Sunday, March 2, 2008

American Viral Video, "I Am Your Brother"







Here is a story that is haunting, uplifting and weirdly hilarious all at once. It also crosses media from television to Internet, which makes it especially cool to me. A few weeks back American Idol was in the thick of its annual cross country auditions. This is where the truly talented and the seriously strange meet in large stadiums across the US, to be either knighted or ridiculed by the Three Wise Pundits; Randy, Paula and Simon. Into this maelstrom steps a gentleman known as Reynaldo Lapuz. Mr Lapuz is a diminuative, cheerful Filipino fellow, dressed in white with a feathered hat and a floor length furry cape. On his hat he has taped a note that says "Simon". Right off the bat, our three judges are transfixed. Reynaldo sings an original composition for his audition called "Brothers Forever". It is at once awful, yet terribly addictive. As a singer, on a scale of 1 to 10, Rey is a 3.5. His song is Karaoke meets campfire, a plaintive plea for friendliness and brotherhood. In the course of his audition, all hell breaks loose, with both Randy and Paula hopping on stage to dance and sing along and Simon collapsing in genuine roll on the floor laughter.
It is really funny and I've posted the video here on the Nose (below).

But wait...there's more! The video of our hero Reynaldo, ended up on YouTube shortly after the American Idol episode aired. It has spawned HUNDREDS of copy-cat response videos from around the world, and each is more precious than the next. There are Filipino families singing along, there are folk rockers with guitars (quite beautiful renditions!), there are animated versions., even one "Brothers Forever" with Claymation dolls. All give tribute to Reynaldo Lapuz, the unlikely hero who did not get to go to Hollywood, but who has gone wildly viral on YouTube and the Internet with his heartfelt plea for world peace.

I did not find out about this gem on my own, but was forced to watch it by my son, who shares a similar quirky sense of humor and has a birthday coming this week. Thanks for the great tip, Tom...and Happy Birthday!
Posted by Jane at 3:51 PM
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1 comment:

Lisa said...

I thought this was pretty sweet...what purity in Reynaldo's eyes and he's adorable as can be.

I haven't looked at the tribute videos yet, but as we all know, you never know what will catch on. Reynaldo's spirit is worthy of spreading across the land!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008 12:44:00 PM

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