Re: Kurt Hummel Spoiler Thread - part 16

[arina]

I can't believe that the episode is called "TINA in the sky with diamonds" but Jenna has only two lines in one song and sings backup in another.   Is her solo cut only from the album or both the album and the episode? I'm not a big fan of Tina I hate her after season 4, but the damn episode has her name in the title not Blaine or Sam's who sing 80% of the songs.

I didn't listen the songs yet, but really???? Poor Jenna. The show screw her over and over.



Edit: I just listened Klaine duet, I still don't think Chriss and Darren voice are very compatible together, at least to me it never sounds totally right but I love Chris's solo parts, especially the first lines in the song, love how he sounds there, the vibrato.

[Lottie2303]

First and foremost, I have to say someone spend a lot of time to find the worst 30 seconds and release them. How did they mess up so bad? It is staggering and I don’t understand it. I also believe they released all(!!!) songs because of the negative reception. Story of the day: the worldwide Twitter campaign was a failure for all accounts.

Okay, to be fair, I don’t find any of the songs mindblowing. I also only listened to the songs Chris participated in. my thoughts:

Klaine duet: Chris is far better in this than Darren. I like the duet and I must say it is an equal distribution of text. Maybe FOX actually learnt a bit? I am convinced “Come what may” lead to trouble, as I wasn’t the only one really being offended that it was basically a Blaine solo. I also really start to feel sorry for Darren, because his voice is so strained. I listened to “Its time” this morning, and his voice decreased dramatically within a year. I really start to wonder if once Glee is over, his voice is gone too. I’d feel really sorry for him, as no one deserves that.

Let it be: I predict Chris part will be cut just from the placement in the song. I really liked his line. He did well. It should have been Kevin’s solo or an Artie/Kitty/Kurt song. Tina also sounded great too and was for me a highlight. She is painfully underused. Lea and Naya do NOT have voices for the Beatles. It just doesn’t sound right and they didn’t fit the song at all. Overall, this will be this year “mama mia”. Everyone is commenting it should have been an Artie solo and was totally unnecessary as a group numbers (just as MM should have been a NYC group number). But with the developing Kitty/Artie relationship and Artie being played in NYC, I actually believe there is a chance he is used more. Yay!

Hummelberry: The first time I wasn’t really listening because I was in utter shock how little Rachel sings. I was waiting the entire time for her to start and it was always Kurt singing, singing, singing. Color me positively surprised. I think it sounds nice, but it isn’t Chris best work either. I have to be fair and say his voice also doesn't really suit the Beatles. However I can see it as one of the songs that will be growing on me.

Overall, my Chris thoughts: I am very happy he got some faster songs and he could use his lower register. I think he was fairly used in all songs and received the attention he deserved. I still think it is a shame and crime they didn’t give him one solo. Especially because Sam gets a solo to probably sing to the new nurse! I predict that storyline will be an epic failure from the get go. I don’t think any of the songs are his best work. He had better highlights in the past, but he was superior in all his songs. Darren’s voice is too strained to enjoy him anymore (and I really like some of this songs in the past, to be honest) and Lea really has absolutely no voice at all for the Beatles. For me, she sounds absolutely misplaced.

Last comment: they need to stop dressing up the cast! Just because they sing Beatles, it doesn’t mean they should recreate famous album covers! No school has that budget! I miss the good old days when they performed and actually wore outfits that looked within budget and believable. Once again, didn’t they learn from “Mama Mia” and how ridiculous, over-the-top and unnecessary all the clothes looked?!

[arina]

Sorry for spamming, love all the voices they used for Let it be  , only wish Kevin got bigger part but really not only they all sound great but you know it's nice also to hear so many distinctive characterstic voices instead of wondering is that Blaine or is that Sam or Ryder etc? The original group had really much diversive and irreplaceable voices and it was easy to recognize who sings what.

[Lottie2303]

I'm talking more industry cred/recognition and viable opportunities outside of Glee. Love or hate Lea, she is the only actor outside of Jane Lynch to get national commercial endorsements,  (though Naya did get that well received Super bowl Ad), has been on the cover of many well known magazines (at least here in the States) and is mentioned as a celebrity in the cultural buzz.  I would assume she's less well know in Europe outside of England.  

