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Glenn Beck
Encore: A Lively Interview With Crooner Michael Buble; His Early Struggles, His Current Successes
Aired December 26, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
GLENN BECK, CNN ANCHOR, GLENN BECK: His sound is a throwback to another era.
MICHAEL BUBLE, SINGER (singing): Come fly with me, let`s fly, let`s fly --
BECK: But his style is timeless. With an album that debuted at No. 1, and his single, "Everything" blowing up the charts, Michael Buble is on the fast track to superstardom.
Fans are obsessed with him. Women can`t get enough of him. And tonight I try to uncover who he really is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUBLE: I`m a mama`s boy, who wanted to be a hockey player, and failed and had to become a singer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Join me for an incredible hour with the man behind the melody.
BUBLE (singing): As long as I know I got love, I can make it --
BECK: Michael Buble for the full hour.
The one, the only Michael Buble, a guy that I`ve been talking about on the radio for I don`t know how many years. Is your career going downhill, spiraling out of control? What the hell are you doing here?
BUBLE: It`s not good.
BECK: It`s bad.
BUBLE: I`m thrilled to be here, finally. This is one of those things, where, you know, I watch -- I`m a big fan, it was like I was going, c`mon, let`s go. Let`s get going.
BECK: That`s good.
OK, last time we saw each other it was backstage Radio City Music Hall.
BUBLE: Yes.
BECK: And you said to me. You said, you know what? You know what really makes me mad? I`m really a bad ass. Do you remember saying this to me?
BUBLE: Yeah.
BECK: I`m really a bad ass. And I just wish people would understand how bad of an ass I am.
BUBLE: Yeah.
BECK: I`m here, I just want you to know, I have on the red card, or kind of pink, but you know --
BUBLE: Yeah, yeah. Pink is bad ass, too.
BECK: I have pink bad-ass questions for you.
BUBLE: Go crazy.
BECK: We can ask them all at once or sprinkle them in.
BUBLE: Sprinkle them in. Do whatever -- you do this, what would you - -
BECK: I`m going to start with the bad ass questions.
BUBLE: OK, go ahead.
BECK: I`m going to go -- we`re going to go deep, and then take it from there. What`s the worst thing about you?
BUBLE: Well, the worst thing about you -- I can`t tell you, because I would lose half the fans. What I`m trying to say is --
BECK: You`re not going to answer these questions, are you?
BUBLE: What I`m trying to go say is -- and what I`ve said when I said this is I just don`t want people to think I`m too sweet of a boy; and little miss angel boy, because I`m going to get caught doing somebody horrible, Glenn. And I know it, I know it. And I`m gonna get arrested or, I`m end up with that -- you know, not wearing panties one day.
BECK: You wear patties?
BUBLE: Well, accidentally once I didn`t. And they go that shot.
BECK: Right.
BUBLE: Only because they hire the small people to take the pictures.
BECK: No, come on, are you? I mean -- how much of this --
BUBLE: No, I`m a regular boy. Where`s my camera? You! I`m just like your son or your brother, or your cousin, Frankie, that does rotten things. And I just happen to be a celebrity.
BECK: See, how much of this is bull crap?
BUBLE: We`ll see when I get caught. I`ve already done stupid things, Glenn.
BECK: I know you have.
BUBLE: Yeah, I`ve gotten -- you know, I`ve already been. Go ahead. Here we go, sprinkle one in.
BECK: I`ve some of them here. Let me just -- let me start here.
BUBLE: Yes.
BECK: Your fans are quite varied.
BUBLE: Yes, completely.
BECK: And they are also -- I mean, I was at Radio City with 5,000 screaming women who -- I mean, and my wife was one of them -- standing right next to me. I think she was like, I don`t know him.
How difficult is that for you?
BUBLE: Well, it`s not easy, to be honest. It`s really terrible to be surrounded by beautiful women all the -- no, you know, the one thing that - - I`ll be really honest with you. I`m being sincere. I don`t want to be that guy. I don`t want to be the guy where girls are throwing undies on the stage and stuff like that. I think that -- you know, I don`t want to be the flavor, the passing thing that the girls scream at. I think that it`s more important for me, honestly, that the guy who gets dragged to the show, you know, looks at his wife and says, thank you, that was great and tells his buddies.
And I`m noticing more and more, I know you were saying there`s all these women, but more and more there`s a lot of young single guys. And sometimes they`re only coming to pick up the women, which is OK with me, too. But I don`t want to be that guy, you know what I mean? It kind of bothers me sometimes when, you know -- it`s not --
BECK: So who are you? Who are you?
BUBLE: I am a -- I think I`m a mama`s boy who wanted to be a hockey player, who failed, and had to become a singer. I think that I`m generous, impatient, kind, jerk.
