survival, with Tina and Mercedes (Amber Riley) singing lead. Production The competitors for Sectionals were announced three episodes prior in "Never Been Kissed": the a cappella Warblers from Dalton Academy, an all-male institution in Westerville—they were seen in that episode performing the song "Teenage Dream"—and the Hipsters from the Warren Township continuing education program, which consists of seniors working toward earning General Educational Development diplomas. While Criss sings lead on the Warblers song, the background vocals are sung by the Tufts Beelzebubs, a male a cappella group from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, not the actors playing the Warblers on screen. The Beelzebubs had not yet met Criss at the time the episode aired. The scenes of the Warblers performance of "Hey, Soul Sister" were filmed in a theater over the course of two fifteen-hour days, according to Chris Mann, one of the actors: from the front on the first day, and from the back on the second. Cheyenne Jackson as Dustin Goolsby and John Stamos as Carl Howell were originally supposed to have scenes in this episode—the Fox publicity included a photograph of a scene between Dustin and Will—but Jackson's was cut entirely, and only a brief shot of Stamos embracing Mays as Emma was retained in the final version. Recurring characters in this episode include glee club members Mike Chang (Shum) and Sam Evans (Overstreet), school bullies Dave Karofsky (Max Adler) and Azimio (James Earl), Stamos as Howell, and Criss as Blaine Anderson, lead singer of the Warblers. Vicki Woodlee, mother of Glee choreographer Zach Woodlee, plays one of the Hipsters; as the youngest of the performers at 60, she had to wear a great deal of makeup to emulate an older person's appearance, including "pounds of powder". Zach Woodlee instructed those cast as Hipsters, the oldest of whom was 83, to limit their dance movements to seem more realistic. Scenes were filmed over the course of four days. Actress and former American Bandstand member Bunny Gibson plays another group member. Co-stars include Fink, who appears as new glee club member Lauren Zizes, Telly Leung and Titus Makin, Jr., who return as Warblers Wes and David, respectively, and Riker Lynch, Eddy Martin and Curt Mega, who debut as Warblers Jeff, Thad and Nick, respectively. "Special Education" features cover versions of six songs: "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from the musical Evita, Mike + The Mechanics' "The Living Years",