Lea Michele’s SuperBowl performance: too sugary or just perfect?

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Unlike CB, I noticed that Christina Aguilera botched the National Anthem, AND I also thought she looked like she was on something. Perhaps that was because Christina had to perform right after Lea Michele’s sober ass performed “America the Beautiful” so the side-by-side comparison was stark. Even though my default Lea Michele position is set on “I want to smack her” I have to admit that Lea was perfect. She was dressed appropriately, she had a backing choir of servicemen and servicewomen (that she out-sang) and she hit every note and knew all the words.

Since I tuned in for the opening and then promptly changed the channel, I was struck by one question: Why didn’t organizers ask Lea to sing the National Anthem? It’s not like Christina’s downward spiral isn’t obvious to everyone, and Lea has a much cleaner and family-friendly image than Xtina. Maybe the SuperBowl organizers just wanted a bit of controversy?

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Screencaps of the performance.

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49 Responses to “Lea Michele’s SuperBowl performance: too sugary or just perfect?”

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  1. Vanessa says:

    “Even though my default Lea Michele position is set on “I want to smack her”

    OMG Kaiser, you kill me!

    SPOT ON!

  2. dee says:

    She totally sucked. If this is the “Glee girl” who is suppose to be so talented, someone is lying. She was terrible.

  3. QUEST says:

    I honestly did not find her to be “all that”. Not bad but, over-rated if you ask me.

  4. tango says:

    She was fine. My first thought though was “the girl sounds like she’s doing musical theater”. I don’t know what it is, but singers on Broadway just have a certain something about them that is obvious.

  5. gabs says:

    She did great. MUCH better than XTina but why didnt amber riley sing too? Im tired of lea getting all the glee spotlight when amber can sing too. Oh well!

  6. JulieM says:

    As I said on the Christina thread, I thought Lea was so-so. She did OK, but not great. From what I saw last night, I’m not sure what all the fuss is about her voice. Very nice voice, lovely in fact, just nothing extraordinary.

    Tango: when you sing on stage, you have to exaggerate your motions and emotions to communicate them to the audience. So, sometimes the performers actions and vocalizations look overly flamboyant. Maybe that’s the certain something you’ve noticed.

  7. spinner says:

    I thought her rendition weak & nothing special. pfffffft.

  8. kelbear says:

    I thought it was mediocre, I could of sang the song.

  9. Franny says:

    I disagree with most posters. I am a big Glee fan but that doesn’t really sway my opinion on this. Lea has one of the greatest voices of that age group. You wouldn’t see Britney, Kesha, or any other autotuned singer (most of them…Black eyed peas???) up there. girl knows how to sing.

  10. Dorothy#1 says:

    I thought it was beautiful. I prefer when singers don’t ruin songs with crappy runs and finger waving.

  11. Tiffany says:

    @ Kaiser. Why did you not write up Christina’s post. You were dead on about what was going to happen and you would have ripped a new one. Like I said on the post, I think she bothed on purpose for press. Lea Michelle nailed her performane and Christina realized she needed more attention. Poor girl, with that kind of talent she has fallen to this.

  12. Marjalane says:

    I can’t stand Lea Michele, but I have to say, she did a great job with America the Beautiful! It was really pretty, and she looked great. I covet that white coat in a big way. Her performance just added an exclamation point to Christina’s shitty one in every way. As I said in the C.A. post, Christina looked high to me too, Kaiser. A lot thinner, but high.

  13. KJ says:

    Oh yeah-she sucked!! Wayyyyyyyy over the top!! Just sing the d@mn song-don’t hack it like you are on an episode of your stupid show!!

  14. flourpot says:

    Only in these days of auto tune and poor musicians could we listen to this woman sing and thing that it was good. She sucked. Hard. And she so didn’t hit every note. 🙂

  15. OriginalGracie says:

    I didn’t watch so I can’t comment, but here is my Mom’s status from Facebook:

    “Was that Lea Michele of Glee that sang before what’s her name at the SuperBowl? Good singer, classy lady!”

  16. OtherChris says:

    I’m just going to confess: I think she’s adorable. She’s no “pretty, pretty princess” but she’s talented and cute.

  17. MSat says:

    This was pretty much a note-for-note ripoff of the Celine Dion version from years ago.

  18. jr says:

    she is going to be huge….

  19. mimi says:

    @ Kaiser

    I thought Christina was high or tipsy also! Like I said in the other post, she almost smacked face first onto cement when she was going in the tunnel- it could have been the heels but after she’d just messed up the anthem it looked a little suspect.

    Lea did better imo and they should have switched places. Christina should have sang with the choir (wouldn’t that have been amazing esp with her voice) and Lea should have done the anthem

  20. jen34 says:

    Can’t stand her, but she did a great job.

  21. guesty says:

    too sugary even tho I didn’t watch her performance. lol.

  22. ghostwriter says:

    I totally agree with #13 and #14. Imo she sucked. Waaay over the top, and as always, trying too hard and forcing her voice to the point that at times it sounded almost thready. Pretty coat, though.

  23. Isabel says:

    I THOUGHT THE SAME THING! My immediate reaction was: “Oh holy shit, seriously? This trick??”

    And then…she really nailed it. Yes, it was over the top, but that’s so typically LM. It was like a Glee version of “America the Beautiful.” Her slappable face was so emotive that it was almost laughable, but she executed it perfectly.

    Especially next to that trailer park reject Christina.

  24. LittleFATMe says:

    I agree 100% – I don’t have any real opinion, I like Glee – but I am not a SUPER FAN of any one person on the show, still she was AMAZING and then Xtina came on. I was like, HELL 2 the NO! She was sloppy, singing and personally. It was sad.

