Ever since the very first television was released in 1926, entertainers on air made their own gimmicks to keep people worldwide stick throughout their broadcasts using unconventional ways of delivering information, entertaining people, and informing masses.
Actors and artists also found new ways of keeping in touch with the people through the system itself, thus giving birth to generations of celebrities whom people across the world appreciate and love.
Talk shows have been one of the categories that have not faded ever since its reign in TV broadcasts. Although shows come and go, each that replaced another has its unique game to reel people in. “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” started airing way back February 17, 2014. This was NBC channel’s incarnation of the 7th “The Tonight Show” franchise produced by Broadway Video and Universal Channel, also hosted by Jimmy Fallon. The program airs Mondays to Fridays at 11:35PM (ET/PT).
The Wheel of Musical Impressions
Since then, the show has been making more quirky segments such as “The Wheel of Musical Impressions” inviting celebrities to play and have fun with them. Singer-songwriter Alessia Cara, singer Demi Lovato, Adam Levine, etc. were among those who participated.
In the game, the guest and the host Jimmy Fallon alternately do a combination of musical tiers, varying from different fields of music per round. Most of the time, it consists of putting together a song and a singer to be impersonated by the guest. Sometimes, it’s a song moved to a different genre.
Alicia Keys vs Jimmy Fallon
In one of the episodes, The Voice coach Alicia Keys guested for the Tonight Show and as a guest, no one would be exempted to The Wheel of Musical Impressions. As the host, Jimmy Fallon first introduced to her the mechanics of the game. Doing so, he told her that she must start because all gentlemen believe “ladies first”.
Eventually, as the wheel generated results, Alicia Keys had to do an impression of her colleague, singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani but singing the “Miss Mary Mack”. Pulling it off, the audience burst out in laughter as she did a splendid yet humorous impersonation of her co-artist.
For You
Fallon followed up immediately by impersonating The Pointer Sisters singing “State Farm” Jingle. He grooves to the beat as if calling out to the audience to have fun with him. In Alicia Key’s next turn, she did a whimsical impression of Adele singing the alphabet song causing a huge uproar in the Tonight Show studio. Before proceeding to his turn, Fallon told Stefani that he loved Alicia Keys’ impersonation so much he might as well buy the song impersonation.
His next impersonation turned out to be Elvis Presley singing to “Meow Mix” jingle which he pulled off with great precision. For the last round of turns, Alicia Keys carefully and doubtfully pressed the generator button and got Janis Joplin to do Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. As she began, Fallon , in the background, started doing a second voice performance with her greatly boosting the impact of the impersonation.
After the icebreaker, like all late-night talk shows do, Jimmy Fallon and Alicia Keys proceeded with the interview. The enthusiasm that built up during The Wheel of Impersonation gave significant comfort to both the host and the artist as they talk about her musical career. During the interview, Fallon had to ask Alicia Keys why she had Prince called to cover “How Come You Don’t Call Me”. She responded that she had to do it because she did not know there are regulations about putting someone else’s song in an album which caused a huge ordeal in its release.
As a late-night show, hosts and guests must be the source of energy for people who sits in front of their TV sets with sleepy eyes and tired body. Setting the right mood is a must in order to keep the people watching and staying awake in that hour.
Luckily, man’s appreciation for art such as music gives the people enough boost to get through the entire episode. With the right icebreaker, information dissemination couldn’t be more fun, appealing and lively and its all in the “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
