An official recap of the NYC event on YouTube shows a sparse crowd milling uncomfortably about as contestants warble into the microphone and celeb spokesbots feign enthusiasm. The clip has failed to become a viral sensation — as I write this, it’s attracted 63 views.
“Whether your yodel is ’80s punk or country funk, the Yodel Studio is about self-expression, having fun, and allowing all the people who use Yahoo! to be an essential part of our brand-revitalization effort,” says a Yahoo exec. I’m digging the mid-sentence switch in person, from your yodel to our brand — it’s as if they set out to entice me with the artistic freedom of their yodeling opportunity, then got distracted halfway through and began nervously fingering their marketing-bullshit nub.
David Thorpe | dthorpe@phx.com
Related:
The Big Hurt: Shill crazy, Taste of the town, The Big Hurt: Bieber dolls are coming!, More 
- The Big Hurt: Shill crazy
You know, I might stop following real music journalism altogether. Press releases are so much better. Just when I start thinking it’s a slow week in silly pop news, I check the PR wire — a/k/a the bottom of the barrel — and dig up two of the greatest items I’ve ever seen .
- Taste of the town
The third annual Savor Providence event, a benefit for Trinity Rep, will take place on Saturday, August 28 from 11 am to 3 pm, as foodies choose 10 restaurants to visit (a book of 10 "tastes" is $35).
- The Big Hurt: Bieber dolls are coming!
The week in inessential press releases
- The Big Hurt: Pancakes! Lent! Golf!
March has been a true delight in the music-PR department — I haven't seen this many dumbshit stunts since Jackass 3D . Let's roll up our sleeves and thrust our hands elbow deep into a steaming pile of press releases:
- The Big Hurt: Bieber Silences Youth, Kings of Leon Sell Out
I hadn't originally planned a press-release review for this week, but some PR blasts require immediate attention.
- Declare yourself
The 8000-plus-word play-by-play of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, written by freelancer Nicholas Schmidle and published in the New Yorker recently, is a fascinating read, with lots of juicy details (example: the plan was always to kill bin Laden, not capture him) delivered in the rapid-fire pace of a military thriller novel.
- Talking points
Rich Connor's reforms have brought a much-needed sharpened focus to the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and its sister papers. Certain changes, though, are raising eyebrows not just for what they are, but because of how Connor is doing them.
- Nice to meet you Rich Connor
Rich Connor, the mercurial new co-owner and editor/publisher of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram , the Waterville-based Morning Sentinel , and the Augusta-based Kennebec Journal, is a curious figure, who himself seems a good candidate for interesting copy in the coming years.
- The Big Hurt: Durst pantsed, Michaels smooshed
"This isn't a reunion, this is a comeback," quibbled the red-hatted irrelephant in a BBC interview.
- The Big Hurt: Pratt falls
Spencer Pratt, one of the vacuous props on MTV's realityesque moron drama The Hills , has his beady eyes set on a rap career.
- The Big Hurt: Faces refaced
Faces refaced, Spears speared, Hook hacked
- Less
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Big Hurt
, Celebrity News, Entertainment, Music Stars, More
, Celebrity News, Entertainment, Music Stars, Pete Wentz, Music, New Music Releases, Music Reviews, Michael Jackson, Randy Jackson, Lady GaGa, Less
