The Glee Project - Glee-ality

For a show that takes itself so seriously, it should really stop with the episode titles in season three. Well, one of us just came from running around outside in the pouring rain and jumping in puddles (because that’s the only time running is fun/and oh yeah, I’m a freaking child), so that blogger is a little damp but ready to edit/write/add her two mocking cents. That blogger is team Aylin, but wants anyone but Ali. So, Blake or Aylin. The other blogger has always hated Aylin. It took so long for someone to put this episode online. It’s one of the hardest shows to find links for, so we are glad it’s over for now. The homework assignment is "You Can’t Stop the Beat" from Hairspray, and they butchered it almost as much as the real Glee kids did. At least they had more energy and it sounded more raw. All the eliminated contestants came back to sing backup. That means Charlie made a beeline for a very excited Aylin. Our ideal top three would have been Lily Mae, Shanna, and Dani, but this show sucks. It was nice to see them all again. Even that country western guy no one remembers. He’s cute though. The guest mentor is Chris Colfer and everyone is excited about that. It may come as a shock to you, but one of us really likes Chris Colfer. He seems like a decent, grounded human being.

Chris is pretty much the same person as Ryan Murphy, since he picked all three as the winners. Ryan is determined to not do that this year, oh no. He’s only picking one person. The final video is "Tonight Tonight" by Hot Chelle Rae, a song that has been annoying since the first time we heard it. The concept for the video is prom, a thing that has been annoying since the first time we heard of it. Aylin is playing a girl sneaking out for prom/hiding it from her parents. Blake is a humble, popular prom king (something Chris doesn’t think exists; neither do we. Hardly anyone is really, truly humble, and almost no one is in high school. Let alone the prom king). Ali is the flirty mean girl.

The judges worry that Aylin won’t be able to handle the backlash that will come from the Muslim character they will write for her. Um, there hasn’t been any backlash from her being on The Glee Project. Then again, she’s no Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Blake does a good job in the shoot. Ali looks forced, as usual. They bring Damien McGinty back to parade him in front of the finalists. He says boring things in his adorable accent. We are reminded of how poorly used he is on Glee. Maybe no one ever wins this show. They used Samuel pretty well though. The video is meh, as usual. We wish our proms had featured balloon drops and swings. WE LOVE SWINGS.

FINALLY, we get to the Last Chance Performances, which are the best thing about this show, for real. Several writers, stars from Glee, and the old contestants are watching them perform, as well as Ryan Murphy and the regular judges. Dianna looked great. We have a girl crush on her looks, Jenna Marbles-style. Ali sings "Popular" from Wicked, wisely playing into the writers’ idea that she play yet another mean girl on Glee. It makes us like her better to know that she is freaking brilliant and will do anything to win, even stop being a “ball of light.” It’s a good song for her thin, excruciating voice too.

Blake chooses to sing "I’ll Be" by Edwin McCain because the song is special to him. Ahhh, so he’s going to act really gay and sensitive so Ryan will fall in love with him. Psh, that will never wo- OH MAN. That totally worked. Ryan is smitten. To his credit, Blake is super hot and Ryan likes the peen. Blake ends things with a sensitive poem about himself that everyone eats up. We thought it was mostly lame with a side of cute. We liked his little dance moves during his song though. He’s a showman.

Aylin sings "Rolling in the Deep" because she realizes her strongest card in this game is her singing voice. And damn she sounds good. It’s hard to sing an Adele song and make it sound like you should be singing it, but Aylin pulls it off. She gets a standing ovation after killing it. But this isn’t a singing competition. It’s more like a beauty pageant where everyone does the same thing for their talent. Before Aylin sings, Abraham shouts, “WORK!” We guess he’s getting more comfortable with his androgyny.

The judges deliberate. Then Charlie makes this speech about why Aylin should win, and he sounds like he’s about to cry. Ryan comments on how emotional he is. Oh how we cringed during Charlie’s speech. He’s actually in love with Aylin. Poor fool. Ryan is like, “Everything you’re saying, I’ve already said. Stop copying me. I’m in love with Blake.” Aylin’s pros: She’s Muslim, she sang Adele. Ali’s pros: She’s actually in a wheelchair (unlike Artie who can get up and walk any time). Blake’s pros: He’s talented, good looking, and he has a good attitude. Also, remember guys, he can act the best. Blake actually wins. We are really surprised because he’s the least Super Special. We’re happy with the winner. The lesson on The Glee Project is that Super Special people will get attention and consideration early, but in the end, the likeable guy always wins on a reality TV show.

The Glee Project - Actability

Team Lily Mae! Dianna Agron is the guest mentor today. She is so, so beautiful in the most traditional way. We think Dianna seems real and like someone we’d want to hang out with. Mostly, she seems smart. Oh poor babies. They have to show an emotion while they sing. SO HARD. They gave Ali "excited". That means they want her to win. Huge advantage. Blake was the worst, so we can’t believe Dianna liked him. Michael won the homework though.

The video of the week was a movie trailer set to P!nk’s "Perfect", which we love. It’s a powerful song. The kids were given a really convoluted story to play out. But hey, at least they don’t have to dance. Lily showed emotion in the studio AND sounded good. Yay! But then she was over-freaking-doing it in the video shoot. She was a good actress, but she couldn’t get to the point, dammit.

