From 'Glee' to 'School Of Rock', Our 15 Favorite Fictional Showstopping Choirs and Bands
Everyone loves a good song, dance and show choir, and in the new VH1 show, Off Pitch, we get to follow the highs, lows and completely off key notes of the Grand River Singers. What makes GRS so gosh darn special is that they are a real life Glee-inspired show choir! Glee might have inspired our recent love of show choirs, but film and television have been giving us amazing fictional choirs, bands and girl groups for ages.
Whether it's Glee's New Directions, the Barden Bellas from Pitch Perfect or Santa's Helpers in Mean Girls, fictional choirs and bands have been stealing the show forever. Here are our 15 favorite fictional choirs, bands and girl groups!
[Photo Credit: Glee: Fox; Pitch Perfect: Universal Pictures; Mean Girls: Paramount]
1) Glee - New Directions
If there's one fictional show choir to crush all others, it has to be Glee's New Directions. The show's pilot makes the group's inevitable successes look impossible, until the misfits of New Directions unleash their version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing".
2) Love Actually - Joanna & Sam & Company
Love Actually is arguably the greatest romantic comedy about Christmas of the 21st century and the film's climax is an elementary school's Christmas concert. Moviegoers were probably expecting "Amateur Hour UK", but what they got was a totally professional show--and classic rom com moment.
3) Pitch Perfect - The Barden Bellas
Pitch Perfect put a cappella on the map whenThe Barden Bellas led by Anna Kendrick presented a crazy all-vocal remix of "Price Tag/Don't You (Forget About Me)/Give Me Everything/Just The Way You Are/Party in the U.S.A./Turn The Beat Around" that has been heard in slumber parties the world over this past year.
4) Pitch Perfect - The Treblemakers
Of course, Pitch Perfect didn't just give us The Barden Bellas. Their main competition, The Treblemakers, also blew us away and made making music just with your mouth look like the coolest thing in the world.
Pitch Perfect
— MOVIECLIPS.com
5) Brady Bunch - The Silver Platters
In a classic episode of The Brady Bunch, the kids join forces to enter a talent competition to win $100 in order to buy their parents a silver platter for their anniversary, thereby bringing us "sunshine days" and adorably cheesy solos from Bobby.
6) Dreamgirls - The Dreamgirls
The Supremes are the mother-of-all girl groups and Dreamgirls is the mother-of-all musicals loosely inspired by the Supremes's story. In this scene from the film adaptation, the comely Deena replaces Effie as lead singer and Jennifer Hudson learns if she can take a backseat to Beyonce.
Dreamgirls
— MOVIECLIPS.com
7) Mean Girls - Santa's Helpers
There's just something about Christmas time that brings out the amateur show choir performer in us all. When Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and Lacey Chabert teamed up to do an over-the-top sultry version of "Jingle Bell Rock" in Mean Girls, musical hilarity ensued.
8) Saved By The Bell - Jessie And The Hot Sundaes
After seeing this music video from Jessie And The Hot Sundaes, we completely understand why Jessie Spano felt the need for speed from caffeine pills. We're so excited! We're so scared.
9) Jem - Jem And The Holograms
Was there ever any cooler cartoon band than Jem? (Misfits fans need not reply.)
10) Josie And The Pussycats - Josie And The Pussycats
Like, Jem, Josie And The Pussycats was a classic cartoon depicting the adventures of a kickass girl group. Unlike Jem, Josie And The Pussycats made the leap to live action, the big screen and music videos.
11) That Thing You Do - The Wonders
In That Thing You Do, one great song takes an adorable foursome from Erie, Pennsylvania all the way to the big time. Whether they are the Oneders or the Wonders, these guys are better than the sum of their one hit wonder.
12) The Sapphires - The Sapphires
In the new Chris O'Dowd flick, The Sapphires, four brilliant Aboriginal singers change their tune from Country Western to Soul and find themselves playing for the troops and falling in love in Vietnam.
13) This Is Spinal Tap - Spinal Tap
On a scale from one to ten, Spinal Tap is eleven, and their famous performance of "Stonehenge" is a 2 foot tall disaster.
This Is Spinal Tap
— MOVIECLIPS.com
14) Sister Act - St. Katherine's Choir
Whoopi Goldberg is so good at being a choir director in Sister Act, that she gets the youths back in church again to listen to those sweet soulful sounds.
15) School of Rock - The School of Rock
If one man was going to teach your kids how to rock, wouldn't you want it to be Jack Black?