IT'S ONE of the outstanding comedy turns of this year's US elections. Impersonator Tina Fey has captured Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin perfectly, from the accent to the wink to the grin – and the sometimes garbled logic.Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin perfectly, from the accent to the wink to the grin – and the sometimes garbled logic.
Click here to watch the video And now the Alaskan governor wants to join her lookalike on NBC's Saturday Night Live show.
"I love her, she's a hoot and she's so talented," Mrs Palin said. "It would be fun to meet her, imitate her and keep on giving her new material."
During her first impersonation on SNL, Fey got laughs simply by nailing Mrs Palin's accent. She described global warming as "just God hugging us closer".
Then came the candidate's interviews with CBS news anchor Katie Couric, in which she could not say what news media she read, or cite an interesting Supreme Court case other than the Roe vs Wade abortion ruling. It was an irresistible target for the SNL sketch writers.
In one answer to a question by Couric, played by Amy Poehler, Fey gives a circular response of campaign clichés that reaches a dead end.
Asked for specifics on how a McCain administration would spread democracy, Fey's Mrs Palin said, "Katie, I'd like to use one of my lifelines."
Before her debate with her Democratic counterpart, Senator Joseph Biden, earlier this month, David Letterman's Late Show ran a skit featuring a Top 10 list of "Things Overheard at Palin Debate Camp".
Number One: "Any way we can just get Tina Fey to do it?"
Fey is not by herself. Impersonating Mrs Palin is a popular pastime. A quick internet search reveals scores of amateur attempts at capturing her unique style, most of them less than complimentary.
From the moment Mrs Palin was selected as John McCain's running mate, SNL producer Lorne Michaels said he barely had time to consider the idea of Fey impersonating her. Others did it for him.
He said: "The next day the doorman in my building said: 'What a gift, you're going to have so much fun with Tina Fey'."
Fey needed some convincing, primarily because she was busy with her Emmy Award-winning role as harried late-night show producer on 30 Rock.
"There are certainly people here who could have played her and played her well," Michaels said. "But the audience would have been disappointed if it had not been Tina. They cast her," said Lorne Michaels, longtime executive producer of the show.
Through the first three weeks of the current season, Saturday Night Live has averaged 8.3 million viewers, or 49 per cent more than last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. The skits have also drawn tremendous web traffic, with 9.3 million people watching an online clip of the "Clinton-Palin" segment. The "Couric interview" has been seen by nearly seven million people, NBC said.
Fey has revealed her own probable political leanings with regards to Mrs Palin.
In a recent interview, she said: "I want to be done playing this lady 5 November (the day after the election]. So if anyone could help me be done playing this lady 5 November, that would be good for me."
But, importantly, while the comic impersonation is tough, Fey's Palin character is likeable, much like Will Ferrell was in his days talking about "strategery" as George W Bush, Mr Michaels said.
Richard Greene, a public speaking coach and author of Words That Shook the World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events, said if he were a Democratic official, he'd be pulling any favour he could to keep her off Saturday Night Live.
"She is so charming and so media savvy," Greene said. "When she has a script, she will completely seduce America."
Michaels is enjoying the ride, letting Fey know that she only has to impersonate Palin through to 4 November.
But what if she is elected as vice-president?
"I think we'll find somebody else to play Sarah Palin," he said. "I don't think she's going to be playing Sarah Palin for the rest of her life."
There are three more first-run Saturday Night Live episodes before the election. Starting Thursday, NBC is also airing three prime-time editions of the show at 9:30pm.
The show they all want to appear onDESPITE its persistent lampooning of politicians, Saturday Night Live has proved a strange draw for presidential hopefuls during this campaign.
Desperate to court the youth vote and be seen to be "with it", adding warmth to their image, they risk rendering themselves wooden and humourless.
Hillary Clinton took the plunge and appeared in a sketch on a show alongside her impersonator Amy Poehler, wearing matching outfits, during which she mocked her own campaign.
Rudy Giuliani, who failed to be picked as a Republican candidate, also appeared, as did another one-time Republican hopeful Mike Huckabee.
Barrack Obama has also made a brief, but effective appearance on the show, in which he attends a Halloween party wearing an Obama mask.
He was due to appear again last month, but cancelled when storms ravaged Texas.
John McCain, a stalwart of the comedy chat show circuit, also embraced the show's satirical edge, though perhaps to less effect, with a prolonged wooden performance in which he mocked his own age and political achievements.
The full article contains 916 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