On a personal note, we don't know any of these actors, so I take any buzz on their negative behavior with a grain of salt unless I'm shown some kind of evidence other than heresay and innuendo.  

Just very quickly: fair and very true point! I also have to add very quickly that I do believe Lea will be successful and have a post-Glee career. Let it be movies, TV-series or BW. i don't believe she will leave anytime soon. But I don't think she will be a major A-list actress, as I suspect this is what Lea desires to be. With her look and current movie, I think Dianna is the only one having the chance to actually be an A-list movie actress.

[arina]

I also wish Kevin got much bigger part in Let it be, but honestly because he is featured also on other songs and because there are videos of him singing Let It Be on youtube I am not that mad. Also as selfish biased Chris's fan I am happy he got a line and I think he sounds great on it.

Still I am not very fond on Get Back. I think Beatles suits Chris all right but not every of their song.

Kevin is definitely in his domain and sounds the best as he was in Michael Jackson songs.

[coxfire]

Last comment: they need to stop dressing up the cast! Just because they sing Beatles, it doesn’t mean they should recreate famous album covers! No school has that budget! I miss the good old days when they performed and actually wore outfits that looked within budget and believable. Once again, didn’t they learn from “Mama Mia” and how ridiculous, over-the-top and unnecessary all the clothes looked?!

Agreed. what was great in the Pilot was to see the Originals dressed with the same code (Jean + red t-shirt), but all with their twist on it: they were a team, but all individualities were represented at the same time.
Besides, it gave a sense of solemnity to the Sectionals/Nationals, etc., because it gave a sense of unity of an otherwise pretty eclectic Club. Seeing them in costume all the time cheapens it.

I really like "Get back", but at the same time, I wasn't that familiar with the original. I wonder which context will surround it though.

Finally, I never warmed up to Blaine, but I always thought Darren was a good singer. Lately I really can't say the same. I feel like there is no power in his voice, it sounds flat, dull, and it's sad in a way because even if I don't like the character, I do not wish to Darren to "lose" his voice.

[valkeakuulas]

I thought it was odd that they released everything, at once. Since they could have built a tease over the remaining days to...OK I've done reasoning with Glee's marketing brain cells. They have none.

But not complaining about getting both Kurt songs. <3

And I went through all the songs in order to rate them. (Damn for getting me to do that Jellyrolls! ) Thankfully most Beatles songs are short!

1. Get Back - I love the grittiness and the build up to the full momentum And yes, I'm giving this a biased first place.
2. Let It Be - Nice rendition and not much to complain.
3. Drive My Car - This is so good. Really well made and nothing too much. Kevin and Becca even sound like the 60's!
4. Got To get You Into My Life - Yes it's good and I try not to think where this song leads in the episode.
5. Yesterday - High placing because of Lea's voice and her voice only.
6. Hard Day's Night - Why have they hid their voices under the guitars? Why!?
7. You Got To Hide Your Love Away - Not so fond of the original but because of Kevin voice gets much higher on the list.
8. Something - I didn't think Chord was so bad in this one. I'm just annoyed he'll be yet again singing this to some new woman in his life. Jeez!
9. Hey Jude - This and Something sound the same. There is nothing wrong with it but it doesn't get me excited at all.
10. Here Comes the Sun - I Just didn't like this one. Maybe it'll be better in the actual show.
11. Help - This is again one the songs I really can't tell who sings it without it being told inthe header.
12. All You Need Is Love - This is really dragging and not uplifting at all. The simple boredom prevented me from actually listening.
13. I Saw Her Standing There - I just cannot like these songs where there are no individual voices heard.
14. Stg. Pepper - No.

[Lottie2303]

I thought it was odd that they released everything, at once. Since they could have built a tease over the remaining days to...OK I've done reasoning with Glee's marketing brain cells. They have none. 

Backpedaling! The 30 second features received horrendous reception! All of the songs no matter who sung. Everyone commented how awful all the songs sounded. This is all very heavy damage control. I am not surprised as I expected the full songs very quickly once they started releasing the shorter versions.

[sheny]

I don't know a lot about the Beatles and I've never heard half of these songs but from the comments here and on Tumblr I gather that "Something" is one of their most romantic songs. Why is that idiot Sam singing one of Beatles' most romantic songs to a girl he just met? Last season Ryder sang "Your song" to some girls he saw in the hallway and now this. Is serenading people we just met 5 minutes ago some new trend on Glee?

[coxfire]

Is serenading people we just met 5 minutes ago some new trend on Glee?

Not really, since apparently Blaine "serenaded" Kurt with Teenage Dream back in S2...

[Lottie2303]

Is serenading people we just met 5 minutes ago some new trend on Glee?

Not really, since apparently Blaine "serenaded" Kurt with Teenage Dream back in S2...

At least it was a good performance. Despite my qualms with Blaine, Teenage Dream was actually a very good Glee cover and it was for Kurt. The other two songs totally ruined and butchered and destroyed well loved songs for inferior, unimportant crushes who mean nothing to the show.

[arina]

Kinda sad that with that many songs they couldn't give one to Matthew Morrison.

[Jellyrolls]

Kinda sad that with that many songs they couldn't give one to Matthew Morrison.

You know, I hadn't really thought about Matt not singing on any of them until you said it. It truly is sad because Matt probably would have done an amazing job on something like Hey Jude.

[coxfire]

Is serenading people we just met 5 minutes ago some new trend on Glee?

Not really, since apparently Blaine "serenaded" Kurt with Teenage Dream back in S2...

At least it was a good performance. Despite my qualms with Blaine, Teenage Dream was actually a very good Glee cover and it was for Kurt. The other two songs totally ruined and butchered and destroyed well loved songs for inferior, unimportant crushes who mean nothing to the show.

Oh I agree! I was just implying that to me Blaine's serenade was a bit different since hé had met Kurt 4 seconds ago and it couldn't be sure had feelings for him, whereas Ryder and now Sam deliberately did it to woo the girl. But yeah the cover was good at the time, unlike the other ones

[Jellyrolls]

Is serenading people we just met 5 minutes ago some new trend on Glee?

Not really, since apparently Blaine "serenaded" Kurt with Teenage Dream back in S2...

At least it was a good performance. Despite my qualms with Blaine, Teenage Dream was actually a very good Glee cover and it was for Kurt. The other two songs totally ruined and butchered and destroyed well loved songs for inferior, unimportant crushes who mean nothing to the show.

Oh I agree! I was just implying that to me Blaine's serenade was a bit different since hé had met Kurt 4 seconds ago and it couldn't be sure had feelings for him, whereas Ryder and now Sam deliberately did it to woo the girl. But yeah the cover was good at the time, unlike the other ones

But Blaine's serenade wasn't really a serenade to Kurt. That song would have happened whether he had met Kurt or not. That song was about introducing the Warblers--not serenading Kurt.

And it took months for Blaine to realize he had feelings for Kurt--and it was at an awkward moment--when Kurt was singing a tribute to a dead bird.

[sheny]

Is serenading people we just met 5 minutes ago some new trend on Glee?

Not really, since apparently Blaine "serenaded" Kurt with Teenage Dream back in S2...

At least it was a good performance. Despite my qualms with Blaine, Teenage Dream was actually a very good Glee cover and it was for Kurt. The other two songs totally ruined and butchered and destroyed well loved songs for inferior, unimportant crushes who mean nothing to the show.

Oh I agree! I was just implying that to me Blaine's serenade was a bit different since hé had met Kurt 4 seconds ago and it couldn't be sure had feelings for him, whereas Ryder and now Sam deliberately did it to woo the girl. But yeah the cover was good at the time, unlike the other ones

I never considered the first Teenage dream a serenade. The dictionary says "serenade" is a complimentary performance given to honor or express love for someone. I don't think Blaine was trying neither to honor nor express his love for Kurt, he just wanted to show the new kid how cool the Warblers are. With Ryder and Sam it is different because they really are romantically interested in those girls.

[Ranwing]

I'm not going to totally retcon the Teenage Dream performance, even given my distaste for Blaine and Kurt's relationship with him. While the song wasn't intented to be strictly performed for Kurt, there was little question in my mind that Blaine was singing it to Kurt. He was very much flirting with the adorable "new kid" and Kurt very much seemed to enjoy it. It wasn't until after Blaine learned about Kurt's situation at McKinley that he shoved his attraction on the backburner and friendzoned Kurt. Looking with hindsight at the first months of their relationship, I'm not overly surrpised that Blaine ignored what he initially felt for Kurt (and put in display when they sang BICO) in favor of being attracted to Jeremiah and then Rachel since Blaine is about as fickle as they come.

