Top Ten Glee performances thus far

One of the most important parts to Glee becoming an overnight sensation are the musical performances on the show. In the spirit of year-end lists, I’ve put together my 10 favorite performances from the first half of the season. Once I realized that no one on the planet would agree with me, I reached out to the CliqueClack staff, our Live-Blog/Chat regulars, and, you know, people walking down the street, to help me with the list. What follows proves that many people have the same (or similar) top five, but vastly diverge after that.

10. “Push It” – I liked this song quite a bit, but not nearly as much as our very own Deb did, apparently: “I laughed, I cried, I peed my pants….”

9. “Bust a Move” – (“No, you Bust a Move, Old MC!”)  I never really understood why Kurt was so out of the song, and then suddenly dancing with everyone, but I don’t really care. I’m obviously a big fan of 90’s pop music, and I make no apologies for it.

8. “Proud Mary” – This has got to be 100% about the blocking right?  Frequent commenter Wolfpack Red said, “Despite this being my least favorite song ever, the Glee cast kinda made it work.”

7. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – I loved this number, though apparently not nearly as much as everyone else, so, I’ll lean on Deb once again: “I love everything about this: the vocals, the choreography, the spirit in which it was performed … just awesome.”

6. “Sweet Caroline” – @ITVeee says, ” It may actually be physically impossible not to ‘bah bah bah’ along with this song. Not only was it fantastic, but choosing to have it sung by Puck showed a whole new side to his character.”

5. “Maybe This Time” – A very Chicago-esque production, specifically how the performance started in reality, and then slowly slipped into a dreamlike duet between April and Rachel (forgive me if it’s a more specific Cabaret reference I don’t get), to which Julia replied, “From a Broadway nerd point of view: Lyrically this song made sense for Rachel. She feels like no one’s letting her win and if only she was allowed to, everyone would love her. Knowing the full context of the show, though, this song makes WAY more sense for April.”

4. “My Life Would Suck Without You” – One of my favorite Twitter friends (and Grey’s Anatomy fanatic) @Rissberries says, “Not sure if it was because I knew it was the last five minutes of Glee I’d have for a few months, if it was the cute dance moves taking us back through the series as a whole, or if it was that we finally got a Will/Emma kiss … but this song just hit the spot.”

3. “Rain on My Parade” – @ITVeee again, “The entrance, the pacing, the entire Glee club making a grand entrance down the isles, now that is how you do this song justice. Performance tactics aside, Rachel gets to sing a song that she has been working on since she was 4 years old and blow everyone around her away.”

2. “It’s My Life/Confessions Pt II” – I really wasn’t a big fan of this when it originally aired, because I like “It’s My Life” well enough that I would have liked to see it without the mash up treatment. I will gladly state that I was way wrong in my first impression. Sure, Finn is a bit kooky on the ‘Vitamin D’ but it works, right?

1. “Don’t Stop Believing” – The song that started it all still holds true. To me, it’s the number that defines the show on so many levels; the song, and the idea of six kids on stage, just singing and having fun. And any time you start with the most downloaded song in the history of iTunes, you’re in good shape.

My Top 10, in case you were wondering:

Honorable Mention: “Woodchopper’s Ball” (When Sue and Will danced)
10. “Push It”
9. “Ride Wit Me”
8. “Poison”
7. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
6. “Imagine”
5. “Bust a Move”
4. “Rain on My Parade”
3. “Lean On Me”
2.”Its My Life/Confessions Pt II”
1. “Don’t Stop Believing”

Clacked by Ivey West
on Dec 26, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT