Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances
#1 – ‘Don’t Stop Believin” – Glee Cast
Today’s clip comes from the final scene of the Glee pilot, and in many ways it’s the moment that launched the show into the pop culture stratosphere. This performance, the first taste of what the ragtag New Directions glee club was capable of, was the only morsel new fans had to savor during the long summer before the show returned.
Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances
#2 – ‘Defying Gravity’ – Kurt and Rachel
For me, the Glee storyline that consistently packs the greatest emotional punch is the relationship between the (very) gay Kurt Hummel and his blue collar dad.
Kurt comes out to his dad early in the season, expecting the worst. Instead, Burt Hummel responds with a shrug, saying “I know, I’ve known since you were three. All you wanted for your birthday was a pair of sensible heels.”
Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances
#3 – ‘Sweet Caroline’ – Puck
Today’s performance isn’t as emotional as the two that preceded it, but it’s one of my favorite clips from the whole first season of Glee.
Mostly that’s because it marked a turning point for the character of Puck, who started off as an obnoxious bully but morphed into one of the sweeter characters on the show (though still an obnoxious bully).
Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances
#4 – ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ – Rachel and Ms. Corcoran
In one of those casting coups that simply had to happen, Idina Menzel was brought on to play Rachel’s long lost mother.
When I first saw the promos for Glee, I was surprised that the woman from Wicked was playing a high school student. Wasn’t she too old?
Then I realized Lea Michele wasn’t Idina Menzel. But their looks, and singing talent, pretty much made it inevitable right off the bat that they’d have to play mother and daughter.
Top Ten ‘Glee’ Performances
#5 – ‘Beautiful’ – Mercedes
While Rachel is clearly the star of New Directions (in large part because she insists on the title), one could argue that the strongest voice in the group actually belongs to Mercedes (Amber Riley). What she lacks in nuance she makes up for in range and power.
She’s the Effie of the group, and indeed she gets her chance to shine on Dreamgirls‘ signature tune, ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,’ in a rehearsal for sectionals. It’s a cliche for a big black woman to sing that song, of course, but the show plays up that fact just enough to make it work.
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