Really need to express how iritated I am that Blaine wasted AAO to express his deep attraction to Sam and Kurt gets AYNIL. Sure, Kurt will get the big show with every showchoir in existance backing Blaine, but it's not exactly in the same league of emotional depth as AAO.

[Jellyrolls]

I'm going to start this post by saying that what I'm about in this post is not me being snarky at all here. This is just an observation that I've noticed listening to Darren on these songs.

So, out of curiosity this morning, I went back and listened to several Klaine duets to see if Darren's voice does really seem to be weaker or if it was just my imagination. And it was definitely not my imagination. Even just going back to "Just Can't Get Enough" and "White Christmas," his voice didn't sound anywhere near as weak as they do on songs like "Hey Jude" and "Just Can't Get Enough." The difference is really remarkable, and even more noticeable when you listen to season two stuff like BICO, Animal, and Candles. His voice was definitely a lot fuller and he didn't seem nearly as breathy or straining to hit notes.

I have read elsewhere that they quality of these recordings may not be that great, but when I thought about that as a possible reason why Darren sounds so weak, but then I realized that the others sound fine on them to me, so I really can't use that as an excuse.

I know that I'm not a Darren fan (though I once enjoyed his songs before they started overusing him--at one point, I even putt Silly Love Songs in my top three non-Kurt songs). I'm not trying to be critical of his voice with these comments--I am saying this because it seems like the way he uses his voice when he performs and perhaps the way he doesn't take care of his voice is actually showing. That tour he did must have done some damage--over singing and screaming instead of singing. The difference in quality of his vocals is just so drastic.

[Ranwing]

Kinda sad that with that many songs they couldn't give one to Matthew Morrison.

You're totally right. While I'm angry that Chris and Kevin didn't warrent getting one of the solos that are absolutely wasted on Darren and Chord, Matt also really got short changed. But then, that's nothing new as they've totally reduced his role to being a mere prop for the noobs. I miss the days when Matt got his own storylines that were somewhat independent of him being the ND director.

[Glorfindel]

Sorry it took so long for me to comment: had to sleep and then work (a lot! bleh, it was not a good working day today). The past hour I've spent listening to the songs and reading your comments. Here are (finally) mine:


Let me comment first that I think that the arrangements and especially the editing (with the tin backup vocals, bland instruments which overpower the vocals, and imbalancing of the duet harmonies) really, really suck on 90% of the Beatles songs.
What’s with the Anders brothers on the Beatles songs? Did they just not get enough time to produce 14(!) songs? Knowing Glee that might be a big part of this mess.
So, concentrating mostly on the vocals in my comments on the individual songs:
 
(also: leaving out AYNIL and ‘Yesterday’, as we already got the full versions of those songs and discussed them earlier)
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.01:
 
Got To Get You Back Into My Life – Kurt+Blaine:
Still too much damn Blaine on the choruses, while Kurt’s voice gets edited softer again, grrrrr. But I love, love, love (he!) Chris’ voice, especially in the gritty shouts. 
The lines of the verses are divided more equally, but the switching of voices/lines really emphasizes how weak Darren’s voice is in comparison, and him trying to shout the higher notes is grating. Why oh why did they pair Chris up with mr. Mediocrity who he seems to be now stuck with till eternity?  

Drive My Car – Artie+Kitty:
In principal I like this song, but it’s too heavily edited and tweeked. Love Kevin’s singing, Becca's not that much, but she’s still good and to be fair: she got stuck with a really sucky 2^nd voice. Plus as I said: horrible studio editing.
 
I Saw Her Standing There – NND:
Bland, blander, blandst. I can’t even her who’s singing what, that’s how soulless and….. anonymous?..... it sounds. Elevator music is better.  

Help – Blaine+ND+Warblers:
Boring, although this is a Beatles song that’s at least suited for Darren’s voice. 
I actually like the (Warblers ?) harmonizing halfway through the song, so that's something I guess.
 
