Odyssey Sings!
Hebrews 13:5
“Odyssey Sings!” is episode #572 of the Adventures in Odyssey audio series. It was written by John Fornof and Marshal Younger, and originally aired on July 9, 2005.
Summary
When America Sings! comes to Odyssey, many hopeful singers line up to audition.
Plot
The popular TV show “America Sings!” is coming to Odyssey, and the town is abuzz! This could be everyone's chance to be famous and get on television. All they have to do is sing a song.
Disappointment hits, however, when they find Cryin’ Bryan Dern, along with Walter Shakespeare, is going to be a judge! Despite Whit's discomfort with the situation (knowing that judges can frequently be mean to contestants), Connie, Tamika, and Wooton decide to audition anyway. Connie encourages Eugene to try out with one of his original songs, but Eugene decides that the show is not the venue in which he wants to share his talent.
Bart Rathbone auditions (accompanied by Wooton) with a song that is really an ad for the Electric Palace and is told he was neither good enough nor bad enough to be included in the broadcast version of the show. Connie only manages to sing two words of her song before Bryan Dern "quacks" her, ending her audition.
Meanwhile, Wooton is excitedly sharing song ideas with Tamika. He is pumped to be part of such an exciting experience, but Tamika is only worried about receiving approbation from the judges and becoming famous. Tamika shares with Wooton her belief that approval from the judges is more important than approval from her friends and family, but before Wooton can explain differently, it's his turn to sing.
When it's finally Tamika's turn to audition, Dern "quacks" her partway through her song. He says that, though she has some talent, she simply doesn't have star quality. As Walter Shakespeare tries to offer platitudes to comfort her, she is ushered out and "Joe Smith" (Bart in costume) is allowed in for one final audition. He sings the same song as Bart and is immediately recognized.
The gang meets back at Whit's End to discuss their auditions. Whit suggests that they all go into the Little Theater and have their own talent show. It ends with Eugene singing "Red River Valley". He is overheard by Mr. Tuttle, who begs Eugene to sign a recording contract. He and Eugene have a meeting to discuss the idea, but Eugene turns him down. At Whit's suggestion however, he agrees to record an album of his songs for his friends.
Discussion Questions
- Should Tamika have thought that the compliments from Whit, Connie, and Wooton were less meaningful than Bryan Dern's compliment?
Cast
Heard in episode
Mentioned in episode
Notes
VERSION DIFFERENCE: [view] Early versions of this episode featured, in the wraps, Chris telling listeners about Eugene Sings!, and more singing from Eugene.
- Trivia
- This is only the second episode to utilize live music; the second being #387: “New Year's Eve Live!”.
- Have You Ever Been to Odyssey? was composed by Will Ryan for his musical album, "Eugene Sings!" The show was done, in part, to explain the release of the album.
- This program featured many Odyssey characters singing. John Fornof composed all the songs (except for Red River Valley and Have You Ever Been to Odyssey?, which was composed and arranged by Will Ryan). The songs composed by John Fornof were then orchestrated and arranged by John Campbell. The actors then sang to Campbell's "scratch" tracks in the studio. Full versions of all songs (except Connie's and Red River Valley) were recorded and included in Album 45: Lost and Found. For the actual show, live music was recorded. The musicians included:
- Jim Adam — guitar, acoustic bass, jug, banjo
- John Doryk — violin, spoons
- Jeff Caylor — accordion
- Nathan Jones — guitar ("The Highway" — Tamika's song)
- John Campbell — piano, bass guitar, drums, bells, marimbas
- This episode includes the following songs:
- "The Electric Palace Do-Dah Song" — Sung by Bart, music by Wooton Bassett
- "You Have the Right" — Sung by Officer Stew Burke
- "My Ode to Macaroni" — Sung by Wooton Bassett
- "The Trip of a Lifetime" — Sung by Connie Kendall
- "The Death of Tragedy" (or A 27-Second Opera) — Sung by Harlow Doyle
- "The Highway" — Sung by Tamika Washington
- "The Red River Valley" — Sung by Eugene Meltsner
- "Have You Ever Been to Odyssey?" — Sung by Eugene Meltsner
- This was the first episode in which Walter Shakespeare appeared and Edwin Blackgaard did not.
- Connie's song "The Trip of a Lifetime" may refer to her road trip with Joanne.
- Tamika mentions singing with Los Perros Frescos in this episode.
- This episode continues the in-joke of Wooton being able to play "Camptown Races" on any instrument, begun in #515: “BTV: Behind the Scenes”.
- Allusions
- America Sings is a spoof of American Idol, with Bryan Dern playing the part of a Simon Cowell and Walter Shakespeare being a Paula Abdul.
- The "quacking" to end an audition is probably taken from the Idol-esque show 'The X Factor'.
Reviews
Gallery
- Contestants
Connie singing "The Trip of a Lifetime".
Tamika singing "The Highway".
Bryan Dern judging with his duck.
The cover of Album 45b: Odditions, featuring Connie with judges Walter Shakespeare and Bryan Dern.
Quotes
Wooton Bassett: February is my seventh favorite month!
Bryan Dern: Were you singing, or were you trying to hail a cab in rhinoceros language?!
Bryan Dern: Iiiiincredible! My ears haven't hurt this bad since I got my head stuck in the elevator door!
Connie Kendall: Why did you have to pick a judge who was so quick to quack?
Bryan Dern: I admit, I'm a quick quacker.
Bryan Dern: Can we move on now? I have a root canal I'd like to get to.
Bart Rathbone: <singing> Electric Palace doo-dah song a-doo-dah...
Murray: And the name of our next town is...<throws dart>
Mr. Dee: Ow!
Mr. Tuttle: Our next contestant is Harlow Doyle.
Harlow Doyle: My card, my card, here's a twenty, heh, heh ran out of cards.
Cryin' Bryan Dern: Rathbone! What are you doing?!
Bart Rathbone: <in Joe Smith voice> How did you know it was me? <normal voice> Ahem, ahah, AHEM, AHAH! How did you know it was me?
Cryin' Bryan Dern: Your fake goatee fell off!
Bart Rathbone: Ohhhh.
Bart Rathbone: What about you? Did you like it?
Shakespeare: Your intonation was really nice. Perhaps, though the song could have featured more references to love or longing or something that's not a household appliance.
Bart Rathbone: So was I bad enough to get on the T'n'V?
Brian Dern: If it was up to me, I'd put you on twice!
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