Mike Chang
Encyclopedia
Michael "Mike" Chang, Jr. is a fictional character
from the Fox
musical comedy-drama
series Glee
. The character is portrayed by actor and dancer Harry Shum, Jr.
, and has appeared on Glee since the fourth episode in the first season, "Preggers", first broadcast on September 23, 2009. Glee follows the trials of the New Directions glee club
at the fictional William McKinley High School in the town of Lima, Ohio
, of which Mike is a member. He is introduced as a football player who joins the club together with a few of his teammates, and quickly shows himself to be an excellent dancer.
He has also been portrayed as a very young boy by Evan Kishiyama in the episode "The Substitute
". When Shum was hired, he had been through the audition process, but as far as he knew "it was just like a regular acting gig where you go on for a day." In an interview with the New York Post
, he elaborated, "I got hired as a day player and it turned into a week, and then a month and so on. I was just rolling with it—I mean, who would say no to that?"
Mike performed in the glee club's production numbers, but was given very little dialogue, staying mostly "in the background, doing some facial expressions." Shum noted, "It wasn’t until I came on the [Glee Live! In Concert!] tour and had this crazy reaction from the audience, and the producers were like, 'Wow, how do they know him?
Mike is a senior in the third season of the show. Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy has stated that, due to graduation, "more characters are leaving than are staying" at the end of the season. Mike's parents are dealing with his college plans and appear on the show in "Asian F
" to this end, and may be recurring characters.
He was given his first storylines in the show's second season. Mike began dating Tina Cohen-Chang
(Jenna Ushkowitz), was revealed to lack confidence in his singing early in the season, and although his confidence gets a boost after that, he goes as far as to wear a t-shirt that says he "can't sing" in the episode "Born This Way
". Although he sometimes fools around in academic classes, he is also very intelligent, and is a member of the school's academic decathlon team. Indeed, his grades are so good that his father becomes alarmed when Mike gets an "A−" on a chemistry exam, as that could harm his chances of getting into Harvard. Mike Chang is of Chinese American descent, and his great-grandmother was originally from Hubei province in the People's Republic of China.
" by Beyoncé with Kurt Hummel
(Chris Colfer
) and his fellow high school football players, and subsequently decides to join the New Directions glee club with his friends and teammates Matt (Dijon Talton) and Puck
(Mark Salling). Mike is a very talented dancer, able to perform complicated lock-breakdown dance steps, and he is shown singing background vocals and performing short dance solos in the glee club's musical numbers. When Sue Sylvester
(Jane Lynch
) is briefly made co-director of New Directions along with usual director Will Schuester
(Matthew Morrison
), she recruits an "elite glee club" of all the minority students including Mike, whom she calls "Other Asian". Tina, herself called "Asian" by Sue, later calls Mike "Other Asian", to his consternation, when they partner for an assignment.
In "Mash-Up
", Coach Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher
) tells the guys that are in both glee club and on the football team that they have to choose between the two activities. Mike decides to stay with his friends in New Directions, although he is later allowed to rejoin the team. In the episode "Sectionals
", when the glee club is faced with having to create an entirely new setlist for Sectionals in an hour because their prepared songs had all just been sung by the competing clubs, Finn
(Cory Monteith
) asks the best dancers in the group—Mike, along with Matt, Brittany
(Heather Morris) and Santana
(Naya Rivera
)—to come up with a dance routine for a new song on the spot. They do, and New Directions goes on to win the competition. In the episode "Dream On
", Tina asks Mike to perform a special dance number with her, even though it was originally intended to be for her boyfriend, Artie
(Kevin McHale), who is in a wheelchair. As the season ends, New Directions competes at Regionals, but they come in third and their director Will Schuester is forced to disband the group. When the club members thank Will and tell him how their lives have changed, Mike says that before New Directions he was too afraid to dance outside of his room. Sue later gets the glee club a one-year reprieve, and Mike and the rest of the members celebrate.
