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[0:00] Andrew: 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] Andrew: 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] Andrew: Hey! Okay, we're gonna be talking about Glee again!

[0:40] Aman: AHHHHH!

[0:41] Andrew: And I can't believe I'm joined by two Gleeky guys. Two of the Gleekiest guys that I know. I'm talking about hosts of The Diary Room. I'm talking about Matt and Aman. Hello!

[0:54] Matt: Hello! I can't believe you keep letting us back!

[0:58] Aman: Legally obligated every single round.

[1:01] Matt: True, we all signed contracts.

[1:03] Aman: We signed contracts in 2021, and now here we are.

[1:06] Matt: Yes.

[1:09] Aman: Glad to be back as always.

[1:11] Matt: You know, you're never going to get tired of- you're never going to tire us out, rather, of us talking Glee.

[1:18] Andrew: Aman, what was the last episode of Glee you watched? Be honest, be real.

[1:23] Aman: Um, oh my god, I watched one recently. Which one was it?

[1:26] Aman: Uh, the season five Christmas special.

[1:33] Andrew: Wow.

[1:33] Aman: Of course it was Christmas.

[1:34] Andrew: Because I wanted-

[1:35] Aman: Our beautiful season of summer.

[1:38] Aman: Yes, because I just wanted to listen to Rachel and Santana and Kurt banter about adding more cooking sherry to the whatever dish he was making.

[1:48] Aman: Or hot chocolate, he was making something. Eggnog! No, he was making eggnog.

[1:52] Aman: And Santana was like, bitch, no, no, that needs more kick. Don't all the gays love Julia Child?

[1:56] Andrew: Which is a small fraction of the episode that you were- that I'm sure that you were really happy when they got to that part of the episode.

[2:03] Aman: Yes, I was.

[2:05] Andrew: Wait, why- are you really watching Christmas episodes in summer?

[2:09] Aman: Listen, Christmas is a lifestyle, okay? And I won't hear anything against it.

[2:17] Andrew: Are you watching Hallmark episodes- Hallmark episodes? Hallmark movies in summer?

[2:22] Aman: No, I'm not. I famously don't like a lot of the Hallmark Christmas movies, but uh...

[2:30] Andrew: Uh-huh, not even the ones starring Glee cast members?

[2:34] Aman: I have seen those ones, and we talked about those ones, actually.

[2:38] Andrew: Wait, have we already talked about this?

[2:40] Aman: We have, we talked about Amber Riley, the one where she's like a drunk and like-

[2:44] Aman: Deja Vu Christmas!

[2:47] Aman: I think I've only seen the Cordova Street, uh, Lindsay Lohan.

[2:50] Andrew: I liked that one a lot.

[2:52] Aman: You gotta watch Deja Vu Christmas. Deja Vu Christmas might be my favorite because Amber Riley is a drunk in it, and it's so fun to watch.

[2:59] Aman: She literally opens up the movie like taking shots at Tito.

[3:02] Andrew: Yes, and Loretta Devine comes in and is like, Amber Riley, get your ass together. I can't be doing this anymore.

[3:09] Aman: Oh my god, there's so many. And then there's also like a couple like Vanessa Langey's ones, there's a couple Becca Tobin.

[3:16] Matt: How do you know there are any Vanessa Langey's ones? Oh my gosh.

[3:19] Aman: Yeah, there's one, Lea Michele, I forget what it's called, where she goes to Hawaii and is like, falls back in love with like her childhood flame.

[3:32] Andrew: Are any of these stories unique? Or are they all, you know, I guess is any Christmas movie story unique?

[3:40] Aman: See, I was a hater of all these Christmas Hallmark movies for the longest time, and then I realized that there's like a charm within like the fact that you know what's going to be happening.

[3:50] Aman: And there's a charm within the fact that it's like very cheaply made, that it's like, you're kind of like looking for the extras in the background doing like a half-assed job of like being an extra, you know?

[4:00] Matt: Right, and you get to see the Glee cast.

[4:02] Aman: You do, yeah.

[4:03] Matt: In probably all of them.

[4:06] Aman: Yep, exactly.

[4:07] Matt: Yeah.

[4:08] Aman: Last night I was scrolling TikTok, Josh Sussman, right, I believe is his name?

[4:13] Matt: Yes.

[4:14] Aman: Just talking about Jacob and Israel, live on TikTok.

[4:17] Matt: That likely thing for him to be doing. Love him so much, Josh. I love you.

[4:27] Andrew: Okay, well, Matt, what was the last episode of Glee that you watched?

[4:31] Matt: I was afraid you were going to ask me that just because I don't know.

[4:35] Matt: I mean, I want to say that I might have said the exact same thing when I came on last along the lines of I've really just been in my like not watching a ton of Glee episodes era lately.

[4:46] Matt: Look, I've also been in my watching a lot of Big Brother era episodes era because of the podcast we're doing.

[4:53] Matt: I'm really trying to refresh myself on all the people, the players.

[4:56] Matt: And then recently I'm catching up on Love Island UK.

[4:59] Andrew: So there's a million episodes of that.

[5:02] Matt: Oh, wait, so you decided to do UK as well?

[5:04] Matt: Oh, damn.

[5:05] Matt: Well, so I've done UK for since the beginning of UK, basically, but I bowed out for a little bit and now I'm back.

[5:12] Matt: So I'm catching up on what I missed, which leaves such little time for Glee.

[5:16] Andrew: But at least I'm listening to Glee, you know, in the car.

[5:19] Matt: Right. You're listening to Glee.

[5:21] Andrew: And you've already watched all of Glee.

[5:24] Matt: So you're done.

[5:25] Matt: I've watched it like once, you know, or or twice or.

[5:28] Andrew: No, don't do that.

[5:29] Matt: Wait, is it true?

[5:30] Matt: Only once or twice?

[5:31] Matt: No.

[5:32] Matt: How many times?

[5:34] Matt: Like 30?

[5:36] Matt: I don't know.

[5:38] Matt: Whatever, whatever the qualifications were to come on this podcast when I signed the 2020 contract.

[5:42] Andrew: Oh, yes. I forgot about the contract that said, like, you need to watch it, watch the entire series 30 times to be eligible.

[5:48] Matt: Yes.

[5:49] Matt: And that's why you're here.

[5:50] Andrew: I have and I did.

[5:52] Matt: And that was only for the choir room podcast, let alone for my personal enjoyment.

[5:56] Andrew: Right, exactly.

[5:58] Andrew: So, Matt, I'm sure that you have.

[6:02] Andrew: Do you have Galactic Grievances?

[6:05] Matt: Oh, I remember what the.

[6:08] Matt: So it sounds like your mom wants to interject with his.

[6:11] Aman: Well, now he remembers what I.

[6:13] Matt: So we every so often on our patron episodes for The Diary Room bouncing all around of our different podcasts.

[6:19] Aman: Yeah.

[6:20] Matt: We'll just like talk for five minutes.

[6:22] Matt: And on one of the recent episodes, I had told him about a matchup because I knew that this was coming up.

[6:27] Matt: So it just hit him when I told him got eliminated.

[6:31] Aman: Which was what are we talking about?

[6:34] Matt: How dare you guys get rid of Cherish Cherish.

[6:39] Aman: I did tell him what I was against and he did say he would have voted for Somebody to Love.

[6:45] Matt: But he's still upset.

[6:47] Matt: You guys.

[6:48] Matt: Cherish Cherish is really important to you.

[6:50] Aman: It's so important to me.

[6:52] Aman: To both of you.

[6:53] Aman: I love it.

[6:54] Aman: I love it.

[6:55] Aman: I love that mashup.

[6:57] Aman: I love the fact that it is a Quinn lead song.

[7:03] Matt: Yes.

[7:04] Aman: I love it.

[7:06] Aman: I think that it's an emotional peak of season three.

[7:10] Aman: It is so important to the plot of season three.

[7:13] Aman: And the fact that it was just tossed aside for Somebody to Love.

[7:18] Andrew: You know, you know, I told you, Matt, that I maybe I would have voted for Somebody to Love.

[7:23] Andrew: But I think I take that back now because Somebody to Love is okay.

[7:31] Andrew: But if you had to go for if you had to let go of one of the New Directions numbers of season one, I think that would be top of my list.

[7:42] Matt: I do.

[7:43] Matt: Meanwhile, the conversation around here has been that that could be the winner of the whole thing.

[7:48] Aman: It could win.

[7:49] Aman: If I have anything to say about it, it will not be.

[7:53] Matt: I mean, it wouldn't be my winner either, by any means.

[7:57] Matt: I think it deserves a spot in what is now Andrew, the top 50.

[8:01] Andrew: Right.

[8:02] Matt: At the end of this round.

