Archive for the ‘Television’ Category
SNL spoofs “We Are The World” remake
Saturday Night Live is pretty hit or miss these days, but they seem to have some of their best successes when it comes to musical parodies; just look at Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island.
They struck gold again this past Saturday with their take on the “We Are The World” remake that was done to support Haiti.
Willie Nelson, David Crosby, and Josh Groban are my faves.
-Sam
Ice Dancing made fun
So with the 2010 Winter Olympics wrapping up last night, I thought I’d take a look back at one of the highlights of the games.
And before I begin, I readily admit that I did watch some of the ice dancing on television. Hey, the girls are generally hot and wearing skimpy outfits, so sue me.
The thing with most ice skating events is that the music tends to be really similar, generic stuff. The skating rink is not really the realm of risk-takers when it comes to musical choices.
That’s why I almost jumped out of my chair when I heard the opening notes to Great Britain brother-sister duo Sinead and John Kerr’s ice dance routine. You see, I’m a huge Linkin Park fan so I knew immediately that they had chosen “Krwlng” as their music. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the choice of Linkin Park was undeniably risky in such a setting, even drawing a remark from the commentators for the adventurous decision.
But you know what? It actually worked – really well. The song comes off the band’s Reanimation album, which is full of remixes, and the song features mainly electronic elements as opposed to guitars, lending a more ethereal tone to the song. There’s some screaming on there too, and I have to believe that caught more than a few audience members off guard.
Ice skating needs more people like the Kerrs who are brave enough to step outside the boundaries of traditional musical choices and embrace some newer ideas. I know it got me more interested in what I was watching.
Here’s a video of the Kerrs performing the routine back in January:
Also, after the jump I’ve included a hilarious Metallica-inspired re-imagining of Evgeni Plushenko’s routine from the Olympics.
Tom Green – lost Beastie Boy?
I have no idea when this first aired, but it was posted on YouTube all the way back in November 2006.
It’s a video of Tom Green hosting Xzibit on Green’s internet talk show.
And Green’s got some flow (but we all knew that from his days rapping about putting his bum on the Swedish). He actually sounds like he could pull of a pretty decent cover of “Sabotage.”
-Sam
Team Coco thinks this is awesome
It’s almost March 1st, which means that in just a few short days late night television will suffer the return of Jay Leno to The Tonight Show.
As if it wasn’t abundantly clear that Leno is now widely despised, especially among the younger audience, now even his band leader, Kevin Eubanks, is leaving the show.
But even better than that slap in the face is this redone promo spot for Leno’s move back to late night. You might remember seeing the original promo sometime during the Winter Olympics coverage. That version featured the Beatles’ “Get Back.”
But really, there were so many better, more appropriate songs to use instead. Like Radiohead’s “Creep.” Magnifique!
Enjoy:
Click below for an additional awesome remix.
Conan goes out on top
Conan O’Brien has always been the epitome of cool to me.
I haven’t missed one of his shows (Late Night and The Tonight Show) in about five years. The day just doesn’t feel complete without Conan capping it off.
You see, Conan had a way of differentiating himself from some of the other pap that litters late night. He appealed directly to young people who didn’t want to put up with Leno’s dullness or Letterman’s sneering disdain. He made intelligent comedy aimed at the outsider in all of us. His clownish absurdism was never mean-spirited and he was always the first to turn a joke on himself in order to make others feel more comfortable. He was the smartest guy in the room – one who used silliness as the medium for his sharp wit. And granted, a lot of people just didn’t get Conan. His humor definitely wasn’t lowest common denominator stuff like Leno’s. Instead, he realized that some people just want to see a Masturbating Bear regardless of how little sense it makes because, dammit, that’s hilarious.
And, of course, Conan has always been a worshiper at the shrine of music. A guitar player himself, you could always tell how excited he was to hear some of the bands that came on his shows to play. And his shows, particularly Late Night, were usually on the cutting edge as far as new music was concerned. He once told the New York Times:
“Music and comedy are so linked,” O’Brien said earlier, as he walked up and down the halls of his offices, playing one of his many guitars. “The rhythm of comedy is connected to the rhythm of music. They’re both about creating tension and knowing when to let it go. I’m always surprised when somebody funny is not musical.”
He was able to get his friends, The White Stripes, to be his musical guest on his last episode of Late Night. And he got Pearl Jam to play the world premiere of “Got Some” on his first episode of The Tonight Show. But that was all topped last Friday, as he said goodbye to The Tonight Show and television (at least until September) with a sincere, poignant collaboration on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” – that classic ode to breaking free from a doomed relationship.
Backed up by the terrific Max Weinberg band and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, Ben Harper, and Beck on guitar, Will Ferrell took the vocal duties and invited Conan to strap on his axe and join the band as they made a sweet sendoff. Strumming away, it was easy to see a long-shouldered burden just disappear, at least for a moment.
The song asks, “If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?” Well, one thing Conan doesn’t have to worry about is his fans forgetting about him. We’ll be waiting right here until he comes back.
Now if you haven’t already seen this rocking rendition of “Free Bird,” check it out:
By now I’m sure everybody with access to a television or internet-equipped device has seen the ubiquitous video of 62-year old American Idol contestant Larry Platt showcasing his original rap song, “Pants on the Ground.”
American Idol may be good at churning out lowest common-denominator pop drivel year after year, but at least every once in a while we get something like this out of its first few weeks of audition episodes.
So I watched the video. I laughed. And then I thought nothing more of it. That is, until I found that someone had the insight to dig deep into the song’s subtext and bring out its true meaning with…a “Neil Young” cover. Yup, you heard that right – in all its Harvest-era glory.
And of course I put Neil Young in quotations because it was actually Jimmy Fallon channeling Mr. Young who brought us this great reinterpretation.
Check it out:
Jimmy Fallon – “Pants on the Ground”
See the original “Pants on the Ground” after the jump.
Colbert’s Empire
Stephen Colbert is a man of action. Colbert performed Empire State of Mind with Alicia Keys. And rocked it.
Now, for the love of Christ, can we please retire that song?