Kanye West is alive! The musician-producer-rapper-entrepreneur — once ubiquitous on an hourly basis– has virtually vanished from the public eye for months. He’s only Tweeted a couple of times since January 1st and has made no irrational statements. Last year he had some issues after his wife’s Paris robbery. He walked off his tour, but for Kanye, that’s business as usual. He looks very well in the family photo posted by Kim Kardashian on Instagram. It’s hoped he’s getting a lot of rest and maybe some therapy. I don’t think he ever dealt with his mother’s abrupt death. Maybe now he’s working on that.
Renee Fleming Hasn’t Retired, She’s Coming to Broadway Next Year in A Revival of “Carousel”
I was getting worried that opera great Renee Fleming had really retired. Nonsense! She’s too young to start playing mah jong in Miami.
Fleming will star next year in a Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel.” Her co-stars will be Jessie Mueller, of “Beautiful” and “Waitress” fame, and Joshua Henry. It’s a Scott Rudin- Roy Furman production directed by Jack O’Brien.
“Carousel” first opened in New York in 1945, following Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”
This is not Fleming’s Broadway debut. That was in 2015 with a comedy called “Living on Love.” But she didn’t sing, so this is her musical debut. In any case, I’m intrigued by Fleming’s move to Broadway. She could have a long career there after her run as a legend of opera.
Box Office: “Fate of the Furious” Opens $47 Million Lower than “Furious 7”
It’s good news, bad news for Universal this morning. “Fate of the Furious” opened with $100 million this weekend in the US, a worldwide total of $300. Ya-hoo! But that’s also $47 million lower than its predecessor “Furious 7.” So take it all with a grain of salt. The tag on the new one is $250 million-plus.
What made the new one open so much lower? I guess the absence of star Paul Walker, who died tragically before “Furious 7” was completed– but he was still in that movie. The franchise lost its leading man despite The Rock and Vin Diesel continuing in their roles. Walker was no Daniel Day Lewis, but in the “Fast and Furious” franchise he found his niche. (I wonder what they’re paying his estate to exploit his memory in the marketing.)
This won’t stop “Furious 9”– which I’m sure will have a title related to “Nine Lives” or something. They can drain this thing for a few more installments. Who knows? Maybe they’ll find a a new guy who can fill Walker’s shoes.
The rest of the box office is a dull story right now. But last night I re-watched “Hidden Figures.” A huge hit financially, Ted Melfi’s movie really should have won the Oscar. And Taraji P. Henson really got screwed. When she breaks down and finally tells Costner and crew about her runs to the bathroom, that’s an Oscar scene. Everyone else is so very good, Melfi did a great job, and Pharrell Williams’ “Running” song also was gypped. Too bad.
One Direction, Two Stars, Different Stories: Harry Styles Sells Half as Many First Week Singles as Zayn Malik
The antipathy toward Harry Styles is remarkable. I don’t get it. But after seeing him last night on “SNL” I’ll say this– he seems like he’s a good little actor. Pop star? Meh.
After Harry’s lackluster performance last night, “Sign of the Times” went up the charts to number…9. NINE. Not 1. Lady Gaga swooped in and took the top position from nowhere. “Sign of the Times” is a weird dud. It sits there like a lox. Better lyrics would have helped. Five songwriters and no story in the words. After two minutes, you’re done.
Anyway: hitsdailydouble.com reports that Harry sold half as many singles in his debut week as Zayn Malik did with “Pillowtalk.” Whoops! Zayn– who has stage fright, among other problems– and left One Direction in an ambush. That Zayn.
Meantime, Harry has to deal with stealing part of Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” for a new song he sang last night on “SNL.” It was so blatant– not funny. Can’t wait to hear the rest of that new album on May 12th.
Surprise! Lady Gaga Releases Overnight Surprise Single “The Cure” and Goes Straight to Number 1
Lady Gaga surprised everyone last night. Over night she released a new single called “The Cure” — a song she introduced at Coachella last night. And it’s number 1. Just like that. Great song, very Gaga melody and hook. It has some of those Skrillex Diplo bird sounds, too. This has been quite a year so far for Gaga. The Super Bowl reinvigorated her whole gestalt, gave her a hit with “Million Reasons,” and restored the “Joanne” album. Now she’s got a whole new single– while she’s supposedly creating an album of songs for “A Star is Born.” Which she’s acting in, too. Yowza! Gaga’s on fire! And this summer everyone will see her interview Julian Assange in a new doc called “Risk” on Showtime. What next?