" when he performs "Sing!" from A Chorus Line
with Tina, though he initially tries to tell her that she should sing and he should just dance around; the duet ultimately gets a great reception. This experience gives him the confidence to volunteer to play the lead when the glee club is planning a performance of The Rocky Horror Show
, but he has to pull out when his parents object to him playing a transvestite. Tina and Mike's relationship continues to heat up—they are still a couple at the end of the school year—and in "Never Been Kissed
" they try to cool themselves off by thinking of coach Shannon Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones), but this leads to Mike getting jealous and confronting Coach Beiste. When Mr. Schuester falls ill, he has a dream in which he and Mike perform a recreation of "Make 'Em Laugh" from Singin' in the Rain
. Fellow football player Dave Karofsky
(Max Adler) is relentlessly bullying glee club member Kurt, so Mike and Artie confront him in the locker room after practice, telling him to back off. In the ensuing fight, Sam
(Chord Overstreet
) jumps in to defend them, and all four of them are injured. Guidance counsellor Emma Pillsbury
(Jayma Mays
) tells Will that there are more talented members in glee club than just Rachel, Finn and Mercedes
(Amber Riley
), so he picks Mike and Brittany to take the lead in a dance number for Sectionals. Their constant rehearsing worries Tina, who mistakenly fears that she is losing Mike to Brittany; she later apologizes to him for her doubts. In "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle
", the glee club and non-glee factions of the football team initially rupture, imperiling the team's chances, but ultimately come together to wins the championship. In the episode "Born This Way
", when everyone in New Directions wears T-shirts to describe the thing they dislike about themselves, Mike's T-shirt says "Can't Sing". Along with the rest of the glee club, Mike travels to New York City at the end of the season for the National show choir competition. New Directions finishes in twelfth place out of fifty teams.
", when he performed "Sing!" from A Chorus Line
with his girlfriend, Tina. Both Aly Semigran of MTV
and Anthony Benigno of the Daily News named the piece as their favorite routine of the episode, though Benigno gave it only a "B" grade, as its appeal hinged on Mike's dancing, rather than his vocal performance. Vanity Fair
Brett Berk gave it four stars out of five, his highest rating of the episode; it was one of two songs to get that rating. Though Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal
and the Houston Chronicle
Bobby Hankinson also commented positively on the song, the former thought that Tina's sung interjections became annoying and the latter called it "far from the best of the evening". In the third season, Mike sings his first solo in the episode "Asian F
" when he auditions for the school musical, West Side Story
, by singing one of its song, "Cool
". Later in the episode, he has a short solo in an ensemble number from Dreamgirls
, "It's All Over".
", when he and Brittany
(Heather Morris) are given featured dance roles in the song "Valerie", sung by Santana
(Naya Rivera
), Flandez wrote that "Brittany and Mike's pas de deux rocked". Benigno stated, "Brittany and Mike Chang handle the moves (extraordinarily well), but the vocals here are what steal it", and gave the song an "A". Entertainment Weekly
Tim Stack was slightly less generous with an "A-", and wrote that it was a "great song choice for Santana"; he gave "bonus points for the phenomenal Mike/Brittany choreography", while Jen Harper of BuddyTV
said that their dancing "totally made the song". Zap2it
Hanh Nguyen liked the dancing, but she was critical of how the song sounded, as she felt "it lacked something and didn't really feel worthy of the standing O", while Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone
said "Santana's sassy vocals are a perfect echo of Winehouse's, but the rest of the song feels a bit like a circus". Amy Reiter of the Los Angeles Times
felt the entire song "seemed kind of tacked on", both the dancing and Santana's solo. In the episode "A Night of Neglect
", when Mike performs the show's first solo dance routine—to the song "Bubble Toes" by Jack Johnson
—he garnered some rave reviews, including from Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly, who gave it an "A" and called it "one of the best [performances] of the season." MTV
Aly Semigran concurred, and characterized Mike's dancing in the number as "awesome".
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
musical comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
series Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
. The character is portrayed by actor and dancer Harry Shum, Jr.
Harry Shum, Jr.