[8:03] Andrew: At the end of the round.

[8:04] Matt: Top 50.

[8:05] Matt: Top 50.

[8:06] Matt: So I think that I think that's perfectly valid.

[8:07] Matt: But I will say just like a lot of the songs that have been getting eliminated lately, even songs that I love, which, you know, for Aman and for both of you is Cherish Cherish.

[8:16] Matt: Like I've found such peace in round four so far.

[8:19] Matt: I don't know if I'm alone in this of like songs are getting eliminated.

[8:22] Matt: And I'm like, but we're in round four.

[8:24] Matt: We're getting down to the top 50.

[8:26] Matt: And so I even texted Andrew with Somewhere Only We Know versus The Only Exception.

[8:31] Matt: I was so sad to lose The Only Exception because maybe I'm Somewhere Only We Know.

[8:36] Andrew: That was your wedding song, bitch.

[8:38] Matt: I was sad to lose The Only Exception because I love so I love The Only Exception.

[8:44] Matt: But like I told Andrew as well, I would have voted for Somewhere Only We Know.

[8:47] Matt: But we're going to the top 50 right now that you you're fine.

[8:54] Andrew: I'm the one interjecting.

[8:55] Matt: Why are you apologizing?

[8:56] Andrew: Because I wasn't stopping talking.

[8:58] Matt: I was rambling and rambling.

[8:59] Andrew: No, because when you texted me that The Only Exception was gone, you were like, why haven't we not been abbreviating it to toe this entire time?

[9:10] Matt: I'm like, I think save some time.

[9:13] Matt: Call it toe.

[9:14] Andrew: We could have saved so much time.

[9:17] Matt: I feel like it's like easy to abbreviate all these songs, especially if we're all talking to one another.

[9:21] Matt: We get it.

[9:22] Matt: We know what we're talking about.

[9:23] Matt: But I was like, I don't know what toe means.

[9:26] Andrew: Yeah, but they're like I'm looking at some like certain songs and I'm like, like Somewhere Only We Know, like that doesn't like lend itself to a word in the same way that like drop and toe.

[9:39] Matt: Correct.

[9:40] Matt: And like what other ones do we have?

[9:41] Matt: I don't even know.

[9:42] Andrew: That's also because Somewhere Only We Know is not the official title of the song.

[9:45] Matt: It's not.

[9:46] Andrew: That's true.

[9:47] Andrew: The Gleek of the Week podcast.

[9:48] Matt: Somewhere we go sometimes.

[9:49] Aman: We did some discovering.

[9:51] Andrew: Yeah, right.

[9:53] Andrew: I think what I've been finding, though, in some of these matchups is just like I keep I keep waiting for you to like to hurt me.

[9:59] Matt: Like, for example, do you think about your windows and cough syrup?

[10:03] Matt: I was like, oh, he's going to get rid of cough syrup.

[10:05] Matt: Now's the time he's going to do it.

[10:06] Matt: And then you didn't.

[10:07] Matt: And I was like, Andrew, this is growth.

[10:10] Andrew: I think then it's for your round four debut episode is the one that you're going to get hurt on.

[10:18] Matt: You're going to get hurt.

[10:19] Andrew: I'm going to get hurt today.

[10:21] Matt: I get hurt all the time.

[10:22] Andrew: I'm surprised you didn't bring Patrick back just to hurt me.

[10:25] Aman: You know.

[10:26] Matt: Oh, yeah.

[10:27] Matt: Because the two of you just don't.

[10:28] Aman: Yes.

[10:29] Matt: Don't let me breathe.

[10:30] Andrew: Wait.

[10:31] Andrew: So do you have anything specific to add, Matt?

[10:34] Matt: Because we heard the big Aman discrepancy.

[10:38] Matt: Again, I've just been like really at peace with a lot of these so far.

[10:41] Matt: I mean, I guess I'm curious to like I don't know if this is boring for any listeners, but like to just tell him on what some of the matchups are and see what he thinks just off his gut.

[10:51] Matt: Like I'm looking at Borderline Open Your Heart versus Proud Mary.

[10:54] Matt: And I'm like, I don't know which way I would have voted for that.

[10:56] Andrew: So I don't know.

[10:57] Matt: I think the poll just ended on Instagram.

[11:01] Matt: And I think it was like it ended maybe with 50 50.

[11:04] Matt: It was like.

[11:05] Matt: Yeah.

[11:06] Matt: So really for a board.

[11:08] Matt: I think I think Borderline Open Your Heart.

[11:10] Matt: And I was so surprised that I looked every time that I see that like Jenna or Kevin or Heather or whatever watches the story.

[11:19] Matt: I go to see if they voted.

[11:20] Matt: I was shocked to see that Jenna voted for Borderline Open Your Heart.

[11:26] Aman: Oh, so this is like this is like the hundredth time.

[11:29] Aman: I feel like that you've announced that Jenna voted against one of her own songs.

[11:32] Matt: I feel like this is a trend.

[11:34] Aman: Jenna.

[11:37] Matt: I don't know.

[11:38] Matt: I don't know if you're listening to this, but Jenna.

[11:41] Aman: She's not.

[11:42] Matt: Say say whatever you need.

[11:44] Matt: And it's not going to reach her.

[11:47] Matt: Jenna baby.

[11:49] Matt: Come on now.

[11:50] Matt: Listen, that is you and Amber make that song.

[11:55] Aman: Do not.

[11:56] Matt: How Borderline Open Your Heart.

[11:59] Matt: Come on.

[12:00] Aman: It's cute.

[12:01] Matt: No Borderline Open Your Heart made points, of course.

[12:06] Matt: It's a mashup.

[12:07] Matt: It's from, dare I say, the most iconic tribute episode.

[12:11] Matt: It's a it's a cute Fingel duet.

[12:15] Aman: They did.

[12:16] Matt: My only thing is, I think you went over the top in your Proud Mary.

[12:19] Matt: Did you say Proud Mary like could win the Glackett?

[12:21] Matt: Is that something that you said?

[12:22] Aman: I said that Proud Mary could make it really far because I think that because I think the camaraderie episode of the week podcast that I was like looking for a song specifically that represent camaraderie.

[12:35] Andrew: I think "Proud Mary" already did make it really far. And the fact that it's in the top 50 does kind of blow me away. But also, it's like, it's kind of here for all of the other camaraderie songs that couldn't have made it here. So it's like, it kind of represents a lot of—

[12:48] Aman: For the on our ways. Yeah.

[12:50] Andrew: Yeah. I mean, yes. That's exactly what I mean.

[12:54] Matt: Yeah. Awesome. Do we have to say anything else about anything?

[13:00] Aman: Um, I don't know. I mean, I've got very few thoughts when it comes to this show, which is why I'm just kidding.

[13:07] Andrew: As we know.

[13:12] Aman: Yeah. No, they've been some pretty good matchups so far. And I would say overall, like, I haven't been as afraid as I thought I would be going into this round. But again, maybe it's just because expectations are appropriately placed. It's round four.

[13:27] Andrew: Aman, really quickly. I have six competitions that you are not aware of that happened so far in this round. I'm just gonna speed around these competitions and see where you fall. Jump versus Gloria.

[13:50] Aman: Gloria.

[13:52] Andrew: Yes, that's what happened. Baby one more time versus Disco Inferno.

[13:57] Aman: Baby one more time.

[13:58] Andrew: That's sick. Disco Inferno, of course.

[14:01] Aman: What the fuck?

[14:02] Andrew: I would have voted Baby one more time.

[14:04] Aman: No, stop.

[14:05] Andrew: Yeah, sorry. And I love those three. I do. But Disco Inferno, top 50 Glee songs. I mean, Baby one more time is not either, but a little bit more. I'm OK with some Rolos making it through. But not this one. It's crazy that she made it this far.

[14:22] Aman: Anyway, it represents a really fun episode of Glee.

[14:25] Matt: Yeah, OK. Yes. Yes. Britney. Britney is peak.

[14:29] Andrew: OK, this is a crazy competition. Mercy versus Broadway Baby.

[14:38] Aman: Having to remember which one Mercy is just because it's so irrelevant to the Glee top 50. What was the second one? Mercy versus what?

[14:45] Matt: Broadway Baby, Blaine and Rachel.

[14:51] Aman: I'll give it to Broadway Baby.

[14:53] Andrew: But Cinderella, that is what happens. OK, here's the contentious one. Being alive versus it's not right, but it's OK.

[15:00] Aman: Oh, being alive.

[15:02] Matt: Being alive is great.

[15:04] Aman: Oh, wait, say it.

[15:06] Andrew: Yeah, I would have voted for it's not right, but it's OK.

[15:09] Aman: I famously am a big blow low boy. I blow my low all the time.