You’ve Gotta Hide Your Love Away – Artie+Kitty:
Really like their voices together (they both have this ‘sharpness’ that really blends well, while their genders/voicetypes provide the needed diversity), but the arrangement is truly sleep inducing.
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
5.02:
 
Something – Sam:
Call me crazy, but I’m pleasantly surprised by this one (or maybe I just expected a lot worse, haha). The boring arrangement sucks balls but I kinda like Chord’s voice in it, especially when he starts to sing louder after the first half. It’s in no way near to the beautiful original, but maybe this shows what very low expectations can do for an opinion on a cover, lol.  

A Hard Days Night – Rachel+Santana:
Like Santana and the Pezberry parts, but I don’t think that Lea’s voice is suited for the Beatles, and that’s really audible in all her Beatles songs. Still: this is the best she sounds in any of her Beatles songs, so the song gets an “okay” from me.
BTW: I don't think Naya's voice is that suited for the Beatles either, but they both are at least good singers who can still somewhat sell a less-suited song.

Get Back – Kurt+Rachel:
Love Kurt’s voice in the verses,  and I’m really glad that they didn’t give Rachel any verses.
Yay: Rachel singing back-up to Kurt for once.And hey: the second they couldn'r resist switching the lead around on ‘Get Back’ it sounds worse. I wish they had left out the switch in the 2^nd chorus (when Chris sings a lower 2^nd voice to Lea's lead), as it sort of throws of their dynamic in this song. Lea is supposed to sing lead voice there, but Chris’ lower voice is overpowering her attempt to sound gritty and therefore they had to dial Chris’s voice down to accommodate her.
I also don’t feel Lea in the improvisations: she almost sounds like a cheap porn movie.  

Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band – NND:
Again, as usual with the new New Directions : bland, blander, blandst. I can’t even summon the energy to comment properly on the ND ‘group’ numbers (although it’s mostly being back-up for Blaine).
Okay, I lied, here’s one comment (after reading your comments): I personally don’t like the Unique wailing in the song.
 
Hey Jude – Blam:
Blam must be the most boring and un-energetic combo of duet partners I ever heard. ZZZzzzzzzzzzz. And besides boring they also sound horrible together (and that's saying something after suffering through a zillion Klaine duets).
And the wailing at the end…..oy.  

Here Comes The Sun – Santana+Dani:
It took me a few listens to get used to, but now I like it. At least they both can sing really well, though as said before, I don’t think that Naya’s voice is very suited for the Beatles (although better than Lea).
I also would have wished for a little more difference between Naya’s and Demi’s voices, as they both sound very similar, and I usually like some variation in a duet.
 
Let It Be – Rachel+Santana+Kurt+Artie+Kitty:
Love this song, except for that stupid tin can chorus ruining it. The soloists all sound good and so do the little duet parts.

And hey!: notice every single one of them having his/her only unique sound. With the exception of Jake that’s all the cast members (left on the show) who you can always identify immediately on a song. Even Rachel’s OTT-ness was not unwelcome in this song, because it was only a few lines and it adds to the individuality and therefore sparkling diversity of this true group number. This is the strength of what the old ND used to be: individual voices coming together in song. I really miss that with the Borg hive that is the new ND.  
Chris sounds absolutely lovely on his line, and it makes me wish we had had a Kurt Beatles solo, or a Kartie duet. Such a waste.

[coxfire]

Is serenading people we just met 5 minutes ago some new trend on Glee?

Not really, since apparently Blaine "serenaded" Kurt with Teenage Dream back in S2...

At least it was a good performance. Despite my qualms with Blaine, Teenage Dream was actually a very good Glee cover and it was for Kurt. The other two songs totally ruined and butchered and destroyed well loved songs for inferior, unimportant crushes who mean nothing to the show.

Oh I agree! I was just implying that to me Blaine's serenade was a bit different since hé had met Kurt 4 seconds ago and it couldn't be sure had feelings for him, whereas Ryder and now Sam deliberately did it to woo the girl. But yeah the cover was good at the time, unlike the other ones

But Blaine's serenade wasn't really a serenade to Kurt.  That song would have happened whether he had met Kurt or not.  That song was about introducing the Warblers--not serenading Kurt.  