BECK: "Kind jerk"?
BUBLE: I mean, you know, like anybody. I can be a sweet person, a lovely person, at the same time, the next day I can be a complete turd. And that`s really sexy of me, "turd." But like any of us, you know? We have good days, bad days. And I just didn`t want to be -- this celebrity thing was new to me. Four, five years ago it was just starting to happen.
Even then I thought, I don`t want to pretend. I don`t want to be the sweet, it`s just lovely, because at some point I`ll get caught. People will see another side or I`ll get caught doing something. And I want people to go, yeah, it`s Buble, the guy`s a goof. You know what I mean? That`s who he is. As opposed to being crushed, and going, oh, he was faking. Oh, he was trying to be this nice guy, but he`s really not.
BECK: The one thing you don`t strike me as, and I think this is your -- I liked you better when I saw you live. I walked out of the theater and I said to my wife, we paid $600 a seat to see you --
BUBLE: That`s ugly.
BECK: That`s insane. Congratulations. God bless, America and Canada.
BUBLE: Thank you. Thank you.
BECK: $600 a seat -- and I said to my wife, and I`m a fan. I sat in that seat and I said, this guy better be frickin` worth it, man.
BUBLE: Ha, ha!
(LAUGHTER)
BECK: This is $1200. We walked out, and I said, would you have paid a $1,000 to see that? It was an amazing show. You`re better in person than you are -- and that`s saying something --
BUBLE: Thank you very much.
BECK: Better in person, but you`re also -- you strike me as honest, and you strike me as you still have joy.
BUBLE: Absolutely.
BECK: You`re diggin` it, man. You just love it. Are you at all afraid of that ever going away?
BUBLE: No, not the joy, I don`t think. And to be honest, with the sincere thing, I think that honestly -- that I`m Canadian. And I think there`s something special about being Canadian. We`re a nation of observers --
BECK: Oh, are the record sales hurting in Canada?
BUBLE: No, they`re great.
BECK: Are you pandering to Canada, right now?
BUBLE: No, what I`m saying though -- no, I love my country. But I think we learn to take sincerity well.
BECK: That`s very good. That`s very good.
Have you ever thought of becoming an American.
BUBLE: I`m not kidding.
BECK: You`re living the American dream.
BUBLE: I know, I know. And I make a lot more of my money in America than I do anywhere else. But I think I really do have joy up there. And I`m really comfortable, sometimes more comfortable there than I am in a conversation with three, four people.
BECK: Isn`t it weird -- I think we have some things that are alike. I am so uncomfortable in a small group. I can walk in front of 5,000 people and it`s great, you can be just completely -- and I don`t know what it is.
BUBLE: Is it that we are control freaks, maybe?
BECK: Could be. That could be that we want the spotlight?
BUBLE: That we control the relationship. Because, you know, when I`m in front of the audience, I control the conversation. And when you`re with people I`m very socially anxious. I mean, really anxious. So if a person is cool, I can talk to them, but sometimes there`s a weird vibe.
BECK: I got to tell you --
BUBLE: We have something else in common as well.
BECK: Well, I`ve got a couple things. Why, what do you have?
BUBLE: I think we both like McGriddles a lot.
BECK: Oh, my gosh, this is a fat joke?
BUBLE: No, I like`em, too.
BECK: I mean, Michael Buble is doing a fat joke?
BUBLE: No, I`m not doing a fat joke. I`m doing a, I love McDonald`s. I love that McGriddle.
BECK: Can I tell you something? There`s nothing better than McGriddles. It quite possibly may be the ultimate breakfast invention.
BUBLE: One of your nice people said to me -- I asked, is there anything I should know, and he said, he likes McGriddles. And I said, what`s that? And she said it`s like the pancake with the sausage.
BECK: You don`t know McGriddles?
BUBLE: No, no, I had it before. I just didn`t know what it was. I didn`t know it was called a McGriddle. But it`s -- I mean is that not the most beautiful thing in the world?
BECK: What the hell is wrong with you, man?
BUBLE: I`d better be getting paid for saying this stuff.
BECK: You are -- there is something deeply wrong.
The other thing we have in common is you`re from Vancouver. I`m from Bellingham, Washington.
BUBLE: Yeah.
BECK: Right across the border --
BUBLE: We both smell the aroma of Tacoma.
BECK: Yes.
Right across the border from each other. My father was a baker, and he did everything he could do to help me in my career. I started when I was 13 years old. Your grandfather was a plumber.
BUBLE: Yep.
BECK: And he, like fixed toilets for stage time for you?
