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"Popular" | |
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Song by Kristin Chenoweth | |
from the album Wicked | |
Released | December 16, 2003 |
Recorded | November 10, 2003 [1] |
Genre | Show tune |
Label | Decca Broadway |
Songwriter(s) | Stephen Schwartz |
"Popular" is a song from the musical Wicked , composed by Stephen Schwartz. It was originally recorded on November 10, 2003 by American actress Kristin Chenoweth, who portrayed Glinda in the musical. The song was released as part of the accompanying cast recording on December 16, 2003. The song is about Glinda trying to help her roommate Elphaba become more popular. American singer and actress Ariana Grande performed a version of "Popular" for the 2024 film adaptation of the musical, which was released as a single.
The song is "meant to be as shallow as possible. And I think that's why people enjoy it, because it's real funny in that way. But it's also political. Glinda refers to the fact that politicians and heads of state get by not because they're particularly smart, but because people like to hang out with them." [2]
"Popular" was written by the composer Stephen Schwartz for the first act of the 2003 musical Wicked. It is sung by the character Glinda and is considered the character's definitive song, while also including brief dialogue interludes by Elphaba. While writing the song, Schwartz imagined one of "those cheerleaders" — "She was the most popular girl at school, and she always went out with the captain of the football team. She was always the homecoming queen, blonde with a perky nose – the whole thing." Schwartz has compared the song to the plot of the film Clueless. [2]
In "Popular", Glinda attempts to get Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, to conform to the accepted ideas of beauty and popularity as a means of establishing their newfound friendship. Schwartz described the lyrics as "empty calories" and shallow. The composition of the song is a more bubblegum sound than the rest of the musical, with Beatles influences. Glinda also yodels on the word "popular" because Schwartz was thinking of Oklahoman Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda, while writing the song. [2]
Stage performances of "Popular" are often accompanied with outlandish physical comedy and improv add-ons by Glinda that highlight her bubbly character and enthusiasm. Examples include exaggerated "hair toss", humorous dance routines, and the "pillow scream" popularized by Alli Mauzey. Occasionally, Glinda's antics may cause the actress playing Elphaba to lose composure and break character to the amusement of the audience and on-stage performers alike.
Laura Reineke of the blog Vulture ranked "Popular" as the second-best song from Wicked, calling it "bubbly and refreshingly self-aware" and praising it for showcasing Kristin Chenoweth's singing and comedic talent. [3]
"Popular" was sampled in "Popular Song" by English singer Mika featuring American singer Ariana Grande (who would later portray Glinda in the movie) from their albums The Origin of Love (2012) and Yours Truly (2013), respectively. It was also sampled by the producer Pheelz in his song "Popular" which features the artiste Vector for his "#A7" audio - visual album.
On July 31, 2013, Kristin Chenoweth performed a lyrically modified version of "Popular" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , about New York politician Anthony Weiner. In it, she tells Weiner how to be "the right kind of popular," and also his wife to "take a page from Hillary and become independent of her hubby, while [Weiner sports] a chat room chubby". Some of the original lyrics are also present. [4]
In late 2014, Chenoweth included a multilingual version of the song in her live album Coming Home . This new rendition includes lyrics from the Japanese and German versions of the song. In 2015, the song was covered in the sixth season of the TV series Glee . It was sung by Lea Michele and Chris Colfer as Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel in the episode "2009". Satirical singer Randy Rainbow made a version called "Unpopular", critical of the President of the United States, Donald Trump. [5]
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [6] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
"Popular" | ||||
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Single by Ariana Grande | ||||
from the album Wicked: The Soundtrack | ||||
Released | November 22, 2024 | |||
Recorded | 2023 | |||
Genre | Show tune | |||
Length |
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Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Stephen Schwartz | |||
Producer(s) |
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Ariana Grande singles chronology | ||||
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American singer and actress Ariana Grande performed a rendition of "Popular" as Glinda in the first part of Universal Pictures' two-part film adaptation of Wicked, which was released on November 22, 2024. [7] Her version of the song was released the same day on the soundtrack album Wicked: The Soundtrack (2024). [8] It was simultaneously sent to contemporary hit radio in the United States by Republic Records and Verve Records as the lead single from the album. [9] [10]
