# Glee - Special Education - 11/30/10



## firerose818 (Jul 21, 2003)

I loved this episode! "Don't Cry for me Argentina" and "The Dog Days are Over" were both fantastic!

I didn't recognize the Amy Winehouse song from Sectionals but it wasn't bad...and there were a few good Brittany lines too.


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

"If we lose, we should throw possums!"

"I am pretty sure that the cricket that reads to me every night, is stealing my jewelry!"


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

The 3 seconds or so that the other "school" sang of "The Living Years" seemed kind of nice.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

Loved the magic comb story.


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## deaklet (Feb 15, 2003)

Living Years was really, really nice. I hope it's expanded on the soundtrack.

This ep brought me back after what I thought blew last week (in my opinion).


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

deaklet said:


> Living Years was really, really nice. I hope it's expanded on the soundtrack.


It is expanded. You can hear the whole version here:
http://www.gleethemusic.com/us/episode/special-education

Now, as for is it good... meh. I really love the original by Mike + The Mechanics, but this version really seems bland. It really seems like they found the most generic session musicians possible to perform the piece, which is probably what happened. Even when it sounds like the singers try and add a bit of soul by adding in some runs, it's generic brand soul.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

By the way, another tidbit I found out this week: the singing for the Warblers is actually being done by another real-life vocal group, the Beelzebubs from Tufts University.

(Nope... the people you see on screen singing in the Warblers aren't really, aside from Darren Criss's Blaine and Chris Colfer's Kurt. They're just actors, that's all.)


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## madscientist (Nov 12, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> By the way, another tidbit I found out this week: the singing for the Warblers is actually being done by another real-life vocal group, the Beelzebubs from Tufts


Huh. Saw them last year on the a capella song-off show... forget what it's called now. They were definitely awesome on that show.


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

madscientist said:


> Huh. Saw them last year on the a capella song-off show... forget what it's called now. They were definitely awesome on that show.


The Sing Off, which returns to NBC Dec 6th then run I believe Mon and Wed until the finale on the 20th.


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## headroll (Jan 20, 2003)

Were each of the hipsters supposed to represent the new directions kids? I saw some likely matches, but not enough to consider it obvious (soulful heavyweight lady, wheelchair, etc.)

-roll


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## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

I thought it especially touching when Brittany looked into Artie's eyes and said, "My dancing is not for the group, or for the audience. I'll be dancing for *you*."

With that one line, Heather Morris showed me she can be far more than the comic ditz. That was truly romantic and tender.

And I really enjoyed showcasing the entire cast. No way was that competition a tie.


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

MikeCC said:


> And I really enjoyed showcasing the entire cast. No way was that competition a tie.


And by that, do you mean the Warblers were better? During the whole Dirty Dancing number, the two leads just didn't WOW me with their vocals. While it is a fun song that was entertaining, it just didn't do it. The next song was better. My wife & I both thought the other group was better with their Train song. The Dog Days number at the end of the show was very good.

It also seemed odd that the Hipsters did a shortened version of their song, the Warblers did a full song, and then the Glee kids did two songs. While it makes sense for the show about the Glee kids, it did not make sense from a competition stand-point.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

I thought it was really odd how the message during Kurt's audition was that the Warbler's did not focus on individual members but worked as a team, then their competition number prominently featured only the one solo performer.

I like the old folks better than the Glee kids. 
"I've Had the Time of My Life" is IMO a worn out old song and neither of those kids have the chops to carry a competition piece. Ditto Santana, and I don't think that "Valerie" is a strong song either.
I thought "Dog Days" was their only performance worthy of sectionals, and that is equally due to the strength of the song and the girls singing it. Great job on that one.

And I know they are poor but the boys clothes did not even remotely coordinate with the girls.
Bugged.

Glad to see Rachel completely exposed as the shrew she really is- she is IMO a reprehensible character with NO redeeming values.
And Mr. Schue is a putz.


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## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

markz said:


> And by that, do you mean the Warblers were better?
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


I simply mean that New Directions were better. By far.

The Warblers were technically proficient. They sang well, and it was a good song choice. But overall, I found their performance was too restrained, too uptight. A line of automatons, vocal androids. Of course, that was the style difference the show meant to highlight.

