July 02, 2024

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Who’s Your Favourite Celebrity (Alive and/or Dead)?


Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings in order to discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging (and some slightly more personal matters throw in for good measure). After Heidi stopped blogging (apparently for good), five of us took over as hosts while providing new questions. The current team is composed of Berls at Because Reading Is Better Than Real LifeJen at That's What I'm Talking AboutKaren at For What It's WorthLinda at Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Roberta at Offbeat YA. This week's question is...

WHO’S YOUR FAVOURITE CELEBRITY (ALIVE AND/OR DEAD)?

I used to be a music gal and not to care much about actors, until David Tennant entered my life in 2017. It was January 1st when I started to watch Doctor Who in earnest, and at the end of Season 1, when Christopher Eccleston's Doctor regenerated into Tennant's, I fell in love 😍 (I mean, not right away - I watched Tennant's introductory episode first...). Our relationship is somehow complicated by the fact that only a fraction of his hefty body of work was/is dubbed in Italian, and I hate to watch movies or series in the original language because spoken English is not my forte (and subtitles, where present, are distracting). But I adore him nevertheless, not only as an actor (and a pleasant one to watch 😁), but also as a human being who seems to have his heart in the right place. I'd love to meet him one day...but I'd probably make a fool of myself (especially due to having to find the right words in English without having the time to think them through like when I write a post), so maybe it's for the best that I don't get the chance to travel...

I mean, he could...look at me like this...and I would...asdfghjkl 😂.

I've always liked Queen's music, and I remember being saddened and shocked by Freddie Mercury's passing in 1991, but I didn't become a true fan until 1997, I think? It was the weirdest thing - one night I dreamed that Freddie's sister - which I didn't even know existed back then - was showing me his dressing room (in my dream, he was dead, and I was a fan who got the privilege to be shown a slice of his life, so to speak). I woke up with the strangest, yet warmest, feeling - like he had reached to me from beyond the grave. So I started a musical trip down nostalgia lane by relistening to all the Queen songs in my possession, and then I realised that they weren't quite enough and I wanted ALL of them, solo albums included...I even started to buy books about Freddie and the band, and videos, and whatnot...and Queen have stayed with me ever since. Freddie was a legend - the ultimate singer, songwriter and showman - but the part Brian May (guitarist and hair role model 😂), Roger Taylor (drummer and sex symbol 😅) and John Deacon (bassist and sometimes joker) played in the band is not to be underestimated, not only as musicians, but as songwriters as well. Come on...Save MeWe Will Rock You and Who Wants to Live Forever (Brian)? Radio Gaga, A Kind of Magic and These Are the Days of Our Lives (Roger)? Spread Your WingsAnother One Bites the Dust and I Want to Break Free (John)? Just to name a few...

A playful moment from the One Vision video

My oldest musical passion (or, my oldest passion in general) that hasn't faded through the years is Billy Joel, whom I started to listen to when I was a teen, thanks to a radio station that used to play his music a lot. Now, Billy has never been huge in Italy (though he's done a couple of concerts here, which unfortunately I couldn't attend), but I love him like the next American 😂 - I have all his records, including his rarities boxset My Lives, and I even bought his biography written by Fred Schruers. I've always adored his voice and his musical versatility. I respect him a lot for his decision not to put out new music (bar a couple of singles) since 1993 because, as he put it, the well had run dry. Too many artists keep recording new songs that are nowhere near as good as the ones they used to write, or persist in singing when they don't have half the voice they used to anymore. Billy though...he still tours/releases live albums, and he's still a hell of a singer, and I'm in awe. (He also dedicated a song to me haha. Seriously, there are only two songs called Roberta that I know of - the first is an old Italian one, the second is his...).

