Oh My God There's Someone With Talent On 'you're A Star'!!!!!!!!!!

the happy hobo · 02-02-2003 8:54pm #1

Hey there's atually someone with talent on 'you're a star', some crapass popstars program on RTE. He sang 'Teenage Kicks' by The Undertones while the rest were singing Samantha Mumba/ Westlife <spit> audio****e.

His names Mickey Harte, the programs on RTE 1 or 2 on Sunday at 8, so if your ears can stand the painful pop ballads listen and give him a vote

p.s. he's my cousin

Silverfish · 02-02-2003 9:01pm

Aren't the songs picked for them?

Is he talented because he sang that song?

Or because he's your cousin?

He may have sang an 'alternative' song, but did he sing it well?

rach · 02-02-2003 9:36pm

as an independent observer:
the guy is just damn talented, hes picked a few cool songs, not the usual run of the mill crap that the others are singing. adn most importantly,he sings them well.hes actually a good guitarist adn a good singer.
i dont wanna see him win tho-i think it'd ruin his career, if he got to the final 3/4, hed definitely get a record deal, and he could do his own stuff.if he won outright, i think hed lose a bit of cred.
thats just my personal opinion tho...

Splatz · 02-02-2003 9:52pm

I'm in agreement with Rach here.

The guy has talent, and just because he's not prancing around in bad clothes, with i-swear-to-god-i-didn't-spend-hours-making-myself-scruffy hair, moaning through distorted vocals and grade-school-guitar skills and ripping people off making 'new rock' music doesn't mean he shouldn't be allowed to make it in the industry.

I'm sorry, but we need less tits like The White Stripes, The Hives, et al and more of the good stuff.

God, I even preferred nu-metal to this new rock sh!te.

*cough* I went off on a bit of a tangeant there, didn't I?

Silverfish · 02-02-2003 10:43pm

No, sorry. I'm missing this. He sang a Paul Brady song.

lamda · 02-02-2003 10:59pm

Ok the fact that he sang Teenage Kicks just annoyed me.....
And if hes such a serious musician then why does he wanna be on Eurovision ??
Hmmmmmmmm

Frenzy · 03-02-2003 12:20am

fair play to him for getting this far.

Lamda, obviously you have to start your music career somewhere and where better then a tv programme that will be watched by thousands of people? If oppertunities arise take them.

If he hadn't gone on the show he'd still be playing guitar in his bedroom or at parties, now he's getting a bit of attention.

there's no such thing as bad publicity

the66electric · 03-02-2003 12:46am

Jesus i didn't think anyone who actually called them self a music fan watched this show. Shows what i know.

lamda · 03-02-2003 1:28am

Originally posted by Frenzy
fair play to him for getting this far.

Lamda, obviously you have to start your music career somewhere and where better then a tv programme that will be watched by thousands of people? If oppertunities arise take them.

If he hadn't gone on the show he'd still be playing guitar in his bedroom or at parties, now he's getting a bit of attention.

there's no such thing as bad publicity

Yeh if hes lucky in a few years he'll be hosting the Lyrics Board!!
Livin the dream!!!:rolleyes:

dregin · 03-02-2003 8:42am

using good music just to get your dick up louis walshes ass has never been something to be proud of.

Dregin

o sleep · 03-02-2003 12:23pm

yeah, i think i'm missing something here too. rach says that she doesn't want to see him winning it, as it'd ruin his career. then what is actually competing in this dire ****e going to do to his career? whether he wins it or not? didn't glen hansard (i'm just mentioning his name, let's not get into a 'the frames are ****e, no they're not' debate here) spend the last ten years of his music career trying to get away from the whole comitments experience (apart from when i saw them last, in galway, where he's apparently covering mustang sally ... oh dear). apart from his general appearance, which was scruffy and ever-so-slightly-alternative, he's not that different from the others ... and i only watched it because it was on after ER and before Frazier. ahem.

joey D · 03-02-2003 5:39pm

You're A Star is a mockery of everything - RTE and the license fee we're suppsoed to pay, the Eurovision song contest, the struggle of musicians and bands in this country, Ray Darcy's tailor, the whole thing is a sham.

Not to mention the sponsorship by O2 - they must be delighetd with the incessant coverage this embarrassing piece of sh i t gets on our screens... one wonders if a backlash will start and how quickly they'll move to distnace themselves form it... the programme is yet another vehicle for Luois Walsh and his relentless pursuit of pop singles (and bags of cash), not that I begrudge the man his money, I'd just like some of it... come to think of it, I'd like some of O2's money as well...