Bring on Darth Blake! He’s a natural actor and he pulled off his douchebag role. The cutest thing about the scene was Zach giggling and loving the scenes. Seventeen minutes in, and Aylin isn’t really annoying us yet. That’s a first. In the end, the kids did a good job, but we’d never see a movie with that trailer. It made no sense/it was all over the place.

Bottom three time! Those who remain go onto the finale. Nikki shows a sweet side. Whoa. Zach cries a little. All five contestants will perform for Ryan this time, as a final gift, so that they all have an equal shot. Most of the song choices they got were good, but Ali’s song was an awful pick for her. Even Lea Michele couldn’t pull of that rockin’ Halestorm song. Ali was sure to sound too shrill. You need a specific voice for that song. Lea and Ali don’t have it.

Aylin also got an unfortunate song. "Fighter" has little melody, lots of riffs, and lots of attitude. It’s a hard song to sing, if you aren’t Christina Aguilera, and no one else is. There are more judges on the bench than usual. First up was Michael with "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", the slow, thoughtful version. It was okay. Lily Mae was next. She sings "Son of a Preacher Man". Great song. She looked so adorable in her little outfit with the headband!!! And she sounded perfect.

Ali was next, sounding like a munchkin as usual. Helium-voiced though she is, it’s hard to hate her because her attitude is so good. Plus, there was that cute little wheelchair thump. Then we had Blake with "I’m Still Standing". Nice moves, Blake. You just topped Michael with that dancing. One writer was concerned that Blake had no wound. Um, is he human? He has a wound. Just because you can’t write on a deep enough level to capture a conflict that isn’t obvious… Jeez.

Aylin next. It was better than we would have thought. She rocked a few notes. They love Aylin’s Islamic heritage and want to write for her. Ryan Murphy wants to cut more than one kid. It’s so cute how Michael puts Ali in her chair! Michael and Lily were cut. So much rage, you guys. We freaking hate this show. We get that Lily was stubborn in the beginning, but she got better! Obviously, Ali is going to win because they’ve shown Aylin being too unlikeable. Blake is too normal to beat the Muslim and wheelchair girl. Show’s over. Go home.

Episode grade: F-

WE HATE YOU GLEE PROJECT. This show will never please us.

The Glee Project - Romanticality

Does this show know that “romanticism” is a word?

We didn’t blog about "Theatricality" and "Tenacity" (the last two episodes) because we had stuff going on. We’re sure you thought we would be upset that Nellie went home, but we felt like it was time. She didn’t take the advice and run with it. She got her second chance. We love her and her voice, but we don’t think she went home too early. It was deserved. We were SO SO SO glad Abraham went home in "Tenacity". Lily killed her song and Michael is so cute. Ern really loves Lily. Shanna is the most likeable, as a person, of the girls though. Ali keeps killing it. Ugh! Ern really hates her voice unless she is belting a long note. Then her voice loses that shrillness and gets some depth.

About Abraham: Ern has a newfound respect for Ryan Murphy. When Abraham tried to kiss up to him and talk about Ryan’s “adorable little hats,” Ryan was like, “Stop the flattery. Get real.” Ern haaaaaaaaaaaates being complimented. Unless she knows the person well, it always feels like the person wants something. Not to mention the fake thing. Ern is told that she needs to give more compliments because not everyone feels that way. It could be so. Anyway, Ryan acted like a big, gay Ern when he shut Abraham down. There was just something weird with Abraham’s attitude, and his voice wasn’t as good as the others.

This week, we have Romanticality and Darren Criss. Someone thinks the romantic relationships on Glee are “iconic”? Whaaaa? He also thinks the show has had “groundbreaking” scenes. Maybe the part where Kurt lost his virginity at the same time as Rachel? Maybe. But that’s it. Man, these kids always sound good on the homework challenges. Shanna is like, “I don’t get negative feedback.” Umm, when there are only six people left, you’re gonna. Of course the hot one won the challenge. We didn’t appreciate his girl impersonation. The girls don’t sound like that when they talk, especially Lily. Maybe Ali sounds like that.

Poor Blake! How can you be on Glee and not be able to do harmony?!! FINN can do harmony. Of course, harmony is something anyone with an ear can learn to do. You just have to practice. We recommend singing along with boy bands (even if you hate them). Those bands have obvious harmony, and the songs are harmony-friendly. Sing along with those harmony parts, and you will soon be picking it out of regular songs. You didn’t see anyone going nuts over the guest principal. Sad. We’ve got to give it to Ali and Blake. They were the sexiest. “We Found Love” was a really cute video (for this show, anyway).

We feel bad for Aylin. It’s tough for a straight girl to create chemistry with another girl that’s more believable than two straight couples. We thought the songs they gave the bottom three were difficult. Leeard wanted to see Aylin go, but Ern wanted to see Blake go. Of course, he’s not going home because he’s adorable. Ern wanted to keep Aylin because she makes the show interesting and Ern likes her voice, even though it’s a little breath-y. Both of us wanted to keep Shanna, and we were pretty sure she was safe since it’s her first time in the bottom three. Of course she then proceeded to suck a little.

