Shawn Mendes is 16 and about to break BIG time on the pop charts. Bigger than Bieber. Mendes’ debut album has just been moved up to April 14th from the 28th because teen girls are going crazy. Last night the video for his hit “Life of the Party” debuted on Vevo. The kid is young, but I’ve seen him live. Let me tell you, if he doesn’t lose his mind (and other things, over and over) he’s got the potential to be what Bieber is not in the music business: a force. And a credit to Canada. Get ready.
Madonna’s “Rebel Heart” in Dogfight for Number 1 Next Week with “Empire” Soundtrack
I did tell you Madonna’s “Rebel Heart” opened soft in sales. Now hitsdailydouble is predicting that Madge and the soundtrack for the “Empire” TV show will be in a dogfight for the number 1 spot.
“Rebel Heart,” they say, is looking at sales of around 100,000 copies. That’s not great, but it could be worse. Both Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez sold far fewer copies last year with new releases.
“Empire” is running around the same rate, although its streaming numbers may be higher than its physical sales. “Empire” is also a phenom in TV ratings, so it has more heat. It’s also been marketed very well, a la “Glee.” All the music is by the cast.
Madonna, as I’ve said before, lacks a hit single to put it out there and over the top. Her fans should be downloading “Devil Pray” separately from iTunes. That will give her momentum.
Another Lawsuit? Robin Thicke Stole THIS Marvin Gaye Song, Too (Listen)
Robin Thicke is really just a Marvin Gaye tribute act. A federal jury decided yesterday that his “Blurred Lines” ripped off Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up.” The Gaye family won $7.4 million.
But what about Marvin’s “Trouble Man”? Thicke stole the whole thing and called it “Million Dollar Baby.” He included the line “Luck be a lady tonight” which he ripped from “Guys and Dolls.” Does the guy have an original thought in his head? What’s the explanation for this?
Waiting to hear if the Gaye family will sue over this one, too. Seems like a slam dunk. Listen:
Exclusive: Paris Jackson, Michael Jackson’s Daughter, Home and Happy After Almost 2 Years
EXCLUSIVE Paris Jackson is home. My sources tell me that Michael Jackson’s teenage daughter is back with her family in Calabasas, California after almost two years. In June 2013 Paris– who’d been a feisty, funny kid on Twitter, and had stood up for her grandmother against forces in their family– had emotional problems. There was talk that she’d attempted suicide. Her family moved quickly, and sent her to a boarding school in Utah so she could properly mourn her father and gain skills for coping with grief and fame.
And now, Voila!, Paris is home. She was visited recently by grandpa Joe Jackson, the Wily Coyote of the Jackson family. A source sent me some pictures, one of which I have reproduced here. Paris had wanted to leave the Utah school and come home for a while, sources say. It’s unclear if she will return to Buckley Hall or finish high school at another private school in the area. I am told that “she wants to help people, that’s what she wants to do with her life.” Which is a lot better than being a professional celebrity. And look at the pic– she’s smiling, tall, and beautiful. A happy ending, to be sure.
Welcome home, Paris. And may the paparazzi, as well as the press, leave you alone. You deserve some privacy.
photo of Paris and Joseph Jackson copyright c2015 Showbiz411. all rights reserved.
Sarah Jones: Film Director Randall Miller Will Serve 2 Years for Her Death in “Midnight Rider” Case
I didn’t write about this case as much as I should have. But Randall Miller, director of “Midnight Rider,” the movie that never got made, will go to jail in the death of Sarah Jones. Jones was killed in pre-production of the Greg Allman biopic. Here’s the press release from the DA’s office in Camden County, Georgia. Miller pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and criminal trespass. His wife, Jody Slavin, walked. The pair was also guilty of destroying the legacy of CBGB with a terrible movie they’d made before starting “Midnight Rider.” The Millers, seriously, will never get over this tragedy, and neither will the Jones family. But now safety issues will be all the more heightened on film shoots.