And it took months for Blaine to realize he had feelings for Kurt--and it was at an awkward moment--when Kurt was singing a tribute to a dead bird.  

Yes, that's what I meant, really, hence my use of " " around serenade.
 
But the fact is that ever since, when you read about it in the fandom, TD is pegged as a serenade to Kurt, when really it wasn't, and I think that even RIB saw it as a serenade to Kurt. This is why I don't think that it is such a new tendency to have the characters woo a character they've merely known for 5 minutes with a song.

[Glorfindel]

^Agreed. Blaine and the Warblers would have sung TD as a prepared song in that 'impromptu concert' anyway, but because RIB wrote it in as Kurt getting a spontaneous serenade it now has that 'stigma'.

I hope Marie will pipe in when she wakes up to hear all of these songs.

@Marie, are we really hearing a more prominent strain in Darren's voice in these songs?  Or is it just us being sick of Darren's voice?

I enjoyed Darren's early vocals on the show (i.e. Silly Love Songs, Animal, etc.).   Started getting sick of it when they started overusing him or using him on songs that he just couldn't handle (like the WSS stuff), by season 4, I could barely stomach him.

After listening to these Beatles songs, I am actually concerned by what the overuse of his voice is doing to his voice.  I don't know if it was the tour, or if he is just oversinging, but his voice really sounds strained on these Beatles songs to me.  I know I haven't really listened to his more recent songs on the show as much as the originals, but it really seems like he is struggling more now.

Marie piping in (lol).

I agree with you: Darren is sounding worse as before, very strained and weak, and the decline of his voice can be literally 'followed'/witnessed from month to month. He is really damaging (has already damaged) his voice and it's very audible. 'Hey Jude' and 'Help' actually scared me (as a vocal coach who's first job is to keep a voice healthy), that's how damaged his voice sounds.

We may not like the overexposure of Blaine on the show, and I think he has a limited, mediocre voice, but when he started on Glee his voice was still pleasant and very enjoyable ('Somewhere Only We Know' is one of my most favorite Glee songs) when he got the right songs . Now.....not so much.
This is not good, and I'm quite worried.  

At least I'm happy with Chris's numbers. What singing he did get to do was absolutely fantastic. The underutilized MVP of the eps.

Him and Kevin, yes. It's a real shame.  

Kinda sad that with that many songs they couldn't give one to Matthew Morrison.

Agreed. With all those songs the distribution could have been a lot better. Instead of 6 songs that feature Blaine and all the noobs snoozefest, I would have loved something from Matt, maybe even Jayma, and I like Jake's voice. And poor, poor Jenna.

[Ranwing]

I'm going to start this post by saying that what I'm about in this post is not me being snarky at all here.  This is just an observation that I've noticed listening to Darren on these songs.

So, out of curiosity this morning, I went back and listened to several Klaine duets to see if Darren's voice does really seem to be weaker or if it was just my imagination.  And it was definitely not my imagination.  Even just going back to "Just Can't Get Enough" and "White Christmas," his voice didn't sound anywhere near as weak as they do on songs like "Hey Jude" and "Just Can't Get Enough."  The difference is really remarkable, and even more noticeable when you listen to season two stuff like BICO, Animal, and Candles.  His voice was definitely a lot fuller and he didn't seem nearly as breathy or straining to hit notes.  

I have read elsewhere that they quality of these recordings may not be that great, but when I thought about that as a possible reason why Darren sounds so weak, but then I realized that the others sound fine on them to me, so I really can't use that as an excuse.

I know that I'm not a Darren fan (though I once enjoyed his songs before they started overusing him--at one point, I even putt Silly Love Songs in my top three non-Kurt songs).  I'm not trying to be critical of his voice with these comments--I am saying this because it seems like the way he uses his voice when he performs and perhaps the way he doesn't take care of his voice is actually showing.  That tour he did must have done some damage--over singing and screaming instead of singing.  The difference in quality of his vocals is just so drastic.  

I never thought that Darren was such an amazing singer. I found him pleasent in a lot of his earlier numbers (I agree with Marie that Somewhere Only We Know was his best performance on the show). When he gets the right material, he can be enjoyable to listen to. He does very well with light pop numbers like Katy Perry because these are songs that are more performance than vocally based (which suited Darren's showman abilities) but the problems really began when they started the solo overload and he was singing songs by artists that he had no business touching because they demand strong vocal performances and strong technique to support them. Fighter was painfully bad (and didn't help when you added in the overwrought visuals). The less said about DSMN, the better. And don't get me started on how he butchered Whitney Houston.