[15:13] Matt: Oh, wow. Yeah, he's making a callback to previous conversations.

[15:19] Aman: Not below.

[15:20] Andrew: It took us to round four to get to blowing our lows all together.

[15:24] Aman: Yeah, we blow our low on this podcast. OK, Aman. You know, I would, you know, Darren Criss has famously spoken against his Destiny's Child cover, and I believe that he would probably feel similarly about this one. So I'm going to respect his wishes and go for the latter or the former rather. Meanwhile, he's out here singing cough syrup with I forget what the name of the band is called, but—

[15:51] Matt: Right, because not done by Whitney Houston or Destiny's Child.

[15:54] Aman: Just in terms of exactly something that should be on his wheelhouse. Where Darren Criss stands today with some of his covers, he's—

[16:02] Andrew: I did. It was just Pride Weekend in New York, and I was out and the Thunder Push remix of "It's Not Right, But It's OK" played. And in that moment, yeah, I was like, wait a minute.

[16:15] Aman: I made a big mistake voting for being alive because that song is crazy.

[16:22] Matt: It's so fun.

[16:23] Aman: The don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't don't.

[16:28] Andrew: No, yeah, it definitely awakened something within you for sure. Did you see Jussie Smollett perform?

[16:34] Aman: Oh, wait, what? Yeah, I did see him.

[16:35] Andrew: What was he performing?

[16:37] Aman: I don't know. There were two songs from Empire that he did, but the other shit, I don't know. Maybe his own music. I don't know. I was just shocked to see him there, to be honest.

[16:47] Andrew: Crazy.

[16:47] Aman: At a Pride event. Somewhere Only We Know versus The Only Exception. What are you saying, Aman?

[16:51] Aman: Somewhere Only We Know.

[16:54] Andrew: Hands down.

[16:55] Aman: No competition.

[16:57] Andrew: And then the last one I have is Bust Your Windows versus Cough Syrup.

[17:01] Aman: Oh, fuck.

[17:03] Matt: Yeah.

[17:05] Aman: Bust Your Windows, Cough Syrup.

[17:11] Matt: You know, I think on a rare occasion I slide with Matt here. I think I'm going to go Cough Syrup.

[17:17] Andrew: And Andrew voted this way.

[17:19] Aman: I did as well. I'm just like, look, like, I'll be brave enough to say that spot number 51 through 100 is a great landing place for Bust Your Windows.

[17:29] Matt: Yeah.

[17:29] Aman: Yeah, it's not bad at all.

[17:30] Andrew: I agree. Bust Your Windows.

[17:32] Aman: Oh, my God. So in any other glacket, I think solidified top 50.

[17:39] Matt: Yeah.

[17:39] Aman: But, you know, you had a really tough competition. I think like they and they also represent like really like high humor with Bust Your Windows that it's like so silly and in like camp. She threw that brick right through his—

[17:54] Andrew: She got a brick right out of the parking lot.

[17:58] Aman: Where what was that brick doing in that parking lot? She had that brick in her bag and then whereas Cough Syrup is obviously much more grounded and the complete opposite of Bust Your Windows. So I was just like, especially knowing that there are no songs being voted back in right now. I was like, Andrew's about to vote it out and he's going to have every Blaine fan livid in comment sections, group chats everywhere because there's nothing that can be done.

[18:26] Andrew: Everywhere.

[18:28] Aman: Everywhere.

[18:29] Andrew: Worldwide.

[18:31] Aman: Everywhere. OK, are we ready for our first competition? What are we hoping to see? What is the vibe, Aman, of like what kind of song we're hoping to see tonight?

[18:40] Aman: I don't know. I'm afraid because this is round four, like a lot of fat has been trimmed. So I'm just nervous.

[18:50] Andrew: I would rather, you know what? I would rather, for my sake, them be like more group numbers than solos because I feel like getting rid of solos cuts so much deeper than the group numbers. So that's what I want. I want a nice, easy recording today.

[19:04] Matt: You want easy. I think this might be one of our hardest recordings so far. I can't imagine an easy competition in this round, but I mean, Mercy was still here.

[19:17] Aman: Mercy was still here.

[19:19] Andrew: Wait, what do you want, Matt, specifically?

[19:23] Matt: I mean, look, I feel my best after a recording of the Diary Room podcast, after one of our favorites have like gone through. So it's hard to say specifically like what songs I want, but just like I want two songs that I do feel strong love and passion for to make it through so that it's like, OK, at least they're safe in round five and whatever happens next is out of my control until, you know, maybe I get to come back.

[19:47] Aman: It's definitely this one. This one's popping out.

[19:50] Andrew: Oh.

[19:51] Aman: Oh.

[19:52] Andrew: The final, the final FOLO.

[19:57] Aman: The final FOLO.

[19:59] Andrew: Oh.

[20:00] Aman: So. This is scary. Amon, if you had to guess what Finn solo made it the furthest in the Glackett that we're about to watch, what would you say?

[20:16] Aman: It's gotta be me.

[20:18] Andrew: It's gotta be me.

[20:20] Aman: What the?

[20:22] Andrew: Is that a bad one?

[20:25] Aman: Um, that's crazy. Um, oh, wait, it's already playing. OK, fine. It's, it's, of course, Jessie's Girl.

[20:34] Aman: Or Jessie, Stacey's Girl.

[20:38] Andrew: OK, I think that that was like the best time that I've ever had watching that performance. I really loved it. I feel like I usually kind of like have a sour taste in my mouth with that. But this, it really hit.

[20:52] Aman: Why did I think that I'll Stand By You might have still been in?

[20:56] Andrew: How long is that? How long has that been gone?

[20:58] Aman: I'll Stand By You, I can tell you. I think—

[21:01] Andrew: Doesn't feel super recent, I guess.

[21:06] Aman: In round three, it lost to Dog Days Are Over.

[21:11] Andrew: Is that OK to you?

[21:12] Aman: That's OK. Yeah, probably not to hardcore Finn stans. But to me, that is OK.

[21:19] Andrew: So I feel like this is a funny one to have just come up. So, you know that I actually just got to see the great Nicole Lamb in Ann Juliet.

[21:30] Aman: Oh, Nicole Lamb, yes.

[21:32] Andrew: So I had no idea that that was going to be happening. I opened up the Playbill as I took my seat and I said, I know her.

[21:39] Aman: But there's a song in Ann Juliet. Have you seen? You've seen it twice.

[21:42] Andrew: Yeah, it's silly.

[21:43] Aman: It's fun.

[21:45] Andrew: It's dumb.

[21:46] Aman: Complimentary.

[21:48] Andrew: The character of May is named May, right, so that they can sing—

[21:52] Aman: It's going to be May.

[21:53] Andrew: It's going to be May. And we were talking about that after the show. And here we have, of course, the song that is the reason why Jesse is named Jesse. So I don't really like do you have a qualm with like I feel like it gets more egregious as the series continues of like kind of like setting up as we talked about in a previous episode of like setting up these storylines so they could sing specific songs. But like this one with Jesse and Jesse's girl, I'm like, I'll let them have it. They needed to let Finn sing this. And it worked for the context.

[22:27] Aman: I feel like this is like one of his most confident performances ever. Like, I feel like Finn's whole character arc is like, I don't know what I'm doing. What's going on? I'm conflicted about my identity. But this was like him being totally character driven. Just ready to just be like, bitch, yeah, I want Rachel. I want her. I want her. I want her. And I want to sing about it. And the like the intense like eye contact him getting a chance to like flex his drumming skills. Like, this is a solid number. I'm kind of embarrassed that I said it's going to be like 10 minutes ago. That was that was kind of crazy. Can we look back at that and just like admit?

[23:10] Andrew: I've got to be me is really cute, though.

[23:12] Aman: Yeah, it is.

[23:13] Andrew: It is.

[23:14] Aman: But Jessie's girl, I think that like, I think it's really cute. And like, I feel like I've been like, kind of like, starting a new chapter in my Glee watch while watching Finn that I'm like, oh, I finally get him. He's like very endearing.

[23:33] Andrew: He is like a perfectly cast as well. That like, he's like, like kind of just like a realistic. I don't know. Like, I mean, for a man named Finn, I mean, you could just kind of start there. It's just like, yeah, this guy is Finn. Like, this guy is him.

[23:49] Aman: Yes, this is him.

[23:50] Andrew: Yeah, no, I feel like, you know, when they're casting for so many of the other characters that are just much more specific as to what their character attributes are, like, a lot of them, like you're looking for, I don't know, for, say, Santana, I guess that character kind of gets written as they realize, you know, what they have in talent in Naya Rivera. But like, the character of Finn was there from day one, was always supposed to be like the jock guy that discovers he can sing or knows he can sing and, you know, goes along with it, but it's still just like the regular guy. And so just to like, watch Finn as he just gets into each performance, especially in season one, it's like, I mean, obviously, Cory Monteith, you know, doing an incredible job with the whole ordeal.