Aylin gave Ern chills singing “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Beautiful. Too bad she forgot the words. Blake’s nerves affected his rendition of “Losing My Religion,” an overdone, but nice song. He sounded good. Now let’s hear him do harmony with it. Shanna sang “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson, and she forgot the words too. Still, we think she sounded better than Mercedes did singing it. Shanna’s voice had more oomph, especially in the beginning before she forgot the words. Ryan has to, essentially, ask her, “What is about you that can be on Glee? Do you have a handicap? Are you gay?” Nope. She’s normal. That means she’s gone. We’re so angry.

Episode grade: F

It was kind of boring too.

The Glee Project - Fearlessness

Last week, Mario went home and we were happy about that. We didn’t feel the need for a post on the episode (okay, we were lazy). All Mario did was make excuses and act pretentious. Don’t worry Mario, we won’t remember you as the blind guy they allowed on The Glee Project. We will remember you as the a-hole they let on The Glee Project. Fearlessness is a great theme. Of course Aylin thinks that she’s already fearless bc she’s a flirtatious Muslim. Ugh. That annoyed even Ern. If Aylin mentions her bad-assness again, Ern will hate her as much as Leeard does, even though bragging doesn’t usually bother Ern. If you say it 100 times though, it’s gonna get to anyone. “I don’t know if Asians are supposed to rap well, but I don’t” – Abraham. Oh Abe, we both hate and love that quote.

Poor, awesome Jane Lynch has to be on this farce this week. At least it’s better than actually being on stupid Glee. She is one of the only mentors we’d actually want some one-on-one time with. She seems wise, down-to-earth, sweet, and experienced in show business and hard work. Naturally, after they got rid of all the black people, it’s time to rap! Ali did a shameless Nicki Minaj rip off. They had good energy and the singing sounded good, so this was way less painful than we had anticipated. Some of the guys really sucked at rapping though. We love that Lily beat Aylin. We love that Lily actually IS a bad ass for not whining about having to wear a swimsuit. Nellie, get some therapy. You’re gorgeous and talented.

Does anyone else think Nikki Ander is kind of a power-drunk bitch? Her facial expressions when the kids aren’t singing well are classic though, and we like how she’s honest. Aylin’s reaction to feeling slushie for the first time was funny, but no one liked it. We feel her on the goofing off when things get hard/uncomfortable. In karate, one of us used to try to make jokes while fighting people. Not recommended. You will get punched in the face mid-cackle. OH YEAH, show, throw slushies at the girl who can’t flippin’ walk! She can swim?!! That’s a surprise worthy of the applause she got. There’s no way Ali is going home this week. Darn. Lily sounded the best in the video and seemed like she was having a ton of fun. No way she’s going home either. We couldn’t take our eyes off her.

As usual, the judges picked a bottom three to sing for Ryan Murphy. We’re not feeling Abraham. He’s been boring lately, but he’s safe. We wanted Nellie in the bottom three again so that we could hear another incredible last-chance performance, but we didn’t want her to go home. Charlie is a huge mess and consistently impossible to work with. We felt for him the first time, but this is like the fifth. His persona last week was gag-worthy. Aylin was in the bottom three, and we are both pretty over her, so that’s fine. We like her positivity though. They made the right choices with the bottom three, but we were annoyed at this point that Nellie might get cut for not being Glee enough. LIKE WHEN THEY TOOK DANI.

Poor Aylin had to sing "Take a Bow", a song that was owned by Lea Michele in season one of Glee. The comparisons were inevitable, and Aylin didn’t come across well in light of them, even though the performance was on-key, well-belted, and okay. Ryan is like DON’T LAUGH AT THE SLUSHIE. Slushies are a serious bullying matter on the show! We realized then that Ryan is keeping Aylin. Because she is new and a game changer, because she is a Muslim. She’s a new ornament on Ryan’s multicultural, Very Special Christian tree. Ugh. Charlie was next. Charlie WAS determined to go out fighting. He sounded great, but he went for his crazy antics again which is why he is in the bottom three. We really didn’t know he could sing before.

Ryan complained that Charlie stands out too much, which is never his complaint. You have to stand out, yet be the same as the rest of the group (are you listening, Nellie?) Nellie’s insecurities don’t show in her awesome singing. For a show about high school, nerds, and bullying, you would think an insecure vibe would be welcome, but Ryan is concerned that she’s “not the show.” Zach’s face while she was singing…he was totally tearing up. Ryan’s was like Simon Cowell’s listening to Susan Boyle. Come on, guys! Thank GOD Charlie was sent home. He deserved to go home for his past behavior and multiple chances, not his performance. We liked his voice. Of course, Aylin and Charlie had to end their relationship of convenience/boredom/horniness with a kiss. Bleck.

Episode grade: B

The Glee Project - Sexuality

This week’s theme was “sexuality,” so of course Aylin was really excited. Leeard still hates her and would like to give a shout-out to Nellie: You don’t need to have sex to be sexual. We love her for being a virgin. She’s only 19 and that’s appropriate. WORD to Lily saying that Aylin is sexy, she just pushes it too hard. We both think Michael is precious. The fact that he thinks math is sexy makes Leeard think he is sexy. Ern thinks math is terrifying, not sexy. We still can’t believe Abraham is straight and we like his hair black. The challenge song this week was “I Wanna Sex You Up” by Color Me Badd. Ern is proud to say that until this week, she had never heard this song. Leeard is ashamed of Ern. The guest mentor this week was the beautiful Naya River (Santana). As for the song? Well, they sounded fine, but they looked stupid. These are the most embarrassing people on the planet. Less is more Aylin people. Blake, you’re so freaking hot. We were seriously crying laughing during this song. It looked like Naya was lauging a little too.

