Throwback Thursday: Tommy Picks the Best of Glee, Season 3

Remember when the main cast had 400 people in it?

In the past few months, I've selected the best Glee performances of Seasons 1 and 2, and with the third season just around the corner, it's high time to continue the praise. The show's third season was more Broadway-heavy than its predecessors, but that doesn't mean there weren't some absolute jams. In fact, some of my favorite Glee songs come from this season. (The fact that Blaine sang like everything didn't hurt, either!) So let's delve into the Best of Glee, Season 3!



10. "Smooth Criminal" by Santana & Sebastian
After Madonna, Britney Spears, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Fleetwood Mac got tribute episodes, it was only a matter of time that Michael Jackson would get his due. With an inflated number of musical performances (9 in just the one episode), the episode was sloppy and out of fucking control. But one thing did come out it. Santana had a sing-off with Warbler Sebastian and the result was a fantastic cover of my favorite MJ song, "Smooth Criminal".

9. "Fix You" by Will & the New Directions
Every time Glee touches Coldplay, it turns to gold. They tackled one of the band's biggest hits as Will proclaims hit love and devotion to Emma. And even though Mr. Schue barely gets to sing, he always hits it out of the park!

8. "Shake It Out" by Santana, Mercedes, & Tina
Because Glee doesn't like to leave any social issue untouched, they decided to incorporate domestic violence into a storyline. Coach Bieste, who is, to quote Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, roughly the size of a barge, is the victim of such abuse. Santana, Mercedes, and Tina figure that if they sing her a stripped down version of a Florence + the Machine song, everything will work out. The lesson is horrible, but the acoustic performance of "Shake It Out" is flawless.

7. "Cry" by Rachel
In Season 3, Rachel learned that she may not be as talented and confident as she thought after blowing her NYADA audition. To express her melancholy, Rachel sings a little known Kelly Clarkson song.

6. "Tongue Tied" by New Directions
One of the rare instances when the glee club doesn't perform a song onscreen, their rendition of "Tongue Tied" plays as the New Directions celebrate their win at Nationals. The song is perfect and features one of Cory Monteith's best vocal performances on the show.

5. "Roots Before Branches" by Rachel
Rachel solos are my absolute jam, so naturally I was pleased when Season 3 ended with one of Lea Michele's most powerful performances. After Finn breaks up with her for her own good, she bids Lima, Ohio goodbye and hops aboard a train to New York.

4. "Without You" by Rachel
Yup, another Rachel solo! Sorry about it, but this is absolutely flawless. David Guetta and Usher's "Without You" is already a jam, but take away the dance beat and let Lea Michele do her thing, and you have life.

3. "Rumour Has It/Someone Like You" by the Troubletones
Perhaps the biggest highlight of Season 3 was the storyline in which those members of New Directions who felt unappreciated split off and formed an all-girl rival club, the Troubletones. And who can forget their memorable mash-up of Adele's "Rumour Has It" and "Someone Like You"? Certainly not me.

2. "We Are Young" by New Directions
When the aforementioned Troubletones disbanded and rejoined the New Directions, they sang "We Are Young". Glee covered the song before the original version hit airwaves; in fact, Fun's version wouldn't have been successful if it weren't for this performance. What's more, Glee did it better.

1. "Cough Syrup" by Blaine
This is quite possibly my favorite Glee performance ever. Darren Criss' voice doesn't always hit its mark, but "Cough Syrup" is exemplary of just how good he can be. So just bask in all it's glory. (Fair warning: Blaine's performance is intercut with scenes a suicide attempt.)

The third season was hot mess, but it was filled with so many jams. I think this list accurately highlights the strongest performances. Stay tuned for the Best of Season 4 soon!

Throwback Thursday: Tommy Picks the Best of Glee, Season 2

It was all downhill from here.

Two months ago, I compiled a list of the top ten performances from the first season of Glee and expressed my sadness over its decline in quality. Season 2, while still miles ahead of what has since followed, marked the beginning of the end of Glee in terms of story quality. However, in my opinion, the season had the best music thus far. And Darren Criss, the best thing to happen to the show and life in general, joined the series this season as Blaine. So, yeah. Like a million bonus points. Let's see what made the cut in the Best of Glee, Season 2.

10. "Dog Days Are Over" by Tina, Mercedes, and the New Directions
Normally I run for the hills when I hear Tina is getting a solo or any unwarranted screen time. But I had nothing but love for her when she and Mercedes covered Florence + The Machine's "Dog Days Are Over". It's quite thematic for the band of underdogs, and it's more than appropriate that the two soloists are the group's unsung heroes.

9. "What I Did For Love" by Rachel
It's no secret I love me a dramatic Rachel duet. So fucking holler from left to right with "What I Did For Love", originally from the musical A Chorus Line.

8. "Friday" by Artie, Sam, and Puck
Leave it to Glee to take one of the worst songs that has ever been written and turn it into something great. Rebecca Black who?

7. "Forget You" by Holly
I'm usually not one for censored songs or Gwyneth Paltrow, but for whatever reason, both worked here. Substitute teacher Holly Holiday (Paltrow) shows the kids that glee club should be fun with her family-friendly rendition of Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You".

6. "Thriller/Heads Will Roll" by the New Directions
I think everybody on the planet cringed when they heard Glee would be tackling Michael Jackson's biggest hit. They threw up upon learning that it would be mashed-up with a relatively unknown song by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But never underestimate the New Directions, because they proved nay-sayers wrong in one of their best performances of the season.

