We Are The World reboot

[Young Drachma]

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Reactions?

[Flasch186]

no Phil Collins?

[thesloppy]

Gotdamn that's horrible. I am a horribly cynical asshole, but it's hard for me to watch Lionel Ritchie and Bustah Rhymes grooving around in front of velvet curtains and millions of dollars of recording equipment (that certainly weren't necessary to auto-tune the shit out of a song that has the instrumental depth of a pop-tart), without thinking that the first thoughts out of their heads were "This is gonna be a great shot for my floundering career!", rather than "I really want to help Haiti, and I hope the proceeds for this video don't end up in Wyclef's fraudulent charity. (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0114102wyclef1.html)"

Also, I might feel better about this project if it HADN'T been done before. But I think, upon reflection, the '80s "We Are The World" conjures up images of the world's greatest celebrities getting together to sing a song together, and the cause that they were meaning to help is left by the wayside, as an afterthought, at best. This vid gives me the feeling that all of these celebs were chasing the idea of being in something "big" & "important", and the cause is secondary at best. The spectacle seems to outweigh the message handily, and that certainly isn't helped by rehashing a 20 year-old song, repeating nearly word-for-word the same cliched lyrics and platitudes that were meant for an entirely different cause. Add in CGI Michael Jackson, and Jamie Foxx throwing in a Ray Charles impression in the middle, and I'm left somewhat confused and offended, which I don't think was the intended result.

[sovereignstar]

I was all excited to start watching the Olympics. Then I quickly determined I had to watch some shitty Saturday afternoon movie on cable for at least 10 more minutes.

'Nuff said.

[Autumn]

The real question is who's the hot chick in the white tanktop? I'm out of touch, and it seems this is a horrible mistake.

[jbergey22]

Gotdamn that's horrible. I am a horribly cynical asshole, but it's hard for me to watch Lionel Ritchie and Bustah Rhymes grooving around in front of velvet curtains and millions of dollars of recording equipment (that certainly weren't necessary to auto-tune the shit out of a song that has the instrumental depth of a pop-tart), without thinking that the first thoughts out of their heads were "This is gonna be a great shot for my floundering career!", rather than "I really want to help Haiti, and I hope the proceeds for this video don't end up in Wyclef's fraudulent charity. (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0114102wyclef1.html)"

Also, I might feel better about this project if it HADN'T been done before. But I think, upon reflection, the '80s "We Are The World" conjures up images of the world's greatest celebrities getting together to sing a song together, and the cause that they were meaning to help is left by the wayside, as an afterthought, at best. This vid gives me the feeling that all of these celebs were chasing the idea of being in something "big" & "important", and the cause is secondary at best. The spectacle seems to outweigh the message handily, and that certainly isn't helped by rehashing a 20 year-old song, repeating nearly word-for-word the same cliched lyrics and platitudes that were meant for an entirely different cause. Add in CGI Michael Jackson, and Jamie Foxx throwing in a Ray Charles impression in the middle, and I'm left somewhat confused and offended, which I don't think was the intended result.


You are offended and confused because they modernized a song from 25 years ago? It's strange that you would be offended yet the artists from 25 years ago are not?

They are doing it to try and help if you want to think something else going right ahead. There are a lot of different styles of artists they had to fit into this song. It's not 1985 anymore. They donated their time which says enough for me.

These people are already "big" so Im not sure how doing this video is "chasing the idea of being in something "big and "important."

It wasnt the greatest re-make in history by any means but getting all of these multi-millionaires together to re-make a historical important song is pretty cool IMO.

[Izulde]

...We Are The World: The Hip-Hop Version.

[JPhillips]

Why is Jeff Bridges there?

[thesloppy]

You are offended and confused because they modernized a song from 25 years ago? It's strange that you would be offended yet the artists from 25 years ago are not?

W/E, They are doing it to try and help if you want to think something else going right ahead. There are a lot of different styles of artists they had to fit into this song. It's not 1985 anymore. They donated their time which says enough for me.

These people are already "big" so Im not sure how doing this video is "chasing the idea of being in something "big and "important."

It wasnt the greatest re-make in history by any means but getting all of these multi-millionaires together to re-make a historical important song is pretty cool IMO.

More power to ya, if you think it's sincere. While I have no qualms about running celebs motivations through the ringer, I've no desire to personally argue your sincerity on a matter of charity.

