This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Conor Burke: We've got a mission to find the best song that's ever been on Glee.

[0:09] Andrew: There's no rhyme or reason to it, so don't get mad at me.

[0:18] Conor Burke: Gleek it by Gleek it, we'll rank everyone to see which song will move closer to spot number one.

[0:26] Andrew: Gleek of the Week, Gleek, Gleek, Gleek of the Week, it's Gleek, Gleek of the Week.

[0:35] Conor Burke: Andrew, what's going on?

[0:40] Andrew: Conor, why does it feel, I don't know whether this is your perception, but it feels like it's been millions of years since I've spoken to you in any way, shape, or form.

[0:44] Conor Burke: I know, when was the last time that you were on, do we know?

[0:46] Andrew: So I just checked right before the recording and it seems that my last episode was an episode with Emily, I believe, which was like seven episodes ago or something. I don't know, but it feels like forever.

[1:02] Conor Burke: Well, because you've been busy with another Gleek of the Week, your entire damn show.

[1:07] Andrew: Yes, we just finished. How'd that go?

[1:11] Conor Burke: It went absolutely brilliantly. We sold it out, we got very good reviews, the audience seemed receptive to it. We're hoping to maybe bring it to the UK or maybe to the US at some point for a short time. So it's all very exciting.

[1:23] Andrew: It's really, really exciting. And it was single-handedly the hardest thing I've ever done on stage in my life because it moves so quickly, even though it's just a silly comedy. But it just non-stop for 70 minutes, like it just does not stop.

[1:41] Conor Burke: Explain the entire show to people, because how long was it? What was it? All the things.

[1:49] Andrew: Okay, so it's the first semi-autobiographical thing I've ever written in my life. So I'm performing in it, I wrote it. It's about me as a 17-year-old who is closeted, who's not yet come out to his parents and finds comfort in Glee. That's the premise of it. But the show opens with me at my age now, moving out of my teenage bedroom. And then the rest of the show is kind of like a flashback to that time period.

[2:20] Conor Burke: And so the teenage section of the show, I tried to write like it was an episode of Glee, even though I did not come close to replicating the greatness of it.

[2:27] Andrew: But the reason it was so hard to perform was because I was talking at the rhythm and pace that Rachel Berry does talk at in the early seasons of Glee, in which she does not take a breath and she hardly misses a beat. And it's that for 70 minutes. So it was so fucking hard, but it was the best fun ever. It was really moving to see the audience's reactions at the end of the show. They were very emotionally engaged with it, which was lovely.

[3:02] Conor Burke: You wrote the entire thing?

[3:08] Andrew: Yeah. I was thinking about you guys. I was like, oh my God, if they were in the audience, I know that they would be like, not in a conceited way. I know they'd be sobbing. Do you know what I mean? Because it's just supposed to be us. But yeah, it's a little bit saccharine, a little bit fun, a little bit cheeky, tongue in cheek. I think it's funny. So we were delighted with it. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive.

[3:29] Conor Burke: I know, I saw the reviews.

[3:33] Andrew: Yeah. We got nominated for an award as well, which was great. So yeah, fucking delighted. I think maybe we'll bring it to Edinburgh, I think next year for the Fringe or perhaps London, definitely in the new year.

[3:46] Conor Burke: Wait, where did you? I thought it was just at Edinburgh.

[3:51] Andrew: It was Dublin Fringe.

[3:56] Conor Burke: Oh, okay. Got it.

[3:56] Andrew: So Dublin Fringe is actually, it's a great festival, but it's kind of misleading in the fact that if you say Fringe, that seems like it's really open-ended and it's a highly curated arts festival. And there's been some people being like, this should not be called a Fringe festival because it's so curated. Whereas if you look at Edinburgh Fringe, which is the largest Fringe festival in the world, I mean, there's literally thousands of shows. It's like choose your character kind of thing.

[4:26] Conor Burke: Like in Edinburgh, there's shows everywhere. There's shows in broom cupboards. It's bizarre in the best way possible. Dublin Fringe is a bit more curated. And I think I was talking to you about the application process to get it in. I think it's like 40 pages long. It's insane. So yeah, we're delighted that we did it. Do you know what I mean?

[4:49] Andrew: We got it recorded actually in the last night professionally as well. So it should be getting done in the next few days.

[4:53] Conor Burke: Wait, what do you plan on doing with it?

[4:58] Andrew: It's mostly for funding purposes. And there's been some friends who couldn't make it who were like, send me the recording, which I also love. But it also detracts from if they can potentially see it live. That's obviously.

[5:07] Conor Burke: Oh, yeah. As much as I want to be like, send me the recording. I know that I would much rather see it in person. So I want to save that.

[5:18] Andrew: Yeah. And then we had this great opportunity. We had a great thing where the last day of the festival, every programmed artist was invited to this thing called Information Toolbox, in which they invite loads of arts and theatre people from Ireland, the UK and the States to Dublin. And you basically sit across the table from them and you talk about your show. And the Irish Arts Centre from Manhattan were there. And obviously their entire shtick is that they program Irish artists all year round in New York. And they were like immensely interested in the show, because obviously I'm an Irish artist, but there was the American link. The show is about an Irish teenager being comforted by an American piece of Irish TV show. So they loved that aspect of it. So it's very exciting.

[6:09] Conor Burke: So you just don't know which way the pendulum will swing. But I think you'll I know and I know you'll see it one day. I know you will.

[6:16] Andrew: Yeah. But I'm delighted with it. And by the way, can I just say just now that we're talking about other Glee adjacent things, we haven't actually talked about this fully, but I've meant to message you. I am this close to booking to go to Paris for that Glee convention.

[6:32] Conor Burke: Oh, mama.

[6:45] Andrew: Here's my thing. Because GleekCon.

[6:54] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[6:54] Andrew: I maybe I'm just like, maybe people will be like rolling their eyes, whatever. I need to moderate a panel there. Like, seriously, I think that like I must know someone who knows someone who knows someone.

[7:00] Conor Burke: Well, I've already put it into Kevin's ear that I'm like, hi, like it when because I'm assuming I've never have you been to a convention like that?

[7:13] Andrew: I've never been to a fan convention ever.

[7:13] Conor Burke: No.

[7:13] Andrew: Yeah.

[7:13] Conor Burke: I would assume that they would have some sort of panel. I'm assuming that it's not just like photo opportunities and autographs and all that. So I'm like, I have already put it into Kevin's ear that I'm like, hi, when you need a moderator. And he was like, OK, I'll see what I can do. So I'm just like, I really would like that for myself. But I don't want to, you know, I don't want to put too many eggs in one basket, whatever.

[7:42] Andrew: Well, you know me. I'm all about the manifestation. You know, you have to put it out there. If you don't ask, you don't get.

[7:46] Conor Burke: So, yeah, you know, I love Paris. So that would be that would be doubly.

[7:51] Andrew: It was Jenna that clinched it for me.

[7:56] Conor Burke: Oh, yeah.

[7:56] Andrew: It was Jenna that clinched it for me, because obviously they'd announced Amber and Kevin and obviously icons love them all. And then there was like Jaka, Jaka, Becca and Jacob were Jaka.

[8:08] Conor Burke: Yeah, Jaka famously.

[8:12] Andrew: But I don't know. There was something about just seeing Jenna's headshot up there. I was like, I need to go. I was like, I need to fuck with like, well, I just like I need I need to meet this girl in person.

[8:18] Conor Burke: I need to see.

[8:26] Andrew: Wild that you haven't. But she doesn't leave her home, which is just lovely. Like she just is.

[8:32] Conor Burke: Well, she's gone. She's gone to damn Paris, though.

[8:39] Andrew: I am. Yeah, you need to go. We need to go. It's I think it's iconic.

[8:46] Conor Burke: I just got back from a trip. So I like almost like two weeks. I literally landed this morning.

[8:53] Andrew: So I feel like crazy vibes right now. So excuse me if if if someone if people are listening and they're like, what the hell is Andrew on today? I'm major sleepy vibes. And so don't take it personally.

[9:06] Conor Burke: Are you just Oh, you were in Hawaii.

[9:12] Andrew: I was in Hawaii. Well, and then before that, I was Allison's Bachelorette in Wisconsin. So I went from Wisconsin to Hawaii because my sister just had a baby. And so congratulations to both your sister and Allison.

[9:21] Conor Burke: Yeah, exactly. The two the two women in my life. And so I'm just like, crazy. But I like I've been I don't even know how I'm like, awake and talking right now. But um, I would obviously love to go to Paris Glee Con.

[9:36] Conor Burke: I've commented on like the jig up artists posts. And I was like, I really want Lauren Potter to go advocating for our girl. I think it would be iconic if she pulled up.

[9:50] Andrew: Obviously, I think that Josh Sussman is is a canon event for this.

[9:55] Conor Burke: Is Max Adler confirmed?

[9:58] Andrew: Max Adler is not confirmed. But I think that that's kind of like, this is like, why? Why is this like randomly like happening? And like, like, I don't it just like feels like weird timing. But like, like so many people like I'm surprised that like, Amber's going, you know?

[10:14] Conor Burke: So am I because I know that they've done big conventions before. Like I think they literally just did one for Desperate Housewives.

[10:19] Andrew: And I swear that...

[10:22] Conor Burke: Desperate Con.

[10:23] Andrew: Desperate Con. Iconic. You just add con onto it.

[10:32] Conor Burke: Like, and I swear they had Marcia Cross for that, like who was one of the lead actors in it. So yeah, I know it's a legit thing, because obviously the actors themselves post about it and stuff, but it's like a it seems like a really big deal. And it's like, it's kind of random that's in Paris.

[10:45] Andrew: Yeah.

[10:46] Conor Burke: Is that random to you? That's really random to me.

[10:50] Andrew: They're trying to get me to go because I, I love, I love me some Paris. I literally...

[10:55] Conor Burke: They did that for you. They did that for you.

[10:58] Andrew: Hey, we're having a Glee convention in Paris.

[11:03] Conor Burke: They're just in front of a map. They're like in...

[11:07] Andrew: Paris.

[11:09] Conor Burke: Just random as hell.

[11:12] Andrew: Did you see the Anne Brannan interview?

[11:14] Conor Burke: I did see the Anne Brannan interview. Of course, you're talking about,

[11:18] Andrew: that he was asked about the Glee booth and he said, he said, watch this space. I would follow Lea Michele and Ryan Murphy like into the dark, essentially.

[11:26] Conor Burke: Which is, I wouldn't.

[11:32] Andrew: I wouldn't follow those two into the dark at all.

[11:33] Conor Burke: I really just love that visual though. Just like Ryan Murphy and Lea Michele kind of just like, kind of like, what is this gesturing? They're gesturing me into the dark. I really love that.

[11:48] Andrew: But Anne Brannan is secret sauce. You know what I mean?

[11:52] Conor Burke: Oh, he is. Anne Brannan's the star.

[11:55] Andrew: I feel like we all, true Gleeks know that. Anne Brannan is the star.

[12:00] Conor Burke: Well, also, I don't know if like, do you remember that Dumas posted not too long ago, like that, the reboots happening and it's like happening at NYADA. Do you remember that?

[12:10] Andrew: Yes. And do you remember around a year ago, unrelated to that, there was that the reboot was happening with Neil Patrick Harris?

[12:20] Conor Burke: Oh, I don't remember that.

[12:22] Andrew: That was also from Dumas. But I did see that thing about NYADA.

[12:25] Conor Burke: Wait, like.

[12:26] Andrew: Also.

[12:26] Conor Burke: Like Neil Patrick Harris is reprising Brian Ryan.

[12:29] Andrew: No, he's like, no, not Neil Patrick Harris. I'm sorry, Hugh Jackman.

[12:34] Conor Burke: Oh, I do remember that.

[12:36] Andrew: Yeah.

[12:36] Conor Burke: I mean, everyone's like, come on, that was seriously a dud. But I don't know, this NYADA thing gives me hope. But then.

