mercfan3

Usher went rogue. Thank you Usher. :)

Honestly, a good majority of this stuff doesn't bother me. Television shows always get this crap wrong. We've seen A setting up the liars, one of them got arrested. A has always been a tech guru, that's just the cannon of the show. And I can even believe that they wouldn't have anything stored or saved, because the girls don't want people to know their secrets. And even that I can believe, because they are high school kids. My issue, is why they didn't march in there with the "Clean slate" message. Like, someone named "A" texted them.

The self insertion is really with the Kurt character. Where the CCs have blended the characters with the actors that play them. And it's really the fantasy. Kurt/Blaine and in extension Chris/Darren is about getting your teenage dream. That's the self insertion. They love the pairing because they love that fantasy. Just like the "making the bad boy fall in love with you" fantasy gets played out in a lot of fiction.

I have to ask why? Was it because he supposedly hates the Blaine pairing? Something Darren has never said out loud.) BTW: Darren got A TON of hate for "coming out as straight." To the point where people were pissed off at him for questions interviewers asked him. (Even when you could tell he was visibly annoyed by the questions. I think the Wendy Williams show, where he got very sarcastic about it, and Kathy Griffin's show..where he flat out ignored her the first two times she mentioned him being straight..suggested he had nothing to do with the questions being asked.) And who do you think would send Darren "hate" for saying he's straight. (It's not too hard to figure out...) I still say it goes back to what each represents to them. Chris is their self insert, Darren is their teenage dream. When either one of them don't fit their fantasies/template, they lash out. I'm not sure people are really an actual fan of either.

Despite the name, Sonic impressed me. She had some problems but the chorus was awesome. Excited to see where Christina takes that. (And Adam knew better than to try and steal her away from Christina..) India is probably the best pure vocalist this season. Glad she's with Xtina. If you are looking for improvement in vocals, you go there..cause you aren't getting it anywhere else. Travis is interesting. But I liked him far more in his package than in his actual performance. I actually really liked Jacob. I don't know how he'll do with Blake though. He probably would have been better off with Adam.

you know what, despite all of the crappy writing, character development, rehashing of old lines, plots..and the ridiculous nature of the show. At the end of the day, Glee always has made me smile and laugh. I know it's not a quality show. But heck, I'll appreciate it for what it is. This episode was no exception to that.

I think they are fans of Darren in that, as you said..they see Darren as the object of their self insert. But not quite Darren fans. Because, if they were..wouldn't they be at Darren's stuff instead of being so obsessed with what Chris thinks of Darren? But I think they are fans of Chris in that they see Chris as themselves. So they ask him about Darren because it makes sense to do so. So in a sense they are fans of both..and in a sense fans of neither..Because they and their significant others receive hate from these so called fans. Granted, it's hard to analyze it. It's just kind of weird. And I think rational fans of the individual actors would like it to stop. And I'll say this, as fans of both..I actually think they have a fun chemistry together. As in, I think they could work together and come up with something really fun..(whether it be hosting a show...or whatever collaborations could come up between the two. Actually, I think they'd be fun in an improv setting together.) But I think the tinhatters ruined that possibility.

Other then it seemed like someone kept trying to kill Jenna. Back when they had the actress available, I thought they were going to go with Jenna and the liars were both getting A messages.

Right. It's a trait of Darren's that I really like. He's also made himself into a "celebrity" that is approachable, and this adds to that.

I think it's what Chris actually said once, which is young women identified with him. Yes, he was a gay male character. But he was an outsider and different, and was often cast aside for other people (rachel). So when he got Blaine (the pretty object of his desire), a lot of young women reacted strongly to that because the character they identified with got his dream guy. It's just like young women inserting themselves into Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey. (Oh look, I found two relationships that Klaine is significantly healthier than.) I don't know that I would describe those people as Darren Criss fans, I'd say they are more fans of the relationship that they connected too. (CrissColfer/Klaine fans.) I think the Darren Criss fans want him for themselves. So Mia just gets hit from two groups. Regardless, It's still just sad and creepy. Darren and Chris couldn't stand next to each other without people going crazy. And it clearly made them both uncomfortable.

