Van Halen Fight to Keep Karaoke ‘Jump’ Performance off TV

Van Halen has reportedly succeeded in keeping an awful karaoke rendition of their hit song 'Jump' by British TV star Karl Pilkington from being broadcast on American television.

Pilkington is the ongoing subject and co-creator of the travel-based documentary series 'An Idiot Abroad,' the current arc of which finds his comedian friends Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant helping Karl to pursue a number of “bucket list” type activities.

In one of the latest episodes, Karl found himself performing a karaoke version of Van Halen's signature 'Jump,' backed by a 'Glee'-like chorus. Reportedly, his rendition was so awful, Van Halen allegedly has tried to ban it from being broadcast in the United States.

Gervais says that Pilkington was extremely nervous prior to his performance, and would up botching some of the most familiar lyrics in rock history. As a result, Van Halen moved quickly to throw a towel over the entire moment, to keep it off U.S. airwaves.

The performance has apparently been successfully suppressed here in the States, but Gervais says that they've retained the rights to broadcast it in Europe, although they're prohibited from putting it out on DVD.

With that pesky matter behind them, perhaps Van Halen will now get around to scheduling a release date for that new album that we've been talking so much about!