harmony completely a capella. No Autotune in sight.
    • A feel-good, fantastic version of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" from Brittany and Santana. Heather Morris even sings lead!
  • Episode 18 ("Choke")
    • Chris Colfer does it again with "Not the Boy Next Door" - is there anything that boy can't do???
    • Mercedes, Santana and Tina perform an amazing arrangement of "Shake it Out".
    • It's been a while since we had a Puck solo; "School's Out" fixes that.
    • Sugar and Brittany join Mercedes, Santana, and Tina for the "Cell Block Tango". No one's sure what's better, the vocals or those outfits!
      • And the fact that they were going for choreographing it like the movie and got it, pretty much spot on!
    • Rachel's "Cry" was equal parts awesome and heartbreaking. It provided the perfect backdrop for not only Rachel's, but several characters' shattered dreams.
  • Episode 19 ("Prom-asaurus")
    • Santana's cover of "Love You Like A Love Song."
    • Joseph, Rory, Artie, Sam, and Mike covering One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful". A successor in awesomeness of sorts to the previous year's "Friday".
  • Episode 20 ("Props")
    • Tinchel's incredible cover of "Flashdance/What A Feeling". Tina's voice has evolved so far since Tonight. Jenna Ushkowitz for ALL THE SOLOS.
    • "Because You Loved Me". Nothing more.
    • Puck, Beiste, and an ugly-sobbing inducing cover of "Mean". Who would have ever thought that the show's two biggest badasses - tough guy Puck and Coach Beiste - would be dueting on a Taylor Swift song? And making everyone cry while they were at it?!
  • Episode 21 ("Nationals")
    • Unique's cover of "Pinball Wizard" shows exactly why the show needs to do The Who much more often.
      • "Starships" wasn't too shabby either. If there was ever a singer who needed to cover Nicki Minaj and has the sass required, it's Alex Newell.
      • "Starships." Just "Starships". The episode begins and ends with this song; from the perfect sass required and given by Unique, to the feel-good and generally awesome cover, but the DANCING. This troper was blown away and despite knowing in advance that ND won, sincerely believed it would somehow change, because Vocal Adrenaline were robbed of their trophy. Even if Season 4 turns out to be the best season ever, this troper will forever hold a grudge against RIB because Vocal Adrenaline obviously deserved to win and didn't (because they aren't the protagonists).
    • The New Directions cover of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meatloaf may have been the best song from a competition episode other than the Journey medley, and that is saying something.
      • Paradise by the Dashboard Fucking Light. Lea Fucking Michele as Rachel Goddamn Berry. That is not a girl who is going to be a star. That is a girl who is a star. And let's give Cory Monteith some credit; he unloads on that song with both barrels. Go back and listen to his vocal weaknesses on the pilot version of "Don't Stop Believing" and then listen to "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" - light years difference. Between the two of them, they absolutely make the song.
    • "The Edge of Glory". Naya Rivera wins all the goddamn awards, with Amber, Dianna, and Jenna on very excellent solos as well.
    • And speaking of Lea fucking Michele, she does it again at a major competition with "It's All Coming Back to Me Now". Just give her ALL the diva power ballads already.
    • We may not see them actually performing it, but "Tongue Tied" is an excellent fit for all of the events and emotions that follow the Nationals win.
  • Episode 21 ("Goodbye")
    • "I'll Remember". Chris Colfer, you nailed it. You just nailed it.
    • And the underclassmen number, "In My Life." No solos, just pretty harmonies, and it was glorious!
    • Finn, Puck, graduation, and a fist-pumping performance of "Glory Days".
    • Lea's emotional performance of "Roots Before Branches" at the end. The album version manages to be even better than that, adding more backup from Cory and the rest of the cast.


Glee Live 2011 Tour

  • The new and improved - and Hotter and Sexier choreography to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". Heather Morris and Jenna Ushkowitz still kill the dance, but it's Chris Colfer who really takes it to a new level, going from this to this in less than two years. Where the hell did he learn to do that with his hips???
    • "Baby penguin" our collective asses.
  • "Loser Like Me", with Darren Criss and Chris Colfer getting to join in the anthem.
  • "I Want To Hold Your Hand". You can hear Chris smiling. Plus the adorable little "Hey there!" and "Hi sweetie!" mid-song.
  • Chord, Darren, Mark, Kevin, and Harry doing an acoustic version of Friday. It's simultaneously hilarious and awesome. It's pretty obvious none of them take the song seriously. Special props to Darren's falsetto riffs.
  • Darren singing "Teenage Dream", "Silly Love Songs" and "Raise Your Glass".
    • "Silly Love Songs" is especially cute. At the Chicago performance, Darren hugs Brian Holden.
    • "Raise Your Glass" seems to be the one song every critic points out as one of the high points of the concert.
  • Lea Michele knocking "Don't Rain on My Parade" out of the park and into the stratosphere again.
  • Lea and Chris managing to go Serial Escalation and outdo themselves on "Come On Get Happy/Happy Days."
  • Amber Riley singing "Ain't No Way". Beautiful.


The Glee Project

  • Some of the "Last Chance Performances" have really pulled out all the stops and the performers blow not only the audience, but Ryan Murphy, away.
    • Alex in full Effie White drag doing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going".
    • Cameron doing "Your Song", though Ryan apparently didn't like his outfit.
    • Emily's "Grenade", which, according to Ryan, made him figure out how he'd use that song on the show. Shame she went right home.
      • Mc Kynleigh's performance of "Last Name" went along the same lines - fantastic and better than the others' for that week, but didn't save her from going home.
      • Ditto for Marissa's "Hate On Me".
  • The "Mad World" video combines this with Tear Jerker.
  • The "Under Pressure/Ice Ice Baby" mashup, especially for Samuel and Hannah's raps.
  • The main video for the finale, "Glee-ality", which has the four finalists plus the other eight eliminated contenders performing "Raise Your Glass" atop a skyscraper in LA.
    • The "last chance" performances in the finale:
      • Damian doing "Beyond the Sea", complete with spot-on choreography and microphone work. Standing ovation from everyone.
      • Lindsay belting out "Gimme Gimme".
      • Alex in drag again for "I Am Changing", with another standing ovation.
      • Samuel singing a gorgeous cover of "Jolene".
  1. ↑ except for fans of Celtic Thunder, who probably could-a guessed
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