BUBLE: He absolutely would. He would take me into clubs, and stuff. And they were these like, kind of like the Ramada bars, or to these musicians. And he would just say, you know, you let the kid up on stage. And they would say no, he`s a kid, he`s 16 years old, he`s not even supposed to be in here. Well, let me, you know, I`ll put in a -- you know, I`ll fix your toilet or put in a bidet in your apartment. And they would let me up there.
And not just -- I shouldn`t just say my grandpa. My granpa`s obviously hugely supportive, but how many -- you know, you`re saying your father. You know, how many moms and dads, when you say to them, at 15 years old, you know, I want to be a singer. They go, great, OK, kid, you want it? We`ll help you.
I know so many other parents, I had buddies and their parents said, no, no, no, no, no. You`re going to university. You`re going to become a lawyer like dad, or you`ll going to be doing this. And, you know, that`s a pipe dream, da, da, da. And my parents just literally just said, all right, tell us what we can do and we`ll do it.
BECK: Ever think it was a pipe dream?
BUBLE: I think when I was about 25 -- I had started at 16, I was working and doing everything, and the night clubs, anything you could possibly do. And I think after about 10 years of nothing happening, you know --
BECK: I`ve heard -- I don`t even know if this is true. I`ve heard how -- what the turning point was with you, and I don`t even know if this is true. We`ll come to that in just a second.
Back with Michael Buble.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: I gotta tell you, you know that -- I mean, don`t you question the fan that knows that?
BUBLE: You know what, if you`re a real fan of "Days"-- you know that in a flashback, I`m the one who introduced Bo to Hope.
BECK: Whoo! Ooh, do you ever look at people and go, get a life, man?
BUBLE: No.
BECK: C`mon. I sat next to two people. My wife sat next to a person who flew in from Scotland and said, I`ve seen him like 10 times, he`s fantastic. And I`m like, OK.
BUBLE: No, I always I put myself in that position. Because there were people who like Connick, Harry Connick, Jr.? Man, I had I thought, God, what would I do if I met him? What would I say? And I would think that I would have to say to him, do you know how important are to me? And how much your music affected to me? And I realized how much it means to you to say it to him. And you forget maybe he`s heard it 4 billion times.
BECK: What did you say to him when you did meet him?
BUBLE: I`ve never met him.
BECK: You`re kidding?
BUBLE: I never got to meet him.
BECK: Really?
BUBLE: No, I`m afraid to meet him.
BECK: Would you do me a favor? No, you`re not!
BUBLE: Sure I an.
BECK: Do you know that Alfred Hitchcock was afraid to meet Steven Spielberg? No, Steven Spielberg -- Alfred Hitchcock died, and he was at the funeral and he said, Oh, I always wanted to meet him, but he always avoided me. He hated me. And the guy he told it to said, no, he didn`t. He said, I saw you at a party one time and Alfred was sitting there and he said, is that the shark boy? And he said yes. And he said, I don`t even know what I would say to him. He was such a huge fan.
BUBLE: That`s the kind of thing that happens.
BECK: Would you do me a favor?
BUBLE: Absolutely.
BECK: Promise me you`ll never become like that weird jazz, that Harry Connick Jr. became, because I don`t even understand it. I listen to half his album and say I`m not smart enough for it. It`s like mathematics.
BUBLE: Some of it`s tough, yeah. But you know what`s weird is, that I mean, God help me, he`s a terrifying -- he`s scary. God just loved him more. You know, like when I say that, I mean that guy can dance, the guy can sing, the guy can act, the guy can -- BECK: I know, and you`re completely talentless.
BUBLE: There`s sowing even.
BECK: OK, so let me go
BUBLE: The guy could macrame you a scarf faster than you can --
(LAUGHTER)
BECK: Let me go back to your point. Tell me if this is true.
BUBLE: Yeah.
BECK: That you were about to give up and somebody said, you know what, no, I`ll tell you what, just go do this wedding for us. And it was the prime minister of Canada`s.
BUBLE: Yeah, basically one of my -- well, basically I had done a private corporate gig, because I didn`t have enough money to get back.
BECK: Is it like a Chippendale thing?
BUBLE: No, it`s like a corporate thing where you show and it`s like, Nissan. And they have their little get together and no one listens to you.
BECK: Yeah, sure.
BUBLE: And there`s like 400, 500 people all eating and talking. And you`re going -- you`re singing anyway. It was like that. I met this wonderful man named Michael McSweenie, I gave him my last copy of my record, because I couldn`t afford to really to get anymore.
I remember I said to him, I said, take this, I hope you like it, play it for your wife. If you don`t, it makes a good coaster for your drink, or whatever. The next day he called and said I didn`t tell you who I was, but I`m kind of a right hand, I`m very close to the honorable Brian Mulroney, the ex-prime minister of our country. And his wife would like to meet you tomorrow.
