Vox Talk

Salutation:

Hi there, I’m Stephanie and welcome to VOX Talk! Today on the show, I’m joined by Pat Fraley and Adam Fox. First, the news!

The Loop:

Celebrity Voice Actors VS Rank-and-file Professional Voice Actors

In voice over news, an article was recently published at Animation World Magazine featuring MJ Lallo and several other instructors and casting directors begging the question of how effective celebrity voice acting is in animated films. We want to know how you feel about the subject.

To reopen this can of worms, what do you think of celebrity voice actors and do they pose any threat to professionals who do animation voice over work? Add your thoughts at blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/

Voices.com Wins CRM Magazine Market Elite Award

In business news, the team at Voices.com was honoured with an award from Customer Relationship Management Magazine. To learn more about his award, visit the Voices.com press blog linked from the show notes.

Last Chance to Vote for the Simpsons Sound Alike Challenge at Voices.com

In closing, be sure to catch the special episode of VOX Talk featuring the Simpsons and The Simpsons Sound Alike Challenge! Listen to some awesome impressions and find out which voice actors won first place in categories including Best Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Best Krusty the Clown Impression.

The Biz:

Today in The Biz, I’m joined by Pat Fraley as he chats with us about dialects and accents.

Thanks Pat!

Tech Talk:

Hey, it’s Tech Talk time! Take it away, Adam.

Thank you Adam. As always, you can send Adam your feedback and podmail at Adam@DefiantDigital.com ☺

VoxBox:

Have you heard of the Voice Over Experts podcast? For many of you who have been listeners of VOX Talk for a long time, you’ve heard me talk about it before. For those of you who are new to Voices.com or VOX Talk, let me share some information with you. Voice Over Experts is a podcast created for voice actors who want access to continuing education on a weekly basis through podcasts featuring voice over coaches from all over the world lecturing on different topics each week to keep you conditioned and also to challenge you. This podcast I might add is awesome for people who are just getting started in the business of voice acting and as I’ve heard from many, Voice Over Experts should be mandatory listening for all voice actors!

The best in the business teach weekly for your benefit on the podcast. Just this week, we had Dan Lenard, also known as Master VO, lecturing on the Basics of Building a Home Recording Studio. Last week, Penny Abshire from VoiceActing.com was on the show sharing how she develops the characters in her pocket for auditions. Last week, we were pleased to have Connie Terwilliger on the show talking about self-evaluation. If you haven’t checked out Voice Over Experts yet, there’s a link in the show notes where you can click through. If you want to jump over there right now, go to podcasts.voices.com/voiceoverexperts/

New coaches are signing on regularly, most recently Bernard Shaw from the United Kingdom. With over a dozen episodes already online, you’ll have ample resources to keep you busy ☺ Subscribe through iTunes by searching for Voice Over Experts or by visiting the Voice Over Experts website.

Farewell:

That brings us to the end of this episode! If you haven’t subscribed already, go to podcasts.voices.com/voxtalk or track us down in the Apple iTunes Podcast Directory by searching for VOX Talk. Thanks for listening and staying subscribed! See you next week.

SIMPSONS TRIBUTE PODCAST

I’m Stephanie Ciccarelli and welcome to the Simpsons Tribute Episode of VOX Talk, your friendly neighborhood voice acting podcast.

In today’s show, we’re going to hear some great Simpsons impressions from around the globe including some with a Latin flair, homegrown impersonations, and of course, announce the highly anticipated winners of the Simpsons Sound Alike Challenge that was held over the summer.

The votes are in and we’re ready to roll!

First, let’s dig into some awesome Simpsons combos, shall we?

To kick off the show, I’d like to air a combo sent in by Rajiv Hasan featuring the voice of Homer Simpson, among others, intermingled with song. Rajiv has become known around these parts for his musicality and humorous lyrics. Let’s hear what Rajiv has for us today!

Of course, there were other demos sent in featuring multiple Simpsons characters. This one in particular raised more than one eyebrow at Voices.com. Could these voices possibly be all from one person? Before I tell you who he is, let’s listen to this man of mystery.

Impressive, eh? That’s David Medford portraying at least a dozen characters at a Springfield Town Hall Meeting.

Okay, skipping along to some more familiar voices. I received this one from Scott Monty, a podcaster and voice actor referred to the contest by my good friend Donna Papacosta. One of the exciting aspects of this contest was that it was open to everyone out on the web as well as the Voices.com community.

Roll clip!

