Cory Monteith
(May 11, 1982-July 13, 2013)
I woke up Monday to some genuinely devasting news. One of my favorite television actors, Glee's Cory Monteith, was found dead in a hotel room in Vancouver. An autopsy report released on Wednesday confirmed what many of us dreaded, Monteith's cause of death was an overdose on a combination of heroin and alcohol. He was only 31. I have been a proud Gleek from day one and part of the reason why I stick with the show through it's ups and downs, is because of the attachment I feel to the show's impressive cast. Cory is one of the cast members I feel the most affinity for. We are close in age. I've watched lots of interviews with Cory, I follow him on Twitter, and he just seems like a very genuine, funny, classy guy. His death leaves a huge void, not just in the cast of Glee, but in the acting community. I think Cory would have gone on to great things. I think his breakthrough role would have just been a springboard, but now we'll never know, and that is incredibly sad.
Cory's claim to fame was the role of awkward, charmingly dumb jock, Finn Hudson. Finn was sort of the show's everyman. He spoke without thinking, putting his foot in his mouth on a regular basis. He made decisions based on how popular things would make him, rather than what he really wanted to do. No matter what, Finn always made the right decision in the end. Even though Cory was the oldest of the cast playing teenagers, his teenage character was the most authentic, even when Ryan Murphy and the other writers thrust him into some pretty ridiculous situations, Cory never lost that realness that casued Gleeks everywhere to root for him.
The loss of Cory is huge and it's still something being felt by Gleek's everywhere days later, including this one. My thoughts are with his family, the cast, and his real life girlfriend, Lea Michele. We all know that Cory struggled with addiction entering rehab at 19 and again last year. We all hoped that he could kick his addiction and everything would end happily. Unfortunately, that's not how things work in the real world. It'll be interesting to see how the writers of Glee choose to handle this very sensitive matter and how the fans react. I have an idea how I would like to see it handled and I will share that in a future blog post. In the meantime, here are some of my all time favorite Finn Hudson performances from the past four years of Glee. Hit me up in the comments with your memories and how Cory Monteith and the character of Finn Hudson impacted your life.
"Jessie's Girl"
This is from season one. One of my favorite songs and a great cover. Finn sings this to Rachel in the episode "Laryngitis" to express how he feels about her dating Vocal Adrenaline's duplicitous, Jessie St. James.
Don't Dream It's Over
Finn was sort of aimless in season 4. One of his best musical moments of the season came during the episode "Swan Song" after the New Directions lost at Regionals, they meet in the courtyard and perform Crowded House's "Dont Dream It's Over."
The Scientist
This was Finn's best musical moment in season 4. It came during the emotional episode, "The Break-Up." This was Monteith at his best. His perfomance before with Lea Michele is Emmy worthy.
Borderline/Open Your Heart
This was from the show's very first tribute episode, "The Power of Madonna." It was a fun flirty duet that showed some versatility from Cory.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
After outing Santana in the season 3 episode "I Kissed a Girl," Finn sings this song to her. It is emotional and sweet. It is a bit cloying, but Cory's rendition raises it above just schmaltz.
Faithfully and the rest of the Journey Medley
When you think of Glee and Journey most viewers think of the song that launced the phenomenon, "Don't Stop Believin'." I prefer this intimate duet between Cory and Lea that launches the medley in the first season finale, "Journey to Regionals."
Cory's claim to fame was the role of awkward, charmingly dumb jock, Finn Hudson. Finn was sort of the show's everyman. He spoke without thinking, putting his foot in his mouth on a regular basis. He made decisions based on how popular things would make him, rather than what he really wanted to do. No matter what, Finn always made the right decision in the end. Even though Cory was the oldest of the cast playing teenagers, his teenage character was the most authentic, even when Ryan Murphy and the other writers thrust him into some pretty ridiculous situations, Cory never lost that realness that casued Gleeks everywhere to root for him.
The loss of Cory is huge and it's still something being felt by Gleek's everywhere days later, including this one. My thoughts are with his family, the cast, and his real life girlfriend, Lea Michele. We all know that Cory struggled with addiction entering rehab at 19 and again last year. We all hoped that he could kick his addiction and everything would end happily. Unfortunately, that's not how things work in the real world. It'll be interesting to see how the writers of Glee choose to handle this very sensitive matter and how the fans react. I have an idea how I would like to see it handled and I will share that in a future blog post. In the meantime, here are some of my all time favorite Finn Hudson performances from the past four years of Glee. Hit me up in the comments with your memories and how Cory Monteith and the character of Finn Hudson impacted your life.
"Jessie's Girl"
This is from season one. One of my favorite songs and a great cover. Finn sings this to Rachel in the episode "Laryngitis" to express how he feels about her dating Vocal Adrenaline's duplicitous, Jessie St. James.
Don't Dream It's Over
Finn was sort of aimless in season 4. One of his best musical moments of the season came during the episode "Swan Song" after the New Directions lost at Regionals, they meet in the courtyard and perform Crowded House's "Dont Dream It's Over."
The Scientist
This was Finn's best musical moment in season 4. It came during the emotional episode, "The Break-Up." This was Monteith at his best. His perfomance before with Lea Michele is Emmy worthy.
Borderline/Open Your Heart
This was from the show's very first tribute episode, "The Power of Madonna." It was a fun flirty duet that showed some versatility from Cory.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
After outing Santana in the season 3 episode "I Kissed a Girl," Finn sings this song to her. It is emotional and sweet. It is a bit cloying, but Cory's rendition raises it above just schmaltz.
Faithfully and the rest of the Journey Medley
When you think of Glee and Journey most viewers think of the song that launced the phenomenon, "Don't Stop Believin'." I prefer this intimate duet between Cory and Lea that launches the medley in the first season finale, "Journey to Regionals."
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