For the film version, Stephen Schwartz, music producer Greg Wells, and musical supervisor Stephen Oremus wanted to modify the rhythm of the song from the stage musical version. [11] Schwartz confessed that "In the spirit of being open to new things for the movie, my music team and I thought, let's refresh the rhythm. Let's, maybe, I don’t know, hip-hop it up a little bit." However, Grande resisted and said that she wanted to "be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda." [12] She insisted that the song stay true to the original and that all changes to the song felt like they came from Glinda’s motivations and not her own vocal stylings. According to Schwartz, Grande added "little inventive things within it, but I think they are strongly character-based." [11] The song's climax was also extended with additional key changes and vocal extensions as part of the expansion of the film's plot, while also to showcase the range of Grande's talents. [13] Though initially hesitant about performing the extended ending, after Schwartz explained to her how it matched Glinda's behavior, especially visually on-screen, Grande was convinced and went along with the change "wholeheartedly." [11]
"Popular" was the first song shot for the film, and posed the challenge of creating a "huge, grand number" in the smallest set of a dorm room. Cinematographer Alice Brooks came up with the idea of "Popular" being one long sunrise as opposed to "Defying Gravity" being a sunset, leading to the addition of a skylight in the dorm’s dome ceiling to allow the sun to be the spotlight. For the sequence, costume designer Paul Tazewell created an outfit for Glinda that was a "pink, dotted peignoir with spiraling circles out of ruffles" to reflect the playful and frivolous vibe of the song. For the extended ending of the song, Grande freestyled a set of dance movements in a long hallway set, including a new high kick. [12]
Writing for Billboard , Stephen Daw named "Popular" the third-best song of the soundtrack album and expressed that Grande put all concerns to rest about whether her version would live up to Chenoweth's original. Daw praised the song as "campy", "hilarious", "technically impressive" due to "Grande’s killer voice." He also lauded Grande's "comedy chops" for giving Glinda the "outsized vapidity" required for the song and the "stratospheric key-changes" at the end that contributed to its maximalist feel. [14] Similarly, The Daily Telegraph noted that Grande made the song her own while paying homage to Chenoweth's performance and asserted that the song alone "proves that Grande was born to play Glinda." [15]
Chart (2024–2025) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [16] | 52 |
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [17] | 77 |
Global 200 ( Billboard ) [18] | 54 |
Ireland (IRMA) [19] | 26 |
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) [20] | 8 |
Philippines (Philippines Hot 100) [21] | 46 |
South Korea Download (Circle) [22] | 93 |
UK Singles (OCC) [23] | 13 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [24] | 53 |
US Adult Pop Airplay ( Billboard ) [25] | 27 |
US Pop Airplay ( Billboard ) [26] | 26 |
Region | Date | Format | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | November 22, 2024 | Contemporary hit radio | [9] [27] | |
Italy | December 13, 2024 | Radio airplay | Universal | [28] |
Kristin Dawn Chenoweth is an American actress and singer, with credits in musical theatre, film, and television. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown on Broadway. In 2003, Chenoweth was nominated for a second Tony Award for originating the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked. Her television roles include Annabeth Schott in NBC's The West Wing and Olive Snook on the comedy drama Pushing Daisies, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2009.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is an American novel published in 1995, written by Gregory Maguire with illustrations by Douglas Smith. It is the first in The Wicked Years series, and was followed by Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz.
Elphaba Thropp is the protagonist in the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, its musical theatre adaptation, and the musical's two-part film adaptation, Wicked (2024) and Wicked: For Good (2025). Elphaba is a reimagining of the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is a loose adaptation of the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which in turn is based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 film adaptation. The musical is told from the perspective of two witches, Elphaba and Glinda, before and after Dorothy's arrival in Oz. The story explores the complex friendship between Elphaba and Galinda. Their relationship is tested by their contrasting personalities, conflicting viewpoints, shared love interest, reactions to the corrupt rule of the Wizard of Oz, and ultimately, Elphaba's tragic fate at the accidental hands of Dorothy Gale.
