In what can only be described as the ultimate Crying Game shocker scene of reality TV, "Thailand's Got Talent" hopeful Nantita Khumpiramon auditioned this week for the show crooning both parts of a duet ("I'm going to sing two songs which I've remixed myself," Nantita cryptically announced)--and the results were so stunning, people all over the world are now talking about this most unusual, two-sided contestant.
Be sure to watch until the end, because trust me, it gets better:
At first, this seemed like a novelty act. "Initially, I was certain that you were a transexual, but once you began singing, I was fooled to think that you were female. After you started the male verse, I should have trusted my gut feeling," said one of the judges. But after all three judges put the transgender contestant through to the next round, Nantita's storyline became truly moving.
"[Kids] always made fun of me....And my dad never accepted me for who I am," the 27-year-old confessed. "The worst, he once beat me badly. He tried to beat me until I quit being gay.
"I want to tell my dad, I love you--and I finally made it now," Nantita ultimately declared.
You go, Nantita! I have no idea if your father is proud of you now (though he should be), but I sure am, and so are thousands of viewers across the Web.
Singer John Mayer found himself in hot water earlier this month after he famously dished about private details regarding exes Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson, and even worse, was widely accused of racism for other comments he made in a Playboy interview. Repeated apologies and tearful onstage apologies did little to curtail the damage done to his reputation.
But Mayer may have found redemption in the form of an act of kindness toward a fellow musician: an 11-year-old named Austin Christy. The boy's dreams came true at a John Mayer concert in Philadelphia on Sunday night, when the celebrity singer-guitarist invited young Christy onstage to play a song in front of over 25,000 fans.
Mayer's gesture was prompted by his tween fan's clever attention-grabbing tactic. Austin, who says he's been practicing Mayer's songs for over two years, showed up at Sunday's show carrying a homemade sign that displayed a hand-drawn guitar and the plea "Can I play 'Belief" with you?" Mayer couldn't resist.
In a popular YouTube video of the random act of concert kindness, Austin calmly shares the stage with Mayer, acutely focused on his performance of the song:
Christy also told the Courier Post Online, "I thought it was pretty cool because a lot of other artists wanted to play with him and he picked an 11-year-old out of a lot better artists."
Austin says he learned the particular song he played, "Belief," for his mom JoAnna, who was there with him in the front row when his pleas were answered.
And Mayer didn't share just his stage with Austin. Afterwards, the multimillion-album-selling artist gave the boy the red Squier guitar and guitar picks that Austin had borrowed from Mayer for the performance.
Mayer signed the guitar's base: "To Austin, You rock. Keep playing. See you at your show."
The incident sparked so much goodwill from fans that when Austin and his mom finally headed home from what was surely one of the best nights of their lives, they were escorted by bodyguards to help them through the crowd of smiling fans.
If John Mayer's Twitter activity is any indication, the singer, who has been uncharacteristically silent since the aftermath of the Playboy scandal, had his own spirits boosted by his act of onstage kindness.
Just hours after his performance with his young-musician fan, he tweeted, "8 out of 8 band members agree, Philly is always an awesome show. XO J"
There’s something special about duets with male and female voices. The contrast of sounds is pleasing to my ears. I especially like the ones where the vocalists are having a conversation through song - a musical he said/she said.
Below are 20 of my favorite boy/girl duets, listed in chronological order. Well, at least they’re my favorites as of today. What are some of your favorites?
1) “Tramp” by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas (1967)
A soulful romp between Carla Thomas and Otis Redding finds her lamenting how he’s too poor and just not sophisticated enough to be her man. “Look here/You ain’t got no money/I got everything/You can’t buy me all those minks and sables and all that stuff I want.”
2) “Coração Vagabundo” by Gal Costa & Caetano Veloso (1967)
You can’t get much smoother than this bossa nova gem with Tropacalia masters Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa. No matter where you listen to this track, it’s sunny and sultry.
3) “Some Velvet Morning” by Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra (1968)
Universally hailed as one the best duets, “Some Velvet Morning” is a sultry psychedlic masterpiece delivered stunningly delivered by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra. The lyrics consist of the male part describing a mysterious, powerful woman named Phaedra, who educated the speaker in the ways of love. The male part alternates with the female part, who identifies herself as Phaedra and speaks over ethereal, twinkling music about beautiful nature imagery — “flowers growing on a hill / dragonflies and daffodils” — and about the secrets held by an unknown collective “we.”
4) “Jackson” by Johnny Cash & June Carter (1968)
The quintessential collaboration between Johnny Cash and June Carter, “Jackson” tells the tale of a married couple who find that the “fire” has gone out of their relationship. The song relates the desire of both partners to travel to a city named Jackson (possibly Jackson, Mississippi or Jackson, Tennessee) where they each expect to be welcomed as someone far better suited to the city’s lively night life than the other is.
5) “Je t’aime… moi non plus” by Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin (1969)
Erotic to the core, this duet was originally sung by Gainsbourg and his ex, Brigitte Bardot, but she pleaded with him not to release it fearing repercussions by her then husband, Gunther Sachs. A year later, Gainsbourg re-recorded the song with his new lover, English actress Jane Birkin. The song was controversial for its suggestive lyrics (”I come and I go, in between your loins”) and simulated orgasm sounds. It was banned from radio play in Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the UK, and denounced by the Vatican in a public statement.
