Last year on June 12, 2011 on the television network, Oxygen, a show called “The Glee Project” was conducted by the “Glee” producers to find someone to be the newest member of New Directions. The auditions narrowed it down to twelve-yes, just twelve- young people for the competition. These twelve contenders would complete a homework assignment each week and after performing as a group, casting director, Robert Ulrich would bring in a special star from the show to determine who performed best. When this contender is decided, they get to be mentored by the “Glee” star for the upcoming music video to be made with the other contenders. After critiquing the video and how the contenders partook over the course of making it, Ulrich along with fellow “Glee” producers decide which three make callbacks. When contenders have callbacks, they must perform an assigned song in front of the producers along with the creator, Ryan Murphy. Two will be saved and advance onward while one contender will be sent home and so on until the final four.

In season one of “The Glee Project” there were two winners: Damian McGinty (who now plays Rory Flanagan) and Samuel Larsen (who now plays Joe Hart). Although, Ryan Murphy was impressed by the runner-ups, Lindsay Pearce and Alex Newell, he gave them minor roles (as Harmony and Wade) as well. The next season of “The Glee Project” is set to air on June 2, 2012. Already there are interviews of the new contenders and from this sneak peek it seems like season 2 is going to be a big hit. Damian, Sam, Lindsay, and Alex were all shining stars so I think that the new contenders may need to step up their game a bit to match the previous winners. All in all, the show is a success and I’d suggest on June 2, 2012 you get Oxygen on and watch.

~Maya Wylie