Halifax — Returning to the Maritime Noon desk after two months of filling in on Nova Scotia’s Information Morning, Norma Lee MacLeod’s first show back as host was off to a rocky start.
For the first 42 minutes of the hour-long program, the show progressed as usual, with MacLeod covering local interest stories and interviewing amiable guests. After the final pre-recorded interview came to an end, however, it quickly became clear that the show was coming up several minutes short.
There was brief period of dead air as MacLeod gathered her bearings. A prompting cough from her producer was picked up by her microphone.
“And…that, uh, about…wraps it up,” she said, sounding uncertain and dragging her words. “Up…pah. Wraps it upPAH….”
Then, out of what appeared to be nervous energy, MacLeod began to scat. As she rapped, she tapped her index fingers on the desk to provide a back-beat for her incomprehensible babbling.
“Up-pah-Pah, Zippity Ka Ka Ka. Tip-Top Schubitty bop pow! Trudeau, Trudeau True D’eau, true dat! SLAM pap tip tappity tappity too swish bop tikkity tikkity titty bop skiddie bob wow-shicka-wow-shicka-wow! OnaleeOnalleeOnallee skiiiiiiiiiiiirt shhhhhhwip! Kap Tee copter coo…”
And so on. MacLeod continued on this way for seven straight minutes, until, mercifully, she was cut off by the familiar outro instrumental.
Immediately after the episode aired, MacLeod took to Twitter to apologize for her lack of preparation. She expressed concern that her actions might deter listeners from tuning in to the program in the future.
“I want to express my deepest regret for today’s @CBCMaritimeNoon broadcast,” she wrote. “My staff and I were severely under-prepared, and I am ashamed of the result. We sincerely hope this does not negatively impact our listeners’ view of the show.”
It came as somewhat of a surprise, therefore, when the opposite became true. MacLeod’s scatting was an instant online sensation, quickly being uploaded, remixed and memed on various social media channels, reaching a young demographic that the show has failed to attract since its inception in 1987.
The only outcry came when, in the subsequent episode the following afternoon, she returned to her usual suite of folksy interviews and call-in questions. After the broadcast, listeners were quick to chime in with their displeasure.
“What the hell is all this ‘credit card loyalty’ crap? We want to hear some BARS,” demanded one online commenter.
“Less shit, more scat!” added another.
It remains to be seen if MacLeod will build on this momentum by incorporating more scatting into her regular programming, but many eager young fans are expected to tune in tomorrow to find out.