[jbergey22]

More power to ya, if you think it's sincere. While I have no qualms about running celebs motivations through the ringer, I've no desire to personally argue your sincerity on a matter of charity.

I didnt intend to call you out on your opinion like that. I am sorry!

You just seemed very negative about this whole thing. They didnt have a lot of time to prepare and it cant be easy to fit all of these huge ego's and different personalities into this project. As long as they get their point across(which Im sure they did) how can this be anything but a success?

[thesloppy]

No sweat. I AM very negative about the whole thing, and you certainly can't offend me on the subject, since I plainly just don't care that much.....but I can tell that it had some worth to you, and it's certainly not worth trodding on your actual, somewhat noble and charitable ideals (that crossover with this project), just so I can further argue my half-baked opinion on the video.

[thesloppy]

...We Are The World: The Hip-Hop Version.

It is kinda funny to here "We Are The World" coming out of mouths that are usually dedicated to detailing how much 'weight' they've been moving, stitches for snitches, and their predilection for sizzurp. Wasn't quite the same issue in 1985, with the Pointer Sisters.

[TredWel]

Why is Jeff Bridges there?

The Dan Aykroyd exemption.

[Young Drachma]

It is kinda funny to here "We Are The World" coming out of mouths that are usually dedicated to detailing how much 'weight' they've been moving, stitches for snitches, and their predilection for sizzurp. Wasn't quite the same issue in 1985, with the Pointer Sisters.

Thanks for the analysis, Mr. O'Reilly.

[Doug5984]

The real question is who's the hot chick in the white tanktop? I'm out of touch, and it seems this is a horrible mistake.


This.

[Eaglesfan27]

This.

I'm not positive, but I think it is the lead singer of the Pussycat dolls.

[thesloppy]

Thanks for the analysis, Mr. O'Reilly.

Looks like I'm making friends all over this thread! Seriously, you weren't looking for Wayne's styrofoam cup?

[Izulde]

I'm going to laugh when Justin Bieber's balls drop and his voice gets fucked up.

[Draft Dodger]

after all the negative shit I'd heard about it, that was a lot better than I thought. Didn't recognize a large chunk of the people in it, of course.

true story: a friend of mine stole the original We Are the World tape from my house back in the day. Who steals a charity tape?

[RainMaker]

Pretty sure it's Nicole Sherzinger.
http://streetknowledge.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/nicole-scherzinger.jpg

[Young Drachma]

Or the soon to be Mrs. Lewis Hamilton. (http://www.hollyscoop.com/nicole-scherzinger/nicole-scherzinger-and-lewis-hamilton-planning-engagement_20271.aspx) The formula 1 driver, for the uninitiated.

[Young Drachma]

Looks like I'm making friends all over this thread! Seriously, you weren't looking for Wayne's styrofoam cup?

LL Cool J and Will.i.am wrote the lyrics, so you knew they'd be tame. I just wanted to get a good line in, that's all. O'Reilly wouldn't know the difference between any of them.

[Autumn]

Pretty sure it's Nicole Sherzinger.
http://streetknowledge.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/nicole-scherzinger.jpg

Thank you, sir, you deliver. She looks a lot better in the video than she normally does in photos. Maybe she should dress down more often.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

where's Boy George and Duran Duran?

[lighthousekeeper]

Why is Jeff Bridges there?

dude - that's Celine Dion!


What I want to know is, how did Cringer get invited to this (see 5:08) and why is he wearing a "Riff Raff" t-shirt?

[Swaggs]

dude - that's Celine Dion!


What I want to know is, how did Cringer get invited to this (see 5:08) and why is he wearing a "Riff Raff" t-shirt?

I think the Cringer guy is from the Zac Brown Band.

[Swaggs]

I don't mind them re-making this, but it is pretty hard to believe that they had an award winning director that thought the Michael and Janet Jackson split-screen would look good.

Not sure how to feel about Jaime Foxx's Ray Charles impression followed by him laughing about it. The fact that it was a benefit for a disaster in which 200,000+ people died makes me feel like it should be a little more serene of an event, but then again, they are raising a ton of money so WTF, I guess.

Also, surprised that someone would let Kanye near a microphone. When my wife and I were watching it and saw him, we were both joking about whether or not they would let him have a solo mic at any point. :)