But I feel like you can just see how much like, like he fits that character so well of just like he discovers he can sing and perform and all this stuff and he likes doing it and he just like gets into it every time. And the emotion is there. You feel how he's feeling every step of the way.

[24:47] Aman: Yeah, no, he's just so I just feel like I really understand how like Goofy, Goofy Ball—

[24:55] Andrew: Goof Ball.

[24:58] Aman: Yeah, Goofy Ball.

[25:00] Andrew: Um, just like this very, very cute as three gay guys. Can we all agree?

[25:05] Aman: Cory Monteith.

[25:06] Andrew: Yeah, cute.

[25:07] Aman: Yeah, I think I could sign off on that.

[25:12] Andrew: Yeah, this is a lot of fun. I'm glad it is still here. I guess I'm not that surprised that it's the last Finn solo to be in, which sounds drastic that that's the case. But like, there's so many group numbers and other numbers that Finn is still a major part of. So like, I'm not terrified of whatever's about to happen. Because even if the last solo ends up leaving, like, he's still all over so much still in the competition. But you'll find this interesting. Okay, the history that this song has, because it does have a very interesting history. Okay, so in round one, it was against "Take a Bow" and "Take a Bow" won. And then in round two, it was also against "Take a Bow" again, but then again, the matchup and "Take a Bow" lost that time "Jesse's Girl" made it through.

Then in round three, it was against "You Keep Me Hanging On." "You Keep Me Hanging On" won, "Jesse's Girl" voted back. So "Jesse's Girl" has been very reliant on the Gleeks to vote back. Yeah, and refuses to die. Yeah, so just keep that in mind that it's been resuscitated. It's gone. Yeah, reincarnated a few times. So okay, I mean, I feel like one thing I'm waiting for will be the ones to finally put it in his coffin. I don't I like I, I really like it. I'm glad that we watched it today. Like I'm excited. I don't know. I'm like feeling very pro "Jesse's Girl" right now. So I want it to go through. We might be "Jesse's Girl." Do we have any final things to say about "Jesse's Girl" before I pull the next song?

[27:08] Aman: No.

[27:09] Matt: No.

[27:10] Andrew: Okay, it's this one. Oh, well. Oh, well. Um, people say that this is I just like every time I think about this song, I think about when I posted in 2021 to the Glee Reddit, I was like, "Hey, guys, I'm about to do a podcast finding the best song on Glee." And the top comment was, "Why have a podcast when you know that the winner is this song?" And we're about to watch it. It's from season two.

[27:54] Aman: Season two.

[27:55] Andrew: That's not what I thought you were gonna say.

[27:57] Matt: What were you gonna say?

[27:58] Andrew: What are you thinking?

[28:00] Aman: I thought that the sentiment to that, whatever was "Rumor Has It" and "Someone Like You" equate this?

[28:06] Andrew: Okay. I think that they're—how would I describe their relationship? Both of those songs? I'm not good. I don't want to say twins. I think that they're cousins, but they're cousins that are like, kind of their head to head for like grandma's favorite. You know what I mean?

[28:27] Matt: This is "Valerie."

[28:28] Aman: It's not "Valerie."

[28:30] Andrew: Whoa, okay. Maybe I was being bold in that. What? I mean, I could just be drawn blank. It's "River Deep, Mountain High."

[28:45] Aman: Oh, okay. Can I start this discussion with a compliment that I don't think this song has received so many compliments over the years as it should? But I think this is a new compliment for this performance. The band, where the band is placed in this performance. I know that we just watched "Jesse's Girl." So I'm like, okay, I'm used to the band kind of just being like, kind of skirted off to the side. I think it's so inspired and creative that they placed the band in a new location. You know what I mean? The band is like, near like the bookshelf and everything. And so I'm like, there I have something new to say about this performance. And there it is. "River Deep, Mountain High." Aman, what are you thinking?

[29:39] Aman: I have a distinct memory of graduating high school and having a graduation party in my grandmother's backyard. A bunch of family and friends stopped by. And I was given control of the music. And I put the song on. And I remember many of the elders that were at the party being like, "Who is that? I love this. Can you send me this song? Can you send me this song?" Yes, yes. And at that point, I knew I was like, okay, cross generational. Yeah. So yeah, I absolutely adore this duet. I can't take enough of it. And it is one of my—it's from one of my favorite episodes. One of—I will die on this hill that "Duets" is one of the best episodes of Glee.

[30:31] Andrew: Oh, it's perfect.

[30:32] Aman: I think you die on the hill that is the best episode of Glee.

[30:35] Matt: I probably would. Yeah, generally. It's so much fun. I mean, I feel like we all probably in our own heads have probably a handful of songs that come to mind when you think of like, what is the best song on Glee? What's the winner of the Glacket? And I understand why this is in people's mind for that. And I'm not like if this walked away the winner, I would be—or danced away with the way that these two are moving. I'd be more than happy. But it's just like not one of them that comes to mind for me. But also "Duets" doesn't sit in that same spot for me that it does for Aman. And maybe also, Andrew, not because I don't like it or anything like that. It's just like we all connected, I guess, with different episodes and different characters and songs and whatnot, I guess, through our first couple of runs with Glee.

And for some reason, I guess this is one of my spots of not being super attached. But I love it every time I watch it. I'm having a good time. Every time I listen, I'm having a great time. And I mean, just talking through like the choreography that has stood the test of time to what, like, oh, every TikTok, every like, yes, the Naya run. Yes. Who's not using it in some form of choreography somewhere along the way in their careers if they want to even have a career, you know, it's just you got to keep that going.

[31:47] Andrew: I will say that, like in the conversation around like "Duets" as an episode, I love this episode so much. The only qualm that I have, like, you think about "River Deep, Mountain High" and you're like, oh my god, this is the peak of the episode. And it is really great when it comes in the episode, it comes out of nowhere. It like it follows—I don't know if you recall, it follows a scene with Bert who just had a heart attack, that like Kurt is like having a conversation with him at home. And it's like a very like somber scene. And then it goes into the da da da da da da da da da da da da. And it just like comes out of nowhere. And then also, like, I just feel like there are certain performances—this and like "Rumor Has It" and "Someone Like You" are like two performances that come to mind that I feel like fall under this category, where it's like, I want the characters within universe to discuss how great the performance was, you know, and they just like—they just like, I understand TV show got a TV show, but like, I want them to be discussing like, "Hey, like, they really ate that" or something. We just watched like history being made. That was iconic. Like if they just kind of like breeze past it as if it was another performance, which I don't think is fair.

[33:06] Aman: Yeah, they can't talk about how good it was because there was a competition they used. They refused.

[33:11] Andrew: But you know what, Aman, I echo everything you just said. And that's okay. You know, at the end of the day, we's be going, we's be going to breadsticks. Come on, have I ever told you? That was my Tumblr at my Tumblr was tumblr.com slash we's be going to breadsticks in high school. I was obsessed with it like the way that she did that line.

[33:32] Aman: Yes. That tracks. I love it.

[33:34] Andrew: Um, I feel like there's like— I feel like there's like, every compliment that has been possibly said about this performance now has officially been said. Um, what do we have anything else to add before we vote?

[33:53] Aman: Sometimes I think about with a song like this or a performance like this. I mean, I think especially at this point in the competition, I'm just thinking through things along the lines of, we know how long it takes to like film these shows and film these scenes. And I just like wonder how many—was this like a two-day shoot of them doing this one performance? Did they get it all done in a day? How many different takes did it get to, to get this level of perfection? Probably not that many because it's the two of them.

[34:19] Andrew: What I understand is that they shot most of these performances. Like, I don't know, I can't think of a performance where they—and please, glisteners, let me know if there's a performance that like was shot over a course of like a few days. But I understand that it's like they shot most of the numbers all within one day. So I mean, I guess that would make sense, especially, but it's probably like the entire day of filming is for the one number, which is just wild to think about. But that's how, you know, TV works, baby. Um, just the rest of the Glee kids got to spend an entire day in my universe watching Quinn just doing this with her wrists. All day long. And Matthew Morrison just going, watching.

[35:06] Aman: Yeah, that's the only thing I don't like about it is when they turn around and like start shaking their ass that Mr. Schue was like, "Oh, like, uh, we don't do that here. Get him banned."

[35:23] Andrew: But yeah, anything, anything final to say?

[35:29] Matt: I mean, look, people are sad out there right now that this matchup is—oh, this is a crazy mashup.

[35:35] Aman: Yeah.

