Did 'Glee' Steal Cover from College Choir?

By Zach Dionne Posted May 20th 2011 10:35AM

'Glee' tunes set to be featured in the season finale hit the internet yesterday, and collegiate a capella aficionados are crying foul over a suspiciously familiar cover of Usher hit 'Yeah!'

"Sources within a cappella circles with ties to [University of Oregon choir] Divisi have confirmed to me that the show did not have the full cooperation from the group and original arranger," reports Alex Rabinowitz at Pop Culture Brain. "'Glee' had reached out to the group and were working on a deal only for it to fall apart at the last minute, with 'Glee' going ahead and doing their version of the song anyway."

'Glee' has notably worked with the Tufts Beelzebubs before, without incident.

Pop Culture Brain dubs the similarities in the two a capella arrangements of 'Yeah!' "eerily similar." The site goes on to write:

"Glee strolls a fine line between honoring music and bastardizing it. The a cappella community is a tight-knit, but not often heard subculture that has benefited greatly from its recent exposure on shows like 'Glee' and 'The Sing Off.' Hopefully network television and a cappella can continue to work together for the betterment of both."

PopEater is awaiting comment from FOX.

What do you think? Listen to the songs here and tell us if you think foul play is afoot, or if covering something a capella is just bound to sound this similar.

Tags: Glee

Comments

(29)

Sunday 22 May

By Joel

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I love "Glee" and except for the bullying storyline with Kurt,
I do find it to be an uplifting,funny and fun show.
As for the "Glee" group New Directions (Lea, Cory, Kevin, etc.)
stealing from another choir,gimme a break!!
I haven't heard either version,but wasn't "Yeah" originally
a rap song? Doing it a cappela sounds pretty cool!!

By ruthless

Watching Glee is like watching those old propaganda films from a certain country in Europe in the 40's.

By Russ

Guys,
Would'nt be the first time "big money" STOLE from us lil guys...................................

By tyler

was this their song? Funny I thought it was a cover of them singing usher's song Yeah! so really they have no rights over it in the first place

By uhcoog37

So sad. This isn't a question of who wrote the song, it's about the rights to the arrangement. This is a DIRECT copy of Divisi's arrangement original performance right down to the ad libs.

By Emily

Finally! Someone has a clue to what's going on. Arrangement guys, not the song.

By godessoo7

BOTH versions hurt my ears! I think it could have been done a lot better by either group. U of Oregon SHOULD be flattered that they were even "talked" to about the arrangment but at the same time...seriously Glee what were you thinking? That version, either one SUCKS!

By jbjg24m

can't stand this show

By allison

I'm not quite sure why this is even an issue. Glee needs to be concerned with whether or not Usher is ok with Glee producers using his music. From what I've seen he seems to be just fine with it. I couldn't agree less with the 'bastardizing' term used as well. Love it or hate it - they have a program that's working.

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