UPDATE: Dani is eliminated
Bottom 3: Dani, Lily, Tyler
UPDATE: Taryn quit the competition.
Next week, the theme is “Vulnerability”. Cory Monteith is the mentor.
Tonight, Samuel Larsen, winner of The Glee Project Season 1, stops by to mentor the hopefuls. Check out the videos below. I’ll be back with results and a recap later.
Two contestants left the Glee Project tonight. Taryn up and quit the competition. You might remember her last week talking about how much she missed her mom. She never seemed comfortable in the competition, so it’s no surprise that she left.
I’ll bet there are some cut Top 30 contestants who are pretty pissed about that. Dani was eliminated by Ryan Murphy, who felt she was not cut out to sing peppy pop songs. That’s two reality shows Dani has been eliminated from. You might remember her as the Justin Beiber look alike from last year’s America’s Got Talent.
Samuel Larson, this week’s special mentor helped the kids with their Danceablity. Sam won the challenge when he competed on the show last year. Casting director, Robert Ulrich reveals the homework assignment, which is “We Got the Beat” by the Go Gos. The kids are pretty excited to show off their dance moves. Well, not Tyler, the transgendered boy. He’s still getting used to his new body. Dani the coffee house singer isn’t down with the dancing, either.
The kids get to work rehearsing the song. Mario the blind guy, and Ali the wheelchair girl, fight over who gets the “around and around and around” line. With a little shuffling of parts, Mario gets a different line to sing. He didn’t want the line particularly—he just didn’t want Ali to have it. MEOW.
After clashing with the group, Taryn calls her mom, crying. “It’s hard being in this new situation,” she says. And indeed, later that night, Taryn leaves the competition.
The next morning, before they perform their homework assignment, Robert breaks the news about Taryn. Last week’s homework winner, Shanna, takes her line. Michael, who was close to her, is upset he didn’t get to say goodbye.
Next, Robert introduces surprise guest Samuel Larsen. Aylin, the Turkish Muslim is having a meltdown. “He’s so HOT! Especially in person!” she says. Already established as the boy crazy girl of the group, Aylin thinks everyone is hot.
Samuel tells the contestants to be completely confident in themselves. “Do you, but do it hard,” he says, citing the mighty MJ as an example. The kids supposedly choreographed this routine themselves, but it looks suspiciously complicated. I have a feeling Brooke and Zach were waiting in the wings to give them a hand. Robert gushes, “That was incredible! That may be the best homework assignment we’ve ever seen.”
Samuel tells Tyler that he’s a “proper nerd…I would just own it a little more.” He thought Aylin’s choreography was cute and unique. He tells Abraham, “You weren’t just dancing with your body, you were dancing with your entire face and you were intense with it.” And he picks Abraham as the homework winner. He’ll get some one-on-one time with Samuel and a “step out” moment in the music video. Speaking of which….Samuel reveals it will be LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem.” The kids are sooo excited. But when are they not? The concept of the video is a high school house party.
Samuel leaves the session, with a Skidoosh! Remember when he stole that bit from one of his castmates last season? Good times.
Samuel Larsen Arrives at The Glee Project
Choreography with Zach Woodlee is next. He explains the video concept a little further—the kids will be playing Spin the Bottle at this house party. Ooooooh. DON’T DO STUPID WEDDING DANCE! He warns the kids as he breaks them up into small groups to rehearse. Basically, that’s when people get drunk at weddings and pull out corny moves.
Abraham and Samuel meet for their one-on-one. Sam tells Abraham he loves his intensity, but, “have fun with it. Don’t worry about the camera. Follow the song,” he says. Zach teaches the kids the choreo, which proves to be challenging for some. “Go home and practice,’ he says. “Or you’ll look ridiculous.”
In the meantime, Aylin and Charlie are developing a little showmance. Charlie loves Aylin’s “swagger for days.” Aylin notes that he has a crush, but she’s all, “I didn’t come here for romance, I came here to be on Glee.”
Lily is in the vocal booth with Nikki. She’s the ultimate party girl, she explains. She’s also really really musical. It’s funny, because she can’t hit the high notes on pitch, and she’s had classical music training. “I was a little bit disappointed,” says Nikki.
The kids arrive for the video shoot, and it doesn’t take long for Zach to realize that the kids aren’t good dancers. Now he’s just concentrating on getting them to perform with confidence.
Some, but not all of the kids are in the Spin the Bottle scene. Nellie, who is in it, feels intimidated. Charlie is pissed he’s been left out of it. He gets all jealous watching Aylin kiss other boys. Also left out of the scene are Ali, the wheelchair girl, plus Dani, Abraham and Tyler. Charlie continues to stew as the scene is shot. After Aylin sees his sad puppy dog face, she gives him a big kiss. “Not disappointed, any more at all!” exclaims a clearly smitten Charlie.
