Dunun-Djembe on American Idol

[Djembe-nerd]

Naima performed Dancing in the street on American Idol today, and towards the end of the song, she danced african dance, with a dunun player (ballet style) and 2 djembefola's, the djembes were the key tuned ones, though.

I didn't find the video online, but it might come on you tube or A Idol website later.

Bravo !! On bringing the vibe to a multi-million audience stage, and specially a singing competetion.

James Moderator edit:
I finally found the video again, as the one bubudi posted has been removed:

[bubudi]

[the kid]

Close you eyes and tell me if you hear djembe and dunun

[the kid]

i see remos ...

[e2c]

Ah, good for Naima! And thanks for posting, d-n.

As someone who was around when the original version of this song was released (and is a fan of Martha and the Vandellas), I thought she did a fine job with it... her vocal quality is very similar to Martha Reeves'.

Remo: yeah - I'd imagine they provide instruments and drumheads for the show. (Remo being the world's biggest drumhead manufacturer and all...)

If anything, her performance shows that African dance is becoming much more mainstream in the US... especially now that it's taught in many university-level dance programs and is a standard part of the curriculum for dance majors. (btw, I thought Naima's rehearsal footage was quite good; you could see her dance chops better in those clips than in the stage version.)

[Djembe-nerd]

If anything, her performance shows that African dance is becoming much more mainstream in the US... especially now that it's taught in many university-level dance programs and is a standard part of the curriculum for dance majors.

Yes, I play for one such dance class. This semester we had almost 30 students

[rachelnguyen]

Yeah, the drums were just for show, for sure. Too bad.

[e2c]

I bet the studio audience could hear them... Has anyone tried listening to the audio on headphones?

Also... congas and other Afro-Cuban instruments are often used "for show" in stage shows like this one.

[Djembe-nerd]

I think they were not entirely for show.

Towards the end (at 4.23) all music stopped and only dunun and djembes were played while she danced some steps, and then she completed the song. The duunun guy was playing all along but I can;t hear him.

[e2c]

I didn't mean "for show" in a negative way... "exotic" instruments can add to the visual appeal per staging, and I think that was likely true for the studio audience in this case. (Costumed drummers right up front and/or coming out of the audience and so forth.)

Drums always seem to elicit a response from people.

[the kid]

It just occurred to me that dancing in the street is a really crap song too
And The American idol show is also a load of crap

After checking the lyrics i'd like to change the name of the song to

"Dance America, Dance;
You the greatest nation in the world"... seriously like

This is an invitation
Across the nation
A chance for the folks to meet
There'll be laughin' and singin' and music swingin'
And dancin' in the streets

Philadelphia, P.A. (Philadelphia, P.A.)
Baltimore and DC now (Baltimore and DC now)
Yeah don't forget the Motor City (can't forget the Motor City)

All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'
And dancin' in the street, yeah

Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear
Just as long as you are there
So come on, every guy grasp a girl
Everywhere around the world
There'll be dancin'
They're dancin' in the streets

Philadelphia, P.A. (Philadelphia, P.A.)
Baltimore and DC now (Baltimore and DC now)
Yeah don't forget the Motor City (can't forget the Motor City)
All the way down in L.A. California
Not to mention Halifax Nova Scotia
Manchester
Alexandria, Virginia, Virginia

[bubudi]

i think the idea for a vocal performance competition is a great one and although i don't watch it (but have watched a little in the past), i applaud all the efforts of the contestants and those who mentor them. unfortunately, to do well as an artist you usually have to conform to popular tastes. one person's goopy gruel is another person's delicacy

on the other hand, the inclusion of halifax, ns with those places in the states in the song probably didn't go too well with a lot of canadians that's almost like including southern ireland with the uk...

[the kid]

i applaud all the efforts of the contestants and those who mentor them

I suppose you applaud the turd Simon Cowell too. How utterly pc of you.

unfortunately, to do well as an artist you usually have to conform to popular tastes

You call that shit art?

[rachelnguyen]

I call it tv. Which, lets face it, is about advertising revenue, not art in any sense.

[bubudi]

I suppose you applaud the turd Simon Cowell too. How utterly pc of you.

i don't watch the show, so i actually don't know who you're talking about. for what it's worth, the music is not my cup of tea, but that's not the point i was making.

You call that shit art?

most people call what they like art, and everything else is trash

they're doing covers. i'm not sure if you ever listen to covers bands when you go for a few pints? let me ask you some parallel questions... is a copy of a monet considered art? how about a copy that has a variation to it? do you consider what the realists do as art? i've seen some art that is outright repulsive, that i detest the sight of, but it made me think, confront something within me. see something i often choose not to see. so aesthetics is only one aspect of art. we could have serious debates here over what constitutes art, but i say each to their own.