Tag Archives: Glee

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#Melody, #Lyric, #Context: What Makes a Great Song?

Fred Astaire dancing on the walls and ceiling ...

Fred Astaire dancing on the walls and ceiling in “You’re All the World to Me” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Back in the day, when I was a naive student of commercial radio, songs featuring women were rotated no more than 1 in 3 and NEVER back-to-back. Yes, Virginia, there was a time before diva meant a female pop singer.

I’ve been curious about what makes a great pop song, ever since. Is it just 3 chords and a hook? Is it a miraculous combination of melody, lyric and context? Michael Jackson used to listen to his new recordings through a set of speakers that emulated the sound that would be emitted by a car’s radio speakers. According to Michael, no matter how great a song was in the studio, if it didn’t reproduce on a car radio, it wasn’t going to be a hit.

I’ve been listening to the Glee version of Come What May on repeat for the past half hour. My new favourite pop song is a cover of the Moulin Rouge love theme, originally sung by yum-yum Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. The song has been covered time and again.  But this is the cover that, for me, is better than the original. And I loved the original.

Glee haters are going to cry “Autotune” while holding their index fingers in front of their faces in the shape of a cross. Autotune doesn’t bother me…cause even autotune can’t fix Katy Perry’s sour notes. You got to be able to sing – autotune or no autotune.

What is it about this one? This may be the least embellished cover of a duet by Klaine (Kurt and Blaine) ever. The lyrics and the melody are front and centre, yet the string arrangement is lush. The relatively simplicity is haunting.  If you don’t follow Glee, you’ll be unaware of the soap-operatic context.  Regardless of the television context, I’ve lived long enough to know emotional regret and the angst of love that will never be fulfilled. This resonates for me.

FYI – this version of Come What May is from Thursday’s episode – Girls (And Boys) on Film – featuring songs from movies. Matthew Morrison will channel his inner – black and white – Fred Astaire.  The Glee kids will be Footloose. The girls are going to sing about diamonds being the best friend of a material girl. Glee will Shout its 500th performance, while the boys extol the virtues of the Danger Zone. Check your listings, because Fox is delaying the start to 9:30 PM, to accommodate American Idol.

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#SBL – Struck by Lightning @TIFF_NET

Chris Colfer and Rebel Wilson

Chris Colfer and Rebel Wilson

The Next Wave, a film festival for young movie lovers presented by the Toronto International Film Festival aka TIFF, included a special  screening of director (Saved) Brian Dannelly‘s film Struck by Lightning. Dannelly, who was in attendance, admitted that John Hughes, the king of teen flicks, informed his view of the world while growing up. An influence that shapes his films to this day, if unconsciously.

An independent film, shot in 16 days on a budget of $1million, Struck by Lightning was written by and stars Glee‘s Chris Colfer. That fact initially stopped Dannelly from reading the script when his agent sent it to him. The audience cheered at his admission. Dannelly sighed when an audience member said, “This question should probably be directed at Chris.” At every showing, he explained, most of the questions were colfercentric – even when he wasn’t in attendance, like last night.

Mongol Media made the showing possible. The first attempt in a long-term strategy, I conjecture, to build a Canadian audience for the film. Currently available in the US through Video on Demand, it has yet to be shown wide here. Colfer’s fan base is international, rabid and supportive. For the film to be a Canadian commercial success, however, it will need a broader audience.

A dream cast…including Rebel Wilson

Rebel Wilson is the “it” girl of comedy. The Australian stole scenes in Bridesmaids, and in Pitch Perfect. Hollywood is at her feet. Casting Wilson would have been a significant coup. Dannelly didn’t stop there. His was not a cast of unknowns. The adults were played by Dermot Mulroney, Allison Janney, Polly Bergen and Christina Hendricks. The youngsters in the cast read like a who’s who of American TV youth – Sarah Hyland, Ashley Rickards,  Matt Prokop, plus Colfer, of course.

But is it any good?

Yes, and I won’t qualify that with surprisingly.  The film stands on its own. Billed as a comedy, there is a dark thread of frustration and ambition thwarted that runs throughout. Like other teen angst films, the adults are dysfunctional, and the youthful protagonist, Carson Phillips, is smarter than everyone around him. Unlike other teen films, the unpopular Carson doesn’t lust after the popular girl: He lusts after a future, brighter, finer and more fulfilling than his present. Struck by Lightning is a film that wittily answers the question, “Ambition or talent?”

UPDATE – March 19, 2013

Struck by Lightning can be pre-ordered from Chapters/Indigo. Release date is April 16, 2012.

