A Star is Made
a) In a TV producer’s office. Cyrus B. Powell, the producer, is talking to Burt Donovan, the manager of a young singer. They have just watched him in a recording session.
Powell: To tell you the truth, Donovan, I wasn’t awfully impressed by your new man. What’s his name again? John, John something or other. Well, his voice isn’t too bad—I’ve heard worse—but the stuff he sings and the way he sings it—strictly for the birds. Listen, nobody buys that sort of thing any more. “June” and “moon”—who’ll fall for that? And then he just stands there, hardly moving a muscle. Nothing more boring. There’s no life in it! Donovan: How about giving him something else to sing, something faster. It might put some life into the kid. Powell: Well, the first thing he needs is a pair of worn-out jeans — that’s really important these days. We can’t let him wear a tie. Unbutton his shirt, stick some hair on his chest and a wig on his head, something like that. A modern look. Donovan: Great!We’ll get him a livelier song, one that’ll sweep the kids off their feet, you know.
b) Two weeks later, in the same office. Powell: Man, that Johnny of yours sure made a mess out of that song, too. He’s got no rhythm, doesn’t know how to move. And then he goes and loses that wig in the middle of the whole thing. The kid’s a flop, let’s face it. Donovan: Thatwas botched up, yeah. But you know, I thought he looked much better without that wig. Fresher. More like an honest country boy. How about trying out something along those lines? Powell: It’san idea. In fact I thought of it myself as I was watching him. A clean pair of corduroy trousers, a polo shirt, and a guitar in his hands so he doesn’t have to move around so much... Donovan: But he doesn’t play the guitar, at least not well enough to... Powell: Thatdoesn’t matter. He can just finger it, pretend he’s playing it. Ican just see him—the clean, honest, blue-eyed country boy, breaking every mother’s cart with his... Donovan: Folksongs, country songs, things like that, that’s more in his line. And a nice, sentimental life story on the record cover. ‘Grew up on a lonely farm, plenty of hard work, up at five and never in bed before eleven, no time for girls.’ Ha, even the teenagers might fall for that! That’s the sort of thing that goes down real well4 these days. Powell: Goodfor Mom and Dad as well as the kids, sure. Let’s try that then. We’ve got to start making money on this guy soon. And get one of your boys to think up new lyrics for him. Oh, and we’ll have to change his name, too. How about — er — Jerry —er—Jerry Montana? Jerry Montana singing “The blue, blue hills of home”?
· Understanding the text
1 What is wrong with Donovan’s new singer when he goes to the first recording session? 2 How do Donovan and the producer want to make him more ‘modern’ and ‘livelier’? 3 How has Johnny been turned into Jerry Montana? 4 How ‘honest’ will the new star be? · Composition and discussion
1 Donovan and Powell meet again a few weeks later. Make up a dialogue to end the story. 2 How many ‘types‘ of singer can you think of? 3 Make up some readers’ letters to a pop magazine, either supporting or criticizing the new star. 4 What would Donovan and Powell have to do to change you into a pop-star?
¯ Do you know anything about the pop star called Mariah? · Read the sentences below about her, then look at the gaps and decide what type of information you have to listen for. For example, in the first gap you have to listen for details about Mariah’s brother and sister.
· Listen to the tape and try to complete the twelve gaps, using no more than three words in each case.
· Compare your answers with those of another student. Then listen again and check your answers.
· Now listen to the final part of the tape. What is Mariah’s advice for success? Do you agree?
· Find the English equivalents for the Russian ones:
стать популярной в мгновение ока ей на роду было написано удача повернулась к ней выть бэк-вокалисткой получить шанс бросить
Star Gaze AFTER her parents separated, Mariah grew up with her mother, and her brother and sister, who are (1)------------------------ her. Mariah’s mother was (2)---------------------and taught voice lessons. Mariah was influenced at an early age by her mother and her mother’s (3)------------, who visited a lot. As a child, Mariah(4)----------------------at least thirteen times. Mariah started (5)-----------------------------when she was thirteen. After graduating from highschool Mariah went to live in Manhattan with (6)---------------------------. She did different jobs to pay the rent including being a (7)---------------------. Then she began to get (8)------------------------and sang back-up at other singers’ concerts. Mariah has always been (9)----------------------promote herself. Her lucky break came at a party, where she met a CBS executive and gave him her (10)-------------------------------. In 1990, she won two Grammy Awards, for (11)---------------------------and Best Pop Female Vocalist.
¯ Read the text which gives the facts about how the sonata No7 appeared. Get ready to speak about creation of any other piece of music.
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