We’d expect nothing less: when Barbra Streisand found that Siri couldn’t pronounce her name, she didn’t just give up in defeat. She made them fix Siri.
That news came out in a lovely new NPR interview in which the star charms the pants off of Scott Simon (probably not literally but then again you never know). At one point during the interview, she showed off by asking Siri “who’s was [sic] the only female vocalist who’s had hit records for six straight decades?”
“Barbra Streisand,” Siri replies, but she flubs the last name: “Stry-zand,” Siri pronounces it. We tried to replicate this behavior and Siri simply brought us to Bing, so in other words she was completely unhelpful. But ask her “Who’s in the movie Yentl” and you’ll get her to mispronounce the name.
“I called the head of Apple, Tim Cook, and he delightfully agreed to have Siri change the pronunciation of my name, finally, with the next update on September 30th,” Barbra said. Was it known that Apple has an update coming on September 30th, or did Barbra Streisand just leak a Mac rumor?
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The rest of the interview is an unmitigated delight, with stories about Marvin Hamlisch and Jamie Foxx. She also tells Melissa McCarthy not to call her Babs. It’s wonderful. If you want to hear the whole conversation, go stand near a radio for several hours in the hopes that it comes on. Or just head here.
desertboy
I thought Madge was self-absorbed but Streisand beats them all.
dennisrutten52
Lol
Kangol
#ElitePeopleProblems
Me2
She seems annoying. I’m sure she’s a “joy” to be around.
Scott Gatz
Love it!
Scott Gatz
Ha!
dennisrutten52
Scott, great!
dennisrutten52
Ok?
dennisrutten52
Yes
Heywood Jablowme
Years ago there was the story of how she was watching herself on the TV premiere of “Prince of Tides” or “Nuts” or something, she got pissed off at how much louder the commercials were than the movie was. Common problem, which the TV industry generally responds to by denying it even exists. But unlike us she had options. So she called the network CEO at home and ordered him to TURN DOWN THE FUCKING COMMERCIALS. As annoying as she is, I always liked this story.
Bromancer7
“Stry-zand” is an incorrect pronunciation? I don’t get it.
GayEGO
Kudos!
He BGB
Zand, should be sand I suppose. I am a big fan of hers but as she grew older she took on the less is more motto in her singing and I like her early singing where she would be more expressive with her style. But I understand at 74 you might look silly trying all those eccentrics in singing. And her voice is husky now. But again that she can still sing beautifully at 74 is wonderful. But she more or less sings songs straight now and used to give such colorful wild renditions.
Marky
Pretentious self-absorbed fool of a woman.