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Dustin the Turkey, more commonly simply Dustin, is a popular Irish television puppet, star of RTÉ's The Den since the 1980s. He claims his full name is Dustin Hoffman. He joined the show with fellow puppets Zig and Zag but remained with the show since their departure in the late 1990s. He has also outlasted three human co-hosts: Ian Dempsey, Ray D'Arcy and Damien McCaul, making him the longest serving member of the on-screen cast of The Den. 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. A surprisingly provocative character, while he has been tamed down in recent years, Dustin would often make some very insulting remarks about various Irish celebrities and the services provided by RTÉ, and would say a lot of 'dodgy' things about politics and their practises that sometimes made one wonder how he got away with it. Insults targeted at County Leitrim came particularly thick and fast.
Music
Dustin has been a contender for the number one position in the Irish music singles chart at Christmas time and has had three number-one albums: Dustin: Not Just a Pretty Face, Dustin: Unplucked and Faith of Our Feathers. A further album after that was called Poultry in Motion. He released his Greatest Hits album in 2001, which featured just two new songs, a Christmas version of DJ Otzi's Hey Baby, called Hey Santa, and a dance remix of Sweet Caroline, which went on to become his last No.1 single. These albums have featured backing vocals from many Irish stars including Bob Geldof and Boyzone. 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.
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 beig 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.
Singles
- Spanish Lady (feat. Ronnie Drew and The Saw Doctors)
- Numb
- Rat Trap (with Bob Geldof)
- Christmas Tree
- Good Lookin' Woman (with Joe Dolan)
- Fairytale of New York (with Dervla Kirwan)
- 32 Counties
- Christmas in Dublin
- Sweet Caroline
Albums
- Not Just A Pretty Face
- Dustin: Unplucked
- Faith Of Our Feathers
- Poultry In Motion
- Dustin's Greatest Hits
Politics
Dustin has, on occasion, expressed an interest in politics. He has mockingly run campaigns for a number of presidential elections (though he was never an official candidate). He ran as a representative of 'Fianna Fowl' (a play on Ireland's largest political party Fianna Fáil) and of the 'Poultry Party'. His major campaign promise was 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. Many Irish voters have spoiled their votes by actually writing Dustin's name on their ballot papers.
Identity
The identity of the puppeteer responsible for Dustin is not common knowledge.
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