A funny excerpt from the All for Leyna video

Well, that's it for now. Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to participate in the meme on a regular or semi-regular basis, and get emailed the prompt list? Just head over here and fill in Jen's form! (Of course, you can jump in anytime you like - you are under no obligation to actually do all the posts, or even most of them, just because you signed up, and you can remove yourself from the list at any time). And if you're interested in participating in a more casual manner, or only in commenting, here is the TMST prompt list for the rest of July and the month of August:

  • Jul 9th: Have you kept any hobbies that you started during the pandemic?
  • Jul 16th: Stars, letter grades, nothing...how do you rate books?
  • Jul 23rd: Book cons: are you attending? Would you like to attend? Which ones?
  • Jul 30th: Where is your favourite place to read?
  • Aug 6th: What is your favourite summer treat?
  • Aug 13th: Do you have a musical talent? What is it? 
  • Aug 20th: How long have you been blogging? And has your blog changed over time? (a question I submitted - this one has actually been done already a while ago, but if there's someone out there who didn't get the chance to answer it in the past, or whose blog has undergone any changes since then, please tell us! 🙂)
  • Aug 27th: Which books are you looking forward to reading this fall? (September-November)

I'll only be back for the meme on Aug 27th, because I'm taking a break from blogging/bloghopping and such in July (I'll post my June wrap-up in 3 days, and then I'll go radio-silent), and I'm going to put all my effort into reviewing my ARCs in August. I don't think I'll ever be able to catch up with the meme until I've crossed all those ARCs from my list...😬

Now tell me something...which artist(s) do you love most/look up to?

30 comments:

  1. I'm thinking of trying Dr. Who. I've had different people try this one or that one but someone recently told me just start with the current season or the holiday specials from last year that apparently feed into this season. But I do hear good things about Tennant...

    Queen. what a band. Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Hearing We Will/ Champions always playing at hockey games as a kid.

    Billy Joel. Big Shot. That's all

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    1. To be honest, I'm not crazy about the new direction the show took after Peter Capaldi (though I've only watched one Gatwa episode so far). There's been too much retcon for my tastes. I would start with Eccleston and proceed chronologically...

      LOL, I knew that those two songs had always been sport anthems, but I didn't know even hockey used them - I though only football did...

      I love Big Shot - I was 12 when it came out, dammit.

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  2. This was very interesting and eye opening. That Queen dream was wild.

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    1. LOL, all my dreams are wild, but that was one of a kind.

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  3. I love David Tennant. I've only watched Chris Eccleston as Dr. Who and the first episode with Tennant so I don't know what I'd think of his Doctor. I do love him in everything else I've seen him in, though, especially Good Omens.

    My top three favorite celebrities (alive) are Tom Hiddleston, Matt Bomer, and Ewan McGregor. I also have crushes on these men, lol. They all sing and are all good-looking. I don't know who I'd pick amongst the celebrities that are dead. There are so many. I did have a chance to meet Debbie Reynolds once and she was an amazing person so let's say her.

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    1. You're missing a lot if you haven't watched the rest of DW! Good Omens though...I loved it too, and I'm eagerly awaiting for the final season. David aside, it's such a fun series.

      No shame in having crushes on celebs, whatever your age! I do have a crush on David myself 😅. I know all your favourite ones, though the only one I've seen acting is Bomer, in White Collar (shocking, I know, but I'm not a fan of movies, while I watch a lot of series).

      Debbie Reynolds...such a tragic death. I'm glad you got the chance to meet her and she didn't let you down.

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  4. I thought one of the answer would be David Tennant. So does this mean you watch Doctor Who in Italian? I don't like subtitles much but I don't like dubbing, it always seems weird to have the actors talk in a voice that's not theirs.

    I heard of Queen through one song - Bohemian rhapsody, that very long song - from a movie or else I really wouldn't have heard about them at all.

    I think I did liked Billy Joel a long while ago but I don't seem to listen to his music much now. My favorite song is 'And so it goes'. Now that I thought about it, I knew a lot of Billy Joel songs. Maybe I should start listening to his music again.

    Artist I love or look up to? I don't seem to have an answer right now. There are so many people that I think are so talented, that picking only a few is a bit tough.

    I hope you will enjoy your break.

    Have a lovely day

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    1. Yep...I watch everything in Italian. Most of us Italian do, I think. But dubbing is an art here, and you would never be able to tell that the words you hear aren't coming from the actors' mouth...

      You...only know ONE Queen song?!? I'm shocked, given the band's popularity and the number of hits they've penned...

      "And So It Goes" is one of the quietest Billy Joel songs. Do you prefer quiet songs in general? Let me know if you start listening to him again - I'm curious about other songs you could find yourself drawn to after all these years!

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    2. I guess dubbing in Italian must be really good, it certainly isn't art here so I prefer subtitles.