See, these are *SHOW *choirs, not just singers. Music is emotional, not just mechanical. The Hipsters performance of "In the Living Years" was far more evocative and poignant than The Warblers' performance.

The other diifference that worked against The Warblers was the all male ensemble. The vocal range of an all male group just cannot compare with the range of a group with both men and women.

As to your other point, I had no real problem with the way the competition was shown. It was obviously an editted depiction of the competition. Do you really think there were only THREE groups competing from the entire area?


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

deaklet said:


> Living Years was really, really nice. I hope it's expanded on the soundtrack.


The Hipsters' lead female vocalist has a reasonably long list of credits:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0362303/

Yes, she was credited as "Ellerine!" in this episode (and it's also not the first Fox series in which she was credited that way; she was also in an episode of _Married...with Children_).

Meanwhile, I wonder if John Stamos just became Gleek Public Enemy #1 ("What? Emma is married now? I hate that dentist! They need to put him and Will's separated (or are they actually divorced now?) wife in a car and drive it off a cliff!")...

-- Don


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> By the way, another tidbit I found out this week: the singing for the Warblers is actually being done by another real-life vocal group, the Beelzebubs from Tufts University.


That would explain why none of them (except for the ones with non-singing speaking parts) got credited.

I wonder: did the Beelzebubs do all of the Warblers' background instruments as well? One of the Warblers was lip-syncing to the music rather than the lyrics, and I recall that the Beelzebubs voiced instruments when they were on _The Sing-Off_.



> (Nope... the people you see on screen singing in the Warblers aren't really, aside from Darren Criss's Blaine and Chris Colfer's Kurt. They're just actors, that's all.)


I knew this was true for Vocal Adrenaline, but considering how little choreography the Warblers had, I would have thought they would get actual singers.

-- Don


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

Cearbhaill said:


> Glad to see Rachel completely exposed as the shrew she really is- she is IMO a reprehensible character with NO redeeming values.
> And Mr. Schue is a putz.


Both of those are odd. _Glee _isn't afraid to show the dislikable side of any of the characters, but usually not to the point where you genuinely dislike them. I'm surprised they've consistently pushed Rachel so far over the line. I don't get the point. They've similarly almost ruined the Mr. Schu character. How does everyone around him understand his glee club better than he does? At least he showed some backbone in this episode.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

That Don Guy said:


> That would explain why none of them (except for the ones with non-singing speaking parts) got credited.
> 
> I wonder: did the Beelzebubs do all of the Warblers' background instruments as well? One of the Warblers was lip-syncing to the music rather than the lyrics, and I recall that the Beelzebubs voiced instruments when they were on _The Sing-Off_.


If by "instruments" you mean the vocal accompaniment and beatboxing, I would assume so. I didn't hear any actual instruments in use during the song... it was strictly _a cappella_.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Cearbhaill said:


> Glad to see Rachel completely exposed as the shrew she really is- she is IMO a reprehensible character with NO redeeming values.


Yet - at the same time, ironically, this episode actually was able to show some redeeming values. I really liked the way she interacted with Kurt during this episode... the bit between the two of them backstage at the sectionals actually made her seem genuinely nice, and seeing her (apparently) legitimately cheering Kurt on was pleasant to see as well.

Other than those two moments, though... yeah, she hasn't been a likeable character at all. I liked the way Quinn referred to Rachel during this episode.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

LoadStar said:


> If by "instruments" you mean the vocal accompaniment and beatboxing, I would assume so. I didn't hear any actual instruments in use during the song... it was strictly _a cappella_.


There was plenty of instrumentation- something ukulele-ish to start off (that they tried to pass off as a vocal embellishment), then percussion and a bass line.
They wanted it to _look _a capella, but IMO it was not.


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## rrrobinsonjr (Nov 26, 2004)

That Don Guy said:


> Yes, she was credited as "Ellerine!" in this episode


Where did you find that info? Is there a place that lists the cast for this particular episode?


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Cearbhaill said:


> There was plenty of instrumentation- something ukulele-ish to start off (that they tried to pass off as a vocal embellishment), then percussion and a bass line.
> They wanted it to _look _a capella, but IMO it was not.


