FOF #585 - My Name is Tay Zonday - 08.07.07

By Fausto Fernós on August 6, 2007 | | Link | Print |

 
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Musician and Grad Student Tay Zonday talks about the phenomena of "Chocolate Rain" on the Feast of Fools podcast.Tay Zonday:
Sheltered on a Monday
Wrote on Tuesday,
Recorded on Wednesday,
Posted on Thursday,
Famous on Friday,
Got even more famous on Saturday,
Interviewed on Sunday.
This is the show
with Tay Zonday

Yes Virginia, there is a Tay Zonday and he’s on today’s show!

Today we’re talking to musician and YouTube overnight celebrity Tay Zonday, who in recent weeks has landed himself in the middle of a media deluge over his homemade music video “Chocolate Rain.”

Since the video was posted three months ago it’s received over three point seven million views and catapulted Zunday from an ordinary life as a American Studies grad student to one of the most recognized YouTube video personalities and inspired thousands of other responses and parodies. Why?

Tay Zonday’s video caught on because it’s a great blank canvass for people to superimpose themselves. If the song was directly addressing race it wouldn’t be so much fun to make your own version.

Also, the mismatch of Tay’s voice with his face, his obliqueness and outsider feel adds to the appeal. Like the Mona Lisa, Tay Zonday’s knowing yet emotionally unavailable gaze draws us in further.

Tay Zonday (in this interview):

“Consumerism has reduced participation in our democracy to where we feel obligated to say ‘I love this’ or ‘I hate this’ and there isn’t any more sophisticated public discourse in that binary.”

My suspicions is that Tay creates these videos as therapy for himself, as a roundabout way to express himself to those he can’t speak to directly. Tay Zonday: “the anonymous medium [of posting a video on YouTube] allows people to say the things they want to say to their employer or spouse…”

Join us as we ask Tay Zonday about why he made this video in the first place, his reactions to the publics response and why is it so hard for mainstream journalists to embrace ambiguity. [Digg this story]

If you like the Feast of Fools podcast, vote for us at the People’s Choice Podcast Awards: 1-Peoples’ Choice 2-GLBT! Once a day until Saturday August 11.

Featured Video & Music:
Tay Zonday - Chocolate Rain

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    • About The Author: Fausto Fernós

    Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Fausto Fernós created the Feast of Fools in 1998 as wacky artists variety show in Chicago, Illinois. Along with his partner Marc Felion, he hosts the world's most downloaded talk show for gay people on the internet, Feast of Fools. Fausto loves pomegranates, waterfalls and 70s retro funk music.
    View all entries by Fausto Fernós

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