Harry Shum, Jr. is an American dancer, actor, and choreographer. He is best known for his role as Mike Chang on the FOX television show Glee. He has appeared in dance films such as Stomp the Yard, You Got Served, Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D...
, and has appeared on Glee since the fourth episode in the first season, "Preggers", first broadcast on September 23, 2009. Glee follows the trials of the New Directions glee club
Glee club
A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs—glees—by trios or quartets. In the late 19th Century it was very popular in most schools and was made a tradition...
at the fictional William McKinley High School in the town of Lima, Ohio
Lima, Ohio
Lima is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio along Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton and south-southwest of Toledo....
, of which Mike is a member. He is introduced as a football player who joins the club together with a few of his teammates, and quickly shows himself to be an excellent dancer.
Casting and creation
Mike is played by Harry Shum, Jr.Harry Shum, Jr.
Harry Shum, Jr. is an American dancer, actor, and choreographer. He is best known for his role as Mike Chang on the FOX television show Glee. He has appeared in dance films such as Stomp the Yard, You Got Served, Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D...
He has also been portrayed as a very young boy by Evan Kishiyama in the episode "The Substitute
The Substitute (Glee)
"The Substitute" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the 29th episode overall. It was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Ryan Murphy, and premiered on Fox on November 16, 2010...
". When Shum was hired, he had been through the audition process, but as far as he knew "it was just like a regular acting gig where you go on for a day." In an interview with the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, he elaborated, "I got hired as a day player and it turned into a week, and then a month and so on. I was just rolling with it—I mean, who would say no to that?"
Mike performed in the glee club's production numbers, but was given very little dialogue, staying mostly "in the background, doing some facial expressions." Shum noted, "It wasn’t until I came on the [Glee Live! In Concert!] tour and had this crazy reaction from the audience, and the producers were like, 'Wow, how do they know him?
Mike is a senior in the third season of the show. Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy has stated that, due to graduation, "more characters are leaving than are staying" at the end of the season. Mike's parents are dealing with his college plans and appear on the show in "Asian F
Asian F
"Asian F" is the third episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 47th overall. Written by series co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, it first aired on Fox in the United States on October 4, 2011...
" to this end, and may be recurring characters.
Characterization
Mike very slowly developed from a football player who "was afraid to dance outside [his] room" to a confident and highly skilled dancer and performer. Little was revealed about him during the first season of Glee, though Shum described Mike halfway through that season as a "shy football player" with "dancing and singing abilities" who has "found a place where he can express himself and feel accepted."He was given his first storylines in the show's second season. Mike began dating Tina Cohen-Chang
Tina Cohen-Chang
Tina Cohen-Chang is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Jenna Ushkowitz, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Tina was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian...
(Jenna Ushkowitz), was revealed to lack confidence in his singing early in the season, and although his confidence gets a boost after that, he goes as far as to wear a t-shirt that says he "can't sing" in the episode "Born This Way
Born This Way (Glee)
"Born This Way" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the 40th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 26, 2011. The episode was written by Brad Falchuk and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, and is a tribute to...
". Although he sometimes fools around in academic classes, he is also very intelligent, and is a member of the school's academic decathlon team. Indeed, his grades are so good that his father becomes alarmed when Mike gets an "A−" on a chemistry exam, as that could harm his chances of getting into Harvard. Mike Chang is of Chinese American descent, and his great-grandmother was originally from Hubei province in the People's Republic of China.
Season 1
Mike first appears in the episode "Preggers" as a member of the McKinley High football team. He dances to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
"Single Ladies " is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles from her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce. It was released by Columbia Records on October 12, 2008 as the album's lead single, and appeared with "If I Were a Boy" as a double A-side single, demonstrating the...
" by Beyoncé with Kurt Hummel
Kurt Hummel
Kurt Hummel is a fictional character and one of the male leads in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. Series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan initially conceived of him as a fashionable gay countertenor who is routinely bullied at school...