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Glee Breaks the Fifth Wall

A gaggle of girls giggle on a bus about their favourite television characters. A band of bros battle about their home teams over a pitcher of beers. A coffee clatch argue passionately for Timmy’s versus Starbucks. That’s the way passionate social discourse used to unfold. Social media has changed that. Now people, who may or may not know each other,  express points of view about things that capture their fancy without the filter of face-to-face interaction. Heated debate isn’t tempered by the good manners mother instilled.

One subject that engenders extraordinary, and seemingly irrational, passion on social media is “ships.” Another word has been co-opted by the computer world and the meaning changed. Shipping is publicly identifying favoritism for a couple who are in relationship. The word is a corruption of relationship. Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? Do you ship Brangelina or Will and Kate? The choice of ship can be real or fictional. Whatever it may be the favoritism is vocal, very vocal. Death threats were made to an actor who booked a role that was intended to interfere with a relationship on Glee.

On Thursday night, in episode 9 of season 4, the writers of Glee broke the 5th wall – the social media wall – turning the tables on one of those partisan, vociferous group of shippers. My jaw dropped as I listened to the monologue  unfold. To emerge from my television screen that bit of argument had to be shaped by a writer, approved by the showrunner, OK’d by the executive producer, and pass the rating-focused review of suits in corporate. That it did was telling.

Backgrounder

To understand how revolutionary that moment between Sam and Brittany was, you need some background – unless you are a fan of Glee. [Skip this part if you are.] Brittany, one of the original characters, has identified as bicurious. She has dated nearly everyone in McKinley, eventually going steady with Santana, who identifies as lesbian. The couple became as significant for the lesbian community as Klaine became for the gay community. Shippers of Brantana fought a losing battle on social media to keep the couple together. Glee’s powers that be chose Season 4 to break apart all their power couples, regardless of sexual orientation.  Their plans for Brittany however went beyond a mere break-up, the Glee producers decided that Brittany’s next romantic entanglement would be heterosexual.

Dousing the flames before they started

Sam made his move on Brit. She made it clear she was willing. But declined. Her explanation broke the 5th wall. It was priceless, and funny, gut rippingly funny. Brittany feared that if they became a couple, Sam would be killed by social media rampaging lesbians who felt betrayed by her switch from Santana to Sam. Glee doused the flames of social media reaction before they began. And I loved it.

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Pitch Perfect more “Sing Off” than #Glee

Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect: The Movie

Pitch Perfect, a comedy about collegiate a capella singing groups, opened Friday. This film is everything Glee isn’t: Nerds not welcome; no overpowering pop instrumentation accompanying performances in halls, classrooms and on streets; and an absence of innocence. The similarities between NBC’s defunct series Sing Off and Pitch Perfect are inescapable: collegiate a capella choruses competing against each other; human beat boxes; tacky costumes; blatant sexuality, and dancing that is more calisthenics than choreography.

The musical arrangements make this film; intricate harmonies, supported by rhythm sections that defy explanation. There are a few tracks in this film that are orchestrated, but all of the competition singing is by mouth alone.

Rebel Wilson (Fat Annie) steals every scene she is in. An unexpected Hollywood “it” girl, the Australian portrays a super confident co-ed who pities her too skinny chorus members. “You have fat hearts,” Wilson’s character softens the pity with praise.

At the outset of the film the Barden Bellas – the all-female chorus – is an incubator for Young Republicans. That cookie cutter chorus with a long tradition plays it safe, singing the tried and true. By film’s end the plot has unfolded with few surprises. The ingenue, a misfit musical genius with her finger on the pulse of popular music and the slides of a digital sound mixer, is forced to join the chorus, eventually injecting mash-ups and energy into the group’s repertoire.

This is not a film for tweens who want to grow up to be just like Vanessa Hudgens or Zac Efron. Pitch Perfect is more Animal House than High School Musical.

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Breaking the 4th wall: #Glee

The 3rd episode of the fourth season erased any doubt I had about the resurrection of my appreciation of Glee. I had hoped the return to 9 pm would allow the reintroduction of the adult subversiveness that drew me to the show in the first place.

I was wrong. Social media, the instant and relentless criticism, praise and commentary of fans of all ages pushed the creators back to square one. Tonight’s episode, the second in a row where the music disappointed was one of the best plotted and performed. The Sue Sylvester character broke the fourth wall. Her dialogue answered every inconsistency in the plot, anticipating the inevitable tweets that would follow. To the dedicated fan Lynch’s delivery felt like a wink and a nod. I laughed out loud. For new audience members their were new characters and a secondary plot line right out of the headlines, a presidential election. High School as metaphor for life.

Glee is one part fantasy, one part social commentary and two parts musical satire. The combination is not for the faint of heart or Republicans. It is a television series for the unafraid.