'Glee' vs. Britney: Who did it better?

Never thought I’d say this, but there really needed to be more Britney Spears in the “Britney Spears Episode” of “Glee.”

Sure, there were plenty of Spears songs in the show, but Brit only showed up in a handful of cameos, unlike her comeback-stoking appearance on “How I Met Your Mother.”

In any case, the “Glee” onslaught on the sales charts continues today, with 5 of the 6 songs from last night’s episode crashing the iTunes Top 10 today. (“Me Against the Music” is No. 11, even after the elaborate video treatment.)

So it seemed like a good time to play “Who Did It Better?”:

“I’m a Slave 4 U”: Let’s face it, the singing really isn’t the draw in this song – or the video for that matter. Brittany took on the snake and a lot of choreography, but Britney did the heavy breathing so much more convincingly. (Winner: Britney; Current chart position: No. 10)

“Me Against the Music”: It was lots of fun to watch Brittany and Santana recreate the video, but Madonna sounds so much more authoritative on the original. (Winner(s): Britney and Madonna; No. 11)

“Stronger”: Artie powered his way through the Britney anthem and his voice really proved to be “Stronger.” We could get all psychological on the dream sequence, though, seeing as even in his dreams, Artie thinks of himself in his wheelchair, but that’s for a different blog. (Winner: Artie; No. 8)

“… Baby One More Time”: Was there any doubt that Rachel was going to knock this out of the park? Yeah, maybe she didn’t really need to insert the “hey, I can really sing” runs into the ending, but her powerful voice certainly gave the song a new twist. (Winner: Rachel; No. 7)

“Toxic”: This was the song the “Glee” powers-that-be did the most rearranging and it was certainly the most fun. (Who can resist them singing the synthesized string squibbles?) The rock-ish guitar parts took it even further from the original. However, Britney’s delivery on this song was near-perfect -- arguably, her best ever – and despite all the remakes of this around, hers remains the champion. (Winner: Britney; Current chart position: No. 1)

(On a related note, if Rachel’s sweet version – currently No. 2 --  of the Paramore powerhouse sing-along “The Only Exception” doesn’t propel the original into the Top 10, something has gone horribly wrong. Get on it, radio programmers!)

Watch the full episode here