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Denise Rich Rocks Patti LaBelle, OneRepublic, Usher, Nick Cannon for Annual Angel Ball

Roger Friedman
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Denise Rich Rocks Patti LaBelle, OneRepublic, Usher, Nick Cannon for Annual Angel Ball

Denise Rich raised about three and a half million dollars last night at the annual Gabrielle’s Angel Ball, named for her beloved daughter who passed away in 1996. After a couple of years of downsizing, the Angel Ball was back last night in force, with roughly 900 guests at Cipriani downtown dressed in their formal best and rocking to Patti LaBelle and Ryan Tedder with One Republic.

And the guests were truly A list: Heidi Klum, Clive Davis, Nikki Haskell, Ivana Trump, Sam Moore, Nick Cannon, and Star Jones just to name a few. Usher put in a long appearance and greeted everyone. James Carville and Mary Matalin were there, along with race car driver Jeff Gordon, and sponsor host Lorraine Schwartz, the most popular jeweler since Harry Winston.

Denise’s faithfuls were there, like Michelle and Frank Rella, and Michelle Herbert, as well as philanthropist Jean Shafiroff, Steve Boxer of Phillippe restaurant, newscaster Felicia Taylor, pr magnate Norah Lawlor, and so on. The evening honored NASCAR CEO and Chairman Brian and Amy France, Mary Kitchen and Compass Lexecon Co-Founder Jon Orszag. My old pal Alicia Quarles, who looked like a million bucks, did a lot of emceeing. At one point, she proposed marriage to a stunned Patti LaBelle to raise money for research. Patti got a kick out of that, but declined graciously.

There was talk of those K people may turning up, but they didn’t (which was wise considering their situation). Also, Cipriani was bursting at the seams this year as the silent auction separately may have yielded around $2 million.

Heidi Klum, whom I’ve known since long before “Project Runway” turned her into a fashion mogul, brought along a young man (whose parents I know quite well) as her “date.” She said, “This is my side piece!” Tell the tabs. It was all for fun.

Like TJ Martell, Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research is the real deal. I remember in the first years when Denise started it, we all thought it was a reason to gather celebrities and have a party. But this foundation produces results, particularly in children’s cancers and leukemia. It’s one of the few annual events like this where the vast number of people in the room stop and listen to the survivors’ speeches. Nicely done.

PS Patti sang the crap out of “Lady Marmalade.” Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic is the real thing. He sang some of his hits and played keyboards with OneRepublic. They’re a tight band and real musicians.

 

photo c2015 Showbiz411

PBS Latest to Turn Against Bill Cosby, Says They’ll Run Eddie Murphy Impression

Roger Friedman
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PBS Latest to Turn Against Bill Cosby, Says They’ll Run Eddie Murphy Impression

PBS says in a statement: “PBS, WETA, and the program producers are in the process of turning last night’s The Mark Twain Prize live event into a broadcast show. Our intention is to include Mr. Murphy’s acceptance speech in its entirety. In order to comply with FCC regulations regarding profanity, audio bleeps will be used as necessary.”

This is sort of the final crushing blow to Cosby, who was a PBS stalwart for decades on programs like “The Electric Company.” It’s also a blow to him from the Kennedy Center, which has awarded him both the Twain prize and Kennedy Center Honors. The decision whether or not to include Eddie’s impression– which in its entirety is scathing and funny– was from both institutions.

Cosby had already lost all his educational institutions and sponsors. These were pretty much the last two. Even new depositions won’t sting as badly as this.

Janet Jackson’s “Unbreakable” Falls 81.9% in Second Week, Follows Duran Duran, Prince

Roger Friedman
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Janet Jackson’s “Unbreakable” Falls 81.9% in Second Week, Follows Duran Duran, Prince

UPDATED with better math, but still maybe the biggest drop since before Madonna.