But for some reason that is beyond my understanding except that he appeals to the young, female and older gay male demographic, the show is really pushing him as the biggest singing talent and the strain is showing. I don't think that Darren has proper vocal technique when he sings and when you couple that with the strain of singing multiple songs in every episode, as well as his singing tour, the damage is pretty clear. Now despite the fact that I don't particularly like Darren or his singing, I don't want to see anyone ruin their voice and the show really needs to dial things back with him. The problem is that he's not a strong enough actor to carry big storylines without resorting to using music so the show is in a catch 22 situation. They want to feature Darren, but he's just not capable of handling the amount of focus and screen time they allot him.

Darren is not the only one who's voice I think has deteriorated over time. Lea's is not what it once was either, and I'm not sure if it's strain or just lazy technique at fault. Kevin's is still strong, and Chris's has improved dramatically since the pilot. And Cory, who took a lot of crap for not being able to keep up with Lea vocally, really should get the most improved award.

[Glorfindel]

^Agreed, especially your last paragraph:

Darren is not the only one who's voice I think has deteriorated over time. Lea's is not what it once was either, and I'm not sure if it's strain or just lazy technique at fault. Kevin's is still strong, and Chris's has improved dramatically since the pilot. And Cory, who took a lot of crap for not being able to keep up with Lea vocally, really should get the most improved award.

I think Chord's voice has suffered too in season 4.

http://www.mjsbigblog.com/glee-season-5-adam-lambert-spoiler-update-changes-made.htm

I’ve got some brand new information on the character Adam Lambert will play on Glee.

Adam’s character WILL NOT BE A DRAG QUEEN. There will be NO performances in drag.

Drag was the original plan for Adam’s character, but at his request, the character will be rewritten. Adam met with the Glee writers/producers this week to discuss the changes.

Also, Adam won’t be singing Lady Gaga’s “Judas,” also at his request. However, he’s still set to perform “Applause.”

Production on Adam’s first episode, 5×04, begins next week.

ETA: I expected some blow back on this spoiler, because I know the drill. Here’s the deal:

1. The timing on the meeting or the discussion may be off, because that part of the spoiler is second hand but…
2. The jist of the spoiler came from a source inside production. Please trust me on this. This spoiler isn’t some anonymous tip I received via email.
3. Re-writing the part in a week would not be unheard of in Glee land. Also, it would not be a major, major re-write. Adam may have only had a few scenes in his first episode to begin with.

And that’s all I got.

Good for Adam to put his foot down on some of the things the writers wanted his character to be/do. I wish Chris had that much influence (*sigh*).
Not that I think a drag queen couldn't be good or fun on a decent show, but we all know Glee isn't a decent show (anymore).

Hopefully Adam Lambert has a little bit more influence on his storylines with Kurt, as we know he specifically wanted to work with Chris.

[Jellyrolls]

Thanks for piping in, Marie. I am glad that I'm not imagining it. I've read so many comments about how Darren sounds so good on Hey Jude, and how he sounds better than Chris on GTGYIML that I was really beginning to wonder if I was listening to the same songs.

Everyone knows I'm not a Darren fan (though I enjoyed his songs in season two before they started overusing him and giving him songs that weren't really in his wheelhouse). As many others here have said, I agree that Darren has a better shot of a career in music rather than acting after Glee, but the strain in his voice now really makes me think that a long term music career is not going to be in his future if he doesn't start taking better care of his voice. I wish him success in the future (but success far from Kurt's coattails and success that I don't have to follow because he is paired with someone I love).

I have many friends who play in a dueling piano bar five nights a week, and I know the strain that has put on their voices (even requiring surgery for two of them). But they ultimately learned how to moderate their voices, tone things down, and conserve their voices when they need to. This is something that Darren definitely needs to learn to do if his voice got that shot after his tour.

And thanks for your analysis of the songs. I was surprised to realize that your analysis matched up with mine in many cases. I guess my ear is getting better

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