User:Gupdoo3/workspace/The President Wore Pearls

[ORIGINAL The President Wore Pearls]

[keep intro section mostly as-is]

Plot
[keep current section mostly as-is, but:
 * Add names of parody songs in plot summary as given in credits: "Vote For a Winner", "I Am Their Queen", "Skinner's Evil Plan", "A Tango Takes Two", "Smart Girl Six Three"
 * The subtitle then states that the producers of the show, "based on the advice of their lawyers, swear they have never heard of a musical based on the life of Eva Perón" => The subtitle then states that the producers of the show, "based on the advice of [their] lawyers, swear [they] have never heard of a musical based on the life of Eva Perón"
 * Possibly clean up plot summary somewhat? idk]

Production
The idea for the episode was devised by Al Jean, who was motivated by his love of theater. He regarded Evita as a great political musical, and stated that "[he] just always thought that it was one of the most brilliant things ever, and to have Lisa do that was the genesis of this episode." Although Yeardly Smith, the voice of Lisa, had originally assumed that the central conceit of the episode was intended as a political satire, Al Jean clarified in the commentary track that he had no political motivation and just wanted to "get Lisa singing".

Jean also credits himself with the idea of inviting Michael Moore to make a guest appearance. He cites his love of Roger & Me (which he says "really captured the whole way [he] felt growing up [in Detroit]") as a contributing factor, but ultimately the deciding factor was hearing Moore's acceptance speech for Best Documentary Feature during the 75th Academy Awards, during which he publicly denounced George W. Bush. Jean notes that “the staff is full of fans”, so the idea was met with near-unanimous enthusiasm.

Moore quickly accepted the offer without even knowing what his role in the episode was going to be, stating that not only had he been watching The Simpsons since its conception as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, he had been a fan of Matt Groening's work since the early 80s, and used to run Groening's Life in Hell comic strips in an alternative newspaper that he operated from Flint, Michigan. He appreciated that the episode focused on the elimination of art programs in public schools, and enjoyed being called a "professional buttinski" by Kent Brockman. The musical numbers were composed by Alf Clausen, the show's primary composer from 1990 until 2017, and although episode writer Dana Gould is credited as the sole lyricist, Al Jean clarified in the commentary track that the lyrics were a collaborative effort between several Simpsons writers. Some time prior to the episode's conception, Jean suggested that, due to a “significant royalty [for] having songs in an episode”, any lyrics written by the writing staff for use in a Simpsons episode should be credited to whoever originally wrote the episode in order to prevent potential arguments over who should be credited and who should receive the royalties. Although the songs originally pitched were more faithful to the melodies of the Evita songs they were based on, the show was forced to modify the melodies for legal reasons. A medley of the songs features in the episode was included in the 2007 compilation album The Simpsons: Testify.

Cultural references
[come on there's gotta be SOMETHING]

Reception
[possibly find more reviews? also info about ratings]

Alf Clausen and Dana Gould were nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for the first song in the episode, "Vote for a Winner", but lost to "Because You Are Beautiful" from Until the Violence Stops.