[35:36] Matt: Before we get to a results at all. I mean, one of these songs has to be eliminated and they're not coming back. So that's brutal, brutal, brutal, brutal.

[35:43] Andrew: So I mean, but do you know? I mean, yeah. But the longer that we wait to vote, the longer that blank song "River Deep, Mountain High" is getting my vote, baby.

[36:03] Aman: It's no contest to me. You know, Cory Monteith is cute. We love him.

[36:09] Matt: "Jesse's Girl" needs to be making some points.

[36:15] Aman: Like I said, it's one of his most confident performances ever. Like, it is so determined. It is so just like, Finn is deciding what it is that he wants. And you know, it follows the plot line to a T. She's dating a guy named Jesse. He's singing "Jesse's Girl." So it works. It works. It is a jukebox musical number. But no, not over, not over Santana and Mercedes.

[36:47] Matt: I'm feeling really conflicted. So Matt, the power really is in your hands right now.

[36:55] Aman: If you say so, because I know my vote as well. I'm not feeling conflicted. I also will be going "River Deep, Mountain High." And it's just like, I can be totally happy, or I can be totally at peace, I should say, with this last solo going out. Because like I was saying, before I even knew what it was going to be up against, I think most of Finn's best work are either in duets, or in group numbers, and a lot of them are still in.

[37:26] Andrew: That's a very good point. I really appreciate you saying that.

[37:28] Matt: I'm not like mourning the fact that like, yeah, that like, you know, it's like, okay, the last solo is gone. But like, there's still so much good Finn in the competition.

[37:37] Andrew: Yeah.

[37:38] Matt: And this number, again, 51 through 100. Great landing spot for "Jesse's Girl."

[37:46] Matt Ligouri: Want to do a pity vote for Jessie's Girl, but I don't think that I mean it. I think that my heart is still tying me to River Deep, Mountain High, but just like when they do the, yeah, yeah. That's crazy. When they're dancing around, when they're doing the Naya run. I mean, I feel like obviously people are talking about the Naya run, but also like Amber's also doing that run too. So lest we forget that there are two beautiful women doing that run. I mean, you put the two of them on stage together, in front of a camera together, magic happens. I just like, I'm thinking not to be emo while Aman is like kind of leaking out right now. But I just remember like, there was like a random day that Amber posted to Instagram, like it was like a screenshot.

I think it was a screenshot of them performing this, that after Naya passed that she was like, our numbers were like the best performances on this show. And like, we really ate it up every time. And I was like, oh, this girl is in her feelings right now. And I feel really bad for her. But I'm really glad that she acknowledged, you know, the truth behind y'all together. Oh my god, ate up every single time, which is why I feel like this was the performance that set up Trouble Tones, that it was like, okay, we actually have so much star power here that we actually need to give a subplot to these two together. So yeah, I agree. Oh, I'm about to go watch that episode now, where Mercedes loses the battle to Rachel for the lead in Asian F. That's my number one. Yes, Asian F. I'm about to watch that when we're done.

[39:32] Aman Adwin: Just to continue being emo for a second, something that I was actually thinking about recently was, I don't know how much either of you are still seeing this on Twitter, but the shooting star, like emojis, I don't know if that's the best word for it.

[39:44] Matt Ligouri: Oh, yes.

[39:45] Aman Adwin: Yeah, a lot of people put that in their Twitter handle post Naya's passing. And unless that meaning has changed to anything else, a lot of people still have the shooting star emoji set up in their handle. And I'll see it in like their replies to like a Big Brother, you know, like, I mean, there's allowed to be Glee and Big Brother crossover, we have decreed. But like, I see all the time, people that still have it in there. And I'm just like, I love to still see that the tribute hasn't like, I think I'm sure some people have, but I think that Abby has it. I think that like, um, yeah, she Naya has a shooting star tattoo, which is why, like, certain people put it in their Twitter handles, which I really, I also love to see that I'm like, oh, she lives on. And I feel like, I don't think that many people probably know what it means when they see that. And I'm just like, but we know, I see you. I, yes, I'm happy about it.

[40:45] Matt Ligouri: Uh, all right. Emo moving on. Okay, next, next matchup next competition. Oh, we're just kind of getting kind of hit after hit. Oh my gosh, it's round four. I'm still like shocked though. And just going to be in round six. Like, I can't believe all these songs. Wait, all of these songs are great. Okay. Oh my god. Another season one. Um, you should be really scared, actually. What is it just rip it off? What is it?

[41:19] Aman Adwin: It is not moving fast enough. And you'll get the screen.

[41:22] Matt Ligouri: I'm sorry. You already know what it is.

[41:24] Aman Adwin: Oh, shit.

[41:26] Matt Ligouri: All right. So Mercedes just belting out the entire episode. It is three songs in a row of choir room performances. Oh, hey, we can't get enough this room. Um, it is, of course, and I'm telling you, here we go. You guys do a lot of karaoke, right? We're time to time.

[41:44] Aman Adwin: And I eat this up every single time. I'm just like her. This is like, like the way that this performance goes feels like the shy person that actually has a decent voice going into a karaoke, you know, session. And you're like, I'm just gonna start out chill and like, we're just having fun. And then you get to that part of the song and you're like, everyone's eyes are on me and I can nail this. So I'm going to nail every single one of these notes. And then you see like the Rachel's of the world that are watching like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, damn. Okay. Damn. Yeah. All right. Cool.

[42:17] Matt Ligouri: Uh, I, oh my god. This is I have so many thoughts about this. I, I will say, this is safe space. I have, I have my good and I have my, my critiques. None of the critiques have to do with Amber though. Um, Aman, I want to throw it to you before I get into my mess though.

[42:39] Aman Adwin: I love the performance. I do. I, however, it's not one of my favorite Mercedes performances for two big reasons.

[42:48] Matt Ligouri: What would that be?

[42:49] Aman Adwin: Uh-huh. One, it's very put on. It's very big black girls singing the soulful number, you know, which I know that they use Amber Riley for a lot of the time, but this one in particular feels very put on because of the popularity of Dreamgirls at the time to actually not the biggest fan of a lot of the choices that she makes vocally. Now some of it is chopped up because of, you know, the chopping. Yeah. Yeah. The, the, the editing for the episode length is a little wild. Like I'm like, this is very disjointed. I don't love this. Even in the iTunes release, they get rid of the, um, oh my God, there's a portion of the song. I I'm blanking on it right now. That is like not included even in the, in the iTunes release.

Um, that's even more discouraging. Yeah. Then I'm like, just record the entire thing. Yeah. And also just show the entire thing. Yeah. So now the only, the only reason that I feel as strongly about these vocal decisions as I do now is because we've got the privilege to see Amber Riley as Effie White on the West End and the way that she's saying it then, like, obviously she was much older than she has honed her craft a lot more. So of course it was going to be better, but I'm just like, see, that's, that's what should have been on Glee, not this version. So like, again, like Amber, it's very hard for Amber to sound bad. So I think I just, again, it's about the decisions that she makes vocally, not how she sounds vocally. That's, that's what I meant.

[44:27] Matt Ligouri: Wait, what decisions are you talking about specifically?

[44:29] Aman Adwin: Um, I'm not the biggest fan of the sustained riff at the end instead of like giving us a dramatic run at the, you're going to love me. Like, I don't love that. Um, I don't like the, go ahead. You're, you're familiar, of course, with like, not of course, maybe you aren't. Are you familiar with Jennifer Holliday and Jennifer Hudson?

[44:56] Matt Ligouri: No, no, no, no. Like of Amber Riley's other performance of this number, of like her doing it at like the Olivier. Like, would you say that she's making the same choices at those performances?

[45:07] Aman Adwin: I, I feel like there's so much more fullness in the West End version than there is in this one. Um, there are, there are similarities for sure, but I just think that she, it feels very, like, it's interesting that you say karaoke, Matt, because I feel like this is very much like Amber Riley going to karaoke and being like, all right, let me sing this song for y'all, child. Like, it doesn't, it's not giving like, this is like rooted in her soul in the way that I would love for it to be.

[45:41] Matt Ligouri: And I feel like I sound so hypocritical.

[45:43] Aman Adwin: No, no, I think you're, you're right on the money I'm on because like, they, um, Amber has talked about her audition process for Glee and it's like very true to what you're saying is that she auditioned for Robert Ulrich. I forget the original song that she sang in the audition, but then Robert Ulrich was like, can you do, and I'm telling you, and she was like, I have never sang that song before. And then she sang it. Robert Ulrich was, of course, like blown away. And so like, but like, it's not coming from like a Amber decision choice that it's like, this is a song that I want to be, want to be singing as opposed to I'm being told externally, Hey, this is a song that I'm being told to sing.

