User:Coin945/Touch Me (Smash)

Touch Me is an original song featured in the eighth episode of the musical TV show Smash, The Coup. It is sung by the character Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee). The song is written by Ryan Tedder (from OneRepublic) and Bonnie McKee. The song is to be track #1 on the cast album "The Music of Smash", to be released May 1.

Prior to the songs release, the song drew comparisons with the Max Martin-produced Glee song "Loser Like Me" which peaked at #6 on the Hot 100, and it was questioned whether it would have the same success as a single.

Production
Tedder made a cameo on the show in The Coup as himself and within the show gives the song to Karen to perform after Derek (Jack Davenport) asks him to and work on the Marylin project for him.

The scene, described by TV Fanatic, is as follows: "Karen appears wrapped in a white sheet, singing and thrashing while surrounded by masked men. By the end of the song, she's completely caged in and looks a bit like a "scared bird".

The Hollywood Reporter suggested that the spot, which first aired during the Super Bowl, was deliberately seductive (e.g. with Katherine only wearing a sheet) in "an attempt to entice male viewers".

Critical Response
TV Fanatic commented that "the lyrics, music, staging and costume pushed the boundaries from traditional Broadway show to music video level", and asks "Was it over the top? Definitely! Was it exciting? Oh yeah!". the review added that the tune is "catchy". Sam Lansky of MTV Buzzworthy said that the song serves as a reminder "of just how killer Katharine McPhee's vocals really are as well as her not-insignificant contribution to the realm of popular music". PopCrush describes the song as "dancefloor-ready" number that has "a slice of synth pop that finds plenty of effects lacing McPhee’s vocals". The site adds that they refer to this version of Karen as "RoboMcPhee", due to the "studio treatment on her voice as she delivers parts of the sexified lyrics in robot fashion", which it thinks is just the right amount. It cites Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey and Jennifer Lopez as artists that the track reminds it of. It concludes by saying "the song evolves into an EDM epic that should have fans putting their drinks down so they can shake their things while unencumbered on the dance floor." Gossip & Gab describes Katherine's performence as "sexy, theatrical [and] evocative". While Entertainment Focus described her vocals as "sultry". , Telefilm Central describes them as sexy and "slightly trashy".