Dance break!
May 10, 2013 10:59 AM   Subscribe

The odds seem long that a thin Leno segment, Pumpcast News, would stumble across a couple willing to karaoke at a gas station. Longer still that they'd be good at it. But Will and Monifa Sims beat those odds by a mile.
posted by EvaDestruction (32 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
I happened on that skit by chance last night and they were really good. It was great.
posted by nooneyouknow at 11:02 AM on May 10, 2013




Oh man, that was amazing, though if I was pumping gas at a Costco and overheard this, I would think people singing to a pump were crazy.
posted by mathowie at 11:13 AM on May 10, 2013


The Sims have given me a new model for what I want my next (and last) relationship to be like.
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:19 AM on May 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


Love them! They just completely commit. So charming.

I would be more like the curious bystander who ran away as soon as karoke was mentioned.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 11:24 AM on May 10, 2013


Any lack of talent is more than made up for by their abundant enthusiasm. Loved it!
posted by VTX at 11:27 AM on May 10, 2013


I now have a crush on the dude's wife.
posted by VicNebulous at 11:31 AM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Fantastic...
posted by HuronBob at 11:34 AM on May 10, 2013


Hee! That was lovely, especially Mrs. Sims cracking up in the car while Mr. Sims did his thing.

I think I would like to go to a party at their house.
posted by jack_mo at 11:36 AM on May 10, 2013 [2 favorites]


We could memeify this kind of fun, happy stuff forever and I'd never get sick of it.
posted by marylynn at 11:41 AM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Man, they must kill it at karaoke bars! So much fun.
posted by Arbac at 11:43 AM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


The Sims are my new heroes - I have tears in my eyes from laughter
posted by mumimor at 11:47 AM on May 10, 2013


I want these people at my next party SO BAD.
posted by kinnakeet at 11:58 AM on May 10, 2013


Please don't tell me I'm the only gimlet-eye who thinks this looks totally staged.
posted by Mid at 12:00 PM on May 10, 2013


Please don't tell me I'm the only gimlet-eye who thinks this looks totally staged.

Only thing that made me wonder was the speed with which the anchor queued up the tune for Ms. Sims...
posted by VicNebulous at 12:10 PM on May 10, 2013


There's a second video on the Gawker article (YouTube) that has more footage -- they had those folks at that pump for awhile. In their introduction, Jay mentions usually trying to 5-6 subjects for the segment, but they stayed with the Sims for the full set. (I have to wonder how much irritated honking they edited out of the final cut.)
posted by EvaDestruction at 12:21 PM on May 10, 2013


This was delightful! I loved Mr. Sims providing backup for Mrs. Sims, and their sheer joy is really contagious. I'm also weirdly charmed by how readily the guy just rolled with it, though I'm sure that's a result of the editing. Like, the dude in the TV at the gas pump wants me to sing karaoke? Sure, why not!
posted by yasaman at 12:30 PM on May 10, 2013


I like the part at 4:39 when Will does the "Hold your head up/Keep your head up" part in falsetto and Monifa looks around wondering who's doing that.
posted by mhum at 12:32 PM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


I liked the little synthesiser bit he sang. I do that.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:07 PM on May 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


I saw this the other day after an excited IM from my girlfriend pointed me to it. She and Mr. Sims went to high school together. The Sims led a big dance party at their last reunion. They are a fun couple.
posted by raincrow at 1:09 PM on May 10, 2013 [4 favorites]


I almost didn't click it because of the Leno connection, but holy cats are The Sims awesome. Their singing is very good, but (as so many others have mentioned) their enthusiasm is what made it. They seem like they must be a blast to hang around with.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:40 PM on May 10, 2013


Yeah. I don't want to be a grinch but there is no way he just happened to have a karaoke version of Sweet Dreams on his laptop. Staged or heavily edited.
posted by Ad hominem at 1:52 PM on May 10, 2013


You skeptics are assuming there's no preproduction! That is, that the TV people don't know how to plan to make sure their segments go as well as possible.

As soon as the idea came up to get people to sing karaoke at a gas station pump, somebody at the Leno show probably said, "Let's get a whole set of discs so we can show them the words if they need them." So they got the discs (or downloaded a ton of karaoke files) and that was that. It's not that hard. Plus, you know, editing! They just took out the time spent by the news host trying to find the song on the computer.

All of the songs in the segment are karaoke standards. They'll be in almost any karaoke DJs kit.
posted by Mo Nickels at 2:09 PM on May 10, 2013 [3 favorites]


I love this couple, but it is a little sad that Leno has to point out how weird it is for a MARRIED COUPLE to LIKE each other! Only weird on tv, dude.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 2:12 PM on May 10, 2013


For those suspecting a setup, I'll mention that the exact version of "Sweet Dreams" they used is readily available on YouTube. It took me about 5 seconds to type "Sweet Dreams Euryhtmics karaoke" and popped right up. (You can tell its the same version by the distinctive yellow title card)
posted by ShutterBun at 3:28 PM on May 10, 2013


Awesome - I love those two. Great Friday post. DANCE BREAK!
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 4:00 PM on May 10, 2013


That karaoke library (Sunfly, I believe) is used by lots of karaoke apps. I could call up that exact version of "Sweet Dreams" on my ipad in 30 seconds.
posted by argybarg at 6:15 PM on May 10, 2013


"I could call up that exact version of "Sweet Dreams" on my ipad in 30 seconds."

I just did and it took only 15 seconds but then, it is an iPad Mini.
posted by bz at 11:08 PM on May 10, 2013


More evidence that life is a lot more fun if you are willing to ham it up a bit.
posted by wobh at 6:13 AM on May 11, 2013


sadface? or coincidence?
posted by chrominance at 9:05 AM on May 11, 2013


So it's either a set-up by Leno or a set-up by the couple who kept coming back to the gas station to get on TV?
posted by Mid at 1:52 PM on May 13, 2013


sadface.
posted by ancillary at 1:52 PM on May 15, 2013


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