"The Glee Project" is nearing the end of Season 2, and any one of the remaining contestants could take the prize of a seven-episode arc on "Glee." Still it was shocking this week, when the bottom three was made up of what many believed to be the strongest contenders -- Blake Jenner, Aylin Bayramoglu, and Shanna Henderson. In the end it was Henderson who was sent home, after letting producer Ryan Murphy know who she thought should have been eliminated.
Shanna Henderson was one of the best
Henderson has consistently been one of the strongest performers of the series and was not put in the bottom three until this episode. But never having been one of the weakest ended up being a distinct disadvantage to Henderson. Murphy is looking to hear the personal stories of the contestants. He needs to discover something about them that he can turn into a character on "Glee." But the last chance performances are the only time the players get to be in front of Murphy and expose their vulnerable sides to him. Both Bayramoglu and Jenner have had the opportunity to let Murphy know who they are.
Henderson on the other hand had not, and she felt as though Bayramoglu's story resonated with Murphy more. The Muslim-American pleaded with the "Glee" producer telling him that she wants to be a role model for young girls like her all over the world and saying that the show is her way to do that.
While Bayramoglu's story inspired Murphy, the country singer form Alabama felt as though she didn't accurately convey herself to the producer. "Aylin's story has never been done on 'Glee' before, not that my story has been done on 'Glee' because it hasn't. But I definitely left out some very eye-opening and audience-entertaining aspects of my story. At the end of the day, that ended up biting me in the butt and sent me home."
She added, "It was devastating. At the same time, I said since the first week that if I was in the bottom three against Blake and Aylin, I knew I would go home because I knew that it wouldn't be about talent, it would be about storyline."
Shanna Henderson thinks the mentors got it wrong
Henderson knew when she saw her competition that her time was up. She stated, "It came down to the top three were put in the bottom three." While Henderson was not surprised that she was sent home after being put up against Bayramoglu and Jenner, she was taken off guard by which players were chosen for the bottom three in the first place. She said, "I was shocked with the combination of the bottom three. I didn't think that one of us deserved to go home when there were other people that were still there that I think did deserve to go home."
She felt that the weakest contestant remaining was Michael Weisman, who is constantly being criticized by the mentors for not pushing hard enough and being too stiff during the performances. She even went so far as to tell Murphy just that after her last chance performance. While he admired her honesty, sharing her feelings did not save her, and she was cut from the show.
Only the final five remain. Tune in to "The Glee Project" on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. CST on Oxygen to see who wins.
More from this contributor:
Abraham Lim shows his tenacity on 'The Glee Project'
The 'Glee Project's' Latest Castoff, Nellie Veitenheimer, Stepped Outsider Her Comfort Zone
Travis Wall discusses starting a dance troupe on 'All the Right Moves'
