Re: Kurt Hummel Spoiler Thread - part 24

[Glorfindel]

This is the post I wrote on tumblr about the songs:


The songs for the episode Chris Colfer wrote are very well picked, imo. They seem to fit the storylines and/or are a bit tongue-in-cheek with the theme of the week. Only Chris can think of using a Madonna song and a Broadway female power ballad from ‘Cats’(!) for a production of ‘Peter Pan’, lol.
Despite the justified heavy focus on Kurt (with him therefore getting more songs than average this week), there is something to sing for everyone, if only in the big group number, and there are some surprising singers’ combinations. But above all: the songs seem to be so much simple, sheer FUN, like the old Glee days. Watch and learn, RIB: the student is surpassing the master here.


I Melt With You – Sam+Mercedes+Rachel:
I don’t think I ever liked Chord’s voice more than in this song: the low beginning and then taking it to the higher parts, but keeping his volume in check so he doesn’t resort to shouting. I really love how they used Lea’s voice here, especially in the harmonies. Amber singing lead in the middle part is wonderful too, and who thought the 3 of them would sound so nice together?
Is there a little Naya in the harmonies at the end?
 
Lucky Star – Kurt+Maggie:
Leave it to Chris to write for his character not only a classic musical song but also a Madonna song (lbr: it was either Madonna or Lady Gaga). Chris always sounds great on Madonna songs. And how amazing is June Squibb? Her voice is still so strong and clear at her very respectable age, and she’s singing an upbeat Madonna song as if she does nothing else all day long!
This is a good cover, very energetic. I love how Chris and June’s voices are weaving together in the last part of the song.
 
Memory – Kurt+Maggie:
When I heard Chris was singing ‘Memory’ I got so excited, and he didn’t disappoint. The slightly lower key allows for an easy access to the glory notes in his lovely high register, while the lower parts of the song profit from all the richness of Chris’ low register.
I’m very pleasantly surprised how they used June’s voice in ‘Memory’: her older voice fits so perfectly in the song’s theme. I could have sworn they would do the ‘young cat’-Kurt’ plus ‘old cat’-Maggie variation of the musical (Cats), but instead they let June sing higher than Chris in some very lovely harmonies, which takes some chutzpah but they pull it off.
The ending with the choir is lovely too, especially considering its placing and probable meaning in the episode, with everyone from the retirement home singing along.
 
Werewolves of London – Sam+Artie:
Lol, how aweful and at the same time completely wonderful is this? What a great song for an episode full of dogs. Kevin sounds great and Chord too. Their howling gives me life.
I love Sartie as a singing duo (remember their beautiful ‘Fire and Rain’?). And though the song isn’t much melody-wise:  just listen to their perfectly pitched (and edited) harmonies.
 
Take Me Home Tonight – NY group+Maggie:
Very well balanced group number. It’s off to a good start with Kevin’s “Whoaaaah”, and I like the placing of all the singers in their solo and harmony parts. I love that the first part is mostly the boys and then the ladies add their warm voices to the mix. The little improvs and wailing in the ending are just right too: not too showy or overshouting.
I’m glad that the music producers of Glee went autotune/tweeking -light on most of this week’s songs. This group number especially is very clear, as in that you can hear everyone’s singing and actually recognise their voices.

[Glorfindel]

I've noticed that since a couple of days everyone at Glee, including Chris in his hashtags on twitter, is calling 5x19 'Old Dogs, New Tricks' now, adding an "s" to "dog".



Has the title been officially changed this week?  

[ColferInspired]

I've noticed that since a couple of days everyone at Glee, including Chris in his hashtags on twitter, is calling 5x19 'Old Dogs, New Tricks' now, adding an "s" to "dog".



Has the title been officially changed this week?  

There is a bit of confusion about this.

The "s" could be a misprint on Chris's part when he put it in a hashtag once, or it has changed.

I think listen to the bts again and hear what Chris says, because I don't know if he says dog or dogs.

[ColferInspired]

Just looked at the video again, and Kevin says dog and Chris says dogs.   

So, which is which?

Maybe someone should tweet him and find out which is which.

Is it dog or dogs?

[ColferInspired]

On his instagram it is #OldDogsNewTricks.

He has said this three times, so this must be it.  

[Glorfindel]

^The script he instagrammed said "dog", so that must have been the original title.
But since then Chris himself has used the hashtag with "dogs" several times, and on iTunes it also says "dogs" on the music icons, so I guess they changed it sometime after he finished the script.

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After listening to the songs a couple of times with a more 'professional' ear I have to say that I'm surprised by how well Chris used all the different voices of the cast.
Part of the song distribution is of course decided by the storylines (e.g. the Kurt/Maggie duets and the Sartie duet), but he also does some new things in the SamcedesRachel song and the group number that are surprising and quite appealing. 