Yeah, that's definitely a cappella. The ukulele-ish sound is definitely vocal (although it is mimicking the ukulele-ish instrument used in the original Train song), as is the bass line. The percussion is just beatboxing.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

LoadStar said:


> Yeah, that's definitely a cappella. The ukulele-ish sound is definitely vocal (although it is mimicking the ukulele-ish instrument used in the original Train song), as is the bass line. The percussion is just beatboxing.


Well, I disagree, especially as regards the percussion at 1:18-19 and 1:48-49.
I think it is mixed to _sound_ as if it is vocals, but incorporates instruments to do so.
I guess only the sound mixer knows for sure.


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## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

Cearbhaill said:


> Glad to see Rachel completely exposed as the shrew she really is- she is IMO a reprehensible character with NO redeeming values.
> And Mr. Schue is a putz.


Yep, totally not liking Shue. Not sure I'd go so far as to say bring back the substitute, but they gotta do something about Shue.



LoadStar said:


> Yet - at the same time, ironically, this episode actually was able to show some redeeming values. I really liked the way she interacted with Kurt during this episode... the bit between the two of them backstage at the sectionals actually made her seem genuinely nice, and seeing her (apparently) legitimately cheering Kurt on was pleasant to see as well.
> 
> Other than those two moments, though... yeah, she hasn't been a likeable character at all. I liked the way Quinn referred to Rachel during this episode.


This. Just when I feel my dislike of the Rachel is totally justified, she goes and does something nice.

I loved Mike and Brit dancing!


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

rrrobinsonjr said:


> Where did you find that info? Is there a place that lists the cast for this particular episode?


She was listed in the closing credits (they ran along the bottom of the screen below the preview for next week's show) - I think it was, "ELLERINE! as Hipster Female #1" (all names in the credits are in all caps). I did a Google search on Ellerine and the IMDB page came up, which notes that she has been credited as "Ellerine!" before.



LoadStar said:


> Yeah, that's definitely a cappella. The ukulele-ish sound is definitely vocal (although it is mimicking the ukulele-ish instrument used in the original Train song), as is the bass line. The percussion is just beatboxing.


At first, I thought it sounded _a cappella_, but then it sounded like they had added some actual instruments about halfway through the song for some reason.

-- Don


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## Einselen (Apr 25, 2006)

Cearbhaill said:


> Well, I disagree, especially as regards the percussion at 1:18-19 and 1:48-49.
> I think it is mixed to _sound_ as if it is vocals, but incorporates instruments to do so.
> I guess only the sound mixer knows for sure.


Took a listen again to those parts and that is all possible by vocal production. It is possible that in post it was decided it could not be heard, had some timing issues, etc. and therefore maybe it was "fudged" some, but it could go either way. Just saying that type of vocal production is easily possible.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

hummingbird_206 said:


> Just when I feel my dislike of the Rachel is totally justified, she goes and does something nice.


Or she sings. 

We didn't get much Rachel during the sectionals competition, but we got some of her doing the duet with Kurt.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

Eh, Rachel only helped Kurt because she needed to be part of a great solo even if she wasn't the one singing it- she was totally living vicariously through him.
So still selfish.

I don't like Rachel 



Einselen said:


> Took a listen again to those parts and that is all possible by vocal production. It is possible that in post it was decided it could not be heard, had some timing issues, etc. and therefore maybe it was "fudged" some, but it could go either way. Just saying that type of vocal production is easily possible.


Fine 
But I would still vote fudged.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

One thing I have to say though, I'm SOOOO glad that Shu's ex-wife has been gone for the most part this season. While none of the storylines this season have been all that great, it's been miles better not having the stupid pregnancy stuff from last season.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

DancnDude said:


> One thing I have to say though, I'm SOOOO glad that Shu's ex-wife has been gone for the most part this season. While none of the storylines this season have been all that great, it's been miles better not having the stupid pregnancy stuff from last season.


Agreed. Unfortunately, having her pop up a few weeks back again indicates to me that they intend to continue to do something with her character... and I have a bad feeling that the guess that she actually does get pregnant is not far off.


