Like a Prayer (song)
"Like a Prayer" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her fourth studio album of the same name. Sire Records released it as the album's lead single on March 3, 1989. Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, the track heralded an artistic and personal approach to songwriting for Madonna, who believed that she needed to cater more to her adult audience. Thematically the song speaks about a passionate young girl in love with God, who becomes the only male figure in her life. "Like a Prayer" is a pop rock song and incorporates Gospel music. It features background vocals from a choir and a rock guitar; the lyrics contain liturgical words. "Like a Prayer" was acclaimed by critics, was a commercial success. It was Madonna's seventh number-one single on the United States' Billboard Hot 100, topped the singles charts in many other countries, including Australia, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom. Rolling Stone listed "Like a Prayer" among The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time; the music video, directed by Mary Lambert, portrays Madonna as a witness to the murder of a girl by white supremacists.
While a black man is arrested for the murder, Madonna hides in a church for safety seeking strength to go forth as a witness. The clip depicts Catholic symbols such as stigmata, it features a Ku Klux Klan-style cross burning, a dream about kissing a black saint. The Vatican condemned the video, while religious groups protested against its broadcast, they boycotted products by soft drink manufacturer Pepsi. The company allowed her to retain the fee. "Like a Prayer" has been featured on five of Madonna's concert tours, most on the Rebel Heart Tour in 2015–2016. It has been covered by numerous artists; the song is noted for the mayhem surrounding the music video, the various interpretations of its content, leading to discussions among music and film scholars. Along with the parent album, the track has been considered a turning point in Madonna's career, with critics starting to acknowledge her as an artist rather than a mere pop star. Madonna had not recorded any music throughout most of 1988. Following the critical and commercial failure of back-to-back big-budget films, Shanghai Surprise and Who's That Girl, she acted in the Broadway production Speed-the-Plow.
However, the unfavorable reviews once again caused her discomfort. Her marriage to actor Sean Penn ended, leading to the couple filing for divorce in January 1989. Madonna had turned 30, the age at which her mother had died, thus the singer experienced more emotional turmoil, she commented in the March 1989 issue of Rolling Stone that her Catholic upbringing struck a feeling of guilt in her all the time: Once you're a Catholic, you're always a Catholic—in terms of your feelings of guilt and remorse and whether you've sinned or not. Sometimes I'm wracked with guilt when I needn't be, that, to me, is left over from my Catholic upbringing; because in Catholicism you are born a sinner and you are a sinner all of your life. No matter how you try to get away from it, the sin is within you all the time. Madonna understood that as she was growing up, so was her core audience. Feeling the need to attempt something different, she wanted the sound of her new album to dictate what could be popular in the music world.
The singer had certain personal matters on her mind that she thought could be the musical direction of the album. For the title track, Madonna chose topics that until had been personal meditations never shared with the general public, she perused her personal journals and diaries, began considering options. She recalled, "What was it I wanted to say? I wanted the album to speak to things on my mind, it was a complex time in my life." As Madonna considered her alternatives, producers Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray were experimenting with instrumental tracks and musical ideas for her consideration. Both of them wanted to bring their unique style to the project and composed music for the title track. Madonna felt that the music presented to her by Leonard was more interesting, she started to work with him. Once Madonna had conceptualized the way she would interpose her ideas with the music, she wrote "Like a Prayer" in about three hours. Writing and producing it with Leonard, it became the first song developed for the album.
The singer has described "Like a Prayer" as the song of a passionate young girl "so in love with God that it is as though He were the male figure in her life."Madonna's further inspiration for the track came from the Catholic belief of transubstantiation. She introduced liturgical words in the track, but changed the context so that the lyrics had dual meaning. With superficial pop lyrics about sexuality and religion on the surface, the song had different meaning underneath to provoke reaction from her listeners. Leonard explained that he was not comfortable with the lyrics and the sexual innuendos present in it, he gave the example of the first verse for "Like a Prayer" which goes "When you call my name, It's like a little prayer, I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there." Leonard saw that this could refer to someone performing fellatio. Madonna wanted to have gospel music as part of the song, with no instrumentation, only the sound of an organ and her singing. So she started giving away to the bridge being composed.