[12:42] Andrew: I don't like the NYADA of it all. I don't. I think that having it take place at NYADA is like kind of like destroys, not destroys, destroy is like such a heavy word, but just like kind of takes the glee out of Glee because I think that NYADA is like so singularly focused on performing arts, that Glee within itself is like gathering up all these different groups of people. And NYADA is just like streamlined.

[13:10] Conor Burke: Yeah. Jake is saying the chat glee is about high school glee clubs. It's not. I think that having it take place at NYADA, I'm like, I'm going to get the same character over and over and over.

[13:24] Andrew: Why can't it be at NYADA and about the Adam's apples then?

[13:29] Conor Burke: We need you. We want you.

[13:34] Andrew: Question. Are you aware of, I'm sure you are, are you aware of Matthew Morrison's 9/11 story?

[13:46] Conor Burke: Oh, of course. Yes.

[13:48] Andrew: We all are.

[13:49] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[13:50] Andrew: Did you see Chrishell from Selling Sunset what she posted on her Instagram story?

[13:56] Conor Burke: No. What did she say?

[13:57] Andrew: Oh God, this is so messy. On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, she posted something like she posted something about the attacks and obviously, you know, rest in peace to all the victims and all that. And the next slide, she said, whenever this day comes around and I'm obviously.

[14:14] Conor Burke: Whenever this day comes around, I can't help but think of an ex of mine who had an incredibly fabricated, some may say completely delusional story about what happened to him at 9/11. He says that he walks in on his Broadway babe ex having an affair when everyone around him knows. And it's obviously true. I can't believe you missed this.

[14:42] Tyler: Wait, so is Crichel saying that she's the woman in this story?

[14:46] Conor Burke: No, Crichel is saying that she's not the woman in the story. That the woman in the story is a Broadway dancer that Matthew Morrison is with. But she basically says in the thing that, yes, sorry, so it was actually when we've got Trump to thank for this, because Trump was obviously lying about 9/11. Didn't he say he was at Ground Zero or something? I can't remember.

[15:15] Tyler: Yeah, he said that he was taken out of the buildings. Yeah.

[15:18] Conor Burke: Sorry, I should be laughing, but that is such a funny image. Anyway, okay, so she posted the headline that says, Trump crashes out over fact checks of his outlandish 9/11 lie. Quote, story time because today's headlines remind me of an ex who always told an outlandish 9/11 story about having to come home early because of the attacks and walking in on his beautiful Broadway girlfriend cheating on him, informing the busy duo that they should turn on the news. He told this to anyone who would listen, and I much later found out it was all a lie. Trying to center yourself in a tragedy like 9/11 is repulsive. You will catch liars in small lies at first, but they seem somewhat silly or harmless, don't ignore, with the red flag emoji.

[16:03] Tyler: Well, I hate to sound like kind of like ahead of the curve, but like, maybe you agree. What is coming?

[16:11] Conor Burke: The second that I heard that Matthew Morrison 9/11 story, I'm like, there's no way that fucking happened, right? Like, it was like, no, it was just so, like, obviously, it's rehearsed, because he's like, doing at his show, but like, the way that he's like, doing the, the thing that he loses me, this is it, this is where he loses me in that story, is that you expect me, because the story goes is that like, he's trying, he's like, racing to get home to his beautiful, his beautiful girlfriend. And then just like, he does the miming of like, get the elevator door, wait for it to close, open the door, da da da da da. And then like, like, tilts his head into the doorway. And then sees another man.

And then he says, and this, maybe he's taking some liberties, which also, yeah, feels like fucked up to be taking liberties, like, whatever. But like, saying, you should probably turn on the TV and like, look at the news. There's no way that like, this has been happening for hours that the greatest terrorist attack in, in modern history, like, ever. The greatest terrorism. See, this is me, this is me, jet lag. That like, there's no way that these two people have just been like, yeah, fiddling with each other in bed and not like, they don't know what's happening.

[17:38] Tyler: Fiddling with each other at 9/11.

[17:44] Conor Burke: I'm like, you're, you know what's happening. You live in New York. I don't know.

[17:53] Tyler: No, I see your point. I just didn't think about it. But when I saw that the other day, I was like, oh my god. I was like, this is messy boots. And then I was thinking, will he take it out of the show? But I don't think he will. Because it's so funny, because all those TikTok, the famous TikTok videos of Matthew performing that show, everyone's always focused on him. They're like, look how funny this is. Look, he's so funny on stage. He's embarrassing himself. This is cringe. Which is fair enough. But the funniest thing, the funniest thing about those TikToks are the people who are recording them. Because when he tells that 9/11 story, he wants, he wants it to be shot to stunned silence. But you hear some girl in the back go, no, it's, it's insane. He is an enigma. Sometimes I forget that he's part of this show, because we don't actually talk about him that often. Like, it's crazy.

[18:55] Conor Burke: Have you tried to get him on this before?

[18:58] Tyler: Yeah, I was close one time when he was promoting a Lifetime movie. And I was like, hi, and like, I was like, really close to getting him, but I didn't get him, obviously. But there will come a day where I talk to that, because like, I knew, I do want to talk to that man. I do have like, weird, like sympathy for him. Not weird. It makes sense. And I'm sure that you do as well. That like, it's-

[19:20] Conor Burke: Oh, so do I, totally.

[19:23] Tyler: It's like, really bizarre. But like, he is like, I just like, really want to understand him personally.

[19:30] Conor Burke: I would argue that he actually gets sort of like, abused. And I think it's mean and bullying. And I think-

[19:37] Tyler: Yeah, but he's like, leaning into it.

[19:39] Conor Burke: Yeah, he is leaning into it. I mean, he must make a fucking fortune on Cameo. Because my friend Oscar got a Cameo for his birthday from him. And it was like, 300 euro, 400 euro, and everyone like, chipped in to get us. Like, he must be making serious bank. Because remember, I was actually honest.

[19:59] Tyler: It's him and Nikki Blonsky that are, that's the king and queen.

[20:02] Conor Burke: Him and Nikki Blonsky. Sorry, V.

[20:07] Tyler: Sorry, V. Wait, I want to ask you your grievances. But now that we're talking about that Wendy Williams interview, I've been wanting to tell you about my, I wanted to tell you about my latest vocal stim from the interview.

[20:21] Conor Burke: Is, and I feel like people aren't talking about this part of the interview.

[20:25] Tyler: You want the truth? That's the truth!

[20:27] Conor Burke: Love that. I love it. You want the truth? That's the truth. It's so good.

[20:35] Tyler: Oh, Nikki and Wendy. What is your favorite part of that?

[20:38] Conor Burke: That's gay Halloween costume right there. Nikki Blonsky and Wendy Williams. That's a gay Halloween costume.

[20:45] Tyler: What's your favorite quote from that?

[20:49] Conor Burke: When she's like, I'm paraphrasing, I know him. I love him.

[20:57] Tyler: No, it's, I know him real well. I love him real well.

[21:03] Conor Burke: And then Wendy retorts with, you're a good funny girl.

[21:11] Tyler: I've been like waiting to use you're a good funny girl as like, just like showing Lea Michele on stage and being like, you're a good funny girl.

[21:21] Conor Burke: Oh my God, I'm going to be iconic.

[21:28] Tyler: Grievances. Is that what we're talking about? Okay.

[21:31] Conor Burke: That's what we're talking about.

[21:33] Tyler: Grievances. Okay. So you know me, like teacher check-in, checking your test.

[21:41] Conor Burke: Okay. Let me just look, this is going to be a lot of shit for people.

[21:45] Tyler: Are you going to do the thing where you go competition by competition?

[21:48] Conor Burke: Yeah, but I always fly through that. You always think it takes a long time.

[21:51] Tyler: It takes like literally three minutes. Like, okay, let's go. Let's go.

[21:56] Conor Burke: Teenage Dream season four versus Dancing Queen.

[22:00] Tyler: Dancing Queen went through, I would have voted Teenage Dream season four through.

[22:04] Conor Burke: I remember, do you know what my core memory of Dancing Queen is? So, so at this point in season two episodes aired in the US on Tuesdays, was it? Was it a Tuesday night?

[22:15] Tyler: Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

[22:16] Conor Burke: Okay. So because of the time difference in Ireland, at least we got them on Wednesday, every Wednesday.

[22:22] Tyler: And I love you saying that. I'm so sorry to interrupt. I love you saying it's only going to take three minutes. You're only on competition one and you're like, you're talking about time zones now. Okay, go ahead.

[22:35] Conor Burke: But at the end of the episode, it obviously ends with Dancing Queen and then the theme tune. And then the voiceover, the voiceover guy goes, and that is this, he starts it off with, and that was this week's episode of Glee. It's never quite as good as the original as it. And I was like, oh my God, clocked the T, so aggrieved. He's talking about Dancing Queen. Dancing Queen is not a good cover.

[23:06] Tyler: It's really not. No, it is.

[23:07] Conor Burke: No, it's not.

[23:09] Tyler: We always talk about it, but the, you can, you can dance, you can jive.

[23:15] Conor Burke: I'll give it to vocal riffs. Is that offensive, the way that I'm doing that? I don't know.

[23:20] Tyler: No, it sounds uncanny. Let me know in the comments. Okay, thank you.

[23:23] Conor Burke: You've already said fiddling with each other in reference to 9/11.

[23:26] Tyler: Fiddling with each other during the greatest terrorist attack.

[23:30] Conor Burke: My personal favourite. Don't Rain on My Parade versus Don't You Want Me Baby. Yeah, that's fine.

[23:36] Tyler: Not here yet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, the blaming on the alcohol thing is just mental illness.

[23:44] Conor Burke: I'm so sorry. I'm not going to go into it.

[23:45] Tyler: It is mental illness. Now, Ian did make a good point that he was like, look, there, I love Like a Prayer, but there's around 25 other songs that do the exact same thing, which I get, but I also don't think that that's a great metric. It's just like, Like a Prayer is fucking iconic. Like, it's just amazing.

[24:07] Conor Burke: Halo Walking on Sunshine, Not Going Home.

[24:11] Tyler: Halo Walking on Sunshine, Not Going Through.

[24:13] Conor Burke: That's sorry, Not Going Through, I mean.

[24:16] Tyler: Yeah.

[24:17] Conor Burke: Weird. And that's it, really. That is it. I can't remember the discourse around that. Like, I know everyone loves I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You, but like, Halo Walking on Sunshine is so singular. It put mashups on the map. Like, gleeks for dummies can recognize it. Like, it was before Halo Walking on Sunshine, after Halo Walking on Sunshine. And I just love her. And I think that that's a real shame. And Calloway, do you have the chat open by any chance, Connor? Because Calloway's here in the chat right now, and she's saying, sue me, Connor.

[25:00] Conor Burke: This is so weird, but I'm going to forget. I forgot that this was a live episode.

[25:05] Tyler: Oh my god, it's so embarrassing.

[25:07] Conor Burke: Suddenly remembering. Hi, guys.

[25:12] Tyler: Me talking about the greatest terrorist attack yet.

[25:15] Conor Burke: Okay. Because usually we just edit all that shit.

[25:21] Tyler: I keep on bringing it back up. It's going to be impossible to edit out now.

[25:24] Conor Burke: Um, okay. But I think that, I think in the conversation around I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You versus Halo Walking on Sunshine. Do you not care about scenes? Like, the fact that, like, there's that, it's a beautiful scene that's happening. That, like, there's, there's so many, so many things that are happening.

[25:43] Tyler: This is about finding the best song on Glee. Not the best scene.

[25:46] Conor Burke: Yes! I love the way you as the host, a million episodes in, are asking that. It's a clarifying question.

[25:55] Tyler: Wait, so, just to be clear, we're not looking for the best scene on Glee? Oh, okay.

[26:00] Conor Burke: We're not looking for the best scene on Glee, unfortunately. And can I just say, as someone who's famously not a Blaine fan, I have been remarkably kind to Blolos, actually. There's, I've, I think I've, on record, I have actually voted many of them through. And I love I'm not going to teach your boyfriend how to dance with you. Let's put that on record.

