Gwyneth Paltrow covers Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ for Glee: how does she sound?

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Gwyneth Paltrow will appear on tonight’s hour-long episode of Glee. It’s the 100th episode of the show, so apparently there will be some big show-stopping numbers, big-name guest stars and such. To preview the episode, Glee producers released the audio of Gwyneth covering Pharrell Williams’ Oscar-nominated song “Happy”. Previously, Gwyneth has covered Adele’s “Turning Tables,” which was sacrilegious to me just because that song is really beautiful and Gwyneth’s voice is nowhere near as strong as Adele’s. Anyway, here’s Gwyneth’s Glee version of “Happy”:

I think… this is not good. Gwyneth’s voice isn’t strong enough for this song either and it sounds very filtered and like they used a lot of studio magic to make her sound less screechy and nasal. And here’s what I never understand about Glee: why do they cover so many songs with the same basic musical arrangement as the original songs?

Gwyneth also submitted her “Spring Playlist” to Jay-Z’s Life + Times site. You can see her Spring Mix here. She lists: The National, Beyonce, Haim, Haerts and more.

Oh, and Gwyneth and Chris have reportedly bought a $14 million beach house in Malibu too. You can see photos here – it’s really beautiful. The tennis court seems a bit unnecessary (Malibu space is at a premium).

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Photos courtesy of Life + Times, WENN.

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33 Responses to “Gwyneth Paltrow covers Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ for Glee: how does she sound?”

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  1. QQ says:

    Im not even gonna press play before saying : Thin and nasal at the same time??

  2. lunchcoma says:

    Why are they all so annoying today? Someone needs to say something cute or smart to cheer me up.

    In an attempt to be positive: that picture of Gwyneth at the bottom of the post is the best I’ve seen her look in a long time, maybe because the smile doesn’t look forced.

  3. Lark says:

    I think her voice is fine….it’s not strong, but I actually think it’s better than Katy Perry.

    • aims says:

      Anyone is better than Katy Perry. How she’s able to pump out hit after hit is beyond me.

      • TheOneandOnlyOnly says:

        She’s with major corporate sponsors/labels, and it’s called endless marketing, bad taste and payola in not so many words. After all, a CBS tribute to the Beatles in February included her – and there is no way in hell this nitwit should be mentioned in the same sentence with the Beatles.
        After all Whitney Howard of the Alabama SHakes, Janelle moneau, (sic) and Esperanza Spalding are far superior, but how well known are they?
        Also there have been many articles in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere that commercial – corporate – radio stations are given very short playllsts, If you want interesting music, find a college radio station.

  4. Liberty says:

    She sounds like the girl I heard in an airport bathroom last week.

  5. TheOneandOnlyOnly says:

    Is Glee still around? Has any show fallen off the radar quicker than Glee? It went down hill after the initial 10 or so episodes. From making the cover of the Rolling Stone in spring 2010, it only gets noticed when a tragedy occurs. Outside of a core following, the cast is largely d-list celebrities or ignored. Unlike Seinfeld, Friends, etc. from the 90s, for all the initial hype they and the show have made no impact on popular culture.

    • Virgilia Coriolanus says:

      The first two seasons were okay—but after that? Whoo…it went downhill fast. My little sister loves the show, so I watched it with her on netflix.

      And ooh–I saw the part with Goop singing Turning Tables–she looked and sounded awful. Goop just looks terrible right now. I don’t know what happened, but she looks awful right now.

      • Holly says:

        A classic Ryan Murphy starts-to-turn-to-crap-after-seasons 1+2 production — he’s known for this. He’s like the TV equivalent of an author who writes one good chapter and then botches the rest of the book horribly.

        This just doesn’t sound like old Gwynnie to me, her vocal presence is barely there; maybe Tracy Anderson coached her?!

    • Annabelle says:

      Apparently, yes. I don’t know if the show is still popular with viewers because I stopped liking it after the first season.

      As for Gwyneth, i have to say that i like her cover.

  6. Marty says:

    It sounds like I wish I didn’t hit play.

  7. Shelby says:

    We could all sound good if we had that much help in the background 😉

  8. Sender says:

    I like it. At least she’s always doing stuff. I’m pretty sick of all the Gwyneth hate. She’s busy making herself happy and the haters all seem pretty miserable.

  9. islandwalker says:

    She sings like she acts; decent but boring.

  10. j.eyre says:

    Oh my stars I covet that house! I mean covet in a way that has me casing bank vaults. The only thing I would change is the inhabitants.

  11. anne says:

    Years of vocal coaching and dancing and major help here in all areas and sorry don’t like her singing here. (And in Nashville amongst other places she is loathed for the Country Stong ego driven debacle.) But to be fair don’t like her so…Used to love her “husband”s singing and all of Coldplay. Now just cringe because brings ups images of her. Sadly lots of people I know feel same way. Oh well at least Rush of Blood (best in just my opinion and far most romantic and their earlier Yellow etc. was pre-Paltrow so can bear that…:-) Poor Chris, misses his band so and vice versa, hope he follows through and gets back with them more. Has the time, he is never with Gwyneth…. just the kids she uses with him (very very very uncool. Hope she lets them move back to London like they all want, he finally makes years old split official – best for whole family at this point.

  12. Ag says:

    And this is why we can’t have nice things. She can’t leave them alone.

  13. I Choose Me says:

    She sounds good to me. She may not be my favourite celeb but she has a pretty decent voice. I remember her cover of Cruisin by Smokey Robinson. Liked it then. Like it now.

  14. Chauncy says:

    I can’t stand Gwyneth but I think she sounds great. She has a really pretty voice.

  15. miapatagonia says:

    All I can say is I want that house!

  16. JenniferJustice says:

    This is just plain funny. Pharrell is soulful, high-energy, has fantastic timing, and is as fun to watch as he is to listen to. Seriously, get over yourself you bleached, burnt, pile of doldrum. As if!

  17. Embass says:

    I can’t stand Goop but she’s a good singer. She’s a lot better than Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus and even Idina Menzel (who shouts not sings). But then I don’t wanna encourage her narcissism so anyway she should just go away. That other performance with the chairs on Glee was embarrassing though. She was just wrong for that. Low key songs are okay for her voice and performance energy.

  18. metallicwow says:

    I’m not trying to hate on her – I think she’s a totally fine singer. But it’s not like she’s amazing or anything, and she gets sooo much attention for her voice because she’s Gwyneth.

    • jaye says:

      I like it. Of course it’s not nearly as good as the original, but she has a serviceable voice. She didn’t ruin it.