The video this week was a mash-up of "Moves Like Jagger" and "Milkshake". Leeard hates "Moves Like Jagger". Ern hates both those songs. Leeard likes "Milshake", because it brings back good memories of 10^th grade (to which Ern asks, “Did your milkshake bring all the boys to the yard in 10^th grade?”) In the video, the kids were to have a guys v. girls sexy off. The people running this show just want to make us laugh, don’t they? Absolutely. Lily and Nellie both prove to be sexier than Aylin. Lily owns it. Leeard still doesn’t know if she likes Lily or not, but she liked her this week.

We expected this video to be a piece of s*it because it usually is, but it wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be. In the video, the kids start singing and dancing in response to a teacher’s essay prompt: What Sex Means To You. Ern would OWN that essay, and anyone who doesn’t believe that can demand to see such an essay, if they are weird enough to want to read it, haha. It became clear that Nellie was NOT going home this week. She stole the show. 

Leeard likes Shanna, Nellie, Michael, and Blake. Ern likes everyone except Ali (because of her helium voice and weird squirrel face and lack of personality), Tyler (for obvious reasons), and Mario (because he’s been a douchelord lately). Leeard cares less about the voices on this show than the person. If they are going to be on Glee, she needs to like them, since Ryan is basing the character on the person. Ern is all about picking the best voices, since downloads and performances are the only reason she’s even still watching Glee. The mash-up didn’t go together that well. It was just too much beat and too much noise. It must have been a rejected idea from Glee.

The bottom three were Charlie (for flirting and trying to direct the shoot), Michael (for choking in the studio), and Tyler (for his usual suckitude). Since this was the third freaking time for Tyler, Ern was shrieking at the screen for him to be gone. FINISH HIM. Leeard was nervous for Michael, who she grew to like over the episode and hoped he would do math on a chalkboard while he sang or something. Anything to turn on that nerd charm and rock it out. But how has Charlie never heard, “I Get a Kick Out of You?!!” YOU CHILDREN. YOU ALL SUCK. Worse was Tyler never having heard “Smile” since it was on Glee.

We really liked Charlie’s voice with "I Get a Kick Out of You". Ern’s favorite version of this is the Patti LuPone version from Anything Goes. Tyler’s song was good for his awkward voice, but it wasn’t enough to win us over. Ryan Murphy had to call him brave like 9,000 times. Tyler is criticism proof because he's transgendered, Ryan? Um, no. That's all he has going for him. You can criticize everything else. Michael gets up and forgets the words to "Lucky", a song he was already sucking at before then, because he wasn’t being upbeat enough. Then he totally saved the performance by making up his own words, which turned into funny ones near the end. “This is my favorite part of the song.” “Lucky my nerves didn’t kick in at all.”

It was so entertaining, but Ryan didn’t get it. He nearly reamed Michael for choking and forgetting "Lucky". Come out of the closet, Michael. Quick! Ern rolled her eyes, muttering, but this show took Dani from us, and that’s all they can really do to Ern for a while. She’s numb to eliminations after that travesty. After the bottom three left the stage, the judges debated. Zach, who is the greatest and true winner of The Glee Project, went to bat for Michael against Ryan. Ryan gravely intoned that this was possibly their hardest decision. Okay, Tyra Banks, it’s NOT HARD. One of them has been in the bottom three times. It's an easy freaking choice. The show finally made the right one. Tyler went home; Ern has been placated. Abraham lost it, crying. We didn’t know they were that close, but it was touching.

Episode grade: B-

The Glee Project - Dance-ability and Vulnerability

Okay, so some of our opinions have changed since our first Glee Project season two post, where we covered the casting special and episode one. After episodes two and three, Leeard has decided she hates just about every contestant except for maybe Shanna. Leeard hates Aylin the most. Ern stands by most of our early picks. Mario is starting to get on both our nerves. We liked him at first because of his talent and cool backstory, but his arrogance and insistence on having everyone remember that he was “classically trained” is getting annoying. There is a lot of classical training out there. Some of it is bad. We don’t know if his was good. We should have known when Taryn went home that Ryan Murphy would use the extra week to save a contestant when he couldn’t make a decision. Not that we are complaining. Lily was on the chopping block again this week and so was Nellie. We cannot lose either of them so soon, especially Nellie. We get that these competitions can take their toll on sensitive people, so we aren’t going to say a word against Taryn in this post, although it’s too bad that we didn’t get to see more of her. We didn’t even know if she was good or not.

As for the guest mentors, Samuel was useless and Cory Montieth came across as fake and rehearsed, but hot. Lea Michele is the best mentor of the season so far (no surprise). We liked the "Party Rock Anthem" cover and video from episode two, and the bullying video "Everybody Hurts" was overwrought, but entertaining. Hey, this show isn’t making art here. They were remotely tolerable and that’s as good as things are going to get. We could totally see all the lip-syncing errors the directors were complaining about in "Everybody Hurts". Zach is so hot, even when he’s yelling at the kids for being horrible dancer. Actually, especially when he’s doing that.

