Spell My Name

Transcript

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

For our next game, we had Sabina Brukner and Frida Oskarsdottir.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: You both have rather unique names. Did you always appreciate your unique name, Frida?

FRIDA OSKARSDOTTIR: I actually did not. When I was younger, I did a little bit when my parents had guests over, and I made them call me Jessica.

EISENBERG: Aw, yeah. As Ophira, I wanted to be Julie so badly - that was the name I wanted. Sabina?

SABINA BRUKNER: Well, I grew up with "Sabrina The Teenage Witch," so that was a little rough, and now I have to just spell my name, Sabina, without an R, and my last name is Brukner without a C. So I'm just spelling all the time.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: That's what most of us do. We're just spelling our whole life. Well, you are going to need that exact skill for this next game, called, "Spell My Name."

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: And it's a musical game, so I'm going to toss it over to our house musician, Jonathan Coulton.

JONATHAN COULTON, HOST:

Thank you Ophira. So if you were just learning the guitar and all you know is three chords, chances are you have tried to play the classic rock song, "Gloria," written by Van Morrison. It's the one that goes like this.

(Singing) G-L-O-R-I-A, Gloria.

You know that one. In this game, I will be singing clues about other women, real and fictional, whose first name has six letters and ends in I-A. So you will just tell me who I am singing about, but we would appreciate it if you would spell it and sing it in the Van Morrison style.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Don't be embarrassed. I'm singing on the a radio. It feels amazing.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: The winner of this round will go on to the final round at the end of the show. Are you ready?

BRUKNER: Yes.

OSKARSDOTTIR: Yes.

COULTON: (Singing) In the movie, "Grease," she caught Travolta's glance. She was a shy Australian girl until she wore leather pants.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Frida.

(LAUGHTER)

OSKARSDOTTIR: S-A-N-D-Y, Sandy?

COULTON: Oh, I'm sorry. We're looking for - they all end in I-A and have six letters.

OSKARSDOTTIR: I knew that when I rang in (laughter).

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Sabina, do you know the answer?

BRUKNER: (Singing) Olivia, O-L-I-V-I-A.

COULTON: Yeah, that's right.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: Did you have a spelling error or just a moment of panic, Frida? What happened?

OSKARSDOTTIR: That was her name in the movie. I'm a big "Grease" fan, so I just wanted to stay true to the movie, you know.

COULTON: Yeah. Yeah, right.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Here we go.

(Singing) The eldest daughter of "Brady Bunch" fame. Sister Jan, so jealous, three times she yells her name.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Frida.

OSKARSDOTTIR: (Singing) Marcia, M-A-R-C-I-A.

COULTON: Yeah, that's right.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: That name has not made a comeback, really.

COULTON: Marcia?

EISENBERG: Marcia.

COULTON: Yeah. I guess it's one of the things - it's a very - it's a pretty prominent memory in our cultural consciousness. You don't want to...

EISENBERG: No one's ready for that yet?

COULTON: Who's going to be saying, Marcia, Marcia, Marcia your whole life? It's terrible.

EISENBERG: It's now Madison, Madison, Madison or something like that.

COULTON: Yeah, that's right.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: (Singing) She loved to fly, was an aviatrix. First solo woman to cross the Atlantic. Not really a rhyme - it's OK. Her next adventure, circumnavigation. Got lost in the Pacific.

And there's no more information.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Frida?

OSKARSDOTTIR: Amelia, A-M-E-L-I-A.

COULTON: Yes, that's right.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: I like how you slow down to half-tempo when it's time to spell it.

OSKARSDOTTIR: I'm not a musician (laughter).

COULTON: (Singing) This Aussie actress married Ellen De-G. In "Arrested Development," she portrayed Lindsay.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Sabina.

BRUKNER: Portia, P-O-R-T-I-A.

COULTON: Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: She chose that name, by the way - Portia De Rossi - that is not her real name.

COULTON: Oh, really? What was her original name?

EISENBERG: It's like, Amanda - it's something very simple. Amanda - you know what I'm talking about? But that's - I think that's pretty bold to be like, Amanda Rogers, or whatever, and be like, no, no, no, my new name is Portia de Rossi. Yeah.

COULTON: That's a pretty fancy upgrade right there.

EISENBERG: I know. I should change my name to like, Chevrolet da Vinci.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: That's less NPR-y.

EISENBERG: Prius.

COULTON: (Laughter). Yeah, there you go.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Yeah, Prius da Vinci. That's...

EISENBERG: Prius da Vinci, oh, my God.

COULTON: Yeah. This is your last clue.

(Singing) She and Jay-Z praise the New York City they love. She says the concrete jungle is where dreams are made of.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Sabina.

BRUKNER: Alicia, A-L-I-C-I-A.

COULTON: Yeah, right on.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: Puzzle guru Art Chung, how did our contestants do?

ART CHUNG, BYLINE: It was a close game but that winner was S-A-B-I-N-A, Sabina.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Coming up, we'll put our VIP, Jim Gaffigan, in the puzzle hot pocket seat. So stay tuned. This is ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.