I think this is really the wrong way to go about picking a representative for Ireland in the Eurovision, as it apes all the other trashy audition for stardom programmes like popstars et al., and cheapens and degrades the Eurovision, which is of course not a cheap and degrading thing... hang on, I'm confusing myself here...

TeenStar · 03-02-2003 5:58pm

I think this guy seems pretty good (damn sexy too!)

Also its nice to see someone who is passed puberty by at least a couple of years do well on one of these silly popstar shows

rach · 03-02-2003 6:07pm

hmmm...well silverfish, they sing a different song every week.he sang teenage kicks last week because the theme was irish rock, last ngiht the theme was irish folk(for want of a better word)
he said himself that if he got to the final few, he'd be delighted.
i dont want to see him win it outright, because i think he would forever be associated with eurovision rather than being seen as a singer/songwriter in his own right.

Raggamuffin · 03-02-2003 9:09pm

Glen should have stayed in the commitments.

ah Cosmic lino or the ****ing eegits.

o sleep · 03-02-2003 9:17pm

i knew *someone* would have put in a rather pointless (and tired) insult at the frames. but, back on topic, rach: do you not see that irrespective of whether he wins or not, he will be forever associated in his musical career with the eurovision, either for winning it, or for not doing so.

Morn · 03-02-2003 9:25pm

And And! And - it'll look great on the posters...

Morn · 03-02-2003 9:26pm

Happy Hobo, is he your perfect cousin in another Undertones nod?

Splatz · 03-02-2003 10:08pm

Oh God, here we go.

What are you saying? The fact that (low and behold!) he covered Teenage Kicks makes him BAD or ANY LESS RESPECTABLE?

Jesus Christ folks, where's the ****ing love of music? I hate these pretentious ass-talkers that think certain songs shouldn't be allowed to be covered for whatever ****-weak reason they can think up.

"The original can never be beaten," is the popular one. Is that what you were going to say?

Because that's not the point of getting up in front of a crowd and covering a song. You're not trying to better, or even compete with the original, you're singing the song mostly because you love it, sometimes for other reasons, but none of them carry any sinster weight or anything.

Christ, the guy is talented. Whether or not performing at Eurovision will affect his chances of making it or not (which is a seriously arguable point seeing as how you've got the likes of ABBA who really did quite well) why can't you see that he has a good voice and he's not a bad guitarist either?

Sure, lots of people play guitar. But not everyone has the balls to do what he's done, and stand out from the crowd.

You claim to love rock/alternative music; so why can't you respect someone who takes it into the mainstream?

roxy · 04-02-2003 1:27pm

Originally posted by joey D
I think this is really the wrong way to go about picking a representative for Ireland in the Eurovision, as it apes all the other trashy audition for stardom programmes like popstars et al.,

Joey D I have to disagree with you, luvvy. This new method of selection has one good thing going for it - realism. Cast your mind back over recent Eurosong competitions to choose an Irish entry for the Eurovision. Do you remember the finalists from which the public was forced to choose? Jesus , it was heart-breaking. I don't know how the initial entries were judged and how they were whittled down to the the final 8 or so, but God, it was pitiful to watch and realise, year after year, that one of those retarded 7 or 8 would ultimately be flying the flag for Ireland.
RICHIE KAVANAGH???!!! in blue rubber gloves singing as Gaeilge: the public watched and wept.... In fact, I remember the guys who won that year and went on to represent us were probably worse - the singer was a blonde guy with a wavy mullet and the white spangly body suit? Needless to say we didn't do very well that year.

My point is, when it comes down to it, it's a competition, and if we want to win it, we can't have any more entries from middle-aged men whose minds are stuck in the showband era. I know my Dad would find that an upsetting concept, as would many people, but that's reality.

Plus, and I NEVER thought I'd say this, I think it's a good thing that it's been hijacked by Louis Walsh and his school of thought. Looking at the people left in You're a Star, it obvious that at least we'll have a representative who can sing and will look decent and, most importantly, won't embarrass us. Well, unless those twins get through.....jaysus....

