"Popular" is a song from the
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...
-winning musical ''
Wicked''. It is performed by the
Broadway company's original
Glinda,
Kristin Chenoweth, on the original Broadway cast recording. The song is about a popular girl (Glinda) trying to help her unpopular roommate (
Elphaba) become more popular.
Composition
"Popular" was written by the composer
Stephen Schwartz for the first act of the 2003 musical ''Wicked.'' It is sung by the character Glinda. While writing the song, Schwartz imagined one of "those cheerleaders" - "She was the most popular girl at school, and she always went out with the captain of the football team. She was always the homecoming queen, blonde with a perky nose - the whole thing." Schwartz has compared the song to the film ''
Clueless.''
[
In "Popular", Glinda attempts to get Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, to conform to the accepted ideas of beauty and popularity. Schwartz described the lyrics as "empty calories" and shallow. The composition of the song is a more bubblegum sound than the rest of the musical, with Beatles influences. Glinda also ]yodels
Yodels are frosted, cream-filled cakes made by the Drake's company, which was bought by McKee Foods after former owner Old HB went bankrupt. Yodels are distributed on the East Coast of the United States. They are similar to Hostess Brands' Ho Ho ...
on the word "popular" because Schwartz was thinking of Oklahoman Kristin Chenoweth while writing the song.[
]
On stage
Stage performances of "Popular" are often accompanied with outlandish physical comedy
Physical comedy is a form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. It can include slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts, or making funny faces.
Physical comedy originated as part of the Commedia dell'arte. It ...
and improv add-ons by Glinda that highlight her bubbly character and enthusiasm. Examples include exaggerated "hair toss", humorous dance routines, and the hysterical "pillow scream" popularized by Alli Mauzey. Occasionally, Glinda's antics may cause the actress playing Elphaba to lose composure and break character to the amusement of the audience and on-stage performers alike.
Critical reception
Laura Reineke of the blog '' Vulture'' ranked "Popular" as the second-best song from ''Wicked'', calling it "bubbly and refreshingly self-aware" and praising it for showcasing Kristin Chenoweth's singing and comedic talent.
Covers, samples, and alternate versions
"Popular" was sampled in " Popular Song" by English singer Mika
Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include:
People known just as Mika
* Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr.
* Mika (footba ...
featuring American singer Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
from their albums '' The Origin of Love'' (2012) and '' Yours Truly'' (2013), respectively. It was also sampled by the producer Pheelz
Phillip Kayode Moses (born 5 June 1994), better known as Pheelz, is a Nigerian record producer, singer and songwriter who has worked with several artists and musicians, such as Olamide and Tiwa Savage. Born and raised in Lagos, Pheelz is credit ...
in his song "Popular" which features the artiste Vector for his "#A7" audio - visual album.
On July 31, 2013, Kristin Chenoweth performed a lyrically modified version of "Popular" on '' The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', about New York politician Anthony Weiner
Anthony David Weiner (; born September 4, 1964) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 until his resignation in 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he consistently carried the district with at l ...
. In it, she tells Weiner how to be "the right kind of popular," and also his wife to "take a page from Hillary and become independent of her hubby, while einer sportsa chat room chubby." Some of the original lyrics are also present.
In late 2014, Chenoweth included a multilingual version of the song in her live album ''Coming Home''. This new rendition includes lyrics from the Japanese and German versions of the song.
In 2015, the song was covered in the sixth season of the TV series '' Glee''. It was sung by Lea Michele and Chris Colfer as Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel in the episode "2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...
".
Satirical singer Randy Rainbow
Randy Stewart Rainbow (born July 6, 1981) is a Grammy nominated American comedian and singer, best known for spoof interviews that blend political satire and musical parodies from a progressive perspective.
Early life
Randy Rainbow was born ...
made a version called "Unpopular", critical of US Pres. Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
.[Archived a]
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Wayback Machine
References
Songs from Wicked (musical)
Songs written by Stephen Schwartz (composer)
2003 songs
Kristin Chenoweth songs
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