15 Jul 2007, ST
A sexy, sassy tribute to Barack Obama has garnered more than 2.2m hits
By Michelle Tay
A FORMERLY unknown model named Amber Lee Ettinger could hardly be more famous now - thanks to her alias as 'Obama Girl', the most popular online fan of United States senator and American presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The curvaceous, 25-year-old brunette appears - in various stages of undress - in an amusing, risque music video on video-sharing website YouTube, breathlessly singing her love and staunch support for the lanky senator from Illinois.
It spoofs several references from popular music and culture, including the song You Don't Know My Name by Alicia Keys and TV series Baywatch.
The video, titled I Got A Crush On Obama, is so popular that it has been viewed 2.2 million times since it was posted on June 13.
The R&B ditty is also available on Apple's online music store iTunes for US$0.99 (S$1.50) and a second video, titled Obama Girl Vs Giuliani Girl, will be released on YouTube tomorrow.
Ms Ettinger and the video's creators - Ms Leah Kauffman, 21, an undergraduate at Temple University in Philadelphia; advertising executive Ben Relles, 32; and music producer Rick Friedrich - are the latest contributors to the changing political landscape of the American presidential election of 2008, where candidates and their voters alike have been posting videos on YouTube to garner support and discredit their opponents.
Mr Philip de Vellis, 33, a former strategist with Blue State Digital, made a video that has garnered 3.5 million views since it was first posted in March.
It portrays US senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as 'Big Brother' in a spoof of a TV commercial, titled 1984, that launched the Apple Macintosh personal computer in the US in January that year. The original spot featured IBM as the Big Brother in its Orwellian world.
Mr de Vellis' ad, titled Vote Different, seeks to show how little like an actual conversation Mrs Clinton's one-way mode of address is.
Mrs Clinton has posted various videos on her website, www.hillaryclinton.com, detailing the issues that may form her election platform. In one, she ironically declares: 'This is the first of many talks I hope to be having with you just about every week. If we're going to keep the conversation going, you need to know what I'm thinking.'
In effect, Vote Different is a 'negative advertisement' endorsing Mr Obama, arguably one of Mrs Clinton's strongest rivals in the Democratic race for presidency.
Speaking about the candidates' and voters' use of technology in the coming elections, Mr Mike Gehrke, director of research for the Democratic National Committee, told The New York Times last month: 'It's one of the biggest innovations we've seen in politics.
'(Before,) it would cost a lot of money for a campaign to put together a good TV ad, then you had to buy time, put it on the air and later on websites. Now it goes the other way too, and you have people talking to each other and to the campaigns.'
London's The Observer suggested that YouTube has become the 'ultimate form of democracy' where, in a subversive move, voters have their say and politicians listen.
On July 23, Google-owned YouTube is set to seal its position as the hot new political advertising medium as it co-sponsors with CNN a debate among the eight Democratic presidential candidates in Charleston, South Carolina.
All the candidates will make a 30-second video that will play at some time during the debate.
Questions from the public will also be recorded and submitted via videos submitted by ordinary people through YouTube.
Mr Chuck DeFeo, who ran the Bush-Cheney online campaign in 2004 and has been involved in online politics for the past 12 years, says: 'Now with the rise of the Internet there is the ability to have a true dialogue with the voter.'
----------------------------------
The best... and the worst
LIFESTYLE'S guide to the best and worst US political campaign videos on YouTube.
# BEST
I GOT A CRUSH...ON OBAMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU
By Ben Relles, starring Amber Lee Ettinger and Leah Kauffman, co-produced by Rick Friedrich, Larry Strong and Kevin Arbouet
Number of views so far: 2,241,731
Video features a curvaceous brunette romping through New York City to a R&B ditty, breathlessly singing her love and staunch support for Illinois senator Barack Obama.
Watch out for spoofs of celebrities, pop songs and popular TV series. Lyrics include 'You're into border security/Let's break the border between you and me', 'I cannot wait, 'til 2008/Baby you're the best candidate/Of the new oval office' and 'You can Barack me tonight'.
Verdict: Laugh-out-loud funny. Can't wait for the second instalment.
VOTE DIFFERENT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo
By Obama supporter Philip de Vellis
Number of views so far: 3,524,896
This is the first 'viral' video ad of the 2008 presidential campaign, spreading through the Internet community like wildfire.
It mashes up Hillary Clinton's face and voice with Ridley Scott's famous '1984' ad for Apple computers. Clinton is seen as Big Brother, lecturing from a screen to the downtrodden masses. The screen is eventually smashed and everyone liberated when a lone runner hurls a mallet at it. The ad ends with the caption 'barackobama.com', though his campaign had no involvement in the making of the video.
Verdict: Cleverly subversive and well-executed.
MCCAIN SINGS STREISAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTuwBw9q3Sw
By YouTube user and McCain supporter Briguy17
Number of views so far: 72,468
Who knew Republican Senator John McCain could be funny?
