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Tag: Mike Myers

  • Cringeworthy musical moments on classic TV…

    Cringeworthy musical moments on classic TV…

    This morning, I saw a YouTube video that totally inspired me to write about cringeworthy musical moments on classic TV…

    Forgive me. I’m having issues coming up with a good topic today. When this happens, I often turn to YouTube for inspiration. The very first thing I found was a classic video from 1978.


    Here’s William Shatner performing “Rocket Man” while smoking a cigarette and backed up with a disco version of Elton John’s and Bernie Taupin’s classic song.

    Some people claim this video is unwatchable, but I find it strangely fascinating. I sit here and wonder what possessed someone to ask William Shatner to act out this song. On the other hand, it’s kind of hilarious, especially when he gets all boogiefied with his bow tie undone. Bizarre and definitely cringeworthy.

    Never one to pass up an opportunity to be cringeworthy, Donny Osmond also makes this post when he sings this truly horrifying cover of “Johnny Be Good”. He’s changed up the lyrics, though, to honor the then nearly elected U.S. President, Ronald Reagan.


    This is godawful. I notice that no one in the audience seems to get into this number. Is it just because they’re straight-laced Republicans? Or is it because this number is truly cringeworthy?

    Marie Osmond does her best to rally the crowd, but it all kind of falls into a cheesy kind of hell. I like the guy sitting behind Reagan, who looks like he might need to pull the underwear out of the crack of his ass.

    In 1975, the late country singer Charlie Rich showed up for the 1975 Country Music Association awards completely bombed out of his mind. Watch how he presents the Entertainer of the Year award…


    I like how Glen Campbell introduces Charlie Rich while holding a lit cigarette. Everybody smoked in the 70s, didn’t they?

    And because everybody smoked, Mr. Rich had a cigarette lighter with him, which he used to light John Denver’s winning ballot on fire. I’ve read that poor Charlie’s career suffered due to that little stunt. I also love the way Glen Campbell looks nervously at the camera… which immediately reminds me of this scene from 2005.


    I remember watching this live in 2005 when Kanye West went off script…

    Poor Mike Myers looks like he wants to just fall through the floor. Bless his heart. Totally cringeworthy, although I can understand why many people were fine with what Kanye West said.

    Kanye West was also at the forefront of cringeworthy at the 2009 MTV awards, when he totally dissed poor Taylor Swift, who was just trying to graciously accept an award…


    I’m not a Taylor Swift fan, but I thought she handled this fairly gracefully. If I were her, I’d be itching to kick Kanye in the cojones.

    Here’s a relatively mild clip from the ACM awards from 2003. Vince Gill presents an award to Toby Keith…


    If you recall, Toby’s name was referenced on a t-shirt worn by a certain Dixie Chick.

    Maybe not as cringeworthy as Kanye’s antics, but I do like the way Vince and Reba banter back and forth.

    And finally, here’s a clip from 1993 starring RuPaul and Milton Berle…


    I don’t remember when this happened… but dayum! Definitely cringeworthy. I think RuPaul won that round, too.

    I’m hoping to get out this weekend and find some fresh inspiration for my music posts. For now, I hope your weekend isn’t cringeworthy and you don’t spend it watching TV.

  • The Timberlake Curse?

    Justin Timberlake at VMAsThe commonly accepted theory is that, generally speaking, musicians don’t make good movie stars and actors don’t make musicians. Occasionally there’s an exception (Will Smith has done an admirable job turning himself from the Fresh Prince into the new Tom Hanks, Jared Leto has a platinum album, J. Lo was hitting on both cylinders for a second), but it’s rare to find someone who has twin success on the silver screen and in the recording studio.

    The latest singer to try and fail at becoming equally as successful an actor is Justin Timberlake. As a singer, Justin (solo and with ‘Nsync) has sold something like 40 million records and won 6 Grammy Awards. As an actor? Not so much. Let’s see. There was “Edison Force”, a movie that went straight to video despite boasting the talents of Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey. Then there was “Black Snake Moan”, the only one of Timberlake’s movies I actually saw, which wasn’t bad if you could suspend reality for a bit. However, Timberlake’s role was pretty unnecessary, and the movie wasn’t a success. He followed that up with “Alpha Dog”, which also caught a brick. I don’t know about you, but putting the dude that sang “Bye Bye Bye” in a role as a gangbanger was probably a stretch.

    For his latest role, Timberlake has joined forces with Mike Myers in “The Love Guru”, which opened at a weak 4th place this week. Granted, Timberlake doesn’t seem to be the problem with the movie, which judging from previews looks completely unfunny. Myers hasn’t done himself any favors if you read the recent Entertainment Weekly article portraying him as a complete douchebag, but you’ve got to admit that this is a letdown for the guy who created the iconic Austin Powers.

    Although Timberlake’s peers don’t seem to be having much success at the box office either (how many people saw “The Pink Panther”?), JT might want to take a look at the film career of the woman whose career he assisted in torpedoing (pardon the pun). People may joke about Janet Jackson’s acting career, but each of the three movies she’s had a major role in debuted at #1 at the weekly box office.