After the full song was finalized and Leonard decided to record it alongside a choir around September 1988. Both of them met with musician A
Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna
Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna is the debut extended play by the cast of the musical television series Glee. It contains eight songs from the season one Glee episode, "The Power of Madonna", a tribute episode dedicated to American recording artist Madonna, she had sold the rights to her entire catalog of music to Glee in 2009, producers of the show developed the episode called "The Power of Madonna". The accompanying EP released with the airing of the show was called Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna. After its release, it received positive reviews from the critics, who cited Glee's cover version of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" as a stand-out track from the album; the EP debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with 98,000 copies in the first week in the United States, the highest debut for a Glee soundtrack. It reached the top of the chart in Canada, the top ten in Australia and the United Kingdom; the release of the EP saw an increase in the catalog sales of Madonna's albums too.
All songs from The Power of Madonna were released as singles with the exception of "Burning Up". "Like a Prayer" charted highest in all regions, reaching number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100, selling 87,000 digital downloads there. In 2009, Madonna granted Glee the rights to her entire catalogue of music, the producers planned an episode which would feature Madonna songs exclusively. Series creator Ryan Murphy had worked with Madonna in the past, wished to produce a Glee tribute to her. Madonna agreed and "cooperated in every way possible", for the episode "The Power of Madonna"; the episode featured the show's fictional glee club director Will Schuester, portrayed by actor Matthew Morrison, assigning the students in the club to sing Madonna songs because the girls were being subjected to sexist treatment by the boys. Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna, an extended play containing studio recordings of songs performed in the episode, was released on April 20, 2010, its track list encompasses "Express Yourself", a mash-up of "Borderline" and "Open Your Heart", "Vogue", "Like a Virgin, "4 Minutes", "What It Feels Like for a Girl", "Like a Prayer".
The iTunes edition featured a bonus track, "Burning Up", not performed in the episode. Although they were not performed by the show's cast, Madonna's "Ray of Light", "Burning Up", "Justify My Love", "Frozen" were used as backing tracks in the episode; the album has received positive reviews from critics. Fraser McAlpine of the BBC wrote: "At its best, it's a loving homage, he felt that: "As they are photocopies of the originals, the songs depend on the context of the show to make sense. So listening to the album on musical merits alone is close to pointless." AllMusic's Andrew Leahey rated the album 3.5/5, writing: "It's a short release, but it holds its ground against the two albums that preceded it, namely because the material is so compatible with the show itself. Madonna's music has always thrived on drama, it lends itself well to Glee's theater-pop approach, which tends to bring out the cheese in the most serious of songs." Nick Levine of Digital Spy rated the EP 4/5, praising the "imaginative reworking" of "What It Feels Like For a Girl", noting: "if the Glee treatment encourages a few younger pop fans to invest in Madonna's stellar recent hits collection, it can only be viewed as a good thing.
And for those in the know, hearing five members of this likable cast trilling "Like A Virgin" in harmony is so downright gleeful, well, it's like being touched for the first time."Sahar Ghosh from Seattle Post-Intelligencer felt that the best songs on the EP were "What It Feels Like for a Girl" and "Like a Prayer", saying that "the lyrics Madonna sang in 2001 still ring true today, but they acquire a new poignancy as they are sung by the boys in Glee Club. But the best performance of the album is definitely'Like a Prayer'; the talented voices of the Glee cast, backed by a full choir, masterfully carry the lyrics to greater heights." Mikael Wood from Entertainment Weekly gave it an "A" rating, explaining "Sue hilariously revises the spoken-word bit on'Vogue', the Glee guys give a tender reading of'What It Feels Like for a Girl'. Go ahead — open your heart." David Hiltbrand from Star Tribune gave a negative review of the EP saying that "things go downhill as soon as Jane Lynch starts camping up the spoken portion of'Vogue'.
By the time you get to'Like a Virgin' and'4 Minutes', the songs sound overproduced and melodramatic, more show tune than disco." In its first week of release in the United States, Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna reached number one on the Billboard 200, with 98,000 copies sold. It became the first album by the Glee cast to debut at the top of the chart the first number one album consisting of covers of one artist's songs, since the all-ABBA Mamma Mia! The Movie Soundtrack reigned for a week in August 2008. According to Nielsen SoundScan, 75 percent of the sales were due to digital downloads from online stores, it was the Top Digital and Top Soundtrack album of the week. The release of the EP had its impact on Madonna's own catalog, her Celebration greatest hits album re-entered Billboard 200 at number 86 with sales of 6,000. Her total catalog of albums saw a 44 % jump in sales, her digital song download tally got a boos
Justify My Love
"Justify My Love" is a song by American singer Madonna from her first greatest hits compilation album The Immaculate Collection. It was released on October 30, 1990, by Sire Records as the lead single from The Immaculate Collection; the song was written with additional lyrics by Madonna. Chavez was not credited on the song. Chavez settled the terms of which included a songwriting credit. Madonna's vocals are spoken and whispered, but never sung, a style that she employed on her following studio album Erotica. Musically, "Justify My Love" is a trip hop song, with mid-tempo settings and instrumentation; the lyrics of the song are about sex and romance. "Justify My Love" received mixed reviews from older critics, but was critically appreciated by many contemporary critics, noting it as one of Madonna's best songs to date. The song became Madonna's ninth number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, while reaching the Top 10 in several countries including Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Italy and the United Kingdom.
