John Safran's Music Jamboree (or just
Music Jamboree) was a light-hearted
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
documentaryDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
television series, hosted by
John SafranJohn Safran is an Australian documentary maker and radio broadcaster, known for combining humour with explorations into religion and other issues...
for
SBS televisionSBS One is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally...
. The program was produced by Selin Yaman and directed by Craig Melville, Clayton Jacobson and a number of other directors under the production company
Ghost of Your Ex-Boyfriend ProductionsGhost of Your Ex-Boyfriend Productions is the production team behind the independent Australian television production John Safran vs God. It is an amalgamation of John Safran's Ex-Boyfriend Productions, and Richard Lowenstein's Ghost Productions....
in association with
SBS IndependentSBS independent is the primary production unit of SBS "home-baked" primetime programming.All productions are commissioned in association with the independent sector of the Australian film and television industry....
. It screened in
2002The year 2002 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2002.For the American TV schedule, see: 2002–03 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:...
, and consisted of
sketchesA sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
and outlandish public stunts, typical of Safran's work. The series won two
Australian Film Institute AwardsThe Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
; "Best Comedy Series" and "Most Innovative Program Concept". SBS followed the series up with the similarly styled
John Safran vs. God in 2004.
An infamous stunt of the series was sneaking nine friends into an exclusive
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
nightclubA nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
by dressing them up as the masked
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
metal
bandIn music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
,
SlipknotSlipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
. The producers arranged entry for the impostors by pretending to be an American management company over the phone.
Other stunts included disguising himself as well known entertainers such as
Ozzy OsbourneJohn Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
and Prince to harass the public,
sketchA sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
versions of
music videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s such as
EminemMarshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
http://www.craigmelville.com/Music_Jamboree/Eminems_Childcare.html, the creation of
Jew Townhttp://www.craigmelville.com/Music_Jamboree/Jewtown.html, a
JewishJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
boy bandA boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...
to compete with
Christian popContemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
, and returning to Yeshivah College to pay homage to
Kevin BaconKevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
in
Footloose. He also details his time in the hip-hop group
Raspberry CordialRaspberry Cordial were a hip-hop group from Melbourne, Australia, made up of John Safran and Chris Lumsden . George Weinberg played drums on the first rehearsal, but was quickly replaced with a drum machine...
, and the related incident in which he met the
Beastie BoysBeastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
and the band's former DJ attempted to steal his
girlfriendGirlfriend is a term that can refer to either a female partner in a non-marital romantic relationship or a female non-romantic friend that is closer than other friends....
at the time.
A regular segment on the series was "The Music Mole". In this segment a person dressed in a large
moleMoles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...
costumeThe term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
(much like a
mascotThe term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
) was interviewed by Safran. The person was reported to be an insider (i.e. a
moleA mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
) in the music industry who would reveal little known, often controversial facts about both the Australian and international music industries.
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