It started 11 months ago, when the premiere episode of Glee was telecast after the American Idol finale. Right away, people started to sing the show's praises. I know: I was one of them.
When the show started airing weekly last September, what had begun as a swell took on the shape of a wave. Now, 14 episodes later, that wave has become absolutely tsunamic.
Glee is, in a word, everywhere. It's become a cultural touchstone, its young performers genuine, shining stars. The re-tooled songs sell so fast on iTunes that if Sony, the show's label, sold only CDs they'd have a hard time keeping up with the demand.
In its short lifespan--less than one season--it's already spawned two chart-topping CDs. And this week a third appeared, devoted to Madonna.
The so-called "Power of Madonna" collection is Glee at its best. Some of the star's best-loved songs have gotten the Glee treatment, and each one's a show-stopper: a sexually frustrated "Express Yourself," a startling mash-up of "Borderline" and "Open Your Heart," "Vogue" as performed by the show's villain Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch), "Like a Virgin" as sung by six of the show's stars, a piping-hot marching band version of "4 Minutes," an all-male "What It Feels Like for a Girl," and "Like a Prayer," complete with a massive choir.
I'm sure there will be more CDs soon; I've already heard there's a fourth on the way, collecting songs used in the last episodes of this season.
Every week, Glee delivers comedy, drama, heartbreak, confusion, kick-ass one-liners, and brilliant re-creations of songs we all know and love. With this week's all-Madonna episode, the show-slash-phenomenon has gone even further, proving once again that success, in Glee terms, is all about making the material (girl) proud.
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