The 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Award nominees were announced Thursday with newcomers making up a major portion of the performing categories, resulting in a number of extremely surprised reactions.

First-time nominee Connie Britton, whose “Friday Night Lights” co-star Kyle Chandler also landed his first nod for the NBC drama, actually doubted the news when she got it.

“The first two calls I had this morning, I still was like, “Are you sure? There must be some mistake,” Britton told EW.com after missing out on a nod for the past four seasons.

“Lost” star Matthew Fox, who earned his first-ever nomination, was equally surprised.

“Me personally, I didn’t even know the nominations were happening today,” he told Variety on Thursday. “It wasn’t until I was awakened by a barrage of phone calls and text messages when it suddenly clicked it must be some kind of awards day.”

Another first-time nominee, “Mad Men’s” buxom red-head Christina Hendricks, who was nominated for best supporting actress alongside co-star Elisabeth Moss, experienced more of a bitter sweet reaction.

“My cheeks hurt from smiling” she told Variety.

“Glee’s” Matthew Morrison found it equally difficult to maintain a poker face.

“I want to say this stuff doesn’t matter to me right now, but I can’t wipe the smile off my face,” he told the Hollywood Reporter.

Co-star Lea Michele was doubly excited about her best actress nomination.

“The ceremony is on my birthday,” she told AP, “so it’s like the best birthday present in the entire world.”

But another “Glee” star was less focused on her own nomination. Best supporting actress nominee Jane Lynch put in her vote for Glenn Close, who is up once again for best actress for her role as Patty Hewes “Damages.”

“Get ready for a big, humiliating loss fellow nominees,” she told The Insider of the woman she says inspired Sue Sylvester.

Neil Patrick Harris, who earned two nominations, one for his guest appearance on “Glee” and one for his supporting role in “How I Met Your Mother,” has big plans for his future with the Academy.

“Maybe next year I’ll get three!,” he quipped in a statement. “At that rate, by the year 2107 I’ll be a lock for every single category. Wish me luck.”

Another optimistic nominee, Conan O’Brien, seemed to be reaping the benefits of TBS’ push to have him nominated for his short-stint as the host of “The Tonight Show” on NBC.

“Congrats to my staff on 4 Emmy nominations,” he tweeted. “This bodes well for the future of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.” ‘

The sweetest reactions came from the duo who plays the gay couple in “Modern Family,” both of whom scored best supporting actor nominations.

‘I now know what people mean when they say “it was a complete surprise,”‘ Jesse Tyler Ferguson tweeted. “I am sending big wet kisses to my tv lover @ericstonestreet…[and]…Keeping it real moment # 1: My Dad’s (awesome) German wife asked me if the Emmys are for TV or Theater.”

Meanwhile, his co-star stuck to a string of advectives with the Twitter message, “humbled, honored, excited, thankful, happy. very happy.”

The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Fallon on Aug. 29 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Summering at her New York apartment, Michele was worried about her downstairs neighbors complaining about her screams of joy when word came in about her first Emmy nomination as lead actress in a comedy. “I didn’t want to scream too loud, because I got a noise complaint recently from my neighbors. I think that had to do with my high heels.” She received text messages from Glee creator Ryan Murphy and co-stars Matthew Morrison, Jenna Ushkowitz and Chris Colfer. “I’m sure Amber [Riley] is still sleeping. It’s weird to be apart from each other. When the Golden Globe nominations came out we all came in to work that day to share our excitement.”

Although Michele was favored to land a nom, the actress says she is in shock. “I’m looking at the names [of fellow nominees] Tina Fey, Edie Falco, Toni Collette and Amy Poehler —it’s just mind-boggling to me. I’m such a fan of those women.”

Next season on Glee, Michele hopes that Rachel and Finn will get to have a go of it as a couple. “I want to see what that would look like since we’ve only been able to date for a week at a time—like real high school romances.”

source:  tvguide.com

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Interview Part 1
Interview Part 2
Performance #2

Lea Michele said Glee is a great representation of what high school is like, right now. Then Chris Colfer said he just left high school,and that it’s scary how accurate the show is to the way high school was. He says he would’ve love the show in high school because he can totally relate to it.

Leah said the fans feel that the show speaks for them a lot. Next, Mark Salling describes his character. He says that he’s kind of a jerk on the show,and that he was actually an even bigger jerk when he was inhigh school.

full article: ontheflix.com

“I am so in love with (Morrison). He was so good in “The Light in the Piazza” and everything he’s done,” says Sarah Vogt, 20, a theater major at the University of Evansville. “I think that ‘Glee’ is fabulous … and for a theater major, it’s really good to see that people are cast for their abilities. The choral work on the show is so impressive. It’s just perfect. They’re doing a really good job of getting people excited about musical theater instead of thinking it’s for nerds and losers.”

Dallyn, 17, host of the weekly “Glee” viewing parties, also was a big fan of Michele’s prior to the show, and finds her work on “Glee” “pretty phenomenal.” Dallyn, a Floyd Central student, loves the show’s nods to musical theater.

“I like how they do show tunes in a new, cool way,” she says.

Chris Manion, 38, a member of Louisville’s Voices of Kentuckiana chorus, also is a proud Gleek.

“I like it that they’ve taken pop songs and made them into choral arrangements and they still sound good,” says the Audubon Park resident. “It’s very campy and a lot of fun. I like that they keep surprising me.”

full article: courier-journal.com

So how does it feel to be involved in such a successful, unique television series?
Cory: It feels great!
Lea: Really good.

What made you want to audition for the role?
Lea: I mean we have agents, we audition to get jobs you know what I mean? (laughs). It was just so lucky that this was a fantastic script. It really made us want it.

Do you have a lot of fun on set? Because the show looks like a lot of fun?
Cory: More fun. This has been such a great show to work on. We work really hard but we have a great time on set too.

What crazy stuff happens on set?
Lea: We get in trouble a lot! For laughing and making a lot of noise.
Cory: Yeah, we have focus issues.
Lea: Not when we’re on camera, when we’re off, of course.

There are so many big personalities, does anyone overshadow anyone else?
Cory: Jane Lynch! [Sue Sylvester] (laughs). Jane Lynch is the star of the show, let’s not kid ourselves.

How do you put a rest to all of the comparisons with High School Musical?
Lea: Whoever says that hasn’t seen the show. They’re just judging it on what they think it is.
Cory: And they’re stupid, no I’m kidding. You know I think it’s a preliminary comparison, but I’m honoured by it because to be compared to something that is that much of a cultural phenomenon – you know, I’m touched right, great – hopefully that’s what happens to our show as well. But as Lea said, it’s a totally different kind of show – it does occur in high school and there’s music, but it’s not what it seems.

full interview: alive-sydney.whereilive.com.au