So our favorite, Shannon Murphy, got fourth place in the Voice of Ireland.
I know, I know... All of our friends back home think we are obsessed. And we are. We found this show the first Sunday we were here when we were all tired and wet and lonely. It carried us through! But really, you've got to check out Shannon's rendition of "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers. Supposedly the songs are on iTunes. Check out the links at the bottom of this article.
I really recommend the song* because it has a truly Irish flare to it. If you like the Cranberries combined with Sinaed O'Connor plus a little Carrie Underwood, this gal is for you (add a little red-headed Tina Fey to her looks and you've got the whole picture). Here is her singing it a few weeks ago. I will update the link when they have last night's (better) version on YouTube.
We got to attend the finale live as we bought tickets when we were cold and sad and lonely (see above) and it reminded me of how "small town" this place can seem. Firstly, the fact that we were at the final version of any popular reality television show for a reasonable dollar amount blows the mind. Secondly, we showed up a bit early to stand in line in order to get decent seats and we literally stood next to and chatted with both close and distant relatives of all of the final four contestants. Thirdly, we continue to be both pleased and horrified by the lack of commercial panache. Here are just a few ideas from a marketing neophite: 1. They could have strung out the show for about four more weeks (the final was down to four), 2. They brought back all of the top ten singers (we saw them behind-the-scenes) but didn't bring them out to sing at all. In fact, they were never together on stage (i.e. missed opportunity to sell a $.99 song). 3. They did not create a new pop song for all of the finalists to learn to sing and have the winner sing the song and sell a hundred thousand copies (again at $.99 a pop). And lastly, we were standing around waiting for the contestants to come out into the crowd on their way out to their cars (yes... the crowd has contact with the contestants) when Shanon Murphy's aunt came up to us (recognizing us from waiting in line) and told us she had pro-Shannon t-shirts for us and did we want to meet her? We said "yes" of course and scrambled over only to find that "her" was Shannon's mom ("mum"). We proceeded to take a picture with her mom (and our t-shirts) and then... Get this... Her mum wanted to take a picture with US!?!
Darling.
Anyway, Shannon - if you ever read this blog, know that we are starting your American Fan Club!
*I clicked on the link and it seems one cannot purchase it through the U.S. version of iTunes. Strange. I thought capitalism was about taking money from people who are willing to give it to you.
I know, I know... All of our friends back home think we are obsessed. And we are. We found this show the first Sunday we were here when we were all tired and wet and lonely. It carried us through! But really, you've got to check out Shannon's rendition of "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers. Supposedly the songs are on iTunes. Check out the links at the bottom of this article.
I really recommend the song* because it has a truly Irish flare to it. If you like the Cranberries combined with Sinaed O'Connor plus a little Carrie Underwood, this gal is for you (add a little red-headed Tina Fey to her looks and you've got the whole picture). Here is her singing it a few weeks ago. I will update the link when they have last night's (better) version on YouTube.
We got to attend the finale live as we bought tickets when we were cold and sad and lonely (see above) and it reminded me of how "small town" this place can seem. Firstly, the fact that we were at the final version of any popular reality television show for a reasonable dollar amount blows the mind. Secondly, we showed up a bit early to stand in line in order to get decent seats and we literally stood next to and chatted with both close and distant relatives of all of the final four contestants. Thirdly, we continue to be both pleased and horrified by the lack of commercial panache. Here are just a few ideas from a marketing neophite: 1. They could have strung out the show for about four more weeks (the final was down to four), 2. They brought back all of the top ten singers (we saw them behind-the-scenes) but didn't bring them out to sing at all. In fact, they were never together on stage (i.e. missed opportunity to sell a $.99 song). 3. They did not create a new pop song for all of the finalists to learn to sing and have the winner sing the song and sell a hundred thousand copies (again at $.99 a pop). And lastly, we were standing around waiting for the contestants to come out into the crowd on their way out to their cars (yes... the crowd has contact with the contestants) when Shanon Murphy's aunt came up to us (recognizing us from waiting in line) and told us she had pro-Shannon t-shirts for us and did we want to meet her? We said "yes" of course and scrambled over only to find that "her" was Shannon's mom ("mum"). We proceeded to take a picture with her mom (and our t-shirts) and then... Get this... Her mum wanted to take a picture with US!?!
Darling.
Anyway, Shannon - if you ever read this blog, know that we are starting your American Fan Club!
*I clicked on the link and it seems one cannot purchase it through the U.S. version of iTunes. Strange. I thought capitalism was about taking money from people who are willing to give it to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment