Ukraine's Got Talent, and Other Marvels of 21st Century Life

Matt Welch | August 20, 2009

Alex Massie points us to a must-see:

Can't improve on Massie's description:

Perhaps you've already seen Kseniya Simonova's performance on Ukraine's Got Talent. But if you haven't, watch how she recounts the horrors of Ukraine's experiences during the Second World War. With sand.

As we hurtle toward the 20th anniversary of the world revolting against communism, it's worth taking a moment to reflect that in many of our adult lifetimes half of Eurasia, from Berlin to Kamchatka, was a darkened, mostly undifferentiated blob, where no country called "Ukraine" existed, Ukraine's Got Talent was more an observation in West Hollywood than a reality TV show in Odessa, and if there were any Ukranians with a gift for sand animation we almost certainly wouldn't know about it, let alone get to enjoy it on our computers.

Comments

Rich|8.20.09 @ 9:02AM|#

Got to me.

A great medium for a great message.

dhex|8.20.09 @ 9:29AM|#

wow.

she totally crushes the audience to boot.

Joe M|8.20.09 @ 9:33AM|#

Amazing. Things like this give me hope for humanity. Hey guys, come on, it's not that bad.

Mango Punch|8.20.09 @ 9:53AM|#

She is hot and good with her hands

|8.20.09 @ 10:34AM|#

Wow. Just... wow.

I feel an overpowering -- and unearned -- pride in the fact that her DNA and mine are 99-point-something the same.

Colin|8.20.09 @ 10:37AM|#

As an animator, I can say what she accomplished was nothing short of jaw-dropping. She made it look easy, but her technique is quite difficult. And I've never seen it done live before. Usually, the animator creates one frame, films it, and goes to the next. A short film can take years to make.

There are people who have won Academy Awards for sand animation, whose work, in my opinion, was not nearly as impressive.

kinnath|8.20.09 @ 10:51AM|#

Stunning!

|8.20.09 @ 10:52AM|#

Amazing talent; moving message. I have never seen anything quite like it.

Tim Cavanaugh|8.20.09 @ 11:10AM|#

In some of our lifetimes, even West Hollywood hadn't declared its independence from international tyranny.

JB|8.20.09 @ 11:55AM|#

And remember how many retarded Leftist Americans celebrated communism and Stalin and how many still do.

the other alan|8.20.09 @ 10:15PM|#

great stuff - The Metallica during minute 7:00 was a nice touch.