I've heard of a man
Who says words so beautifully
if I only That Speaks Their names
Women Give Themselves to him.
-Leonard Cohen
I: Good morning
Ted Williams, 53, survived by begging in an exit off I-71 in Columbus, Ohio, coin-changing words. A sign painted on a piece of cardboard told his story: "I have a voice that is a gift from God. I am a former radio announcer who has fallen into difficult times. Please! Any help would be appreciated with gratitude. Thank you and God bless. Happy holidays. " Ted had 14 years on the streets, living in homeless camps, among whom was known by his nickname: Radio Man, for his polite and soft baritone voice belied his disheveled and defeated. In the 80s, passing the school had left Williams a pleasant voice, presence and warmth, she devoted to radio stations in Ohio and North Carolina, but the abuse of alcohol and drugs was leaning lifestyle and ended in the street, leaving far behind family life and respectable job. Williams began the year 2011 never imagining that the overnight, literally, his life would change. The mysterious words today are: 15 minutes.
II: Enter the press
Over there in early December, the video reporter Doral Chenoweth, the newspaper The Columbus Dispatch , stopped to talk with Ted Williams, after reading the sign, and got a big surprise to hear him speak, his voice was indeed a divine gift, a radio voice polite, very pleasant, with body and presence. As in the case of Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer who rose to fame thanks to YouTube and the program Britain's Got Talent, the effect of surprise increased when comparing the voice with the character issue: Williams went with long matted hair, wearing old clothes and dirty, and more like a beggar. The reporter realized that here was a story to tell, so one week later returned with his camera and recorded a short video (just 97 seconds) in which the former radio announcer said a few sentences and pompous voice told her History in a nutshell. However, the interview would remain stored for several weeks, until the vagaries of the defendant business news headlines.
On Monday January 3rd was a day "loose" for the newspaper The Columbus Dispatch . Looking to fill the page, Doral Chenoweth remembered the video that was recorded a month earlier, and took the newspaper's Web portal. Hours later, someone copied the video and posted it on Youtube, triggering the phenomenon that would change the life of Ted Williams. By the afternoon of Tuesday, January 4, the clip had been viewed more than 4 million people, and many had replicated elsewhere, becoming a viral sensation. That night, Williams and did not sleep in the street, but in a hotel, paid for a radio station interested in interviewing him the next morning.
Wednesday 5 January, Williams was interviewed by any number of TV stations, newspapers and national broadcasters, many of which, besides wanting to know the details of his story, he offered jobs. The morning was a parade of deals on ESPN, MTV, the NFL, a basketball team that wanted him as its official voice, and radio and TV stations across the country. That day, Williams took a plane to New York and went to meet his mother, 90, who had not seen for 20 years, being greeted at the airport for that number of journalists, the airline decided to remove the back door to prevent harassment the recent internet celebrity . On Thursday 6, the former was a guest speaker at major talk shows that are broadcast from New York, and Friday and accepted a job offer from MSNBC. In these three days I have been many old acquaintances who say "I knew you were going to make big" and that you want to accommodate about, their old family also appeared after decade and a half, and everybody smiling and pat on the back. The only thing that Ted Williams has to do is open his mouth, literally, his voice makes the magic.
III: Fame at the time of the network
In February 1968, Stockholm's Moderna Museet opened to the public the first international retrospective of the work of artist Andy Warhol. In the exhibition catalog was a phrase that would be prophetic: "In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." Warhol then not imagine even the appearance of the network and the influence it might have on human communication and did not know that three and a half decades after Youtube enter the scene, King Midas digital, capable of converting to more global star unexpected character. Gary Brolsma Numa Numa guy the , was one of the first ordinary individuals thrown into the Network fame, but today nobody remembers him at this time fame lasts 15 minutes, rarely more than that. At the time, shocked his followers Lonelygirl15 on YouTube in what seemed like an exciting video blog home which ended up being exposed as a professional show with an actress under contract. A certain Chris Crocker had his spotlight when whined on camera demanding "leave Britney alone!" Shtick that won him interviews on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Jimmy Kimmel, Howard Stern and Ryan Seacrest, among others, and won him the appointment of "top video of 2007" by Wired magazine . Justin Bieber, current teen star, rose to fame after a producer with vision singing came across your videos on Youtube.
Mexico entered into the dubious honor of phenomena map thanks to Youtube video of Edgar, a Monterrey child who fell from a log trying to cross a river, enough merit to get international fame and even get a contract to do a commercial for cookies Emperor. The Son of Dad, also known as the Kanak, Mexico was another character whose fame came after being shown on YouTube, where appropriate, under arrest for drunken driving. Ironically, the Kanak died sober, hit by a drunk woman in Guadalajara, and his death was widely reported by national media.
IV: Play
Earlier in the pre-internet, to become famous had to make some merit. Now you just need to have a camera on hand and a network connection. Sometimes the results are to be embarrassed, and puts one to wonder about the evolution of mankind. However, in others, rarely, the mechanisms of contemporary fame allow us to find inspirational stories, like Ted Williams, and one thinks that, despite everything, it all seems lost.
're on the Web: www.ernestocortes.com . I read: Ernesto@ernestocortes.com.
Las referencias:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_minutes_of_fame
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/extras/2011/goldenvoice/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_YouTube_personalities
El soundtrack:
Like a rolling Stone – Bob Dylan
Silent all these years – Tori Amos ft. Leonard Cohen.
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