Hiatus - Top 10 Glee McFavorites

Well, it has been a very long time since I wrote a post. Some of you may remember a time when I said I was going to post every week. Past Brent was naive. Please forgive Past Brent his naivety, as I have done, and let's move on.

For my first post back (in what will surely be a sporadic schedule of posts to come), I decided to go ahead and talk about "Glee" (the TV show). The season one finale aired last night and the final album of the season was released yesterday. That means I now have everything I need to make a list of my top 10 songs/performances of the season. I shall call it:

Top 10 "Glee" McFavorites
10. "Bust Your Windows" - This is the only reason why anyone should ever rewatch the episode titled "Acafellas." This was the first time "Glee" really came out and declared that it was a musical. I loved how the performance took place in Mercedes' mind (much like the movie Chicago.

9. "Alone" - The set-up for this song was a little cheesy. Will and April singing karaoke in a bowling alley. But I liked the song despite the lackluster performance.

8. "Keep Holding On" - This song really just exemplifies to me what the show is about. The glee club doesn't really believe that they can make the world better by singing and dancing through life. The world is better because they are experiencing it together. The singing and dancing. . . that is just icing on the cake.

7. "Somebody to Love" - This song is one of my absolute favorites. I frankly can't believe it is this low on the list. The singing is amazing and it was really great to see the glee club actually perform for an audience.

6. The Mash-ups "Halo/Walking on Sunshine" and "It's My Life/Confessions" - I decided I couldn't separate these two songs. For one, they are both extremely short. But the performances were so good/laugh out loud funny. Having everyone hyped up on "vitamin D" was genius.

5. "Don't Rain on my Parade" - Lea Michele is amazing. And this was the perfect song for Rachel. Not only did she get to imitate Barbara Streisand, but she did it perfectly. And the song basically tells Rachel's side of the story concerning glee. She works hard and gets what she wants. . . don't get in her way.

4. "Poker Face" - First off, I am ignoring the part where a mom sings to her daughter about "bluffin'" with her "muffin." I liked the arrangement of the song. "Glee" is much better when they change the songs. I don't particularly like to hear the song exactly how it was originally recorded (See: "No Air" and "Bad Romance"). But the best part of this song was the range of emotions of Shelby and Rachel. They started off the song singing with each other for the first time. They were excited and happy. But by the end they realized it was ending. . . and they weren't going to be a part of each others' lives.

3. "Like a Prayer" - This performance wasn't all that great. Nothing special really happened during the on-screen time. So why is this number 3? Because I've listened to this song repeatedly since it aired. It just feels epic to me.

2. "I Dreamed a Dream" - Confession: I love Les Miserables. So any song from that show gets bonus points. But this song was even better because it was the first time we were able to hear Lea Michele and Idina Menzel sing together. The song is so full of emotion. . . and seeing them both on that stage, imagining the presence of the other. . . was great.

1. "Don't Stop Believing (Regionals Version)" / "Don't Stop Believing (Original)" - Of course this has to be number one. I included both versions because I think they are both phenomenal and important. The original was sung by just the first 6 members of the club and it was amazing. The performance was good and it inspired everyone. But the regionals version of the song is just as important because it shows how far the other characters outside of the original six have come. Everyone else gets to take bigger parts of the solos. . . it really shows how they've come together as a group. Plus, it makes me smile.

Ok. There you have it: my season one Top 10 Glee McFavorites. (The playlist on my iPhone has a full top 25, FYI.)