Jessica Duchen's Classical Music & Ballet Blog. Novelist/journalist JD writes for The Independent, London
Friday, November 21, 2008
And some light relief for Friday afternoon
Sebastian sent me this, and it has brightened my day. You don't really need to understand the German to appreciate it, though it's worth noting in advance that this lady's parents are both opera singers......
This girl is cute and her embarrassment is so funny !
And BTW, we get the same crappy TV shows in France: same music, same rules, same (dumb) questions... looks like these low-quality shows are produced in series just like cars or LCD screens...
Gawwwdd, it's been a while since i laughed so hard! "our friend Schubi" (quoting the presenter) would have enjoyed this ;-) And her oarenst must be sooo proud!! ;-))) LOL!!! Thanks for thissss, what a nice start into the weekend!
Questions: (1) How old is she? (2) Did the parents do such a good job educating her if she didn't know the answer immediately?
Oh, and for Dennis, for all that she had no clue about the answer, the fact is that most Germans, especially those educated in the old Western sectors and those near Berlin, can speak better English than many Americans I can think of, including a soon-to-be-ex-President and the VP-candidate who so thankfully did not win the election here.
George, I've been to Eupre enough to know very well that many Germans, and Europeans in general speak English very well. That wasn't the question or the issue. I simply thought it odd that a host and contestant on a German TV game show would randomly break into English for no apparent reason!
For Dennis; my bad for misconstruing your prior comment. Perhaps it was a nod to the original form of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" as an English-language show. Or perhaps they dropped into English simply because they could :) .
Her facial contortions are wonderful - the one operatic trait she's inherited? There are several clips of her on Youtube - another microcelebrity is born!
Like Dennis I was interested that a "primetime" (i.e. not sophisticated) show almost seems to assume bilingualism in its audience. The only person I can imagine doing the equivalent in England is "George Dawes" in Shooting Stars, and it would be seen as insane, zany humour.
The host referred to her as Frau Randall, and she said that her parents sing mostly in Chemnitz ... so most likely they are Edward & Kerstin Randall, a tenor and soprano (see www.kerstinrandall.com). Edward is American-born, which would partially explain the excellent English.
Clearly young Teresa wasn't paying too much attention ;)
Brilliant detective work, eusebius! I've just checked and as she says, Edward Randall war ein Meistersinger (if they can do it why can't we) at this year's Bayreuth - Balthasar Zorn in the unfairly maligned Katharina Wagner production. And it does sort of explain the English, if they've already chatted about her background etc. Interesting they don't say Fräulein Randall. I guess it sounds a bit sexist now.
In Germany any female above the age of about 16 is referred to as 'Frau'. 'Fraeulein' would be extremely patronising, 'Frollein', as they might say in some accents, would be positively insulting.
Wonderful clip, though. PS in DDR times, Chemnitz was known as 'Karl-Marx-Stadt'.
12 comments:
I missed this on TV.
So funny, she definitely had no clue.
Thanks for posting.
Still laughing.
Why did a German TV show switch to phrases in English as often as they did? Odd.
This girl is cute and her embarrassment is so funny !
And BTW, we get the same crappy TV shows in France: same music, same rules, same (dumb) questions... looks like these low-quality shows are produced in series just like cars or LCD screens...
Gawwwdd, it's been a while since i laughed so hard! "our friend Schubi" (quoting the presenter) would have enjoyed this ;-) And her oarenst must be sooo proud!! ;-))) LOL!!! Thanks for thissss, what a nice start into the weekend!
Questions:
(1) How old is she?
(2) Did the parents do such a good job educating her if she didn't know the answer immediately?
Oh, and for Dennis, for all that she had no clue about the answer, the fact is that most Germans, especially those educated in the old Western sectors and those near Berlin, can speak better English than many Americans I can think of, including a soon-to-be-ex-President and the VP-candidate who so thankfully did not win the election here.
Loved it! It is also somehow heartening to realise that it isn't only British young people who are so bereft of basic general musical knowledge.
That said, I cannot imagine such a question coming up on the UK version of this quiz show, can you?
George, I've been to Eupre enough to know very well that many Germans, and Europeans in general speak English very well. That wasn't the question or the issue. I simply thought it odd that a host and contestant on a German TV game show would randomly break into English for no apparent reason!
For Dennis; my bad for misconstruing your prior comment. Perhaps it was a nod to the original form of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" as an English-language show. Or perhaps they dropped into English simply because they could :) .
Her facial contortions are wonderful - the one operatic trait she's inherited? There are several clips of her on Youtube - another microcelebrity is born!
Like Dennis I was interested that a "primetime" (i.e. not sophisticated) show almost seems to assume bilingualism in its audience. The only person I can imagine doing the equivalent in England is "George Dawes" in Shooting Stars, and it would be seen as insane, zany humour.
The host referred to her as Frau Randall, and she said that her parents sing mostly in Chemnitz ... so most likely they are Edward & Kerstin Randall, a tenor and soprano (see www.kerstinrandall.com). Edward is American-born, which would partially explain the excellent English.
Clearly young Teresa wasn't paying too much attention ;)
Brilliant detective work, eusebius! I've just checked and as she says, Edward Randall war ein Meistersinger (if they can do it why can't we) at this year's Bayreuth - Balthasar Zorn in the unfairly maligned Katharina Wagner production. And it does sort of explain the English, if they've already chatted about her background etc. Interesting they don't say Fräulein Randall. I guess it sounds a bit sexist now.
In Germany any female above the age of about 16 is referred to as 'Frau'. 'Fraeulein' would be extremely patronising, 'Frollein', as they might say in some accents, would be positively insulting.
Wonderful clip, though. PS in DDR times, Chemnitz was known as 'Karl-Marx-Stadt'.
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