|
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/...ta+sports&scp=1
sorry, here's the complete article...
| quote: | April 1, 2008, 5:13 pm
âIâm on Setanta Sportsâ
By Jack Bell
Tags: Chelsea, english premier league, inter milan, jose mourinho, setanta, sven goran eriksson, Wayne Rooney
Setanta Sports(Setanta Sports)
Heâs fantastic â ask him.
JosĂ© Mourinho may or may not have been in Italy last week, supposedly meeting with officials at Inter Milan about taking over as the teamâs manager next season.
But Mourinhoâs doppelgĂ€nger, an audacious puppet with a gray scarf coiled around his neck, was at his desk for the newest installment of âIâm on Setanta Sports,â the often hilarious send-up of an in-studio soccer sports show featuring the Special One; Sven-Goran Eriksson; the newest addition to the âteam,â a Dumbo-eared Wayne Rooney; and a roster of âcallersâ that range from the faux voices of Sir Alex Ferguson (as Mr. Alex), David Beckham, who was asked if he was calling from L.A. and responded, âno Los Angeles;â Roy Keane; and others voiced by Mario Rosenstock, who has been doing a series of short comic skits since 1999 on âGift Grub,â a morning show on the Today FM radio station in Dublin.
The videos have gone viral through clips on YouTube that have garnered thousands of views all over the world. They are suprisingly popular in the United States and in Canada.
âYeah, weâre a bit surprised,â Robert Ryan, the director of Setanta Sports North America said in a telephone interview from New York on Tuesday. âWeâve had thousands of e-mails. Itâs been a runaway success really.â
Itâs quite a coup for Setanta, which is a niche sports-only network with limited distribution outside Britain, where it is a 24-hour sports presence.
The spots, which are around 5 minutes long each, have been available since the middle of December and âour ambition is to grow under the radar,â Tony Whelan, the director of programming for Setanta Sports, said in a telephone interview from Dublin on Tuesday. âWe didnât want to arrive on the scene shouting âlook at us, weâre funny,â â
Even before he signed on to do the voices for âIâm on Setanta Sports,â Rosenstock made a name for himself and got Mourinhoâs attention through his parody of Chelseaâs former manager, who is from Portugal. Rosenstock also starred as Keano in the 2005 Way-Off Broadway production of âI Keanoâ and did a single version of âJosĂ© and the Technicolor Overcoat,â with the Special Oneâs blessing.
âI had done sketches on JosĂ© and they found their way into his dressing room to the extent that he contacted me himself and asked me to go to Stamford Bridge to perform for the team,â Rosenstock said by telephone from Dublin. âI had to sing as JosĂ© and did an interview as JosĂ©. Only halfway through did I realize that half of the players didnât speak English and no idea what I was doing. They were just looking at me.â
The newest installment had the Special One larking it up with Sven, who always seems to get the short end of Mourinhoâs seemingly arrogant stick. (When it came time to take a picture with Rooney, Sven, referred to as âIt,â was eager to get in the frame, only to be banished by Mourinho who only wanted Rooney with him.) Then it was time for the introduction of âHim,â in the guise of Manchester Unitedâs Rooney, who did not utter a word ⊠this time.
Wayne Rooney PuppetWayne Rooney, sort of. (Setanta Sports)
âIt would be easy to be hurtful and cruel and to make the Wayne Rooney puppet horrible and grotesque,â Rosenstock said. âWe wanted to take something else from him. We can see him as a genius and a naughty little boy with his finger up his nose and cuts on his knees that his mum has to put plasters on. The British press calls him Shrek. But I didnât want to make him a barbarian or repellent.â
Rooneyâs appearance was met with riotous calls from Mr. Alex (kind of sounds like the name of a hairdresser, doesnât it); Becks; and a nearly unintelligible Roy Keane from Sunderland (shades of âI Keanoâ).
Whatâs next for Rooney?
âWayne will settle in and some people think he will never talk,â Rosenstock said. âThere will be something coming out of his mouth.â
And future characters?
âWeâre attracted to Fabio Capello,â Rosenstock said, referring to the Italian who is now the manager of Englandâs national team, the second foreigner after Eriksson. âHe seems to be set up to be a puppet, a funny kind of puppet head. I think if his hair grew out for longer than two weeks heâd look like a cabbage. And he doesnât speak English. He said he would by Englandâs first game, but now it seems his English is getting worse. Heâs a model for a puppet.â
Whelan hinted that some of the puppets in future episodes will be outside the sphere of soccer, and could include celebrities like Tom Cruise (one of Beckhamâs new pals) or perhaps a feature on Rooneyâs coming wedding.
The next extravagazna, with the puppets produced by Damian Farrell (who learned his trade under Jim Henson of âMuppetsâ fame) and his company Caboom, will have their debut of weekend of April 12.
âItâs fair to say there will be some surprises,â Rosenstock said.
O.K., in the immortal words of the Special One: âIâm fantastic. Be champions.â
|
|
