Video published by Daniel’s Music Foundation here on YouTube (link is external)
Smile-o-meter Friday: Episode 7 – Featuring Tony Dee (Friday, July 23, 2021)
[00:00:00.00] [UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING – SMILE-O-METER FRIDAY THEME SONG]
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Show’s logo in white text “Smile-o-meter Friday With Daniel & Ken” on a bright blue background with translucent white circles.
[00:00:05.19]
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Caricatures on a white background of Daniel in glasses wearing a white polo T-shirt waving his left hand, with the word “Daniel” above his head on the left side of the screen. Ken is wearing a dark color suit jacket over a collared shirt and sweater, waving his right hand with the word “Ken” above his head on the right side of the screen. The picture of a bright yellow sun with a smiley face slides down from the top of the screen.
NARRATOR: Hosted by an unlikely duo who are just trying to bring a little sunshine into the world.
[00:00:12.36]
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Father and son duo, Ken and Daniel, seated in the “Studio” in front of piano against a cheery yellow wall, with a square Smile-o-meter Friday logo on the wall between them. Ken is on the left side of the screen, wearing a light blue button-down shirt. Daniel is on the right, wearing glasses and an eggplant-colored button-down shirt. They are both wearing black-colored fedora hats.
DANIEL: Dad, it's been a while, but it's great to be back for another episode of Smile-o-Meter Friday!
[00:00:22.61]
KEN: Sure is, D. You know, our viewers may be wondering why we're wearing these cool-looking fedora hats today. (Daniel and Ken lift their hands up to touch their hats)
[00:00:30.28]
DANIEL: Don't worry. We're not becoming fashionistas, but it's to honor our talented musical guest from Australia, the land down under,…
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Shape of the continent of Australia with the country’s flag design—blue background, with the UK flag (Union Jack) at the upper left and white-colored stars on the right half—appears in the bottom center of the screen.
DANIEL: …the amazing Tony Dee!
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Photo of Tony Dee, a singer from Australia, holding a microphone and wearing his signature fedora hat.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:00:46.83]
KEN: Tony is always wearing cool fedoras in all his videos, and today, we wanted to be like Tony.
[00:00:54.86]
DANIEL: He'll be joining us in just a few minutes, but now, it's time for our first segment:
DANIEL & KEN: Did You Know?
[VIOLIN MUSIC PLAYING]
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The words “Did You Know?” in large black letters on a white background slide down from the top of the screen. Illustrations of both Daniel and Ken deep in thought appear. They share the same thought bubble above their heads that includes a “thinking” emoji (a round yellow face with its right hand resting by the chin, with its thumb and pointer finger extended).
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:01:08.26]
KEN: Did you know that the didgeridoo was developed in Northern Australia?
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Photo of wooden Australian didgeridoos (or didjeridus) with colorful painted designs, propped up vertically in a wooden base.
KEN: And according to some researchers, it's one of the world's oldest musical instruments. It is made from a hollowed-out tree and has a low-pitched sound.
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Photo of five skinny tree trunks with hollowed-out centers.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
KEN: Let's check it out.
[00:01:23.03] [DIDGERIDOO PLAYING – LOW-PITCHED RUMBLE/DRONE]
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Video of a musician blowing into the didgeridoo, moving it from side to side, and lifting it up and down.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:01:35.52]
KEN: Also, did you know that Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world? And that they have some of the coolest animals on the planet.
[00:01:46.06]
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Caricature of Daniel deep in thought with his right hand over his chin, and a thought bubble above his head with the word “HMMM…” in it.
DANIEL: (Thinking to himself) Hmm, I love Australia too, but I hope he doesn't get carried away…
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Caricature of Ken surrounded by animals found in Australia (L-R): Cassowary, Great White Shark, Wombat, Kangaroo, Koala. The word “AUSTRALIA” is found at the bottom of the screen.
DANIEL: (Thinking to himself) …and start calling everyone “mate”…
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Caricature of Ken peeking out of the pouch of a kangaroo with the words “G’DAY MATE!” on the left side of the screen.
DANIEL: (Thinking to himself) …and talking endlessly about koala bears and kangaroos.
