Lea Michele "Blown Away" By "The Glee Project" Season 2 Contestants

Posted Tuesday June 5, 2012 8:43 PM GMT

As the first mentor of Oxygen's season two of "Glee Project", Lea Michele is featured in a teaser video leading up to the season premiere tonight.

In a tiny black dress and heels, the "Glee" beauty made a grand entrance into the choir room where she introduced herself to 14 new contestants who anxiously waited to begin their open individually challenge in front of the actress by performing "Whitesnake's" Here I Go Again.

The winner of the reality competition series will be crowned with a seven-episode stint on "Glee", and upon meeting the Season 2 contestants, Lea confessed, "This is going to suck for you guys because I don't know how you're going to narrow it down."

Lea told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the premiere, "The talent is just as great -- if not even stronger, all of these kids, their stories are so inspirational and they're so touching that I think people are just going to fall in love with all the contestants."

Although four finalist in Season 1 were rewarded in someway, the executive producer and co-creator of "Glee", Ryan Murphy, assured only one contestant would be winning this time around.

Vying for the win this season include country crooners, Muslim singers, a Tisch graduate who's paralyzed from the neck down, a transgendered Jewish 21-year-old and a blind gospel singer all of which Michele says she was "Blown away by the bravery of these kids to come on the show and really show who they are and tell their stories; it's really inspiring."

The actress best known as Rachel Berry on the FOX show says individuality - which is the theme of Tuesday's premiere episode - will help them become a "Glee" cast member, "What Ryan loves to do more than anything is know who you are and write it into the show. Part of myself is in Rachel Berry; so many of the things I've done on the show are inspired by true stories".

Check out the preview of Lea mentoring the new contestants on Season 2 of "The Glee Project" before it premiere's tonight at 10p.m. on Oxygen.

filed under Lea Michele, Glee

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