26 August 2013. Statement on Julian Assange / John Farnham parody cameo in Rap News Australian election episode.

Juice Rap News has a fairly long-standing relationship with Julian Assange, having been lucky enough to feature a brief cameo with him for Episode 5, back in 2010. So when Rap News co-creator and cowriter Giordano Nanni happened to be in the UK in July he decided to pop in to the Ecuadorian Embassy to say G'day to our old friend. At the same time we were planning to produce our 20th Episode - our season finale - and wanted to make it a really special event. We realised that doing another rap cameo with Julian would be something that our audience had seen before, so we searched for some ways to make it bigger, better and more mind-blowing. Seeing an opportunity during his visit to the Embassy, Giordano produced a bunch of mullett wigs from his backpack: 'How would you feel about featuring in a new cameo in which you'd be getting in touch with you inner Aussie for the upcoming election campaign?' Julian tried on the power mullet and gave it some good hard thought over the course of the afternoon (no-doubt weighing up the pros and cons). In the end he was happy for us to write the episode and come back a week later to film it. Giordano Nanni and Hugo Farrant (in Melbourne) wrote the episode via Skype over the course of the ensuing week. We eventually settled not just on the idea of giving the WikiLeaks founder a makeover, but of getting him to parody himself in a cover of John Farnham's Australian anthem, "You're the Voice". We knew this was something the world had never seen before - nor ever dreamt of seeing. But would Julian be up for it? Giordano returned to the Embassy the following week with the script and a skeleton film crew to shoot the scenes. We only had one shot to get it right. We were really impressed - and a little surprised - that Julian agreed to the Farnham idea. We figured that, like us, he could see the humour and power in such a skit. Anyone who has met him know that the man is deadly serious about his mission, but that he also has a cheeky sense of humour to go with it. Thanks to the Ecuadorian people, Julian has a room in the Embassy temporarily set aside for his media appearances, complete with green screen and lights - which came in very handy. We were assisted by friends and the WikiLeaks team in filming the scenes inside and outside the Embassy. The entire shoot took half a day and most of the night. As it took place over a Saturday/Sunday, no Ecuadorian staff members were inconvenienced or harmed during the process. :)

The results speak for themselves. Julian totally nailed the comedy of being subjected to a make-over by our over-bearing Aussie correspondent, Ken Oathcarn, played by Giordano Nanni. And his parody performance as a mullet sporting 80's rock star is pitch perfect. He was a very good sport, and seemed to really enjoy having a bit of fun with the acting, rapping, singing and costuming. It was likely a welcome break from his usual routine in the Embassy. We are blown away by the results - and we suspect there will be many others feeling the same way over the coming days! ;) Giordano Nanni & Hugo Farrant Juice Rap News www.thejuicemedia.com