And then Robert, as the story goes, Robert, like carded her around to like Ryan and other people involved in the production that it's like, Hey, listen to this girl sing. And I am telling you, which is like what you're saying, where it's like, Oh, like, it's like a very, it's, that's the song that you're expecting someone like Amber Riley to be singing.

[46:39] Aman Adwin: Yeah. So it's messy boots. She still does the damn thing. She does the damn thing. Again, it's very hard for her to sound bad. I don't want people to think that I'm saying that the performance is bad. It's not. It's just no, it's round four. We need to be having these conversations. Yes.

[47:09] Matt Ligouri: Um, Midnight Sun, Zara Larsson, right? Um, do you know where I'm going with this?

[47:16] Aman Adwin: This generation's and I, and I'm telling you, is that what you're saying?

[47:19] Matt Ligouri: So just like, I've spent so much time, like wondering, like, is there any world that I can do the, you know, you know, the part of the song, right? Midnight Sun, like that.

[47:31] Aman Adwin: And you just did it.

[47:33] Matt Ligouri: As I shook my head vigorously to, uh, force that sound out. Um, they're like, I want the mashup is what I was trying to get at here.

[47:44] Aman Adwin: You want a mashup of Midnight Sun and, and I am telling you.

[47:49] Matt Ligouri: Yeah. Just to get the riffs, uh, or whatever that's called together of.

[47:55] Aman Adwin: Kind of like, oh, like I, there's like a thing on TikTok nowadays that I'm like seeing like, um, a lot where it's like end of one song going into the beginning of another. And it's like, that's what we're doing.

[48:06] Matt Ligouri: Yes. Okay. I understand what you're saying.

[48:08] Aman Adwin: We're bringing Glee from 20, uh, 2009 all the way to Glee 2026.

[48:14] Matt Ligouri: Okay. I kind of do want to see it now. Yeah. Midnight Sun. And I'm telling you who would get Midnight Sun if not Amber.

[48:22] Aman Adwin: Oh my God. 2009 to 2026. The first episode of Glee almost came out 20 years ago.

[48:27] Matt Ligouri: That could be a Quinn Amber.

[48:29] Aman Adwin: No, we're talking about the vocals. Quinn is not getting that song. I'm so sorry.

[48:36] Matt Ligouri: She can't get Midnight Sun?

[48:38] Aman Adwin: No, we're comparing and I am telling you to Midnight Sun.

[48:43] Matt Ligouri: Just that one part. I mean, she couldn't probably do that part.

[48:46] Aman Adwin: So how about like, how about like a, how about a Quinn Sadie's, a Quinn Sadie's duet?

[48:51] Matt Ligouri: That would be great.

[48:53] Aman Adwin: That would be great.

[48:54] Matt Ligouri: There we go.

[48:55] Aman Adwin: It's the midnight sun kissing under the red lights, laying on you. That's all Quinn. That's, I'm telling you, that's Quinn. And then she's like, I know my place. I'm not taking over this next portion. Ember, that's all you.

[49:07] Matt Ligouri: And then she passes it over. Yeah.

[49:09] Aman Adwin: Yeah. It's like a baton. I'm handing it over.

[49:13] Matt Ligouri: I, okay. My things about this performance. And I'm telling you, maybe I've said these things before. I'm going to say it again. I don't care. Opening credits, the opening credits showing during. And I'm telling you feels so fucking wrong.

[49:29] Aman Adwin: Heinous that it's like, actually, we don't actually need the credits for this episode. We like, we don't need them.

[49:34] Matt Ligouri: I think it's, it feels wrong to be playing over this performance. And it also like speaks to how jam packed this episode is. And it's like, yes, it's a very good episode. Sectionals is iconic. But I've said this before. I know that I'm like, I think that this is the end of the first 13 episodes. This is episode 13. And this is the same episode that Rachel drops. And so I think that they're trying to like jam this episode with like, okay, Leah does a big number that feels very obvious to Leah. And Amber does a big number that's very obvious to Amber. And it's like, we really want to sell you on like watching the rest of this season. But nonetheless, this series.

[50:22] Aman Adwin: It just feels like very hammed in. I always think that "And I'm Telling You" should have had such a bigger moment in the show, that Mercedes was obviously very deprived of plot lines, that I'm like, I wanted "And I'm Telling You" to feel much more earned than it's like, hey, this is my petition for what song I want to sing at this competition. Let me sing it for you. And we all know that we're not going to hear it again, because you're hearing it right now. So just like, I just want it to be, I just like, I'm very remiss of the Glee that like, would have included "And I'm Telling You" in a plot line that just felt like much more Jennifer Hudson, like actually pleading like, hi, like, you are going to love me sort of thing.

And I wish that we saw that with this. I guess like the forgiveness that I can give, if any, is like, you know, forgiveness I can give for us letting us hear Amber Riley do this, is that like, if they, you know, this was like the finale, right of the first half of the season. And so they're thinking, like, who knows if we're going to get more than this, I think at this point, they probably had a pretty good idea that they were going to be getting more. But like, it's still like, if this happens to be the end, if this happens to be the finale, or whatever, then like, at least we got what we needed to get done here. But I think to Aman's point is like, we're only getting it done or doing what we think we need to do because it's Amber Riley.

But yeah, yeah, they were just I thought about that, too. I was like, it's season one, they don't necessarily know if they're gonna, you know, get renewed, you know, throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. So I understand the choice. It's just, yeah, showcase all of our best talent doing exactly what we think that people want to hear from them. So that's true. Yeah. Yeah. I just I'm still remiss of the version of Glee where I'm like, when this song came, like, season like a random season four episode where it's like, Oh, here it comes. It's like, finally, like, could you imagine like this build up like over the years of like, I can't believe that we haven't heard it? Yeah, saying "And I'm like, Okay, here's the episode that she's finally gonna do it.

It just feels a little bit need. That's early. Yeah. Exactly. So and the last thing I want to say is that I think it's so fun and random the when she's singing and you and you and you that the three close ups that they choose are Naya, Kevin and Jema. I'm like, that's so random. But I love that. It's those three characters. Three. I'm a very, very different. Was it because he was suspended because of the mattress of the mattress thing? Okay. Yeah, yeah. But I just think that's so fun. That's those three characters that it's not the obvious. It's not like Rachel Quinn, you know, whatever. Um, yeah, I just think it's so fun. That's those three. Anyway, do we want to see what it's up against? Oh, this is interesting.

Particularly not. This is very interesting. I'm I'm uh, do we have any I feel like we really talked our ass but this number is going to be a choir room number is all I'm just predicting predicting what's coming next. Okay. Okay. Oh my gosh. Okay. It's gonna be okay. Okay. Oh my gosh. It is another choir room. We did it. We did it Joe. Um, and it's randomly what is it? Ah, it's from the final season. The final season. Aman are you glad that we spin a wheel so you can see like exactly who's up the second that they get the anticipation is like it's stabbing me waiting for the screen to be shared. Oh, oh no. Oh my god.

[54:31] Aman Adwin: It's "Hand in My Pocket / I Feel the Earth Move." Oh, damn. Okay. Um, did we get rid of Brad? Where's he? That's not Brad is canonically not there anymore. Because like the entire band is gone. Well, the band graduated. But Brad, not there. Brad graduated. He was one of the students there. Yeah. Yeah. I also I love the egg shirt so much the eggs and bacon shirt. The eggs and bacon. What it's so divisive. Do you know about this? People really, really are like hit or miss with the eggs and bacon shirt. But they're like, either they love it, which I do. And then there are other people that hate it. I'm on the eggs and bacon Britney shirt. We finally need to hear your opinion. Do you love it? Or do you hate it? been waiting?

[55:24] Matt Ligouri: I'm with Matt on this. I love the shirt. Yeah, it's like I wanted actually like what do you want her to wear? Like I would wear it every down like blouse. I don't know. We've seen worse outfits on this show. Um, honestly, not not to bring her into this. But Mercedes in the last in the last number. I was about her dress. No, no, no, they're dressing crazy. And he's a blue pants. He's in one. No, that was like one of the that was one of like the better outfits she has in season one. Yeah, they had her looking like a fucking I don't even know. Like it was. Yeah, it was bad. This is so heartwarming. Um, "In My Pocket," Matt, start the discourse. What do you have to say?

[56:12] Matt Ligouri: So heartwarming. I love I love the vibes. It's also like, it's so jarring. I mean, season six, we know is like a fever dream. But just like to look around the choir room, and it's like, All right, I'm taking like attendance, like who's here? And why are you here? Like, okay, there's Quinn platinum Quinn. Great. Tina green pockets, pockets, like singing into Quinn's hand, like it's a microphone. And we have some of the new kids but it's just like, where, where is everybody? And what's going on? Just because if you jump into any random episode of season six, any grouping of any Glee characters of all time could be there. So Lauren could be there. Lauren, anybody, but it doesn't matter who's there.

