Those crazy 25-year-old kids on Glee demonstrate once more their uncanny ability to turn any song a delightful shade of vanilla, this time with a meh-tastic version of Adele’s cathartic, hell-hath-no-awesomeness-like-a-woman-scorned anthem “Rolling in the Deep.”
Check out the scene below, in which Jonathan Groff’s Jesse expresses his feelings to Lea Michele’s Rachel the only way he knows how: By awkwardly re-contextualizing someone else’s lyrics:
Is it deeply wrong, or can you roll with Groff and Michele’s take on the song? Tell us what you think in the comments.
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This seems more like a version of John Legend’s take on Adele’s original song.
What’s with the scarf and v neck?
He can wear whatever he wants…. *swoon*
Word Kristina.
vanilla, yes. delightful, not so sure.
Yeah, I thought Haley (AI) owned the song, and these two sing it well but with no fire in their guts, so in this case the vanilla ruined the song.
@Nina, I agree it sounds more like John Legend’s version then the original.
The idea of an acoustic version was excellent. Harkens back to Don’t Stop Believin’ and others at the onset of the show.
The execution however is absolutely atrocious. Groff’s voice (which is usually superb) is absolutely grating.
Agree! I loved Jonathan Groff last season, but watching last night’s episode I just wasn’t a fan. That brief run in college really took its toll on Jesse St. James.
no. just no.
They need to not cast musical theatre people on Glee, they all over emote and it’s awful. It looks like they (Rachel, Jesse, Cheno) are constipated and straining as they sing. This works on stage when you are at a distance it does not work in a close up.
im not wild about it either. it’s a song about a lover scorned so why is jessie singing?
Haley Reinhart does this cover best.
Haley rocks just about everything she does!
Painful. I really need to stop clicking on these Glee posts. Starting…NOW.
me too!
Wow, I almost forgot what these people sounded like without autotune! I like this version; it’s different. Yes, Groff’s voice is a little rough here, but it is fitting. It has character. Besides, that’s what real singing sometimes sounds like. I prefer it to the fake glossed sounds of autotune and vocalizers.
It’s nice to see someone on EW’s staff does not think that Glee is the greatest tv show of all time. I agree this performance was mediocre, but then again so are most of the performances on the show. I love the line about re-contextualizing someone else’s lyrics, thats so true, and its just awkward and not pleasant. This show has really lost its way.
Since when did they let “s–t” through on Glee?
If you look up the lyrics it’s actually “ship” which doesn’t make sense at all.
I LOVE this version. But that’s probably because I totally HATE Adele’s version of this. I know she’s some big deal or something, but you couldn’t pay me enough to listen to her sing!! This version makes it possible for me to listen without wanting to jam something into my ear so I don’t have to hear it anymore. But that’s just me
I’m not sure when you’re the original writer and singer of a song, it qualifies as a version.
I’d rather hear Mercedes or Santana sing this…they have soul!
Not as good as Adele’s version, but I do really like this version. Plus Jon Groff sounds really sexy here imo.
Why does Glee keep trying to do songs by Adele? They just end up embarrassing themselves. You can’t give a song like Turning Tables to Gwyneth Paltrow when she’s not even a singer. It’s one thing to give her easy songs, but that one was by ADELE. NO ONE can come close to Adele. So just don’t try it.
I saw an interview with her today actually and she said that she would be excited for “Glee” to do her songs but she wanted Mercedes to sing them. I think she should get her way considering she’s giving them permission to do her stuff. It was so LAME that Gwenyth sang “Turning Tables” a few episodes back and this one right her is not that much better. Mercedes would’ve blown both of those songs out of the water.
Mercedes or Santana are the only ones on Glee who should try Adele. Or, for a different spin, maybe Artie. I was so happy to hear Mercedes and Santana sing together again though. “River Deep, Mountain High” was probably my favorite performance of the season, and their voices blend beautifully.