commented that the song "floated like gossamer between Rachel and Quinn as they beautifully poured the sentiments of ugly ducklings", and Futterman wrote, "It's a poignant moment, and the inclusion of West Side Story 'I Feel Pretty' makes for a great pop/theater mash-up that reminds us of what Glee is at its heart." Kurt's performance of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" was also met with critical acclaim. Brown stated that the song was "absolutely stunning in every conceivable way." She thought that he had the emotional connection, the musicality, and the storytelling ability "down pat". Gonzalez gave the song an "A−" and wrote, "Kurt apparently picked up a few helpful notes ... from his Warbler brothers and emerged an even better solo singer than I recall. ... Most enjoyable, however, was a tenderness Kurt added to the song that I don't think could have been duplicated by any other member of this ensemble." Slezak commended Kurt's voice, gave the song an "A", and said, "I feel like we haven't had too many strong musical moments from Kurt this season, but this number, which pushed Chris Colfer's falsetto to impressive heights, went a long way to erase the deficit." Futterman thought that it was "a sweeter moment than last season's 'Rose's Turn', but the high notes and big vocals are still there." Berk gave it three out of five stars and called it "lovely, and properly sentimental". Zoller Seitz called the performance "spellbinding" and concluded, "Chris Colfer turns 'As if We Never Said Goodbye' into a valentine to self-knowledge and self-improvement—and a young, gay singer's dream of treating the world as a stage and commanding it like a star." The New Directions' rendition of "Born This Way" was strongly approved by Lady Gaga. On her Twitter account, she wrote, "I really loved Glee Born This Way episode. I admire the show for being brave+fighting for such modern social messaging. Never back down." Gonzalez gave the performance a "B+", and commented that it wasn't her favorite group number, mostly because she felt the song "wasn't [Lady Gaga's] best effort". Berk was less kind about the song, and called it a "crappy but thematically admirable Gaga tune", though he gave it three stars out of five. Slezak gave it an "A−" and approved of the rendition: "it was nice to see and hear Tina, Mercedes and Kurt on lead vocals—instead of, say,