Editor’s Note: It should not surprise anyone that all arms of the American propaganda apparatus, including some which pass for comedy, “naturally” did their duty upon the passing of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. The insults had to keep coming, till the very last. SNL however dredged new lows with its tasteless “homage” to Chavez (reported below), but this could be expected from a pathetic show that hasn’t been funny for decades. In fact, speaking of the dead, that’s what SNL is these days, a slowly decomposing ghoul in plain sight. Lorne Michaels, a lucky suit and certifiable philistine, must be proud of his dubious achievement, to continue to grab big bucks for colossal mediocrity. It’s sad that a onetime almost avant-garde show that gave us Belushi, Murray, Aykroyd, Radner and others of singular merit should today operate as a receptacle for numbskull audiences that incarnate the ethnocentric petulance of politically jejune Americans. Oh, by the way, in the grand scheme of things, who the hell is Justin Timberlake?—P.G.
Justin Timberlake sings eulogy as Elton John
VIBE.com
Saturday Night Live touched on a global soft spot in its cold open this past weekend. SNLopened with host/perform
Timberlake took to the piano to perform John’s eulogistic “Candle in the Wind,” but changed the lyrics around. Whether it was Timberlake’s dead-on impression of John or the lyrics to Chavez’s version of the famous John song that stole the opening is debatable.
“I have to confess I didn’t know Hugo Chavez very well,” began Timberlake as John, “but as the saying goes, “Hey, a gig is a gig!’ I did a bit of research, and it turns out President Chavez was quite a complex man. So, here it goes. Everything in this song is true.” Timberlake then launched into a song pointing out the late leaders infamous quotes and headlines.
Topics ranged from calling George Bush the devil and Mr. Danger, to Chavez’s thoughts on capitalism and Mars.
“You said the U.S. causes earthquakes and you outlawed Coke Zero. And, on your shoulder stood your parrot with a matching red beret,” sang Timberlake as an image of Chavez flanked by a parrot was shown in the background.
Timberlake concluded the segment truthfully, as promised earlier. “You were hero to your people and you never gave up a fight,” he sang. “We’ll miss you Hugo Chavez, because live from New York it’s Saturday Night,”
