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Hung Butchers 'Take Me Out to Ball Game'
Yahoo!News ^ | Mon, May 31, 2004

Posted on 05/31/2004 9:22:59 AM PDT by Kaslin

TORONTO - William Hung butchered "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch of Sunday's matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers, much to the delight of 22,225 at SkyDome.

The American Idol reject best known for his hyperactive, tone-deaf rendition of Ricky Martin (news)'s "She Bangs," shrugged off a brief smattering of boos and belted out the baseball classic off-key while fans egged him on. Some even joined in.

Hung's presence brought a gaggle of media usually indifferent to baseball to the game, including staff from Rolling Stone magazine. A team official said more media credentials were issued Sunday than on opening day.

The Blue Jays initially tried to bring Hung in opening day, but that conflicted with the release of his debut album, "Inspiration," which is nearing 100,000 copies sold.

"I still am surprised," Hung said before the game. "I can't believe it."

The record deal is certainly testing the limits on the Hong Kong native's 15 minutes of fame. A civil engineering student at the University of California, he's spending most of his time these days touring to promote the album.


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Extended News; Front Page News; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 7thinningstretch; americanidol; baseball; canada; harrycareysangbetter; hung; hunglikeamule; music; musicindustry; pop; popmusic; publicitystunt; rock; rollingstone; takemeouttoballgame; toronto; williamhung
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Good thing he didn't try to sing the National Anthem
1 posted on 05/31/2004 9:23:00 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Good grief. Isn't this guy's 15 minutes up yet?


2 posted on 05/31/2004 9:26:27 AM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all)
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To: Kaslin

I applaud the current trend to recognize the aspirations of the untrained and untalented. Time to hang out my Brain Surgeon sign.


3 posted on 05/31/2004 9:29:08 AM PDT by John Jorsett
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To: Kaslin

If Hung plays this right, he could become the archtype for the off-key singer and never have to work again. Lucky stiff!

I love America!


4 posted on 05/31/2004 9:29:58 AM PDT by TheOldRepublic
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To: Kaslin

"I have no formal musical training." --- William Hung

5 posted on 05/31/2004 9:31:52 AM PDT by Lil'freeper (You do not have the plug-in required to view this tagline.)
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To: Lil'freeper
"I have no formal musical training." --- William Hung

If he had, he could easily sue for malpractice on the part of his teachers.

6 posted on 05/31/2004 9:34:58 AM PDT by Bob
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To: Kaslin

Whew. I thought the title was referring to the jumbo kilbasas of meat cutters.


7 posted on 05/31/2004 9:37:05 AM PDT by johniegrad
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To: Kaslin
The Blue Jays initially tried to bring Hung in opening day, but that conflicted with the release of his debut album, "Inspiration," which is nearing 100,000 copies sold.

Proof that the music industry revolves around publicity more than talent. Good music is being overlooked.

Deliberately off key singers are nothing new. Mrs. Miller put out several albums in the 1960s and even toured Vietnam on USO tours.

8 posted on 05/31/2004 9:37:58 AM PDT by weegee (NO BLOOD FOR RATINGS. CNN ignored torture & murder in Saddam's Iraq to keep their Baghdad Bureau.)
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To: Kaslin
"Inspiration," which is nearing 100,000 copies sold. "I still am surprised," Hung said before the game. "I can't believe it."

Neither can anyone with good taste.

9 posted on 05/31/2004 9:39:30 AM PDT by Michael.SF. ('Sell crazy somewhere else Pelosi and Gore, we're all stocked up here.')
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To: Kaslin

Whew. For a minute there I thought this article was about well endowed meat cutters taking someone out to do weird things.


10 posted on 05/31/2004 9:40:14 AM PDT by csmusaret
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To: weegee
Deliberately off key singers are nothing new. Mrs. Miller put out several albums in the 1960s and even toured Vietnam on USO tours

I remember the records Mrs Miller put out very well. She was more on key though then this guy

11 posted on 05/31/2004 9:41:28 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: weegee
"Proof that the music industry revolves around publicity more than talent. "

Whatever happened to the dixie chicks...?

