Seemingly everyone, including those who were not watching the Academy Awards ceremonies, now knows that Travolta botched the name of Broadway singer Idina Menzel during the broadcast by introducing her as “Adele Dazeem.”
I, on the other hand, was right there in front of my TV and had no idea that he had screwed up. This because I had never heard of anyone named either Idina Menzel or Adele Dazeem. For all I knew, the woman who belted out the song from the film Frozen was in fact named Adele Dazeem.
(I am using the phrase “belted out” here to be polite. Dazeem – I mean, Menzel – struck me as yet another of the modern hollerers, substituting volume for songcraft.)
If I had seen the Broadway shows Rent or Wicked perhaps I would have known who she was. But I hadn’t and therefore I just sat there in my chair, rocking softly, just like any other out-of-it old person.