Professor Frink, Dr. Nick and the Comic Book Guy also made an appearance courtesy of Arron Dennis. Ah, the sounds of the Internet.

While there are many adult character voices featured on The Simpsons, we also received some of the younger Simpsons generation including Milhouse and Ralph Wiggum. Let’s listen to Gelfling as Milhouse and Marcia Bennett as Ralph Wiggum.

I think at this point, we should visit our friends in Central and South America ☺ Two Spanish voice actors Javi Fernandez and Omar Mendez, submitted their colorful impressions of Homer and other characters. I think we should give the Homers a go, don’t you?

See if you can catch the differences between the Castilian Spanish and Latino Spanish as well as notice just how different the Spanish Homer voice is from what our North American ears are used to up here.

Ay, sorbesa! Here’s Javi from Argentina with puerco arana, also known as Spider Pig!

What a voice! Completely different from how Dan Castellaneta would do it, isn’t it?

Now I’d like to play a Homer demo from Omar Mendez in Guatemala. Omar has supplied us with both versions of the Spanish language. First off we’ll listen to the Spider Pig song in the Spanish of Latin America and then spider cerdo in the Castilian Spanish of continental Europe.

What better a way to pay tribute to The Simpsons than to hear from our Global Village? Did you know that The Simpsons is dubbed all over the world in over a dozen languages including Spanish, French, Chinese, Danish, and Japanese among others?

Returning to English now, I think we’ve heard many a fantastic Simpsons impression, don’t you?

Here are a few more demos that I’ve been waiting to play for you. These are more multi character demos that I think you’ll enjoy.

Here’s John Melley with Homer, Krusty and Barney.

Dan Roberts sent in a hilarious demo featuring Homer and Barney. Ladies, if your husband ever did this, what would you do?

It wouldn’t be a true Simpsons Tribute without some Duff Beer and Belching. Without further preamble, here’s a commercial that was submitted by Rodney Dean.

Along similar lines with more Springfieldites, here’s Daniel Kaiser with several Simpson characters being interviewed by Troy McClure.

Ah, the suspense from what I’ve heard is too much!

It’s time to move on to the finalists from the Simpsons Sound Alike Challenge.

For those of you who had been voting for your favorite voice, thank you so much! We marketed this contest from sea to sea to sea, over the Internet and through the press. Now, for what we’ve all been waiting for these long weeks… let’s find out what you had to say about who should win this fabulous sound alike contest.

This is how we’ll do it: I’ll announce each demo category and we’ll hear from the three finalists in each category (in no particular order), announcing the winner following the third finalist’s demo.

Starting with the patriarch of the Simpsons clan, here are your finalists for Best Homer Simpson Sound Alike:

Philip Weber

Brad Venable

David Medford

And the winner of the Best Homer Simpson Impression is… Brad Venable! Thank you Brad for sharing a different side of Homer with us and with those who voted.

Now for Homer’s better half, let’s listen to your finalists for Best Marge Simpson Impression – watch out ladies, there’s a gent in the crowd!

Amy Taylor

Rachel Robinson

Paul Seidel

And the winner of the Best Marge Simpson Impression is Paul Seidel of Australia! Congratulations Paul. It’s amazing how the male voice can change so much.

Moving along, it’s time to introduce the finalists in the category of Best Bart Simpson Impression. Your finalists are:

Gelfling

Kristi Stewart

Marcia Bennett

For the record, those were all female contestants – and the winner is Gelfling! Congratulations to you from all your fans!

Now for the brains of the operation, here are your finalists for the Best Lisa Simpson Sound Alike:

Angela Wolcott

Lila Atherley

Kara Edwards

Congratulations Kara. You’ve got some serious Lisa Simpson going on there!

And to conclude our podcast, we’ll close with the Best Krusty the Clown Impressions. Finalists in this category include:

Brian Whitaker

Rick Gangi

Greg Littlefield

And the winner is Rick Gangi! Congratulations Rick on a job well done.

Each winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com from the team at Voices.com, the #1 voice over marketplace.

Thank you to all of our friends who voted out there on Facebook, MySpace, and through the VOX Daily blog. Your support means so very much ☺ and thank you for listening to this very special Simpsons Tribute podcast on VOX Talk.

Remember to stay subscribed! If you haven’t yet subscribed to VOX Talk, you can do so for free through Apple iTunes. Just search for VOX Talk in the Podcast Directory or visit our website, podcasts.voices.com/voxtalk/

I’m your host Stephanie Ciccarelli, and we’ll see you next time!