We could not be more tired of Tyler or hearing about his changing body. During the dance episode, he thought the challenges were a tragedy for him, even though there is a both a blind guy and a girl in a wheelchair. Yeah, Tyler, your changing body is a real handicap. Artard. While Leeard hates everything to do with Aylin since she called herself a Muslim “bad ass” in one of her talking head portions, Ern is really shipping her and Charlie. Aylin wants Blake, because of hotness, but she threw Charlie a kiss because she’s a kissing slut (which is kind of ballsy). That was nice of her. Then she kissed Lily in the video too, even though Lily seems to be Aylin’s biggest frenemy on the show. Lily hates Aylin almost as much as Leeard does.

It’s weird that Nellie complained about Spin the Bottle, saying she doesn’t just kiss people, and she is one of the only people shown kissing in the video. Did they make everyone kiss someone and just pick the best kiss? Did Aylin just kiss everyone? If so, thank God we didn’t have to see that. What we did have to see was “vulnerability” in week three, meaning drama. We liked the cover of "My Life Would Suck Without U". It was possibly their best cover yet, even though it’s one of the fantastic Kelly Clarkson’s stupidest songs (according to Ern; It's Leeard's ringtone, so she obviously disagrees). We are not at all surprised that Lily was the bully in middle school (mostly because just about everyone bullied someone in middle school, at some point, but also because Lily can be kind of a bitch). Lily breaking down in her Ryan Murphy audition was a smart move, because he loves to see pathetic tears.

We are sick of Lily’s excuses, but we love when she does her sexy thing and her voice is good. She’s no Hannah though, and we are ashamed that we thought she could ever live up to that legacy. Dani was screwed over. Yeah, she didn’t show enough “life” in the stupid party video, because she’s mature and a real artist. The best partiers are sometimes the laid-back, calm people at the party. She seemed comfortable and confident lying on the couch, singing with her fantastic voice. The show was looking for pep and GLEE though, so she was sent home, and we don’t even get to download her cover of Landslide to comfort us.

Dani wasn’t bringing the drama. You can grab a blind guy’s stick, make excuses, and fight for lines in a stupid song, but you can’t be boring on this show and survive. If you can’t handle a real person, why did you even put her on the show, Glee Project? Tyler, Lily, and Dani were the bottom three for Dance-ability. Keeping Tyler was a crime. We almost stopped watching the show, in protest, but there’s not much else on in the summer. Remember everyone: Ryan Murphy is the High School Chorus Teacher of This World, and don’t you forget it or ever argue with him, even if his show insists on talking about people's "dance-ability" when that is not a real adjective, nor even a real word.

Dance-ability grade: C

Vulnerability grade: B+

The Glee Project - Casting Special and Individuality

Apparently, this is an “inspiration contest.” Bah haha. Ryan Murphy, get over yourself.  Here’s what we think of the final 14 after one special on how they were selected and the first episode of season two (Individuality). For the most part, they are really great. In fact, we wish they would just replace nearly the entire cast of Glee with these newbies. Keep Lea Michele and add in these 14, haha. We saw some people in the casting special with fantastic voices (and that one guy with the sweet dance moves) who might have been passed over in favor of Very Special People, which brings us to a significant complaint about The Glee Project.

What still sucks about this show is that the character is going to be based on the winner’s actual identity/persona so Ryan Murphy doesn’t actually have to write up a person. This is ridiculous and makes this less a talent competition and more of a contest to see who is the most interesting and special (read: gay, a social outcast, or handicapped). We don’t think this is a good twist for the reality show and it doesn’t make for a good addition on Glee. We think they should just find another actor. For the most part though, we love this show.

Our favorites so far: 

Dani, 23, from Orlando, Florida - Dani is one of those lesbians who looks like Justin Beiber (Ern originally wrote that she was "kind of" like that, but since "Lesbian who looks and sounds like the Biebs" was basically Dani's gimmick on America's Got Talent, there's no "kind of" about it). But she is likeable and seems so happy to be there. We also like her singing voice. We are excited to have a potential gay character on Glee that we might actually really like. (Well, Ern likes Kurt and Leah likes Blaine. But we don’t really like them.) She’s also a more believable lesbian than Santana and Brittany.

Lily Mae Harrington, 18, from Cape Cod, Massachusetts - We included her full name because “Lily Mae” is the name of the black maid who raised Ern’s dad. Yep, like on The Help. Ern comes from a family of Southerners. In memory of Lily Mae, Ern is now rooting for this contestant. Besides, the fat girl (Hannah) was robbed last time. ROBBED. It’s time for a bigger girl to win the spot on Glee. She started crying when she first saw Lea Michele, which is something we can respect. If we saw Lea Michele, we would start yelling at her to sing. We agree with Lea that Lily Mae is really beautiful. Heck, even without the name, she might be our favorite. We don’t like that she said she had a better voice than the other girls, because that’s debatable and her "Anything Goes" was a little pitchy. It’s a pretty good voice though.

