Monday, July 15, 2013

R.I.P. Cory Monteith

In a shocking news, Glee star Cory Monteith was found dead in his hotel room in Vancouver on Saturday.  He was 31 years old.  The Vancouver police released a statement saying that they had ruled out foul play, and will be conducting an autopsy today (Monday).  They also stated that Monteith had returned to his hotel room alone early Saturday morning, and his body was discovered by hotel staff when he failed to check out on Saturday. 

I have been a big fan of Glee since the beginning, and it was great to see Monteith grow as an actor, dancer, and singer as his character, Finn Hudson, also grew.  He was never the best actor, dancer, or singer, but he always came across as emotionally real and accessible.  The consensus around Hollywood is that he is also a very nice guy in real life.  Monteith just recently left rehab for a second time, and he had talked candidly about his struggles with drugs in the past, which led to him going into rehab the first time when he was 19 years old.  He seemed to be doing well recently, being out and about with his girlfriend and Glee co-star Lea Michele, and looking happy and healthy.  What a blow to his family, friends, co-workers, and fans. 

In honor of Monteith, here are my top five favorite Glee musical numbers featuring Monteith by himself or as the lead:

1) "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey, from the episode "Pilot."  The original that started it all.  Finn was the one who rallied the rag-tag Glee club members together to sing this song, and the result was pure gold.

2) "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson, from the episode "Hold on to Sixteen."  Finn and the other boys look and sound amazing on this cover, and won Regionals despite Rachel's suspension after stuffing the ballot box in favor of Kurt for school president.

3) "I'll Stand by You" by the Pretenders, from the episode "Ballad."  One of the early Finn solos, and Monteith knocked it out of the park with his emotional performance after he found out that Quinn was expecting who he thought was his baby.

4) "We've Got Tonight" by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton, from the episode "I Do."  This duet between Finn and Rachel showed their amazing chemistry, especially since the co-stars were already dating in real life by this point.

5) "Faithfully" by Journey, from the episode "Journey."  Another great duet between Rachel and Finn, and the start of the Finchel phenomenon.  Glee producers had mentioned that they thought of Finchel as being the end game, so now it would be interesting to see how they would deal with Monteith's passing. 

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