Roxy

joey D · 04-02-2003 5:07pm

the previous selection method was based on 'eurosong', a compeition held on rte, open to anyone, i don't know who the judges were but presumably they were fairly old skool. what I disagree with is the smiley pop-act-by-numbers approach which is symptomatic of a cancerous illness at the heart of the music and television industry... plus the fact that O2 must be milking it from the text and phone votes, which is surely very cynical and very wrong (i.e. wrong to exploit what should be a national song contest for profits)... not that I'm some flag-waving left-wing lunatic, which I'm not... by the way, it's the Eurovision Song Contest, not the Looking Decent Contest, it's about the quality of the song, and generally speaking the songs that seem to win are not the shiny happy pop tunes... not that I know much about the Eurovision, okay? I don't know anything about it... you can't prove a thing! I've only watched it twice becasue there was nothing else on, okay? I swear to God...

*runs away through brick wall leaving crumbling masonry and body outline*

p.s. Roxy, I'm going to send a letter to your Dad telling him of your disparaging comments about the showband era... those were great days my friend, great days...

o sleep · 04-02-2003 6:25pm

Originally posted by roxy
at least we'll have a representative who can sing and will look decent and, most importantly, won't embarrass us.[/B]

the eurovision song contest is an embarrasment in itself, or it possibly occupies some level of existence where terms such as embarrasment don't even exist. the whole thing is kitsch.

i don't get roxy's point on the previous method of choosing the people. after winning it so many times in the nineties, we were obviously doing something right. (well, 'right' if you think winning the eurovision contest, irrespective of how a person looks, is a good thing).

lamda · 04-02-2003 7:08pm

Ah now in fairness, does no one remember the Rock n Roll kids?? that was a quality tune!!!:D

Raggamuffin · 04-02-2003 7:34pm

why me?

or what about that student form maynooth?

lamda · 04-02-2003 8:46pm

Why me?
I owe a lot to that song.. it won me 90 euro on the horses a few years back... Why me Linda? it was called. Ah the memories

roxy · 05-02-2003 1:21pm

Originally posted by o sleep

i don't get roxy's point on the previous method of choosing the people. after winning it so many times in the nineties, we were obviously doing something right. (well, 'right' if you think winning the eurovision contest, irrespective of how a person looks, is a good thing).

I think now, in fairness to myself, I did refer to the more recent years. I appreciate we had a phenomenal run there in the mid-nineties or whenever but I'm talking about the past few years since then - it's all gone downhill and the plot (if there ever was such a thing) has been well and truly lost.

When's the last time we won the contest? OK just consulted my eurovision trivia handbook and it was 1996.

So 6 contests later and we haven't won. In fact, we did so badly, they kicked us out for a year, so make that 5 contests later... That was the era of the dude with the mullet and richie kavanagh and all the rest of it. That was my point.

Now, I think the approach needs to be rethought. And that's what they're doing. I hope it works, that's all.

I can't believe how pro-Eurovision I appear to be!!!! Joey D, back me up, you know I'm not that square!! Merciful hour.

Oh and joey if you're planning on sending my dad a letter about how great the showband era is, would you ever enclose some new strings for his banjo. I'm deadly serious.

Roxy

joey D · 05-02-2003 1:36pm

I don't think you're square Roxy, I too am a big Cliff Richard fan... I'll get those banjo strings sorted for your da...
the last time we won was in 1996 with Eimear Quinn, who was a music student at NUI Maynooth at the time, a lovely girl and a great singer she was (is).
Perhaps we should lobby the government to have an alternative eurovision song contest, based on teen angst rock bands, the most bitter disenfranchised act wins... it'll be great fun.

roxy · 05-02-2003 1:52pm

Yes, what a fabulous idea joey and I think that would finally give the foreign-language entries a chance. Even a song about pixies would sound bitter if sung in German. Or better still, Danish - a very gutteral language.

Yes, Eimear Quinn was back in NUI Maynooth a week or two ago to judge at the final of the singer/songwriter competition. Bloody fecker chose all the wrong songs! Well, she had help but still.

roxy · 05-02-2003 1:53pm

Oh and it's four-string banjo. Thanks J.

Roxy

the happy hobo · 13-02-2003 7:13pm

Yeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Wooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Mickey got the most amounts of votes last week!

He's actually a professional musician and does a lot of gigs in Donegal and Northern Ireland-rock and country mostly. He writes his own songs and, come, on you have to admit he can sing and play pretty well. Isn't that what talent is? Or does someone have to play rock music to be talented?

P.S.
Somehow the twins are still on. I bet no one saw that one coming.

Oh My God There's Someone With Talent On 'you're A Star'!!!!!!!!!!

Comments