Mario, 24, from Lanham, Maryland - He instantly said that he was “cute.” Then he said he was blind and that explained it. Ba-dum-ching, we’re going to hell. He’s so talented though, and all of the other castmates thought he was a ringer for top 14. He has a good voice, and we really hope he can rap. The show needs a rapping black guy, frankly. We are really impressed that he can play piano, dance, and learn choreography. His tragic backstory, eight siblings, good grandma, and classical training should put him over the top. We like how happy and laid back he seems, too. 

Shanna, 21, from Auburn, Alabama - Cute southern accent and a really good voice. She’s too much of a belter, but she’s not yelling so much that you can’t hear that she has something special underneath. We were shocked that Lea Michele couldn’t hit the last note in "Defying Gravity" four years ago, because it really isn’t all that high, but her advice was interesting. It’s true that you can work up to things with the voice. Lea’s mentoring will go a long way toward disproving the rumors that she’s a bitch. The stuff with Shanna's drug addict mom is interesting too. We like that she is wise enough to know when to limit contact. Leeard really wants to like Shanna, but she looks and sounds so much like Jessica Tyler (Jenna from Degrassi) that it's distracting.

Maxfield, 22, from Nashville, Tennessee - Big music town, Nashville. We had high hopes for Max because of this, but he just started singing six months ago and that’s not great. He was the first elimination. Dang, he was cute and sweet! Too bad he wasn’t born with a shriveled arm or something. Then Max might have stayed. A shriveled gay arm would be the best thing to have. How do you make a shriveled arm gay? He could cover it with rainbow tattoos or something. Kids, think about it.

Aylin, 19, from Chicago, Illinois - We agree with her that there are plenty of hot guys this season. Yayyy. She’s a flirtatious, Turkish Muslim who likes to be sexy. One of us likes her, even though she doesn’t want to play nice. She’s funny. She looks a little older than 19 at times, which isn’t good for someone trying to play high school. We see the spunk they are talking about, and her last chance performance was pretty flawless. It wasn’t as good as Lea Michele’s (admittedly over-autotuned) cover of "Without You", but it was pitch-perfect and clear. 

Nellie, 19, from Tacoma, Washington - Well, she seemed grateful. That's never a bad thing. We like her voice. It’s cool and unique, but still technically good. We’re anxious to see and hear (mostly hear) more. She's got a cool look and seems mysterious so far, since we really don't know that much about her. She is going to have to stand out more if she is going to win...and remain on our list of favorites. But who are we kidding? Our faves never win. 

We don't know how we feel about these ones yet:

Michael age 18 from Chicago, Illinois - Man, people are really representing Chicago this season. He needs “time to figure out who he is,” which is really all we know about him at this point. He's pretty cute, obviously, and that can't hurt. Leeard is a fan of any cute guy who loves math.

Blake, 19, from Miami, Florida - This guy seems kind of sensitive and kind of unintelligent, but that’s just a first impression. We’re pretty sure Aylin could get him, toy with him, have her fun, and then throw him back, easily. We hope a little he and Dani are the final two so that they can stand next to each other with the same Beiber hair. Get a new haircut, bro. That one is so five years ago.

Taryn, 22, from Detroit Michigan - If you think this is the girl Ryan Murphy is tapping to fill Mercedes' shoes, you would be wrong. She's not much of a power-soprano belter. But her voice is pretty good. We feel for her in missing her mom. We love our moms too. We also feel for her in her struggle against her nerves. Nerves are crazy and hard to control. Even if you are intellectually secure, your body might still shake. We hope she gets over them, but she's probably going home soon.

Charlie, 22, from Chicago,  Illinois - This is the guy with mild Autism and ADHD. He seems fine to us. His brain is just going to work a little differently from other adults and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It takes all types. He has been cool so far, if a little forgettable. He rose quickly as a leader on the show, making choreography for the challenge number. He's going to need to show us more talent along with that big, hyper personality. He's got likeability factor. Now he just needs to let us hear him sing. 

The ones we aren't digging:

Abraham, 24, from Queens, New York/San Diego, California- He let us know right off the bat that he thought he was “unique and talented,” which is never good on reality TV. Show, don’t tell. America hates when people speak well of themselves. You have to love his name though. His presence in our lives would present numerous opportunities for us to make the lame joke, "Where's Isaac?" He doesn’t have one of the show’s strongest voices or one of the most likeable personalities. We haven't heard much of a backstory yet either. Really, what we are looking for is talent, and his Adam Levine wannabe voice just isn't cutting it for us so far.

Ali, 24, from New York City - Great, just what we need. A blonde Artie. Ali is the contestant in a wheelchair. Artie needs a new girlfriend, after all. We guess. She reminds us of a real life Rachel Berry, the way she talks and enunciates and is really ambitious. We don’t like her voice though. She sounds like a human version of a Chihuahua. It’s so thin and plug-your-ears annoying. It doesn't blend well with other voices either. We do like her chair moves and attitude though. A small part of us is rooting for her. If we liked her voice, she'd be in the favorites category.