[26:18] Tyler: Let's put that on record.

[26:20] Conor Burke: But it's just like, I don't know, it's sort of egregious that Halo Walking on Sunshine is gone as a result. Now, look, it's not a grievance as defined by Callaway a couple of episodes ago. Like, I'm not going to be pulling my hair out about it. I'm not going to lose sleep over it. So, I suppose it's a grievance light or, dare I say, grievance adjacent, perhaps, you know. But yeah, just something to ponder. And how did the Instagram Gleeks vote on that? I presume they voted for Halo Walking on Sunshine in their bucket loads. Um, Halo Walking on Sunshine. Oh, this is close. Halo Walking on Sunshine, 55%. I'm not going to teach your boyfriend, uh, 45. Okay, that's actually closer than I thought it was. I'm not going to lie. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's all I have to say about my grievances. But who knows what will happen today, to be quite honest with you.

[27:12] Tyler: I don't even know what I'm projecting. Yeah, what do you want? You don't know?

[27:18] Conor Burke: I want something tough. I've never had a tough competition on this podcast.

[27:23] Tyler: You just be saying shit. I think that you have.

[27:28] Conor Burke: Wait, what competition?

[27:28] Tyler: I, I don't not, I can't think of anything right now because I'm jet lagged as hell right now. But like, I know that you've had one.

[27:34] Conor Burke: Okay. Well, I'm sure someone will look it up. Someone will be like, actually, Connor, you had a you had several very hard competitions. Um, okay, let's bring in Tyler. Hey, Tyler.

[27:42] Tyler: Hey, how's it going?

[27:57] Conor Burke: Hey, Tyler. Listen, it's been so long that like, I've been aware that you listen to this podcast. I think that we attended the same Lea Michele concert and you didn't say anything to me. So yeah, me and my husband have anxiety about leaving our dog home alone for too long. So as soon as that concert was done, we were like, we gotta, we gotta be like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But oh my god, that show was so good.

[28:18] Conor Burke: Yeah. Talk to us. Talk to us about this Lea Michele concert. Which show was this?

[28:23] Tyler: It was in New Jersey, right? It was in New Jersey. Yeah.

[28:29] Tyler: She because she wasn't doing she wasn't doing it was so weird like she wasn't doing a New York show that it was like everybody needed to kind of like haul ass to North Jersey yeah yeah um and I've recorded uh she's saying on my own and I like whenever I go to a concert like I record like a song and post it to TikTok just to like see how the numbers do compared to other artists Lea Michele by far has the highest view count of any like concert video performance that I've like posted on TikTok I remember being so like frustrated that like when she started that tour she started with singing like the first like couple dates like she did Jar of Hearts but then she removed it from the set list a few a few dates in I'm like girl I would have loved to hear Jar of Hearts live yeah I'm not crazy about that one but I do wish she sang the only exception like you have really changed my mind about that song like I didn't really think twice about that cover until I started listening to this podcast so thank you for opening my eyes to how good that's all I'm doing my part um yes Tyler you gotta talk about Glockett grievances specifically this is your first Glockett appearance um what do you have to say yes um well I do want to start by saying I am a legit Gleek of the Week I was picked uh by Ryan Murphy I think it was for um the the promo for Tested 517 I believe is the episode number yeah at the end of the like promo for that like you know it always says like and congrats to our Gleek of the Week uh they picked me for that week and so I am officially a Gleek of the Week.

[30:11] Conor Burke: I love that I love you're in the presence of royalty here honestly I like I'm not is is Tyler the first person on an episode of this podcast who has previously been a Gleek of the Week officially I think that you might be and I love you saying you were hand selected by Ryan Murphy because you know that he was he was the one he was the one deciding that yeah he did tweet like he sent like like a tweet like and posted like congrats like at two lions like you are the Gleek of the Week and like my little like stupid like profile picture that's okay the way that would be framed on my wall that's so fucking iconic right wait why did you I I should know the answer to this but I don't um what do you need to do to be like the like at the end of the episode like what did you need to be doing yeah I think there was like a form on like fox.com to fill out like and it just asks like what does Glee mean to you and like what's like your twitter handle so I just wrote like um uh like Santana meant so much to me like as somebody who's like coming out like the same time like her story her coming out journey like meant the world to me um and I love Brittany and Santana um yeah and like I think I didn't write like too much or anything I didn't expect to get picked and I also like they didn't like notify me that they were picking me either like I just like got like a bunch of like twitter notifications like at that moment that's so funny so I just like checked it and it was like there so the image of him personally hand picking you is so fucking funny to me right yeah I need to find this tweet I think it's sweet um wait so literally in the presence of royalty right now um so I'm curious to hear grievances.

[32:04] Tyler: Yeah so um nothing nothing like too recent like I have two from round two if that's okay yeah to talk about um so the first one is um brave versus girl on fire I just feel like we just like threw girl on fire in the trash like very quickly without any discussion or forethought about okay just how good of a Santolo that is I like I I think Andrew you were saying like it was like really popular on the radio at that time so like um it was just kind of like a generic solo for for them to pick for Santana but I totally disagree like I thought it was such a good moment for that character where she's finally like accepting that she is a star she's worthy of going to New York she's capable of doing this like her friends are like it was the first time she was really like believing in herself as a full-grown like adult with talent and agency and leaving her like McKinley behind like leaving Brittany behind and really choosing herself for the first time um and that was like my I moved to New York like that same week to like pursue like my dream like here in New York City as well so it was a very like cool full circle moment for me that just told me that like did you listen to the song as you were ascending the steps of the subway that's what I did yeah and I had like a beret as well yeah yeah no but I don't know if you're joking or not because like me and Allison like literally the the summer that we met each other um every time that we would exit the subway we would that would that would be the song that we were saying as we're yeah climbing up the steps it's girl on fire that's like when I moved when I moved to London and every time I would fly from Dublin to London which is quite literally like a 30-minute flight as we would land I would blast I would blast out London Bridge by Fergie it all comes back to London Bridge by Fergie um wait you're selling me on girl on fire I yeah I do you have to be sold on girl on fire I love girl on fire I think that like as you're like reminding me of like what I said about like yeah it was like a really popular song it didn't like I guess like my opinion is that it didn't add on to the song like it didn't really do anything they didn't like gleify it whereas like with brave I feel like they did like a uh interesting arrangement um but girl on fire I think I understand what you're saying about like the storyline I'm just like not crazy about the arrangement the way they did the song still yeah I guess I just love like the the context like around like yeah yeah yeah yeah even her like exhale like before she starts singing that song I think it's such a good like character beat of like you know the jig is up like I need to start like looking out for myself in this world yeah and believing in myself and I think I was probably like still like frustrated about like Britannia like officially breaking up in that episode that was like bad taste my mouth with girl on fire maybe yeah yeah yeah but wait what's the other competition from round two.

[35:11] Tyler: Uh so the other one is and I know this like just went through again so I'm like here we go again but uh summer nights versus my love is your love like I freaking love my love I think that was my top played glee song on my apple replay last year um I'm obsessed with that cover I think it is so good and again like the the context surrounding that song is so good because I was in show choir in high school as well and just those last few rehearsals before everybody was graduating and going their own separate ways was such a special time that all of us were all trying to really hold on to and I just love that scene of like hurt and blame like saying like you know glee club was canceled like but you know maybe we should still go because like how much more time do we have left and then like Rachel and Santana have that like really good like sweet scene like right before too um but there's just so many good like cute little character moments in that song we get like Mercedes and Artie's like starting the song together which we don't really get too often right um and Andrew you said like you had some notes about my man being like you know maybe this is not the best solo because it's just kind of like replicating uh like what what the original did not anything not adding anything like original to it or anything yeah but how can we say that and then push summer nights through once again it's literally the same exact thing very copy and paste I think that's yeah wait Conor you go ahead.

[36:29] Conor Burke: I just think that summer nights is a bad cover again I think I talked yeah I thought I talked about my grievance with having summer nights being sent through over my love is your love back in the day as well but I think I think I talked to Ian about this and I might be wrong I think there was some switching of like vocals or something or they have they're giving different lines and it just does not obviously amber and court are great singers but it's like I don't know it just does not land well I don't like to listen to it as an mp3 I was shook at the time that my love is your love did not go through quite frankly and I'm not having it so yeah I am surprised that summer nights is still around I think that what always gets me with summer nights when I when I see like as we're pulling the song that I'm like oh it's summer nights it's not that it's not that great but then when I'm watching it I think it's really I think it's sweet Ryan Murphy I think it's sweet um but like it the the ending of like I love their two their big heads at the end I think it's so cute and I just think that it's just like Mercedes is just being so cute in this performance I don't think that it's like I think it kind of like skirted by and yeah it took out some big songs along the way wait what did it recently take out um wasn't it just in like the last episode yeah I think the Glock it is updated um I was literally just listening to it but my yeah yeah yeah yeah so terrible Christmas wrapping it took a Christmas wrapping I would have still voted for Christmas I would have voted for Christmas personally yeah I know it's very contentious but I don't care yeah um more recent uh competitions what what do you have grievance wise Tyler I don't really have too much I am happy to see that my man uh went through I just feel like for some reason on this pod like it's always on the chopping block for some reason yeah like not rightfully so in my opinion so I'm happy to see that it's safe until like the next round thankfully um I just get so moved emotionally every time I hear that right is that the winner of your Glockos I don't think so I was just thinking about that today because I figured it would be asked and I was listening to the playlist of the remaining songs here in round four yeah and I know everybody talks about like somebody to love maybe being like the the winner of the Glock and if that's the the end of this thing I totally accept that but um keep holding on is such a special beautiful emotional number it's shot so well like it is that early season one where like everybody's outfits are like very casually representative of like your characters um and just that like crying from like Quinn at the end of the number is really like emotional as well um it's it's so good like I just I love it we're not seeing eye to eye Tyler because like I for whatever reason sorry Andrew no you're fine you're fine um keep holding on for whatever reason has never broke through for me I don't know what it is I really want to I know I don't think so I it's just like I want to be sold on it I want that to be clear I like desperately want to understand it for some reason I feel like it's like I think like cheesy no I don't think so I don't think so no I think it's like the right amount of cheese it's the right amount of cheese Connor what do you think yeah yeah like isn't like every glaze sound cheesy to some extent there's something about it I don't know I have a feeling that we're gonna get it today but even the choreography is like so good too yeah yeah so good um obviously Tyler was talking about Diana's face action at the end when the camera zooms right up to her yeah yeah absolutely um one I guess like one lack of grievance from this round uh since you asked is I would have put through borderline open your heart over proud mary oh really yeah that was close yeah that that that's an example of a group number that's a little too cheesy uh you think so yeah I think so like I think it's I if it were cut this round I think that's a very appropriate place for that group number to end uh and borderline open your heart like that is such a good finchel duet and such a great mashup yeah such a great episode like it's just we're like 10 out of 10 like firing on all cylinders for that song yeah uh bummed to see that one is done yeah um what do you want to see in your competition today uh just some good naya rivera moments like I whenever Santana is on the screen even if she's like in the background of like the group number like my eyes are just like focused on her I just love her so much so any kind of Santolo or like a Santana feature is is good maybe homeward bound boom you see what this is oh yes this is you know what it is it is someday we'll be together here we go um can I start with a really inappropriate thing I think I know what you're gonna say but go ahead there are certain and this is coming from someone that has a filling in their mouth there are certain songs where you can so clearly see Amber Riley's filling yeah um and this is one of them and I think it's real I it's not it's not a it's not a dig at Mercedes or Amber or anything or the performance because I think it makes it authentic I was about to say about the filling like I know this sounds funny but like I really respect the fact that she could literally just get a white filling do you know what I mean yeah just get and she just didn't bother no she's like I don't care I'm a Hollywood actress now I'm gonna keep my fucking filling the gray keep my filling yeah I'm gonna good for her and you're gonna be able to sing it and and you're and you're kind of known for opening of your mouth really what like people are gonna that's what you're famous for that's kind of like your big thing so people are gonna see this and I think it's really brave and authentic and so funny that you say that because my literal last note here says tooth filling the tooth filling yeah um I'm trying to think I I really want to know

[42:44] Conor Burke: Leave in the comments below where else you can see Amber Riley's filling. There's numerous places. I think, is it, is it, um, it's early season one.

