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Video: Idina Menzel Sings 'Let It Go' With Jimmy Fallon, The Roots
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 4, 2014
Modified Mar 4, 2014
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NBC
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 4, 2014
Modified Mar 4, 2014
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Thank you, The Tonight Show, for continuing Jimmy Fallon and The Roots' charming "Classroom Instrument" editions of songs—and especially for last night's version of Idina Menzel singing the Oscar-winning song, "Let It Go" from Frozen. Because the Oscars telecast arrangement of the power ballad was awful!
The song, written by Brooklynites Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, was sped up to make do for the Oscars (even though the show did two other non-nominated songs). Menzel, a.k.a. Adele Dazeem, did a great job, though she seemed out of breath as she tackled the now-compressed lyrics:
Menzel seems to be enjoying herself much more in this low-fi version:
And here's the original:
The song, Lopez and Anderson-Lopez say, was inspired by a walk in Prospect Park and their young daughters. Anderson-Lopez told the NY Times, "You know the Park Slope world — we’ve all taken the women’s studies classes in the ’90s, at our small liberal arts colleges. I was really excited to write an anthem that said, ‘Screw fear and shame, be yourself, be powerful.’ I wanted to give them the same message that I’m always saying at bedtime: ‘It’s O.K. You don’t have to be like everybody else.’"
Tagged
adele dazeem
frozen
idina menzel
jimmy fallon
let it go
oscars
The Roots
tonight show
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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