Hello everyone! It's time to recap last night's penultimate episode of The Glee Project. Let me just say that I was a ball of nerves the entire hour, that I loved the final video, and that I was a little surprised with the outcome of who wasn't called back! Let's get started.
Every other word for the first three minutes of this episode is the word "finale," JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T GET THAT. Robert shows up and announces the theme of the week, a crucial one, Actability. Everyone is very happy, and Michael says Blake is a huge threat (of course he is) but he is excited, especially when he is the only one that knows the homework assignment, Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love." Aylin is so confused, looking like someone just asked her what the square root of 69 was. Ali says "If you can't act, you shouldn't be on Glee," and..well, yeah, you can't argue with that.
At the homework assignment, Robert introduces the guest mentor of the week, Dianna Agron! Blake says "she's really pretty," which is pretty tame, especially compared to Aylin's explosive reactions to Cory Monteith, Grant Gustin, Darren Criss, and all other male mentors this season. Dianna says you can't get stuck in your own head while performing, and you need to work off the energy of others. Well put, Quinn Fabray! Robert says today's assignment is going to be a little different. He gets flashcards with different emotions on them and says that each contestant is going to get an emotion with which to perform their song. Everyone is flabbergasted.
Michael gets "determined," and he takes that as "squint your eyes." Kidding, he does more than just squint his eyes, and he sounds good. Lily gets "scared," and she's surprisingly understated, and not the over-the-top Lily we've seen in the past. Blake is "angry" and he growls, but besides the fierce eyes (not squinted eyes!), he doesn't do that much else with it. Aylin gets "anxious," and she really lets the emotion control her whole body and her voice. Ali gets "excited," and that perfect smile comes out. She's really good, and we know Ali is the most high-energy of everyone left, but that's what pops, and the final shot of the group, I'm looking at her.
Dianna liked Michael's squinted eyes, tells Lily to be bigger (and in her head, I'm sure Lily is putting pins in her Zach Woodlee, Nikki Anders, and Ryan Murphy voodoo dolls, since they've always told her the exact opposite), Dianna gets giggly around Blake and, yup, that's that, Aylin had a "good balance," and Dianna calls Ali a "ball of light." Dianna says it was between Michael and Ali, and I think she's going to go with Ali, but then she picks Michael. But that's okay. Poor little Michael is the last contestant to win a homework assignment, and he's very happy (he has a one-on-one with Dianna Agron, makes sense), so we'll let him have his moment.
Upon announcing this week's song, "Perfect" by Pink, Robert adds that this week is a little different. Instead of a music video, the contestants will be making a movie trailer. They'll each be assigned characters and have to improv scenes. Aylin is a Turkish girl with a conservative family (what a surprise!) who is dating the school quarterback and is pregnant (surprise!). Blake is said quarterback, but he's a real douche. Michael is Blake's friend, who used to idolize him, but is now moving in on Aylin. Aylin screams "love triangle," so we're aware of the situation. Ali plays a girl who dreamed of being an Olympic athlete, but her dreams were cut short when she was paralyzed by...Lily! HELLO DRAMA. Ali calls it "the biggest challenge of the competition."
At vocals, Michael and Aylin are told to tell a story and not just sing, but they both sound good. Blake is sharp, so, yup. Ali sounds good, and Nikki lauds Lily, who has a breakdown in the booth. And that's that for vocals this week!!
At the shoot, everyone looks FREEZING. We start with Lily and Ali. Erik, the video director, tells Lily to lead the scene so she says "You were perfect," and Ali would respond "I still am." The scene they unfold is atrocious. On the second attempt, Lily chews so much scenery, the entire crew and Ali will drown in the lake under the bridge they are shooting on. Still, Lily never hit the line, even if Zach did think she was awesome. Poor Ali is left on the sidelines.
Next, we see "Darth Blake," and man, does he deliver! It's not a surprise, he's easily the best actor in the group. But Aylin doesn't get enough praise here, she does great with subtlety. They both do absolutely great in this scene. Then, we have a fight between Michael and Blake, and Michael flashes us back to his mentoring session with Dianna, where he vigorously scribbles notes. At the shoot, Blake is great, of course, and Michael is good, too, although I can't tell if he thinks loud is necessary, I'm not sure. Aylin trying on the Muslim headscarf leads to an emotional moment when it all really hits home for her. But, boy, does that do wonders for her! She is phenomenal in the scene, she's not over-the-top, but she displays just enough emotion.
The final video is really awesome, probably my favorite one this season! The standouts for me are Blake and Aylin, and I notice Ali really gets nothing to do in the final product. Michael is good at some spots, but a little...okay...at some spots. Lily looks less toned down in the final product, which is good. But easily Blake is the brightest spot of the entire video, but Aylin is incredibly subtle and I actually start to hope she's the one to end up on the show. The singing is a little undermined in the final product, but it sounds pretty good.
