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"Perfect" is a song by American singer-songwriter Rob Cantor. It was released on April 14, 2014, as the penultimate track on his solo debut album, Not a Trampoline. A video for the song titled "29 Celebrity Impressions, 1 Original Song" was published to YouTube on July 1, featuring Cantor performing impressions. It became a viral video, with viewers in disbelief by it before a later reveal by Cantor to be purposefully deceiving.

Background

After the indefinite hiatus of Tally Hall in 2011, co-lead vocalist and guitarist Rob Cantor began producing solo work. He first released the viral song "Shia LaBeouf" in 2012, followed by his solo debut album Not a Trampoline in 2014. The album features "Perfect", co-written by Cantor with former bandmate and keyboardist Andrew Horowitz. The latter reunited with the former in Los Angeles six months after Tally Hall's hiatus, spending time together before writing "Perfect" between 11 PM and 5 AM the same day.

Music video

On July 1, 2014, Cantor published the video "29 Celebrity Impressions, 1 Original Song" to his YouTube channel. Accompanied by Horowitz on the piano, Cantor appears to sing 28 impressions of various celebrities and one of himself. It received over 740 thousand views within its first day, amassing 6.5 million total views throughout the week. The video received particular attention for the bizarreness of being able to perform several female impressions as a male singer. Cantor expressed happiness with the song's spread as a viral video, stating "I'm so glad people enjoy the clip, and I'm even happier they seem to dig the song!" to Today.

The video includes impressions of Randy Newman, Jack Black, Kermit the Frog, Louis Armstrong, Christopher Lloyd, Willie Nelson, Bono, Gollum, Steve Buscemi, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Peter Griffin, Gilbert Gottfried, Ray Romano, Adam Sandler, Gwen Stefani, Patrick Warburton, Ian McKellen, Shakira, Britney Spears, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken, Jon Lovitz, Christina Aguilera, Cher, Flipper, Björk, and Bob Dylan. Cantor additionally whistles, imitates a trumpet, and does a "self-impression".

Production

On July 9, a making-of video was published, revealing that the music video's impressions were lip synced by Cantor over dubbed audio of 11 other impressionists. Recorded in 39 takes, the video was recorded and edited in the style of a home movie to generate believability in the hoax. A representative of Cantor described the video as "a carefully orchestrated effort", successfully promoting Not a Trampoline through the video's popularity.

Personnel

"Perfect"

• Rob Cantor – lead vocals, instruments
• Gregtonic – production, mixing engineer
• Andrew Horowitz – production
• Bora Karaca – engineer
• Dave Cooley – mastering

"29 Celebrity Impressions, 1 Original Song"

• Rob Cantor – miming, direction
• Andrew Horowitz – piano, backing vocals
• Brock Baker – vocals
• Gilbert Gauthier – vocals
• Amanda Gari – vocals
• Reagan James – vocals
• Andrew Laurich – vocals
• Andy McCloud – vocals
• Piotr Michael – vocals
• Missy Modell – vocals
• Mark Sipka – vocals
• Melissa Villaseñor – vocals
• Bora Karaca – whistling
• Gabe Steiner – trumpet
• Lindsey Alvarez – sound design, mixing engineer

References

1. Paltrowitz, Darren (April 7, 2014). "Rob Cantor Is Not A Trampoline, Even If His Career Seems Like One". TheImproper. Archived from the original on August 6, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
2. BMI (June 23, 2014). "Indie Spotlight: Rob Cantor". Broadcast Music, Inc. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
3. Florino, Rick (June 2, 2014). "Interview: Rob Cantor". Artistdirect. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
4. Kristobak, Ryan (July 1, 2014). "This Guy Perfectly Impersonates 29 Celebrities While Performing An Original Song". HuffPost. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
5. Crugnale, James (July 2, 2014). "29 Famous Hollywood Impressions Performed by One Guy in One Song (Video)". TheWrap. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
6. ^ Dawn, Randee (July 2, 2014). "Singer Rob Cantor does 28 spot-on celebrity impressions in viral video". Today. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
7. Blum, Haley (July 2, 2014). "This guy nails 28 celebrity impressions while singing an original song". USA Today. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
8. McKee, Jenn (July 8, 2014). "Tally Hall's Rob Cantor has a video that's gone viral". MLive Media Group. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
9. Washington Examiner (July 2, 2014). "This guy sounds more like Britney Spears than Britney Spears does". Washington Examiner. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
10. ^ Sneider, Jeff (July 9, 2014). "29 Celebrity Impressions Music Video Was a Hoax; Singer Reveals 'Making Of' Video". TheWrap. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
11. ABC News (July 7, 2014). "Watch Singer do 28 Celebrity Impressions in One Song". ABC News. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
12. Bishop, Rollin (July 9, 2014). "Musician Rob Cantor Reveals How He Faked His Song Featuring 29 Impressive Celebrity Impressions". Laughing Squid. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
13. McKee, Jenn (July 10, 2014). "Tally Hall's Rob Cantor reveals his impression-packed viral video was faked". MLive Media Group. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
14. Dawn, Randee (July 10, 2014). "28 celebrity impressions viral video revealed to be a hoax by singer". Today. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
15. Berkowitz, Joe (July 10, 2014). "Nothing Is Real: Guy Reveals "29 Celebrity Impressions, 1 Original Song" Is a Hoax In Most Charming Way Possible". Fast Company. Retrieved June 24, 2024.

External links

• "Perfect" on Bandcamp

• 2014 songs
• Rob Cantor songs
• Songs written by Andrew Horowitz
• Songs written by Rob Cantor
• Viral videos