[42:57] Tyler: Oh, is it, you can say, is it Somebody to Love maybe you can see it? Can you see her, her filling in Somebody to Love? There's somewhere, and I actually think, I'm so obsessed with Amber's tooth filling, I actually think that she had maybe two or three more that she's since got covered up by the end of season six. No, I swear. Jump. Eduardo says she opens really wide for jump.

[43:21] Conor Burke: Okay. Okay. Filling aside, Tyler, unless you have anything to add to the filling discourse, do you have anything to say about fillings?

[43:29] Tyler: I don't have anything to say about fillings. Maybe on the next rewatch, I'll be on Mercedes filling watch. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't know this song doesn't do it for me. I'm so sorry.

[43:43] Conor Burke: Wait, I'm so sorry. I'm thinking about I have one more thing to say about fillings.

[43:48] Tyler: Yeah, yeah, yeah, please.

[43:50] Conor Burke: Mercedes dad is canonically a dentist.

[43:54] Tyler: Yeah.

[43:54] Conor Burke: And it's so it's all coming together right now. Okay. Anyway, okay, wait, so this song doesn't do anything for you.

[44:01] Tyler: Yeah, I don't know. Like, I feel like this is kind of it's this is the last mer solo in the series finale, right? Like, doesn't she say right before the song starts, like, I'm gonna sing this song, and then I'm gonna walk off the stage and like, yeah, like, that's, we're not gonna say another thing to each other. And that's it.

[44:19] Conor Burke: Yeah, and yeah, if that, like, if my friend, like, did that, and saying, just kind of like a mid song like this, and walked out, I'd be like, all right.

[44:28] Tyler: Conor, we're fighting because like, I'm sorry, the thing that I wrote down about the song is I'm, I'm frankly surprised that it made the made it this far. I don't think that I'm sure it doesn't have a lot of shooters, but I am one of them. I think that it's a beautiful song. I think it's like such like a interesting choice, too, because I didn't, I wasn't aware of the Supreme song when, like the episode aired. And so like, I remember like, when they like announced like the the song list for the series finale, and being like, Oh, what's this? And I was like, this is like, really? What a what a great choice. I really like it. And I just think that like, every time it comes up on shuffle, I'm listening it to it through. I just like I really think it's a beautiful song. I really like I think it's really, really good.

[45:22] Conor Burke: But Connor, you you don't like it either.

[45:27] Tyler: This is like the fourth time I've listened to this song in my life, to be quite honest.

[45:34] Conor Burke: Oh, really? Yeah. And now I do have to say, bonus points for the opening that that kind of gets me going. Do we have anything in the written text, which referencing whether Amber Riley or any other cast member other than Lea Michele got a say in what their final song would be? Because I just feel like if she was consulted, she wouldn't pick this.

[45:54] Tyler: You don't think that you would pick?

[45:57] Conor Burke: I don't? Well, I don't know. What do you think that Amber Riley would be picking?

[46:00] Tyler: I don't know. But I just it does. I don't know if you agree, Tyler. It doesn't scream that she picked this song for herself to sing as her last solo.

[46:05] Tyler: Yeah, I feel like this this whole scene feels very like put together very quickly and like, yada yada through.

[46:11] Conor Burke: Yeah. I don't know. It just doesn't do it. I know it's goofy and stuff. But it is really funny to think like, canonically in universe, like, where is she going? Like, I know she's saying goodbye to them, but she just gets to the back of the auditorium and she's just like, OK, bye.

[46:25] Tyler: Yeah. She walks out like, does she come back like five minutes later and be like, Beyonce's picking her up. Beyonce's out in the hall.

[46:36] Conor Burke: Beyonce's like, I've got places to go. Let's go, Mercedes. We need to get that filling covered up. We're going to the dentist.

[46:40] Tyler: Beyonce's operating the spotlight. I can't have you opening for me with that filling.

[46:43] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[46:48] Tyler: It doesn't scream that Amber would have picked that last song. Do you know what I mean?

[46:52] Conor Burke: Yeah. There are certain songs that like, gay guy Ryan Murphy has his fingerprints all over that I'm like, there's just like, I feel like this is just like one of gay guy Ryan Murphy's songs that he likes. I don't know. And he's like, let's do that. And that was like, end of conversation, you know?

[47:06] Tyler: And obviously she is opening for Beyonce. Like, I don't go to many concerts. So like, how long is an opening act on for, like, 30 minutes, 40 minutes?

[47:21] Conor Burke: Well, the thing is, is that Beyonce doesn't have an opening act.

[47:26] Tyler: Well, I know. But I'm just asking in general, is an opening act on for like 30 minutes?

[47:31] Conor Burke: 30 minutes. Yeah.

[47:32] Tyler: Yeah. OK, so you're talking about like maybe just say five, six songs that canonically Mercedes has on her album. We're aware of Colorblind. We're aware of Shake My Head.

[47:44] Conor Burke: Well, isn't the, why do I feel like, isn't her, isn't her like album called Hell to the Know? Am I making that up?

[47:50] Tyler: It is.

[47:53] Conor Burke: Yeah. It is called Hell to the Know.

[47:55] Tyler: Which is so iconic.

[47:59] Conor Burke: I would pick any three of those songs over this.

[48:02] Tyler: Yes, so true. The way that I've heard Hell to the Know.

[48:05] Conor Burke: I'm so sorry, Andrew.

[48:08] Tyler: Yeah.

[48:13] Conor Burke: Anytime, like, if I'm like shuffling the Glee playlist and I hear the like, that's my prompt to skip to the next song.

[48:16] Tyler: You're skipping.

[48:17] Conor Burke: It is so, and maybe you hit on something, Tyler, as well, that, you know, you and I, as we have been alluding to, are not the biggest fan of this song, but maybe part of it is, is because the storyline itself is, it's like, I've never seen anything wrapped up as quickly in my fucking life. They were like, okay, we need to get her, we need to get her gone. Like, okay, someday we'll be together. But like, I don't know.

[48:40] Tyler: Yeah. The thing that I really, I did not like about this performance that was very apparent to me this watch through, it's like how like, there's something really awkward about like, them getting emotional watching it. Do you know what I mean? There, it's like, it doesn't feel authentic. It's just like, there's something that feels like really uncomfy about watching them just like, kind of like, shuffle back and forth, getting emotional. Do you know what I'm saying?

[49:07] Tyler: Yes.

[49:08] Conor Burke: I know what you're saying. Like, I'm telling you, they filmed this in like, 10 minutes and then like, moved on with their lives.

[49:13] Tyler: I thought they absolutely did. They absolutely did.

[49:17] Conor Burke: They were like, let's round up at whoever we can get for this scene.

[49:21] Tyler: And bring in the choir one more time.

[49:24] Conor Burke: Right.

[49:24] Tyler: Like that, you know.

[49:26] Conor Burke: Yeah. I love what Eduardo said in the chat. He said, the choir probably asked Mercedes, how many times are we going to come to the school and perform for six people?

[49:36] Tyler: I'm just, yeah, like, I'm just thinking, I don't really love any of the songs in the final episode of Glee at all. I take that back. I do quite enjoy I Lived and I do, I am a this time lover and I will defend.

[49:52] Conor Burke: This time.

[49:53] Tyler: Yeah. But like, the rest of them are kind of awful. Like, Daydream Believer, what is going on? Like, what is that about? Like, so strange, like.

[50:08] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[50:08] Tyler: Do you know what I mean? Musically, the last episode of Glee really lets me down, quite frankly.

[50:14] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[50:14] Tyler: And didn't they air, there was, this time they aired in its entirety, no cuts. Am I correct?

[50:21] Conor Burke: That might be correct.

[50:23] Tyler: I do wonder what, did Leah Michelle talk about it before? What the last, because I know I've seen her give interviews talking about, Ryan asked me what I want my favourite, my last solo to be, and I didn't know. And then Darren wrote this song. Did she ever mention anything that she was toying with before Darren came to her with this song? That's an interesting thought experiment, I'd love to know.

[50:43] Conor Burke: Oh, that is interesting. I don't know. I always like, kind of found it surprising and kind of low-key brave that they never had Rachel singing, My Heart Will Go On.

[50:53] Tyler: I was about to say, I think it was probably going to be that.

[50:57] Conor Burke: Yeah. But like, I don't think that My Heart Will Go On would have made sense in the context of the final episode. What is she saying?

[51:05] Tyler: Well, there's a very obvious link there with her, like, looking at pictures of Finn, you know?

[51:10] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[51:10] Tyler: Yeah.

[51:10] Conor Burke: Yeah. I think that's like, that's like, too dramatic.

[51:13] Tyler: Yeah, it's very on the nose, but.

[51:16] Conor Burke: Yeah. Anything else that we need to say about Someday We'll Be Together?

[51:20] Tyler: Her hair looks amazing, randomly. And the skirt that she has on is really nice.

[51:26] Conor Burke: It's good to see that Mercedes' fashion throughout the series kind of matures a little bit compared to, like, season one. I just think of the season one promo picture, clearly, and the get-up that they had her in.

[51:39] Tyler: The one, the one where she's wearing, like, the pink boa. I think it's so iconic.

[51:44] Conor Burke: So iconic. Absolutely, me as a 16-year-old, though, you know what I mean? That's why it worked. Draping yourself in a pink boa.

[51:51] Tyler: In any TV show centred around teenagers, the second that the character who is bigger, they just immediately dress them like they're 45.

[52:02] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[52:03] Tyler: Because they do the same thing with Unique. And I know the whole thing is with Unique.

[52:08] Conor Burke: Oh, yeah.

[52:08] Tyler: That she's a trans woman and she's evolving into her style, which is totally valid. But it's just like...

[52:16] Conor Burke: No, the styling is so weird from, like, mid-season four on.

[52:21] Tyler: Looping back to Tyler's point, it does just feel absolutely sandwiched in. And it just feels like we have to have a mer-solo. Mercedes has to say goodbye. You guys stand there, look a little bit forlorn and a little bit emotional, as she belts it out, as she always does. And the choir will appear behind her. And the scrim will rise and people will get full body chills. And then she'll walk up the steps and she'll wave.

[52:38] Conor Burke: We're just, like, doing the entire playbook.

[52:42] Tyler: Yeah.

[52:46] Conor Burke: We, like, literally, I could have, you know, if the director's sick, I could have went in there and did that myself.

[52:54] Tyler: Yeah.

[52:56] Conor Burke: So it's not looking good for this song, even though I do like it. But I think it might just be on its last leg.

[53:05] Tyler: Oh, Tyler, you got your wish.

[53:08] Conor Burke: OK, I'm ready.

[53:10] Tyler: Do you know what that means?

[53:12] Conor Burke: Is it Songbird?

[53:13] Tyler: Homeward Bound?

[53:14] Conor Burke: It's not Songbird. What did you say, Tyler?

[53:16] Tyler: Homeward Bound.

[53:18] Conor Burke: No.

[53:19] Tyler: Oh, what is it? Show me the preview.

[53:23] Conor Burke: Something that we referenced earlier in the episode. You're gonna know what it is.

[53:28] Tyler: Oh, Keep Holding On, of course.

[53:29] Conor Burke: It is Keep Holding On.

[53:33] Tyler: OK, you need to explain this song to me because I'm not getting it.

[53:38] Conor Burke: Hold it. Hold it.

[53:40] Tyler: I was about to ask, is this the episode she submitted for your consideration for the Emmys?

[53:45] Conor Burke: Oh, and she knew. She knew. She was like, this is gonna be the one.