The accompanying music video portrayed Madonna as a woman walking in a hotel hallway, looking distressed and tired from work, until being seduced into having sex with a mysterious man and woman. It caused controversy worldwide, due to its explicit sexual images, was subsequently banned from MTV and other TV networks; the video, which contained imagery of sadomasochism and bisexuality, made its US television debut December 3, 1990 on ABC during its late-night news program Nightline. The song was part of the setlist of three of her concert tours, the most recent being The MDNA Tour in 2012. "Justify My Love" was written and recorded by Ingrid Chavez, Prince's protégé and friend, Lenny Kravitz: he and producer André Betts composed the music while Chavez penned the lyrics based on a poem she had written for Kravitz, read them aloud. Kravitz added the title chorus to the demo while Madonna corrected one line. Chavez was not credited for the song and sued Kravitz in 1992: she received an out-of-court settlement, gained a co-writing credit for her work.
When the lawsuit was settled, Chavez's attorney Steven E. Kurtz clarified that Madonna's additional writing credit was not questioned in the lawsuit; the song was released on November 1990, three days before the release of the compilation. Producer Kravitz used the drums found on Public Enemy's instrumental, "Security of the First World", without consent, in turn based on the end drum break of James Brown's "Funky Drummer", used it as the basis of the song; the song was unusual in that Madonna's vocals are spoken and whispered, but never sung. This style served as a prelude to her next album Erotica, in which she spoke the lyrics on some of the songs rather than singing them. Kravitz and Madonna provided background vocals. Chavez' had provided the "spoken intro" to Prince's 1988 song "Eye No", Chavez' vocal style on her 1991 debut album has been described as "breathy spoken passages". Composed as a midtempo song, "Justify My Love" is a trip hop-inspired song. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing, the song is set in common time, with a tempo of 100 beats per minute.
It is composed in the key of B minor with Madonna's voice ranging from the tonal nodes of A4 to D5. According to Jim Farber from Entertainment Weekly, he described the song's musical beat and Madonna's vocals as "vague, tuneless phrases chanted in Madonna's most breathless voice over a minimal house groove — serves to justify the visuals." In a review for The Immaculate Collection, David Browne said. The song features "heavy breathing with a backbeat." Robert Christgau had compared the song composition to the songs on Madonna's Erotica album. Bill Lamb from About.com said the song is "quite powerful and enthralling in its dreamy, beat heavy celebration of carnal coupling." Madonna and Lenny Kravitz remixed the song and named it "The Beast Within". It was CD maxi-single release in North America; the remix uses only the chorus and certain lines of the original song, with the verses being replaced by passages from the Book of Revelation. Subsequent live concert performances have billed the song as "The Beast Within", a song in its own right, it is now no longer referred to as a remix.
The song first garnered media attention early in 1991 when the Simon Wiesenthal Center accused the song of containing anti-semitic lyrics. They are a Synagogue of Satan". "Justify My Love" received acclaim from many music critics. In a separate review from Allmusic, they gave the song four-and-a-half stars out of five, stating " stands as one of the best of Madonna's long history of well-packaged maxi-singles, further helped set a precedent for the maxi-single market." In a review from Entertainment Weekly by David Browne, he gave it a positive remark saying that people who have a "hoo-haa" surrounding the banning of the single "underestimate her". Rolling Stone had said along with "Rescue Me" are "worthy sensual newies". While reviewing Celebration, Bill Lamb from About.com said "Songs such as "Justify My Love" that sounded a little over-indulgent when first released have worn well over time." Alexandra Capotorto from PopCrush.com said "'Justify My Love' is constructed lovemaking music. While this track might be oozing sex, it's the NSFW music video that caused the most drama " In the United States, "Justify My Love" peaked at number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
It topped the
Borderline (Madonna song)
"Borderline" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her eponymous debut album Madonna. It was released on February 1984 by Sire Records as the album's fifth single. Written and composed by its producer Reggie Lucas, the song was remixed by Madonna's then-boyfriend John "Jellybean" Benitez; the singer used expressive vocals to deliver lyrics about an unfulfilled love. Contemporary critics and authors applauded the song, calling it harmonically the most complex track from Madonna and praising its dance-pop nature. In the United States, "Borderline" became Madonna's first top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number ten in June 1984. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number two after it was re-released as a single in 1986. Elsewhere, the song reached the top 10 or 20 in numerous European nations, while topping the singles chart of Ireland. "Borderline" placed number 4 on Blender magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born," while Time included it on their critics list of "All-Time 100 Songs."
