Comments on: Xeni on The Madeleine Brand radio show: Russia's "Gaga-esque Gagarin Glitzothon" (audio)

By: monkey

monkey — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

i’m speechless! in so overwhelmed you could knock me down with a swinging baby!

By: Quiet Wyatt

Quiet Wyatt — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

That was… quite… something.

I, too, wanted more bungee dancers. Also, I kept hoping for Jean Michel Jarre to step forward and play a laser harp.

As for the latter half, who knew that Russia had their own Heino?

By: Chentzilla

Chentzilla — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

A good description of the video, except the kids were neither breakdancing, nor cosplaying cosmonauts (baseball cap doesn’t a spaceman make).

By: Yenisei

Yenisei — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You get a lot of this kitsch and pomp at Russian official celebrations which they try to invigorate by introducing ‘edgy’ stuff like breakdancing or rapping, but only end up looking like a complete circus. On the other hand, the first minute was really mind-blowing, at least for this place. It really looked like a Shpongle live gig, not a Kremlin gala!
BTW, Xeni, the Russsian Barry White isn’t one person, it’s a pop choir of ten guys, they mostly sing in restaurants and galas like this one, with a tendency for Jewish songs. Anyway, I posted some details of their song in another post.

By: Xeni Jardin

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Oh wow, thanks, I hadn’t seen that! Yeah I knew it was a choir, but we were having a little fun with that one guy’s voice.

As an aside, ALL THIS STUFF WAS LIPSYNC’D.

By: Yenisei

Yenisei — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Well of course it was, neither the venue or the whole line-up is suited for a live show because it would simply take too much effort and coordination. There’s been a lot of debate on this, many rock bands and singers at such galas insisted on performing live in the Kremlin’s halls – mostly citing ethical concerns such as ‘we don’t want to fool our fans in the audience’ – but basically were told “Sorry guys, we do like live music too, but it’s just technically not possible”.

By: Hank

Hank — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The thing I really liked about the Russian metro systems (Moscow and St Petersburg) was escalators that take you down to the train platforms. They’re incredibly steep and fast; you just have to believe nothing bad will happen when you step onto them.

By: Xeni Jardin

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The best part of the lipsync issue was when this one performer, last name Anders?, an American? — his number included a saxaphone, and he trots over to where the orchestra is to “rock out” with the guy pretending to play the sax. Only, when he gets there, he realizes there is no such sax guy. So he sort of trots back like nothing happened.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

There’s a great episode of Ed Sullivan with The Mamas And The Papas. After Ed introduces them, Cass says, “Roll the tape” and Michelle slowly eats a banana while the song runs.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

why does everything russian look like star search in the 80s?

By: Yenisei

Yenisei — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

That’ll be Thomas Anders of Modern Talking. They’ve been MASSIVE here since the late Soviet times, despite the fact that barely anyone knows them these days outside of ex-USSR countries. And since most pop stars in Russia, including those from abroad who tour here, don’t bother with performing live – which their audience doesn’t seem to mind at all – there’s like a million ‘lipsync disaster’ clips on Russian YouTube.

By: Boba Fett Diop

Boba Fett Diop — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What do you mean the good stuff starts at 1:39 in? I’d say it starts at 0:01 in. Laser space angels and bungee dancers? The Glorious Russian People’s Triumph of Space Exploration Cossack Dancers? No words…they should have sent a poet.