[53:50] Tyler: She was like, this is the final shot of the episode. I'm gonna, I needed my mom.

[54:01] Conor Burke: I still don't think that I'm fully understanding it. It's also, both of these performances, Someday We'll Be Together and Keep Holding On, are weirdly, and I'm, I feel like such a, I'm being such a hater this episode, but both of them are like, weirdly emotional. It's like not, there's something like, kind of like, not authentically emotional about, am I being a hater? Am I not getting it?

[54:25] Tyler: I just completely disagree, Andrew. Like, the last song, like, I can't even remember the title of the last song now because that's how forgettable and unemotional it is to me, but like, holy shit, like, this is so, like, gripping in so many different ways. Like, I love, like, the little shots of, like, Quinn and Kurt. Like, they're, like, unspoken, like, season one friendship. Like, they always have, like, cute little moments together, and they have a really cute moment in this song, which I love. The blocking of this whole song feels very authentic show choir to me in a very, like, grounded, real way. I also love, like, Rachel is also looking at Quinn in a very, like, supportive friend kind of way, despite this, like, messy love triangle situation happening right in front of her.

The blocking is just so good and, like, representative of just, like, the dynamics that are going on in the group right now. The arc of season one is just so long and good and satisfying, and I just feel like this is such an emotional high of a song. Is this at the end of Throwdown? What episode is this? Do we remember?

[55:33] Conor Burke: I think that's Throwdown, because, like, the end of Ballad is Lean on Me.

[55:40] Tyler: Yeah. Like, Throwdown is such a, like, crazy, fun, like, amazing, messy episode, and then to end it on such an emotional note like this, like, that is so Glee season one, that they can hit strides of both, like, amazing comedy and end on such an emotional note like this, where you're just, like, clutching your pearls and, like, having, like, a tear in your eye. It's such a beautiful song for me, and such a great cover. Like, it's—sorry to cut you off—it is so, like, it's such, like, an original Glee arrangement as well, from this, like, random Aragon Avril Lavigne song. Like, this wasn't really, like, that well—I feel like Glee really gave this song, like, new life, rather than it just being, like, a straight-up cover. It's so good. It's so good. And the Glee Project on top of that, that they were, like, let's keep it going.

[56:26] Conor Burke: Yeah, I was about to say, I wonder if your enjoyment of it is clouded by the Glee Project.

[56:29] Tyler: It could be, because it's, like, overexposure, maybe? Maybe. I don't know. I always forget that, like, I enjoy the song in a vacuum, like, without the Glee Project of it all. But I understand if that's, like—

[56:47] Conor Burke: I do. I do really love the.

[56:58] Andrew: And did you vote for it at any point?

[57:03] Conor Burke: I'm sure that I had to. Let's see.

[57:06] Andrew: This one against Brave in the last round.

[57:09] Conor Burke: It won against Best Day of My Life in round one. In round two, it won against Do You Want to Touch Me? And then, yeah, Keep Holding On won against Brave last round.

[57:25] Andrew: Okay, that's all fair. I'm surprised to hear that you just don't like this, which is, sometimes you say shit.

[57:33] Conor Burke: I think I am just saying shit. Eduardo is calling me out in the chat and saying that I should have napped before this episode. I did nap, but I'm still acting like this and I'm really sorry about it.

[57:46] Andrew: That's the notes from the executive producer in the chat.

[57:49] Conor Burke: I did nap and I'm still talking my shit. I really don't have much to say. I really love what you said earlier in the episode, before we actually even watched the song, that, Tyler, what you said about, I love when they have the characters all wearing a unifying colour, but they're all shining through in a specific way, character-wise.

[58:12] Andrew: I love the consistency and the continuity with Mike Chang's, what do you call them?

[58:19] Conor Burke: Suspenders.

[58:20] Andrew: Suspenders, that's very cute to be seen many times again in the series. I do think that Glee Project has kind of fatigued me of this song a little bit, but I personally also love it and I think the vocal is insane, quite frankly. Yeah, and we have to give Diana her flares. She doesn't get anything on this podcast, let's be fair.

[58:45] Conor Burke: Acting, ha!

[58:46] Andrew: I do think, wait, what, ha, what, wait, so, Tyler, where do you stand with Keep Holding On Season 5 version?

[58:52] Tyler: I don't like it.

[58:53] Andrew: You don't like it?

[58:54] Tyler: I hate it.

[58:55] Andrew: No, it's really bad.

[58:57] Tyler: Yes, I hate it. I hate it.

[59:00] Conor Burke: I somehow prefer it.

[59:03] Tyler: No, don't say, stop it. You're just, no, that's not true. You don't.

[59:11] Conor Burke: No, there's something about it.

[59:13] Tyler: No.

[59:14] Conor Burke: I like the callback of it all. I like him just strumming his guitar. I like the Diana acting choices that she's literally clutching her pearls during that number. But yeah, I think it's obvious what's going to happen with this song right now.

[59:34] Andrew: It's just so special. I do love when Glee does this. I feel like they don't do it too often, but when they start the song before changing the scene, like Manside is another example of this. The little intro beats before we get to the number. And of course, Finn hugging Quinn saying it's going to be okay while looking at Rachel.

[59:54] Conor Burke: Because the context is she just got kicked off the Cheerios, yes?

[59:58] Andrew: Yes.

[1:00:01] Conor Burke: Okay. Do we have any final notes about Keep Holding On Season 1?

[1:00:05] Tyler: She's iconic.

[1:00:07] Conor Burke: Amazing.

[1:00:08] Andrew: Presumably it's a she.

[1:00:09] Conor Burke: Easiest decision I've made all day.

[1:00:12] Andrew: Is this competition difficult for you, Andrew?

[1:00:14] Andrew: No, I already know what's happening. I'm going to vote for Someday We'll Be Together because I'm on one today. But Someday We'll Be Together is getting my vote. I just personally like that song more. And I think I know what you two are voting for.

[1:00:34] Tyler: Yeah, I'm voting for Keep Holding On. Keep holding it on.

[1:00:38] Conor Burke: Keep holding it on.

[1:00:41] Andrew: Thank you.

[1:00:42] Tyler: What are you doing?

[1:00:43] Conor Burke: Yeah, I'm also voting for Keep Holding On. This is one of my favourite Season 1 group numbers. If this was the winner of the Clack It, I would be so happy. And I feel very grateful that it was picked with me here today.

[1:00:55] Andrew: Wait, Tyler, Harriet has put in the chat, I think I'm with Andrew, Season 5 callback might be better. Are we the mentally ill ones?

[1:01:04] Tyler: No, that cover sounds like a wet fart to me. It's not. And the emotional highs of the Season 1 version, the arrangement of it is so glee coded in such a special way. The setup of it, all the plots surrounding it is excellent. There's no notes, no detractors for Keep Holding On. It's so good.

[1:01:26] Andrew: Wait, what would it take for Keep Holding On to leave for you, Tyler? What could take it out?

[1:01:31] Tyler: Oh, gosh. I really do. I had my note of song wishes that I wish were pulled today, ready to go. To Serve With Love, I think is a really special song as well, especially Naya's part in that song. Homeward Bound slash Home, I would have loved to have talked about that today. I think I would have voted for that over Keep Holding On. I also really love Mamma Mia. That's a really cute group cover. I love seeing all the New York kids in their pajamas singing that. I just think it's really cute.

[1:02:03] Andrew: It's cute. The more I think about Keep Holding On, one of the things that I think that this song is missing, and I feel this way, but there are a number of Glee songs that fit this bill. I think that this is on paper, the only two vocalists on this song are Finn and Rachel. I don't think that there are any other people on it. I think that because the song is so camaraderie and the group banding together to help one of the members, Quinn, that I would have liked to have heard from more of the members to actually have it be a group number instead of just a Finn and Rachel duet. Would have loved to hear Santana on it, would have loved to hear Puck on it, Artie, Mercedes. I think that would have been to the song's benefit for me personally. I wonder if that would have made Lean On Me.

[1:03:01] Conor Burke: Don't they sing Lean On Me at the end of the next episode? A lot of the members of the Glee Club contribute to singing that song to Quinn directly, so maybe that would have—

[1:03:11] Andrew: No, but Lean On Me is just an Artie and Mercedes. I don't think that there's—

[1:03:15] Conor Burke: I thought more people joined in on that.

[1:03:16] Andrew: No, it's only those two.

[1:03:18] Tyler: Can I say one more thing?

[1:03:22] Andrew: There was something so special that was really lost when they switched from film to digital as well. Just seeing this season six number and how just flat the tones and the digital crispness of it is compared to how great the film looks in this number in season one.

[1:03:42] Conor Burke: They switch at the beginning of season five, right?

[1:03:45] Andrew: Yeah, or no. I feel like it's at the start of season four, right?

[1:03:54] Conor Burke: I was about to say, it feels earlier than season five to me, but I don't know.

[1:03:58] Andrew: Yeah. That's a really good point.

[1:04:01] Conor Burke: It just adds another layer of warmth and nostalgia and intention behind what they were shooting that just isn't there in the later seasons of Glee, in my opinion. I don't know.

[1:04:15] Andrew: Yeah, that's a good point.

[1:04:16] Conor Burke: That's a great point. We don't talk about that at all, actually.

[1:04:20] Andrew: We don't.

[1:04:21] Conor Burke: Like, there's so much warmth. I love when Jenna and Kevin were talking about that on their podcast, about the shooting on film and how different that was and how Glee was one of the last shows to film on film.

[1:04:31] Andrew: To be doing that, yeah.

[1:04:33] Conor Burke: Yeah, yeah. It's cool.

[1:04:36] Tyler: I'm so glad that you got your big song.

[1:04:40] Andrew: Yeah, I'm so happy. Thank you guys. Thank you for choosing me, Andrew. I'm very grateful.

[1:04:44] Andrew: Of course.

[1:04:47] Tyler: I'm so grateful for this project. You have done such a thorough job of executing this whole thing, and I'm a big supporter of the podcast. I tell all my friends about it all the time, so very grateful to you, Peter.

[1:04:59] Andrew: Oh, that's very sweet.

[1:05:01] Tyler: Yeah, very excited to see the rest of this through. So congratulations on all your success.

[1:05:06] Andrew: That's so nice. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.

[1:05:09] Tyler: Of course, of course.

[1:05:09] Conor Burke: It was so good meeting you, Tyler.

[1:05:10] Tyler: Until next time. And I also would love to hang with you in person. I know that you're local.

[1:05:15] Conor Burke: Yes, I would love that. Yeah, let's figure something out for sure, for sure. And nice to meet you too, Conor.

[1:05:20] Conor Burke: Yeah, you too, Tyler.

[1:05:22] Andrew: Stuart? Hey.

[1:05:24] Stuart: Hello. Hi.

[1:05:26] Andrew: Hi, Stuart.

[1:05:29] Andrew: Wait, remind me again, where are you coming in from?

[1:05:31] Stuart: I'm coming from Scotland. I live in Aberdeen, which is like in the northeast of Scotland, so kind of like in the middle of nowhere, so yeah.

[1:05:39] Andrew: Wait, so wait, I don't know maps at all. Are you in the same time zone as Conor?

[1:05:44] Stuart: Yeah, we would be, yeah.

[1:05:45] Andrew: Yeah, that would make sense.

[1:05:48] Stuart: Yeah.

[1:05:48] Andrew: Stupid, I'm dumb. Stuart, thank you so much for joining. Wait, what time is it there?

[1:05:55] Stuart: 20 past 10. It's not too late.

[1:05:56] Andrew: Okay.

[1:05:57] Stuart: 20 past 10.

[1:05:57] Andrew: I'm usually like at 8:30 bedtime, so this is late for me.

[1:06:02] Stuart: What? I respect that. Really? You go to bed at half past eight?

[1:06:08] Andrew: Stuart, lack of grievances. What do we have to say?

