The Wing story: who is she, what makes her so notable, and why is she a "bad" singer?

Wing is a unique singer whose manner of performance is often compared to Florence Foster Jenkins and Mrs Miller. She's a shining example of someone else's so-called "outsider" music (more on this below). But no matter what, Wing has never abandoned her self-confidence! She has built a dazzling career against all critics' expectations, thus inspiring hundreds (maybe thousands) of performers all over the world!

Who's Wing?

When Wing settled in New Zealand, she got involved in music. She soon began performing in nursing homes and hospitals, which inspired her to release her own disc! This is how Wing's debut album "The Phantom of the Opera" came to be. The title single was a composition from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical.

Despite the "peculiar" style of performance, the album was a great success! This inspired Wings to record new tracks, which were covers of famous hits. This is how our heroine gained worldwide fame!

Along with this, Wing began to be invited to various TV shows. She also became a heroine of "South Park" (we will talk about this a little bit below)! By the way: the creators of the series told us that before "giving the okay" to use her music, the singer had to approve her cartoon character. Trey Parker, one of the creators, also recalled how he later received a thank you letter from Wing for the boost in sales she enjoyed after the episode was released...

The singer's creativity ...

The year 2008 proved to be quite fruitful and busy for Wing... The singer performed at the South by Southwest festival, as well as at the BBC Introduction, giving guests a performance of ABBA and Elton John's greatest hits....

Wing has also been a guest on music TV channel C4, and even participated in the Rocked The Nation series by singing the track "Pokarekare Ana".

For the following years, Wing continued to perform concerts and tour the States, but in 2015, the singer announced her retirement from the music business,...

Why does Wing sing badly and what is outsider music?

Before answering the question of why Wing is a bad singer (it's worth noting that this is a statement not by the author, but by critics), let's talk about what outsider music is...

Outsider music is usually the result of the creative impulses of self-taught or naive musicians. This interesting term is often applied to musicians who do not belong to the musical environment in any way: their creative impulses are often due to "childish fantasies" or mental illness....

The term was popularised back in the 1990s by music journalist Irwin Chusid. As a DJ for New Jersey radio station WFMU in the 80s, Irwin was an influential figure in independent music circles. And so, in the early noughties, he published an entire book, Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music, through which he tried to promote outsider music as a separate genre.

"There are countless performers who experience a lack of public attention to their art... At the same time, they are sure that what they do is normal. Yes, their instrumental/vocal prowess may seem laughable, as evidenced by the paltry profits from their work. The likelihood that they will achieve mass success is extremely low... But they don't break the rules simply because they don't know they exist..."

It is worth emphasising the fact that Chusid himself saw such artists as far more "authentic" than those whose work has been "revised, remade and repainted" a million times. Outsider artists can control their "final creative contour": either because of limited budgets or because of their "inability or unwillingness to collaborate or trust anyone but themselves".

Interesting fact: outsiders often overlap with lo-fi performers, as their work is rarely recorded in professional studios! "Outsider art" (or what is also known as "naive art") was the norm in the 1970s. The work of such artists tends to be of low quality, as it is often created in home...

Among the best-selling "outsiders" Irwin singled out Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Frank Zappa, Marilyn Manson... But given the level at which all these people were received by the public, it is hard to imagine them as mere outsiders... However... it is widely believed that a great number of people widely known today, artists of art, started out as nominal outsiders. And among such, according to critics, is the performer Wing....

An episode of "South Park"

And now let's talk about the very episode from the popular TV series "South Park", which got its name "Wing" in honour of the main character of today's article. And the plot of this episode resembles a Hollywood blockbuster.....

https://youtu.be/RByxmxiKi2Y

The character Token Black has won a music contest and will now perform in a beauty pageant, for which he will receive a cash prize of 200 quid. Then his mates create an agency and persuade Token to sign a contract. But when the latter's popularity starts to grow, a big agency "poaches" the rising star to itself... At this very moment Tuong Lu Kim, a stereotypical Asian and owner of the restaurant of the real-life chain "City Wok", appeals to the friends' agency and offers the guys to sign a contract with his wife - singer Wing. The friends agree, and soon a trip to Los Angeles for a singing competition is scheduled. Having got there, the company discovers an endless queue... Nobody wants to stand in it for half a day, and therefore Wing is given to another contest, which turned out to be a boxing show "The Candidate" by Sylvester Stallone!

This is probably the funniest moment in the episode, with Wing losing as she continues to sing in the ring while her opponent beats her up!

https://youtu.be/FDAZQtWxrow

The woman's singing impresses Stallone, and he offers her "agents" 4,000 quid for Wing's performance at his son's wedding. But at that moment the protagonist is kidnapped by the mafia. Being sure that this is the work of rivals, friends go in pursuit! And then - a classic of the genre: a shootout, during which Kenny dies... In general - it is better to see it in person!

Interesting facts

• Since Stallone's signature Stallone speech was spoofed in the episode, none of the characters understand it. Because of this, the hero has to use a translator.
• Wing's website was recommended to the creators of "South Park" by a close friend of theirs. In the end, Parker and Stone were so enamoured with the singer's talent that they were frustrated for a long time by the lack of ideas for a new episode featuring her....
• With the release of Wing's episode, the hype around the singer has also increased! The number of visits to her website has dramatically increased by about 1000 times!