CHRIS Colfer
“Glee” has been going on for too many “glum” conflicts this season for our taste, so we’ve been watching it only occasionally.
However, we were glad that we caught its recent episode in which Chris Colfer and Lea Michele’s characters figured in a musical “duel,” with both of them essaying the moving song from “Les Miserables,” “Bring Him Home.”
The back story for the exciting musical mano-a-mano confrontation had it that Lea had become too much of a diva, excessively enamored of her “amazing” vocal gift. So, her best friend and soul mate decided that it was time for him to pop her overly inflated balloon by handily trouncing her in their music school’s “Midnight Madness” competition.
Lea’s many fans and devotees were sure that she would garner the most votes—but, what do you know? Chris gave such a moving rendition that he beat the pantyhose off her smug derriere!
Actually, it was the show’s viewers who romped off with a double victory, because they were treated to two superlative interpretations of the same song. More such showstopping musical “duels” on “Glee,” please!
As for its excessively glum progression this season, we understand where the production is coming from, as it shows its youths finally growing up and finally matriculating and learning tough lessons in the “university of life.” But, can you do it in slices rather than in spades, as was gloomily the case at the start of the ongoing season?
Last week’s musical duel was really the better way to go in this regard.
Talent tilts
LEA MICHELE
On the local music scene, all sorts of talent shows have announced their intentions, like the songwriting tilt, “Himig Handog,” with 12 finalists now being aired and telecast, to be voted on by the listening public.
We welcome this focus on original Filipino songs, and hope that it will successfully counteract the emphasis on revivals and foreign hits that has dampened local musical creativity for far too long.
Numerous talent searches have also been announced, like the new season of “Pilipinas Got Talent,” the first local edition of “The Voice,” and “Kanta Pilipinas,” with previously chosen finalists vying for the viewing public’s approval.
We caught part of that last show recently, and were bothered by its apparent emphasis on “emotional back story” elements like illness and such. Focus on exceptional performing talent, please.
As for the other talent searches, our discomfiture is over some of the people tapped to judge the tilts. Past experience shows that they can’t spot really exceptional talents and genuine stars of tomorrow, so changes should be in order.
In addition, the difficult task of mentoring and developing new talents shouldn’t be entrusted to relative youths who haven’t been all that perspicacious in honing their own performing abilities.
In our view, the proof of the pudding in talent tilts is their success in discovering and training actual stars who remain popular even after the talent searches that spawned them have been forgotten. If the output is less than exceptional, what’s the fuss and bother all about?!