[1:06:13] Stuart: I'll put my two pence in with the Like a Prayer, I Blame Not on Alcohol. I do really like Like a Prayer. I'm re-watching just now and I'm on season two, so it's not been that long since I've watched it, and I just love that whole episode so much. So that's one I miss, but I understand why people like Blame Not on Alcohol as well. I really like Any Way You Want It, Love in Touch and Squeeze In. I just, again, really like that whole episode.

[1:06:44] Andrew: What took that out? Because that left fairly recently, right?

[1:06:48] Stuart: Oh, Teenage Dream. Teenage Dream, season two.

[1:06:51] Andrew: Teenage Dream, season two.

[1:06:52] Conor Burke: Was I on that episode?

[1:06:52] Stuart: Yeah, I believe so. Yes, you were with Emily.

[1:06:55] Conor Burke: Yeah. I have a really clear memory of being 12 years old and watching that episode, and that's why I really like it, just from the nostalgia of it all.

[1:07:06] Stuart: Yeah.

[1:07:07] Stuart: So yeah, that's my main two, I guess. I'm sad for Jessie's Girl and Borderline Open Your Heart, but I understand why the other one got chosen at the same time. So yeah, that's not too many, but that's from this round. And I've got some honourable mentions from other rounds, if you want to hear those.

[1:07:24] Andrew: Please, I would love them. Yes.

[1:07:25] Stuart: I have a deep affinity for the Showstoppers volume, you know, volume three, the green one.

[1:07:32] Conor Burke: Volume three, the green one, yes.

[1:07:34] Stuart: So Hello Goodbye is a really big one for me. I don't know, I can't remember when it went, I can't remember. I didn't write down, like, I wrote down a few things, but I can't remember what round it went out on, but I really like that one.

[1:07:44] Andrew: Yeah.

[1:07:45] Stuart: Andrew, Hello Goodbye is one of, probably, I'm not like, you know, like, Matt, for example, who has like a list of his top 20, but I honestly think that Hello Goodbye is in my top 30 songs. I love Hello Goodbye and no one fucking talks about it ever.

[1:08:00] Conor Burke: You know it?

[1:08:01] Stuart: And I think it's because—

[1:08:02] Andrew: Wait, go ahead.

[1:08:03] Stuart: I think it's because it's at the end of the episode and it's, like, literally a minute long.

[1:08:06] Andrew: It's so short.

[1:08:07] Stuart: I think it's really short.

[1:08:09] Conor Burke: Hello Goodbye was taken out in round two by, this is not going to sit well with you, I don't think, by Dinosaur.

[1:08:14] Stuart: Oh no, it doesn't sit well with me, you're right.

[1:08:20] Conor Burke: Yeah, no, it doesn't sit well with me.

[1:08:23] Stuart: I like Dinosaur as well. I like them all, really, but I, yeah, I just love Hello Goodbye. I love the Rachel, like, belt at the end. I'm a bit of a Rachel apologist.

[1:08:31] Conor Burke: Yes, yeah, yeah.

[1:08:33] Stuart: Unpopular opinion, maybe I don't know, but, um, yeah, so yeah, I just really like it.

[1:08:37] Andrew: And then, like, yeah, Jonathan Groff's in that episode for the first time, isn't he?

[1:08:41] Stuart: And there's, like, that whole thing going on.

[1:08:43] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:08:44] Stuart: Yeah, I just like that one a lot and wish it was... it's probably in my top, like, yeah, 20, maybe 10, even.

[1:08:51] Andrew: But it is, it's so short. It's so... do you mind that it's that short?

[1:08:55] Stuart: I like the MP3. I don't think that, yeah.

[1:08:57] Conor Burke: Yeah, yeah.

[1:08:59] Andrew: Oh, the MP3 is amazing. Absolutely, you're 100% correct. And that's why everyone listen to the MP3 of Hello Goodbye right now. Pause the episode and go listen.

[1:09:10] Stuart: I don't know if either of you know this off the top of your head, but do they have, in the episode version, do they have the...

[1:09:16] Conor Burke: You know, the part I'm talking about in the song?

[1:09:21] Stuart: Lola.

[1:09:23] Conor Burke: The Lola part.

[1:09:24] Stuart: No, they don't.

[1:09:25] Conor Burke: They don't have that in the... that's a... I really enjoy that.

[1:09:27] Stuart: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's not in the episode, no.

[1:09:31] Conor Burke: They don't have that.

[1:09:33] Stuart: Yeah, so yeah, that's what... and then another one, I don't know if it's a deep cut or not, but it's Uninvited, you know, from season six.

[1:09:41] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:09:42] Stuart: Because I just think, I was thinking about it earlier, and I just think, because it gets, like, the show also gets a bit crazy, like, season five. I think it just, it does a really good job, that song, of, like, grounding it back to, like, humbling Rachel a little bit, and, like, taking it back to, like, more of what it kind of was in the past.

[1:10:00] Conor Burke: Yeah, absolutely.

[1:10:01] Stuart: And, like, I do, like, it's the storytelling behind it. Like, I do a little bit of, like, musical theatre and stuff like myself, so I can, like, the story behind it, like, and the story it's telling is really, like...

[1:10:05] Andrew: It's so dramatic. I love her in the back of that golf cart, just belting. It's so, it's, like...

[1:10:17] Stuart: Oh my god, that woman who's driving the golf cart is my favourite extra, I think, in all of Glee.

[1:10:23] Conor Burke: And it's, like, the gate of the studio, like, shutting, and she's got, like...

[1:10:26] Stuart: Yeah, she's just holding her box. It's just, like, the perfect level of, like, drama, and just, like, it's silly.

[1:10:34] Andrew: And it wasn't a song I knew. It wasn't a song I knew before.

[1:10:37] Stuart: Yeah.

[1:10:38] Conor Burke: Is that your favourite role, O'Stewart?

[1:10:43] Stuart: I think it might be.

[1:10:45] Conor Burke: Yeah, really?

[1:10:45] Stuart: I can't actually, on the top of my head now, can't think of any other ones. Like, Drom's obviously good. That's a standard opinion. But, yeah, it is what, it is probably in my top five of hers, at least. I need to look at the other ones.

[1:10:57] Andrew: And you're so right. I do think that those first two episodes of season six really do a good, because people can talk shit about season six all they want, but, like, those first two episodes do a really good job at, like, ripping everything away from the main protagonists of the show to get them back to it.

[1:11:13] Conor Burke: Yeah, I remember people being really bat-humbling.

[1:11:16] Tyler: Yeah, like, we've got somewhere to go now from here.

[1:11:22] Stuart: They did that well.

[1:11:23] Conor Burke: Yeah, let it go, yeah, it's good too.

[1:11:27] Tyler: Let it go, oh my god, I remember before the season 6 premiere there was some entertainment journalist who had seen the first two episodes and he tweeted, just watched the first two episodes of season 6 of Glee, tweeting me your questions. And my question was, how was Let It Go? And he responded with, it was good.

[1:11:51] Conor Burke: It was good.

[1:11:53] Tyler: Let it go is like, so, um, just like forgettable to me. Let it go is so, and that's not to say that I don't enjoy it, because I do, but I know what you mean. There's something, it doesn't feel like they ever did Let It Go. Do you know what I mean?

[1:12:14] Stuart: Glee and Let It Go shouldn't have, like, overlapped. You know what I mean?

[1:12:21] Tyler: Yeah, I do. It's so strange. Like, I personally really love Let It Go. I think she sounds amazing in it. I think it's fun. But I know what you mean. It doesn't feel like it was in the show. And I think that, like, there's a shot within Let It Go that, like, always takes me out, because it's, like, so tonally not the show of, like, Sue, like, in, like, an ice, like, almost like an ice cube. Like, Rachel has, like, frozen her. And I was like, oh, what are we, this is not what the show is. Like, why are we doing this? So bizarre.

[1:12:56] Conor Burke: Because I wonder when the inevitable Glee boot happens, it's just going to be Disney music everywhere now, isn't it? Because that's obviously Disney on Fox.

[1:13:03] Tyler: I know.

[1:13:04] Conor Burke: If it's to be on Fox, I don't know. Like, is it going to be on Fox?

[1:13:08] Stuart: No, it's going to be Disney+.

[1:13:09] Tyler: Can it not go to streaming?

[1:13:10] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:13:11] Stuart: Disney+.

[1:13:11] Tyler: Yeah.

[1:13:12] Conor Burke: Yeah, like, oh, just all of the Disney songs that are forthcoming. Which I'm excited by. But, like.

[1:13:20] Tyler: Yeah. But I think it's just, like, there was something really special about, like, oh, these are songs that Glee will just not do, you know? Like, it was the fact that Glee just, like, wasn't doing Disney songs. Except for, like, Belenote randomly as well. Weird.

[1:13:35] Stuart: Is there a context to why she sings it in the episode? Does she just sing it?

[1:13:40] Conor Burke: I feel like it's just tacked on the end.

[1:13:43] Tyler: It's tacked on the end, and then she literally does say the Elsa line of, like, the cold never bothered me anyway.

[1:13:48] Conor Burke: Cold never bothered me anyway. Which I didn't love. Because it's not, I don't know, I think they meant for it to be camp, but the campness of it didn't land for me.

[1:13:59] Stuart: It was kind of, I think they were trying to go for another Pompeii. Where the...

[1:14:06] Conor Burke: Oh, yeah, just like Glee.

[1:14:07] Stuart: Where she looks directly dead into the barrel of the camera. And I just, I don't know, it didn't land as well. Do you know what I mean? Because that was literally the episode before, like, girl who was going to be okay kind of vibe. And...

[1:14:21] Conor Burke: Insane.

[1:14:22] Stuart: God bless her. God bless her.

[1:14:24] Conor Burke: Stuart, what else do we need to discuss?

[1:14:28] Stuart: I did actually just look up a list of Rachel solos, because it was getting to me, like, after it got brought up. So I also really like, because I'm such an, I actually really am a Rachel apologist. Like, I do really, like, whenever I'm watching it, I'm always rooting for her for no reason. But I really like Roots Before Branches is another one that I really like.

[1:14:47] Tyler: Yeah, Roots Before Branches.

[1:14:49] Stuart: And I also really like Taking Chances, actually, is another one that I think is quite good.

[1:14:53] Conor Burke: Oh, another really short one.

[1:14:56] Tyler: Yeah.

[1:14:57] Stuart: We need, we need a full 90 second performance of Taking Chances.

[1:15:01] Conor Burke: What are you saying?

[1:15:03] Tyler: What does it, does it, she, like, Leah has, like, talked about in interviews that she, she was, like, really disappointed that that, like, the edit, like, of Taking Chances in the episode was so egregiously short that she was, like, we shot the entire thing. And then I sat down to watch the episode and it was, like, maybe 20 seconds long. Insane.

[1:15:24] Stuart: I can, I can just imagine her seething in her living room watching that episode on TV.

[1:15:29] Conor Burke: She throws her slipper at the television screen. I can see it so plainly.

[1:15:33] Stuart: Um, Stuart, what are you manifesting today?

[1:15:38] Stuart: Um, New York State of Mind is still in it, isn't it?

[1:15:40] Conor Burke: It is, yeah.

[1:15:42] Stuart: Oh, what a great one.

[1:15:43] Conor Burke: That is a good one for me. And I also really like, same as Tyler, Homeward Bound Home is another one that I also like. So, yeah, I'd be happy with any of them. How Well I Know is another one that I really like.

[1:15:55] Tyler: So, yeah, any of those would be amazing, but I'm just happy to be here.

[1:16:00] Conor Burke: Here we go. Oh!

[1:16:05] Stuart: We have, from the final competition of last round, it didn't win, but it was voted back.

[1:16:14] Conor Burke: Everybody called in with their voicemails for this competition.

[1:16:18] Tyler: Is it, it's all coming back to me?

[1:16:20] Conor Burke: No, it's, oh, Nutbush City Limits.

[1:16:24] Stuart: Yeah.

[1:16:24] Conor Burke: Here we go.

