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Television Media

Robin Williams To Sing "Blame Canada" @ Oscars 139

Posted by Hemos from the blame-san-a-da dept.
mwillis was the first of those who deluged us with this story: Robin Williams is set to sing the South Park song "Blame Canada" at the Oscars. There's been some...discussion as to who would actually sing the song (I just can't understand why Anne Murray [?] refused *grin) but it appears Williams will be the man of the hour. I might even watch this time.
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Robin Williams To Sing "Blame Canada" @ Oscars More

Robin Williams To Sing "Blame Canada" @ Oscars

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  • Re:hehehe (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    No. I disagree. They picked him because he's the only one that can divert from the issue. Just watch - he'll make a joke out of the whole thing. He'll mouth the words so ostensibly, with such an expression on his face - the TV audience and the people at Shriners will be in stitches laughing - and the puritan TV corp sickos will heave a sigh of relief. Billy Graham will frown a bit, Al Gore will smile to himself and say, "I really believe in this nation", and the show will go on.

  • Re:Robin Williams (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    plus he's too hairy. doesn't anyone but me see it ?!?! He's people...He's people....Robin is people !!!!
  • That'll get those naughty bits past the censors :)

    cbd.
  • Oh, and I'll just assume you meant the FCC, not the Federal Trade ionCommision.

    Uh.. yes; my mistake. Though, the lines sometime get blurry in what FCC and CRTC do, as they regulate who gets the rights to certain commercial activities using the waves. Maybe they should merge the FTC and FCC into the FTCS: the Federaly Traded Communications Shylucks.
  • is anyone going to claim that this article is old? Geez... This was on ABCnews.com a week ago.
  • Since you only use 10% of your brain, why not remove the other 90% ?

    I know someone who'll remove the excess for the low low price of $19.95*, plus they'll throw in a really nice set of Ginsu knives.

    *All prices in Canadian funds
  • Robin Williams is the right man for the job he has that strange sense of humor that everyone likes.


    http://theotherside.com/dvd/ [theotherside.com]
  • You mean you can't quote all three?
  • Which Robin Williams is going to sing Blame Canada? Is it the young, bold Robin Williams, who includes the topic of illegal drugs in his HBO standup routine? Or is it the older, Disnified Robin Williams, who entertains kids with funny voices and contorted faces?
  • There was an interview about it on public radio with a guy who was planning the show and he said that Anne Murray thought it was very funny and wanted to do it but had a schedule conflict. That would have been the best.
  • ...in a secret vault somewhere in LA from which he controls all media. Think about it, this story and all the turns it has taken is merely one example of the tendancy in the past few years of everything in our media culture becoming more and more surreal. Sometimes I get the feeling that people are just taking things to the extremes in order to test how far the viewing public will follow them. I think "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" and the COPS episode of the X-Files have proved that there really is no limit to the public's capacity to suspend disbelief and accept all manner of ideas that are only tenuously linked to anything we once might have believed was "reality."



  • Not only is Robin Williams an amazing comedian, but he is also an amazing drama actor. What are the freaking odds? Not even Jim Carey has that much talent. I can't think of anyone as talented as Mr. Williams. Can anyone else?

    Also Canada doesn't censor their television. Maybe they don't suck so much after all. :)
  • and so is Springer and Souhtpark and even the Simpsons. We (at least my generation) likes laughing at ourselves a lot. Mainly because we know how ridiculous we are...

    --
  • I'll second this 100%. Am I the only person who avoids ANY movie with Robin Williams in it. Because I already know what a needy, whining jerk he is already - having seen more than one movie of his before. Sorry if this seems harsh, but tolerance needs to be reserved for those who appreciate it.
  • Don't forget Dead Poet Society, one of the best movies ever, imho.
  • I'm afraid we don't eat grits in Canada, sorry :-p
  • Well, I think he was talking about the language mostly, and the CRTC lets more and more go as it gets later. By midnight (I think), there's no restrictions on language at all. Yay KITH!

    Oh, and I'll just assume you meant the FCC, not the Federal Trade Commision.
  • I don't know if Streep's really whoring. I've never seen her in anything that didn't involve horribly overacted melodrama, so I just assume its the only way she knows how to act.
  • So, a link to scoobydoo.com is informative? What are the moderators smoking today? I want some too...

    "Don't try to confuse the issue with half truths and gorilla dust."
    Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman)
  • Ooh, you got to correct Steven Wright and use the word "pole" in a cool way. At the same time. I bet you feel l33t, don't you?
    --
  • Perhaps we need a "Blame Canada" topic... ;^)
    --
  • I'll take 'em until the comments are so stale I cease to laugh at them. The comments are still pretty funny; especially the mental picture I got of Whoopi Goldberg singing 'Uncle Fucker'..

