Glee: Who's Singing What?
I've decided to do a running tally on who gets to sing what on the third season of Glee. At the end of each season I usually went through the song list and saw who sang the most, who sang the least and what kind of song they got to sing (solo, duet, etc.). This year I decided to just keep track of the songs as we progress through the episodes. For me, there are three main types of songs; Solos, Duets and Group Leads. I define each of them as follows:
Solo: where the character is the only one singing, or is the obvious lead while the other people sing backup. For example, Rachel singing Don't Rain On My Parade is considered a solo. Additionally, I would consider Raise Your Glass a solo since the rest of the Warblers were intended to be backing vocals to Blaine’s “singing”.
Duets: where two or more characters share roughly equal time leading a song or both partners sing together throughout the song. For example, Pretending and Somewhere would be considered duets. Additionally, I would consider Candyman a duet, even though there were more than two singers. Candles is considered an abomination unto the lord.
Group Lead: where the character gets one or more featured lines in a mostly group song. For example, Finn singing in Loser Like Me would be considered a Group Lead. Additionally, Quinn and Kurt in Time Warp are considered Group Leads. *Note: at least two people must sing in the group setting for it to be considered a Group Lead. So, if an entire group is singing but only one singer is featured, it’s considered a solo (Valerie).
Sometimes the definitions can get a little mucky. For example, I would consider Run The World (Girls) to be a solo for Brittany, even though Santana had a featured line of singing. In this case, I would give the Solo to Brittany since she did almost all of the singing and give Santana a tick under Group Lead, despite the fact that it wasn't exactly a group song. Even though Mercedes was featured quite heavily in It's All Over there were too many different people singing too many other lines for me to consider it a solo for her, so she (along with anybody who sang) would get a tick under Group Lead. There is a little bit of wiggle room with these definitions so what you might classify as a duet, I might classify as a group lead.
I will generate two lists after each episode. One will list the characters in order of total number of songs sung with the characters who have sung the most at the top. However, since Solos are generally considered more valuable than Group Leads, I will generate a second list.
The second list is determined by a simple point system:
Solos = 3 points
Duets = 2 points
Group Lead = 1 point
For example, if Finn had 2 solos, 3 duets, and 4 Group Leads he would have a total of 16 points (3+3+2+2+2+1+1+1+1 = 16). So even though Santana may have sung more songs than Blaine, he could appear above her on the list if his total number of points exceeds hers.
I'm only going by the songs that they sing on the show and not by the singles they release to the public. So if a character's part of a song is cut for the show, they won't get credit on this list. Characters will be added to the list as they appear singing on the show.
With those criteria laid out, here is the breakdown of songs, up to Episode 3x18: Choke:
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Who Sang in Episode 3x18?:
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Number of Songs:
Kurt: 2 solos(Music Of The Night, Not The Boy Next Door); 0 duets; 0 Group Lead= 2 songs total.
Puck: 1 solos(School’s Out); 1 duets(The Rain In Spain); 0 Group Lead= 2 songs total.
Santana: 0 solos; 1 duets(Shake It Out); 1 Group Lead(Cell Block Tango)= 2 songs total.
Tina: 0 solos; 1 duets(Shake It Out); 1 Group Lead(Cell Block Tango)= 2 songs total.
Rachel: 1 solos(Cry); 0 duets; 0 Group Lead= 1 songs total.
Merslaydes: 0 solos; 1 duets(Shake It Out); 0 Group Lead 1 songs total.
Finn: 0 solos; 1 duets(The Rain In Spain); 0 Group Lead= 1 songs total.
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Number of Points:
Kurt: 2 solos(Music Of The Night, Not The Boy Next Door); 0 duets; 0 Group Lead= 6 points total.
Puck: 1 solos(School’s Out); 1 duets(The Rain in Spain); 0 Group Lead= 5 points total.
Santana: 0 solos; 1 duets(Shake It Out); 1 Group Lead(Cell Block Tango)= 3 points total.
Tina: 0 solos; 1 duets(Shake It Out); 1 Group Lead(Cell Block Tango)= 3 points total.
Rachel: 1 solos(Cry); 0 duets; 0 Group Lead= 3 points total.
Merslaydes: 0 solos; 1 duets(Shake It Out); 0 Group Lead 2 points total.
Finn: 0 solos; 1 duets(The Rain In Spain); 0 Group Lead= 2 points total.
*Note: The stream I was watching was literally so bad that I managed to get about 10 seconds of The Rain In Spain. I saw Puck get a few lines and Finn get a couple lines, but was there anybody else? Okay, now that I watched the episode again, I can tell that The Rain In Spain was more of a duet with Puck and Finn. I initially gave a point to Blaine and Mike for group lead, but I'm going to take that away because I don't consider their spoken line enough to fit that.
*Note[2]: I know Brittany and Sugar were around for Cell Block Tango and Shake It Out, but since you couldn't hear them sing, I'm not giving them any points
*Note[3]: I'm not giving Mercedes any points for her speaking part in Cell Block Tango.