Jackie L. Johnson
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
BRUNSWICK JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
CAMDEN COUNTY OFFICE
PRESS RELEASE
03/10/2015
District Attorney Jackie Johnson announces the resolution of all criminal cases stemming from the
February 20, 2014 death of 27 year-old Sarah Elizabeth Jones of Atlanta. Jones was a camera assistant
working on the film “Midnight Rider.” Jones and several other members of the film crew were located
on the railroad tracks and trestle at Doctortown Landing in Wayne County, when Jones was struck and
killed by an oncoming train. Other crew members were injured, but survived the collision.
On Monday, March 9, 2015, Director Randall Miller entered a plea of guilty in Wayne Superior Court to
Involuntary Manslaughter and Criminal Trespass and was sentenced to serve ten years, with the first two
years to be served in the Wayne County Jail and the remaining eight years on probation. Miller was
ordered to pay a $20,000 fine and perform 360 hours of community service. As a condition of
probation, Miller cannot serve as a Director or in any capacity in which he would be responsible for the
safety of crew members on a film set. Miller was immediately taken into custody by the Wayne County
Sheriff to begin serving his sentence.
Pursuant to the entry of the guilty plea by Miller, charges were dismissed against Miller’s wife, Jody
Savin. Miller and Savin were the owners of Unclaimed Freight Productions, Inc. which was filming
“Midnight Rider”.
On Monday, March 9, 2015, Executive Producer Jay Sedrish also entered a plea of guilty in Wayne
Superior Court to Involuntary Manslaughter and Criminal Trespass. He was sentenced to serve ten
years probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. As a condition of probation, Sedrish cannot serve in
any capacity in which he would be responsible for the safety of crew members on a film set.
On Tuesday, March 10, 2015, First Assistant Director Hillary Schwartz was found guilty after a bench
trial before Superior Court Judge Anthony Harrison. Schwartz was sentenced to ten years probation,
and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. As a condition of probation, Schwartz cannot serve in any capacity in
which she would be responsible for the safety of crew members on a film set. Schwartz had cooperated
fully with the State, and had agreed to provide testimony at the trial that was scheduled to take place
beginning on Monday, March 9th.
Superior Court Judge Anthony Harrison presided over the proceedings, and pronounced sentence in the
above cases. The parents of Sarah Jones, Richard and Elizabeth Jones, were both present in the
courtroom and addressed the Court prior to sentence in each of the cases.
The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank Detective Joe Gardner and the Wayne County
Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of this case. The District Attorney would also like to thank the
jurors who were available to serve.
Robin Thicke, Pharrell Got to Give it Up: Jury Rules for Marvin Gaye’s Family on “Blurred Lines”
Marvin Gaye’s family has been awarded $7.4 million by a jury which has determined that “Blurred Lines,” Robin Thicke’s monster hit, infringed on Gaye’s 1981 hit “Got to Give it Up.” So nice the jury heard what every person with ears understood from the minute “Blurred Lines” starts.
The jury also awarded minor damages to the Gayes over another song Thicke nicked of their dad’s called “Love After War.”
And this may not be over. Thicke has other songs that sound like Marvin Gaye hits. The jury finding may also encourage other artists’ reps to pursue cases. The family of the late Curtis Mayfield may find this a way to go after various stars who’ve copied his songs as well.
UPDATE: Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I respond: While we respect the judicial process, we are extremely disappointed in the ruling made today, which sets a horrible precedent for music and creativity going forward. Blurred Lines was created from the heart and minds of Pharrell, Robin and T.I. and not taken from anyone or anywhere else. We are reviewing the decision, considering our options and you will hear more from us soon about this matter.
Keep refreshing…
Madonna: New Album “Rebel Heart” Opens Soft on iTunes, Amazon with No Hit Single
Madonna has not sold a lot of records in a long time. “American Life,” “Hard Candy,” and “MDNA” were stiffs on the charts, even though the Material Middle Aged Lady continued to sell concert tickets by the truckload.
Alas, her new album, “Rebel Heart,” buoyed by very positive reviews, is not taking off like a rocket. “Rebel Heart” dropped today to a luke warm greeting. Amazon has it at number 4, but that audience skews older and wants the physical CD. Over at iTunes, Madonna is at number 8. (Update: this evening the Super Deluxe “dirty” version of “Rebel Heart is number 1 at amazon and number 7 on iTunes.)