Well, I met her, her name is Milla (ph) and she couldn`t have been -- they just were amazing with me. I mean, truly sensational. They put their necks out for me. I sang at the wedding, and you know the producer, David Foster, who has sold half a billion records. They basically -- honestly -- I looked over as I was singing and Brian had David had almost a headlock. And he was going, look at this, guy. You know, Brian, with this beautiful deep voice, he said, look, David, watch this guy, watch this guy. I think they drove him crazy. As well as I did and --
BECK: Did you like become like a pool boy for David Foster, or something, didn`t you? I mean, weren`t you out there like --
BUBLE: No, no.
BECK: I mean, you were hounding him?
BUBLE: Absolutely. I did hound him. It was actually one of the big helpful things is that I went and was opening for Jay Leno in Vegas. And one day Foster called me and said, listen, Paul Anka would like to meet you. I got up in the morning, was hung over, I went and met Paul, sang a bit, and together they helped me a lot.
And I had a wonderful manager name Beverly Dellich (ph), and at that time, and they all helped me to get the deal. At that point I ended signing with a manager named Bruce Allen, which was the greatest thing I could have done in my life, because this guy, Bruce Allen, who has managed people like Bryan Adams, and BTO, and Martina McBride and Ann Murray. And this guy, I never would have made it, in this way, this far without him.
BECK: I`m a recovering alcoholic, and I bottomed out. I had success when I was young and then I destroyed myself. I put into perspective what I really own, and the only thing I own is my integrity, my word, my name. And I had destroyed everything.
Are you at all concerned, at all, on drinking or anything, that you control it? Because you live a tough lifestyle, man. You`re in 40 countries in the next two and a half years. You are constantly on the move and on the grind. Do you escape by drinking or whatever? Does that bother you at all?
BUBLE: No, I think if I was going to lose my way, I think I probably would have lost it before this. I mean, a few years ago.
BECK: You think so.
BUBLE: And, you know, when you`re talking about smoking or a lot of things --
BECK: I don`t mean to stick you -- that`s my mom`s -- that`s your mom`s question.
BUBLE: I`m absolutely -- I`m -- yeah, I`m absolutely fine with it.
You know, I think that I`ve just never been like that. I don`t like to lose control. To be honest, I like my reality. But to be even more frank, I`m not into having a drink. It doesn`t thrill me to get drunk. I have a kind of a rotten stomach, and I end up -- I get the -- I`m one of those guys that like for four minutes I`m so happy. And I just love you, man. And the next thing you know, the room is spinning and I`m like -- aw!
BECK: Got it. Yeah, well, I know that.
BUBLE: So sometimes the other is just easier and a more mellow thing for me.
BECK: All right. Back in just a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: I have to tell you, I didn`t see that performance.
BUBLE: I`ve never seen it, either. That`s the first time.
BECK: And people came too work. Because I -- honestly, Michael, I have been a fan of yours for so long. And America, listen to me, if you`ve never seen this guy, I don`t care what it costs you -- I mean, don`t mortgage the house, but buy a ticket. You`ve never seen a show like this. It`s fantastic.
BUBLE: Thank you.
BECK: People came to me and said, I saw him last night, he wasn`t all that. And I said, I didn`t see it. Were you happy with that performance?
BUBLE: Absolutely not.
BECK: What happened?
BUBLE: I thought it was shockingly terrible.
Well, OK, I`ll be very concise and I`ll be brief. I found out the night before that Tony Bennett wasn`t feeling well and would you mind filling in for him? I said, is he OK? I`m not just going to fill in for him if he`s not OK.
BECK: Because you`re a huge fan of Tony Bennett?
BUBLE: Yeah, he`s -- you know.
BECK: Tony Bennett.
BUBLE: He`s my idol. I said no, I`m not just gonna go and do this. I said, is he OK? They said, listen, he`s just got a cold. I had never sung the song more than three times, to record it. Never sung it live -- yet. I was going to go on "American Idol" and stand in for the greatest, which is impossible. I was going to do it in front of whatever it was, 25 million people. And to be even more honest with you, I was scared as hell.
I got up on stage, and the first thing I did was looked down and the first person I saw was Simon Cowell.
BECK: Oh, God.
BUBLE: He looked at me and he went like this. And he made this look, and my confidence was already not exactly there, and I just -- I was shot. I walked off and I actually said -- usually I`m so calm, and I`m so present. I can tell it you exactly what happened and who was there -- and I was absolutely -- I thought it was terrible.
BECK: Isn`t it amazing how -- I mean, you`ve got everything going for you, you`re smart, you really are a brilliant man. You`re smart, you`re funny, good-looking, you`re talented -- everything else.
