Artists of the Year - Cast of Glee

Cast of Glee

Not since the premiere of American Idol has there been another show that celebrates the joy of music like Glee has been doing for the past three seasons.

Each week the cast of extremely talented young performers has treated us to singing and dancing to music from the great American songbooks of pop and Broadway from the past as well as current popular favorites. This has included covers from Katy Perry (Teenage Dream, Firework, Last Friday Night), Lady Antebellum (Need You Now), and an outstanding mash-up of the Adele songs Rumor Has It and Someone Like You. These covers in the hands of a less talented cast could have been weak and boring, but with the exceptional vocals and charisma of Lea Michelle, Darren Criss and the others they are elevated to new and exciting levels.

All of these songs are not only being enjoyed as part of the show, but fans are buying them each week and they are actually showing very impressive sales totals. So much so, that this year the cast of Glee actually surpassed Elvis Presley with the most career songs charted on the Billboard HOT 100. New songs keep charting every week, so the number just keeps getting higher.

But in 2011, the cast of Glee raised the bar even higher for themselves and moved beyond being just a group of talented singers performing covers. They included original songs in some of the episodes that fit very nicely alongside the other hits on the charts. With the addition of songs like Loser Like Me, Get it Right and Light Up The World, the cast of Glee has very deservedly earned a spot as one of the Artists of the Year for 2011.