Every Gleek out there has undoubtedly fantasized about starring on the Fox hit. What mega-fan wouldn’t want to sing along with McKinley High’s New Directions? Now 12 talented young people have the chance to do just that. Last night on Oxygen the producers of Glee premiered their new competition series, The Glee Project, which will award one unique individual a seven episode stint on the show. The Glee Project is basically a mini crash course in what it’s like to be on Glee, with the competitors doing weekly battle while they work in the studio, perform group numbers with choreography, make music videos and get assigned a "homework challenge." At the end of each week, three contestants who failed to shine will get a last chance to perform for Glee creator Ryan Murphy, who will then cut one of them from the show and crush their dreams forever. Compelling television!
The two hour-plus premiere began with Glee casting director Robert Ulrich performing a virtual, nationwide search for contestants by soliciting video auditions online. Tens of thousands of videos poured in, all of which Ulrich insisted they watch all the way through — multiple times in many cases. The videos, many of which were very creative and amusing, provided more than enough contestants to choose from, but the producers also conducted casting calls in person throughout the country. While you’d expect these casting calls to be tense, there was a surprising lack of drama. Instead, there was a great sense of camaraderie that engendered mass singalongs, hugs and… friendship. Whether you believe that the auditions were that peaceful or not (I personally can’t imagine there wasn’t at least one diva in the making who threw a hissy fit, but I guess we’ll never know), they introduced us — and the judges — to some talent they might have missed otherwise.
This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2011.