  25. devilgirl says:

    At least she remembered the words and didn’t add a bunch of caterwauling to the mix.

    She was 100% better than the big star of the night, Xtina.

  26. InVain says:

    I’ve never seen Glee…just the thought of a show like that grates on me. But when watching her last night, I could’ve sworn I was watching glee. She sang a little dramatically. Now I know I’m not missing much.

    Also, this may sound mean, but I don’t find her to be that attractive either.

  27. EdithP says:

    I find her a bit shrill, actually.

  28. Cinderella says:

    Lea Michele irritates me too, but hats off to her for putting on a respectable performance.

  29. Amanda says:

    She was pretty bad. GRanted, singing right before Christina Aguilera is not the most enviable position. And, even thought Xtina blew the lyrics, her voice put Lea’s to shame. Lea sounded like an like her voice was echoing around an empty tin can in comparison to Christina’s.

  30. Trippin says:

    Why don’t they try something new, get both damn teams down in the center and have all the guys sing the National Anthem. I love watching how emotional they get when players listen, because they’re so happy and honored to be at the Superbowl. I think it would be wonderful, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it. It’s obvious Christina didn’t practice, they should have called Ms. Spears.

  31. bluhare says:

    Gabs #6: Yes!!!! So with you on Amber Riley. Girl can sing. And sing. And then sing some more.

  32. lucy2 says:

    I thought Lea did fine – she does have a great voice and it was about what I’d expected.
    I’ve decided I’m done watching Glee though, and skipped the post Superbowl episode.

  33. JMO says:

    Well she did get all the words right.. But did anyone else think she needs a little WD40.. she squeeks at the begining and end of every word.. LOL
    It was kind of annoying

  34. garvels says:

    I agree, I am not a big Glee fan, but Lea would have been a better choice to sing the national anthem.

  35. djork says:

    THIS is the young woman who has garnered so much freaking ink from that tv show no one will remember in five years? HER?! This very pretty, perfectly adequate, thoroughly uninspired singer? Sheesh! Kill your televisions!

  36. monique says:

    Lea Michele was shrill. Some of those notes actually hurt.

    I guess her singing claim to fame is that she’s non-offensive but she’s also boring. Christina may have forgotten a line but she came in and showed Lea what a proper note should sound like.

  37. SassyOne says:

    I have never watched Glee, and had previously never heard this gal sing.

    That said, I found it very tough to tolerate, and actually wondered why she was being foisted upon the Super Bowl viewing audience. Did not like it one bit.

  38. jane16 says:

    I thought Lea’s song was beautiful and moving. She has a rare voice. And I love the song America the Beautiful, and wish it was the National Anthem instead of the Star Spangled Banner, which is an extremely odd, difficult song about some obscure battle. America the Beautiful is about all of America.

    I felt sorry for Christina having to come on after Lea and sing the much more difficult SSB; although, I’ve never been a fan of hers and don’t much like the way she does that long warbly thing with her notes.

  39. The Bobster says:

    Horrible, just horrible. Show some respect for your country and don’t go ghetto on us.

  40. jane16 says:

    My 17 yo son is home between classes and saw this thread & wants to leave a comment, so here goes:

    “Lea is gorgeous, mega talented, and actually a very nice person. I don’t know which is more surprising, hating her as a person or saying she can’t sing. Did we all hear the same song? I can’t believe some of these comments, like she’s lindsay lohan or a druggie or something.”

  41. Dingles says:

    I’ll give her credit for not trying to fit every note ever sung into every word (ahem, Christina), but she did that annoying squeak thing before a lot of the words and that’s like nails on a chalk board to my ears. Totally unnecessary.

  42. jurgie says:

    I’ve never watched Glee and now I know why. That was mediocre at best.

  43. jj says:

    @#42. I agree. Mediocre all the way around. And she is sooooo unattractive. Who wants to look at that mess?

  44. Faye says:

    I totally agree with you, Kaiser. I dislike this woman, but she looked good, and sounded great. The song was lovely.

  45. JulieM says:

    Jane16 and her son: Who said Lea Michelle can’t sing? She has a lovely voice. She is just not the iconic singer she seems to think she is. And who hates her or compares her to a druggie? Where did that come from? I heard the same song; she was quite good, but not spectacular. My opinion only, of course. As you both are entitled to yours. Cheers!

  46. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    @djork: How DARE you…spell ‘adequate’ correctly? Don’t you know there’s a WAR on, how the crud is literacy supposed to help? It’s time you and semantics jockeys who presumably accompanied you rode out of this town, you phonics-slinging syntax junkie.

    Oh, my vapours! Okay, let’s brain-run through this I won’t start enforcin’ quite yet because there’s love in my heart and a piece of candy on my table that I want to eat. You have been ade-quite-ly warned, so peace be to you and the scribe you rode in on.

    😉

  47. Newbie says:

    I have NO patience for her, so I didn’t watch the video. And thus, I didn’t see her performance. That’s right. I don’t like the superbowl or sports in general, really. She’s too annoying and believes that she’s too amazing for me to handle. I hope she’s a flash in the pan.

  48. LBeees says:

    Not feeling her voice. Wrong key, too flat. No melody! Give me something sexy, something with feeling.

  49. cici says:

    seriously everyone is sitting here being so damn critical over her performance. the truth is none of you could have done anything close to a performance like that. you are saying her voice was “nothing special” or that her performance was too theatrical.. she was singing at the superbowl! of course it is going to be big and theatrical. for being so young i think she is talented beyond her years, much more talented than anyone else who performed sunday night!