Glee is heading to prom, and it’s not going to be fun, fun, fun, fun for everyone. Based on the previews, Quinn will slap the bejesus out of Rachel, but before we can see that, we have to enjoy a little Rebecca Black and Jonathan Groff.

That’s right, “Prom Queen” is the episode that will feature Artie, Puck and Sam taking on the Internet insta-classic “Friday” by Rebecca Black, which already seems as dated as Oprah’s pre-taped interview with President Obama the day after Osama bin Laden was killed. I was partly hoping the show would pull a Nick Jonas and turn it into something more interesting, but instead, Glee keeps every overly processed morsel of the song intact.

On the other hand, we also get a duet from Lea Michele’s Rachel and Jonathan Groff as Jesse St. James, who returns this week. They sing Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” and it’s about a million times better than when Holly sand Adele, mostly because they actually let Michele and Groff sing it, and both are extremely talented. It would be nice if Glee would do more of this kind of singing and less of the “Friday” style, because at least this is real music, not just computer-generated noise.

Glee‘s big prom episode will also feature versions of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” by Mercedes and Santana, Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely?” by Artie, Christina Perri’s “Jar of Hearts” by Rachel and, in the strangest trio ever, Blaine, Tina and Brittany doing “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You” by Black Kids. As much as I love ABBA, this version is way too similar to the original and adds nothing new. However, Rachel’s solo rocks because they actually let the girl sing. I’m sensing a pattern: I like it when a song is about singing, I don’t like it when a song is about pumping up loud music and doing a sound-alike karaoke version of it.

Check them out.

Glee airs Tuesday at 8pm on FOX.

(Image and videos courtesy of FOX)

John Kubicek

Senior Writer, BuddyTV

John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire DiariesSupernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.