Director Erik White becomes frustrated when Abraham requires take after take to get his part right. He won the homework assignment and is feeling so nervous, he’s over thinking the part. Robert and Zach think Dani is so unique, but worry that she doesn’t have a setting other than “chill.”
The kids perform the dance routine Zach taught them. Badly. “I don’t know what they are doing!” He says as he watches. “Wow. They know nothing.” The kids clomp around the room, looking pretty hapless. “That was absolutely HORRIBLE,” says Zach after the music stops. The kids can’t believe it. They thought they were great!
Erik calls out Nellie, Tyler and Abraham as especially problematic. None connected to the camera. Zach tells Dani and Nellie not to even use what they learned in rehearsal, because they weren’t cutting it. Also, the lip syncing is a big fat fail.
Zach gets even more frustrated when the kids do their individual freestyle. A few are throwing in those wedding moves he warned them about. The whole group is a mess, Zach tells the camera. There were a few who weren’t so bad. Blake and Michael finally step up, “Erik will struggle to find the good shots,” says Zach, “But he’ll make it work.”
The video itself is pretty silly.
It’s time for the Bottom 3 reveal! It was the best homework assignment ever, yet the worst video shoot ever, Robert tells the group. “An absolute catastrophe,” says Zach. This week, the call back list will consist of the contestants who “sucked the least.”
Aylin got her swag back this week. No bottom 3 for her. Shanna, Blake and Michael are also on the call back list. Aylin irritates Lily with a little happy dance. Nikki informs Ali, Charlie and Mario that they also made the callback list. Mario, the blind guy, is so relieved to get through the dance episode, he begins to weep.
Five contestants are left. Zach wants to know what went wrong with Nellie and Danni. They rehearsed so hard, they don’t know. Zach notes Dani’s lack of energy. “You looked like you were at a house party, waiting for your ride.” When Zach calls out Lily on her wedding moves she insists that she was never given a note. Zach, irritated that she’s challenging him, disagrees.
Abraham breaks down as he describes his struggle with perfectionism. “You have to learn to be more open, like you are now,” says Robert. Abraham and Nellie are relieved to learn that they are also on the callback list.
Danni, Taylor and Lily are left. They will perform for Ryan Murphy in a few hours. Nikki assigns the songs. Dani will sing “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac. Tyler’s song is “Daniel” by Elton John and Lily’s song is “Man I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain. This week, the kids are all really happy with their songs.
Lily feels like she can be a role model for other big girls who are self-conscious about their looks. She plans on vamping it up. Dani is so freaked out, she cries all the way through her rehearsal.
Bottom 3 is Revealed
reveal-danceability by mjsbigblog
It’s time for the last chance performance for Ryan Murphy. Zach explains to Ryan the disaster that was the past week. Dani is first. She’s the coolest performer, says Robert, but she can’t adapt to different situations. She’s got a really unique style and conveys emotion really well. Ryan calls her talented and soulful. Dani wants to be a new voice for this generation, she tells Ryan. Lofty! Ryan thinks she’s an artist, but is not sure if she’s a performer. She could bloom, he says, if she sold her songs more vividly.
Tyler is next. This is his second week in the Bottom 3. Robert says he did better this week, until he had to dance. His last chance performance last week was ABC, and it was a trainwreck. With a song that suits him better, he’s greatly improved. Ryan thought he came up 3000 percent. Tyler realizes he’s not letting go enough. Ryan notes that he’s incredibly brave in his personal life, as a transgender, so why can’t he bring that courage into his performance?
Lily performs very confidently, which makes up, somewhat, for an iffy vocal. “The old Lily is back,” says Robert after her sexy performance. “I’ve never seen a contestant flirt with the band before,” says Ryan, “so good on you.” When Ryan calls her out on correcting Zach, she continues to explain herself. MISTAKE. Zach bristles a little. Ryan thinks it’s bad that she’s fighting with people this early in the competition. Ryan wonders if it’s OK to cut someone because their attitude sucks. Later, back in the waiting room, Lily breaks down in sobs.
Last Chance Performances
perf-danceability by mjsbigblog
It’s time to deliver the bad news. Robert tacks up the call back list and informs the contestants. Robert is so sweet. In a recent interview, Ryan called himself the Simon Cowell of the panel, and Robert the Paula Abdul. So true! I freaking LOVE him. There are NO Randy’s here, by the way. I freaking love Zach too.
And, it’s Dani who is going home. I had that figured out about half way through tonight’s show. Tyler has problems, but his backstory is 100 percent Glee. Lily has a huge voice and a personality to match. Dani with her quiet indie vibe would have disappeared in that choir room.
