pondělí, listopadu 27, 2006
Review of Česko Hledá Superstar, Final Round No. 6
Just another quick update of 80s night on Česko Hledá Superstar (The Czech version of Pop Idol) last night, or rather, nightmare. Check out Barbora Zemanová's (on right) Czech version of 'Staying Alive' (orig. Bee Gees), known to the Czech locals as 'Hodina Há'. I thought the jury was much too rough on her, commenting more on how difficult the words were in Czech rather than on her performance. Believe me, "Sobota jak z medu a já si řeknu jedu je tu hodina Há,hodina Há" is much more of a mouthful than "Feel the city breakin' and ev'rybody shakin' and we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive". Or witness here Zbyněk Drda's mauling of Aha's 'Take on Me'. The intonation of the falsetto phrases veered sharply away from any recognizable resemblance of pitch, nor did he maintain the spirit of the original song. The band didn't help either ... the keyboardist chose instrumental timbres that were much too dull, turning this lovable sonic icon of 80s optimism, wealth, and glamour into a dreary piece of mush.
Which leads me to the more interesting parts of the show. Remember the 80s were a dreary and mushy time for those living in these parts of the world. At the beginning viewers were treated to footage of Czechoslovakia in the 80s, with relevant film of Gorbachev, Soviet tanks spraying water into crowds (I think this might have referred to 1989's Velvet Revolution), and other reels. In the pretaped segments of the show the kids then were directed to imitate certain television news personalities from the 80s, (who, whom, I don't know), with 80s hair styles and dresses. Though I didn't understand most of the Czech I found these segments sufficiently funny and no question they achieved their parodic intent of making fun of something outdated, outmoded, and unhip. Click here for a sample of what I'm referring to. (Sorry I couldn't find a photo clip.)
As free advertisement on behalf of Great TV Nova, tune in tonight at 9:20 CET to find out who will be knocked off. I think the result this week will be much less predictable than previous weeks.
# posted by Hubert @ 1:54 odp. 
