Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) by Beyoncé is initially featured in Preggers, the fourth episode of Season One. It is performed numerous times as a dance number.
At the start of Preggers, Brittany, Kurt and Tina are seen doing the Single Ladies dance and filming it on a video camera until they are interrupted by Kurt's father, Burt. Later in the episode, when Kurt is trying out for the role of the kicker in the football team, he plays this song to help him focus, and kicks a field goal, thus becoming the kicker of the team. During the game, the entire team performs the Single Ladies dance and the crowd seems to enjoy it. They end up scoring a touchdown, due to the distraction the sudden outburst of dancing causes. With the help of the song, Kurt is able to make the kick for the game-winning extra point.
In Goodbye, the twenty-second and final episode of Season Three, Burt performs the Single Ladies routine with Brittany and Tina as a graduation gift to Kurt in the auditorium as a reminder of what he did with Brittany and Tina in their old house's basement and how that event changed the relationship between Kurt and Burt. The scene flashed between Kurt dancing from Preggers, and Burt dancing.
Reception[]
Shawna Malcom for the Los Angeles Times praised the football team's performance of the Single Ladies dance. Eric Goldman for IGN called the dance "a memorable TV moment," deeming it: "not something you expect to see on network TV... but damn if it isn't really funny and actually kind of awesome, in a completely ridiculous way." Tim Stack for Entertainment Weekly wrote that, although the dancing in the episode was "fun," Preggers was lacking in "big singing moments."
Trivia[]
- Although not featured in the Glee: The 3D Concert Movie; Chris Colfer, Heather Morris, Jenna Ushkowitz and other dancers performed this song at Glee Live.
- This song has been sung (or heard) five times— four times in Preggers and once in Goodbye, Kurt being involved in all five performances, once in the Hummel household, three times at the football field, and being an audience member for Burt in the fifth reprisal.
- This is Beyoncé's most successful music video, famous for the dance and various parodies of it, such as the one on Glee. Heather Morris (Brittany) performed the dance alongside Beyoncé on her tour and taught other members of the cast how to do it on the show. Brittany was then kept as a character, and has become a prominent figure.
Errors[]
- During the Single Ladies dance at the football game, Finn is clearly not in position to receive the snap of the football. He is positioned to the right of the ball on one camera shot as the players are all moving towards the line of scrimmage. When the camera cuts back to behind the Titans football team, however, Finn is under center as the quarterback ready to receive the pass.