♪ (ragtime music) ♪
- ♪ (singing in Japanese) ♪ (crowd roaring)
- Wait a minute. Is that--
It's a cartoon?
- Is that a real person?
- Or are they just dressed in costumes?
- Like a cartoon of Lady Gaga?
♪ (rock music) ♪ - Is that a real artist?
I don't know.
- Shake it, baby. (chuckles)
- ♪ (singing in Japanese) ♪
- It sounds Japanese.
- Japan or some oriental country.
- How do they do that?
- Hmm.
- And then there's real musicians onstage.
That's really strange.
- ♪ (singing in Japanese) ♪
- That is so cool. She's so cool.
- I'm glad I'm not a teenager anymore
and forced to watch something like this.
♪ (song wrapping up) ♪
- Yeah, they love it.
But what the heck is this thing?
♪ (song ends) ♪
- That is the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
- That's a trip.
♪ (pop intro) ♪
- Oh no, another one?
- Twins.
- ♪ (singing in Japanese) ♪
- I don't-- have no idea what I'm watching.
- ♪ (singing upbeat song in Japanese) ♪
- ♪ (hums along) ♪ Fancy tune.
- Take off the animation and let me see the real deal here.
- I think that is absolutely unique.
- I hope those people didn't spend a lot of money on tickets.
- I'm just not relating to this at all.
- ♪ (tinny singing) ♪
- Wow. Wow, I've never seen anything like that before. (chuckles)
- I love it. I ca-- I'm--
I'm overwhelmed. I really am truly overwhelmed. How creative.
What was it?
♪ (ragtime music) ♪
- (Finebros) Do you have any idea what exactly you just saw?
- No.
-No.
- No.
- I am, like, baffled.
- A very unusual, unique rock concert.
- (Finebros) Was it a real person singing? - I don't know!
- I got no clue.
- I can't tell if it was human or not.
- I'm beginning to suspect they weren't.
- No, I don't think they were real people.
But how could they move like that if they were not real people?
- (Finebros) They're not real people. They're computer generated.
- (sighs) Oh, my gosh.
I would be freaked out if I was at a concert
and they were not real things up there.
- (Finebros) Well, how do you think they did that?
- I don't know.
- I don't know! How would I know that? Heh.
- Robots?
- It's some projection of some sort.
- Maybe they're using holograms, you know? A screen of some sort.
- I don't know how they did it.
I'm still trying to work on my cell phone
to figure out how the hell they did that.
- (Finebros) What do you think about a crowd going crazy
for an animated singer? - They had too much saké.
- Oh, that's not unusual.
I mean, how many people cry at Bambi?
- So there's nothing really there?
And they actually go to a concert
to watch nothing that's really there.
The world has gone insane.
- How much were they getting paid to act crazy like that?
- (Finebros) They pay to go to that. - They pay?!
- The crowd itself doesn't surprise me really that much.
It's just the great technology. It just blows my mind away.
- (Finebros) Well, these singers, they call them "Vocaloids."
Do you have any idea what a Vocaloid is? - No.
- Not-- mm-mm. I'm not from that country.
- I have a feeling that a Vocaloid is a computer-created sound.
- I'm thinking androids, you know.
That's the only other thing I know that's an "-oid." (chuckles)
- (robotically) I am your friend.
Should I sing you a song?
- (Finebros) This is a technology
where a person comes in and records various noises
and syllables into a computer program that you can then purchase
and then you can make songs using that person's voice.
- Oh, that's interesting.
- Can I do that with Robert Plant? (snickers)
- Why would you do that instead of a singer?
- Well, you have to be impressed by the technology.
- We're becoming a bit just enthralled with technology,
aren't we? (chuckles heartily) Not talent. Technology.
- (Finebros) So here's the girl that you saw.
Her name is Hatsune Miku. - "Hatsune Miku."
I like her hair.
- She's very cute.
- Totally dig the nylons. I'd buy those.
- She looks rather tarty.
That's "tarty" with a T.
- Well, she works good for a Vocaloid. (chuckles)
- (Finebros) And this is Rin and Len. - What is there to like?
- They're little sailors.
- They're kind of fun.
It's not offensive.
- (amused) Whoever does their costumes, that's great.
- I love it.
When you put a personality to it,
like they're doing, then it becomes a real thing.
- (Finebros) So this technology has led
to these animated characters being created
that have become hugely popular in Japan and other countries.
What are your thoughts on that? - I think it's so impersonal.
How do you connect with... a cartoon?
- Why would you want that instead of human beings?
- It's amazing to me. I'm blown away.
I mean, it's like, aah!
- The future is here. Science fiction is real.
I mean, it's kinda scary, robots taking over.
- Think about how much money you can make.
You're paying very few people.
So you can really clean up on that.
And you don't have to deal with some damn diva
who needs her green M&Ms put in the room while she's waiting.
That's actually very smart.
- (Finebros) Does it matter to you if a song is created by people
using a computer in a program
versus it being actually sung by an artist in the regular way?
- I would prefer to have a vocal talent from a live performer.
- I want a real person to sing it.
That was so cold. The voices were so cold and distant.
It was like hearing a machine singing.
- I don't think it would matter,
because the computer program was created by somebody.
Somebody had to do the artistic formation.
- It used to be
on your gear, you could pull up any musical sound you wanted.
Up until now, I guess you couldn't pull up a vocal sound.
I think it's a natural progression still created by real people
with a creative mind knowing what the consumer wants.
- (Finebros) If someone told you in the past that one day
there would be singers made by computers
that would fill massive stadiums with screaming fans,
what would you have said to them? - What's a computer? (laughs)
- What have you been smoking?
- No way.
- I would have never believed that.
- It's impossible. It will never, never happen.
I would have said, "Go [bleep] yourself."
♪ (heavy metal) ♪ (explosions)
(eagle screeches) (gunshots)
- (Finebros) Would you ever go to a Vocaloid concert?
- Yeah, I'd love to go and see it.
- Oh, absolutely!
- (chuckles) No.
- (amused) Why would I want to pay to see nothing?
- Personally I would not.
- I am fascinated by it.
But for me, no.
- (Finebros) How does all this technology make you feel?
- Empty, like something is lost.
- I think it goes too far sometimes.
- It's a feeling of fear that I can't catch up with technology.
- It is terrifying in a way, because I know it's passing me by,
so you know you're older.
- It makes me feel like I'm living in such an exciting time
that all these things are happening.
And I go, "I wonder what's next. What's next?
What will amaze me next?"
- Thanks for watching another episode of Elders React.
- Leave a comment for what we should watch next,
but maybe a real person next time?
- (robotically) Make sure you hit the Thumbs Up,
or we're gonna take over the world. Ha-ha ha ha ha ha-ha!
- Bye-bye!
- Please don't turn me into a Vocaloid one day.
♪ (ragtime music) ♪