Auto Tune the News

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Auto-tune the news!
Auto-tune the news!
Everything sounds better
Auto-tuned!

Auto-Tune the News ^{[dead link]} was a web series by the Gregory Brothers (and Evan's wife Sarah), under the YouTube username "schmoyoho" (accent on the yo), that consisted of taking news clips and applying the auto-tune filter to them. Combined with backing vocals, clever editing, masterful tunes and witty lyrics, the result was often Crowning Music of Awesome. Toward the end of its existence, shorter songs made using a single source also became wildly popular.

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Tropes used in Auto Tune the News include:

• Adorkable: All of the Gregories, but especially Evan and Michael.
• Analogy Backfire: "Our metaphorical car got no brakes and no gear-shift, we'll go metaphorically far while we're standing in the ditch!"
  • "Bitch!"
• Auto-Tune: Obviously.
• Ambiguously Gay: Elena Kagan, possibly.

"We're having a conversation / about the implication / of sexual orientation, / a silly allegation / of extreme exaggeration / and pointless information / when it comes to confirmation..."

• Babies Make Everything Better: Michael gave birth to three who are totally capable of singing, playing instruments, and growing beards at such a young age.
• Badass Beard
  • Jimmy McMillan of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party.
  • Andrew Rose has one too, though it's nowhere near as bushy.
• Beat: "This is an awkward silence, I guess I'll fill it with ad-libs."
• Band of Relatives: The group consists of Michael, Andrew and Evan Gregory, and Evan's wife Sarah.
• Brand Name Takeover: In a way, with their own videos. A lot of recent Songify This videos are considered to be Auto-Tune the News videos.
• Black Best Friend: Dwight Howard, beats from the Regulates(?).
• B-Side: Obama Sings Kick Ass Song, Bed Intruder Song, Banker's Song - We Didn't See It Coming, Backin' Up Song, as well as many others.
  • "Banker's Song - We Didn't See It Coming" was originally done for an NPR podcast, of all things. It doesn't help that the backing track is the same one used in #13, which in turn uses the same backing track from Weezer's memories.
• Call Back: The line, "Very Thin Ice," started in #2 and came back in #3 and #8.
• The Cameo: T-Pain in #8, Joel Madden in #11 and Weezer in #13. From the B-sides, Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Get your money, Turn Gay"
• Cargo Ship: Andrew Rose and his shoe, In-Universe.
• The Character Died with Him: Muammar Gaddafi, presumably.
• City of Adventure: Three of the "B-side" vids are from Huntsville, Alabama (bed intruder, strut that ass and Use Both Sides).
• Completely Missing the Point: The Afghani-Pakistani-US "friendship" mostly consists of Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari hitting on each other as Hillary Clinton tries to negotiate peace.
• Couch Gag: Auto-tune the news! Auto-tune the news! (Tragedy/C-Span2/Sarah Palin/Everything) sounds better auto-tuned!
• Credits Gag: The guy at the end of each video always has something minor happen to him, from already saying something he said earlier, to telling the chorus in the background to stop singing.
• Department of Redundancy Department: "The only woman who ain't a man"
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: "Your team responded late here, coach, how did you do it?"
  • "Three words. Vi-A-Gra."
• Drugs Are Bad: Junkie Einstein refutes this worldview, and uses his senatorial position to argue for exactly the opposite.
• Engineered Public Confession
  • Often without the engineering part. A running gag is "Do you want to buy drugs from me?"
    • "It's still a place that is strictly off-limits." "Not for this G, I just went there illegally, speaking of which will you buy drugs from me on national TV?"
  • "Now they're saying I groped a male staffer!/Yeah, I did! (Um) Yeah, yeah, yeah"
    • "A manly back rub. (JUST A BACK RUB!)"
• Everything's Better with Monkeys: Frank McGee, Angry Gorilla.
• Erudite Stoner: Junkie Einstein might be a parody of this type, as the only thing he's knowledgeable about is how to get high (or how not to get high). He holds a degree in biology (that he got because he was caught smoking lettuce), but can't tell the difference between a tiger and a giraffe.
• Five Four Man Band:
  • The Hero: Michael on the show, Evan in the band.
  • The Lancer: Evan on the show, Michael in the band.
  • The Smart Guy: Michael doubles as this.
  • The Big Guy: Andrew Rose.
  • The Chick: Sarah.
  • The Sixth Ranger: Katie Couric
• Funny Background Event: In one of the short videos, entitled "Sarah Sings with Babies", half of the fun of the video is watching the background to see if Michael can catch the frisbee as he jumps off the dock into the lake.
• Government Agency of Fiction
  • The Federal Commission of T-Pain
  • The Federal Commission of Me
  • The Enhanced Perceptions Committee
  • The Congressional Choir
• Horny Vikings: Bølverk.
• Kent Brockman News
• Incredibly Lame Pun: "Impeached, then banned from Chipotle."
• Insane Troll Logic: Nigel Farage's outburst, accompanied by Frank McGee, Angry Gorilla.