(Chris Colfer
Chris Colfer
Christopher Paul "Chris" Colfer is an American actor and singer known for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television series Glee, for which he won a 2011 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and was also nominated twice for an Emmy...
) and his fellow high school football players, and subsequently decides to join the New Directions glee club with his friends and teammates Matt (Dijon Talton) and Puck
Puck (Glee)
Noah "Puck" Puckerman is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Mark Salling, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Puck was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian...
(Mark Salling). Mike is a very talented dancer, able to perform complicated lock-breakdown dance steps, and he is shown singing background vocals and performing short dance solos in the glee club's musical numbers. When Sue Sylvester
Sue Sylvester
Susan "Sue" Sylvester is a fictional character of the Fox musical comedy-drama series, Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Jane Lynch, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Sue was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian...
(Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch is an American comedian, actress and singer. She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently best known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the television series Glee...
) is briefly made co-director of New Directions along with usual director Will Schuester
Will Schuester
William "Will" Schuester, often referred to as Mr. Schue, is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Matthew Morrison and has appeared in Glee since its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Will was developed by Glee...
(Matthew Morrison
Matthew Morrison
Matthew James "Matt" Morrison is an American actor, director, musician, and singer-songwriter. He is best known for starring in multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including his portrayal of Link Larkin in Hairspray on Broadway, and most notably for his Emmy and Golden Globe nominated...
), she recruits an "elite glee club" of all the minority students including Mike, whom she calls "Other Asian". Tina, herself called "Asian" by Sue, later calls Mike "Other Asian", to his consternation, when they partner for an assignment.
In "Mash-Up
Mash-Up (Glee)
"Mash-Up" is the eighth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on October 21, 2009. It was written by series co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by Elodie Keene...
", Coach Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher
Patrick Gallagher (actor)
-Career:Gallagher is best known for his television roles as Det. Joe Finn in Da Vinci's Inquest, the alcohol salesman in Entourage, Leon in The Line, Farhod the Fierce in Pair of Kings, and Ken Tanaka in Glee, and his film roles as Awkward Davies in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World...
) tells the guys that are in both glee club and on the football team that they have to choose between the two activities. Mike decides to stay with his friends in New Directions, although he is later allowed to rejoin the team. In the episode "Sectionals
Sectionals
"Sectionals" is the 13th episode of the American television series Glee. It premiered on the Fox network on December 9, 2009. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Brad Falchuk, and serves as the mid-season finale for the show's first season. "Sectionals" sees the glee club win...
", when the glee club is faced with having to create an entirely new setlist for Sectionals in an hour because their prepared songs had all just been sung by the competing clubs, Finn
Finn Hudson
Finn Hudson is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Cory Monteith, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Finn was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
(Cory Monteith
Cory Monteith
Cory Allan Monteith is a Canadian actor and musician, best known for his role of Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee.-Early life:...
) asks the best dancers in the group—Mike, along with Matt, Brittany
Brittany Pierce
Brittany Susan Pierce is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Heather Morris, and has appeared in Glee from its second episode, "Showmance", first broadcast on September 9, 2009. Brittany was developed by Glee creators Ryan...
(Heather Morris) and Santana
Santana Lopez
Santana Lopez is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Naya Rivera, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Santana was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
(Naya Rivera
Naya Rivera
Naya Marie Rivera is an American actress and singer known for her role in the musical comedy television series Glee, as cheerleader Santana Lopez.-Early life:...
)—to come up with a dance routine for a new song on the spot. They do, and New Directions goes on to win the competition. In the episode "Dream On
Dream On (Glee)
"Dream On" is the 19th episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on May 18, 2010. It was directed by Joss Whedon and written by series creator Brad Falchuk. Neil Patrick Harris guest-stars as former glee club star Bryan Ryan...
", Tina asks Mike to perform a special dance number with her, even though it was originally intended to be for her boyfriend, Artie
Artie Abrams
Artie Abrams is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Kevin McHale, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Artie was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
(Kevin McHale), who is in a wheelchair. As the season ends, New Directions competes at Regionals, but they come in third and their director Will Schuester is forced to disband the group. When the club members thank Will and tell him how their lives have changed, Mike says that before New Directions he was too afraid to dance outside of his room. Sue later gets the glee club a one-year reprieve, and Mike and the rest of the members celebrate.
