Modesto's Pearce to make 'Glee' debut in Tuesday night opener

The wait is over, Gleeks.

The third season of the hit Fox series “Glee” premières Tuesday night at 8.

And for fans of Modestan Lindsay Pearce, who was a runner-up on this summer’s Oxygen network competition series, “The Glee Project,” there’s even more reason to be excited: Pearce makes an appearance in the debut episode.

On the Entertainment Weekly Web site EW.com, reporter Lynette Rice wrote, “The première episode ... features a terrific performance by ‘The Glee Project’ runner-up Lindsay Pearce and the very unexpected ouster of Santana (Naya Rivera) from New Directions.

For a show that’s under constant scrutiny by press (including — we admit it! — EW), (‘Glee’ creator Ryan) Murphy was shocked but obviously pleased that these two major plot points managed to stay under the radar.

In fact, Pearce’s number was shot under a cloak of secrecy: The 20-year-old was literally snuck into a soundstage to make sure no one recognized her.”

Lindsay’s mother, Carol Pearce, told The Bee via e-mail, “She got really awesome reviews from the people who got to preview the show, and the song she sang is up on YouTube.”

The song is a mash-up of “Anything Goes” and “Anything You Can Do,” and according to the description on YouTube, Pearce sings the number as a member of a show choir at a high school named Pendleton. Check out the song (there’s no video) at www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUphVGEI7A0.

As for this season of “Glee,” 14 of the 15 main characters are returning, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

The one who’s not is Sam (Chord Overstreet). Murphy had stated that many of the original characters, including Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), will depart at the end of the year when they graduate from McKinley High, but according to co-creator Brad Falchuk, graduating doesn’t necessarily mean the end of their roles. By the way, Coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) will run for Congress on a “no arts” platform.

This story was originally published September 19, 2011 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Modesto's Pearce to make 'Glee' debut in Tuesday night opener."