    There'll inevitably be another two: One when Williams does it, and one when someone makes a MP3 of the joyous event available. Save your wrath for the latter..
  • He hasn't been funny since 1983. A smart guy, a talented guy, but funny...not anymore. And definitely not original. He's been doing the same shtick for years and years.

  • Really it would be more interesting to see a special oscar edition of South Park ;) I'm sure they could insult everyone in say 15 minutes. The Oscars have always been too "political" for the movie studios and many movies/actors that should have gained an oscar did not.
  • "potty-mouthed South Park stars: Eric, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny"

    Eric == Cartman
    What happened to Stan?

  • Did you watch the movie? Or even listen to the whole Blame Canada song?
    The movie makes fun of the Americans and american media for blaming everyone but themselves for thier kids problems.(You know, like the fiasco that followed all those high-school shootings.) The censorship was an example, Blame Canada was anouther.
    Besdies the Canadian military made quite a good showing. They more or less slaughtered 'Operation:Hide behind the darkies', right?
  • I couldn't pry myself away from the set. I'll have to watch anyway just for the song.
  • "Flapping heads and beady eyes ..." I suppose
  • Every nerd I know can quote South Park ad naseaum.

    I think there's a difference between the old school nerds and the new school nerds. The old school quotes Monty Python, the new school nerds quote Austin Powers and South Park.

  • Actually, I wasn't being hasty, I was being factitious. The previous poster made a generaliztion about Americans, "Typical Americans". I then made a generalized flame towards the Canadian education, in jest of course. Which was then followed up with an ironic flame questioning the entire intelligence of the nation of Canada.

    Which of course brings us around back the humor of South Park.

    So, yes. It is ironic. :)
    --
  • I think you miss one of the points of South Park. They make fun of putting people/things down.

    Whats the education like up there in Canada anyhow?
    --
  • I wasnt planning on watching the Oscars before or after Robin williams sings that song . South Park isnt funny and neither is Robin Williams,maybe I missed the point of the whole thing or I didnt do enough drugs and my one remaing brain cell keeps me from getting what it's all about
  • As a Canuck you of all people should know that Yanks don't like being made fun of. In no way will they laugh about them selves. It is probably some sense of superiority. :-) Remember Due South? ;-)

    By now I have stepped on many Yankee toes and even some Redneck toes probably. So to them I want to say that we (the rest of the world). Where else can we find a country to laugh about in such various ways. England may make the best comedy, but for real life comedy we turn to the United States. All the various talkshows, but mostly Jerry Springer, give us enough to look at and to laugh about the way of life in the US. :-)

    Greetings from The Netherlands
  • This is "Stuff that Matters"?
  • Actually... It wouldn't be Parker and Stone but rather Parker and that other dude who wrote the song with him..
    Stone apparently didn't help write the song...




  • And you are talented? Also you must be a geek as well, since your here at /.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • He went to Juilliard. Not quite a wannabe...
  • Yeah, its a shame he talks so fast you cant understand what he`s saying. Then again, that way no-one can tell that hes not very funny.

    (apologies to Beavis and Butthead!)

    p.
  • light and dark are two poles of the same object.

  • Yeah, I think that I might tune in for 5 mins to see this.
  • You dreary critters! :)
  • This is true. Canadians were bashed, but not directly, only because the theme of the film was to blame something besides ourselves. I thought the film was hallariously similar to the media reaction to the Columbine shooting. Whe THAT sucker went off, all the parents of America wanted to blame video games, music, black trenchcoats, the internet... everything but bad parenting. I think that was what they wanted to depict is how rediculuos a conclusion they could come to. It wouldn't have been a very interesting movie though if they had decided to sing, "Blame Candy Bars". Fo course Canada shouldn't take offense to the target that was chosen, we were laughing with you, not at you. -Effendi
  • Well, I hate to point it out, but the only spineless talentless person I see here is you, for both your anonmity and tasteless writing. A+! ;)

    Chris
  • Maybe... but then that just works against them, considering those are "childish" type of insults... =) Besides, the movie was really about censorship, which in the end is why the whole Oscar-censoring is such a lark... :)

    Chris
  • If anyone can do this song by themself it's him (or maybe jim carrey) he's got the voices, the actions, etc.

    As for why there are stories like this on /.? I cant really answer that, but 1- if you dont like it dont read it (let alone respond to it... ) and 2- Southpark is funny.. them being awarded by the acadamy is even funnier.

