"Popular" is a song from the Tony Award-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.
| "Popular" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Kristin Chenoweth | |
| from the album Wicked | |
| Released | 2003 |
| Recorded | 2003 |
| Genre | Show tune |
| Label | Decca Broadway |
| Songwriter(s) | Stephen Schwartz |
Composition
edit"It's [the song] meant to be as shallow as possible. And I think that's why people enjoy it, because it's real funny in that way. But it's also political. Glinda refers to the fact that politicians and heads of state get by not because they're particularly smart, but because people like to hang out with them."[1]
—Stephen Schwartz talking about "Popular"
"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.[1]
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 on the word "popular" because Schwartz was thinking of Oklahoman Kristin Chenoweth while writing the song.[1]
On stage
editStage performances of "Popular" are often accompanied with outlandish physical comedy 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
editLaura 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.[2]
Ariana Grande version
edit| "Popular" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Ariana Grande | ||||
| from the album Wicked: The Soundtrack | ||||
| Released | November 22, 2024 | |||
| Recorded | 2023 | |||
| Genre | Show tune | |||
| Length | 4:01 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Stephen Schwartz | |||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| Ariana Grande singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
American singer and actress Ariana Grande performed a rendition of "Popular" as Glinda in the first part of Universal Pictures' two-part film adaptation of the musical, which was released on November 22, 2024.[3] Her version of the song was released the same day on the soundtrack album Wicked: The Soundtrack (2024).[4] It was simultaneously sent to contemporary hit radio in the United States by Republic Records and Verve Records as a single from the album.[5]
Composition
editFor the film version, Stephen Schwartz, music producer Greg Wells, and musical supervisor Stephen Oremus wanted to modify the rhythm of the song from the stage musical version, which Grande resisted. She insisted that the song stay true to the original and that all changes to the song felt like they came from Glinda’s motivations and not her own vocal stylings. According to Schwartz, Grande added "little inventive things within it, but I think they are strongly character-based."[6] The song's climax was also extended with additional key changes and vocal extensions as part of the expansion of the film's plot, while also to showcase the range of Grande's talents.[7] Though initially hesitant about performing the extended ending, after Schwartz explained to her how it matched Glinda's behavior, especially visually on-screen, Grande was convinced and went along with the change "wholeheartedly."[6]
Release history
edit| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | November 22, 2024 | Contemporary hit radio | [5] |
Other versions
edit"Popular" was sampled in "Popular Song" by English singer Mika featuring American singer Ariana Grande (who would later portray Glinda in the movie) from their albums The Origin of Love (2012) and Yours Truly (2013), respectively. It was also sampled by the producer Pheelz 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. 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 [Weiner sports] a chat room chubby." Some of the original lyrics are also present.[8]
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".
Satirical singer Randy Rainbow made a version called "Unpopular", critical of US Pres. Donald Trump.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c David Cote (2005). Wicked: The Grimmerie. Hyperion. pp. 78–79. ISBN 1-4013-0820-1.
- ^ Reineke, Laura (October 30, 2013). "Wicked at 10: Ranking the Broadway Hit's Songs". Vulture. New York. New York Media, LLC. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- ^ Anderton, Joe (9 October 2024). "Wicked movie soundtrack confirms which songs are in first movie". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ Paul, Larisha (9 October 2024). "'Wicked: The Soundtrack': Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo Perform Half of the Musical's Track List". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
- ^ a b Fields, Taylor (November 22, 2024). "Ariana Grande's 'Popular' Gets Nationwide Radio Debut". iHeartRadio. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
- ^ a b Gutterman, Annabel (15 November 2024). "Stephen Schwartz on Wicked's Biggest Songs". Time. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ Sharpe, Josh (November 7, 2024). "'Popular' Number Features Extended Ending in WICKED Movie". Broadway World. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
- ^ Lewis, Hilary (July 31, 2013). "Kristin Chenoweth Sings Anthony Weiner-Inspired 'Popular' Parody (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "UNPOPULAR! - 🎶 Randy Rainbow Song Parody 💄". YouTube. May 2017.
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