In an admirable attempt to woo young voters across the United States, he appeared on American comedy show Saturday Night Live in June last year singing - butchering actually - popular songs by Barbra Streisand.
A McCain fan who thought McCain deserved extra publicity for his effort posted the video online.
The video was an instant hit, eliciting comments like 'I never voted Republican in my life, but I might vote for McCain'.
Verdict: McCain is highly entertaining if not plain admirable for his ability to laugh at himself.
# WORST
BILL AND HILLARY SOPRANO
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/video/36.aspx
Number of views so far: At least 900,000 have viewed copies on YouTube
In an official video to launch Hillary's campaign song (You And I by Celine Dion), the Clintons spoof the final scene of popular TV series The Sopranos and its controversial cliffhanger.
Hillary plays mobster Tony Soprano while Bill, who plays her 'wife', appears disappointed to get carrots instead of the scripted onion rings. Both have the acting chops of wooden puppets.
There is a mention of the Clintons' daughter Chelsea, who gets jibed for failing to parallel park. But nobody gets whacked in the end.
Verdict: Even Keanu Reeves can act better than this duo.
RUDY GIULIANI IN DRAG WITH DONALD TRUMP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IrE6FMpai8
By YouTube user itsgiulianitime
Number of views so far: 354,893
Former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani appears in drag in this video, which was originally filmed for a 'roast' - where peers or the press poke fun at a celebrity or politician to honour him - in 2000.
But it is now being used by his detractors, notably as publicity for Kevin Keating's documentary Giuliani Time, which The New York Times called 'nothing less than a full frontal assault on the civic deification of Rudolph W. Giuliani that occurred in the days after Sept 11, 2001, when much of the news coverage shined a spotlight on his steady hand'.
In it, the current Republican frontrunner has his 'breasts' nuzzled by property mogul Donald Trump, who is helping him choose a nice perfume.
'Ooh, you naughty boy!' a blonde-wigged Guiliani screams in falsetto tones as he mock-slaps 'The Donald'.
Verdict: In no other motion picture film have two hair pieces been more terrifying than this.
HILLARY CLINTON SINGS NATIONAL ANTHEM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfZ_gXCHaMw
By YouTube user breitbart
Number of views so far: 1,344,638
The incredibly off-key singing of Senator Hillary Clinton, wife of former US president Bill Clinton, gets picked up by microphones at an event in Iowa in January this year. Her butchering of the US national anthem garnered comments like 'Tone deaf, but a great first woman president' and 'Tone deaf, even more reason to hate her'.
Verdict: Love her or hate her, you will blush on behalf of Clinton.
A sexy, sassy tribute to Barack Obama has garnered more than 2.2m hits
By Michelle Tay
A FORMERLY unknown model named Amber Lee Ettinger could hardly be more famous now - thanks to her alias as 'Obama Girl', the most popular online fan of United States senator and American presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The curvaceous, 25-year-old brunette appears - in various stages of undress - in an amusing, risque music video on video-sharing website YouTube, breathlessly singing her love and staunch support for the lanky senator from Illinois.
It spoofs several references from popular music and culture, including the song You Don't Know My Name by Alicia Keys and TV series Baywatch.
The video, titled I Got A Crush On Obama, is so popular that it has been viewed 2.2 million times since it was posted on June 13.
The R&B ditty is also available on Apple's online music store iTunes for US$0.99 (S$1.50) and a second video, titled Obama Girl Vs Giuliani Girl, will be released on YouTube tomorrow.
Ms Ettinger and the video's creators - Ms Leah Kauffman, 21, an undergraduate at Temple University in Philadelphia; advertising executive Ben Relles, 32; and music producer Rick Friedrich - are the latest contributors to the changing political landscape of the American presidential election of 2008, where candidates and their voters alike have been posting videos on YouTube to garner support and discredit their opponents.
Mr Philip de Vellis, 33, a former strategist with Blue State Digital, made a video that has garnered 3.5 million views since it was first posted in March.
It portrays US senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as 'Big Brother' in a spoof of a TV commercial, titled 1984, that launched the Apple Macintosh personal computer in the US in January that year. The original spot featured IBM as the Big Brother in its Orwellian world.
Mr de Vellis' ad, titled Vote Different, seeks to show how little like an actual conversation Mrs Clinton's one-way mode of address is.
Mrs Clinton has posted various videos on her website, www.hillaryclinton.com, detailing the issues that may form her election platform. In one, she ironically declares: 'This is the first of many talks I hope to be having with you just about every week. If we're going to keep the conversation going, you need to know what I'm thinking.'
In effect, Vote Different is a 'negative advertisement' endorsing Mr Obama, arguably one of Mrs Clinton's strongest rivals in the Democratic race for presidency.
Speaking about the candidates' and voters' use of technology in the coming elections, Mr Mike Gehrke, director of research for the Democratic National Committee, told The New York Times last month: 'It's one of the biggest innovations we've seen in politics.
'(Before,) it would cost a lot of money for a campaign to put together a good TV ad, then you had to buy time, put it on the air and later on websites. Now it goes the other way too, and you have people talking to each other and to the campaigns.'
