"Keys Me"

Maybe I shouldn't read blogs about a particular topic that I'm interested in writing about. Reading them makes me feel as if my own writing is a little cramped, that I'm subconsciously including what other bloggers have said, and incorporating it into my blog. Note to self: think about what I want to write before looking at what others wrote about the topic.

The topic in question is the super popular video clip featuring Viva Hot Babe Alyssa Alano butchering a Sixpence None the Wiser song, "Kiss Me." You know it's going to be problematic when she starts out by pronouncing the first words, and title, as "Keys Me." And it gets worse from there.

It helps that in the video, someone took time out to subtitle what she was singing, and that someone also took time out to transcribe them and post the lyrics on his blog. And here are some of the lyrics:

Keys me...
Beat in the verdict
Valeey... Nightlee
V-side the green green grass
Swing swing
Swing the spinny stef
You vur the shoez
And I will wear the dress

Here's the original of the above:

Kiss me out of the bearded barley
Nightly, beside the green, green grass
Swing, swing, swing the spinning step
You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress.

On the site hosting the clip, YouTube (and in case you're wondering, no, I'm not going to post the clip here), there are almost 600 comments, part of which is a bit of a flame war, with one side criticizing those laughing at Alano as being racist, saying that it's a habit of Filipinos making fun of Filipinos speaking in badly accented English, and the other side saying that the critics should have a sense of humor.

I'm with those having a sense of humor about the whole thing. We do laugh at people's foibles, and we're not the only ethnic group who laugh at the way we speak a language. Even Americans make fun of each other's way of speaking English; without this, stand-up comedy wouldn't be the same.

At the same time, I feel a little sorry for starlet Alano, gaining fame in this manner. And I wonder at the producers, who probably recorded the song earlier so Alano could lip-synch it during the show. Shouldn't they have advised her to sing it again, this time properly if possible? Or asked her to sing something else?

On the other hand, she is getting an ungodly amount of exposure that she can probably parlay into a lucrative career, if she's savvy. Look at Melanie Marquez.

Oh, well. Yet another instant celebrity courtesy of the Internet.