Bored as Dying polar bears waiting...

I'm bored at home. Not much more to do.

I must say, I was very hyped about Beny Friedmans new upcoming cd release which, by the way, just came out in stores and download today.

So I was watching his video promo, and I decided to do a slight personal analysis of it.

I find several interesting stuph with it.

I will go through different portions of the video promo and point out my likes, dislikes and comments.



0:30 seconds in, I find it weird but cool. Benny Friedman is giving advice on something. I don't think anybody whatsoever can figure out what the heck he is saying. We need to be true to the art... We need to make music that we like... We can't fool ourselves?? I don't get it. It sounds abstract and inteligent. But I don't get it. That's all.
He seems to be upset about something when he says his 'advice', but I guess nobody will ever know for sure what exactly that has to do with the video. If anything, I don't like it. It doesn't fit in with the whole video.
This trailer seems to want to make Benny look like a normal, fun spirited and kindhearted guy. But with this slight ticked off expression on the video, I noticed it and don't think it should have been put in.

0:46 seconds in, there begins a clip of Benny sitting in the studio with two other guys. The one in the back is reading from a small, very thick book. I don't think there is any other book in the world that has the same dimensions as the Chita's. I thus conclude that the guy is reading Chita's and, judging by the pages he is on, he is either reading Hayom Yom (way at the back), or he's Davvening (I would guess Mincha or Maariv). He's even Shukling. That makes me proud of this video.

0:56 seconds in and 0:59 seconds in, there is a clip of cars on the highway and people bustling around Times square. Why?

1:13, the video shows him going off tune in the studio. I love that part. It shows that Benny is human. I really like the way the video portrays him as a very normal person. Not like the superstar, perfect performer that other - half decent - singers try to show of themselves. Obviously, they keep in the part where the studio technician compliments him and tells him that he needs to keep that flavor. It still makes him look good. And rightfully so.

1:20, I like the Ta`amu ure`u piece. It`s Chassidish. But I`m not so sure the words are `farzucht vet ir zehn`... I think it should be `farzuch`. Also, the camera should have taken another angle. The sun is on both sides of him and you can see a shadow on his face. I`m not sure if it`s the camera or some leaves that are making the shadow.

1:47, again you have him preaching about something. I`m not sure what it is that is upsetting him and driving him to give his Mussar to the camera and its viewers.

1:50 is just wrong. They could have skipped that part out, instead of making these two `clueless`Chasseedish Buchrim look like absolute idiots (major minor chord)... Why ruin the potential Shidduchim of two possible fans of Benny`sÉ
But I like the way he begins singing on the same note as the actual song, which the video fades into at 1:57.

2:07 and again at 2:12... Putting Yaron Gershovsky in there is always a winner with the Jewish crowd. For most Jewish music fans, he is the greatest pianist that ever lived. It`s as if the king of piano himself is endorsing Benny as a legitimate singer.

2:12... Practicing in front of an empty chair. Cool.

2:24 they show one of the two Chasseedishe Buchrim from before, who seemed to be mocking Benny at 1:50 of the video looking intently at admiringly at Benny, as if he`s impressed them with his `golden`voice. Perhaps he had. Nice little Shtik there.

2:28 is cool. First of all, it shows Kingston Ave Station there. It also shows Benny and his cousin Bentzy having a good time. I like it. It`s camp style. It`s not `higher than thou` spirit. He`s a fun guy for all. That the station is empty behind Bentzy Marcus at 2:36 is something that would have been cooler if there would have been in innocent bystander watching and smiling. It would have done a much better effect.

3:04 he is seen taking voice lessons and not being able to hit the correct pitch. I like it. Again, it shows him as a human being `who knows how to sing better than all of us`.
I`m not sure who the voice teacher is, but my guess is that he`s another one of those top end voice trainers and putting him on the video makes Benny join the ranks of the big league singers. People who know music would be impressed to see Benny taking voice lessons with such a trainer... Even though, I myself don`t know who this guy is.

3:08. While he`s taking voice lessons, someone is sitting on the armchair in the background and a girl is on the floor on a laptop. HuhÉ

3:17 is awesome. Benny is singing some very major and melodic piece with the words `Lishmor Velasos` and two busses pass by behind him going in opposite directions. I don`t know if that was planned, but it`s beautiful. It adds to the openness and colorfulness of the melody.

3:50. Again, the scene with the cars driving at night. I guess it`s just to waste time on the video and make it look cool. Though I don`t think there is any connection whatsoever.

4:10 the video goes from the CD`s version of `Bo yavo` to a wedding performance of the same song. It gets me nervous, because he`s singing both songs on different notes. The merge into the wedding performance is okay. But I wanted to hear more of the recorded version. It`s a good song. Oh well, I will need to buy the cd to hear the rest I guess.

And finally...

4:15. The famous controversy found on all Lubavich news sites that covered this album`s release. Benny walking in the middle of Eastern Parkway... I don`t care for it much. I think it`s cool. But if he really wants to send a message to the children in Crown Heights and other neighborhoods for that matter, Eastern parkway wasn`t the best decision for a cover.
But it`s cool still...

So there is my detailed critique of this video. And now I listen to the new CD.