Season 2
Over the summer, Mike and Tina are both arts counselors at "Asian Camp", where they kiss and start dating. By the beginning of the school year when season two begins, Tina has officially broken up with Artie, as she is more attracted to Mike and his abs. He gets his first vocal solo in the episode "DuetsDuets (Glee)
"Duets" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the 26th episode overall. It was written by series creator Ian Brennan, directed by Eric Stoltz, and premiered on Fox on October 12, 2010...
" when he performs "Sing!" from A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
with Tina, though he initially tries to tell her that she should sing and he should just dance around; the duet ultimately gets a great reception. This experience gives him the confidence to volunteer to play the lead when the glee club is planning a performance of The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
, but he has to pull out when his parents object to him playing a transvestite. Tina and Mike's relationship continues to heat up—they are still a couple at the end of the school year—and in "Never Been Kissed
Never Been Kissed
Never Been Kissed is a 1999 comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Molly Shannon, Leelee Sobieski, John C. Reilly, Jessica Alba, Marley Shelton, James Franco , Giuseppe Andrews, Jeremy Jordan and Garry Marshall...
" they try to cool themselves off by thinking of coach Shannon Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones), but this leads to Mike getting jealous and confronting Coach Beiste. When Mr. Schuester falls ill, he has a dream in which he and Mike perform a recreation of "Make 'Em Laugh" from Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...
. Fellow football player Dave Karofsky
Dave Karofsky
David "Dave" Karofsky, often referred to as Karofsky, is a recurring fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Max Adler, and has appeared in Glee since its first season episode "Mash-Up", first broadcast on October 21, 2009...
(Max Adler) is relentlessly bullying glee club member Kurt, so Mike and Artie confront him in the locker room after practice, telling him to back off. In the ensuing fight, Sam
Sam Evans
Sam Evans is a recurring fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Chord Overstreet, and appeared on Glee starting with the second season premiere episode entitled "Audition", first broadcast on September 21, 2010, and ending with that...
(Chord Overstreet
Chord Overstreet
Chord Overstreet is an American actor, singer and musician, best known for his role as Sam Evans on the television series Glee.-Early life:...
) jumps in to defend them, and all four of them are injured. Guidance counsellor Emma Pillsbury
Emma Pillsbury
Emma Pillsbury is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. Portrayed by actress Jayma Mays, Emma has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Emma was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
(Jayma Mays
Jayma Mays
Jayma Suzette Mays is an American television and film actress, and singer. Mays' most prominent roles include that of Emma Pillsbury on the American television series Glee, recurring appearances on Ugly Betty and on Heroes as characters named Charlie.- Life and career :Mays was born Jamia Suzette...
) tells Will that there are more talented members in glee club than just Rachel, Finn and Mercedes
Mercedes Jones
Mercedes Jones is a fictional character from the Fox popular musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Amber Riley, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Mercedes was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and...
(Amber Riley
Amber Riley
Amber Patrice Riley is an American actress and singer best known for her role on the series Glee as Mercedes Jones.-Early life and career:...
), so he picks Mike and Brittany to take the lead in a dance number for Sectionals. Their constant rehearsing worries Tina, who mistakenly fears that she is losing Mike to Brittany; she later apologizes to him for her doubts. In "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle
The Sue Sylvester Shuffle
"The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 33rd episode overall. It was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Brad Falchuk, and was broadcast immediately following Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011...
", the glee club and non-glee factions of the football team initially rupture, imperiling the team's chances, but ultimately come together to wins the championship. In the episode "Born This Way
Born This Way (Glee)
"Born This Way" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the 40th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 26, 2011. The episode was written by Brad Falchuk and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, and is a tribute to...