Yea, DC doesn't care, seems to proud of what he did with UMich, seems to think the world of the people he went to school with, and wants to continue working with them. I don't see how that could be construed as anything but positive. But fans will be fans, I guess.

Yea, I was just using Bria as an example (a teenager who was a frontrunner then collapsed in the lives) Idol is littered with them. (In fact, Bria's Idol doppelganger pretty much did the same thing. The Voice takes second and third chancers and semi-pros, Idol doesn't. And I think their tendency is to pick talent over experience because at least there's a shot of a great show (and a star, that Idol actually tries to invest in). But, I also think there's a lot of influence by the cast of judges. I know people get cynical about whether the judges or producers pick and the comments that they say, and I think producers obviously have some say. But there was a definite style of contestant groups when Simon Cowell was around (his chosen one, two or three other good ones..and filler.) When Steven Tyler was on (easily the most talented overall seasons..) and there seems to be a pattern with this JLo/Harry/Keith mix..which is..the talent is simply lesser. (But that's for the idol thread anyway...sorry for the OTT.) I really hope The Voice adds one more week of lives. Given the salary, the coaches could add one more live week. edit: Jacquie..yea, she just had high school experience and a few charity things she did. (I thinks he sang in hospitals.) She just lets herself get into what she's singing and really doesn't care. I actually think she can look a little awkard..but she's so into it, that I'd never suggest she changed how she performed because it's so authentic.

I'd personally love it if we got an unholy trinity power trio out of Glee. I doubt if we will, but I'd take Dianna/Naya too.

Honestly, your post was a good representation of what had been happening. My post wasn't aimed specifically at you. It's annoying, when I'm trying to make a point about something. (In this case, that yes..Darren actually does have experience writing for a musical..and that's probably good enough for a Glee version of a Broadway hit.) And things get nitpicked. Like I don't know that Starkids isn't broadway. Or like even the biggest Darren Criss fan doesn't know that he's not quite up to the task of writing an actual broadway hit at the moment. I didn't intend for it to be attacking. Just frustration at what has been occurring.

Kind of. A lot of times you don't get to work with the people that you admire. And for me it's more about it being from a class of students. It wouldn't be as interesting to me if say, Darren and Lea worked together in the future, or Darren and Chris (although heaven help them if they did.). Sure, it would be nice and cute. But there's something that I simply find interesting about a college music program sticking together in the way the UMich kids do. It's probably more personal because I've been a part of a music/theatre program, but it's still something that I find endearing.

I've seen Katzman live too. I love the guy. I love his old band. The use of "ironic" wasn't meant to be shade, perhaps a bad word choice. (I love a lot of that UMich group.) I simply meant that given that Theo is someone that it seems to me that Darren almost idolized in college (he said as much pertaining to the Theo's old band.) And that's it's kind of funny how Darren is the one bringing them on for his projects. And as said above..I actually think that's the cooler bit of the story. Yea, Darren co-wrote the song, but he co-wrote it with Theo. Who is his college buddy. And it's going to be on Glee. That's kind of fun, I think. I actually think it's a little different that a group of alumni have seemed to continue such strong connections and find ways to work together given the nature of the entertainment industry. I will say, that it seems like Theo and Darren are more than just "alumni that work together." They work together a ton. He seems like he's Darren's number one choice for whatever musical needs he has. (Helping to cowrite, and opener, and accompaniment on percussion..etc..)

Exactly. They tell and Mike is dead. Period. Along with likely other people they care about. Probably Caleb. Because he's useful too. And he's a good guy. Can't have that in Rosewood.