Angry Gorilla: Our logic and reason have proved you wrong!
Bølverk: Go back to Douchebagistan, where you belong.
Angry Gorilla: Don't make me have to start World War III.
Bølverk: Bring it on; THESE GUNS ARE WMD!

• In the Style Of: Keith Olbermann provides the "Most Kanye-Esque Verse" in #9.
• Intercourse with You: #11 ends with a guide to being sexually harassed by your boss.
• It Makes Sense in Context: Anthony Weiner's "THE GENTLEMAN WILL SIT" outburst.
• It Makes Just As Much Sense in Context:
  • The Turtle Fence
  • Smoking lettuce
• Large Ham: Evan. Especially as Bølverk.
  • Michael too, as Junkie Einstein.
• Megane: Michael.
• Melismatic Vocals
• Memetic Mutation: The "Bed Intruder" song has been covered in the genres of Metal (both Shred/Speed and Death varieties are represented), Acoustic, Marching Band, and Chiptunes, among others. Doesn't hurt that the original video for it featured a piano cover.
• Mondegreen
  • "I got this cause I'm Badass!"
  • Invoked with Junkie Einstein's presidential debate song. Go ahead, just guess what he said.
• My Friends and Zoidberg: "iTunes link below. Earnings go to [insert unintentional singer here] and the Gregorys. And Apple."
• Nepotism: Strictly disallowed in New Orleans. Except for family members. And sexy turtles.
• "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer
  • The "smoking lettuce" interlude is so bizarre that a news report about it is added in to show that it really happened.
  • Regarding presidential candidate Vermin Supreme's questionable actions:

YES: This actually happened. I know what you're thinking, but seriously, this is real.

• Not So Different: After 10 episodes of absurd American politics, #11 showed that the European Union has its own brand of crazy as well.

US POLITICS SEEM LESS LOONY
American Centrists rejoice

• One-Woman Wail: Combined with Scatting to fill an awkward silence.
• Pizza Boy Special Delivery: Joe the Plumber gets around.
• Precision F-Strike: Occasional.
• Quote Mine: "You can take anything out of context."
• Running Gag
  • Very thin ice, very very thin ice.
  • Smoking Lettuce.
  • Accent on the yo.
  • Crazy Person (R-South Dakota)
  • "SHAWTEY!!"
• Shaped Like Itself: "The most important part of Auto-Tune the News is auto-tuning the news."
• The Smurfette Principle: A serious concern about the Supreme Court of the United States. Only two ovaries, sixteen testicles!
• The Stoner: Professor Junkie Einstein (R-South Dakota)
• Stupid Statement Dance Mix: The bread and butter of Auto-Tune the News.
• Super Speed: Slim Chin, possibly.
• Take a Third Option: Rent: Too Damn High
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch
  • Christine O'Donnell lets us know that she's "not a politician and not a witch, bitch".
  • The end of #13 qualifies as well. "Standing in the ditch, bitch!"
• This Song Goes Out to All the Serbians: Also the ladies, but mostly the Serbians.
• Time Travel for Fun and Profit: Junkie Einstein warns against this, since pot was less potent in the 1960s than it is now.
• Twofer Token Minority: Antoine Dodson is an Angry Black Man and Camp Gay.
• Verbal Tic: You'll be on very thin ice, Shawty~!
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Lead poisoning! Ew!
• We Gon' Find You: You don't have to come, and confess. We're looking for you.
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: In Auto-Tune Verse, all addresses made to Congress must be submitted in the form of a song, all debate must follow a similar structure to a rap battle, the congressional choir must be present at all times, and the congressional drummer sets the agenda for every session.

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Schmoyoho, accent on the yo!