Surreal: Marked by the irrational reality of a dream, including incongruous juxtapositions.
This years American election season produced plenty of surreal political video moments, from a U.S. Senate candidate reassuring everyone that shes not a witch, to an over-caffeinated congressional hopeful conversing with George Washington. But those videos surreal credentials pale next to one making the Internet rounds yesterday.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described by U.S. diplomats in the WikiLeaks cables as, more or less, his nation's Head Thug, running a virtual Mafia state showed up at a high-rolling St. Petersburg benefit concert for children with eye diseases and cancer. The political strongman played beginner-level piano, then sang a truly weird rendition of Fats Dominos Blueberry Hill, his modest vocal talents mercifully masked by backup singers. Members of the audience shown fawning over Putin's awkward performance included Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Sharon Stone, and the new 400-pound version of Gerard Depardieu.