Japanese TV, Part II - Sonim vs. Orlando Bloom
A couple of weeks ago, I saw Korean-Japanese teenybopper Sonim interview international heartthrob Orlando Bloom in English on a prime-time television show. Without hyperbole, I present for you the dialogue that transpired….
Sonim: Hi! … I’m really nervous.
Orlando: (congenially) Don’t be nervous.
Sonim: …
Orlando: …
Sonim: So, how are you?
Orlando: Good. I’m a little sleepy though. Jetlag.
Sonim: …
Orlando: What time did you get up today?
Sonim: I got up at 6.
Orlando: …
Sonim: …
Orlando: …
Sonim: So, I heard you have a dog.
Orlando: Yes.
Sonim: (pulls out picture of dog) This is my dog.
Orlando: Ah, it’s a chihuahua.
Sonim: Yes.
Orlando: …
Sonim: …
Orlando: …
November 5, 2005 at 2:03 pm
obviously, all that hard work and money is paying off. sonin did pretty well too!
November 5, 2005 at 2:09 pm
it screams warhol ! i love this post and the interview
November 5, 2005 at 2:29 pm
I’d say it was a Shinto ritual of some sort, but then again it was a Korean wasn’t it…. No invocation of Derrida will let me pull that one off.
November 5, 2005 at 4:58 pm
I saw something like this before with a different idol type and minor-ish western celebrity a few weeks ago. I think it’s about making celebs try things that are really scary for them, one of the biggest being “using english”.
Japanese “fear factor”.
November 5, 2005 at 5:14 pm
in france we have an awful standup comedian who built his entire career on a series of itws he did when he wasn’t famous, playing the part of a simple, weird guy, in front of famous people.
November 5, 2005 at 5:28 pm
I don’t think Sonim was doing a schtick.
November 5, 2005 at 7:24 pm
looks like iwakan but, oh my god , it could be an epidemic. korea might also be infected and terminally ill.
November 5, 2005 at 7:25 pm
Isn’t Sonin the postergirl for ECC language schools? What a fine ambassador for their curriculum…
November 5, 2005 at 8:24 pm
That show is one of the few that don’t make me regret turning on the TV (another being that show on Sunday with the chimp walking around with the dog).
November 6, 2005 at 12:53 am
I can say that Sonim’s English is pretty good.
There’s a show where a chimp walks around a dog??? Tell me more!
November 6, 2005 at 5:31 am
Oh yeah, パンくん and ジェームズ are the best thing on TV!
http://www.cuddly.co.jp
The show where they did movie parodies was classic. 「リング」was hilarious, but the chimp penis flashing in「男はつらいよ〜フーテンのパン次郎」was a bit much…
November 6, 2005 at 11:57 am
I enjoyed it when SMAP’s Katori Shingo interviewed Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise as the “Katsuken Samba” character. I’m pretty sure they do interviews like that just in order to generate Lost in Translation-esque vibes for celebs.