Janet Jackson– what have we done for her lately? Her “Unbreakable” album debuted last week at number 1 and sold 105,000 copies. Everyone was excited. I know I was. She got great press and great reviews.

But week 2 is a bust. “Unbreakable” fell 81.9%, from Number 1 to Number 7, and dropped to 19.3K copies. Ouch! Janet takes the record of biggest percentage drop from Madonna’s “MDNA.”

What happened? Well for one thing “Burn it Up,” the second single, with Missy Elliott, didn’t click anywhere. There was a brief buzz and then………….

Janet isn’t alone among 80s stars who can’t move product. Duran Duran’s “Paper Gods” came and went in the blink of an eye. And Prince’s recent album also sputtered out within two weeks. It’s hard out there!

It’s hard even if you’re a contemporary star. We still don’t know what happened to Sam Smith’s James Bond theme song, “The Writing’s on the Wall.” It died on impact with the real world. The single appears only on the “soft rock” radio chart at number 24, with almost no airplay.

Rupert Murdoch Off Twitter for 13 Days– Have Sons Yanked His iPad?

Roger Friedman
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Rupert Murdoch Off Twitter for 13 Days– Have Sons Yanked His iPad?

UPDATE OCT 21st: Whither Rupert?

UPDATE OCT 20th: Still no Tweets from Mr. M, Day 12.

OCT 19th: Rupert Murdoch, where are you? The head of News Corp and 21st Century Fox etc has not posted to Twitter since October 8th. That’s 11 days with no Rupert.

Have sons Lachlan and James yanked his iPad? The last time Murdoch fell silent on Twitter was for a month from December 22, 2013 to January 24, 2014. Otherwise, he is almost a daily poster.

Of course, his last round of Tweets landed Rupert in hot water. He offered that Ben Carson would be a “real” black president as opposed to President Barack Obama, who is very much a black man and a black president.

Murdoch’s Tweets started a firestorm. It’s not the first time Murdoch’s Tweets have met with anger, but this was something else. He posted the next day:

All the posts are still there, but Rupert has not added a word since then. Unfortunately, last June Murdoch’s sons got rid of their father’s assistant, an inveterate Tweeter named Natalie Ravitz. She was very good at handling Murdoch’s social media, and often put up photos of her boss or notice of what he was up to so fans of the 84 year old didn’t worry. But Ravitz is now long gone. Murdoch may be too!

Meantime, no word from the Daily News’s publisher Mort Zuckerman. Since I wrote that he has been MIA mostly for the last few months, there has been silence. I wrote that story on October 1st. Zuckerman turned up on October 7th on Lou Dobb’s show on Fox Business. Fox? The same Fox owned by his rival, Murdoch? Yes indeed, and not long after a Zuckerman editorial appeared in the Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal. Are the two beleaguered tabs getting ready to merge? We’ll see…

Mariah Carey is Directing a Cable Christmas Movie in Cincinnatti, in Stilettos, with 10 Executive Producers Including Her Billionaire Boyfriend

Roger Friedman
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Mariah Carey is Directing a Cable Christmas Movie in Cincinnatti, in Stilettos, with 10 Executive Producers Including Her Billionaire Boyfriend

Mariah Carey is directing a cable Christmas movie in Cincinnatti, Ohio, in stilettos, with 10 executive producers including her billionaire boyfriend James Packer.

I don’t which of these things is strangest, as well as the news (to me) that there’s a neighborhood in Cincinnatti called Wyoming.

Anyway, last April Mariah sold a pitch about time travel at Christmas to her pal Brett Ratner and his partner James Packer. They set it up through New Line Cinema (Warner Bros) and then placed it at the Hallmark Channel with low cost cable TV expert producer Brad Krevoy. There are 10 executive producers on the film.

At some point it was decided that Mariah would actually direct the film. This is the same Mariah who generally keeps people waiting four to six hours before arriving for any appointment. According to a local report, Carey made a group of children and their parents wait seven hours recently to shoot a few minutes.