BUBLE: I`m hanging out with you every day for the rest of my life.
BECK: But you`ve got all that going for you and yet Simon Cowell can turn his head and it shakes you.
BUBLE: Man, but I`m not afraid to tell you that I`m that guy. I`m that guy that can play to 10,000 people and they can all be smiling and the 10,001, the one guy who looks at me funny, and it can take me right down.
BECK: I do two tours, I do four weeks on the road a year. And they`re comedy tours. I`ll come offstage. And I can only see the first couple rows, and I`ll come off stage and will say the lady four over, she wasn`t laughing the whole time. And they have to tell me every time, don`t play to her, stop!
BUBLE: Exactly.
BECK: Everybody else, but you just see that one person.
BUBLE: Because what makes you who you are, and I think why people like you, man, and why they watch you, or why they believe you, is because there`s a sincerity there. I think that when I say sincerity -- I think that you`re sensitive. I`m not to say that --
BECK: I mean can we -- let`s turn the lights down a bit? This is uncomfortable.
BUBLE: Don`t you think we`re sensitive? Right, you`re an artist. A lot of artists are sensitive. And we wouldn`t be the same people if we didn`t care. I`m jealous sometimes of people who say I don`t care what they say about me. I don`t care what the critics say.
BECK: I think those people are lying, quite honestly.
Back with Michael Buble in just a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Michael Buble, we were talking off the air here just a second in the break, we were talking about switching jobs, although I couldn`t do your jobs, and your career would be over, but the idea of disappointing people or pissing people off, you and I have one thing in common besides the obvious sex appeal and love for McGriddles, and that is that we hack people off like crazy for different reasons.
BUBLE: Sure.
BECK: And most of it comes from -- honestly, Michael, I`m going to be real straight with you. I thought for a long time that you wouldn`t even come on this program or anything else because of my viewpoints.
BUBLE: Really?
BECK: I am so used to -- and that`s one of the things. You told a joke backstage about, you know, your CD being green, and I didn`t laugh -- I didn`t say anything, because I`m like, "I`m not doing anything, I`m not saying anything before a show, you know, yadda, yadda, yadda." And I really thought, you know, people just hate it. They hate you, or they love you. With you, they`ll take stuff that I say out of context and make it into something. You are the same thing, because it`s your humor.
BUBLE: Very dry, absolutely.
BECK: You`ll say things that people -- Tony Bennett, you like Tony Bennett.
BUBLE: I love Tony Bennett.
BECK: Grammys, you said you`re not even going to show up, because Tony Bennett is going to win anyway.
BUBLE: Well, that wasn`t even the big issue, you see? Because that was a joke. I mean, that to me was so obviously joking. I said, "Oh, come on, Bennett." I mean, come on, Bennett is going to win. For God`s sake, he`s Tony Bennett. If I won, I`d be going, OK, what in the hell is going on here?
But what got me in trouble was to say that I wasn`t showing up because -- what I said was, I said was -- and I wasn`t joking. See, the Bennett thing was a joke, but the other thing what I said was I said, "This is the greatest gift that America has ever given to the arts." And I said, and for them to give away this award, you know, for the -- for, what -- you know, for the standards, for pop, you know, contemporary pop or if you want to call it pop standards, I said it`s shocking to me. I said, there`s no room for this, for this music, you know, to be presented on the show? It`s given away before. And what I`m learning is that I can think that, you know? And I can believe that what I`m saying is right...
BECK: Don`t you ever change that. Don`t you ever change that.
BUBLE: But it`s not my job to tell people that. It`s not my job to change their minds, and really I was presumptuous to do it.
BECK: But you know what? You know what, Michael? I think that`s why you connect with so many people. On stage, you`re different. Music is music, but on stage, you`re honest. You`re just -- you are who you are, lumps and all.
(CROSSTALK)
BUBLE: And by the way, there`s a lot of -- I mean, I watch your show a lot. And there`s a lot of things you say, views politically, that you have that...
BECK: You really shouldn`t...
BUBLE: What?
BECK: No, no...
BUBLE: No, honestly, that I go, no, but that doesn`t mean that I can`t be buddies with you. It doesn`t mean that I don`t have common respect for you or that I can`t see your view.
BECK: It`s not that. It`s not that. It`s just doing business. You are a brilliant businessman or somebody around you is a brilliant businessman.
BUBLE: I`m a puppet.
BECK: That`s good. Starbucks, Rolex, I mean, you are...
BUBLE: Great management, great management, great management.
BECK: God almighty, how much are you pulling down a year?
BUBLE: About $80 million.
BECK: Eighty million? Seriously?
BUBLE: Well, $80 million to $150 million.
BECK: This is the first time...
BUBLE: I`m kidding, it`s like $260 million.
