The Glee Project

The Glee Project was created as a reality TV audition for Fox's musical comedy Glee, with the winner rewarded a minimum seven-episode arc on the show.

Glee executive producers Ryan Murphy and Dante Di Loreto executive produced The Glee Project, and Glee's casting director Robert J. Ulrich served as casting director, helping coach 80 potential candidates shown in the special 'The Top 12' that preceded the season 1 premiere.

Season one ended with two winners, Damian McGinty and Samuel Larsen, each earning a seven-episode arc, while runners-up Lindsay Pearce and Alex Newell received two-episode arcs instead of just one winner.

Cameron Mitchell quit the season one competition in episode 7 but still won the 'fan favorite' vote and an associated $10,000 prize.

Several season one contestants ended up recurring or becoming series regulars well beyond their prize-winning arcs: McGinty (Rory Flanagan), Larsen (Joe Hart), and Newell (Wade 'Unique' Adams), who later became a season five series regular.

McGinty, Larsen, Pearce, and Newell all appeared as singers on the 2011 holiday release Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2.

For season two, the contestant pool was increased to fourteen participants, up from twelve in season one, and guest mentors included Glee cast members such as Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, Jane Lynch, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, and Dianna Agron, alongside returning season one mentors Darren Criss and Kevin McHale.

Season two winner Blake Jenner went on to play McKinley student Ryder Lynn, first appearing in season four's 'The Role You Were Born to Play' before being promoted to series regular in season five; runner-up Ali Stroker appeared as Betty Pillsbury in the season four episode 'I Do'.

Season two contestant Dani Shay, the third person eliminated, had previously competed on America's Got Talent (season 6), reaching the quarter-finals.

Unlike typical reality competitions, eliminated contestants on The Glee Project were not announced one by one; instead, the bottom three discovered their fate by checking a posted list, after which the eliminated contestant sang lead vocals on Avril Lavigne's 'Keep Holding On' with the others on backing vocals.