5. "Take Me or Leave Me" by Rachel and Mercedes
Mm, holler. If you know anything about me or this blog, you know that diva-offs are like CRACK. So when Rachel and Mercedes decided to settle their rivalry by singing Rent's "Take Me or Leave Me", the result was pure ecstacy.

4. "I Feel Pretty/Unpretty" by Rachel and Quinn
Quinn went the entire second season without a single solo. The closest she came was a duet with Rachel, but it was sure worth it. When Rachel contemplates getting a nose job, she asks Quinn to be model for her ideal look. And then they sang a sweet West Side Story/TLC mash-up that remains one of my favorites from the show overall.

3. "Toxic" by the New Directions
We all know I wasn't too receptive of either of Glee's tribute episodes to the great Britney Spears, but the one thing they didn't totally fuck up was their inventive arrangement of "Toxic". This is a must-hear if you're unfamiliar with it!

2. "Teenage Dream" by Blaine
There isn't a single thing about this that isn't FLAWLESS. I fucking love Blaine, I love Darren Criss, and I love Katy Perry, so this was orgasmic to me, and many others, I'm sure.

1. "Loser Like Me" by New Directions
The second season of Glee is so far the only one to feature original music. Most of these songs were either jokes ("Trouty Mouth") or throwaways ("Pretending"). But "Loser Like Me" does more than enough to prove how fun original songs can be. With themes of fighting for the underdog, this song is basically the anthem of the show and is super fun. It just had to be number one.

Musically, Glee was at its best in the second season, which made this list especially hard to compile; however, I'm fairly confident in my selections. Stay tuned for Season 3 some time down the line!

20 Things You Didn't Know About Britney Spears

Bow down.

1. For "...Baby One More Time", record label execs originally wanted an animated music video about Britney fighting robots. She told them it was a bad idea and pitched them the now-iconic Catholic school girl theme we see in the video today. Filming took place at Venice High School, where films like Grease and Heathers were also shot. Britney later called the cartoon robot idea the worst advice she's ever gotten.
2. Britney is the only person to perform live with both Madonna and Michael Jackson, and thanks to MJ kicking the bucket, she always will be.
3. The song "Umbrella" was originally written for Britney, but she rejected it and it was then given to Rihanna. (If only she took it... Would we be living in a Rihanna-less utopia today?!)
4. Britney's debut album was originally going to be similar to Sheryl Crow's music, but she ultimately decided to go in the pop direction and recorded most of ...Baby One More Time in Sweden.
5. In 2007, Britney embarked on a 6-date House of Blues concert tour under the pseudonym of The M+Ms. Once the public learned that the act was Britney, all the shows sold out. Tickets originally cost $35 but were scalped for as much as $500. Britney's set contained five songs. That's right! People coughed up half a grand to see the queen perform for 13 minutes!
6. Britney was in talks to join a girl group called Innosense when she was signed as a solo artist in 1997 instead. (wtf is innosence?)
7. Released during her highly publicized meltdown, Blackout is one of Britney's most critically-acclaimed albums and her only one to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is also the album over which she had the most creative control, as she served as executive producer. #Blackout2.0
8. Before she was Lady Gaga, Stefani Germanotta was a songwriter for Britney, who recorded "Telephone" for her sixth album Circus but ultimately decided not to use it. So basically one of Lady G's biggest songs is a Britney leftover. Love it!
9. Britney's third album was self-titled because the singer said it reflected where she was in her life at the time; however, as Britney's release coincided with that of her film Crossroads, it was used as a de facto soundtrack for the movie. As a result, much of the album's personal material was scrapped in favor of songs that appeared in the film, such as the cover of "I Love Rock N Roll".
10. Britney was originally considered for the role of Daisy Duke in the film adaptation of The Dukes of Hazzard, but it ultimately went to Jessica Simpson. Thank God. That movie was a train wreck.
11. During the four years between In The Zone and Blackout, Britney recorded an entire album entitled The Original Doll. However, the album, which would have contained stripped down songs, was shelved for unknown reasons.
12. Britney's sons, Sean and Jayden, have been nicknamed French Fry and Tater Tot by the media.
13. Britney was the inspiration for the film Country Star, which chronicles the comeback of a fallen country star.
14. ClearChannel, the largest owner of radio stations in America, was so disgruntled when Britney chose Pepsi to sponsor her Dream Within a Dream tour over them that they banned her music from its stations for several years. For this reason, many of Britney's singles underperformed; she did not follow-up 1998's "...Baby One More Time" with another #1 in the U.S. until "Womanizer" ten years later.
15. Britney wrote "Everytime" after seeing ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake's music video for "Cry Me a River", which features a Spears lookalike.
16. "Hold It Against Me" was originally written with Katy Perry in mind, until songwriters Max Martin and Dr. Luke decided it was better suited for Britney.
17. Britney was the sixth person to reach 10 million followers on Twitter.
18. Britney's film Crossroads was written by Shonda Rhymes, who later went on to create Grey's Anatomy.
19. Like many celebrities, Britney often travels under fake names. Some of these have included Mrs. Diana Prince, Queen of the Fairy Dance, and Mrs. Abra Cadabra.
20. Britney's debut album was originally going to be self-titled, but Jive Records wanted to capitalize on the success its lead single, "...Baby One More Time", was experiencing by naming the album after it. Oops!... I Did It Again was originally called Sunflower but was changed for the same reason. (Bonus: the reason "...Baby One More Time" appears as it does is because Jive feared that its full title, "Hit Me Baby One More Time", would be misconstrued as domestic violence.)