I’m not sure why they chose Cincinnatti, but maybe it’s Ohio tax breaks. Considering that Carey doesn’t like to eat food that can be purchased in supermarkets, it’s hard to imagine what the budget for “A Christmas Melody” is– of course, I guess you get more for your buck in Cincinnatti than in Sardinia or Capri.

Still, Hallmark movies have tiny budgets and are made on the fly. This one has to be turned around for a December 19th airdate and they’re still shooting it.

Plus, my favorite part of this is that Mariah is tottering around in 6 inch (at least) stilettos while she’s directing the film.

December 19th cannot come fast enough. All I want for Christmas is to see this movie!

 

“Absolutely Fabulous– The Movie” Is Coming Whether You Like it or Not

Roger Friedman
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“Absolutely Fabulous– The Movie” Is Coming Whether You Like it or Not

If you live long enough, it will all happen.

And such is the case for “Ab Fab” or “Absolutely Fabulous,” the hit British TV show that became a cult favorite in the US some 20 years ago. They’re making the movie! Fox Searchlight will release it, too. Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders are back, in a script by Saunders. All the original cast members are back, too, including Jane Horrocks, who had her own fame in the movie “Little Voice” many moons ago.

The movie will shoot in Britain and the South of France as Edina and Patsy have many madcap adventures as two mumbling, charming drunks who are suddenly pursued by paparazzi.  Good fun!

Exclusive: Greg Kinnear to Direct First Film, Co-Starring “Newsroom” Actress Emily Mortimer

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Greg Kinnear to Direct First Film, Co-Starring “Newsroom” Actress Emily Mortimer

Here’s a surprise: I’m told that one time Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear, who’s had a long list of successes as a likable screen presence since he rocketed from “Talk Soup” to “Sabrina” nearly two decades ago, is going to direct his first feature.

Kinnear will direct “Phil: A Tale of Flossing and Plumbing” starring himself and one of our all time faves, “Newsroom” actress Emily Mortimer (“Match Point,” “Doll & Em”). The title may not make it to the end.

Kinnear’s Phil, a dentist, decides to impersonate a Greek plumber and infiltrate the home of one of his patients after the man dies in his dental chair. He insinuates himself into the family and of course falls for the unwitting widow (Mortimer).

The money for “Phil” is coming from Canada’s Bron Studios, which hasn’t had a hit yet but is trying with the so-so Hank Williams movie “I Saw the Light,” which Sony just pushed back to next spring. The “Phil” script is by Stephen Mazur, who wrote Jim Carrey’s 1997 hit “Liar Liar.” The Kinnear dental plumber sounds like he’s in the same vein as the Carrey character from that movie.

 

Watch Eddie Murphy Deliver Hilarious Bill Cosby Impression You Won’t See on PBS Special

Roger Friedman
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Watch Eddie Murphy Deliver Hilarious Bill Cosby Impression You Won’t See on PBS Special

The PBS special for Eddie Murphy’s Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center airs November 23rd. It was taped last night but there’s a part I doubt you will see when the show is put together. Accepting the prize, Murphy finally broke down and did his post-rape allegation Bill Cosby impression. Gut busting funny, the extended riff included Cosby bragging “I put the pill in the stomach” and Cosby threatening to get comedian Hannibal Burress, who blew the whistle on him.

Murphy simply savages Cosby in what could have gone one for an hour. The audience at the Kennedy Center was alternately gasping and howling as Murphy ripped Cosby to shreds. Certainly this piece will turn up on YouTube soon. But I doubt that PBS will include it in the final edit.

Murphy hasn’t done stand up in three decades, but he was just brilliant even before he got to Cosby, asking if he’d won a prize, where was the money? That part should make it to the show.

The guests who roasted Murphy included Saturday Night Live alumna Tracy Morgan, Kevin Nealon, and Joe Piscopo, who did a neat Sinatra imitation; current SNL star Jay Pharoah, plus Kathy Griffin, George Lopez and comic superstars Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle. Backstage, J.B. Smoove was a surprise guest. Smoove told me he’d heard about the show and drove down from Philadelphia. Plus, Sam Moore– just a few hours after laying it down with Justin Timberlake in Memphis–flew in and performed his classic “Hold On I’m Coming” with the remarkable Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes.

Also in the audience: the great Laugh In producer George Schlatter, and comedian-writer Bruce Vilanch. Kudos to producers Mark Krantz and Peter Kaminsky, among others.

This is a VERY edited version of what Eddie said. The real thing goes on and on, and is hilarious and savage:

Whatever PBS includes, the Eddie Murphy special is going to be a big hit. The show wisely concentrates on Eddie’s SNL years and his stand up, with some, but not a lot, of focus on his movie career. What you do get over the two hours is a clear sense of Murphy’s early comic genius. His work, like the “Mister Rogers” parody and “C-I-L-L My Landlord,” stands up very well over time.

By the way, I’m told that in 2016 we’ll see an independent movie currently titled “Cook,” which could earn Eddie an Oscar nomination for 2017.  The movie is quietly being shown to distributors right now. From the sound of it, “Cook” might wind up at Sundance.

Photo c2015 Showbiz411 exclusive

Justin Timberlake Puts on Surprise Show at Memphis Music Hall with R&B Legend Sam Moore, Following Hilarious Jimmy Fallon Speech

Roger Friedman
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Justin Timberlake Puts on Surprise Show at Memphis Music Hall with R&B Legend Sam Moore, Following Hilarious Jimmy Fallon Speech

What a night in Memphis for music fans! Justin Timberlake put on a surprise show for the Memphis Music Hall of Fame with R&B legend Sam Moore. The show — in which Timberlake and Moore got down on Sam & Dave’s “Hold On I’m Coming” and Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay”– backed by the Hi Records Rhythm Section and in front of an audience that included Jimmy Fallon, Governor of Tennessee Bill Haslam, and Keith Richards–turned into a wild rave. At one point, Stax Records legend William Bell jumped in with them.

And all this is after Fallon gave a long very very funny speech about his friend Timberlake, which was followed by Justin’s own lengthy. moving, and also humorous acceptance speech. That speech, which Justin made in a blue Tom Ford tuxedo while holding a potent drink, began with a long thank you to his wife, Jessica Biel, sitting with Justin’s parents, their respective spouses, and his many friends from Memphis, his hometown. Biel, wearing a gorgeous black white Dolce and Gabbana dress, glowed. Earlier, we talked backstage about baby Silas and all Jessica’s projects. They are a happy, happy family. “All we do at home is laugh,” Jessica told me.

Meantime, the whole backstage at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts was teeming with notables including the great drummer Jim Keltner, plus Sun Records founder Sam Phillips’s sons, the family of legendary producer Willie Mitchell, and so on. Yvonne Mitchell, daughter of Willie, reminisced with Keith Richards about the time she picked him  up from the airport when he recorded his first solo album at her dad’s Royal Studios. Keith, who came with manager Jane Rose, was thrilled to see Mitchell again. Then he gave the award inducting Elvis Presley band leader Scotty Moore into the Hall of Fame.

There were plenty of other awards and performers including the sensational Tracy Nelson, who offered a sensational “Mother Earth” in tribute to Alberta Hunter. Melanie Fiona gave a sultry reading of Al Green and Willie Mitchell’s “Let’s Stay Together” backed by many of that record’s original players. Charlie Rich Jr. did his late father proud playing and singing “Behind Closed Doors.”

An historic night.  PS Big shout out to Hal Lansky, at the best and most interesting men’s store in the US, Lansky’s at the Peabody Hotel, where the ducks are still making twice daily appearances. Half the performers last night wore clothing from Lansky’s! Memphis is the best dressed town in America!

More to come including videos and more photos.

Photo c2015 Showbiz411

Memphis Report: Gearing Up for Justin Timberlake, Sam Moore, Keith Richards, Jimmy Fallon and More!

Roger Friedman
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Memphis Report: Gearing Up for Justin Timberlake, Sam Moore, Keith Richards, Jimmy Fallon and More!

I’ve only been in Memphis– my favorite city other than New York– for a few hours. But I’ve already had ribs, fried chicken, and gumbo, several meals, and was almost lured on to the roof of my hotel by strangers offering Gus’s chicken. The two main activities in Memphis are music and eating, and I’ve already been well embedded.

On the food front, starting in the airport (where there is no sign that reads “Baggage Claim”– just pictures of a suitcase) the smell of barbecue is overwhelming. You have to push yourself not to eat it right there, and wait until you’re downtown. Along the way, everyone from the taxi dispatcher to the driver to the doorman at the hotel are discussing where you should go first, and what you should eat.

Then there is the music. We are here for the Memphis Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday night. Sam Moore and the late Dave Prater will be inducted, and Sam will close the show with an all star band of Memphis musicians including Charles and Leroy Hodges, Bobby Manuel, Archie Butler, and Steve Jordan on drums among others.

Rehearsal today was in the famed Royal Studios in South Memphis, where the late legend Willie Mitchell recorded all of the great hits by Al Green, Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson, Otis Clay and others on Hi Records. It is now run by his son Boo and the Mitchell family.Royal Studios is basically a couple of low brick buildings cobbled together and sitting on a weedy block. It actually looks like two buildings that collided into each other. One of them is more residential in appearance. Someone painted a now faded black and white piano keyboard on the stoop a long time ago.

Nothing has changed since I was last here in 1999. Charles Hodges, who played the organ and keyboards on all of those hits (like Let’s Stay Together and I Can’t Stand the Rain)showed me his Hammond B3, the same one he played on all the records. “I’ve been sitting here since 1969,” the Reverend told me. (He was ordained in 1998.) The Reverend, his brother Leroy, and late brother Teenie were the heart and soul of the Hi Records Rhythm section. Leroy was also in the rehearsal room yesterday, along with an amazing horn section and Archie Turner on his Wurlitzer.

Yes, it was rather amazing to have stepped off the plane from New York and two hours later stand in the middle of this small studio room. First there was a run through of Booker T and the MGs’s “Green Onions” with organ solos that could have been from 1962 (when the instrumental was first a smash hit) or 1967 (when it staged an international comeback).

And then Sam Moore, who turned 80 this past week, with three female back up singer behind him, and Steve Jordan quipping between drum beats, rehearsed Sam & Dave’s “I Thank You” and Sam’s quintessential “Soul Man.” The horns rising behind me like  a choir of angels, with the  Memphis sound–, Hodges and Butler shimmering on organs, Leroy and Bobby Manuel’s plaintive guitar leads in filigree mode and then Sam’s sweet rich tenor rising above was too much for everyone to handle.

Mission: accomplished. The sound of heaven meant just one thing: time for Gus’s famous spicy fried chicken. This was two hours after lunch, and three before dinner. Macaroni and cheese were involved, as well. The musicians took their plates and spilled out onto the sidewalk in front of Royal. The air was still warm enough to enjoy the dying days of Indian summer. Willie Mitchell must have been smiling above.

Saturday: big celebrities are expected including Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake, and Keith Richards. The Hall of Fame show will be bursting with R&B stalwarts, the Memphis Elvis contingent (for Scotty Moore), country fans (for the late Charlie Rich, his looklike namesake son will perform his hits), the hardcore Stax family (for Al Jackson Jr. of Booker T and the MGs) and the music royalty in this town. Then next week, many of them will show up again for Pat Tigrett’s 22nd annual and final Blues Ball to benefit Memphis charities. Beale Street is booming. You could just stay here, eat and listen to music. The rest of the world doesn’t exist.

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