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## rrrobinsonjr (Nov 26, 2004)

That Don Guy said:


> She was listed in the closing credits (they ran along the bottom of the screen below the preview for next week's show) - I think it was, "ELLERINE! as Hipster Female #1" (all names in the credits are in all caps). I did a Google search on Ellerine and the IMDB page came up, which notes that she has been credited as "Ellerine!" before.


The end of my recording was cut off. Any place else you know of that I can find this info?


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## debtoine (May 17, 2001)

rrrobinsonjr said:


> The end of my recording was cut off. Any place else you know of that I can find this info?


The episode is on Hulu, but I don't know if the credits at the end are included. We missed the end of it too, so I'm streaming it now to find out.

ETA: Yep, credits stream at the end, after the last pair of ads. Previews for next week, however, do not.

deb


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## rrrobinsonjr (Nov 26, 2004)

Who played 'Pete Soznowski' (sp?), the man who made the announcement at the end of the competition? It wasn't in the credits.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

rrrobinsonjr said:


> Who played 'Pete Soznowski' (sp?), the man who made the announcement at the end of the competition? It wasn't in the credits.


Mike Hagerty- over in the "Guest stars" box.


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## rrrobinsonjr (Nov 26, 2004)

Cearbhaill said:


> Mike Hagerty- over in the "Guest stars" box.


Thanks!


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

MikeCC said:


> And I really enjoyed showcasing the entire cast. No way was that competition a tie.


You're right. The Warblers were far and away better than the other two.


markz said:


> It also seemed odd that the Hipsters did a shortened version of their song, the Warblers did a full song, and then the Glee kids did two songs. While it makes sense for the show about the Glee kids, it did not make sense from a competition stand-point.


That's just the editing. I'm sure all three teams did two numbers.


MikeCC said:


> As to your other point, I had no real problem with the way the competition was shown. It was obviously an editted depiction of the competition. Do you really think there were only THREE groups competing from the entire area?


No, as we saw last season, and as they discussed a couple of episodes ago, there are just three competitors at Sectionals. They've never explained why there are only three, but within the world of Glee, Sectionals means three competitors.


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

rrrobinsonjr said:


> Thanks!


The oddest thing- an Ally McBeal episode "Alone Again" rerun is airing right now on my background noise TV and I just this very second looked up to see guest star Mike Hagerty.


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## martinp13 (Mar 19, 2001)

OK, my prognostication:

Dave gets outed to the football team.
Dave gets bullied/shunned/etc by the football team.
Dave can't take it.
Dave transfers to ... Dalton.
Dave has feelings for Kurt (he did kiss him).
Kurt has no feelings for Dave.
Hilarity ensues.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

Where in that timeline does Kurt return to Lima?


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## martinp13 (Mar 19, 2001)

I would think in the "Hilarity Ensues" part.

Of course, now that Kurt is finding that the greener grass was painted, he may be back sooner than later.

By the way, I thought Kurt's "dancing" during the sectionals number was terrible... no way I'd put him on the "front line" for a show choir performance. Bristol Palin had better movement on Dancing With The Stars! (horror of horrors!)


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

martinp13 said:


> I would think in the "Hilarity Ensues" part.
> 
> Of course, now that Kurt is finding that the greener grass was painted, he may be back sooner than later.


Exactly! It was pretty clear that Dalton and the Warblers wasn't exactly what he was hoping for. He DOESN'T stand out like he was hoping to.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

jsmeeker said:


> Where in that timeline does Kurt return to Lima?


At first, I thought Kurt would transfer back to McKinley in time for them to win Regionals, but just before they head off to Nationals, Sue breaks out the Show Choir Rulebook and notes that nobody can sing for two different schools in the same year, which Kurt did, thus disqualifying New Directions (but they go to Nationals anyway - Ryan Murphy said the season finale takes place there, but he also said he wasn't sure if ND would be competing or not).

Now, I wouldn't be surprised if Kurt stays at Dalton, and they end up winning Regionals, so ND goes to Nationals to see Kurt perform, after which he announces that he's transferring back to McKinley next year (which would be allowed).
The only problem with this is, it doesn't really work unless Regionals is the next-to-last episode, as if ND doesn't win Regionals, they don't really have anything to do between then and Nationals.