It's time for the last reveal of the bottom three. We get an emotional monologue from all three of the mentors, and everyone ends up in tears. Nikki's comment about seeing qualities in each of the contestants she would love to see in her kids is especially touching, especially since Nikki is usually made of steel. Zach says they'll all make it. And if Ryan Murphy has his way, they all should. But in a final twist, the entire writing staff of Glee will be at the Last Chance performances tonight and all five will sing. That's actually a pretty good idea, since more minds should be able to determine who is going to be able to work on Glee. The song choices are "Son of a Preacher Man" made famous by Dusty Springfield for Lily, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" made famous by Cyndi Lauper for Michael, "Here's to Us" by Halestorm for Ali, "I'm Still Standing" by Elton John for Blake, and "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera for Aylin. Everyone's off to rehearse, and before we know it, Ryan and the writing team have arrived.
First to perform is Michael. Robert says Michael has grown the most, and is the youngest contestant this season. Michael's song doesn't really do him any favors, he doesn't get to show off his voice that much, and it seems really short, but everyone really likes him. Ross Maxwell, a writer, calls him "natural," and Ryan calls him a "sweet heart," not a "sweetheart," you feel?
Next is Lily, who Robert also says has grown throughout the competition. Lily has her Adele swag on tonight. You can't tell me those shots from behind don't make her look like everyone's favorite scorned lover. Anyway, Lily sounds good and looks great, and her acting is a lot better than Michael's little hand-wavy...whatever... Ian Brennan, co-creater of Glee, is intrigued by Lily, but picks up that she could be "cloying" or "hard to direct," certainly problems Lily had in the beginning of the competition.
Mini interlude with everyone looking like a dirty mess after the shoot, and Ali makes a funny joke. The end.
Then, we have Ali, who Ryan wasn't impressed by in the video, but the mentors come to her defense. Ali comments on the amount of people in the audience, hehe. Ali sounds amazing on this song, one of the writers even mouths "Wow!" and I have to agree. Ian says Ali might make a good bitch on the show, and I am INSTANTLY INTRIGUED.
Next is Blake, who Robert cannot stop praising. Of course, Blake sounds good, and he makes good use of the stage, and he's pretty dance-y (Cory Monteith comparisons be DAMNED!), and we know he's safe for the finale. The writers call him a star, but Ali Adler, a writer, wants to see his flaws.
Last is Aylin, and the writers are told of her background story, just to set the scene. Aylin sounds good, but improves as the song goes on. She's had better Last Chance performances, I think. Her last note sounds pretty great, though. Michael Hitchcock, a writer, says America is curious about Muslims, and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, another writer, says Aylin is unlike anything on the show already. That's why I think she's got a spot locked up.
The writers deliberate. Ian is excited about Blake, Lily, and Michael. Ali wants to write for Aylin. Michael, the writer, thinks Michael, the contestant, pops and likes Lily. Roberto was very impressed by Ali and says it really comes down to who can sing and act it the best, and he says Ali did that. This Roberto guy really knows his stuff, huh? Ross says Ali also kind of had a country vibe. Ryan ponders if the writers should pick a star or someone who will bring a new flavor to the show, and suggests doing more than one elimination. This, of course, was the same decision he faced last season, and he let everyone through with a win in the end. But the writers come to a decision, and the list is posted.
Everyone heads toward the list, their faces unreadable. The first safe contestant is Aylin! Seems like the writers really like the whole story and inspiration they give her. Michael is the first contestant not called back, followed by Lily. Blake and Ali make it through to the end. So, in the end, there is a double elimination, and I'm only a little surprised. I'm honestly not entirely surprised by Michael's elimination, but I thought Lily might sneak in there. But the final three are Ali, Aylin, and Blake! A very deserving top three, and I can say with total honesty that I would be okay with any of them winning. I could make a strong case for each of them. Going with my heart though, I think the writers see Blake as a star, but don't know exactly what to do with him on the scripted show, where as they know exactly what Aylin's character would be like, and they have a plethora of ideas for Ali (country girl, bitch, America's sweetheart, etc.). Last season, I thought they would go with the "star," Lindsey, but her and fellow diva, Alex, ended up getting the consolation prizes. So maybe the writers learned their lesson by picking the underdogs Samuel and Damian, and they'll go with the star this season, or they'll stick to their guns, especially since they know Ali and Aylin outshine last year's winners. This decision is so much harder than last year's. In the end, I have just the sneakiest suspicion that Ali will come out on top. My final rankings are...
1. Ali
2. Blake
3. Aylin
Is anyone else as excited about this finale as I am?! This season of The Glee Project has been so substantially better than last season, and I'm actually excited about the new season of Glee to see when the new winner will make their debut! Discuss this week's episode below, and let me know who you think is going to win this season of The Glee Project!
Evan
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