See, I noticed a huge difference in Matt the second Blake told him he was gonna win The Voice. He sang Hallelujah, Blake made the comment..and he wasn't good after that. This after being great in virtually every performance prior. Definitely some of it was his voice deteriorating. But I think another part of is was stress and pressure. I'd be willing to bet Bria Kelly would have been better off if she wasn't labeled the front runner before she even got to a live performance. Reagan I think was a different animal..and that was more coaching than it was her not handling pressure..but I won't get into that. If you watch Idol, it's very common for some of the younger less experienced to struggle early on. A lot of times they are more talented than the older people, but they are also very green and the first round of live shows with hectic schedules produce sketchy results. But if they make it past those first few weeks (and a lot of times they do...) they get a lot of momentum and can make it pretty far. With The Voice, they lose people so quickly that a lot of times the younger people get lost in the shuffle because they don't get the second or third chance that Idol gives. With Bria, for example, I'd bet that if you gave her a few live performances to get accustomed to the setting, that she would return to the Bria of her audition and live performances off show. But instead, she struggled twice and was gone. Which once again, is one of the things that was most impressive about Jacquie and Danielle. Danielle never had a bad performance. And Jacquie had two, but one was accompanied with a great performance (the one that got her a record deal, actually) and she also had weeks where she was probably the best of the round. And of course, she'd always bounce back from them. Just really impressed by those two..and I get more impressed every time I see a poor little 16 year old struggle with performing on these shows.

Jesus Christ. Can you all step away from the Darren hate to see the point that was trying to be made. Seriously. It's silly. The venom is ridiculous. Could Darren write a broadway level show right now? Of course he couldn't. Of course he doesn't have the resume to be taken seriously there. Maybe he will in the future. However, we aren't talking about him actually writing a broadway level hit. We're talking about him writing a song for Glee that is meant to be one from a Broadway hit. There's a huge difference. And quite frankly, the fact that Darren is from a very good musical theatre program, and he does have experience writing popular songs from a musical...makes him likely more qualified than anyone else around Glee to write a song song that is supposed to be a broadway hit on Glee. The idea that a song penned by Darren Criss couldn't possibly be capable of writing a song that is supposedly a Broadway hit in the Glee universe..is just silly.

I think it's really cool that Darren includes Katzman in this type of stuff. It's a little ironic, because Katzman was part of a college band (My Dear Disco/Ella Riot) that was pretty big on the UMich campus (and a group Darren was a huge fan of.) But it's always nice to see Darren involving his old classmates, which he does quite often. And honestly, I think that's the bigger story with the co-write..the song was written with Darren's people more than Glee's people.

He hasn't written for Broadway, but he has written pretty much three entire musicals worth of songs, that are immensely popular. Personally, I think Darren is very influenced by Broadway and disney and his songwriting reflects that. It's much easier to see him writing a hit broadway song than it is to see him, say..writing Mercedes's hit single. (And although The Harry Potter Musicals aren't broadway level shows..they are better than anything the Glee writers could come up with...) In fact, if DC ends up having a career in songwriting, it won't surprise me if it's for disney movies. I'm concerned about Take Me To Church...the only character that could do that well is Santana, IMO. And we know it won't be her. I don't want anyone else touching it. Rachel or Kurt could at least do Chandelier. I think every character and actor has crazy fans. And that's not just Glee. And the more popular a character/actor is..the more people will notice the crazies (because there will be more of them.)

My guess is there are two groups at play here. 1. There was a rumor that Chris and Lea were trying to get Darren kicked off the show. That's ridiculous. But it's out there. 2. (Reason why it's ridiculous) Other than Chord, Lea is probably Darren's best friend on the show. So, it's probably the same fans that hate on Darren's girlfriend that hate on Lea.

I think "hate" gets thrown around in different ways. No one is going to talk about how "catty" Darren Criss is, because he's a straight man, and straight men don't get that label. They might suggest some other, equally hateful things. (Such as, degrading his achievements.) But Naya gets the same crap as Lea. And as mentioned above, Chris Colfer even gets some of that suggestion. (When really, him and Darren just don't post stuff with each other on social media because Klaine fans got creepy.)

I dunno, people liked Sam and Santana. "Trouty Mouth" might be the best thing that ever happened on this show. Probably the people who liked Puck with Zizes is the Finchel fans, who just wanted Puck with anyone else.

It's already at that point. Still really hoping for an Usher/Xtina season. Just for the coach performances. Christina brings a fire out of Pharrell that I love, and I'd like to see what she brought out of Usher. (Whose pitches are easily his worst part of his coaching ability.)