      I think I misspoke. What I meant was, I first knew Queen's music from a movie. I do know a few more Queen's songs, like what Greg mentioned in the comments.

      I'm drawn to slow songs but I like fun, fast songs too, it really depends on how they sound. I just brought the digital album, 'The essential Billy Joel' - It's nice to hear familiar music. I really like 'don't ask me why,' 'honesty', 'she's got a way', 'just the way you are,', 'new york state of mind.' Did you hear Billy Joel's new song? 'Turn the lights back on'? I saw the music video on youtube - it uses AI to create a few youthful Billy Joels playing the piano - kind of weird but it really seems awfully real.

      Have a lovely day

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    3. New York State of Mind is a masterpiece! And I adore Honesty. Don't Ask Me Why has a different sound from most songs out there, even from that era. I also love All for Leyna, My Life, Big Shot, Piano Man, I Go to Extremes...And yes! I like the new song, it's classic Billy. The video...I don't know how I feel about that. As you said, it seem awfully real. It makes sense for the video of that particular song to be done like that, and I mean...as long as the artist gives his blessing, I'm OK with using AI for such a project, but what if the artist were dead and someone decided to make a similar video?

      Delete
  5. I tried watching Dr. Who and I just can't get into it.
    I don't really like celebrities but one celebrity I don't mind looking at is Ian Somerhalder. He's gorgeous. lol

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    1. DW is very sci-fi - either you like the genre or you don't. I guess you like fantasy more, even in series/movies?

      "one celebrity I don't mind looking at is Ian Somerhalder"
      Aha! 😉 I read he decided to retire and become a farmer though...

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  6. If I had to choose my favorite star, it would probably be Michael Jackson. He could have made so much more good music.

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  7. He will always be my Doctor

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  8. I should've guessed David Tenant lol. That is fun that one of your favorite singers has a song with your name! I only know a few Queen songs, but they're all great.

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    1. "That is fun that one of your favorite singers has a song with your name!"
      We where meant to be 😉.

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  9. Those are some great selections!

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  10. This is a tough one: I have many! I really love Julie Andrews. The Sound of Music is a classic and a favourite of my family's. For more recently famous celebs, I think Pedro Pascal is pretty awesome.

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    1. I had to google Pedro Pascal...shame on me LOL. Game of Thrones isn't my thing, and though I like sci-fi, I've never seen Star Wars and its spin-offs...It's odd that I've missed him all this time though! I mean, he's been in a lot of shows...I'll pay attention if he turns up in one of my faves!

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  11. Important question! Do you prefer David Tennant with his acting (English) accent, or his natural Scottish one? Or (controversial) his American one?

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    1. None of the above...simply because everything I watch is dubbed in Italian...😂 It would be too much work for me to follow the original dialogues - I fare much better with written English!

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    2. Do you not get much subtitled stuff in Italy then? (Also - what are the dubs of David Tennant like?!)

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    3. Series, movies and cartoons are all dubbed here, though subtitles exist...personally, I don't like them - too distracting.

      David has different voices in every series or movie I've seen him in, which aren't that many - except for DW and Good Omens, in both of which he's dubbed by this guy (Christian Iansante):
      https://www.antoniogenna.net/doppiaggio/suoni/voceci.mp3

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    4. Cool :) I usually watch international (and Welsh language) stuff in the original, with subtitles, cos otherwise I get distracted by the mismatch of the voice and the body - I much prefer reading the translation (bonus points for help with language skills! Lol), but I get that a lot of people do find it distracting.

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    5. I don't know how dubbing works in other countries, but in Italy you hardly notice the mismatch, and only if you concentrate on the actor's mouth - usually, the dialogues are worded in a way that, while retaining the spirit of the original, try to use words that stretch the mouth in a similar way. This doesn't happen with documentaries though, because you're not supposed to "lose yourself" in the thing you're seeing the same way you do with a movie or series, so they just have voiceovers, which makes the whole dubbing process so much easier and quicker.

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    6. Lol, I don't mean the mismatch like the *physical* mismatch of the dubbing - although that happens sometimes, ofc - I mean like the mental mismatch of 'that voice does not belong to that person, wtf?!' Lol. It might be a 'me thing.'

      Delete
    7. Ah, OK 😂. I guess we are so used to the process that we don't even think about it, most of the time...

      Delete

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