Chris did so many things differently than RIB would have done, some new and exciting stuff, which I think gives the songs this vibe of being so energetic and fresh:
- He let Rachel basically sing backup for Mercedes in 'I Melt With You', that's something RIB would not easily do.
- You can hear his love for Amber's voice in both her songs, but he doesn't let her resort to the simple park&bark-black-diva-stereotype trope that RIB often exaggerate with Mercedes (with the OTT excessive wailing).
- He gave Sartie a duet instead of having yet another Blam duet.
- The way he incorporated Maggie and the old folks in 'Memory', a song he simply could have made a solo for himself (and lbr: if it had been used by RIB in a Rachel storyline it probably would have been a solo)
- The group number is so layered, with Kevin's start and the girls coming in midway, and every voice fitting for their parts and places in the song. 

Now I'm pretty sure that this feeling of freshness and energy of this bundle of songs comes mostly from the fact that Chris simply is a fresh new writer playing with the Glee material and resources, so he isn't trapped in the stereotyping and limiting endless routine of RIB (who e.g. give duets mostly to romantic pairings, and who put Rachel and Blaine up front all the time).
Where in song distribution RIB normally take the easy and lazy way of doing the same things over and over again Chris mixes things up just because he can and he knows like noone else how boring and frustrating the overused same routine is.

Chris also doesn't have the same music interests/tastes as Ryan Murphy (who seems to pick most Glee songs from his iPod and the mandatory current top 40 charts), but besides the expected Broadway classic and either a Madonna or a Gaga song   , Chris also used songs from the seventies and eighties I don't think he was that familiar with.
So to me it seems that Chris went looking for songs to fit the storyline instead of the other way around, what RIB often does: being obsessed by certain songs and/or artists and then trying to write storylines to shoehorn those songs in, and that alone makes the episode (before even seeing it, lol) better, because the songs fit and are connected to the storylines.

But besides all of that (and it's probably more a matter of instinct than well thought out strategy) Chris simply has a knack, yet another talent, of putting the right voices in the right order and in the right harmonies together, and how to fleshen out and build up a song properly (with the help of the Anders brothers of course, and I think he would be more willing to listen to their advice than RIB would).

Or maybe he just lucked out on his first try.  

[ColferInspired]

I just can't help listening to these songs.

"Memory" means a lot to me as when I used to be able to sing, I used sing this all the time, it is my favourite song from Cat's.

Same with "Werewolves Of London" as it was a song loved hearing on the radio in the seventies. It is a simple song, but a lot of fun. One my favourites.

I was a big Madonna fan in the eighties and "Lucky Star" is another favourite.

The other two songs I have never heard before.

I think Chris just has good instincts.  

[Ranwing]

I don't think luck has anything to do with it. Chris has a real skill as a storyteller and a writer that is really remarkable. It shows in his acting choices and how he is able to kept the entire story of Kurt in his head when he's playing any given scene, with allows him to have layers and nuance that few in the cast are capable of. He's interested in telling an interesting story, and not just appeasing the various fanbases. And as we've seen his writing steadily improve with each work - his technique as a writer and ability to tell the stories that he wants is growing stronger and more clear.

I love the songs and have been working out in my head on how many of them will play out in the episode. I can see Kurt being caught up in the history that he encounters in the retirement home - all these actors, some of them likely legendary performers in their careers and now nearly forgotten inspiring Memory. Take Me Home Tonight is a cheeky sly number for the dog rescue benefit. Lucky Star playing on the directions to Never Never Land. He's clever and showed his skill as a storyteller in picking songs to tell his story rather than trying to build a story about whatever song caught his fancy. That takes a lot of control and discipline as a writer.

I've already read some of the criticisms of the episode. That Chris shouldn't have been allowed to write an episode that focuses on Chris (ignoring that one of the stated reasons by TPTB for giving Chris this opportunity was because of knowledge about his character and wanting to get a better image of Kurt from Chris's perspective). There are complaints from some Rachel fans that she should have been given Memory as a solo at some point (not necessarily in this ep but they wanted to see her have a chance to perform it). And of course you've got the Blaine stans complaining that he has neither a specific storyline focusing on him or a solo. All of these complaints are groundless, IMO, and is a result of each stan group wanting to focus on their personal favorite. I would love to hear Lea sing Memory at some point, but it makes sense with this story for Kurt to pick that song to sing with the senior citizens.

