‘The Glee Project’ renewed by Oxygen for second season

Oxygen’s The Glee Project provided Glee fans with a Glee-related show to follow during the summer last year. The cable network announced Tuesday that the show will be back this summer, with just one major change. There will be more competitors.

E! News reports that the second season will feature 14 competitors instead of 12. Oxygen also promised new themed episodes and new songs for the cast.

The judge’s panel will be filled with familiar faces, including Glee creator Ryan Murphy, according to Entertainment Weekly. Choreographer Zach Woodlee, casting director Robert Ulrich and vocal coach Nikki Anders will also return as judges. Murphy, Dante Di Loreto, and Michael Davies will return as executive producers.

Winners of the show get their chance to act on Glee in recurring roles. Damian McGinty and Samuel Larsen both won last season and were awarded with a seven-episode arc on the show. Runners-up Lindsay Pearce and Alex Newell were also given two-episode roles. The second season will feature the same prize, although, ironically, Deadline reports that Fox has yet to renew Glee for a fourth season.

Oxygen said that casting calls have already been completed after a multi-city tour, notes E! News.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Glee Project averaged about 1 million viewers per episode. McGunty is reportedly in talks to appear on the show as a guest mentor.

New episodes of Glee return to Fox Tuesday. The exact date of the premiere episode of The Glee Project was not announced.