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Just a quick follow up on this post, where Philos perform their version of Defying Gravity.

The Band have released an impressive acoustic version onto YouTube to show case their talent.

Check out the video below.

It’s always interesting to see how different people interpret and perform the same piece of music in completely different ways.

In previous posts I’ve written about the song Defying Gravity from the hit musical Wicked, performed in the original Broadway style, in a rock style by Kerry Ellis, and in a Glee Mash up.

And now the group Philos have released their version of Defying Gravity, and again it’s completely different to the other versions as the band have really stamped their own style onto the song. Check them out in the video below.

GLEE is the new comedy show (staring Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jessalyn Gilsig, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Jenna Ushkowitz) shown on E4 in the UK and on FOX in the USA. It tells the story of a high school Glee Club and the day to day trials of it members and tutors.

It’s mix of brilliant Jazzed up versions of popular songs have helped the show become popular and it’s modern take on the musical genre has helped introduce a new generation to musical drama.

In the video below a talented fan of the show performs his version of 2 of the songs from the first season of GLEE, Defying Gravity & True Colours.

In this video Kerry Ellis sings Defying Gravity on broadway.

Kerry also released an Album where she added she own rock style to a number of the Wicked numbers. The Album is produced by Queen’s Brian May and is titled Wicked in Rock.

The video below shows Kerry Recording the song.

2 of the most popular musicals in the theatre in recent years are Wicked and Avenue Q.

Wicked is a thought provoking look at the events leading upto the Wizard of OZ, and follows the adventures of Elphaba, who will go on to become the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, who becomes the Good Witch of the North. Wicked has gone onto to break box office records around the world.

Avenue Q has been described as an adult Sesame Street, and when it closed on Broadway it became the one of the longest running shows of all time. The show features mainly commedy songs, and the show is aimed at adults, whith strong language and adults themes.

As of June 21, 2009, the production had grossed $117,009,852 and had returned profits of $23,500,000 to its investors.

So what happens when the 2 shows combine. In this clip Trekkie Monster as Elphaba and Kate Monster as Glinda sing one of Wicked’s show stopping songs “Popular.”

Did you ever wonder how Elphaba flys during the Defying Gravity number in Wicked?

This video explains it very nicely!!

I found this  high quality clip of the famous defying gravity song from wicked on you tube.

Normally theatre recorded videos are poor quality but this one is quite good, and is reportily of Kerry Ellis performing Defying Gravity with Kendra Kassebaum in Wicked on Broadway on 17/06/2008.

The song is the finale of the first act in Wicked, when Elphaba discovers that the The Wizard of Oz is not the hero she had originally believed him to be. Realising this, and despite Glinda’s arguments, Elphaba vows  to fight the Wizard and his evil schemes. During the song, Elphaba enchants a broomstick to levitate and, she rises above the stage.

The fantastic sequence is brought to life by 60 moving lights, smoke, and wind effects.

Wicked is one if the biggest musical theatre hits of recent years with it’s incredible soundtrack on top of a familiar story based around the events leading upto the Wizard of Oz.

Wicked has broken box office records all over the world and has won a Tony Award

In this clip the fantastic Kerry Ellis sings the Wizard and I.