My favorite Sectionals performance of New Directions was back in season 1, and this season’s Sectionals song choices weren’t exactly my favorite either (although their Jackson tribute was pretty fun). But “Hold on to Sixteen” pleasantly surprised me with its well written multi-plots, memorable character moments (I’m quickly but surely falling in love with Grant Gustin as Sebastian), and a couple musical gems that really were highlights of the entire episode, and possibly all of season 3.
“Red Solo Cup”
My sister and I were especially enthused to have Sam return to New Directions this episode. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed guitar-swinging Chord Overstreet’s voice until this episode, and “Red Solo Cup” was just the right song choice to kick off the “Sam is back” party (not sure if Bieber counts as country though – sorry, Sam). If you missed it, re-watch and be sure to catch the hilarious faces Kurt/Chris keeps making.
“Buenos Aires”
To quote Kurt, “It’s the Gerber Baby!”. It’s always a blast watching Lindsay Pearce (Harmony) perform, and ironically enough I thought the Unitards’ performance at Sectionals was the best (yes I know, I’m such a traitor). They may not have the best sounding name, but best sounding Sectionals performance. Hey, it’s not like it’s the worst show choir name out there (Aural Itensity, *cough*cough*).
“Survivor/I Will Survive”
It seems mash-ups are becoming the Troubletones’ signature show choir move, but there’s no complaining here because who doesn’t love mash-ups? With the exception of some amazing Brittana dancing thrown in there, the choreography was a little too messy for me personally – but then again, maybe the point was to showcase how awesome New Directions’ was. These were an excellent couple of song choices for a mash-up though, perfect for a Troubletones performance.
“ABC” / “Control” / “Man in the Mirror”
As a Sectionals performance, New Directions didn’t particularly impress me this season. But I did enjoy the Jackson theme, and the fact that every member of the club turned out on the same page in the end (including Quinn) made for a very uniform and dynamic performance overall. I didn’t necessarily care for the storyline with Rachel getting suspended, but the one good thing that came out of it for me was getting to see Tina’s/Jenna’s voice head up Sectionals on “ABC”. And with Mike! Harry Shum, Jr. has one heck of a voice for singing not being his forte.
“We Are Young”
My personal favorite of the episode, I felt this number surpassed all of the Sectionals performances combined. I kind of prefer it that way though, it very much reminds me of New Directions’ singing “My Life Would Suck Without You” to Will in season 1’s Sectionals episode. Not Sectionals quality per se, but memorable in its own right. Plus, it served as the clincher for reuniting Mercedes, Santana, and Brittany (and now Sugar too?) with the rest of the glee club. One of my favorites of the entire season.
Your ears itching to give these songs another listen? Head on over to Glee The Music to hear your favorites from episode 8 of season 3, “Hold On to Sixteen” again.
And a big thank-you to Wetpaint Entertainment for compiling all the performance videos in one place!
Image credit: Glee-France
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }