Imagine (Gal Gadot video)

On March 18, 2020, Gal Gadot published a video on Instagram of her, and a supergroup of celebrity friends, performing a version of the song "Imagine" by John Lennon, which intended to raise morale during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Origins

Gadot organized the video with help from Kristen Wiig. "Kristen is like the mayor of Hollywood," Gadot told Vanity Fair.[2] "Everyone loves her, and she brought a bunch of people to the game. But yeah, I started it, and I can only say that I meant to do something good and pure..."

"The pandemic was in Europe and Israel before it came here (to the United States) in the same way. I was seeing where everything was headed." So she told Wiig, "Listen, I want to do this thing."[3]

"Hey guys, Day 6 in self-quarantine, and I gotta say the past few days got me feeling a bit philosophical," Gadot explains in the video's introduction. "You know this virus has affected the entire world, everyone. Doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, we’re all in this together."[4]

Gadot said she was inspired to make the video after seeing a man from Italy play "Imagine" on his saxophone from his balcony.[4]

"I ran into this video of this Italian guy playing the trumpet in his balcony to all the other people who were locked inside their homes. and he was playing Imagine, and there was something so powerful and pure about this video..."[4]

Participants

Reception and parodies

The video received backlash with critics dismissing it as an ineffective response to the pandemic; Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called it "an empty and profoundly awkward gesture".[5][6][7][8][9] Gadot later acknowledged the video did not garner the positive reaction that had been intended, but was unapologetic in explaining the thinking behind it.[2] Gadot acknowledged the video ended up being in "poor taste", but still maintained that it was made with "pure intentions."[3]

The video was parodied by comedian Zack Fox, whose version was based on the song "Slob on My Nob" by Tear Da Club Up Thugs. Fox's version featured appearances from Eric André, Thundercat, 6lack, Quinta Brunson, Langston Kerman and Chuck Inglish, among others.[10][11] Experimental musician Lingua Ignota also remixed the audio of Gadot's version in noise music style.[12]

References
  1. Yang, Rachel (19 March 2020). "Watch Gal Gadot sing 'Imagine' with help from Sia, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, and more". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  2. Sales, Nancy Jo (October 13, 2020). "Gal Gadot Is in a League of Her Own". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  3. Brown, Laura (4 January 2022). "Going There With Gal Gadot". InStyle. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  4. Weisholtz, Drew (2020-03-19). "Gal Gadot, Will Ferrell and Jimmy Fallon lead star-studded 'Imagine' singalong". Today (American TV program). Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  5. Caramanica, Jon (2020-03-20). "This 'Imagine' Cover Is No Heaven". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  6. "Gal Gadot and celebrity friends mocked over cringey 'Imagine' cover". Esquire Middle East. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  7. Isador, Taylor Rivers, Graham (2020-03-19). "Gal Gadot's Celebrity 'Imagine' Video Is Just Too Cringe". Vice. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  8. Barbour, Shannon (19 March 2020). "Gal Gadot Recruited Her Celebrity Friends to Sing John Lennon's "Imagine" and Twitter Definitely Hates It". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  9. El-Mahmoud, Sarah (20 March 2020). "Gal Gadot Tried to Do Something Nice with 'Imagine.' It Didn't Go Over So Hot". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  10. "Zack Fox Made a Much Better Version of the Gal Gadot Celebrity Singalong". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  11. Breihan, Tom (March 20, 2020). "Zack Fox, Thundercat, 6lack, Eric Andre Make Us Feel Less Alone With "Slob On My Knob"". Stereogum. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  12. Helman, Peter (March 19, 2020). "Check Out Lingua Ignota's Sick Remix Of Gal Gadot & Friends' "Imagine" Cover". Stereogum. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
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