"Defying Gravity" is a song from the musical Wicked, composed by Stephen Schwartz. It was originally recorded on November 10, 2003, by American actresses Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who portrayed Elphaba and Glinda in the musical respectively. The song was released as part of the accompanying cast recording on December 16, 2003. It is mostly a solo sung by the main character of the show, Elphaba, with two small duets at the beginning and the middle of the song between Elphaba and her friend Glinda, and a chorus part at the end in which the citizens of Oz sing.
"For Good" is a musical number from the hit musical Wicked. It is sung as a duet between Elphaba and Glinda as a farewell. The song's score and lyrics were written by composer Stephen Schwartz.
"No Good Deed" is a musical number from the hit Broadway musical Wicked. It is sung by Elphaba, the main character of the show.
Wicked is a cast recording containing the majority of the songs from the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Wicked, with music and lyrics by composer Stephen Schwartz and a book by writer Winnie Holzman. Released on December 16, 2003 by Decca Broadway both in physical and digital releases. The former contains a foreword and a short synopsis, provided by Gregory Maguire, who wrote the 1995 novel on which the musical is based, in addition to lyrics to those songs included.
"As Long as You're Mine" is a song from the second act of the musical Wicked (2003) by Stephen Schwartz. It is a duet between Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Fiyero, with whom she is in love. It was originally performed by Idina Menzel and Norbert Leo Butz, who played the roles of Elphaba and Fiyero, respectively, in the original Broadway cast.
"The Wizard and I" is a musical number from the hit musical Wicked. It is primarily a solo number for the character of Elphaba, serving as her "I Want" song, though the character Madame Morrible also sings in the introduction to the song.
Ariana Grande-Butera is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon, she is an influential figure in popular music and is known for her four-octave vocal range which extends into the whistle register.
Louise Dearman is a British actress and singer, perhaps best known for playing Glinda and Elphaba in the West End production of the musical Wicked. Notably, she is the only actress to have played both witches in any production of Wicked full-time. She has a number of other professional stage and television credits, such as Eva Perón in Evita, Sarah Brown and Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, and Daisy Hilton in Side Show. She released her solo albums, You and I, Here Comes the Sun and It's Time, in 2005, 2012 and 2013 respectively.
"Popular Song" is a song by Lebanese-British recording artist Mika, released as the second single in the United States from his third studio album, The Origin of Love. The song features American singer Ariana Grande and is included on her debut album, Yours Truly. The track was written by Mika, Priscilla Renea, Mathieu Jomphe and Stephen Schwartz, and produced by Mika and Greg Wells. The radio version featuring Ariana Grande was produced by Jason Nevins. It was released as a promotional single on 21 December 2012. It was initially sent to impact contemporary hit radio in the United States on 13 August 2013, but its release was moved up a week earlier.
The American singer, songwriter, and actress Ariana Grande has released seven studio albums, one soundtrack album, one live album, one remix album, one compilation album, two extended plays (EPs), sixty singles, and fourteen promotional singles. Throughout her career thus far, Grande has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she has sold over 131 million units, across albums, singles, and features, and 13 million albums and 95.5 million digital singles units as a lead artist. In the U.S., Grande has moved 22.4 million album units, and garnered over 23.6 billion streams across lead artist credits, according to Luminate. Having amassed over 105 billion consumed streams thus far, Grande is the most streamed female artist ever. She is also the most streamed female artist of the 2010s on Spotify and Apple Music. She has amassed 91 chart entries on the Billboard Hot 100—the third most entries for a female artist—including nine number ones and 23 top-10 hits altogether so far. Grande was named the sixth top female artist of the 2010s decade, and was ranked among Billboard's Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Artists, at number 78. Grande is also one of the best selling female artists in the UK, with over 31 million units.
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Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo is a British actress and singer. She has received several accolades, including a Daytime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. She is one of only a few artists to have received nominations for the EGOT.
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