I don't think that this episode is mere filler because except for Blaine's storyline (which is better ignored and forgotten). He's carrying on Rachel's story, showing the continuing results of her ill-advised decision to miss her show for an audition (and the disastrous PR fallout that is threatening her still developing professional reputation). He's tapping into the continuing Samcedes storyline, with Sam recognizing that he needs to prove himself as perspective husband material to Mercedes. And he's continuing Kurt's story (which has been badly neglected), showing his very understanding feeling of inadequacy that his career isn't exactly skyrocketing in comparison to that of his friends and fiancé and that he's feeling very much alone and left behind since they are all so busy with their careers. This is going to be some of the most intelligent and honest storytelling and I have no problems with Kurt admitting jealousy that everyone else is working professionally (and that his fiancé busy with his sponsor and not having any time for him). I'm looking forward to Kurt not only not taking the high road, but doing something that can potentially help his career by giving him real performance experience (as well as possibly valuable contacts through the old folk that he shows so much respect for).

[Glorfindel]

I don't think luck has anything to do with it. Chris has a real skill as a storyteller and a writer that is really remarkable. It shows in his acting choices and how he is able to kept the entire story of Kurt in his head when he's playing any given scene, with allows him to have layers and nuance that few in the cast are capable of. He's interested in telling an interesting story, and not just appeasing the various fanbases. And as we've seen his writing steadily improve with each work - his technique as a writer and ability to tell the stories that he wants is growing stronger and more clear.

I love the songs and have been working out in my head on how many of them will play out in the episode. I can see Kurt being caught up in the history that he encounters in the retirement home - all these actors, some of them likely legendary performers in their careers and now nearly forgotten inspiring Memory. Take Me Home Tonight is a cheeky sly number for the dog rescue benefit. Lucky Star playing on the directions to Never Never  Land. He's clever and showed his skill as a storyteller in picking songs to tell his story rather than trying to build a story about whatever song caught his fancy. That takes a lot of control and discipline as a writer.

   This.

I've already read some of the criticisms of the episode. That Chris shouldn't have been allowed to write an episode that focuses on Chris (ignoring that one of the stated reasons by TPTB for giving Chris this opportunity was because of knowledge about his character and wanting to get a better image of Kurt from Chris's perspective). There are complaints from some Rachel fans that she should have been given Memory as a solo at some point (not necessarily in this ep but they wanted to see her have a chance to perform it). And of course you've got the Blaine stans complaining that he has neither a specific storyline focusing on him or a solo. All of these complaints are groundless, IMO, and is a result of each stan group wanting to focus on their personal favorite. I would love to hear Lea sing Memory at some point, but it makes sense with this story for Kurt to pick that song to sing with the senior citizens.

These complainers are the usual suspects though: Rachel fans claiming that every Broadway song and many a pop song can only be sung by Lea in the show and it will "be wasted" if any other singer gets it, and the Blarrenstans who get angry whenever Blaine doesn't get at least 3 songs in an ep or when any of the other couples get some focus (and God forbid when it's Brittana: allies my ass).
Many of these so-called Hummelberry fans and/or Klainers claim to love Kurt, and yet when he finally gets something to do (and still his 3 songs in this ep are nothing compared to the 'Blea' show), while Rachel or Blaine take a step back for once, they start whining.

I'm glad to see that there are so many old Gleeks enthusiastic for is episode, and that the songs are received so well. I don't think it will change the ratings much, but maybe a little rise in ratings and/or iTunes sale can be noticed. Let's hope so!
And even when there's no result in the ratings or iTunes sales there could be some praise for Chris' writing from the reviewers. This will be good for Chris' career.  

[Glorfindel]

The artwork for the songs on iTunes:

 

 

 
x

-ETA-
Not sure if these are legit, but they're pretty nonetheless.  

[Ranwing]

I'm sorry... I just... arms...   

Yes, I'm shallow  

[Glorfindel]

^His arms do seem to pull focus in that pic, yes.    

[bayth]

I love that Kurt is 'cradling glee' in the photos. Yes, Chris would take good care of the story, characters and songs in his episode. I have no doubt that it will be one of the best written episodes of the series.

[Glorfindel]

Little clips of audio from Chris' episode: link.

Put behind spoiler bars because some might not want to ruin the surprise:

Spoiler:

 

[Delight]

^ Dang. I really shouldn't spoil myself too much before watching the episode, but I just couldn't resist.

That little bit of dialogue is just such a 'Chris' thing that I can't help smiling like a loon   'Old Dogs New Tricks' is going to be really fun to watch.

[fantastica]

am i the only one who didn't get spoiled? i didn't listen to any clips or songs. i am going to go in totally FRESH!

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https://chriscolferfanforum.forumotion.com/viewtopic.forum?t=588

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