Because Brittany and Santana are having their moment and getting engaged. And they don't care who's there, who's not there, who's at their wedding, their wedding and what they're wearing. You know, breakfast, lunch or dinner, breakfast, breakfast on their shirt. Hey, sure. Um, it's not titled that maybe so. Um, okay, so I just find it interesting that I didn't write a single damn thing down for this performance because I was so entranced while watching it. I'm just very cutesy, Britannia, you know how much you mean to me. I'm just like, and also, oh my god. They filmed season six in the fall of 2014. This episode didn't come out until like January. So I knew that they were going to be doing this mashup for months ahead of time.

And so I to this day, the two top songs on my iTunes library that I've most played are "Hand in My Pocket" and "I Feel the Earth Move" because I was prepping for this mashup. I was drooling for it. I was just like clambering. I was like, I need this performance so bad, preparing every single day. And so I'm just really obsessed not to put the cart before the horse with where I'm voting. But I do feel like, I don't know, like, you know, voting. I think I know. Yeah.

[58:22] Aman Adwin: It's just so much fun. I mean, it's season six. I feel like, you know, you blink and you miss it. Like, I mean, especially thinking back to like a month when we covered it. It's just like, you're just you start and you're actually no, it took a while for us to cover it, because we had to rerecord like six episodes of the podcast at the time. But besides that, wait, what do you need to record? We lost like a handful of episodes because my computer crashed.

[58:45] Matt Ligouri: Oh, great. And I forgot about that. But it made season six longer. But it's still like it's season six and it's like hit or miss if you like it or not, but it's fun. "Jagged Little Tapestry" is one of my favorite episodes. Just my favorite part of this song is the bridge. I just love like Heather Morris gets like a little. Yes. Heather Morris gets a little soul in her voice, like, oh, baby, baby. Oh, darling, darling. I'm like, Heather Morris's best vocals. Heather Morris's best vocals. I think that honestly, like when you have the I love the fine, fine, fine. I love that. Matt, your turn. Favorite part of the number.

[59:31] Aman Adwin: You just said all of them. I mean, they're just like on the piano. They're like sitting up there. They're having fun, like just it's pure happiness the entire way through. And it's just like you can you can tell that these two actors, like obviously, especially for Naya, who's not renewed as like a main character or whatever for season six. Like if they're back, they're back together here. They're having Britannia scenes. And it's just like, let's just enjoy the hell out of whatever time we have left to be Britney and Santana.

[59:58] Matt Ligouri: Yes. Yeah. Oh, I have another one that I feel drunk, but I'm sober and she's doing like she's like maybe holding drinks. Kill me. I am what it all comes down to when it all comes down to people sickly should have ended what season three, four, five, like everyone, everyone that has their stopping points, they would have rather we have so many good gems. Not that not that far. I think that this is kind of like diamond in the in the rough. Season six has some really good numbers. We just sleep on them. It's this and the Jane and Mason number. Yes.

[1:00:42] Aman Adwin: My favorite. That's my favorite. You already won me over. Yes. And they're the same episode. So, yeah, I mean, this one. I think that they they were cooking. This was an idea, Alanis Carrol. I just feel confident that that was an idea that they've had for years, that they were like, OK, finally, let's open the vault. Let's finally use this idea because we have so many great mashups that we could do. I'm just from experience. I usually just let him do his thing and then I know I'm on. No, honestly, every time that you come on, I have so much like every time that I'm editing, I'm like, oh, we are fully having a conversation over.

[1:01:30] Matt Ligouri: I'm on the same. You can't get me started every single episode. Yes. Oh, no. Perfect. Never change. Do we have anything final to say about "Hand in My Pocket / I Feel the Earth Move"?

[1:01:46] Aman Adwin: I have more an overall thought as I will. So now now that you voted, I know which way this is going to go. I did not officially vote. Well, you you made it pretty clear.

[1:01:59] Matt Ligouri: Did he go on? Well, I'll wait till after we vote.

[1:02:05] Aman Adwin: OK, now it's about it's about the result. You think that the result is already locked in?

[1:02:11] Matt Ligouri: I'm on. What are you thinking?

[1:02:14] Aman Adwin: I'm not sure where it's going to go. I know where I'm going to go. I maybe I maybe maybe I was singing while you made it clear what you know. I alluded I alluded to possibly I'm voting for the Britannia duet.

[1:02:29] Matt Ligouri: I'm on. Do you have?

[1:02:34] Aman Adwin: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm definitely giving it to Britannia here. I don't listen to "And I Am Telling You" ever I don't even think I have it downloaded on my phone.

[1:02:41] Matt Ligouri: I don't think that's where I feel like the Gleeks are going to be like, they're going to be fucking pissed.

[1:02:43] Aman Adwin: That's OK. So I mean, that's OK. Once again, I can only speak to my experience of listening to round four episodes, but it's just like I get that these are tough matchups now, like I get that they are. I mean.

[1:02:58] Andrew: Both of these competitions are hard.

[1:03:28] Aman Adwin: But that doesn't mean that it has to be in the top 10 of the podcast. It's incredible. It's still so good. I'll officially cast my vote for the Britannia duet of just like, it's okay that it's going out here. I love that you really sandwiched that in of like officially Britannia duet going through.

[1:03:48] Matt Ligouri: Yeah. Wow. Okay. Oh my god. Why are you trying to act like you weren't saying that you were voting for the Britannia duet? That's what you said.

[1:03:54] Aman Adwin: Because I felt like maybe you'd be going for the for And I'm Telling You and I was like, okay, maybe I could be swayed if we could have some discourse. Obviously, like I feel like you said it 20 to 10 minutes ago, you said what you were voting for.

[1:04:07] Andrew: Listen, I could be swayed. But no, okay, wait. So okay. I always think about And I'm Telling You as like twin sister of Ain't No Way.

[1:04:17] Aman Adwin: And Ain't No Way, twin sister of Ain't No Way.

[1:04:25] Matt Ligouri: Oh, okay. So what are you saying is, are you saying that Ain't No Way is making more points than And I'm Telling You?

[1:04:34] Aman Adwin: Yes.

[1:04:38] Andrew: What do you think the difference is then?

[1:04:46] Aman Adwin: I think, character wise, it is, ooh, because I was about to make a point. But I was like, that also happened in And I'm Telling You. No, say it. I want to hear it, though.

[1:04:54] Aman Adwin: I was gonna say I feel like this is so much more about like, and Ain't No Way is so much more about like, bitch, I'm here. But like proving to Rachel that like, you're not the only one that can sing, but she did the same thing with And I'm Telling You. But I think what like, takes it over the edge for me is that like, I think in season two, she knows much more about like, where she stands, and what she has. Whereas with And I'm Telling You, she literally waits for Rachel to come up to her to tell her, that was really, really good. Like, girl, I know it was good. Leave me alone.

[1:05:28] Matt Ligouri: Like, no, they do the same. They do not to, not to, but they do have a conversation in the car.

[1:05:33] Aman Adwin: And they have no, no, the conversation with in the car was before they have a conversation after Ain't No Way that Mercedes like comes off, like to stage left, and it's like, Hi, Mercedes. Hi, Rachel, like, it's your turn to like do the final number. And Rachel says, final number that was the final number.

[1:05:49] Andrew: And so like that, like, it's very like history repeating itself. But I love what you said that like, yes, that's a season two number that it's like, we've seen how this character is treated for the past season and a half that it's like, we want we feels a little bit more earned. Whereas like, this is like, middle season one, we don't know what the characters like kind of like where the totem pole ranking is yet.

[1:06:08] Aman Adwin: So I also just think that vocally, it's just so much more like her. I love and then so much more like control over her voice like that.

[1:06:19] Andrew: Like that. With the choir to just come on, it will take you there. It will take you to the king.

[1:06:34] Aman Adwin: So I'm, I'm, I feel like I'm only bringing that up because I am like, kind of like, covering my ass a little bit for voting against officially. And I'm telling you, I'm voting against that I'm voting for a hand in my pocket.

[1:06:47] Andrew: And so I'm bringing this up because I, I will say right now I went once Ain't No Way shows their ass on the glacket. I will campaign as hard as I can. Let it be known. I think we're making the right choice. For those that are like feeling very, very upset about this decision. Just search within your soul. You know this to be true.

[1:07:14] Aman Adwin: Finding my overall like thoughts as we get deep, deep, deep into this glacket. Like, if cough syrup had gone out and cough syrup is what I've long considered my favorite song of all time. I don't know if I still hold the exact same opinion, just like all these years later, it's just like my conventional answer for myself. If it had gone out in that matchup, or if it had gone out in this round at all, I would have been okay.

[1:07:37] Andrew: Like I would have, I would have like made a comment about it. But I think I would have been okay just because it's like, I don't need like any, I don't think that song needs any further validation from people who love it and get it. I guess I don't cough syrup to like, yeah, to like know how good it is.

[1:07:52] Aman Adwin: And I feel like the same can be said for And I'm Telling You, it's an incredible number. Amber sounds incredible. It's just like, I know that already. And while I'm just trying to, you know, or all of us are here trying to find the best song on Glee, I think I'm looking for like Glee, like, and, and, and the Britannia number is Brittany and Santana and they're in love and they're having a fun duet and it's Glee.

[1:08:26] Andrew: And it's, it's just more Glee to me than a solo, whether it's cough syrup or And I'm Telling You or Jessie's Girl, they're all really good performances. Maybe Jessie's Girl is the most like in storyline of any of those cough syrup has storyline, but it's not fun.

[1:08:40] Aman Adwin: Um, so like, I'm just like looking more in those directions as we get deeper into the competition, if that's fair, if that makes sense.

[1:08:52] Andrew: Yeah, that makes sense.

[1:08:54] Aman Adwin: Yeah. I want Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee, Glee.

[1:08:58] Andrew: And Hand in My Pocket captures that better for you.

[1:09:02] Aman Adwin: It's Glee and it's, it's season six. It's hidden. It's, it's,

[1:09:03] Matt Ligouri: It's a mashup.

[1:09:08] Andrew: Yeah, I'm, I'm, you know, I love that a season six song can beat season one. I, I personally love that. So we, we, we said it couldn't be done. And here we are.

[1:09:14] Aman Adwin: Um, Oh my God. Well, here we are at the end of the episode in recap.

[1:09:22] Andrew: Um, I wish I wasn't Jessie's Girl because Jessie's Girl lost for the third time. Finally eliminated.

[1:09:30] Aman Adwin: Don't say it like that. Not the F word.

[1:09:33] Andrew: Finally, um, River Deep, Mountain High and around five. I always forget like what round we're in.

[1:09:42] Matt Ligouri: Um, and I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going to, to, to hell.

[1:09:52] Aman Adwin: And you are, you are, you're done.

[1:09:56] Andrew: Wasn't the obvious one. I'm telling you, I'm not going to round five or have you used that?

[1:09:58] Matt Ligouri: Oh, or you couldn't have used that.

[1:10:04] Andrew: Obviously major dummy me. And I'm telling you, I'm not going to round five. Thank you so much.

[1:10:08] Aman Adwin: Um, Hand in My Pocket, I Feel the Earth Move on to round five.

[1:10:11] Andrew: Oh, can we do one more? I don't want to be done.

[1:10:18] Aman Adwin: Um, Matt and Aman, thank you so much for being our colleagues this week. Um, genuinely your friendship means the absolute world to me.

[1:10:28] Matt Ligouri: Um, where can the glisteners glisten to you?

[1:10:34] Aman Adwin: And glisten all over the, uh, the Diary Room podcast. If you're a Big Brother fan, if you're not, you can still just come hang out with us over there, or you can go back to the backlog of, uh, so many hours of the Choir Room podcast. It's all there recaps. It's all there.

[1:10:41] Matt Ligouri: Um, even though, you know, big, uh, Spotify wants to take it down because, you know, music may have been included, but we're not letting them we're fighting back. So there's that, but yeah.

[1:10:51] Aman Adwin: I just remember like the first time that I, I found you guys that like, you had like multiple hours. I remember I listened to all of this multiple hours devoted to Brittany as a character. And I just listened to it like an entire day of my life was just spent going about my life. Just listening to y'all talk your ass about Brittany.

[1:11:14] Matt Ligouri: That was some of the most fun that I think we had with it. It was, uh, after we did all the recaps of all the episodes, we did a full character study of every single character, um, which was like a lot of note-taking for me. I went like back in and, uh, pretty much like Lee Wiki was my best friend to like go back through and remember every plot point.

[1:11:33] Aman Adwin: And then we just talked about it all and realized we did the Quinn one. That was what? Like three hours. That was the first one that we did because you have so many iterations of the same character.

[1:11:40] Matt Ligouri: Yeah. I mean, well, um, so that's all there, but, uh, mostly these days were, uh, again on the Diary Room podcast doing this exact same project, uh, that we so graciously stole borrowed from Andrew, uh, doing it about Big Brother players.

[1:11:52] Aman Adwin: Um, and it's a lot of fun. Although right now you're catching us at a breaky break because Big Brother 28 is starting.

[1:12:03] Matt Ligouri: So you have time to catch up. You have so much time to catch up.

[1:12:08] Aman Adwin: Um, we're in round two, uh, about 11 episodes in, I believe.

[1:12:17] Matt Ligouri: So that's how many, how many contestants are left right now?

[1:12:23] Aman Adwin: Um, uh, I don't have the chart. Uh, I will say a little less than two 50, something like that.

[1:12:27] Matt Ligouri: Yeah. Somewhere. Cause we started with like five 60 something and then we cut that in half. Plus we had a lot of people voted back in cause we're doing that on Patreon.

[1:12:32] Aman Adwin: So yeah. Call it like two 50 plus, um, support on Patreon. What's the, what's that sweet, sweet Patreon link.

[1:12:38] Matt Ligouri: Oh, that sweet, sweet link is a patreon.com slash the Diary Room. You can find it right next to patreon.com slash Gleek of the Week.

[1:12:50] Aman Adwin: Um, I support Gleek of the Week podcast.

[1:12:56] Matt Ligouri: Um, yes, uh, you can find it in the recommendations of the Diary Room on Patreon.

[1:13:00] Aman Adwin: Um, but also I'm on a, the Free Agents podcast talking about the Challenge and the Traders when the Traders is in season. So that's my stuff.

[1:13:06] Matt Ligouri: Aman's, uh, I covered Aman's plug with the Diary Room because he's just a busy boy these days.

[1:13:12] Aman Adwin: Fun.

[1:13:12] Matt Ligouri: Yeah, just so you can catch me at the Diary Room. Like Matt said, I will be helping out over at RHAP for the coverage of BB 28 this summer as well.

[1:13:18] Aman Adwin: Um, so yeah, that's, that's about it for me.

[1:13:22] Matt Ligouri: That's it. And if Andrew watches the entire summer of Big Brother 28, then like we could have an excuse to finally be able to get you on and talk.

[1:13:28] Andrew: It is us. I, you know how I am talking about these shows that like I'm all, either all in or all out. So it's like, it takes a lot for me to, to pick up a new show.

[1:13:41] Aman Adwin: I feel like if you, but you know what, Andrew, just based off of, you know, getting to know you over the past several years, once that Big Brother bug bites you, you would be all in. I just know you would.

[1:13:53] Matt Ligouri: Do you think Big Brother more than Survivor?

[1:14:01] Aman Adwin: Yeah.

[1:14:01] Andrew: Yeah. Why?

[1:14:06] Aman Adwin: Big Brother, you can keep up day to day. Like you can go on your phone and check in. You don't have to like watch the feeds yourself if you don't want to, but scary to me that it's like, I feel like I, if I'm like, I would be like insatiable and be like, Oh my God, I need to know what's happening.

[1:14:16] Andrew: What's the problem with that? Is reality so much more fun? Come on.

[1:14:21] Aman Adwin: I know like you're literally like becoming a nurse right now. How do you handle becoming a nurse and also balancing? Like, I want to see what they're doing in the damn Big Brother house.

[1:14:27] Andrew: Like you, you just get into a rhythm. Like, look, like last summer, what I would do, it would just be like, I would, I would, the minute I would wake up, I would just open up my phone, go through all like the major sites that have all of like the, the major updates.

[1:14:46] Aman Adwin: And then I would go to timestamps that I cared about. I was like, I want to see this conversation for myself. And then I would just watch it. I would do that all within two hours of waking up.

[1:14:54] Andrew: And then you're kind of good. And then you just check your phone and have that fix.

[1:14:58] Aman Adwin: Yeah. And then you just check your phone throughout the day to see, okay, so you know, what's going on. This person said this, like, it's not, it's very, very intense, but like once you find how to make it work, you're fine.

[1:15:09] Andrew: Okay. You, you make space for it. You're holding space.

[1:15:16] Aman Adwin: Okay. Well, thank you so much for being here. I love you both so much. And we'll be back with another awesome, I have a really great lineup of guests coming up. So stay tuned.

[1:15:22] Andrew: Okay. Bye. It's Gleek, Gleek of the Week.