", when everyone in New Directions wears T-shirts to describe the thing they dislike about themselves, Mike's T-shirt says "Can't Sing". Along with the rest of the glee club, Mike travels to New York City at the end of the season for the National show choir competition. New Directions finishes in twelfth place out of fifty teams.
Musical performances
In the first season, Mike only appeared in numbers performed by the entire glee club. He had no solos or other vocal leads, though his dancing was featured in a few numbers. His only vocal lead in the second season was in the episode "DuetsDuets
An original motion picture soundtrack CD was released on September 12, 2000 by Hollywood Records. The CD contained twelve tracks including the original music composed for the film by David Newman....
", when he performed "Sing!" from A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
with his girlfriend, Tina. Both Aly Semigran of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and Anthony Benigno of the Daily News named the piece as their favorite routine of the episode, though Benigno gave it only a "B" grade, as its appeal hinged on Mike's dancing, rather than his vocal performance. Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
Brett Berk gave it four stars out of five, his highest rating of the episode; it was one of two songs to get that rating. Though Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
and the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
Bobby Hankinson also commented positively on the song, the former thought that Tina's sung interjections became annoying and the latter called it "far from the best of the evening". In the third season, Mike sings his first solo in the episode "Asian F
Asian F
"Asian F" is the third episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 47th overall. Written by series co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, it first aired on Fox in the United States on October 4, 2011...
" when he auditions for the school musical, West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
, by singing one of its song, "Cool
Cool (Leonard Bernstein song)
"Cool" is a song from the musical West Side Story. Leonard Bernstein composed the music and Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics.-Context:In West Side Story, the song is sung by Riff before the Rumble meeting. The Jets are itching to fight with the Sharks, but Riff tells them to wait for the rumble.In...
". Later in the episode, he has a short solo in an ensemble number from Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based upon the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, the musical follows the story of a young female singing trio...
, "It's All Over".
Reception
Mike has received generally positive reviews from critics mainly for his dancing. In the second season episode "Special EducationSpecial education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
", when he and Brittany
Brittany Pierce
Brittany Susan Pierce is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Heather Morris, and has appeared in Glee from its second episode, "Showmance", first broadcast on September 9, 2009. Brittany was developed by Glee creators Ryan...
(Heather Morris) are given featured dance roles in the song "Valerie", sung by Santana
Santana Lopez
Santana Lopez is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actress Naya Rivera, and has appeared in Glee from its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Santana was developed by Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan...
(Naya Rivera
Naya Rivera
Naya Marie Rivera is an American actress and singer known for her role in the musical comedy television series Glee, as cheerleader Santana Lopez.-Early life:...
), Flandez wrote that "Brittany and Mike's pas de deux rocked". Benigno stated, "Brittany and Mike Chang handle the moves (extraordinarily well), but the vocals here are what steal it", and gave the song an "A". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
Tim Stack was slightly less generous with an "A-", and wrote that it was a "great song choice for Santana"; he gave "bonus points for the phenomenal Mike/Brittany choreography", while Jen Harper of BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
said that their dancing "totally made the song". Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
Hanh Nguyen liked the dancing, but she was critical of how the song sounded, as she felt "it lacked something and didn't really feel worthy of the standing O", while Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said "Santana's sassy vocals are a perfect echo of Winehouse's, but the rest of the song feels a bit like a circus". Amy Reiter of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
felt the entire song "seemed kind of tacked on", both the dancing and Santana's solo. In the episode "A Night of Neglect
A Night of Neglect
"A Night of Neglect" is the seventeenth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 39th episode overall. It was written by Ian Brennan, directed by Carol Banker, and aired on Fox in the United States on April 19, 2011...
", when Mike performs the show's first solo dance routine—to the song "Bubble Toes" by Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson (musician)
Jack Johnson was born May 18, 1975 is an American folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and musician known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. He has since released four more albums, a...
—he garnered some rave reviews, including from Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly, who gave it an "A" and called it "one of the best [performances] of the season." MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
Aly Semigran concurred, and characterized Mike's dancing in the number as "awesome".