14 DAY TRIAL // David Letterman has catered before to the Asian fans, but the other night, he really went out of his way, and in the process, made show history. His musical guest was none other than Hatsune Miku, a very famous Japanese pop star who also happens to be a hologram.
Kids these days.
Hatsune Miku isn’t just a hologram, she’s a hologram of no human being. I mention this just in case you were thinking of pointing out to me the recent resurrections of Tupac Shakur, Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley, all of whom were brought back to life – and on stage – with the help of technology.
Miku is the personification, the visual representation of the software Vocaloid, from developer Crypton Future Media. The only thing she and rapper Tupac have in common is that they’re both projected on stage with the “Pepper’s Ghost” optical illusion.
Still, Miku is more popular than Tupac ever was or will be. She’s popular enough to land herself the spot of musical guest on Letterman, so that speaks volumes.
Anyway, below is her performance: she sang “Sharing the World,” which, I see, was considered an ill-inspired choice by some fans, who would have preferred to hear some other, cuter song of hers, preferably one that included cuter dance moves as well.
“It’s like being inside Willie Nelson’s tour bus,” Letterman joked at the end of the performance, right after Miku disappeared in a puff of sparkle. I wish I could say I didn’t relate, but you know how this goes, you can’t badmouth one person’s tastes. Or millions of people’s preferences. Enjoy!
