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Eliminated tonight: Emily.
Tonight, the contestants of The Glee Project, with the help of Glee co-star, Dot-marie Jones (Coach Beiste) explore their “vulnerability”.
Despite finding the teaser video for tonight’s episode of The Glee Project a tad heavy-handed, I think tonight’s episode of The Glee Project was the best yet. The cast is asked to dig into their deepest, darkest vulnerabilities and they do–at times with heartbreaking results. Finally, I’m becoming invested in this show, because for the first time, I feel like I’m really getting to know the cast. If you haven’t watched this show yet, I highly recommend it. I’m going to post clips below, but the show repeats all week on Oxygen. Don’t have cable? You can watch it online at Oxygen or on hulu.com
The first challenge features the cast singing Pink’s “Please Don’t Leave Me” for Dot-marie Jones, Glee’s Coach Beiste. “Use your own weaknesses to make your performances more relatable”. Dot’s vulnerability is her size. She’s been called a “sir” but she’s never been nor wants to be a sir. “The times you’ve seen me cry were real, ” Dot says.
The winner of the challenge gets a one on one with Dot. She evaluates the contestant’s performances, thinks everyone is great, but liked the subtle performances best. Dot calls out Lyndsay on her phoniness. “You were pushing too hard, ” Dot tells her. To the shock of her fellow contestants, Lyndsay gets defensive and talks back. Dot picks Matheus as the winner of the challenge because, she says, “you broke my heart. I felt like you were telling me something.” This is the second challenge won by Matheus–Darren Criss chose him in the premiere.
Casting director, and host, Robert Ulrich, announces the big group number–“Mad World”. “Expose one of your deepest insecurities put it out there and own it–in public, ” reveals Robert. Each contestant has to come up with a word or phrase that makes them feel uncomfortable. It’s week 3, and nobody likes the talky and over-confident Lyndsay…still!
Director Erik White tells the kids they have make signs that they will wear as they walk through Universal City Walk, which is a big tourist trap/shopping center in Los Angeles. The signs will be emblazoned with a word or phrase that the kids choose to reveal their vulnerability. “If you want to be a superstar, you have to be an open book to the world, ” says Erik. Alex is going to wear the word “Gay”. He’s feeling uneasy because he’s still in high school and had just come out to his mother. The kids rattle off the things that make them feel bad. There are tears.
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In the vocal session with Nikki Anders, she tries to pull out emotion from the contestants. Marissa says her word is going to be “flawed.” She becomes uncomfortable when Nikki asks her what the word means to her. Cameron says people in Texas, where he is from, don’t dress like him. He was a Christian in high school, not part of the popular crowd. He feels “misunderstood.” Damien is worried he’s never going to be able to love someone. His word is “numb”
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The video shoot begins. Some of the contestants tap into their vulnerabilities deeper than others. The producers set up a monitor so that the kids can watch each other as they cut their scenes. Alex, the gay kid, blows everyone away. So much so that Marissa decides to change her sign from the vague “flawed” to the thing she really feels ashamed of “anorexic”. Emily goes in and out of character–joking with the director in between takes. Matheus feels he has a little bit of a leg up, because he worked one on one with Dot-marie. He had to stand up on a chair to hug her, which was kinda funny.
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Mad World Video (I loved this episode, but still don’t like being hit over the head by this video)
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Robert announces the bottom 3: Emily, Cameron and Damien. Lyndsay narrowly escapes. She passed, because even though she talked back, she took the notes Dot-marie gave her and incorporated them into her performance. In the end, the contestants who found themselves in the bottom 3 didn’t quite connect. Song assignments are announced. Damien will sing “Are You Lonesome Tonight ” by Elvis Presley Emily is assigned “Grenade” by Bruno Mars. Cameron will sing “Your Song” by Elton John. All three will have to perform for creator Ryan Murphy, choreographer Zach Woodley and casting director Robert Ulrich. Ryan will decide who goes home.
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Emily, Cameron and Damien head off to separate rooms to rehearse. Emily is not surprised to be in the bottom 3, calling herself a “hot mess.” Damien breaks down in tears as he rehearses. The song brings him back to when he had to choose between his career and a relationship. Cameron is really nervous about his inability to be vulnerable.
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It’s time to audition for the panel. Cameron dresses up in some spiffy duds and turns out a well-phrased “Your Song” but Ryan thought it was a coffee house performance. He didn’t feel the emotion. He criticizes the way Cameron is dressed, and suggests that although he’s a cool cat he may be not enough of an underdog for Glee. Come back in your regular clothes and sing it like a breakup song, says Ryan. The panel disagrees. Zach says, “He dressed up for you…he made a mistake.”
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Emily comes out as her sassy self, which could do her in. She blows out a big performance of “Grenade”. Ryan says it was “very good”, but the end was a little too “cutsey pants”. Ryan heaps on the compliments, telling Emily that he’s always wanted to use “Grenade” in the show, but never knew how to write it in until her performance. Emily is thrilled.
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Cameron comes back out, dressed down. He stands at the mic and sings. Ryan is impressed the second time. “You are you and I know what to do with that, ” says Ryan.
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Damien is next and his performance is absolutely heartbreaking. Zach says he’s the most vulnerable of all the contestants, but he needs to bring that into his performances. But when he hits the stage to sing “Are You Lonesome Tonight” the floodgates open and he lays his heart bare for the panel. “I felt you really pulled something out, ” says Ryan. “Your best performance yet, ” says Robert.
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It’s time to make a decision. There are pros and cons for each contestant. Ryan is looking not only for a type they don’t have on the show yet, but a character they can write for.
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The decision Ryan, Robert and Zach come to is a little unexpected. Cameron is absolutely sure he’ll be eliminated. But no. Despite the kudos from Ryan, it’s Emily who is going home. She wasn’t expecting it, at all.
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Next week the kids will be DANCING!