BECK: No, no, seriously -- it`s so much I don`t even count.
BUBLE: No, no, truthfully, it`s good, but it`s not -- I learned something a long time ago...
BECK: Ten million, $20 million?
BUBLE: No one makes as much as you think they do.
BECK: Twenty million?
BUBLE: I have great management, a great record company.
BECK: Twenty-five, thirty?
BUBLE: Not as much as you make, man.
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: Yeah, right, right, right.
BUBLE: Please, please. I saw you burning $100 bills back there and laughing maniacally...
BECK: "This could go feed children."
BUBLE: Laughing at the unfortunate people, spitting at the children on the street.
BECK: Your girlfriend, Emily Blunt, she was in "Devil Wears Prada." She was the girl that couldn`t go to Paris.
BUBLE: That`s right. She`s the assistant. She played Emily.
BECK: Yeah. You`re dating her for the English accent? Because I`d do it. Seriously, the English accent is a big thing for me.
BUBLE: You know what? I agree with that. I think it`s sometimes just for the words that she uses, because I will look at her and say, "You`re kidding me, right?" You know, last night she told me that -- we were arguing about something -- it wasn`t even an argument. It was a discussion. And she said, well, she said, "We don`t want to be to a wobbly about this, do we?" I said, "A what?" She said, "A wobbly." I said, "You`re messing with me now, right?" Because I always make fun with her and say like the English call a toaster the giblet or the -- you know what? They come up with this crazy -- OK, let`s talk.
BECK: She`s screwing with you the whole time.
BUBLE: Let`s go through some English words. A sweater is a jumper.
BECK: A jumper?
BUBLE: OK, even better. If I said "fanny" to you, what would a fanny be to you?
BECK: Your butt.
BUBLE: Well, it`s not, sir.
BECK: What is it?
BUBLE: A fanny is the woman`s front bit.
BECK: Front bit?
BUBLE: I don`t want to say the word.
BECK: What a Canadian.
BUBLE: The vajay-jay. The television is the telly. Potato chips are crisps. I mean, there`s a lot of stuff. She`s talking to me, I`m looking around pretending to know. And I go like this, "Yes, of course, I don`t want to get into a wobbly with you."
BECK: I was reading in the -- I don`t know, it was the "Post" or something, and there was a story on you -- this is a few months ago.
BUBLE: Yeah, this was funny.
BECK: It was insane. And I read it, and I thought, "This cannot be true. This can`t be this guy." It said that you were in some bar in London...
BUBLE: It was in Paris.
BECK: It was in Paris? Sitting in some bar, and you were wearing ridiculous clothes, and you were boasting to all the guys at the bar that you could pick up anybody, even that that`s Emily Blunt person over there, she`s a star, I can go pick her up.
BUBLE: I can have her.
BECK: I didn`t know you were dating. And, obviously, the "Post" didn`t either.
BUBLE: Yeah, I`d only been dating her for like two years at that point.
BECK: What happened?
BUBLE: You know what? I don`t think it was the "Post." I think what happened...
BECK: No, no, what happened -- did you actually -- were you there in a bar?
BUBLE: Yep.
BECK: Were you joking about "I could pick anybody up"?
BUBLE: No, Emily was sitting on my lap, and my boys -- actually, as a matter of fact, Alan Vay (ph), who`s the head of my French company...
BECK: Your French company, what is that?
BUBLE: Warner Bros. France. And he was there, and he`s a really good buddy of mine, and we wanted to shoot the -- you know, we wanted to B.S., and so I said to Emily, I said, "Are you hungry, kid?" And she said, "Yes." So she went up to have dinner with some of the boys in my band. She took off. I sat with Alan. We had some drinks, talked about his life, what was going on...
BECK: And it was reported that she blew your off.
BUBLE: That she blew me off, yeah. And, I mean, she has before many times. I don`t...
(CROSSTALK)
BUBLE: What I meant to say is -- you said it -- you`re putting words -- see what you do?
BECK: I`m not saying any of that.
BUBLE: I never inhaled.
BECK: You know, so people who are rat-packers, I guess, I don`t even know, the hipsters, you`re not even -- they even hate you. They hate you, don`t they?
BUBLE: Sure, I`m hated.
BECK: Why? Why do they hate you? Why all the hate, Michael Buble?
BUBLE: I don`t know.
BECK: Is it the $80 million?
BUBLE: It could be many things. It could be my hair, for God`s sake.
BECK: Or could it be the thing -- your hair does piss me off, but that`s a different story. What is the thing that...
BUBLE: I think people are very protective of this genre of music. And I think that...
BECK: What do they think you`re doing to it?
