The Europeans are coming

The 80th Oscars for acting were all picked up by Europeans.

While unusual lately, this has been the case for all sorts of performance art. Readers might not know who this is, back from 1968:
This is Dusty Springfield, a British singer whose "white soul" album Dusty in Memphis is one of the all-time greats. Boston Brahmin recently rediscovered her song "Son of a Preacher Man" from this album, which is reproduced on the soundtrack of the 1994 movie Pulp Fiction.

Written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins, "Son of a Preacher Man" is sung by a woman remembering her first love, a preacher's son. Dusty Springfield's husky voice gives the recording an unforgettable, haunting ambience. It's hard to believe that her voice was dubbed. Rolling Stone magazine says:

Atlantic producer Jerry Wexler brought her way down South, to Memphis, to make this album. She was so intimidated by the idea of recording with session guys from her favorite Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding hits that she never sang a note there. Her vocals were overdubbed in New York. But the result was blazing soul and sexual honesty [...] that transcended both race and geography.

(See review in Rolling Stone magazine).

Amen. These qualities come through in the Pulp Fiction soundtrack CD. That Quentin Tarantino sure knows his songs.