The accompanying music video portrayed Madonna with a Latin-American man as her boyfriend to whom she returns after being enticed to pose and model for a British photographer. The video generated academic interest for its use of power as symbolism; the video, in heavy rotation on MTV, was instrumental in establishing Madonna's early success, she was credited for breaking the taboo of interracial relationships within it. Madonna performed the song on The Virgin Tour and the Sticky & Sweet Tour, in which a punk-rock version of the song was performed. "Borderline" has been covered by artists including Duffy, Jody Watley, Counting Crows and The Flaming Lips. In 1982, Madonna was working with producer Reggie Lucas on her debut album, she had composed three songs when Lucas brought one of his own compositions to the project, calling it "Borderline". However, after recording the song, Madonna was unhappy with the final version, feeling that Lucas used too many instruments and did not consider her ideas for the song.
This led to a dispute between the two. After finishing the album, Lucas left the project without altering the songs to Madonna's specifications. Hence, Madonna brought her then-boyfriend John "Jellybean" Benitez to remix "Borderline" and two other recorded tracks. On hearing the final version, Seymour Stein, head of Sire Records, declared, "I dared to believe this was going to be huge beyond belief, the biggest thing I'd had, after I heard'Borderline'... The passion that she put into that song, I thought, there's no stopping this girl." "Borderline" was presented a change in Madonna's normal vocal tone. A sentimental track, the song talks about a love, never quite fulfilled. According to author Santiago Fouz-Hernández in his book Madonna's Drowned Worlds, the song's lyrics like "Something in way you love me won't let me be/I don't want to be your prisoner so baby won't you set me free" depicted a rebellion against male chauvinism. Madonna used a expressive singing voice, backed by Lucas's instrumentations.
The song is considered to be the best example of the working relationship between Lucas and Madonna, as Lucas pushed the singer to find emotional depth in the song. Although sounding icy, the chorus is contemporary in style, the song's vocal range was used by Madonna as her own personal range through her whole music career, it opens with a keyboard-rich intro played on a Fender-Rhodes electric piano and a catchy synth melody provided by Fred Zarr. Bass player Anthony Jackson doubled Dean Gant's synth bass to provide a solid and more complex texture; the chords in the song were inspired by the 1970s disco sound in Philadelphia, as well as Elton John's musical style. The chord sequences evoke Bachman-Turner Overdrive's song "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", while the synth phases display Madonna's typical musical style; the song is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of D major with Madonna's vocal range spanning from F♯3 to B4; the song follows in the chord progression of D–C–G in the first verse to Bm–Em–A–F♯ in the pre-chorus, changes to A–F♯–Bm–A–E and G–D–A in the chorus.
Author J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his biography of Madonna, called "Borderline", along with "Holiday", the two key recordings that helped establish Madonna's base in the music industry, he added that Madonna's sober voice made the track "as close to an old Motown production as a hit could get in the dance-music-driven eighties." Author Maury Dean, in his book Rock'n' Roll Gold Rush, called the song "echoey boogie" with "saucy-style and come-hither magnetism." Author Rikky Rooksby in his book, The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, called it harmonically the most complex track of her debut album. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic called the song effervescent. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine called the song soulful. Commentator Dave Marsh in his book, The Heart of Rock & Soul, said that the "music's too damn good to be denied, no matter whose value system it disrupts." Journalist Roxanne Orgill in her book, Sister, Shout!, commented that "Borderline" was the song that made Madonna the star that she is.
