Rodeo fans expecting National Anthem get shock rant instead

[jmcclain19]

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/16655.html

Rodeo in Salem gets unexpected song rendition


A man purportedly from Kazakhstan launched into a diatribe instead of "The Star-Spangled Banner."


By Laurence Hammack
981-3239
The Roanoke Times

No one knows for sure who he was, that Middle Eastern man in an American flag shirt and a cowboy hat who was supposed to sing the national anthem at a rodeo Friday night in the Salem Civic Center.

But he sure shook up this town before leaving in a hurry.

Introduced as Boraq Sagdiyev from Kazakhstan, he was said to be an immigrant touring America. A film crew was with him, doing some sort of documentary. And he wanted to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" to show his appreciation, the announcer told the crowd.

Speaking in broken English, the mysterious man first told the decidedly pro-American crowd - it was a rodeo, of all things, in Salem, of all places - that he supported the war on terrorism.

"I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards," he said, according to Brett Sharp of Star Country WSLC, who was also on stage that night as a media sponsor of the rodeo.

An uneasy murmur ran through the crowd.

"And may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq," he continued, according to Robynn Jaymes, who co-hosts a morning radio show with Sharp and was also among the stunned observers.

The crowd's reaction was loud enough for John Saunders, the civic center's assistant director, to hear from the front office. "It was a restless kind of booing," Saunders said.

Then the man took off his hat and sang what he said was his native national anthem. He then told the crowd to be seated, put his hat back on, and launched into a butchered version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" that ended with the words "your home in the grave," Sharp said.

By then, a restless crowd had turned downright nasty.

"If he had been out there a minute longer, I think somebody would have shot him," Jaymes said. "People were booing him, flipping him off."

Rodeo producer Bobby Rowe, who by then had figured out that he was the victim of some kind of hoax, had the man escorted out of the civic center. Rowe told him that he and his film friends had best leave right then.

"Had we not gotten them out of there, there would have been a riot," said Rowe, who has been bringing his Imperial Rodeo Productions to Salem for years.

As his wife, Lenore, put it: "It's a wonder one of these cowboys didn't go out there and rope him up."

Saunders agreed. "I was concerned for his personal safety," he said.

Once the film crew members and their star realized the severity of the situation, Bobby Rowe said, "they loaded up the van and they screeched out of there."

After apologizing to the crowd for being duped, Rowe was left to wonder who pulled such a hoax, and why. Months ago, he was approached by someone from One America, a California-based film company that was reportedly doing a documentary on a Russian immigrant, Rowe said.

The outfit asked if Sagdiyev could sing the national anthem at the rodeo in Salem. After listening to a tape, Rowe said sure.

By Saturday afternoon, Jaymes had observed that Sagdiyev looked a lot like the title character of "Da Ali G Show," a Home Box Office production that often catches its guests and audiences unaware and then records their reaction to "shock value" material such as Friday night's performance.

The show has a character named Borat from Kazakhstan, according to the HBO Web site.

Jaymes said she recalls that one of the five cameras was turned on her and others on stage, as if to catch their reactions.

"I looked at Brett and said, 'Why do I feel like I'm in the middle of a bad "Saturday Night Live" episode?'" Jaymes said.

As Rowe prepared Saturday for a second night of the rodeo, he was playing it safe on who would sing the national anthem.

"It'll be a tape," he said.

[Redsfaithful]

Hilarious.

[RFS62]

I was in Houston when the Iranian students raided our embassy in Tehran.

There was a pretty big demonstration from the local Iranian community in downtown Houston. After a couple of hours of watching Iranians walking around, dragging US flags and carrying anti-American signs, a group of local cowboys descended on them and beat the holy crap out of as many as they could catch.

I wouldn't advise getting all anti-American with cowboys.

[REDREAD]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

Hilarious.

:thumbdown

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by REDREAD

:thumbdown

http://www.hbo.com/alig/bios/

Borat

Borat Sagdiyev is Kazakhstan's sixth most famous man. A leading journalist from the State run TV network, Borat has been sent to the United States to report on all aspects of American life. From baseball to Broadway, Borat asks the questions no westerner would dream of in his tireless quest for knowledge, telling dating agencies he will 'crush' women who are unfaithful, touching the penises of Vietnam veterans in Atlanta, urinating on trees with new age gurus in Sedona. Borat on his first ever trip abroad presents a picture of America that only Charles Manson would recognize.

Lighten up.

[REDREAD]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

http://www.hbo.com/alig/bios/



Lighten up.

Yeah, it's just hillarious that guy lied to the event organizers and mocked the National Anthem.
Probably is going to cost the rodeo organizers a lot of future customers for that incident. But, it's ok to damage someone's livelyhood for a good shock joke.

[Stormy]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

Hilarious.

Agreed. Though he's sometimes hit-or-miss, Ali always comes up with the unique angle for a laugh. I still enjoy his discussion of whether Saddam had "BLT's" with Pat Buchanan, and whether or not a country should ever go to war over sandwiches? By the same token, stunts like this are bound to get him hurt eventually.

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by REDREAD

Yeah, it's just hillarious that guy lied and mocked the National Anthem.
Probably is going to cost the rodeo organizers a lot of future customers for that incident. But, it's ok to damage someone's livelyhood for a good shock joke.

I guess whoever was in charge of booking the singer had no responsibility to at least minimally check out the guy he hired to sing the National Anthem?

And I'm sorry but

"I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards,

And may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq,

that's hilarious.

[REDREAD]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

I guess whoever was in charge of booking the singer had no responsibility to at least minimally check out the guy he hired to sing the National Anthem?
.

What were they supposed to do? They heard the guy's tape, it seemed legit.

I suppose now, everyone who sings the National anthem live is going to have to have a background check. Isn't that great? Notice how the rodeo is now forced to have it all on tape now.

Think about how many sincere people will not get a chance to sing the anthem if this continues in other events.

I'm not a big Bush fan either, but you like it solely because it makes fun of Bush.

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by REDREAD

I'm not a big Bush fan either, but you like it solely because it makes fun of Bush.

I find Ali G funny around 100 percent of the time. He certainly gets bonus points for making fun of Bush though.

[RFS62]

Am I mistaken, or wouldn't anybody shown on the Ali G show have to sign a release?

[zombie-a-go-go]

Maybe they could blot out their faces a la COPS.

From what I understand, though, the people would have already signed releases before the crew got there. The article suggests that the people in charge of the Rodeo knew they were going to be filmed.

[westofyou]

Even funnier is that there was a Rodeo in Salem Mass.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by westofyou

Even funnier is that there was a Rodeo in Salem Mass.

Beats burning witches at the stake.

[RedsBaron]

His act mocked the National Anthem. "Ali" also apparently misrepresented himself to the rodeo organizers. It doesn't sound particularly funny or clever to me.