March 4, 2014
VIDEO: After Travolta Gaff, Idina Menzel Lets It Go With Jimmy Fallon on Classroom Instruments
EDGE READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Who knew that having your name screwed up in front of one of national TV's biggest annual audiences would turn out to be a great thing for name recognition? Idina Menzel does.
One of the highlights of an otherwise safe and boring Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night was the live performance of the Oscar winning song "Let It Go" by Tony Award-winning actress Idina Menzel. Although the song would end up earning its composer Bobby Lopez the "o" in the coveted "EGOT," it was a gaff by presenter John Travolta that's causing a huge social media stir.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the wickedly talented Adele Dazeem" flubbed John Travolta during his introduction of the live performance of "Let It Go" by Idina Menzel from the immensely popular Disney animated feature "Frozen." According to the New York Daily News, the song's co-writer Kristen Anderson-Lopez said Menzel wasn't phased a bit. "She heared Travolta" Anderson-Lopez said. "But Idina did what the song is about. She let it go. She didn't let something that someone else did steal her power. She brought it."
The Daily News' Joe Dziemianowicz reports that Menzel's name is often mispronounced. According to "Let It Go"'s composer Bobby Lopez, "Idina tells a story of how Nancy Pelosi called her something like 'Adele Mendez'
The Menzel name bungle may have turned out a blessing in disguise for the actress who is most widely known by theater audiences east of the Hudson for originating the roles of Maureen in "Rent" and Elphaba in "Wicked". Less than half a day after Travolta botched her name, the "Adele Dazeem name generator" widget was born. The online widget, which took Facebook by storm on Monday allows users to garble or "Travoltafy" their own names and post their new mangle moniker on social media.
Riding the wave of post oscar name screw-up fame, Menzel made an appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon where she performed "Let it Go" with Fallon's band "The Roots" on classroom instruments. Less than 8 hours after its airing the comic cover has been seen over 250,000 times on YouTube.
Watch it here