Thom Duffy of Orlando Sentinel commented that "Borderline" was a song that "introduced Madonna, the helium-induced pop star, a siren kitten."The song placed number 84 on Blender magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born." Time included it on the critic list "All-Time 100 Songs", stating that "Madonna went on to sing more-clever songs, more-showy songs, more-sexy songs. But'Borderline,' her first top-10 hit, captures the essence of her pop appeal, its freshness and vitality." Pitchfork Media considered the song the
Glee (season 1)
The first season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee aired on Fox in the United States. The pilot episode was broadcast as an advanced preview of the series on May 19, 2009, with the remainder of the season airing between September 9, 2009 and June 8, 2010; the season consisted of 22 episodes. The season was executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Dante Di Loreto; the season features the fictional high school show choir New Directions competing for the first time on the show choir circuit, while its members and faculty deal with sex, body image, teenage pregnancy, disabilities and other social issues. The central characters are glee club director Will Schuester, cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, Will's former wife Terri, guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury, glee club members Rachel, Artie, Mercedes, Tina and Quinn; the season received positive reviews from critics. The musical scores used throughout the first season proved to be a commercial success, with over seven million copies of Glee cast single releases purchased digitally.
In 2009, the Glee remake of "Don't Stop Believin'" became their first hit, other covers gained similar worldwide popularity, while the albums topped the charts in Ireland and other countries. The season was nominated for 19 Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, six Satellite Awards and 57 other awards, it was accompanied by four DVD releases: Glee – Pilot Episode: Director's Cut, Glee – Season 1, Volume 1: Road to Sectionals featuring episodes one to thirteen, Glee – Season 1, Volume 2: Road to Regionals featuring episodes fourteen to twenty-two, Glee – The Complete First Season. The season was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan Murphy Television, was aired on Fox in the US; the executive producers were Dante Di Loreto and series creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, with John Peter Kousas and creator Ian Brennan acting as co-executive producers. The first two episodes were co-written by Murphy and Brennan. Murphy and Falchuk directed several episodes, while other episodes were directed by Elodie Keene, John Scott, Paris Barclay, Bill D'Elia and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.
Joss Whedon guest-directed the episode "Dream On". The pilot episode was broadcast as a preview of the season on May 19, 2009; the series returned on September 9, 2009, after three episodes, Fox picked Glee up for a full season on September 21, 2009. The initial run of thirteen episodes aired until December 9, 2009, with the series taking a mid-season break until April 13, 2010. After airing on Wednesdays at 9 pm, the first season moved to Tuesdays in the same timeslot for the final nine episodes; the commissioning of a second season was announced on January 11, 2010, with the production of a third season announced on May 23, 2010. The series features. At the beginning of the season, Murphy intended for the performances to remain reality-based, as opposed to having the characters spontaneously burst into song; as the season progressed, Glee began to utilize fantasy sequences, with paraplegic character Artie imagining himself dancing to "The Safety Dance", six separate characters performing a fantasy version of "Like a Virgin".
The first thirteen episodes of the season averaged five songs per episode. For the final nine episodes, the number of performances increased to eight. Murphy believes that many of the songs were "really fun and successful", however the production team intend to return to five songs per episode for Glee's second season, in order to return focus to the characters; when seeking to attain the rights to songs, early in the season Murphy was requested to send out advanced scripts, but refused, not wanting to set a precedent for record labels having creative involvement in the show. Singer Rihanna offered. Madonna granted the show rights to her entire catalogue, the tribute episode "The Power of Madonna" features Madonna performances exclusively. In total, five soundtracks were released to accompany the first season. Three albums released over the course of the season compiled various songs throughout the series, while two EPs were released on the same day as the respective episodes aired. Journey to Regionals did not release any official singles, while the remaining four albums were released as singles.
Following the completion of the season, the Glee cast performed a 13-date concert tour in North America, Glee Live! In Concert! By its conclusion, tickets for all 13 performances had sold out, grossing $5,031,438; the season had a cast of twelve actors. Matthew Morrison played director of the McKinley High glee club. Jane Lynch played head coach of the cheerleading squad and the glee club's nemesis. Jayma Mays portrayed Emma Pillsbury, a mysophobic guidance counselor with romantic feelings for Will. Jessalyn Gilsig played Will's wife of five years. Lea Michele played the star of the glee club. Cory Monteith portrayed Finn Hudson, star quarterback of the school's football team, blackmai
Sue Sylvester
Sue Sylvester is a fictional character of the Fox musical comedy-drama series, Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Jane Lynch, appears in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009, through the show's final episode, first broadcast on March 25, 2015. Sue was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan. For the show's first four seasons, Sue is the track-suit wearing coach of the William McKinley High School cheerleading squad, a ruthless bully to both students and faculty members alike; because her cheerleading squad competes with the glee club for the school's limited funding, she is at odds with the club and more its director Will Schuester. Sue is the main antagonist throughout the series' run. In the show's fifth season, Sue is made the school's new principal, though she is fired late in the show's sixth and final season. Due to Lynch's initial limited availability, Sue was set to be a recurring character while Lynch was working on a Damon Wayans pilot for the American Broadcasting Company.