Tyler, 21, from Boca Raton, Florida - This diva is going to be Alex 2.0, we just know it. This guy is transgendered. It’s getting to where you have to be big boned, have some sort of physical disability, or be gay in order to get Ryan Murphy’s attention. We’re surprised one person doesn’t have Down’s Syndrome. (Oh, you just KNOW that's coming next season.) To Tyler’s credit, we would have NO IDEA that he used to be a girl. That’s a dude, no question. When he was a girl, he was pretty too, which is impressive and shocking because of how much he looks like a guy now. He can’t sing though and he’s a real whiner. He had too many excuses the first week and overuses the word “like.” Out of the bottom three, he was our pick to go home, not Maxfield. But we see why Ryan is interested in writing a transgendered storyline where a singer is struggling with his voice changing due to testosterone. Maybe Tyler will change our minds. They are always open. 

Who's your favorite so far?

Great news for fans of the Glee Project

The Glee Project has been renewed for a second season! Yay! We are excited, because we love seeing real, talented kids nurtured and treated well while they get a chance at stardom. This show quickly because more interesting, entertaining, and heartfelt than the show it was based on (Glee). Now, if only they would release MP3s of the performances on this spin off.

There has been a change. Instead of 12 selected contestants competing, the show will start with 14. We can't wait.

The Glee Project Finale Comments

Lots of people haven't seen it yet, so we are posting our thoughts in the comments of this post.

The Glee Project's Christian Dilemma

We are enjoying The Glee Project a lot more than most reality shows. First of all, it's entertaining and the kids are talented underdogs. Also, it doesn’t come across as needy for our approval or too flashy. It isn’t trashy either. It doesn’t have too many commercials, no one votes, it’s not a gross circus, and it has an intimate, safe feel to it. This is good, because it features young people getting a taste of the acting business.

We don’t want to see them hurt or exploited. We want to see them nurtured. Most reality shows gut the contestants and then toss them, ashamed, back into the world. We don’t feel like this one does.

In fact, we are pretty impressed with Ryan Murphy and his inclusiveness. He’s gotten a lot of heat from anti-gay people, including a lot of Christians, for his gay Kurt storylines. Granted, there was too much focus on Kurt in season two. Apparently, Murphy has received multiple death threats due to his gay storylines and messages on Glee.

Now, Christianity is not cool in the entertainment industry right now. Blame Pat Robertson, closed-minded Pharisees, and political Christian crusaders who feel as if God needs the government to save the world and make it more Christian. So it would be easy for Murphy to throw a Christian contestant under the bus when the contestant acted prude-ish. Any other reality show would. For example, look at any season of America’s Next Top Model with Christian girls. Granted, those girls were more obnoxious...but might they have been casted for being obnoxious and having a potential for drama? Murphy cast a Christian that all of the other kids really liked.

Murphy says he is looking for a Christian character for the show. He said that he doesn’t think the show has fairly represented that group of people yet (however, Mercedes represents it pretty well). He wants a character who “holds fast to those beliefs.” Why? Inclusiveness. He wants to have a teen on the show that teen Christians can relate to, rather than just have a legalistic Christian character who is a bully, like Quinn.

So he had this Christian contestant on Glee named Cameron. He was an adorable, innocent little hipster boy with glasses, tight pants, and a guitar. He had a girlfriend and he really feels deeply about “not cheating on her.” Of course, as an actor, you sometimes have to play a character who will do things you will not do. Trouble started when Cameron was kissed by another contestant during the making of a music video. He cried and called his mom, because he felt that he had violated his morals. Ryan Murphy said that he liked that side of him and kept him on the show.

Now, as a Christian, this blogger thinks that Cameron was dead wrong. It’s acting. It’s part of the job. It’s not like he’s showing skin or exploiting women. He needed to know that most acting will involve a kiss at some point. Later, Cameron was pressured to kiss a girl again, and he refused. He started thinking, “Maybe I’m just a singer and not an actor,” because he wasn’t a strong actor. He landed in front of Ryan Murphy.

Some people are just too sensitive for reality TV. In addition to the kissing thing, Cameron was feeling homesick and pressured. We can understand him realizing that environment wasn’t for him. All of the other contestants really liked him as a person, and he had a good voice, but some people just aren’t cut out for the business. Cameron realized that this was him and asked to be let go from the show. We were sad, because he was one of our favorite contenders at the time.

Murphy, rather than painting him as a prude, sat down with him and said (in his John Malkovich-y voice) something like, “I want to keep you. I can write a Christian character for you. I admire you standing up for your beliefs and convictions. It’s very impressive in a kid your age, and I want that on my show.” Cameron turned him down, but we enjoyed that Murphy treated Cameron so gently, understanding that it was a hard, emotional time for him. Rather than make the kid look like a prude, Ryan Murphy protected him, lauded his choices, and let him exit the show. We really liked how Murphy is turning the other cheek rather than hating on religious people because of the ones who have spread some hate his way.

The Glee Project - Young Misfits Compete to Be the Next Character to Annoy Us on Glee!

We are so glad that Emily got kicked off, because she’s the fakest faker who ever faked, except for maybe Lindsey. She had a real moment when she talked about how she was used sexually by music producers but overall, we weren’t digging the schtick. We don’t think she lied about her past, but we don’t think we have to like her because something bad happened to her.

We liked Damien’s sign that said “Numb” because it’s relatable to a lot of people who go to a job they don’t like, punch in and punch out, and then go home to have a few beers, go to sleep and repeat the cycle. There are very few people living lives that they are passionate about, and most people do go through their days just trying to get by and not tick other people off, doing what is expected.