Also... (I'd better add spoiler space, even though it doesn't really have to do with the series itself)


Spoiler



When Murphy announced the upcoming tour of England and Ireland, he also said, "For everyone in America who has asked if well be back to a city near them this summer...well have some exciting news very soon." I have a feeling that means there's going to be a movie version of the tour(s), similar to the Hannah Montana concert movie; some people who attended last year's tour said that they saw camera crews filming it (and not just for TV news coverage, from the descriptions). Considering that the England/Ireland tour ends July 3, there isn't that much time to have a North America tour before Season 3 filming has to begin.


-- Don


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## Neenahboy (Apr 8, 2004)

After last night's rather robotic effort, I'm SO happy that Darren Criss wasn't cast as Finn as originally intended. Hopefully we only have to suffer through the "Kurt feels out of place at Dalton and is ostracized by the Stepford-esque group board" crap only a little while longer.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> You're right. The Warblers were far and away better than the other two.


Am I the only one who is not impressed by Darren Criss' singing? It just doesn't do it for me. I would much rather listen to New Directions any day of the week.


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## Drewster (Oct 26, 2000)

Cearbhaill said:


> Well, I disagree, especially as regards the percussion at 1:18-19 and 1:48-49.
> I think it is mixed to _sound_ as if it is vocals, but incorporates instruments to do so.
> I guess only the sound mixer knows for sure.


A capella precussionists can sound eerily like instruments. Listen to some of Rockapella's albums.


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## Drewster (Oct 26, 2000)

Neenahboy said:


> After last night's rather robotic effort, I'm SO happy that Darren Criss wasn't cast as Finn as originally intended.


I don't know if it's the actor or the character, but I find Finn to be completely unremarkable. There's no there there.

In contrast, I find Darren Criss's Blaine to be much more engaging.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

martinp13 said:


> I would think in the "Hilarity Ensues" part.
> 
> Of course, now that Kurt is finding that the greener grass was painted, he may be back sooner than later.
> 
> By the way, I thought Kurt's "dancing" during the sectionals number was terrible... no way I'd put him on the "front line" for a show choir performance. Bristol Palin had better movement on Dancing With The Stars! (horror of horrors!)


I suspect that was deliberate.

Kurt was "a bit out of sync" with the rest of them as is he at Dalton.


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## jahtilove (Dec 2, 2010)

Nice to see Puck stretching his vocabulary


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

When Kurt was auditioning with _Argentina_ and he started to do the "Evita Arms", I was like, "omg, no! don't do the Evita Arms!!! " and then just at that moment, the warbler guy gave him the "don't do the Evita Arms" signal. I lol'd. 



Drewster said:


> A capella precussionists can sound eerily like instruments. Listen to some of Rockapella's albums.


+1

I've heard Jeff Thatcher do _really_ convincing jingle bells.



MikeCC said:


> The other diifference that worked against The Warblers was the all male ensemble. The vocal range of an all male group just cannot compare with the range of a group with both men and women.


Well, they _did_ have Kurt.

No! I didn't mean it like _that!_  Just that he's a soprano.



jsmeeker said:


> Exactly! It was pretty clear that Dalton and the Warblers wasn't exactly what he was hoping for. He DOESN'T stand out like he was hoping to.


And could they have dropped any heavier a metaphor anvil with the whole parallel between the canary and Kurt?

That totally had me


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

Way upthread everyone was wondering why Kurt had not spoken to Finn since the wedding and I forgot to talk about it.
Dalton Academy looked to me like a boarding school... no?


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## busyba (Feb 5, 2003)

Cearbhaill said:


> Way upthread everyone was wondering why Kurt had not spoken to Finn since the wedding and I forgot to talk about it.
> *Dalton Academy looked to me like a boarding school... no?*


That was my assumption as well.


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## JohnB1000 (Dec 6, 2004)

The "Amy Winehouse" song is actually Valeria by the Zutons, their version is great. Amy did it on the Mark Ronson album. That song is in Lego Rock Band and is really fun to sing (The Zutons version).

I enjoyed this episode but not looking forward to the music in the next one


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

TriBruin said:


> Am I the only one who is not impressed by Darren Criss' singing? It just doesn't do it for me. I would much rather listen to New Directions any day of the week.


