Dustin the Turkey

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Dustin The Turkey

Background information
Origin Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s) Singer, TV presenter
Years active 1990–present
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Dustin the Turkey, sometimes claiming the name Dustin Hoffman, is a popular Irish television puppet and star of RTÉ's The Den since 1990. A "turkey vulture" with a strong Dublin accent, Dustin joined the show with puppets Zig and Zag but remained with the show after their 1993 departure. He also outlasted four human co-hosts: Ian Dempsey, Ray D'Arcy, Damien McCaul and Francis Boylan Jr., making him the longest serving member of the on-screen cast of The Den and one of Irish popular culture's iconic figures. He is voiced by Johnny Morrison, brother of Ciaran and Joe (who voices one of Zig and Zag, and Soky respectively).

On 23 February 2008 Dustin won the public vote to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Irelande Douze Pointe" but failed to make it past the first semi-final stage.

Contents

[edit] Character history

Dustin was introduced as a character when one of the puppets, Zag, who was trying to join the upper classes, entered a golf tournament with Tony Fenton the 2fm DJ and came last. The prize was a Christmas Turkey, and a chance to meet movie star Dustin Hoffman. It transpired however, that the turkey shared the name of the movie star and was not only still alive, but had a Dublin accent and his own building company. Zig and Zag intended to eat Dustin for Christmas dinner, and only changed their minds when a frequent visitor to the show, artist and children's novelist Don Conroy, provided his taxonomical opinion that Dustin was, in fact a cross between a turkey and a vulture, and therefore unsuitable for human or Zogling consumption (Zig and Zag are aliens from the planet Zog). He makes appearances outside of The Den, including an annual appearance on The Late Late Show Toy Show special at Christmas where he makes fun of the show's regular host Pat Kenny, as he did with the previous host, Gay Byrne. More recently he has turned his attention to the many other Irish television personalities, including Eddie Hobbs, Ryan Tubridy and Derek Mooney. Dustin has been tamed down in recent years[citation needed], though on occasion he continues to create remarks of ridicule about various Irish celebrities and the services provided by RTÉ. Also as a builder he conforms to stereotype, going on continual tea breaks, and indicating that he is prepared to do dodgy deals with anybody, including certain politicians. Uniquely in Irish public life, he has not received any reprimand or 'gagging request'[citation needed]. As a 'Dub' he is also prepared to lump all people west of Finglas, Lucan and Tallaght as 'Culchies', even when wishing them happy birthday. Insults targeted at County Leitrim came particularly thick and fast (especially when The Den was co-presented by Leitrim man Francis Boylan Jr.) He has however never insulted anybody under the age of 14 on any occasion. In September 2005, after 15 years, Dustin 'left' The Den and got his own show, DDN (Dustin's Daily News)[1]

Dustin is a very popular character in Irish Media and was the Irish hopeful to win the Eurovision Song Contest in Serbia in 2008. He failed to qualify in the semi-final on Tuesday 20th May.

[edit] Music

He released his Greatest Hits album in 2001, which featured just two new songs, a Christmas version of Bruce Channel's Hey Baby, called Hey Santa, and a dance remix of Sweet Caroline. On November 4, 2005, he released his first new single for 4 years, Patricia the Stripper, a duet with Chris de Burgh aka Christy Burger. On November 11, 2005, he then released a new album, also his first for 4 years, called Bling When You're Minging.

These albums have featured backing vocals from many Irish stars including Bob Geldof, Boyzone and the late Joe Dolan. Many of his songs are parodies of either folk songs or well known chart hits from across the decades. He famously made the news in Britain one year when he was number one in Ireland with his songs Christmas Tree and Rat Trap (a cover version of the Boomtown Rats song which he sang with Bob Geldof, and made fun of him throughout), when in just about every other country the Christmas number one spot went to the Spice Girls with their song 2 Become 1.

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Of note was his song 32 Counties, in which he cited the wonders of each county in Ireland. Leitrim took another beating, as he dubbed it "a mistake". The video depicted a gig that he was performing the song at. Guests arrived throughout dressed up as something that symbolises a county. The doorman ticked off that county on the list and let them in. A man dressed up as St. Patrick kept trying to get in but the doorman refused to let him in. Finally at the end of the video, when everyone had left the hall the gig was being held in, the doorman let him in, and laughed loudly as he ticked Leitrim off the list. It seems that Dustin had finally pecked off more than he could chew this time, however, since subsequent showings of the song on The Den would blank that line out, and the end of the video was edited out, and if it was discussed, he would have to profess that he "didn't remember" what he said about Leitrim. He also said Westmeath "has a bypass" and Laois "has a prison", but these passed without comment.

[edit] Singles

[edit] Albums

[edit] Eurosong and Eurovision 2008

Main article: Eurosong 2008

Originally the favourite to win, Dustin was chosen by the Irish broadcaster RTÉ to represent Ireland in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, becoming the first turkey in history to do so. [2]. Though it wasn't announced on the Eurosong show how many votes Dustin got from the public, an RTÉ radio show later announced the scores, revealing that the second place had an average of 15 points, while Dustin had 23, which shows that the public really did want to send a turkey to Eurovision. Despite it being a public vote, there was a mixed reaction from the live studio audience when the result was announced, including many audible boos. A panelist on the programme, former Eurovision winner Dana, stated that Ireland would be better withdrawing from the competition than sending Dustin. Despite her lack of support, past Irish Eurovision entries Dickie Rock and Maxi stated their beliefs that Dustin could win.

Dustin performed his song in the first semi-final on May 20. Dustin missed out on qualification from the Eurovision semi-final and therefore won't appear in the Eurovision final.

[edit] Politics

Dustin has on numerous occasions declared an interest in politics. In the past, he has mockingly run campaigns for a number of presidential elections. However, he has never been an official candidate. Though unforeseen at the time, a custom built up of people entering the name 'Dustin' or 'Dustin the Turkey' on the ballot paper, as a result of discontent with the lack of talent of all the candidates already on the election list. In several elections, including the 1997 presidential election several thousand Irish citizens deliberately spoiled their votes,] by writing Dustin's name on their ballot papers. It is still common for Returning Officers to receive votes spoilt in this manner in contemporary elections. In his mock campaigns, he ran as a representative of "Fianna Fowl" (a play on Ireland's largest political party Fianna Fáil) and also of the 'Poultry Party'. His campaign manifestos have included promising "to bring the DART to Dingle", as well as making sure every young boy in Ireland got to go on a date with the Spice Girl of their choice (later Pussycat Doll).

The advent of electronic voting meant that the option of using a pencil to create an entry for 'Dustin the Turkey' or simply 'Dustin', should cease to exist in future. The current postponement of the national rollout of the electronic voting option (due to concern about its efficacy) should mean that 'Dustin' will remain an option for several elections to come.

[edit] References

  1. ^ RTÉ: Dustin's Daily News (retrieved 17 June 2007)
  2. ^ Ireland gets its Eurovision Turkey (2008-02-23). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Dervish		 Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
2008		 Succeeded by
N/A
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_the_Turkey"
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