Tonight's Glee Features Sonseed's 'Jesus Is My Friend'
An ex-stripper turned nun, a tea party candidate, and a little bit of Jesus? This ain't no Jerry Springer. It's more like Sue Sylvester's way of saying, "Welcome to Regionals" – where fair play usually means no play.
Tuesday night's episode of Glee takes the kids to the 2011 Western Ohio Regional Championship, where each school will compete for a spot at the Nationals in New York.
So we know just about anything is game. Enter scheming coach Sue, who adds some faith to Aural Intensity's performance when she finds out that one of the judges is a nun by the name of Sister Mary Constance.
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"I appeal to their religious side by having my group perform Sonseed's 'Jesus Is My Friend,' manically," said actress Jane Lynch, who plays Sylvester, to Entertainment Weekly. "The other groups are busy working on sexy songs and I don't think our religious judges will have any of that."
If YouTube is any indication of the hit the song will be at Regionals, the crew at Mckinley High is up for some stiff competition.
The original song written and performed by Sonseed is just shy of five million views currently on YouTube, with a number of parodies and remakes floating about.
The 1970s Christian Pop Band from Brooklyn turned superstars overnight, decades after their formation, when their performance on a religious TV show called "The First Estate" went viral.
Sal Polichetti, on vocals and bass, wrote the song in just ten minutes, hoping to score some time on TV, since all of their original songs excluded his vocals, according to Doug Prinzivalli's dougsploitation.
"Jesus is a friend of mine, He taught me how to live my life as it should be," he wrote. "I've had friends before and I can tell you that he's one who will never leave you flat."
Polichetti shared with Prinzivalli how the band – born-again Christians – came together, with a lot of praying in between, playing Rock-type versions of church songs to churches and college lunch rooms all over Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island.
Eventually, more and more original music became a part of their shows, including the Internet sensation "Jesus is My Friend," which will now be a part of Glee's own remix.
Now how's Mckinley High's group New Directions supposed to fare against those divinely orchestrated tunes?
With a lot of originals themselves.
Per Rachel's request, singing three original songs, including "Loser Like Me" and "Get It Right," New Directions hopes to charm the judges and garner some faith of their own.
The Dalton Academy Warblers will also be included in the lineup, with Kurt and Blaine performing a duet of "Candles" followed by a group rendition of Pink's "Raise Your Glass." Did we also mention "Blackbird?"
Though tonight's episode may feature a Christian band's song, the FOX series itself has been criticized for wallowing in sexuality and sacrilege and stumbling with "sleazy stereotypes," according to Focus on the Family's Plugged In Online review.
The most recent episode featuring actress Gwyneth Paltrow was blasted by the Parents Television Council for some "pretty appalling" scenes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dan Isett, director of public policy for the PTC, commented on Paltrow's sex education song and her seductive dancing. "If you had a real-life instance of that, I think it's fair to say the teacher involved would no longer be a teacher. But somehow it's acceptable for a fictional teacher to do this. Again, this is a real problem."