We thought it was blunt and admirably honest for Hannah to pick “fat.” It’s sort of what everyone is thinking, and she just addressed it, putting it out there. We really liked the contestants’ "Mad World" cover and video. We’re digging Cameron right now. We like his voice and how secure he is. He wasn’t holding back some secret or emotion. He just really is mature and well-adjusted. Damien and Cameron should not have been in the bottom two. They were fine. At least we got to see them do solos.

We wonder if Cameron’s admission that he is a Christian will help or hurt him. Ideally, we think it should neither help nor hurt him in the contest, but that’s not always the case in political show business. On the one hand, Ryan Murphy was more than fair to religious people and Christians in his season two religion episode. On the other, Christians aren’t the coolest group in town right now, and most of them aren’t supportive of the homosexual lifestyle. And Glee? Well, duh.

Cameron did a nice version of "Your Song", but it was true that it had little emotion. Ryan Murphy says the person that this show picked is “perfect” for Glee. We wonder if they will be well-received and get more than the guaranteed seven episodes. Not a lot of people are watching The Glee Project. It is possible that people are just “Glee’d out” and want a break for the summer. We think the more probably reason is that no one wants the “real” world to collide with their fictional show. If you know the actor in real life, it might ruin the fantasy of the Glee world to have to pretend they are just a character.

Favorites: Cameron, Hannah, McKynleigh

Pretty Little Liars - It's Alive Review (plus a few sentences about other summer shows)

Ok, thank God Pretty Little Liars is back. We’ve been sampling summer fare for weeks, and none of it has really started our engines. We watched Teen Wolf, and it isn’t bad, but the lead actor is, and that’s very distracting. We watched The Nine Lives of Chloe King, and the first episode was pretty good, and we hear that it gets better in the second episode. Still, it's no Vampire Diaries. We’ve been watching Switched at Birth, and while the deaf thing is interesting, the show is not what we would call “quality.”One of us is really enjoying it though.

We’ve been watching The Bachelorette, and it’s stupid, but fun. We have no desire to watch Happily Divorced, even though one of us loved The Nanny. Game of Thrones and The United States of Tara are almost over. The Glee Project is weird so far and we are having trouble getting invested. We’ve been watching So You Think You Can Dance, and it’s amazing, as usual. We need to start writing about that....

But we really need a good drama again, and Pretty Little Liars fits the bill. We loved how it just picked up right where it left off, letting us see the full aftermath of the finale, rather than having the characters verbally recap it. Jenna is still the creepiest mofo ever.

In this episode, the girls toyed with the idea of actually telling an adult, their new shrink, about A. Emily was the biggest proponent of just letting all the secrets out and facing the consequences. She even just suggested telling their parents and the cops. This would be a good idea, but it would ruin the drama of the show, and it would get Ezra Fitz in a whole load of trouble (which might actually be worth ruining the drama for one of us). We loved that it was Emily who thought they should be honest, because it makes sense with all that she has been through.

We are not digging Toby’s haircut, but we have missed him. Ditto to Noel Kahn, who Ern thinks is hotter than Ezra. Leeard disagrees and thinks Ezra is hotter than ever. Ern thinks he’s scrawny, fish-faced, and he has creepy old man hair. And he’s a gaywad. Nice abs though. We need Noel with Aria immediately, because her character needs to be saved. She spent most of the premiere whining to Ezra about Jackie. And yet, we have missed the wackiness of Aria’s clothes.

We roll our eyes at the “Emily is going to Texas” storyline. We bet she is going to get all packed, goodbyes will be said, and then it’s going to fall through. “A” needs his/her victims right in town. And we were reminded at how all-powerful “A” is in this episode. “A” infiltrated the shrink’s office, which is what stopped the girls from blabbing. Leeard thinks the shrink will be the next murder victim. Ern hopes not, because she would enjoy watching the liars go through individual grief counseling. But this isn’t In Treatment…

Caleb is back for Hanna, and he got to say his “I love you.” We understand why Hanna didn’t forgive him right away, but we were still sad. We liked that she got to confront Mona about the letter, because that didn’t need to be dragged out. We were loving the re-ignition of the Emily/Toby friendship. So sweet.

One thing we thought was weird? They showed Spencer’s naked back while she was changing. First of all, it’s ABC Family. That’s a little too much skin for a family channel. Second, it didn’t add to the episode or the story. Third, who was it FOR? This is a teen girl’s show. Is it just to remind the teen girls that their backs have too much meat on them? (Spencer is tiny.) Is it to fool people into thinking that they are watching a mature show rather than quality teen stuff? We’re confused. Teen lesbians probably rejoiced though.

So, it looks like Ian is alive (not a surprise), and that’s awesome. Melissa asked Spencer for her side of the story about the whole Ian episode in the finale, and seemed genuinely open to hearing the truth. There’s not a lot of sisterhood on this show, and we kind of think it would be nice to see these girls as friends rather than enemies. They are both smart women, and they are family. We’re getting sick of the rivalry. The girls aren’t allowed to hang out for a while and Spencer is not allowed to date Toby. Like either of those things are going to stick.

There weren’t too many “wow” moments or great scenes in this episode, but we are so glad it’s back that we are giving it an A.

Episode grade: A