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Welcome to a new "programming block" I'm calling "TV☆3SIS Does Bygdekino". This block is dedicated to Norwegian shows, movies, and dubs, and is named in reference to {Bygdekinoen|(the_Countryside_Cinema)} / {Norsk|(Norwegian} {Bygdekino|Countryside_Cinema)}, which is a "mobile cinema" service that has operated in the Norwegian countryside since 1950.

What's the chef cookin' tonight?

Scheduled runtime: ~90 minutes

Throughout my years in Norway's compulsory education system, my teachers showed the class (or sometimes the whole grade) a lot of different movies. And I mean a lot. Like in hindsight it feels like we watched unusually many movies at school, like we hyperbolically spent more time watching movies at school than actually learning stuff.

…But it's not like I can complain too much, since a lot of the movies I was shown in school made a big impact on me and are things I'd still like to revisit now all these years later. One such movie I recently managed to get my hands on is Get Ready To Be Boyzvoiced! from the year 2000: a local flick satirizing contemporary boy band culture in general, and more specifically I want to say mocking Norwegian musicians who sing in English, what with these Norwegian cultural references in the lyrics clashing with this style of music that generally tries to have as much international appeal as possible.

Plot description courtesy of Wikipedia:

[Boyzvoice] is a three-piece vocal group dominated by their utterly untalented lead singer "MPete". When they are caught lip-synching before the release of their first album, scandal erupts (fed also by their manager's physically assaulting an elderly male and an elderly female member of the Salvation Army and the revelation that MPete's 16-year-old girlfriend is actually only 12) and they are dropped by their record company. They consider leaving the music industry, but their manager gets them a sponsorship deal with a Norwegian fish finger manufacturer. Ultimately they bounce back to fame after an appearance at the HitAwards Norwegian music awards show.

…I can identify references to Boyzone and Milli Vanilli in this plot description. Are there any other references I missed? Also, outside of Norway this movie is apparently surprisingly popular in Australia, or if nothing else it's been shown on SBS sev'ral timez, SBS being a "multicultural" TV channel which serves as Australia's second public broadcaster after ABC. IMDb says that SBS more specifically broadcasts Boyzvoice every year as a "curtain opener" just before the Eurovision Song Contest.

Apropos Norway and Eurovision, did you hear that the guys behind "What Does The Fox Say?" are boycotting it this year? Good on them!

Content warnings and accessibility

Audio description: Not available.

Sign language: Not available.

Captions: English hardsubs, dialog only.

Language of audio: Norwegian, English.

Content warnings:

  • Elderly people are physically assaulted
  • One of the main characters is a pedophile who has groomed a child
  • Jokes about pedophilia, incest, sex, masturbation and puberty otherwise
  • Carnism: seafood manufacturer plays a major role in the plot

Boyzvoice is rated M in Australia but in Norway it's rated for ages 7 and up, because why the Hell not?!

♫ Uniting nations at the speeeed of liiiiight ♫[epic sax solo]♫ Station of the '20s — TV☆3SIS! ♫

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Comments

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