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!
Janet Jackson’s Ex-to-Be Wissam Al Mana Sends Her a Message from the Quran: “You shall hear many hurtful things”
Janet Jackson’s soon to be ex husband Wissam Al Mana has posted a message from the Quran. His website seems to be overhauled, too, to make him a little more accessible at a time when Jackson’s fans may be wondering what’s going on.
You shall most certainly be tried in your possessions and in your persons; and indeed you shall hear many hurtful things from those to whom revelation was granted before your time, as well as from those who have come to ascribe divinity to other beings beside Allah. But if you remain patient in adversity and conscious of Him – this, behold, is something to set one’s heart upon. – 3:186​
Al Mana also has a new bio. Are these messages to or about Janet? You betcha.
Growing up, my parents taught me humility and fairness. I start my introduction with that fact because it is really the basis of who I am today. I was born in Doha, Qatar and spent most of my developing years in
London, UK.
Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”: From Romantic “Bodyguard” to Curse-Laden “Hitman’s Bodyguard”
Time changes everything.
Once upon time, Whitney Houston’s signature track, “I Will Always Love You” was the centerpiece of her hit movie “The Bodyguard.” The movie was a romantic drama with little actual violence and nothing remotely objectionable in language.
Two decades later, “I Will Always Love You” is now part of a new movie campaign. Someone approved the beloved recording to be used for the new Samuel L. Jackson-Ryan Reynolds movie “The Hitman’s Bodyguard.” Maybe they got confused because the word bodyguard is in both titles.
But “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” — while I’m sure lots of fun– looks pretty violent. It’s a little Tarantino-ish, in fact. Not only would Whitney be appalled, I’ll bet the song’s writer– Dolly Parton– would be surprised to see this teaser trailer.
The best quote: “This guy single handedly ruined the word Mother-f—ker.”
Book Bust? Celebrity Memoirs by Alec Baldwin, Caitlyn Jenner Not Moving Despite Publicity
Publishers count on celebrity bios to generate publicity– and sales. It doesn’t always work out.
Eight days ago, Alec Baldwin published his memoir, “Nevertheless.” It has a lot of juicy material that was used to promote it– including Baldwin’s take on his famous phone call to his young daughter, anecdotes about his career.
But Baldwin also attacked his own publisher on Facebook, accusing them of doing a shoddy job of copy editing. I reported it first, then a bunch of outlets followed in suit.
Today, Nevertheless is at number 790 on amazon.com. The Kindle version is around 1,565. And this is after all his “Saturday Night Live” appearances. No one’s had more exposure than Baldwin.
Meanwhile, Caitlyn Jenner’s “Secrets of My Life” is not drumming up a lot of pre-orders. In the last few days Jenner has teased secrets about getting new genitalia, and also about OJ Simpson’s guilt or innocence as related by Caitlyn’s former wife’s former husband, Robert Kardashian.
But so far advance orders have not perked up. “Secrets” sits at 1,784 with pre-orders. It could be people are over-saturated on Jenner and her escapades. Her “E” TV show was cancelled a few months ago. Book sales may not boom after the official release on April 24th.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Kardashians, Skip Out on “The Promise” Premiere While Cher, Other Stars Sit Still
EXCLUSIVE As I wrote last night plenty of stars, including Cher, sat through the Hollywood premiere of Terry George’s epic love story set against the Armenian genocide. Our spies say that Cher was so moved she left in tears with pal jewelry designer Loree Rodkin.
But some other people who attended “The Promise” opening night at Graumann’s Chinese Theater weren’t so attentive. Leonardo DiCaprio brought his mother to the premiere as guests of producer Mike Medavoy– for whom the movie is a passion project. But moments after the film began, Leo and a bodyguard were seen exiting theater. “He had his baseball hat clamped down,” says a source. “He and the bodyguard disappeared– maybe to a green room– and didn’t return until they heard applause at the end of the film.”
At least Leo stayed in the actual building. Kim Kardashian and her sister Kourtney came to the red carpet, got their pictures taken, and left without seeing the film. “Kim even did selfies with fans,” says a spy. “It’s a movie about genocide.” The women are of Armenian descent thanks to their late father, OJ Simpson’s lawyer Robert Kardashian.
Other stars like Orlando Bloom, Don Cheadle and Nina Dobrev (separately) graciously stayed and enjoyed the masterful film.