Harry Styles Makes a Turgid Solo Debut, And Steals a Lick from Badfinger on “Saturday Night Live”
Tell me something I don’t already know: Harry Styles sang a new song on SNL and ripped off a well known lick from Badfinger’s “Baby Blue.” How many songwriters did that take?
It took FIVE apparently to write “Sign of the Times,” a turgid 5 minute ballad that went nowhere on the show. At one point, Harry stepped back from the mic and turned around, yet the falsetto he’d been singing continued.
What did I expect? Something better. Styles and his team have had a long time to work on these songs, on this album. I do hope the Ham-Evans Badfinger estate sues his ass for that lick. How embarrassing.
While we wait for the clips to come up, here’s Badfinger for you kids:
Here’s Harry:
Very Expensive ($250 Mil) “Fate of the Furious” Aiming at $100 Mil Weekend
You may be wondering why a car crash movie cost $250 million to make? Who knows? Anyway, “Fate of the Furious,” the 8th chapter of a series of car crash movies is on track to bring in $100 million this weekend domestically.
The last “Fast and Furious” movie made $1.5 billion worldwide, with $350 million of it in the US.
The original “Fast and Furious” movie, back in 2001, made a total of $207 million worldwide, most of it in the US. So they’ve come a long way. Can you imagine? This has been going on for 16 years? If you missed chapters 2 through 7, you can always binge watch them eating Cheetos and guzzling Colt .45.
If everything holds up tonight and tomorrow around the world, “Fate” will break national and international records.
Meanwhile Zach Braff’s “Going in Style” remake is holding up despite previous dire warnings. Good for them! And “The Zookeeper’s Wife” will cross $10 million this weekend– a good movie that deserves more of an audience.
Janet Jackson in Control: Singer Debuts Baby Eissa on Instagram After Split from Husband
Janet Jackson’s in love! With her baby! She debuted a picture of baby Eissa on Instagram. Just lovely. Now, the question is where will they live?
Say Goodbye: “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Will Mark the End for Original Characters Leia, Luke, and Han Solo
Four decades after the “Star Wars” saga began, the next film– coming in December– will close the best known chapter.
Executive producer Kathleen Kennedy confirmed today in an interview with ABC (conveniently owned by Disney) that Carrie Fisher will make her final appearance as Princess (General) Leia in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” coming December 15th.
With Harrison Ford’s Han Solo murdered in “The Force Awakens,” and Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker evidently the actual last Jedi, that means this episode of the epic space opera will bring to an end the original trio of beloved characters.
Fisher’s brother, Todd, had said earlier in the week that he’d agreed to let LucasFilms use his sister’s likeness in Chapter 9, the film that follows “Last Jedi.” But Kennedy said Todd Fisher “was probably confused” and that Carrie– who died suddenly and tragically in December– would not be in that film. “We’ll see a lot of Carrie in Episode 8,” Kennedy said.
This is best for everyone. When “Star Wars” resumes in Chapter 9 it should be with all new characters, or at least the ones who’ve been developed contemporaneously– the ones played by Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. Forty years is a long time — maybe the longest- for a movie series to run.
The original “Star Wars” opened on May 25, 1977.
Here’s the new teaser for “The Last Jedi”:
Pop Shock: Harry Styles Single Drops off iTunes Top 50 After 1 Week, Rebounds to 21, Now Number 13
SATURDAY NIGHT 8:18PM The single is up to number 13 after a curious drop from the chart and then an even more curious rebound. We’ll watch and see at midnight when Harry takes the stage on “SNL” if sales perk up. Of even more interest will be what his second song of the night will be. Stay tuned…
FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Somehow, “Sign of the Times” has battled its way back to number 21. Not a huge improvement, but something. There should be a return to the top on Saturday night after Harry sings on “SNL.” But there doesn’t seem to be huge broad based interest in this single. It entered the top 40 radio chart today at number 12.
FRIDAY MORNING I’m perplexed. Maybe it’s some kind of technical glitch. But Harry Styles’s “Sign of the Times” has dropped off the iTunes top 50 after one week. It’s down to number 65!
Kids, what happened? You love One Direction! You love Zayn! Don’t you love Harry, too?
On Spotify, the single is a streaming dud. It’s number 19, down two spots from 17.
On BuzzAngle’s Song Revenue chart that closed April 12, there’s no sign of Sign of the Times anywhere.
With all the One Direction fervor, something is wrong. I’ve sent an email to Apple, asking what happened. The single IS in their store. I just played it. So it’s not completely gone.
Tomorrow night Harry appears on “Saturday Night Live.” That should bring “Sign” back. But what a weird opening week it’s had.
Now I’m rooting for him!