When that pilot fell through, Sue became a starring role. The character has been acclaimed by critics. Mary McNamara for the Los Angeles Times has written that "Lynch alone makes Glee worth watching", while Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker has called Sue "the greatest Broadway-musical villain to co-star in a TV series". In recognition of her portrayal of Sue, Lynch won a Golden Globe Award. Throughout the first season of Glee, Sue makes numerous attempts at sabotaging the William McKinley High School glee club, New Directions, she enlists members of her cheerleading squad, the Cheerios, to bring the club down from the inside, conspires to lure away its star member, Rachel Berry. Sue is appointed co-director of the club by Principal Figgins, but soon scales back her involvement when her attempts to turn the club members against director Will Schuester fail. Hoping to ruin the club's chances of winning at the show choir Sectionals competition, Sue gives New Directions' setlist to the directors of their rival glee clubs.
Despite having to devise a new setlist at the last moment, New Directions win by unanimous decision and Sue is suspended by Figgins. She blackmails him into allowing her back, is selected as a judge for the show choir Regionals competition. Sue is ridiculed by the other judges for her lack of fame and underdog status, allowing her to empathize with the glee club members, she votes for New Directions to win, although they place last, she blackmails Figgins into allowing them another year to compete. Sue's personal life is explored over the course of the season, she has a commentary feature on the local television news, "Sue's Corner", which she uses to editorialize on issues such as littering and support for caning. She falls in love with news anchor Rod Remington, but their burgeoning relationship comes to an abrupt end when she discovers he is sleeping with his co-anchor, Andrea Carmichael. In the episode "Wheels", Sue allows Becky Jackson, a sophomore with Down syndrome, to join the Cheerios.
Will is suspicious of her motives so when Sue donates money to the school to fund three new ramps for students with disabilities. It is revealed that Sue's older sister Jean has Down syndrome, lives in a residential care facility. Sue becomes a minor celebrity when Olivia Newton-John invites her to remake the video to "Physical", after a viral video of Sue Jazzercising to the track achieves internet notoriety, she donates her share of the profits to her sister's care home. At the onset of the second season, Sue has formed a truce with Will, together they conspire against the school's new football coach, Shannon Beiste; when Will comes to regret his actions and apologizes, Sue renews their enmity. She is appointed acting principal after having Figgins infected with the flu, but although the school board is so impressed with her performance they make her position permanent, she resigns when they refuse to uphold her expulsion of Dave Karofsky, a bully who had threatened to kill glee club member Kurt Hummel.
After Sue learns that Rod and Andrea have become engaged, she announces her intention to marry herself. Her estranged mother Doris, a retired Nazi hunter, visits in an attempt to make amends for her absentee parenting, but is continuously critical of her daughter, to the point that Sue disinvites her during her wedding ceremony. Doris leaves, Sue and Jean comfort each other. Sue grows disillusioned with cheerleading, in an effort to recapture her love for it, plans to fire cheerleader Brittany Pierce from a cannon during the team's next competitive routine. Brittany and her friends Santana Lopez and Quinn Fabray quit the squad, which loses at Regionals after having won the national title for six straight years. Sue is named Loser of the Year in a televised interview with Katie Couric, has her budget slashed. Depressed, Sue stages a fake suicide, as she hoped would happen, is convinced to temporarily join the glee club to lift her spirits, though she wants to bring down the club from within; when her attempts to do so fail, Sue decides to become the coach of Aural Intensity, one of New Directions' Regionals competitors, deliberately injures their director in order to get the job.
Sue is furious when her club loses to New Directions, punches the announcer in the face. More intent than on destroying the glee club, Sue forms a "League of Doom", which consists of former glee club director Sandy Ryerson, the coach of rival glee club V
United States
The United States of America known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U. S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D. C. and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico; the State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean; the U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The diverse geography and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century; the United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776; the war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties; the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.
By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power; the United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. S. Moon landing; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation, it is a representative democracy.
The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, other international organizations. The United States is a developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for a quarter of global GDP; the U. S. economy is post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, worker productivity.
The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, is a leading political and scientific force internationally. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci; the first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq. to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort; the first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776. The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the'United States of America'".
The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be'The United States of America'". In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence; this draft of the document did not surface unti
