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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 DVD versions of select episodes had to change several songs that were used in the original aired episodes to stock music due to licensing fees. 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. The complete series of Popular has been released on DVD in region 1 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. 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. This new rendition includes lyrics from the Japanese and German versions of the song.
The plot of the first season revolves around the girls' school life, rival groups of friends, mutual animosity and plan cappy spin to separate their parents. For the extended ending of the song, Grande freestyled a set of dance movements in a long hallway set, including a new high kick. "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. 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.
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. Daw praised the song as "campy", "hilarious", "technically impressive" due to "Grande's killer voice". 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. 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. Satirical singer Randy Rainbow made a version called "Unpopular", critical of the President of the United States, Donald Trump. 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.
Popularity
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. It is sung by the character Glinda and is considered the character's definitive song, while also including brief dialogue interludes by Elphaba. The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The governor’s popularity will probably guarantee his reelection. Contrary to popular belief, air travel is less dangerous than travel by car.