I'll agree that New Directions has better lead soloists, but I actually don't like lead soloists in a show choir. I much prefer tight vocal harmony and minimal instruments, and I definitely don't want to hear auto-tune. That's why The Warblers was so great for me, and why New Directions was just like every other one of their performances every week. It featured way too much lead vocals and not nearly enough backing harmony, and, as always, way too much instruments and auto-tune.


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## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

TriBruin said:


> Am I the only one who is not impressed by Darren Criss' singing? It just doesn't do it for me. I would much rather listen to New Directions any day of the week.


No, you are not alone in that. His voice is certainly pleasant, but uninspired. And his performance was the most animated of the group, but I still got no real emotion from the guy. It was as if he memorized his routine, and made sure he did it correctly.

"Hmm. Must remember: sing refrain, smile, pivot left, walk seven steps across stage.."

But at least his performance was somewhat animated. The rest of the group was wooden and near lifeless. Walk to the left, face front, raise left arm, lower. Head stage right. Step. Step.

And they had real trouble syncronizing what little choreagraphy they did. At times, the troupe was so out of step with each other I'm surprised they didn't bump into one another.

With as little movement as they did, why couldn't they keep the lines straight and aligned, and make sure each step was in unision?

A Junior High ROTC unit would march back and forth with far better rhythm and precision.


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## WinBear (Aug 24, 2000)

busyba said:


> Just that he's a soprano.


Kurt is more properly called a "countertenor" which has the range closer to that of a female mezzo-soprano than a soprano. Remember when they had the Diva-off for "Defying Gravity", they prominently mentioned the high F in that song that he couldn't hit or would have great difficulty hitting.


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

WinBear said:


> Kurt is more properly called a "countertenor" which has the range closer to that of a female mezzo-soprano than a soprano. Remember when they had the Diva-off for "Defying Gravity", they prominently mentioned the high F in that song that he couldn't hit or would have great difficulty hitting.


Actually he could hit it, but he threw the competition by deliberately missing it.


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## Bulldog7 (Oct 6, 2002)

Am I crazy...or did Sue not appear in the episode _at all_? A nice change for at least one night. She is sooo much fun to hate!


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

Bulldog7 said:


> Am I crazy...or did Sue not appear in the episode _at all_? A nice change for at least one night. She is sooo much fun to hate!


you are not crazy.. Sue was not in this episode.

Kinda bummed she wasn't there trying to figure out a way to keep New Directions from going to sectionals.


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## JohnB1000 (Dec 6, 2004)

Sue has not appeared in quite a few episodes over the 2 seasons so far.


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## Sromkie (Aug 15, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> I thought it was really odd how the message during Kurt's audition was that the Warbler's did not focus on individual members but worked as a team, then their competition number prominently featured only the one solo performer.


This.

That was just odd. Yes, we only saw one of the two songs they likely performed, but what we did see presented the "team" as instrumentation and a barely moving back drop for one guy's performance.

Kurt won't be happy there. It's inevitable that he will eventually come back, but I imagine it will take the entire season to get to that point.

I liked that Puck put himself out there and risked ridicule from the football team to help the glee club find a new member. I think it's funny how even the girl he recruited, who is clearly an outcast herself, thinks the club is lame. That just goes to show that the club hasn't really gained any ground at the school.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

It IS just odd how they film Sectionals. There are only 3 entries. Apparently they aren't all schools since we got the older group this episode. 

The only showed 1 song for the first 2 schools but 2 for NDs (and didn't film anything where they're waiting "backstage" while the other clubs are going). But let's suppose they DO each sing 2 songs. 6 songs total? Maybe a 30-minute concert in all? In that big hall with all those people? And then you have the kids not even in costume watching the others perform? 

Glee can't even fit within its own continuity. But that's how the show always has been.


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## AJRitz (Mar 25, 2002)

DancnDude said:


> It IS just odd how they film Sectionals. There are only 3 entries. Apparently they aren't all schools since we got the older group this episode.
> 
> The only showed 1 song for the first 2 schools but 2 for NDs (and didn't film anything where they're waiting "backstage" while the other clubs are going). But let's suppose they DO each sing 2 songs. 6 songs total? Maybe a 30-minute concert in all? In that big hall with all those people? And then you have the kids not even in costume watching the others perform?
> 
> Glee can't even fit within its own continuity. But that's how the show always has been.


