美国国家公共电台 NPR Comparing Both Conventions As TV: Did Either One Get An Edge?

Comparing Both Conventions As TV: Did Either One Get An Edge?

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The numbers are in on how many people tuned¹ in to watch Hillary Clinton accept the presidential nomination² last night, and that number is more than 33 million. It is lower than Donald Trump³'s big night, which was nearly 35 million, but the Democrats⁴ had higher numbers than the Republicans for the first three nights. Our co-host Audie Cornish is still in Philadelphia where the Wells Fargo Center is being transformed back into a regular arena⁵ where Barbra Streisand will perform in a few weeks.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And as media booths are taken down and confetti is being swept away, we're going to talk about how the Democratic National Convention played as TV. Were people moved by slickly-produced videos?

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MORGAN FREEMAN: How many times will she leave her mark? How many ways will she light up the world? This is the woman.

CORNISH: Yep, that's Morgan Freeman in a video produced by Shonda Rhimes. That was the opener to Hillary Clinton's big speech last night. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans joins us now. Hey there, Eric.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE⁶: I wish I had a voice like Morgan Freeman.

CORNISH: (Laughter) Well, that is one interesting thing about the DNC. In terms of pure production value, it seemed like they had an edge. They certainly do with Hollywood. What did you think? Did the Democrats put on a good show?

DEGGANS: Yeah, I really think they did, and certainly by the middle of the convention you had a sense that you were seeing something very well paced, very slickly put together. You compare it to the RNC, and they had C-list celebrities⁷ from reality TV shows. The Democrats had big-name people, big Democratic players - the president, the most recent Democratic president before him.

I thought the visuals mattered, you know? Having a general come out and have all these veterans lined up behind him sent a message. And one of the key visuals was having the father of a Muslim soldier who was killed in action raising his copy of the Constitution and saying to Donald Trump, hey, I'll loan you my copy so you can read it. And that's a move that's taken right out of the conservative playbook and that we've seen in speeches given by conservative activists⁸ and politicians.

CORNISH: This also extended to the music, right? That was a big part of this week's convention.

DEGGANS: Oh, yeah. The DNC worked in all these kinds of concert elements. So you think about the Republican National Convention, and you did get this performance from this cute little girl named Heavenly Joy. She was a contestant⁹ on "America's Got Talent." And in fact, if you didn't catch it, we've got a little clip. Let's check it out.

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HEAVENLY JOY JERKINS: (Singing) Oh, beautiful for spacious¹⁰ skies, for amber¹¹ waves of grain.

DEGGANS: Now, that is wonderful. She's very cute, but you know, the Democrats came out with heavy hitters like Katy Perry and Alicia Keys. So listen to this clip from Alicia Keys' performance.

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ALICIA KEYS: (Singing) Well, yeah, cause even when I'm a mess, I still put on a vest with an S on my chest. Oh, yes, I'm a super woman - said I'm a super woman.

DEGGANS: Now, that's a showstopper.

CORNISH: And there were other artists there like Carole King and Lenny Kravitz, but hasn't Hollywood always been enamored with Democrats? I mean what's the big deal about the music?

DEGGANS: Well, I think it's one way for Democrats to look hip¹², right? They have some of the biggest stars on the planet out there. And it's also a way I think to reach out to young people. There's all this concern that these young people who supported Bernie Sanders will not cleave¹³ to Hillary Clinton. And you know, to have Katy Perry or Lena Dunham or Sarah Silverman come out there and say, hey, guys, you know, get behind Hillary, helps a lot.

And I think it's also evidence of how well stage-managed this convention was. You think about the RNC, and you know, they had Melania Trump speak, and then they had people scheduled to speak after her. And people were leaving the convention hall as, you know, some relatively¹⁴ important speakers were coming up. You know, the DNC had everything well-planned so that people stuck around, and it felt like a real presentation that had a flow to it.

CORNISH: So, Eric, do we know how the viewers responded?

DEGGANS: In general, we saw more viewership for the DNC than for the RNC, and we saw more viewership for the DNC this year than the DNC in 2012 except for Wednesday. So it gives us a sense that as much as people talk about election fatigue¹⁵ and maybe being a little tired of election coverage¹⁶, there's a lot of people out there who still seem to be interested in this.

CORNISH: That's NPR's TV critic Eric Deggans. Eric, thanks so much.

DEGGANS: Thank you.

1 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

8 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 contestant   

n.竞争者，参加竞赛者

参考例句：

• The company will furnish each contestant with a free ticket.公司将为每个参赛者免费提供一张票。
• The personal appearance and interview of the contestant is another count.参加比赛者的个人仪表和谈话也是一项。

10 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

11 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

12 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

13 cleave   

v．(clave；cleaved)粘着，粘住；坚持；依恋

参考例句：

• It examines how the decision to quit gold or to cleave to it affected trade policies.论文分析了放弃或坚持金本位是如何影响贸易政策的。
• Those who cleave to the latter view include many conservative American politicians.坚持后一种观点的大多是美国的保守派政客。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

16 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。