Those rankings aren’t bad considering she’s the oldest pop star in the top 40. But so far “Rebel Heart” has no radio hit, and no one single track on the iTunes top 100. She doesn’t really have a record label, which is part of the problem. Madonna is signed to Live Nation, which leases the album to Interscope. I don’t think anyone’s focused on radio, figuring instead that “Rebel Heart” is an adjunct to Madonna’s coming tour this fall. But if someone worked “Addicted” they might get a radio hit. And that would help.
“MDNA,” Madonna’s last album, premiered at number 1 with 359,000 copies. But that was a canard because most of the albums were deep discounted or given away with concert tickets (185,000 copies were sold that way). In the end, “MDNA” sold a total 539,000 copies. In its second week, “MDNA” had the biggest single drop from number 1 in history. Madonna’s team is playing it safe this time. But it may mean brutally low numbers next Monday.
Review: “Run All Night” Runs Fast, With Liam Neeson Avenging/Saving A Son This Time
These days, Liam Neeson is usually saving/avenging a daughter and shooting a lot of people in the process. In “Run All Night,” this time it’s a son. Gotta mix it up.
The Warner Brothers action thriller “Run All Night” that stars Oscar nominees Neeson (“Schindler’s List,” “Non-Stop”) and Ed Harris (“Pollock,” “The Hours”) had a splashy premiere Monday night at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (“Non-Stop”), the film also co-stars Oscar winner Common (“Selma”) as a hit man and Joel Kinnaman (“The Killing”), as Neeson’s character’s aforementioned son.
But it was tattooed beauty Cleo Wattenstrom, who is Kinnaman’s girlfriend, who was the center of the attention. The Swedish tattoo artist and actress wore a sheer gown that plunged nearly to her waist and was cut very low in the back to display colorful and intricate tattoos that covered nearly every area of exposed flesh.
“Run All Night” doesn’t disappoint as a fast-paced thriller with bone crushing fight scenes, thrilling car chases and characters trying to outrun assassins. The story revolves around two longtime best friends, who have both seen better days. Shawn Maguire (Harris) is Brooklyn mobster trying to retire and Jimmy Conlon (Neeson) is his former hit man, once known as “The Gravedigger,” who now haunted by memories of his past which he tries to drown out with booze. He’s estranged from his son who wants nothing to do with his mobster father. Whatever they pay Neeson he’s worth it; he adds gravitas and intensity to every scene he’s in and makes the familiar storyline work.
Neeson has a worthy actor to face off with in Harris, whose scenes together are the best part of the film, apart from the terrific action scenes, which never let up. You know as soon as he says, “I’m too old for this s…t,” he’s about to demolish a dozen baddies. Neeson’s character pulls himself together to try to save his son, who witnesses a murder committed by Maguire’s only son, a druggie who gets involved in a drug scheme gone wrong. The film becomes a father-son saga with many issues to work through and to forgive. But for one long night they work as a team to try to outsmart and outrun Maguire’s army of henchmen, along with the cop (Vincent D’Onofrio), who’s been trying to put Jimmy away for the past three decades.
Common, fresh from his Oscar win for his song “Glory” from “Selma,” plays Mr. Price, the assassin who says he would kill Mike just for the joy of it. Common is unrecognizable in his role as a hit man obsessed with killing both father and son. On the red carpet I asked Common how he got into the head of such a brutal character. “I tried to zone in,” he told me. “ I was happy to be a part of it with Liam Neeson. I knew that I wanted to go to that dark place and I did it. I just gave my all.” He added, “It was definitely heavy training cause you’re fighting against one of the best, one of the greatest to ever do it, Liam Neeson, so for me to go toe to toe with him, man to man, I had to go through the training and the process because he has the experiences that I don’t have but it was fun. My character Price definitely challenges him.”
Kinnaman, who has a Swedish accent he manages to disguise in his screen work, raved about playing opposite Liam Neeson. “It was a great honor to play with Liam, to play his son. It was a really great time. He’s a really sweet and gentle man that’s very generous, no ego and he’s got a great sense of humor, so it’s really easy.”
(Neither Neeson nor Harris was made available for quotes, so we don’t know what they thought.)
