They pass you in the halls. They sit in the same row as you in class. They lurk in your dorm hallways and lobbies. And they may have even attracted your closest friends to their ever-growing, ever-singing numbers: Gleeks.
"Glee," the hit comedy-drama about a high-school show choir's rise to success, has hit a high note with fans and launched a takeover headed by its harmonious horde of followers. It returned to the screen for its second season Sept. 21.
"For last year's season finale, we showed it on a big screen on the lawn in front of Aubie Hall," said Luke Howard, junior in information systems management. "And this year, I'm having a big party with all of my Gleek friends."
Gleek, a term that combines the show's name "Glee" and the social term geek, is a name applied to the truly loyal "Glee"-watchers--the show's millions of weekly viewers.
"I like the term Gleek, and I'm proud to call myself one," said Tony Cook, freshman in software engineering. "I'd say a true Gleek is a fellow who watches the show when it airs, buys the songs off iTunes and grabs the season DVDs as soon as they come out."
Each episode features five to eight songs that range from Kanye West's "Gold Digger" to Wicked's "Defying Gravity" to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin.'"
"I find myself walking down the concourse listening to 'Glee,' and then I start singing out loud," Howard said. "Then, after a while, I find out that other people can hear me."
Students aren't the only ones who can't get the catchy tunes and colorful characters out of their heads.
"I love seeing the way they incorporate the different types of music into the show and how they use that music to tell us something about the characters," said Chase Bringardner, assistant professor of theatre. "I like [the character] Sue Sylvester because I feel like she says what all of us want to say, but don't."
Other than the earworms the show produces on a weekly basis, "Glee" fans are attracted to the show's zany characters.
"There's a character on that show that every single person can identify with: the teacher, the coach, the football player, the diva, the cheerleader, the bad kid, the nerd," said Alexis Scheuermann, freshman in chemical engineering.
Since the premiere of the show, the popularity of show choirs has increased dramatically.
"It wasn't long ago that show choir was more or less unheard of in high schools and colleges," said Samuel Maddox, AU singer and sophomore in architecture. "I really had no connection with show choir before auditioning for the AU Singers. In fact, 'Glee' inspired and excited me to pursue a position with the Singers, and the advent of 'Glee' has helped inspire a show choir at my old high school. It's a great show that's making a great impact."
Members of AU Singers said they agree "Glee" accurately portrays real-life show choir for the most part.
"The diverse personalities on the show are pretty accurate," Maddox said. "We are made up of so many people from so many walks of life, but we all get to come together to do what we love: perform."
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