After watching GLEE‘s cover of her song “Teenage Dream”, Katy Perry took to Twitter to announce her overwhelming approval: “Oh…My…Gosh… this just brought a sweet tear to my eye! Teenage Dream on GLEE makes my heart go WEEEEE!”
You would have to have a cold soul to not get a kick out of this cover, and it proves once again that there is nothing finite about music: all songs are open to interpretation and transformation (and in this case become better than the original). With its focus on the importance of arts education in our schools and the empowerment of kids who fall outside society’s definition of “normal”, I’m definitely a Gleek. GLEE has won numerous awards including Best Ensemble Cast (Screen Actors Guild, 2010) and the 2010 Emmy Awards for Best Director (creator Ryan Murphy) and Supporting Actress (Jane Lynch). GLEE won the 2010 Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series. Since its debut in 2009, the show has been nominated for 76 industry awards.
TIME magazine recently ranked GLEE as the 8th most important show on television, writing: “When GLEE works — which is often — it is transcendent, tear-jerking and thrilling like nothing else on television.” The cover of “Teenage Dream” is also significant for it marks the beginning of the show’s new focus on the character of gay high school student, Kurt (played by Chris Colfer).