BUBLE: Well, I think that they feel that, you know, how dare you, how dare you sing the songs of our idols and the greatest interpreters alive, and I think that -- I get it. I completely get it. And I think that, you know, I have to prove myself. I really do.
BECK: I think you have.
BUBLE: No, but give me -- let`s...
BECK: You don`t like your first album now, do you?
BUBLE: I didn`t say that, no. I think that I`ve grown a lot since then, and I think I have a lot more control. And I can`t hate a record that so many people have enjoyed.
BECK: Come on. There`s not one song that you go, if I sing this one more time?
BUBLE: Well, there`s songs that I listen to where I go, "Oh, God. Oh, God."
BECK: Name one.
BUBLE: Oh, well, I think vocally, I think that I -- I was nervous, I mean, you know.
BECK: Come on, cough it up.
BUBLE: There were certain songs, like "Come Fly with Me," where I went, ooh, I could have sung that a lot better. And "The Way You Look Tonight" I thought, just personally, I thought I kind of butchered it.
BECK: No, you didn`t.
Back in just a second with Michael Buble.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Back with Michael Buble. He was just talking about how fat he was, how he`s a chunky monkey. The best part of your life? At the end of the day...
BUBLE: What makes Michael Buble happy? What is it that`s the best part of your life?
BECK: What`s the best part of your life? What`s the thing that, at the end of your day, you`re going to say -- do you keep a journal? You`re not going to say that. I`m sorry, riddled with ADD.
BUBLE: No, no, I don`t, no.
BECK: Why not?
BUBLE: I couldn`t take the time.
BECK: You know what? I only have time for bullet points. I`m telling you, write a journal. As a guy who was relatively successful in my 20s and then caved, and it was all gone. I lost it all. And then to come back up, I keep a journal, because someday, Michael, this is going to end. God forbid, you know, it will end, but someday it`ll end, and you`ll be able to look back and say, "Jeez, I forgot about that. That was fun." At the end of the day, what do you think you`re going to be left with? When you say, "If I die today, this is the best part."
BUBLE: Well, nothing else matters. Family, I mean, I`m telling you. I think the legacy we leave is our family. I don`t think it`s money. I don`t think it`s -- I`m not saying that charity isn`t a great thing. I just think that it`s my family. Even now I look and I think, God, I`m lucky if I lost it all, I -- I mean, I`ve got the greatest family in the world. And I know you feel the same way about yours, but, I mean, that`s my happiness.
BECK: If you believe that, when are you going to make Emily an honest woman?
BUBLE: I`m waiting for her to ask, man. Well, no, I talked to her father about it and the dowry he could offer is insignificant compared to what I`m looking for.
BECK: Don`t you hate that?
BUBLE: I`m looking for many livestock, I want a lot of land.
BECK: Do you feel you could get married and your fans would accept you?
BUBLE: Oh, why not? Why not? I mean, Elvis Presley got married, and I mean...
BECK: He was cheating on her the whole time, though.
BUBLE: What? He was?
BECK: I didn`t hear that.
BUBLE: I didn`t hear...
BECK: What was that all about?
BUBLE: I don`t know. I don`t know. I don`t know. You know, this is stuff -- I have to be so careful not to -- I don`t know. I think that the whole -- I hate when celebrities push it on people. They talk about it, and you know what I mean? You know, I`m famous, and I have money, and I`m so happy. I`m so happy with my relationship.
BECK: Has money made you happy?
BUBLE: I`m more comfortable, more comfortable. And I share it with my family. Very honestly...
BECK: You drive -- I mean, you tell me backstage at Radio City that you are a, quote, "bad ass" and then I find out that you drive a Vespa.
BUBLE: Now, did I tell you backstage -- I didn`t tell you backstage I was bad ass.
BECK: I believe you did. I believe that you said to me...
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: You told me backstage, too. You said to me -- because I felt really bad. I went, "I`m a really big fan, and I just really appreciate your music." And then, like 20 minutes later, you said, "You know what I really hate? When everybody comes up and says, `I`m a really big fan.`"
BUBLE: No, no, that`s not what I hate. When they say, "You`re such a lovely person. You`re just a lovely person. And you`re just so wonderful, and you`re just your grandfather, and you just are kind to everybody," and I`m like, "Well, no, I`m not. I can be impatient and I can be a rude jerk like everybody can. I have good days and bad ones."
The money, I don`t give a -- I mean, I could -- I`m not saying this -- if you know me, you know that I don`t care about the money. I never cared about the money. I`m not that guy. I don`t have anything. I`m not a material guy. I don`t have a car.
BECK: So, OK then, let me take it here. What is it that worries you? You told me, I don`t know if it was on the air or in the break, you said, "I don`t even read stuff anymore," because I just don`t -- why?
