THE ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY ONLY THING I’M GOING TO POST ABOUT THE OLYMPICS

Unless something really, really bizarre happens, anyway.

As you can imagine, Hong Kong is gripped in Olympic Fever as of ... well, for the last few months, really, but it’s in full swing as of last night. We have six (6) digital TV channels dedicated to nothing but Olympics coverage (well, technically J2 shouldn’t count because it’s targeted at teenagers so they only cover the parts where Cantopop stars sing at PR events). We have Hi-Def channels and everything. And of course we have actual honest-to-God Olympics events happening right here in HK.

And we in the Team Def Citadel could not possibly care less.

Well, okay, I’ll probably tune in for the football matches and the synchronized diving. Otherwise, I’m so burned out on the Olympics that we ended up heckling the opening ceremony highlights reel (and that’s without the benefit of the godawful Australian commentary I’ve heard so much about on the Friends page). I’ll admit, some of the kitchen-sink pageantry was very well done and spectacular eye candy (which is what happens when you get Zhang Yimou to direct it).

But let’s just say it’s gonna be a long two weeks round these parts. Especially if you disagree with the Chinese govt on certain points and don’t keep it to yrself. [In fairness, the student mentioned in the linked BBC story is something of a drama queen, which in my opinion gets in the way of the message – still, it’s worth mentioning that the “house rules” ban t-shirts with political slogans on them, so it is by no means just about keeping quiet for the horses.]

I’m not getting you down am I?

Oh all right then, have some Human Tetris (courtesy of the entertainment wonderland that is Japanese television).

One of many things that isn’t an Olympic sport, but should be.

Heavy medals,

This is dF

BAD COVER VERSION 022: AND THERE AIN'T NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT

As we've seen so far in this series, one chief criteria for determining the success of a cover is whether or not the cover artist can make a hit out of it. In which case, the most bankable strategy would be to cover a song that was already a hit for someone else. And as we'll see this week, there's more than one way to remake a hit into another hit.

THE SONG: “You Keep Me Hanging On”

THE ORIGINAL: The Supremes

COMMENTS: Well, it's the Supremes, and it's one of my favorite Supremes songs. It's classic Holland-Dozier-Holland material, and one of their most covered songs. Looking at the lyrics - which tell that universal tale of trying to break it off with someone who can't let it go - it's not hard to see why this is a timeless classic that many others have tackled. But only two have had managed to come close in duplicating its success.

( And they're right here behind this cut. Who will win?! )

Next week: the season finale and possibly the greatest cover song ever!

Let me find somebody else,

This is dF