12 posted on 05/31/2004 9:49:00 AM PDT by spokeshave (It is, as it was)
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To: Kaslin

As many have said to me "Just because you're Hung, doesn't mean you can sing."


13 posted on 05/31/2004 9:53:26 AM PDT by Leroy S. Mort
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To: Texas Eagle

It's awful but it is still funny. I think I like the idea that people can laugh at each other without offending each other. We're all fools one way or another, Hung just manages to revel in it. He's a better man than I am for that. He's also possibly the only human alive who's singing voice is worse than mine.


14 posted on 05/31/2004 10:01:18 AM PDT by muir_redwoods
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To: Kaslin

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is not so sacred that it can't be butchered. I think it's funny, and Cubs fans will tell you all about horrific versions on a daily basis. Ozzy Osbourne's comes to mind.

The one and only time I had the good fortune to attend a ballgame at Wrigley Field, the song was sung by Wisconsin football coach Barry Alvarez. It was not exactly melodious.


15 posted on 05/31/2004 10:08:19 AM PDT by Jhensy
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To: TheOldRepublic
If Hung plays this right, he could become the archtype for the off-key singer and never have to work again. Lucky stiff!

He faces stiff competition:


Mrs. Miller World

Her debut album 'Mrs. Miller’s Greatest Hits' sold 250,000 copies within 3 weeks.

Monday, Monday

Let's Hang On

Yellow Submarine

Girl From Ipanema

The eventual question was always- "Is Mrs. Miller in on the joke?" After all, this was a joke wasn’t it? The answer was illusive, intangible in an Andy Kaufman sort of way. Elva later revealed, "I don’t sing off-key and I don’t sing off-rhythm. They got me to do so by waiting until I was tired and then making the record. Or they would cut the record before I could become familiar with the songs. At first I didn’t understand what was going on. But later I did, and I resented it." Capitol told her that it was an "experiment" and Elva played innocent. Eventually she began to truly embrace the "so bad, its good" gag. A remarkable aspect of Mrs. Miller’s music, was her famous "ice-whistling" technique. She would hold a piece of ice in her mouth for 20 minutes before performing, in order to achieve a "good tight pucker" for her legendary whistle solos.

16 posted on 05/31/2004 10:08:20 AM PDT by weegee (NO BLOOD FOR RATINGS. CNN ignored torture & murder in Saddam's Iraq to keep their Baghdad Bureau.)
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To: Jhensy

Ever hear Harry Carey sing it? Ouch!

17 posted on 05/31/2004 10:18:16 AM PDT by weegee (NO BLOOD FOR RATINGS. CNN ignored torture & murder in Saddam's Iraq to keep their Baghdad Bureau.)
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To: Kaslin

Check out some of the Mrs. Miller audio samples on this thread. She does benefit from some production tricks like backup singers.


18 posted on 05/31/2004 10:19:40 AM PDT by weegee (NO BLOOD FOR RATINGS. CNN ignored torture & murder in Saddam's Iraq to keep their Baghdad Bureau.)
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To: csmusaret
Whew. For a minute there I thought this article was about well endowed meat cutters taking someone out to do weird things.

That could be this thread from the San Francisco Chronicle this month:

Girlfriend says 'Sausage King' wanted to grind up inspectors

19 posted on 05/31/2004 10:24:03 AM PDT by weegee (NO BLOOD FOR RATINGS. CNN ignored torture & murder in Saddam's Iraq to keep their Baghdad Bureau.)
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To: Lil'freeper

Did he wear a basketball jersey to a baseball game in the summertime???


20 posted on 05/31/2004 10:25:35 AM PDT by weegee (NO BLOOD FOR RATINGS. CNN ignored torture & murder in Saddam's Iraq to keep their Baghdad Bureau.)
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