  • hah! This post is exactly what the South Park movie parodies!
  • I will have to watch that, i bet it will be funny
  • Yeh, a good movie, I just got a bit annoyed at the 'My Captain, my Captain' stuff. A little corny. And those boys needed to toughen up a bit. Goddam privilaged brats, why when I was young, our father used to kill us and jump up and down on our graves every night, and we never had custard on our dried bread.....
  • The main problem is that the movie studios feel the need to describe every movie he's in as "hilarious" even if it's not a comedy.
  • It shows that Matt Stone and Trey Parker know how to pick people to support them becuase Robin Williams is the perfect one for this song. For those who oppose, take a course in drama and see if you can do what he does and call it no talent. Farewell skUnk

  • I'd bet that the guy from www.capalert.com [capalert.com], the ChildCare Action Project: Christian Analysis of American Culture Reports. They're hilarious. Here [capalert.com] is his review of South Park.


    ----------------------------

  • Heh.. (Score:2)

    by dougman ( 908 )
    I'm only slightly skeeved that I covered [theswindle.com] this story, flaming editorial and all, days ago and got nary a visitor ...heh.
  • I read this at first as Robbie Williams, and nearly lost my breakfast.
  • Also Canada doesn't censor their television. Maybe they don't suck so much after all. :)

    Actually, Canada does censor it's television. The CRTC (Canada's equiqalent of the FTC) has a long list of DOs and DONTs. The only difference is the tolerance factor.
    One example is nudity. We have more nudity than US television, but not to the point of showing genitals, unless in a non-sexual context like a murder scene.

    You can find the info here here [crtc.gc.ca]
  • Hmm, I feel the other way, I am mildly amused by the show, but honestly it's never seemed to be even as clever as Beavis & Butthead were. The movie, on the other hand, was great, it had catchy music, an actual message, and enough vulgarity to shock anyone. Now don't get me wrong, I like the show, but it usually seems to be about what taboos they can break this week, rather than carrying a decent story line.
    ---
  • Can we get Whoopie to do Uncle Fucker instead?

  • hehehe (Score:2)

    by ywwg ( 20925 )
    he's the type of guy who would be willing to include the profanity even though he's not supposed to. He'd be able to get away with it, too!

  • He has done some good movies, but only by branching out from the comedies. Bicentenial man was good, but my absolute favorite of his movies was What Dreams May Come. Don't assume that crap like Mrs. Doubtfire or Jumanji are all that he is capable of.

    I may get tired of him as a comedian, but at least he's better than Jim Carrey.

  • They shouldn't let people who haven't actually ever seen the show write about it, yes? "...potty-mouthed South Park stars: Eric, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny." Ohmigod! They killed Stan! You bastards!
  • There's a pretty funny poll running at http://www.Filmindustry.com that's linking all of this year's Oscar weirdness (the stolen statuettes, the ballots lost in the mail etc) to "... an alleged conspiracy of angry Canadians."
  • Now that's the spirit! Imply that most of Slashdot are hopeless drug addicts, and tell everyone that since you don't find South Park and Robin Williams funny, nobody else should either. Oh, and that first sentence was pure brilliance - I am absolutely convinced now that termite666 is superior to any lousy Oscars-watching Slashdotter.

    (sarcasm off)

    So, enlighten me - if you care so little about all this, why'd you read this article?
    --
  • Here is some more info:

    http://www.canoe.ca/JamOscar2000/mar9_murray.htm l

    From the article:

    "Far from being offended by the song's lyrics,
    publicist Marlene Palmer said the singer was
    amused by the song and would have performed at
    the show, except it conflicts with a long-planned
    holiday."
  • Will he do it in the Genie's voice?

    -----------------------

  • Not Celine Dion?
  • No matter what talent Robin might have he's become one of the biggest Oscar whores next to Meryl Streep and Jim Carrey (who's last two movies were obviously oscar ploys.) That makes him pretty distasteful to me.
  • who the hell had the time to count that there were "399 bad words and 128 crude gestures"?

    The same kind of person who finds out that the word "Duke" is said 124 times during the oldies tune, "Duke of Earl."

    I'm sure the censors know every *blip*in' potential hotspot in the movie. That's what they're paid to do. They likely have a spreadsheet with the SMPTE time code for every middle-finger or reference to scat in the movie.

    Same goes for people who numb their minds with the trivia knowledge of how many home-runs some batter performs every season, though I'm sure *that* will get a reaction out of some people.

    (How many Dukes of Earl does it take... =anagram>
    OK, OK, and somewhat easily refuted.)
  • Parker and Stone should have made some new animation for them to play at the awards. It would have been a perfect solution, given the death of Mary Kay Bergman. They could have cut the song right into it, as a kind of memorial to the talent that was lost when she killed herself.

    Robin Williams, though? Yuck. He's waaaaay to corporate, even though he represents as "wacky" and "out there". He's the perfect safe choice for an AMPAS that lost all credibility whatsoever long ago. What a disappointment.