Honourable Mentions:
what was honourable about this episode tho?
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Songs Ordered By Totals:
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Santana: 1 solos; 17 duets; 10 Group Lead = 28 songs total.
Rachel: 5 solos; 16 duets; 6 Group Lead = 27 songs total.
Merslaydes: 5 solos; 14 duets; 7 Group Lead = 26 songs total.
Blaine: 8 solos; 9 duets; 5 Group Lead = 22 songs total.
Finn: 2 solos; 7 duets; 8 Group Lead = 17 songs total.
Kurt: 4 solos; 6 duets; 7 Group Lead = 17 songs total.
Artie: 2 solos; 6 duets; 6 Group Lead = 14 songs total.
Puck: 4 solos; 4 duets; 3 Group Lead = 11 songs total
Quinn: 1 solos; 4 duets; 4 Group Lead = 9 songs total.
Sam: 2 solos; 4 duets; 2 Group Lead = 8 songs total.
Tina: 0 solos; 3 duets; 5 Group Lead = 8 songs total.
Mike: 1 solos; 2 duets; 4 Group Lead = 7 songs total.
Brittany: 2 solos; 2 duets; 3 Group Lead = 7 songs total.
Will: 3 solos; 2 duets; 1 Group Lead = 6 songs total.
Rory: 4 solos; 0 duets; 1 Group Lead = 5 songs total.
Sebastian: 2 solos; 1 duets; 2 Group Lead = 5 songs total.
Teen Jesus: 0 solos; 3 duets; 1 Group Lead= 4 songs total.
Shelby: 0 solos; 3 duets; 0 Group Lead = 3 songs total.
Harmony: 2 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead = 2 songs total.
Cooper Anderson: 0 solos; 2 duets; 0 Group Lead = 2 songs total.
Muy Guapo: 1 solos; 1 duets; 0 Group Lead = 2 songs total.
Yes I am including Hiram: 0 solos; 2 duets; 0 Group Lead= 2 songs total.
Yes I am including Leroy: 0 solos; 2 duets; 0 Group Lead= 2 songs total.
Sugar: 1 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead = 1 songs total.
Coach Beiste: 1 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead = 1 songs total.
Emma: 1 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead = 1 songs total.
Cult Leader: Curt Mega: 0 solos; 0 duets; 1 Group Lead = 1 songs total.
Cute Latin Stranger Bitch Warbler: 0 solos; 0 duets; 1 Group Lead = 1 songs total.
UNIQUE: 1 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead= 1 songs total.
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Songs Ordered By Points:
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Rachel: 5 solos; 16 duets; 6 Group Lead = 53 points total.
Merslaydes: 5 solos; 14 duets; 7 Group Lead = 50 points total.
Santana: 1 solos; 17 duets; 10 Group Lead = 47 points total.
Blaine: 8 solos; 9 duets; 5 Group Lead = 47 points total.
Kurt: 4 solos; 6 duets; 7 Group Lead = 29 points total.
Finn: 2 solos; 7 duets; 8 Group Lead = 28 points total.
Artie: 2 solos; 6 duets; 6 Group Lead = 24 points total.
Puck: 4 solos; 4 duets; 3 Group Lead = 23 points total.
Sam: 2 solos; 4 duets; 2 Group Lead = 16 points total.
Quinn: 1 solos; 4 duets; 4 Group Lead = 15 points total.
Will: 3 solos; 2 duets; 1 Group Lead = 14 points total.
Rory: 4 solos; 0 duets; 1 Group Lead = 13 points total.
Brittany: 2 solos; 2 duets; 3 Group Lead = 12 points total.
Mike: 1 solos; 2 duets; 4 Group Lead = 11 points total.
Tina: 0 solos; 3 duets; 5 Group Lead = 11 points total.
Sebastian: 2 solos; 1 duets; 2 Group Lead = 10 points total.
Teen Jesus: 0 solos; 3 duets; 1 Group Lead= 7 points total.
Shelby: 0 solos; 3 duets; 0 Group Lead = 6 points total.
Harmony: 2 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead = 6 points total.
Muy Guapo: 1 solos; 1 duets; 0 Group Lead = 5 points total.
Cooper Anderson: 0 solos; 2 duets; 0 Group Lead = 4 points total.
Yes I am including Hiram: 0 solos; 2 duets; 0 Group Lead= 4 points total.
Yes I am including Leroy: 0 solos; 2 duets; 0 Group Lead= 4 points total.
Sugar: 1 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead = 3 points total.
UNIQUE: 1 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead = 3 points total.
Coach Beiste: 1 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead = 3 points total.
Emma: 1 solos; 0 duets; 0 Group Lead = 3 points total.
Cult Leader: Curt Mega: 0 solos; 0 duets; 1 Group Lead = 1 points total.
Cute Latin Stranger Bitch Warbler: 0 solos; 0 duets; 1 Group Lead = 1 points total.
this post is dedicated to the sock in Chris’ underwear