London's The Observer suggested that YouTube has become the 'ultimate form of democracy' where, in a subversive move, voters have their say and politicians listen.
On July 23, Google-owned YouTube is set to seal its position as the hot new political advertising medium as it co-sponsors with CNN a debate among the eight Democratic presidential candidates in Charleston, South Carolina.
All the candidates will make a 30-second video that will play at some time during the debate.
Questions from the public will also be recorded and submitted via videos submitted by ordinary people through YouTube.
Mr Chuck DeFeo, who ran the Bush-Cheney online campaign in 2004 and has been involved in online politics for the past 12 years, says: 'Now with the rise of the Internet there is the ability to have a true dialogue with the voter.'
----------------------------------
The best... and the worst
LIFESTYLE'S guide to the best and worst US political campaign videos on YouTube.
# BEST
I GOT A CRUSH...ON OBAMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU
By Ben Relles, starring Amber Lee Ettinger and Leah Kauffman, co-produced by Rick Friedrich, Larry Strong and Kevin Arbouet
Number of views so far: 2,241,731
Video features a curvaceous brunette romping through New York City to a R&B ditty, breathlessly singing her love and staunch support for Illinois senator Barack Obama.
Watch out for spoofs of celebrities, pop songs and popular TV series. Lyrics include 'You're into border security/Let's break the border between you and me', 'I cannot wait, 'til 2008/Baby you're the best candidate/Of the new oval office' and 'You can Barack me tonight'.
Verdict: Laugh-out-loud funny. Can't wait for the second instalment.
VOTE DIFFERENT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo
By Obama supporter Philip de Vellis
Number of views so far: 3,524,896
This is the first 'viral' video ad of the 2008 presidential campaign, spreading through the Internet community like wildfire.
It mashes up Hillary Clinton's face and voice with Ridley Scott's famous '1984' ad for Apple computers. Clinton is seen as Big Brother, lecturing from a screen to the downtrodden masses. The screen is eventually smashed and everyone liberated when a lone runner hurls a mallet at it. The ad ends with the caption 'barackobama.com', though his campaign had no involvement in the making of the video.
Verdict: Cleverly subversive and well-executed.
MCCAIN SINGS STREISAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTuwBw9q3Sw
By YouTube user and McCain supporter Briguy17
Number of views so far: 72,468
Who knew Republican Senator John McCain could be funny?
In an admirable attempt to woo young voters across the United States, he appeared on American comedy show Saturday Night Live in June last year singing - butchering actually - popular songs by Barbra Streisand.
A McCain fan who thought McCain deserved extra publicity for his effort posted the video online.
The video was an instant hit, eliciting comments like 'I never voted Republican in my life, but I might vote for McCain'.
Verdict: McCain is highly entertaining if not plain admirable for his ability to laugh at himself.
# WORST
BILL AND HILLARY SOPRANO
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/video/36.aspx
Number of views so far: At least 900,000 have viewed copies on YouTube
In an official video to launch Hillary's campaign song (You And I by Celine Dion), the Clintons spoof the final scene of popular TV series The Sopranos and its controversial cliffhanger.
Hillary plays mobster Tony Soprano while Bill, who plays her 'wife', appears disappointed to get carrots instead of the scripted onion rings. Both have the acting chops of wooden puppets.
There is a mention of the Clintons' daughter Chelsea, who gets jibed for failing to parallel park. But nobody gets whacked in the end.
Verdict: Even Keanu Reeves can act better than this duo.
RUDY GIULIANI IN DRAG WITH DONALD TRUMP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IrE6FMpai8
By YouTube user itsgiulianitime
Number of views so far: 354,893
Former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani appears in drag in this video, which was originally filmed for a 'roast' - where peers or the press poke fun at a celebrity or politician to honour him - in 2000.
But it is now being used by his detractors, notably as publicity for Kevin Keating's documentary Giuliani Time, which The New York Times called 'nothing less than a full frontal assault on the civic deification of Rudolph W. Giuliani that occurred in the days after Sept 11, 2001, when much of the news coverage shined a spotlight on his steady hand'.
In it, the current Republican frontrunner has his 'breasts' nuzzled by property mogul Donald Trump, who is helping him choose a nice perfume.
'Ooh, you naughty boy!' a blonde-wigged Guiliani screams in falsetto tones as he mock-slaps 'The Donald'.
Verdict: In no other motion picture film have two hair pieces been more terrifying than this.
HILLARY CLINTON SINGS NATIONAL ANTHEM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfZ_gXCHaMw
By YouTube user breitbart
Number of views so far: 1,344,638
The incredibly off-key singing of Senator Hillary Clinton, wife of former US president Bill Clinton, gets picked up by microphones at an event in Iowa in January this year. Her butchering of the US national anthem garnered comments like 'Tone deaf, but a great first woman president' and 'Tone deaf, even more reason to hate her'.
Verdict: Love her or hate her, you will blush on behalf of Clinton.
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