    My only hope is that Parker and Stone win and get up on stage and just rip into pretty much everything and curse up a storm and do Cartman voices. Trey Parker is a comic genius. Let's hope they win so there'll be some entertainment on the Oscars this year.

  • Actually Anne Murray really likes the song. _Some_ people actually do have a sense of humour. She turned down the offer to sing "Blame Canada" coz she's going on a golf vacation that she'd planned beforehand.
  • I wonder if there's a hidden agenda for them to single out this specific song for nomination - maybe there are some anti-Canadian sentiments? Or maybe because this is actually one of the tamer songs that even though they liked all the other ones, this is the symbolic one to kiss Parker ass on?

    Also, who the hell had the time to count that there were "399 bad words and 128 crude gestures"?

  • ....a sample box to do Cartman, IIRC (His voice is actually sped up). RW can still be funny, and can still do the 'throwaway' stuff with ease (You only need to see/hear 'Live At The Met' to know that). Besides, who takes the Academy Awards seriously any more? The best stuff is almost always at smaller film fests these days anyway.

    'Quick sip of Perrier, Sorry folks, had to quit drinking alcohol because I got sick of waking up nude in front of my car with my keys in my ass'

  • Robin Williams was never particularly funny. He had a knack for acting weird and making people think they should be laughing at him. As he got older, he developed a knack for acting cute and making people think they should be laughing at him. He's the Salieri(sp?) of comedy.
    * mild mannered physics grad student by day *
  • for submitting a story noone is able to make a sane comment on

  • Censorship (Score:3)

    by Rupert ( 28001 ) on Tuesday March 21, 2000 @06:17AM (#1187432) Homepage Journal
    Will Cyber Patrol [cyberpatrol.com] be blocking oscars.org [oscars.org]?

  • Comments from a Canadian.. (Score:3)

    by citizenc ( 60589 ) <caryNO@SPAMglidedesign.ca> on Tuesday March 21, 2000 @08:53AM (#1187433) Journal
    OK, to set the record straight, I, myself am Canadian. I was born here. Raised here. And live here. Now, I read posts and news stories about people thinking that the song "Blame Canada", and the South Park Movie in general offended us Canadians somehow. Let me tell you, that isn't true, at least from what I've seen.

    Sure, the film itself revolves around Canada attacking the US in stupid ways, (be afraid of our hockey sticks, dammit!) and I was laughing the whole way through it. My father, who watched it with me, and who HATES the series, was laughing just as much as I was.

    Now, it's true that some Canadians (mostly the up-tight ones) will find offense to the song. But if they don't like it, they can just change the channel. However, I know that -I- will be front and center, singing along, and througly embaressing myself in front of all my friends! =)

    (But only if I'm drunk ;)
    ,-----.----...---..--..-....-
    ' CitizenC
    ' "Bug? That's Not A Bug, That's A Feature!"
    `-----.----...---..--..-....-

  • The yahoos at Yahoo did it again... :) (Score:3)

    by cmat ( 152027 ) on Tuesday March 21, 2000 @06:10AM (#1187434)
    If you skim to the end of the third paragraph, you'll see the phrase "...Canada-bashing...". What I want to know is:

    What the heck sort of Canada bashing is done in that entire film? Sure Canadians were depicted as looking REAL odd... *hehe, do I really look like THAT?* but in general the only people that were poked fun at the whole time were americans... Looks like the writers at Yahoo need to open up...

    Chris

    --

    Huh? What sig?
  • I feel the need to point out, once again, that Yahoo doesn't WRITE the content on its news site, it comes in off "the wire" from news agencies around the world.

  • Re:blame Hemos (Score:4)

    by Zak3056 ( 69287 ) on Tuesday March 21, 2000 @08:09AM (#1187436) Journal
    Okay, I cant resist this one.... moderators, note, this is HUMOR, not flamebait! :)

    "Blame Hemos"

    Times have changed, Slashdot is getting worse!
    It's full of trolls, not articles, where's the 'News for Nerds?'
    Should we all blame Taco? or blame that guy Jamie?
    Or should we blame a chick named Natalie?
    No! Blame Hemos! Blame Hemos!
    With those creepy book reviews, and the bitch named JonKatz too!
    Blame Hemos! Blame Hemos!
    We need form a full assault, it's Hemos' fault!

  • Was this story really necessary? :-) (Score:4)

    by Skald ( 140034 ) on Tuesday March 21, 2000 @06:15AM (#1187437)
    You know, I'm not one to be all uptight about what stories "belong here" and all that stuff... but don't you sort of wonder how many "Blame Canada" stories we need?

    Just a thought. :-)

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