The older group is from a school. That was explained in an earlier episode, when they talked about who they were up against at sectionals. They are from a school comprised of adults who never graduated high school and so returned to school to finish their diplomas.


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## DreadPirateRob (Nov 12, 2002)

Cearbhaill said:


> There was plenty of instrumentation- something ukulele-ish to start off (that they tried to pass off as a vocal embellishment), then percussion and a bass line.
> They wanted it to _look _a capella, but IMO it was not.





LoadStar said:


> Yeah, that's definitely a cappella. The ukulele-ish sound is definitely vocal (although it is mimicking the ukulele-ish instrument used in the original Train song), as is the bass line. The percussion is just beatboxing.





Cearbhaill said:


> Well, I disagree, especially as regards the percussion at 1:18-19 and 1:48-49.
> I think it is mixed to _sound_ as if it is vocals, but incorporates instruments to do so.
> I guess only the sound mixer knows for sure.





That Don Guy said:


> At first, I thought it sounded _a cappella_, but then it sounded like they had added some actual instruments about halfway through the song for some reason.





Einselen said:


> Took a listen again to those parts and that is all possible by vocal production. It is possible that in post it was decided it could not be heard, had some timing issues, etc. and therefore maybe it was "fudged" some, but it could go either way. Just saying that type of vocal production is easily possible.


I'm with Loadstar and Einselen - I'm fairly confident that was entirely _a cappella_. The opening "ukelele" was clearly vocal production (well done, but still obvious). The percussion is a more difficult call - at some points it is clearly vocal production (essentially beatboxing), at others it could be vocal production, or it could have been post-production.

The more important point is that it is all *possible* by vocal production, which is all I really care about. I've sang with larger _a cappella _groups like that, and I've seen some amazing groups perform live. It's amazing the sounds that can be created with the human voice.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

AJRitz said:


> The older group is from a school. That was explained in an earlier episode, when they talked about who they were up against at sectionals. They are from a school comprised of adults who never graduated high school and so returned to school to finish their diplomas.


Ok I must have missed that. It at least makes a little more sense. Of course it is odd that Sectionals should (basically) be the same schools competing against each other every year.


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## WinBear (Aug 24, 2000)

DancnDude said:


> Ok I must have missed that. It at least makes a little more sense. Of course it is odd that Sectionals should (basically) be the same schools competing against each other every year.


It is odd to me that it is a completely different group of schools at sectionals each year. Neither of the competitors from last year are in the same section as McKinley this year.


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## DreadPirateRob (Nov 12, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> You're right. The Warblers were far and away better than the other two.





DevdogAZ said:


> I'll agree that New Directions has better lead soloists, but I actually don't like lead soloists in a show choir. I much prefer tight vocal harmony and minimal instruments, and I definitely don't want to hear auto-tune. That's why The Warblers was so great for me, and why New Directions was just like every other one of their performances every week. It featured way too much lead vocals and not nearly enough backing harmony, and, as always, way too much instruments and auto-tune.


Yeah, I was much happier with the Warblers' performance - like I said earlier, I have sung in several _a cappella _groups, and as such I have a real affinity for very tight multi-part harmonies, so I sat back and marveled at their technical brilliance.

On the other hand, the New Directions performance was just meh. Sam is is a pretty strong vocalist, but Quinn is not. Her voice has a pleasant tone, but she is not a strong enough singer to be a soloist, so I thought "Time of My Life" was pretty terrible.


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## AJRitz (Mar 25, 2002)

WinBear said:


> It is odd to me that it is a completely different group of schools at sectionals each year. Neither of the competitors from last year are in the same section as McKinley this year.


That kind of thing does actually happen with many statewide high school competitions where there are lots of participating schools, such that an initial round is necessary to reduce the number of competing schools to a more manageable number. In order to prevent situations where one particularly dominant school elminates the same other schools from competition every year, the first round of competition is arranged by random draw (sometimes the random draws are within particular regional boundaries,to minimize travel costs. Other times, sections can be dispersed over the entire state). Then the winners of each random sectional draw move on to the next level of competition.