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Caricature of Ken hugging a smiling koala, with a red heart shape at the top of the screen.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:02:04.17]
KEN: And you know who else is pretty cool? Our musical guest, Tony Dee, from Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city.
[IMAGES]
Photos: Tony Dee singing; Black & white photo of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett in concert together.
[00:02:13.02]
DANIEL: Tony is an amazing singer and crooner with the voice of more of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:02:21.23]
KEN: We discovered Tony in a beautiful video for the 2016 Paralympics: “We Are The Superhumans,” also known as “Yes I Can!”
[00:02:31.25]
DANIEL: Let's take a look at this short clip.
[MUSIC PLAYING IN VIDEO]
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Short clip of “Yes I Can!” music video for RIO 2016 Paralympic Games showing numerous Paralympic athletes in action in a variety of sporting events, as well as performing everyday tasks.
[00:02:34.12] MAN: Yes, I can. Yes, I can. Yes, I can.
[00:02:40.93] WOMAN: Yes, I can.
[00:02:43.91] MULTIPLE VOICES: Yes, I can. Yes, I can. Yes, I can. Yes, I can. Yes, I can. Hey, yes, I can.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:03:02.06]
DANIEL: What a powerful video. Tony, it's great to have you on Smile-o-Meter Friday. We're big fans of your music and videos.
[00:03:13.52]
KEN: Hi, Tony. Can you share with us any funny, behind-the-scenes stories in the making of this video?
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Tony Dee in his home office, wearing a light grey suit, white shirt, black tie and a white handkerchief in his suit pocket, along with a black fedora, being interviewed by Daniel and Ken via video conference.
[00:03:20.64]
TONY DEE: I’m glad you enjoyed the video of the 2016 Paralympics “Yes, I Can!” It was a lot of fun to make. I'll just share one story from that. It was a cold day. It was the only cold day we'd had for our whole time here, which was really good. But it was cold, and a little bit drizzly, and it was the scene with the wheelchair racers and myself. And I appear to be just pushing along nice and casually while they're all sprinting, and I'm somehow keeping up with them.
[00:03:53.45]
TONY: That involved a truck that was towing me, and, but because I wanted my tie to flap in the breeze behind me, they actually had to go out with a leaf blower pointed at me on this cold day, just so that could happen. But otherwise, it was a really fun experience.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:04:12.10]
DANIEL: Thank you, Tony, for sharing that story. Let's take a quick look at that scene.
[TONY DEE SINGING IN MUSIC VIDEO]
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Excerpt from “Yes I Can!” music video: Tony moves from a concert stage in his wheelchair to a road alongside professional wheelchair athletes zipping by; Four Paralympic athletes looking tough with their arms crossed; High jumper removes his left prosthetic leg and leaps over the bar.
[00:04:18.43]
TONY: (SINGING) Yes, I can. Suddenly, yes, I can. “Gee, I'm afraid to go on” has turned into “yes, I can.” Take a look, what do you see. A 133 pounds of confidence me.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:04:38.19]
KEN: If you would like to see the entire 4-minute video of “We Are The Superhumans,” which we highly recommend, please click on the link right below. (Pointing down)
[00:04:48.06]
DANIEL: Or, as I like to say, down under. (Ken chuckles)
[00:04:52.76]
KEN: Tony, tell us about some of your musical influences.
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Tony in his home office.
[00:04:57.23]
TONY: Obviously, my main influences have been people like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Nat King Cole. But more recently, there's been fellows like Harry Connick, Jr. Well, not so recently. I was in my 20s back then. More recent than that would be Michael Bublé, of course. And I love not just the regular swing stuff but his Christmas stuff. I love Christmas, and I would one day love to do a Christmas album, I guess.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:05:24.80]
DANIEL: Tony, you're in good company. They have nothing on you. Let's check out a short clip of Tony singing “Fly Me To The Moon.”
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Tony Dee holds a microphone in his right hand as he sings.
[MUSIC PLAYING – TONY DEE SINGS “FLY ME TO THE MOON”]
[00:05:38.10]
TONY: (SINGING) Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars. Let me see what Spring is like on Jupiter and Mars. In other words, hold my hand. In other words, darling, kiss me. Fill my heart with song and let me sing forever more. You all I long for, all I worship and adore. In other words, please be true. In other words, I love you.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:06:43.56]
KEN: That was awesome, Tony. Do you have any advice for the young or the young-at-heart viewers out there?
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Tony in his home office.
[00:06:50.37]
TONY: I think it's really important for kids to hear that they can do things, and what goes along with that, I guess, is never to assume that you can't do something unless you've already given it a go. So, we have this thing in Australia about “having a go,” and it's just a common saying. But it's part of the psyche of Australians that we should have a go at things.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:07:18.75]
DANIEL: Good advice Tony. We believe in no limits also.
[00:07:23.70]
KEN: Tony, what is the one thing that people say or do that you would like for them to stop doing?
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Tony in his home office.
[00:07:29.94]
TONY: I think I'm fairly tolerant of the things people say and do. Some of the more interesting ones have been like buying things in a store and being to the spoken to really clearly and slowly as if I can't hear as well as being in a wheelchair. I guess that's just people do funny things sometimes. I don't tend to take it too seriously. But I know other people have a little bit of a problem with it.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:08:05.06]
DANIEL: I know what you mean, Tony. I get the same treatment. Like sometimes, when I go to a restaurant, the waiter or waitress asked my parents what I'd like to eat.
[00:08:17.60]
KEN: I'd always say the same thing (shrugging and gesturing towards Daniel): “I don't know. Ask him.”
KEN: Thanks, Tony, for your time today and for sharing your talent and wisdom. It's been a real pleasure meeting you, and we look forward to another amazing song at the end of our episode.
[00:08:34.99]
DANIEL: But now, it's time for our next segment: Food For Thought.
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The words “Food For Thought” in black letters on a white background slide up from the bottom of the screen. Caricatures of Daniel winking, with his face peering through the middle of a bright yellow pineapple, and Ken holding up a big slice of watermelon with a smiley face on it.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:08:41.92]
KEN: And here's some sagely advice from the iconic musician and performer, Louis Armstrong.
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Photo of Louis Armstrong playing a trumpet.
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White letters slide in from the left and right sides on two black screens to form the quote:
“…All I’m saying is: see what
a wonderful world it would be…
“if only we'd give it a chance.
Love, baby love. That's the secret."
[MUSIC PLAYING – WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD]
[00:08:48.22]
DANIEL: "All I'm saying is: see what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance. Love, baby love. That's the secret."
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:09:00.83]
KEN: And now, we'd like to end this episode with the amazing Tony Dee performing “What A Wonderful World.”
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Tony Dee holds a microphone in his right hand as he sings.
[MUSIC PLAYING – TONY DEE SINGS “WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD”]
[00:09:09.58]
TONY: (SINGING) I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. I see sky of blue and clouds of white, bright blessed day, dark sacred night. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
[00:10:03.63]
TONY: (SINGING) The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces of people going by. I see friends shaking hands, saying, “How do you do?” They're really saying, I love you. I hear babies cry. I watch them grow. They'll learn much more than I’ll ever know, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Oh yeah.
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Daniel and Ken in the studio.
[00:11:20.40]
DANIEL: Thanks again to Tony Dee and to all of you for joining us for this episode of Smile-o-Meter Friday, and...
DANIEL & KEN: (Pointing their fingers towards the camera with big smiles on their faces) See you next time!
[MUSIC PLAYING – SMILE-O-METER FRIDAY THEME SONG]
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Show’s title “Smile-o-meter Friday With Daniel & Ken” on a bright blue background.
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Two final slides include white words on a black background:
THANKS FOR WATCHING!
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[IMAGE AT BOTTOM OF FINAL SLIDE]
Red button with the word “SUBSCRIBE” in white letters and an icon of a hand pointing at the button.
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[CLICKING SOUND]
Hand icon clicks on button, and the YouTube icon appears on the left.
Text in button changes to “SUBSCRIBED” and button changes to a grey color.
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[BELL RINGING]
A bell icon appears to the right of the “SUBSCRIBED” button. The hand icon clicks on the bell. The YouTube icon moves to the right side of the screen and disappears.