This year, it feels like a disproportionate amount of my friends are involved in the school musical, “Oklahoma!”. Lately, they’ve been talking a lot about the musical, and, although performances won’t start for about two more weeks, this (and the fact that I really don’t want to write about Adele’s new single) inspired this week’s blog. I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite songs from musicals, in order of awesomeness, to warm up your ears for the amazingness that is a musical before you see the school’s production of “Oklahoma!”.

(Disclaimer: I’ve never seen any of these musicals live, so this is solely going off the quality of the individual songs.)

8. “It Sucks to Be Me”; Jordan Gelber, Stephanie D’Abruzzo, John Tartaglia, Rick Lyon, Ann Harada and Natalie Venetia Belcon in “Avenue Q”

“Avenue Q” has some of the funniest songs ever. “It Sucks to Be Me” is a great introduction to its humor, as the song deals with everything from race to Gary Coleman. The actors who voice puppets (the show is a spoof on “Sesame Street,” so, obviously there are puppets) do a great job at manipulating their voices to match the characters, which makes “It Sucks to Be Me” even more fun to listen to.

7. “Cell Block Tango”; Chita Rivera, Cheryl Clark, Michon Peacock, Candy Brown, Graciela Daniele and Pamela Sousa in “Chicago”

“Cell Block Tango” is everything I could ask for in a musical number — it’s feminist, funny, risque, vaudevillian and pretty awesome sounding. I originally stumbled across the song, about six women who killed their lovers and husbands, through an episode of “Glee,” and had to listen to the real thing afterward. “Chicago” recently became the second-longest running Broadway musical ever, and, with songs like “Cell Block Tango,” it’s no surprise.

6. “Satisfied,” Lin-Manuel Miranda and Renee Elise Goldsberry in “Hamilton”

I know I just wrote about “Hamilton” two weeks ago, but I literally can’t stop talking about it (just ask senior Adri Talavera, who loves to voice her annoyance when seniors Nick Booth, Jillian Leiby and I play music from the show during our Independent Study class). At first, “Satisfied” didn’t stand out to me, but, after a recommendation from Nick, I listened to it again and absolutely loved it. Goldsberry’s vocals are powerful and poignant, and the song’s style makes it sound like it could blend right in on pop radio (which I wouldn’t be at all opposed to).

5. “Prologue: Into The Woods”; James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Daniel Huttlestone, Emily Blunt, Christine Baranski, Tammy Blanchard, Lucy Punch, Tracey Ullman, Lilla Crawford and Meryl Streep in the 2014 film adaptation of “Into The Woods”

The prologue to “Into The Woods” is a near-15 minute epic that sets the stage (or, in this case, screen) for the rest of the plot in the best way possible. I opted for last year’s film adaptation of “Into The Woods” here because of its star-studded cast — Kendrick, Huttlestone, Blunt, Crawford and Streep (the goddess herself) especially stand out in this song, and they keep up their amazing performances throughout the rest of the movie. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the prologue is that it’s not tiring to listen to, even after you realize you’ve spent a quarter of an hour doing so.

3. “Flying Away (Finale)”; Beth Malone, Sydney Lucas and Emily Skeggs in “Fun Home”

I’ve been addicted to the “Fun Home” original Broadway cast recording ever since I watched the Tony Awards earlier this year and the show won best musical. While it’s hard for me to pick a single favorite, “Flying Away (Finale)” puts together themes of memory, family and moving on with vocals from Alison, the show’s main character, as a child (played by Lucas), a teenager (played by Skeggs) and an adult (played by Malone). If we’re being honest, this song also always makes me pretty emotional, and I don’t think I’ll be able to listen to it around graduation this year without bawling my eyes out because of how perfectly it exemplifies growing up.

3. “Edges of The World,” Michael Cerveris in “Fun Home”

As I just said, I really can’t pick one favorite song from “Fun Home” — so I didn’t. “Edges of the World” gives Michael Cerveris, the original Broadway cast’s best vocalist, a real chance to shine amidst the song’s strong emotion. Although “Fun Home is based off a memoir by Alison Bechdel, it’s as much about Alison as it is about her father, Bruce, and Cerveris’ portrayal of him is nearly perfect.

2. “Defying Gravity,” Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in “Wicked”

In the world of musicals, you can’t not know about “Wicked.” The spin-off of “The Wizard of Oz” is what all musical theater nerds (me included) dream of seeing live, and “Defying Gravity” is its most ubiquitous and best song. Chenoweth and Menzel are both queens in their own regard, and this song may have cemented their legacies as two of the best singers on the planet (at least in my humble opinion). There’s not really much else I can say, except that you need to listen to it if you haven’t already.

1. “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” Jennifer Holliday in “Dreamgirls”

You thought I was finished at “Defying Gravity,” didn’t you, because what could be better than that? This. Jennifer Holliday’s performance in “Dreamgirls” is literally the stuff of legend. Amazing artists like Jennifer Hudson and Whitney Houston have covered it, but no version even comes close to Holliday’s. If you need more proof, listen to the live Tony Awards performance of the song (the version above) — in complete, candid honesty, it’s the best vocal performance I’ve heard in my 17 years on this earth.

So, those are a few of my favorite musical numbers. Hopefully now that you’ve listened to those, you’re more than ready to go support your peers and see “Oklahoma!” in a few weeks.