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## gchance (Dec 6, 2002)

Sromkie said:


> I liked that Puck put himself out there and risked ridicule from the football team to help the glee club find a new member. I think it's funny how even the girl he recruited, who is clearly an outcast herself, thinks the club is lame. That just goes to show that the club hasn't really gained any ground at the school.


This is one thing that bothered me, unless I missed something. Why did they need a new member? They HAD a new member but she's been absent for quite a few episodes. Did Charice leave? She's the one Rachel sang with in the bathroom.



Entertainment Weekly said:


> Sunshine Corazon (Charice): The other major newcomer tonight was that Oprah-endorsed nugget of soul. Charice/Sunshine's voice is insane, especially considering she's about the size of a lawn gnome and dresses like a Harajuku girl (although I do always love the addition of a nice beret). And just like Beiste's arrival brought out the beast in Sue, so too did Sunshine's debut provide a focus for the crazy machinations of our fair Rachel Berry, and that, in turn, shone a spotlight on Lea Michele's undeniable skills. Girl was absolutely *****-tastic in this episode -- sending the brand-new exchange student to a crack house? -- and then surprisingly touching at the end (and that's hard to do while wearing socks with loafers).


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## AJRitz (Mar 25, 2002)

Charice got "stolen" by Vocal Adrenaline after Rachel treated her so badly.


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## Lori (Feb 20, 2000)

DancnDude said:


> It IS just odd how they film Sectionals. There are only 3 entries. Apparently they aren't all schools since we got the older group this episode.
> 
> The only showed 1 song for the first 2 schools but 2 for NDs (and didn't film anything where they're waiting "backstage" while the other clubs are going). But let's suppose they DO each sing 2 songs. 6 songs total? Maybe a 30-minute concert in all? In that big hall with all those people? And then you have the kids not even in costume watching the others perform?
> 
> Glee can't even fit within its own continuity. But that's how the show always has been.


Everyone sings three songs at sectionals. They are not going to prep nine musical numbers, though, with six of those needing to be guest performers. So we see drips and drabs of the other performances.

Last year, they talked about the third song (Don't Stop Believing), but they did not show it being performed. This year, they did not mention the third number, but I believe that there was one...we just didn't get to see it.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

Lori said:


> Everyone sings three songs at sectionals. They are not going to prep nine musical numbers, though, with six of those needing to be guest performers. So we see drips and drabs of the other performances.
> 
> Last year, they talked about the third song (Don't Stop Believing), but they did not show it being performed. This year, they did not mention the third number, but I believe that there was one...we just didn't get to see it.


[GLEEK ALERT]
Actually the third song at last year's sectionals was changed to Somebody to Love when the deaf school sang Don't Stop Believing in their set. But, we never saw it sung at sectionals.
[/GLEEK ALERT]


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## 702 (Feb 9, 2003)

WinBear said:


> It is odd to me that it is a completely different group of schools at sectionals each year. Neither of the competitors from last year are in the same section as McKinley this year.


I think they mentioned last year sectionals was drawn at random.


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## That Don Guy (Mar 13, 2003)

AJRitz said:


> That kind of thing does actually happen with many statewide high school competitions where there are lots of participating schools, such that an initial round is necessary to reduce the number of competing schools to a more manageable number. In order to prevent situations where one particularly dominant school elminates the same other schools from competition every year, the first round of competition is arranged by random draw (sometimes the random draws are within particular regional boundaries,to minimize travel costs. Other times, sections can be dispersed over the entire state). Then the winners of each random sectional draw move on to the next level of competition.


In both seasons, they knew the two other competing schools for the Western Ohio Sectional (it has been called that both times) in advance. There was never any evidence that they competed at any level before that, or that there was any "qualifying competition" to get to the "final three" - and even if there was, it would be incredibly coincidental that the two other schools that Will mentioned in the letters he received just happened to be the other two finalists both times.

I believe the phrase is, "It's Only A TV Show." This would also explain why only three sections appear to advance to the Midwest Regional.

-- Don


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