Yesterday was my birthday. All three of my sisters sent birthday greetings. One sister got cute and sent a Blue Mountain e-card starring none other than Donny Osmond.

We are not LDS, and Donny’s popularity was kind of waning when I was a kid. But she still picked his card over Dolly Parton’s.

I have to admit, it was very well done and cracked me up... and it occurred to me that this is totally the kind of thing the Osmonds do. Donny still looks pretty cute, too. My husband thought maybe it was a deep fake, but if it is, it’s a damn good one.

https://www.bluemountain.com/view/rb70f24bbf3de4e0488b827d5e317f8d3?source=bma999&&utm_medium=pickup&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=receiver&fbclid=IwAR33GWEEqgIgR7wMwYq2781lFGGzJd2qIegxw7-bmVtp3RAzbyF1rogFoqk



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2021 01:18AM by knotheadusc.

He is just a little younger than me and he looks good and he can still sing. I doubt if I would agree with anything he says about the Mormon church but he seems to be a good family man with no bad behavior.

He is a talented performer. I enjoy most of his work, actually. And I enjoyed that card a lot more than I thought I would.

My gal discovered this site a couple of months ago and is having way too much fun sending greetings to various people. I sent the same Donny O. one to my on-the-fence TBM daughter for her birthday.

I guess you can also custom make a message?? My son is going to have his first kid any day now so we loaded up a talking baby one. It won't allow you to upload any swear words so we had to work around that. The message we had the baby saying was, "I can hardly wait to meet my grandpa Jaxson. I hear he is sofa king awesome." Haaa haaa, it was too cute and funny. We laughed and giggled the rest of the day.

I shared it with my many friends and it was a big hit.

I'd be interested in knowing how they make that work. Obviously, there's a computer sleight of hand. It's not like Cameo.

For Christmas, my husband got the hilarious Armenian comedian Mary Basmadjian (who does Vartoush Tota) to make me a Christmas greeting. It was my favorite present.

I think my gal told me that there was a list of names to choose from. So I'm guessing they gave Donny (and the other artists) a list of popular names to sing one after another. He wouldn't have to sing the whole song over and over again, just the names part. Then they would edit that in with the rest of the common message and there you go. I would think they could do quite a few names in a day of recording

Bwahahahaha... sounds like temple ordinances! A familiar concept to Donny!

My how the mighty have fallen.

Lot's Wife Wrote:
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> My how the mighty have fallen.

I disagree.

I think it is an inspired way to stretch out the earned success of years of hard work when [the performer] is on the other side of the career curve.

I know of a few thousand people who would be extremely happy to be doing the "same" thing.

I agree with you, Tevai. There was a time when the Osmonds, and Donny, in particular, were "flavors of the month". That kind of notoriety can't last forever, but everyone's got to make a living. I would take Donny's birthday card over Merrill's offer to call people who pay him. I remember watching a British documentary about the Osmonds and they talked about Merrill's celebrity phone call deal. He said he once talked a man out of committing suicide. I wonder if he still charged him for the phone call. (Merrill will still call you for $50.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2VmdtLTuCk

At 36 minutes, he brags about how his voice caused a woman not to take her life. In 2003, he was charging $27.99 to talk to "troubled callers" for eight minutes.

"Merrill will still call you for $50."


I'd bet he could make a lot more charging people *not* to call them.

lurking in Wrote:
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> "Merrill will still call you for $50."
>
>
> I'd bet he could make a lot more charging people
> *not* to call them.

Ha ha haha hahaha!

The other day, I stumbled across a video of the Osmonds 2nd Generation (Alan's 8 sons). They sang a very annoying remake of "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel with multiple references to how "great" their dad, Alan, is. I've always felt Alan was the most egotistical of all of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZEPcJlIvvc

"He's our dad; we're his kids! How do you think we got this gig?"

I actually think Alan's sons are talented, but they really come off as cluelessly egocentric here. At least Donny is super cute in his birthday video.

A "Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas"... OH my GOD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOF19romc-o

Alan...ugh. And so self-richeous! Blech.

I had to write a rant about Alan yesterday. I find him obscenely conceited.

Hard to believe he once dated Karen Carpenter.

I met David Osmond, one of Alan's sons, at a social event. He was engaging and interested in those he met. He came across as humble and genuine, and has a reasonable career in show business.

The youngest of Alan's brood, Tyler I think, has been forging an interesting path as a member of the group 'Desert Noises'(guitar/vocals/possibly some song writing credits).

I could see lower-tier celebrities doing this. But Donny Osmond's net worth has online estimates of about $15 million. With that much money in the bank, I would think he could find better uses for his time.

Dolly did it too.

summer Wrote:
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> I could see lower-tier celebrities doing this. But
> Donny Osmond's net worth has online estimates of
> about $15 million. With that much money in the
> bank, I would think he could find better uses for
> his time.

I agree that, in regard to those who have accumulated/created a state of financial security for themselves and for their nearest and dearest, money is often not the prime motivating factor in these kind of calculations.

What often IS a prime factor is being able to stay active in the industry--even if (as with "birthday greetings") the activity may not seem worthwhile to other people who are not in the industry. To remain active in the sense that you can still sing, or act, or dance, or write, or be a featured guest on a TV talk show--whatever it is that makes a given person feel most "alive"--is often extremely important to that person.

Retiring within the industry can be hard, regardless of whether a given individual planned and created a financially successful retirement or not. (Of course, for those who DO need the money, that money can count for quite a lot--and can be THE primary need, regardless of anything else.)

Just being a functioning part of a production (no matter how modest the "production" may be) can be a valued opportunity for a given person to feel genuinely "whole" again (in ways I don't know how to adequately explain). It's as if, suddenly, you are really "you" once more.

I think most people who have spent substantial time in the industry would agree.

And remember his career took a huge tumble in the 80s. I remember being in high school when his pop song, "Soldier of Love" came out. People ridiculed it, even though it was pretty solid. Donny's career was kind of like John Travolta's back in those days... he was affiliated with the 70s and people were disdaining that era. It took awhile for Donny Osmond and John Travolta to become "cool" again. He may not want to be back in that position, so is doing what he can to stay relevant.

I just think about the Osmonds in Branson and seeing Donny and Marie hosting events. They are very "show biz" and hammy. It doesn't surprise me that Donny would do birthday greetings.

I genuinely enjoy a lot of the Osmonds' stuff, even if I think their religion is ridiculous. I just don't like the really egregious self-congratulatory stuff Alan and his sons do. :D



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2021 03:14AM by knotheadusc.

Okay, that makes sense. An entertainer would want to stay busy and active, doing something that makes them feel good, or in which they have a competency. I can get that.

Thinking of my own work -- for many years, my job was so difficult and demanding, that I was just waiting for relief. I dreamed of retirement. But a couple of years ago, I did a pivot, and went into a different branch of teaching. And now I enjoy my job again. I like working, and I like being productive.

Ha! Yeah. Doing names like baptism for the dead. Just how many of the excommunicated members for polygamy been redunked? Perhaps all.

survivor. More power to him.

Oh, I sent that one to a Donny-lovin' friend just the other day. She thought it was very cool. I knew she would. :o)