BUBLE: I don`t want to know. I don`t want it to affect me. I think that the same thing, as an athlete, I think an entertainer, I think our confidence can be frail, and I think that it doesn`t take a lot to knock you...
(CROSSTALK)
BECK: I got to tell you, it`s wild to -- what was it that -- the "New York Times" wrote a review on your show and, I mean, it was like they wanted to take you apart. Then they said -- and what they said about the - - it was a sexist show, because he did "Fever" -- no, not "Fever." What was the other?
BUBLE: Oh, "Try a Little Tenderness."
BECK: "Try a Little Tenderness." And I`m like, if you`re taking down an Otis Redding song, and that`s the worst thing you can say, good God in Heaven.
BUBLE: I`ve got to tell you, man, that review, I loved that guy who wrote -- I mean, you know what? I know the man`s name, because it was the one review, one of the two I read. And his name was Stephen Holden. And that review I thought was a big thing for my career, and I was honestly thrilled.
BECK: Really?
BUBLE: I mean, listen, it`s a big thing to be reviewed like that.
BECK: I`d like to see this -- but this is me. I would have read that review and all I could have gotten around was -- I wouldn`t have ever been able to get around the Otis Redding part. I`m like, "It`s Otis Redding. He`s nailing me for singing an Otis Redding song."
BUBLE: What he said was, which I get, was he said was he said -- he said he found it a big strange to hear me singing this song that is maybe derogatory towards women. And it`s saying, you know, you know, without our love, the women are nothing, and all she needs is your love to be OK. And I think he wasn`t wrong to say that it could be a little dated. You know, songs get dated.
BECK: Well, I mean, if you`re talking about a new housecoat or whatever, it`s a little dated.
BUBLE: Yeah, and maybe I could have...
BECK: Updated it?
BUBLE: Not even that. Maybe I could have just taken a piss onto myself and maybe cracked -- you know what I mean? But sometimes, listen, this is the thing though, with the good and the bad, sometimes it`s good not to read reviews, because it doesn`t affect you, and you can continue to do what you do as an artist. And other times, some reviewers are great. I mean, some reviewers are spot on. And even if you don`t like it, you look at it and you say, "Oh, you know what? He was right there." And if you`re strong enough to read them, they can help you.
BECK: One minute and then a final segment in just a second. A song that you are -- the song that you listen to or perform where you say, "This is me, this is who I want to be, this is it." What is it?
BUBLE: Easy. "Me So Horny." I love you long time. Sing it with me. "Me so horny, oh, me so horny"...
BECK: Back with Michael Buble in just a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: OK. Need your advice on something, OK? Katharine McPhee or whatever her name was from "American Idol."
BUBLE: I know her.
BECK: You know her? She did "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I`ve put this together. I want you to see it, and you give me your advice. Now, this is -- go ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK (singing): Over the rainbow, bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow, why then, oh, why, can`t I?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: Yes, what do you think? I mean, I have a career.
BUBLE: You know, what I think you`d do in gay clubs. I really do. I think that you are a piece of sexual chocolate singing that song. I think there are men watching right going, "He is just unbelievably fabulous!" That was incredible. And a weird part of me is also turned on. That was horrible, Glenn.
BECK: You`re there. Really? Well, I read -- thank you.
BUBLE: And by horrible, I mean absolutely camp great. Do you want to do a duet with me right now?
BECK: No.
BUBLE: We have time for one.
BECK: But you can take us out.
BUBLE: Somewhere -- no, come on. What`s a song you like from mine that you want to do?
BECK: Of yours?
BUBLE: Yes.
BECK: I don`t actually know any of your songs. This is an uncomfortable moment, isn`t it?
BUBLE: Somewhere over the rainbow...
BECK: Isn`t this delicious?
BUBLE: ... way up high, there`s a Glenn that I heard of once in a lullaby. Glenn Beck, me so horny. Somewhere...
BECK: It`s really uncomfortable with him looking at me singing that. I`m very uncomfortable. I`m cool with my sexuality.
BUBLE: I`d like to thank you for this interview, knowing it`s the last time they`ll ever let me on television in America.
BECK: Hey, no problem. You`re great. And we will annex your country when we need to.
BUBLE: OK.
BECK: And you...
BUBLE: Oh, do you think we`re not plotting?
BECK: Are you up on that northern border plotting against us quietly?
BUBLE: You think we`re kidding? There`s a whole bunch of us, and we`re collecting rocks and slingshots. And we have this beautiful -- we will take over very soon, and soon everybody will be saying, "Eh," and eating bacon with syrup, eh?
BECK: Michael Buble, what a pleasure. Thank you very much.
BUBLE: My pleasure. Thanks, Glenn.
BECK: Good night, America.
END