[1:16:25] Tyler: Yeah, Nutbush.

[1:16:30] Conor Burke: Okay, Nutbush City Limits. Stuart, what are you thinking?

[1:16:34] Stuart: Um, I did vote in that. I've called in, but I was one of the people that didn't say their name annoyingly, which I saw as I got the end, but I did. And I voted for the other.

[1:16:42] Conor Burke: Aye, this is.

[1:16:44] Stuart: Yeah, like, so sorry about that. So, I did vote, yeah, I voted for one less, whatever, bell to answer. Not because I didn't like that. Not because I didn't like Nutbush, it was because one less bell to answer is on volume three on Showstoppers.

[1:17:02] Tyler: Oh, hey.

[1:17:03] Stuart: So, that was, like, my thing for that. But I love, like, Naya and I love Santana, like, as a character. Like, I always liked her, like, all the way through. And that was a good way to, like, bring her in back in the fold at the time.

[1:17:16] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:17:17] Stuart: So, yeah, I like it a lot. I like the energy.

[1:17:20] Tyler: No, and I think that, like, this is such a great song selection, too, for the character in the moment as well. That, like, she's, like, she, because the song, what the song is saying is that, like, she's, like, over this, like, very, like, small town vibe that she wants something bigger, right? And so, I think that, like, it just, like, perfectly encapsulates where Santana is in her storyline right now.

[1:17:47] Conor Burke: Great point.

[1:17:48] Stuart: It's, like, hilarious that, like, she's, like, carting around this entire cheerleading group that, like, she later finds out that she's not even, like, even a part of.

[1:17:58] Conor Burke: I think that's hilarious. But, Connor, what are you thinking?

[1:18:03] Conor Burke: What am I thinking? When Santana walks in, Tina's, the look on Tina's face is so fucking funny.

[1:18:11] Tyler: Oh, it's so good. I love their beauty in season four.

[1:18:12] Conor Burke: She's, like, I'm gonna kill this bitch. Yeah.

[1:18:16] Stuart: It's so good.

[1:18:16] Conor Burke: Oh my God. When Tina's, like, gotta go, hon.

[1:18:21] Tyler: Gotta go. One word, bram, yeah.

[1:18:26] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:18:26] Stuart: Yeah, gotta go, hon.

[1:18:29] Conor Burke: Blake Jenner's face in this performance.

[1:18:35] Stuart: I wrote that down as well, yeah.

[1:18:37] Conor Burke: Yeah, just shaking agreeably. Yeah.

[1:18:41] Tyler: It's, like, it's not meant to be a commentary on how he, as a teenage boy, is sexually attracted to all of these beautiful women. There's loads of, I feel like there's a few instances of that in Glee, which kind of are just so, like, all the sexy girls dancing, and it just cuts to the boys all the time. I'm thinking about, like, Rory's reaction to, like, I Kissed a Girl, but I'm like, oh, like, I understand. Okay, he's having a moment, but it's not about you right now. I really wish that I wasn't, like, privy to this right now. You know what I mean? I don't want to be seeing your reaction to this.

[1:19:17] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:19:17] Tyler: This reminds me of when I talked about in a previous episode, there's some artists where whenever Glee cover a song of theirs, they always hit a home run. And I feel like Tina Turner, for me, at least.

[1:19:30] Stuart: Yes, Tina Turner is one of them, yeah.

[1:19:34] Tyler: I love Nutbush, I love Riverdeep, I love Proud Mary. I know people may not love Proud Mary, I personally do. They've got a really good track record with Tina Turner.

[1:19:46] Conor Burke: And I have to give them their credit, you know?

[1:19:48] Tyler: No, that's a really great point. I think three for three, and all three of them are still around, I guess we'll see how this song does. But as of right now, all three of them are still around.

[1:20:01] Conor Burke: Where do you land on this, Andrew, in terms of Santolas?

[1:20:04] Tyler: I think obviously, like, Valerie, number one, Santana Sola is ranked on the Reddit. Here we go.

[1:20:11] Conor Burke: I love mine.

[1:20:17] Tyler: They're all so, there's, like, really, besides, like, Love You Like a Love Song might be my least favourite. Cold Hearted's a good one.

[1:20:28] Conor Burke: Yeah, Cold Hearted. The full version of I Die Young is perfect. Science Fiction double feature, incredible.

[1:20:39] Stuart: Songbird.

[1:20:40] Conor Burke: Yeah. What is your favourite, Conor?

[1:20:43] Conor Burke: Mine's Songbird, personally.

[1:20:46] Tyler: Yeah.

[1:20:47] Conor Burke: Girl on Fire is in my top three.

[1:20:50] Tyler: Yeah.

[1:20:50] Conor Burke: And I do agree with Tyler, like, no, are we really talking about Girl on Fire enough? That's just my opinion. But Tyler just put in, she was the lips in Rocky Horror.

[1:21:03] Stuart: What's yours, Stuart?

[1:21:05] Stuart: I think So Emotional. That's not Solo, is it?

[1:21:11] Conor Burke: The duet, that's it.

[1:21:12] Stuart: Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just looking at a random Spotify playlist.

[1:21:16] Conor Burke: So the whole list is mine. This is the list, and the order of the list is Wrong Flower on Reddit, their official ranking. Mine, If I Die Young, Girl on Fire, Don't Rain on My Parade, Cold Hearted, Back to Black, I Can't Have You, Valerie, Songbird, Nutbush City Limits, Love You Like a Love Song, Trotty Mouth, Alfie, and Science Fiction double feature.

[1:21:41] Tyler: I think Back to Black is one of the best ones.

[1:21:45] Conor Burke: I love that. Yeah, wait, what? Back to Black, that, like, left in, like, round two, I want to say?

[1:21:55] Stuart: See, yeah, I was gonna ask how the Santolas are faring.

[1:22:00] Conor Burke: Back to Black. Oh, Back to Black actually lost to this song.

[1:22:04] Tyler: It lost to Nutbush toward the end of round two.

[1:22:08] Conor Burke: Um, huh. Okay. Any final notes about Nutbush? I really like it. I really love, there's a choreo moment that, like, where they're, like, scooting on the, with, like, their shoes.

[1:22:23] Stuart: Yes.

[1:22:23] Conor Burke: Their shoes don't leave the ground. They're just, like, scooting. I think it's perfect. I really, really love this.

[1:22:30] Tyler: It's absolutely perfect.

[1:22:31] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:22:31] Tyler: I'm trying to just think, like, what would be the thing, what would be the reason for this to be taken out?

[1:22:34] Conor Burke: Um.

[1:22:38] Tyler: Like, what is the thing that would let this down, going forward, now that we're getting to the nitty-gritty of it?

[1:22:43] Conor Burke: It already did get taken out by One Less Spell to Answer.

[1:22:47] Tyler: That's true, and it should have been taken out. It should have been taken out by One Less Spell.

[1:22:52] Conor Burke: I think another reason, I think another reason I voted for One Less Spell to Answer was because I think this is good, but it's, like, not as good as Riverdeep, and I thought it was, they were trying to make that happen again.

[1:23:00] Tyler: Yeah.

[1:23:03] Conor Burke: And that was another reason I didn't, yeah, vote for.

[1:23:07] Tyler: That's a really good point, that they were trying to, they were trying to reheat this a little bit.

[1:23:12] Conor Burke: They were. I wonder how it would have been different if Amber was in on this, too.

[1:23:17] Tyler: Yeah. It is crazy that there's an episode about divas and Mercedes is not in it.

[1:23:23] Conor Burke: Exactly.

[1:23:25] Tyler: We aren't talking about that.

[1:23:28] Conor Burke: Okay, final song of the episode. Let's see what it's up against.

[1:23:32] Stuart: Oh! Oh! We got Diva on Diva Crime.

[1:23:38] Conor Burke: This, this is waking me up from my jet lag.

[1:23:43] Tyler: Here we go. Not Much City Limits voted back.

[1:23:48] Conor Burke: This song also voted back in the ultimate vote back.

[1:23:54] Stuart: This was the winner of that, like, all competitions.

[1:24:00] Conor Burke: The Gleeks voted.

[1:24:02] Tyler: Do you remember what the winner was?

[1:24:04] Conor Burke: It's all coming back to me now.

[1:24:04] Tyler: It is! It's all coming back to me now.

[1:24:09] Conor Burke: That was transformative for me.

[1:24:11] Tyler: I was taken to another plane watching that.

[1:24:17] Stuart: So good.

[1:24:18] Conor Burke: Stuart, what are you thinking?

[1:24:19] Stuart: This?

[1:24:20] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:24:20] Stuart: Well, you know, I've banged the drum about Rachel a million times already, but I just love, I just love her voice, and I just love, I love the, again, the drama of it.

[1:24:30] Conor Burke: Oh, it's, yeah.

[1:24:32] Stuart: Going to Jessie, going to, like, Whoopi and Carmen Thibodeau, and, like, going, you know, like, Finn, you know, just, like, yeah, I just love it so much. Like, I actually can't describe how much I liked it.

[1:24:44] Conor Burke: I love Carmen walking in, just, like, late as hell.

[1:24:49] Stuart: Carmen Thibodeau, she don't, she does not give a fuck.

[1:24:54] Conor Burke: She was trying to find parking.

[1:25:29] Conor Burke: If you watch the Madonna episode and you have in the back of your mind as you watch it, this is all Ryan Murphy wanted to do. This is why he's producing Glee, just to make this Madonna episode. There's something about this performance where you can tell that it's such a seminal moment for the character of Rachel Berry and she's really grounded in it, but there's something about it in which the way Leah is performing that you can just kind of tell she's waited for this specific moment her entire life to sing this song in particular. Do you know what I mean? I just feel like it reads as both Rachel arriving at a seminal moment as a character, but it also feels like it's Leah there standing in her power as a performer in a way. Do you know the behind the scenes of this song?

[1:26:21] Stuart: I feel like I do, but I can't remember the behind the scenes.

[1:26:26] Conor Burke: This was a song that I feel like Leah's talked about it at her concerts. She was approached by Ryan to be like, hey, Rachel is going to have this big number at Nationals, what song do you want it to be? And Leah said to love you more, Celine Dion. And for whatever reason, Ryan Murphy heard it's all coming back to me now and wrote that into the script instead of to love you more. And so Leah receives the script and is like, oh, I guess we're close enough to the Celine song.

[1:26:59] Stuart: And I'm glad it wasn't to love you more.

[1:27:02] Conor Burke: Me too. I think it's all coming back to me now fits it better in almost every single way, like the rhythm and the tempo of the song, the meaning of the song.

[1:27:15] Stuart: Yeah, because she's lost so much of her groove. The episodes leading up to this of she's been so downtrodden by what happened in Choke that she needed this win.

[1:27:32] Conor Burke: And so it's just like, yeah, it's so dramatic. I love Carmen walking in. And I think that she whistles during like after Paradise or something after the entire setlist is done. I don't know. It's good. It's great.

[1:27:49] Stuart: It is kind of yeah, for me, at least it reads crazy that it would have been to love you more.

[1:27:55] Conor Burke: Yeah, I really don't think this musical performance just as a whole would not be in the Glocken anymore.

[1:28:02] Stuart: Well, I mean, I don't think so. Do you like to love you more like when she eventually does that in the season four finale?

[1:28:08] Conor Burke: No. No, I personally just don't like that song. It's nothing against Rachel or Leah. I just don't like that song. It's a bit of it. You have to stick with that song for it to really kick in.

[1:28:21] Stuart: Yeah.

[1:28:21] Conor Burke: It's too slow.

[1:28:22] Stuart: It's really, really slow.

[1:28:23] Conor Burke: As well as for a nationals. Really slow. As a nationals competition, it just doesn't read. I don't think.

[1:28:29] Stuart: I love this and I love the singular spotlight on her and I love the backing vocals of the six Glee Club members that are behind her. I just think that it's just really, really stunning.

[1:28:45] Conor Burke: She also ends on that weird hand thing that she's just like.