6) “Don’t Believe Nothing” by Ike Turner & His Kings of Rhythm with Tina Turner (1973)
This is a somewhat rare Ike and Tina track from the early seventies when Ike was starting to experiment with more funky arrangements and advanced recording techniques. He was a fairly early adopter of the ARP and drum machine, taking a cue from Herbie Hancock and other cosmic funksters. I first heard this song quite recently on the wonderful compilation, More Dirty Laundry: The Soul Of Black Country. Pure genius!
7) “In My Hour of Darkness” by Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris (1974)
I never tire of this track, one in a long line of brilliant collaborations between Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. Their voices seem to have been made for each other. Listen to this song and you’ll know what I mean.
8) “I Never Talk to Strangers” by Tom Waits & Bette Midler (1977)
Taken from Tom Waits’ boozy, bluesy album Foreign Affairs, “I Never Talk to Strangers” is a humorous romp with the pre-cheesy torch singer, Bette Midler. It’s basically a dialogue between two lonely singles at a bar, delivered with the gruff resignation of Tom Waits and the zippy jazz vocals of Midler.
9) “Los Angeles” by X (Exene Cervenka & John Doe) (1980)
X’s Los Angeles is one of the great recordings of the punk era, thanks in part to the perfect vocal team of John Doe & Exene Cervenka. Add to that the ace rockabilly guitar work of Billy Zoom and Doe’s poetic lyrics and you got one of the decade’s most exciting, and underrated, bands.
10) “Don’t Give Up” by Peter Gabriel with Kate Bush (1986)
Taken from Gabriel’s hit album, So, “Don’t Give Up” describes the despair of a man who feels that the economic system has no place for him, and the support and wise counsel sung in the refrain by Bush. It’s a beautiful ballad with an ultimately uplifiting message that serves, over 20 years later, as a great anthem of our current economic times.
11) “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl (1987)
Without question one of the best duets in rock and roll, Kirsty MacColl and the Pogues’ Shane MacGowan play the roles, in a classic call and response, of two Irish immigrants, lovers or ex-lovers, their youthful hopes crushed by alcoholism and drug addiction, reminiscing and bickering on Christmas Eve in New York City.
12) “Shaking Hands (Soldier’s Joy)” by Michelle Shocked with Uncle Tupelo (1991)
Uncle Tupelo were at the height of their powers when they were recruited by Michelle Shocked to record this duet for her Arkansas Traveler album in 1991. A raucous alt-country classic, the song features Jay Farrar as a wounded Confederate soldier who becomes addicted to morphine during his recovery. “Shaking hands — I took the bitter pill/Tell the story on my grave, my soul they could not save/What the bullet could not kill, the needle will.”
13) “Sometimes Always” by The Jesus & Mary Chain with Hope Sandoval (1994)
This song by The Jesus and Mary Chain with Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval is pure cool and a great example of the he said/she said style of I referred to in the introduction. An amazing song from a vastly underrated album. I dare you to listen and not be hooked.
14) “Interlude” by Morrissey & Siouxsie Sioux (1994)
Two eighties new wave giants hooked up for this string-drenched ballad, a song first featured in the 1968 film of the same name and sung by Timi Yuro. It’s definitely got that 1960s decadence sound and Morrissey and Siouxsie perfectly capture that era with their dramatic vocal performances.
15) “Where the Wild Roses Grow” by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds with Kylie Minogue (1996)
A truly eerie song sung by a murderer and his victim from beyond the grave. Cave’s character is entranced by Elisa Day’s (Minogue’s character) beauty and hates the idea of it fading, so he kills her in order to preserve the memory of her beauty forever.
16) “Marriage Made in Heaven” by Tindersticks with Isabella Rossellini (1997)
Tindersticks have become masters at the duet form, with Stuart Staples’ sonorous baritone nicely contrasted with various female vocalists, including Ann Magnuson from Bongwater and Carla Torgeson from The Walkabouts. But my favorite is a lighthearted collaboration with Italian actress Isabella Rossellini. Listen to her giggling at the end of the track and you know that her glee is genuine.
17) “I’ve Seen it All” by Bjork with Thom Yorke (1997)
A meeting of the king and queen of experimental pop music, this stunning duet was featured on Bjork’s Selmasongs, the quasi-soundtrack album for the film Dancer in the Dark. Those two idiosyncratic voices are magic alone and absolutely sublime together. The two recently hooked up again for Bjork’s latest single, “Nattura,” which benefits Náttúra Campaign, the Icelandic environmental movement co-founded by the pixie songstress.
18) “The Way You Dream” by Michael Stipe & Asha Bhosle (2002)
Recorded for the 1 Giant Leap project, this duet finds R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe singing with Indian superstar, Asha Bhosle. Jungle beats, furious hand-drumming, putorino (a New Zealand flute) and kora blend with the voices to make a spellbinding multi-kulti gem.
19) “Portland Oregon” by Loretta Lynn with Jack White (2004)
An inspired collaboration between country legend, Loretta Lynn, and indie rock god, Jack White. Lynn’s comeback album was produced by White and features a more raw crunch than her previous efforts. This song capitalizes on each artist’s strength and is a classic.
20) “Death to Los Campesinos!” by Los Campesinos! (Aleksandra & Gareth) (2008)
This song is just pure fun and rabid energy with humor to boot from one of my favorite bands of 2008.
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All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.
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