graded the song "A". Rolling Stone Erica Futterman felt the censorship of the song did not adversely affect its success, and deemed Paltrow's rendition "charming and sassy". Megan Vick of Billboard called it "the most exciting number" of the episode, and Stack went further in his praise: he bestowed a grade of "A+" and lauded it as "one of the most memorable and energetic Glee performances ever, thanks in no small part to Paltrow". Green told MTV that he was flattered by the cover, particularly as he was not aware Paltrow would perform it when granting Glee clearance. He called her performance "great", and commented that he had not been aware she was such an accomplished vocalist. Benigno and Stack praised the choreography of "Make 'Em Laugh", but both graded it lower than "Forget You", at a "B" and "B+" respectively. Futterman called the recreation an "impressive feat", but likened it to hallucinatory Britney Spears covers in the episode "Britney/Brittany" in that it "stands alone better than it fits into the plot." Vick was critical of the performance, observing that Glee covers from musicals often introduce classic songs to viewers with a modern twist, an element which was absent in "Make 'Em Laugh". The Chicago cover also left some critics wanting, and Futterman, The Wall Street Journal Raymund Flandez and The Atlantic Patrick Burns all found its choreography lacking. Fallon suggested that Glee should be wary of overusing recreations, having already done so in "The Power of Madonna", "Britney/Brittany" and "The Rocky Horror Glee Show", and VanDerWerff criticized the performances as "outright plagiarism, not homage". Benigno and Futterman compared "Singin' in the Rain / Umbrella" favorably to mash-ups performed in the preceding episode. Benigno graded it "B", though he said that by using "Singin' in the Rain" as the chorus, the song lacked catharsis, a sentiment echoed by Flandez, who praised the costumes, props and staging, but wished the rendition had had more "bite" and "attitude". Futterman described it as a "buoyant and catchy homage to the old and the new [that] perfectly captures Glee musical spirit". In contrast, Vick felt the song could not compare to the previous episode's mash-ups. She deemed the staging implausible, questioning how a glee club in financial difficulty could afford elaborate water features for a rehearsal number. Stack was willing to overlook such improbability; he wrote that he loved the mash-up and graded it