[1:28:51] Stuart: Oh, yeah.

[1:28:55] Conor Burke: Wait, audio medium, what are you doing?

[1:28:59] Stuart: It's like she's holding Hamlet's skull, to be or not to be.

[1:29:03] Conor Burke: It's kind of operatic what you're doing.

[1:29:05] Stuart: Yeah, it is. It is. It's like.

[1:29:08] Conor Burke: Yeah, that's always stood with me. But yeah, this is a moment. This is a moment like this is an arrival for this character. This is a step back. This is a deep breath. This is a I've got this far. Where am I going now? Kind of thing. It's a big, big, big moment for arguably the main character on this television show.

[1:29:33] Stuart: Oh, sure. Yeah.

[1:29:34] Conor Burke: And so it's just going to be really, in my opinion, even if you don't particularly like Rachel or you're not a Rachel defender like Stuart and I, it's a tough one to beat, isn't it?

[1:29:48] Stuart: I think that through the process of doing this podcast, I really, really have come around to Rachel. And I think that like I'm really seeing the light with her with her character and like kind of I'm like planking on the word right now, the desperation.

[1:30:06] Conor Burke: It's like I always use the word.

[1:30:08] Stuart: Rachel is a deeply sad character. She's a very sad person. And I think that in the final episode of the series, when Mercedes has that scene with her mother and she says, why is Rachel always getting the solos and not me? I think that that was one thing about the final episode they did really well because her mother says they are giving the opportunities to the person that needs it more. Like she's such a sad case. She doesn't have anything in her life. She needs a lot of validation.

[1:30:35] Conor Burke: Yeah. Because it goes back towards the start of the series. I think I brought it up before with the school yearbook. Like if you watch that episode through the lens of like trying to sympathise with Rachel, like you would have to have a heart of stone to not sympathise with her. Like this is her only, like she doesn't, she's so desperate and so sad and she does pretty awful things in the meantime to get to where she wants to be. And she can be very annoying and absolutely heinous. But it comes from a place of her being a deeply sad individual, quite frankly. And so I think this song is a real earmarker of an arrival of sorts. Like she has got to where she wants to be in many ways and she's looking forward to what comes ahead. So I think that's why it's very emotionally resonant.

[1:31:23] Stuart: No, for sure. Do you have any final things to say about what's all coming? I mean, I think I know what's happening here. But Stuart, do you have any final notes?

[1:31:38] Stuart: I just, yeah, like it's an iconic, that whole obviously setlist is iconic in the show. And that's just one third of what makes it really iconic. So yeah, it's just, yeah, a moment. And I would be, yeah, I won't vote yet. But yeah.

[1:31:54] Conor Burke: And we've got to give it up for the dress too. These dresses.

[1:31:58] Stuart: The dress. The dress.

[1:32:00] Conor Burke: Love.

[1:32:00] Stuart: Great gowns, beautiful gowns.

[1:32:02] Conor Burke: No, it's truly, I love these dresses. Tina really did her big thing with this, with these dresses.

[1:32:10] Stuart: Tina was put to work.

[1:32:12] Conor Burke: Tina was put to work and it really paid off. Let's, I need to lock in a vote for It's All Coming Back to Me Now. I think there's so much meat here, I think. It's such a big moment for the character. I just like, I really can't get enough, and I don't have the words for it, but I can't get enough of the singular spotlight. I think that like, she has this moment that is just like, it's so, it's so special to the character.

[1:32:44] Stuart: And I think just to talk about, like, I think it's maybe a moment I overlook. That shot of Finn watching her from the side of the stage, knowing what's coming, and goodbye. Do you know what I mean? It's like, he's there to be like, okay, I need to put her on that fucking train. Do you know what I mean? It's such a lovely moment. Yeah. And I think Corey does such a gorgeous job performing that, and the face acting there of him looking at her.

[1:33:13] Conor Burke: That's so, I wasn't even thinking about that, but like, yeah, it does feel like the moment that he decided like, hey, no, I can't be like, holding her back. Like, she needs to go.

[1:33:23] Stuart: Absolutely. And I also love, a kind of innocuous point, I also love that Whoopi takes her seat, like, in the like, the crescendo of the song, like, it's all coming back. She's walking in. She's walking in. It's all coming back to me. She's still walking in. And it's building and it's building. And then she sits down and she's there. She's there for the big musical moment. Yeah. And that's iconic. She was quite literally harassed to come there. She was stalked.

[1:33:49] Conor Burke: Yeah. Tina was driving her around the country.

[1:33:55] Stuart: Tina was like, almost like, like a Rachel's pitbull. Like, she was like, you better go. It's a shocking Thelma and Louise, literally Thelma and Louise at one point.

[1:34:09] Conor Burke: Funny. The fact, like, it speaks so much to Tina's character at this point in the series.

[1:34:14] Stuart: Yeah. Literally in choke, when she's used as a human prop.

[1:34:19] Conor Burke: Yeah. Rachel says to her, Tina won't mind, like, we'll just replace her.

[1:34:24] Stuart: Yeah. She treats her horribly, like, shit.

[1:34:28] Conor Burke: Oh, it's absolutely. And then for the whole promise of Tina being the new Rachel, just to be snatched away. Sorry, I'm going on a Justice for Jenna run.

[1:34:37] Stuart: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's like, kind of, like, hit home by the performance before this, Not Much City Limits, that she was taken out, not just by Marley, but Santana just kept on coming back and been like, hey, Tina, you're kind of being pushed the sideline again.

[1:34:55] Conor Burke: Stuart, are you ready to vote?

[1:34:57] Stuart: Yeah. Yeah. It's the digging deep. It's all the drama. It's the moment. Yeah, it's all coming back to me now. It's my vote.

[1:35:07] Conor Burke: It is quite literally all coming back to us now, you know. I'm going to have to lock in for it's all coming back to us now. Just let the record show.

[1:35:19] Stuart: Wait, what are the people thinking in the chat right now? Is that okay? I know that people really like Nutbush.

[1:35:26] Conor Burke: I think.

[1:35:27] Stuart: I think even people who really like Nutbush, though, they must kind of just resign themselves to be like, yeah, that's, come on.

[1:35:34] Conor Burke: Okay. Eduardo and Tyler.

[1:35:36] Stuart: Good job. I support 100%.

[1:35:39] Conor Burke: Okay, great.

[1:35:40] Stuart: Yeah. Our work here is done. The executive producers have signed off.

[1:35:44] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:35:46] Stuart: This must be done, says Jake.

[1:35:47] Conor Burke: This must be done.

[1:35:49] Stuart: Thank you so much. It's been, I hope that you, I know that you're up past your bedtime. I hope this was well worth it.

[1:35:58] Conor Burke: It's been worth it. It's been worth it to hear.

[1:36:00] Stuart: Okay, great. Until next time.

[1:36:04] Conor Burke: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

[1:36:05] Stuart: Bye, Stuart.

[1:36:06] Conor Burke: Bye-bye.

[1:36:06] Stuart: Nice meeting you.

[1:36:07] Conor Burke: Bye.

[1:36:09] Conor Burke: Okay, and recap for this episode. Someday we'll be together. Someday.

[1:36:14] Stuart: My brain is not working.

[1:36:17] Conor Burke: Someday we'll be together.

[1:36:18] Stuart: No, we won't. I changed my mind.

[1:36:20] Conor Burke: No, no, we won't.

[1:36:22] Stuart: Keep holding on because you know we're going to make it through, make it through to round five.

[1:36:27] Conor Burke: Nutbush City limits. The limits, you've exceeded your limits.

[1:36:33] Stuart: It's all coming back to me now.

[1:36:34] Conor Burke: Oh, and you're coming back to us now to the next round and the glocket.

[1:36:41] Stuart: Can you remember off the top of your head what your favorite play on words has ever been? When it comes to this, because it is, I've told you famously, it's my favorite bit of the entire podcast.

[1:36:51] Conor Burke: No, I feel like, and I've said it before, but like, I think that like, I've dug myself into a hole with this, with this bit, because it started off as something fun. But now I'm like, how do I keep on building on it? And now I'm like,

[1:37:03] Stuart: That's true.

[1:37:04] Conor Burke: Yeah.

[1:37:05] Stuart: You're doing a great job.

[1:37:06] Conor Burke: Oh, thank you so much.

[1:37:07] Stuart: You're doing a great job.

[1:37:08] Conor Burke: Connor, do you have anything to say to the Gleeks?

[1:37:13] Conor Burke: I love you all. I hope you're well. I hope you're well. I've missed you guys. It feels like I've just been, and I truly was like, it's been months. It was literally seven episodes that I was gone.

[1:37:25] Stuart: Yeah.

[1:37:27] Conor Burke: But you were missed.

[1:37:28] Stuart: Yeah.

[1:37:29] Conor Burke: Thank you so much. I obviously, listening to it is my big comfort blanket. So that's been great keeping me going through the busy times. But yeah, just to say I love you all. Love you, Andrew. And yeah, if you want to stay in contact, you can find me on Instagram at IamConorBurke. And you know what? We're both, we're putting out into the universe. We're going to go to that GleekCon. We're going to be there.

[1:37:55] Stuart: I think it is, because even my boyfriend was like, it kind of feels sort of egregious if you and Andrew don't go to that.

[1:38:02] Conor Burke: I'm like, I know. I know.

[1:38:04] Stuart: We just have to look at like planning or because it's so like, there's just so many of them at this. Like, it's just so weird if we don't go.

[1:38:11] Conor Burke: We need to be there.

[1:38:15] Stuart: It will happen.

[1:38:16] Conor Burke: It will happen.

[1:38:18] Conor Burke: Elias is like a very big supporter of me going. And he's like, no, it's like not even a question. You'll be going.

[1:38:27] Stuart: So it's happening.

[1:38:29] Conor Burke: You have to go to GleekCon.

[1:38:30] Stuart: You simply must.

[1:38:31] Conor Burke: He's getting me on the train. This is my Roots Before Branches. I'm going to GleekCon.

[1:38:37] Stuart: Yeah.

[1:38:38] Conor Burke: Okay. Until next episode.

[1:38:40] Stuart: Wait, what do you want to say?

[1:38:41] Conor Burke: Bye!

[1:38:43] Stuart: I was just going to quickly ask, do you think they're going to announce anyone else? Because it's pretty exact at the moment.

[1:38:48] Conor Burke: Yes, they're going to announce.

[1:38:51] Stuart: Because it doesn't feel like there's nowhere else to go.

[1:38:55] Conor Burke: They're not going to get Darren or Chris.

[1:39:00] Stuart: Or like.

[1:39:00] Conor Burke: Maybe. I know that people have been talking about how Diana does live in Paris.

[1:39:08] Stuart: So I think that’d be crazy, though.

[1:39:10] Conor Burke: Wait, does she?

[1:39:12] Stuart: I don't know.

[1:39:12] Conor Burke: Right?

[1:39:13] Stuart: Does she?

[1:39:13] Conor Burke: I thought she does.

[1:39:15] Stuart: The way that she's just an ephemeral being to me.

[1:39:17] Conor Burke: She lives in the air.

[1:39:19] Stuart: Like she doesn't have one set geographical location.

[1:39:22] Conor Burke: If Diana goes.

[1:39:23] Stuart: Do you know what I mean?

[1:39:24] Conor Burke: I'm literally.

[1:39:25] Stuart: I'm.

[1:39:25] Conor Burke: Oh my God.

[1:39:27] Stuart: That would be huge.

[1:39:27] Conor Burke: Oh, you have a book.

[1:39:28] Stuart: You're booking it within 30 minutes.

[1:39:30] Conor Burke: Oh, exactly. Nothing can hold you back.

[1:39:33] Stuart: Okay.

[1:39:34] Conor Burke: Okay. This has been emotional. See you at GleekCon.

[1:39:38] Conor Burke: Bye!

[1:39:39] Conor Burke: It's Gleek.

[1:39:40] Conor Burke: Gleek of the week.