Giddy, gifted hopefuls enliven ‘Glee Project’

Diverse young talents enthusiastically compete in the second season of reality contest “The Glee Project,” all vying for a multi-episode appearance on the hit drama-musical series “Glee.”

The initial season’s previous winners Damian McGinty and Samuel Larsen currently appear as new members of the underdog glee club New Directions, and have figured in a few subplots in the previous season. McGinty and Larsen play an Irish exchange student and a Christian transfer student, respectively.

“The Glee Project’s” second search gathered more visibly giddy and overeager contestants, as pointed out by one of the judges, choreographer Zach Woodlee. Most of them have their eyes on the prize, but some competitors who are uncertain of their reasons for competing, or fail to impress the judges (headed by both shows’ creator Ryan Murphy), are booted out in the weekly eliminations.

As always, the judges’ inputs on the young potential stars’ performances and attitudes enlighten, providing this new batch—and viewers—valuable insights on performing and professional behavior.

Vocal producer and judge Nikki Anders dispenses useful advice during the contestants’ recording sessions. But she also calls the attention of those who aren’t behaving properly, and deflates their egos quite elegantly!

Each episode’s bottom three contestants have to perform for Murphy and the judges, who send one of those hopefuls home weekly. Sadly, some really interesting and gifted singers are culled from the group, but their mistakes or shortcomings are often discussed with them during the deliberations.

Only three of the 14 participants are left. Only time will tell if more than one of the aspiring actor-performers will be deemed worthy of appearing on “Glee” again. The show already has a legion of characters, and screen time and singing parts have to be divided between all of them, plus guest actors.

But ultimately, “The Glee Project” reiterates that aside from singing ability, the winner also needs to have an underdog vibe, charm, consistency and tenacity. It’s a rare combination, and the competition is tight. It will be interesting to see which of these contestants Murphy will choose and write a role for, and how that new character will contribute to the vastly populated but still influential TV series.

(“The Glee Project” airs Wednesdays, 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.; and Saturdays, 8 p.m., on ETC.)

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