The Swedish actor has a bunch of action thrillers coming out soon. “What’s coming is going to be even more intense,” he promised. He said he likes to mix it up in his acting choices. “The people who watch the films that I’ve done, I think they can appreciate that I try to do,” he said. “I don’t try to stick with one thing and for me that is what I aspire to do, which is to do as different roles as possible.”
After his last interview, he actor rushed over to Wattenstrom, who was at the edge of the red carpet and gave her a passionate Hollywood-type smooch, and then the exotic couple walked hand in hand into the theater.
photo Paula Schwartz c2015 Showbiz411
Madonna: Opening Day Ticket Sales Soft, But Excellent Album Should Help
Monday: tickets to see Madonna at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the American Airlines Arena in Miami went on sale. Demand was not overwhelming. There are lots of great seats to be had in the $400 range. (Did I just write that with s straight face?) Madonna’s ducats are tres expensive. But September is a long way off; you can save up. The top ticket range for official seats is $895 on Ticketmaster.com. Yikes. Premium seats are a lot, lot more. The price may be an obstacle. The rest of the Rebel Heart tour tickets will start to go on sale shortly.
What will help ticket sales? Madonna’s “Rebel Heart” album. As I wrote in January when it was “leaked,” the album is excellent. If radio gets on it, and clubs start playing it, “Rebel Heart” should be a nice hit. It’s loaded with hit singles, from the lead off “Living for Your Love” to “Devil Pray” to “Illuminati.” There are nice mid tempo numbers, too, like “Ghosttown” and “Joan of Arc.” For dancing, you can’t beat “Unapologetic Bitch.”
A lot of the songs are about Madonna breaking up with her latest boytoy. Since teens buy albums, it will be interesting to see how they relate to a 56 year old woman singing about the problems of a middle aged celebrity. But the production is completely contemporary, and the record could not sound better. It’s also designed– Madonna is not stupid– to be produced on a stage. It will be huge fun to see these songs come alive with Madonna’s usual panache.
One issue: I love this song called “Addicted to the One that Got Away.” For some reason it’s not on the main album. But find it on the deluxe edition. It’s worth it. I hope Madonna has it on her set list in the fall.
Ego Show: Global Citizen Spent $7 Million on 2013 All Star Rock Concert, Gave $700K in Charitable Grants
Global Citizen? That’s the group– really a one man show– that stages those concerts the last couple of years in Central Park with big rock stars. They do it under the title Global Poverty. Everyone from Neil Young to Stevie Wonder, No Doubt, Jay Z and so on has been on the bills.
Next month, they’re planning a show in Washington DC on the Mall for Earth Day with No Doubt and more all -star acts.
But what’s this all about? In their latest tax filing, which I’ve obtained, Global Citizen, run by Hugh Evans, shows a little bit of their finances. (They are always behind a year, so this is for 2013, and the concert in the Park headlined by Alicia Keys, Kings of Leon, John Mayer and Stevie Wonder.)
According to this filing, Global Poverty spent a whopping $7 million to put on that show. They also paid $2 million to outside consultants to stage the show including almost $900,000 for rigging.
Another $100,000 was divided among three fund raising consultants. They were: More Entertainment; Zentertainment; and Riot House.
How about salaries? Global Poverty listed for salaries and compensation for $891,846 for 2013. That was an increase of about $500,000 from 2012.
How much went to actual poverty solving? Just over $500,000. A half million dollars. And those itemized expenses are vague notations to “increase awareness of global poverty” in Europe, East Asia, and and the Pacific. Money wasn’t spent on people who needed it. It was to tell people that poverty exists in those places.
The only specific donation listed by Global Poverty: they gave the Rotary Clubs of America based in Illinois $172,325 to “engage US Rotarians in focused grass roots polio advocacy.” Rotary International did spend $38 million last year around the world inoculating against polio. It’s unclear if Global Poverty’s donation went to medicine or just to advertising.
They also spent $328,334 advertising their “Live Below the Line” campaign, in which celebrities and others are touted for sleeping outside with the homeless.
Want to really stop global poverty? Donate money through micro financing via www.kiva.org, through the Red Cross, the United Way, or UNICEF.