EXCLUSIVE On Cory Montieth’s Twitter account he was listening to “Paris” by Friendly Fire over and over. “Basically on repeat,” he wrote on July 7th. That and he didn’t understand the meaning of “Sharknado” on July 12th. Such a sad story. Montieth described himself on Twitter as “tall, awkward, canadian, actor, drummer, person.” He had over 1.5 million followers, by the way.
Cory Montieth: The Song He Was Listening to “Basically on Repeat” Before He Died
“Glee” Star Cory Monteith, 31, Dead of Presumed Drug Overdose
A press conference is going on right now in Vancouver. “Glee” star Cory Monteith has died in Vancouver of a drug overdose at age 31. Monteith died in the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel at noon Vancouver time. He checked into the room on July 6th and police say he was alone when he died. Friends had been with him during the prior night. The local police say they are talking to hotel staff. All indications are “no foul play” according to the official statement.
Vancouver Police only informed Monteith’s family around midnight EST. There are going to be questions about why Monteith was in the hotel for a week and what he was doing. Monteith is from British Columbia. No cause of death was found apparent. So if Monteith, who had a history of drug abuse, died of an overdose, as supposed, autopsy and toxicology reports will provide that information. Police say Monteith has been “deceased for several hours” when he was found by hotel staff at noon (3pm New York time).
Monteith played Finn on “Glee” from the show’s start and became an overnight success. He was dating Lea Michele, the show’s lead actress. He’d been a lifelong drug addict according to reports, cleaning up at age 19 when his mother staged an intervention. Last winter he checked himself into a rehab facility.
But nothing really explains this tragedy– he was young, successful, bright, and had the world on a string, so to speak. Condolences to his family and friends. And fans: young people, especially, are going to be stunned in the morning when they hear this news.
Mariah, Bruised and Hurting, Plays Central Park Show for Hurricane Sandy Survivors
Mariah Carey soldiered on and last night, and shouldered on. She kept her promise and sang– very much live and in great voice–at a Major League Baseball event that raised money for survivors of Hurricane Sandy. Mariah brought her back up singers and sang with the New York Philharmonic led by Alan Gilbert.
This was no small feat. She has a painful dislocated shoulder in a sling, and it is extremely bruised. She covered it up her sling with three ingenious get ups that were put together by her old friend designer Wilfredo Rosado. One we called the Bling Sling, white and dotted with Swarovski crystals. Then she covered that one up with a white goose feathers. And a third was a ripped up black Gucci jacket.
On top of this, Mariah came and went from the stage on a elevator platform, so that she emerged and then disappeared as if through a trap door. Again, she has nerve damage in her right arm. And when we saw the actual purple bruise on her arm backstage, there was 
audible gasping. So let’s say tonight E did equal MC squared. The fact that she came, dressed, and sang the hell of out of four songs was pretty cool.
And you could hear her singing live– live– clear across Central Park. She sang “My All” and “Looking In” in the first half. (She got a little teary verklempt during the latter and paused briefly.) She returned to do a bit of “#Beautiful” and then banged out “Hero” with a gospel choir. Her voice was extremely strong and very much in good shape. Jackie Robinson’s widow, the famed Rachel Robinson, was sitting in the front row and grinning from ear to ear.
Backstage Mariah chatted with her mom and played with her two kids, Roc and Mo, the twin boy and girl who were really unbelievably cute. The little girl is a doll, and does a hysterical imitation of Mariah that includes Mariah’s hand gestures. Roc is a mini Nick Cannon, with a high forehead, a forest of hair that stands right up and he’s a bundle of energy.
An orthopedic doctor was backstage doing some therapy with Mariah on her arm when I made a brief pass through. “Did you ever see anything like this?” said, all the while playing with the kids.
PS Mariah says work is continuing on her album, which was delayed but, she assured me, is coming. “I can’t wait for you to hear it.” Randy Jackson was a guest star tonight on guitar, and he’s in town helping Mariah put on the finishing touches.
Exclusive: Mariah Carey Will Play Central Park Tonight Despite Recent Injuries
The show must go on! Mariah Carey will be singing her heart out tonight in Central Park with the NY Philharmonic on behalf of the victims and survivors of Hurricane Sandy. But don’t blame her if she winces a little bit. It turns out that Mariah hurt herself more severely than initially reported when she was filming a video last week in New York. The video was a remix of “#Beautiful” directed by her husband Nick Cannon.
Not only did she dislocate her shoulder, she fractured two ribs. Sources say there’s nerve damage in her right arm, there’s severe bruising. No doubt her top flight make up artist will cover all that up! But hey, for a mom of two toddlers with a busy career, this is no joke. Her doctors and orthopedic specialists begged her not to perform tonight because of physical limitations.
Nevertheless, Mariah wants to be there for the Hurricane Sandy families, her legions of fans and for Major League Baseball’s All-Star game kick off. She should be at home resting and healing, but knowing Mariah she’ll “give her all” to make tonight meaningful!
Stupidity Pays: Adam Sandler’s Totally Panned “Grown Ups 2” is Number 1
Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public. Someone said that. Last night the worst reviewed movie of the year, universally panned by everyone who writes about film, finished at number 1 at the box office. Adam Sandler’s “Grown Ups 2” took in over $16 million. It beat the highly praised “Pacific Rim” and the animation hit “Despicable Me 2.” How is it possible that Sandler’s meandering, coarse tripe could still make it to number 1? Is the audience drugged? Are they escapees from mental institutions? Do they have endless amounts of disposable income? Anyway, we’ll see how “Grown Ups 2” does the rest of the weekend. But no one who went to that movie last night can complain about not having money for anything. You wasted it on this.
Madonna Hosting “Bar Mitzvah” in NYC Saturday? Vogue Service at 9
This is a total rumor but it’s enough of a spit-take that I thought I’d mention it. Madonna is said to be hosting a “bar mitzvah” tomorrow morning for son Rocco Ritchie. Rocco is not yet 13– his birthday is August 1st. And he’s not Jewish in any way. Those are the two requirements for bar mitzvah– to be 13 years of age and to be Jewish either born or converted.
Rocco’s father is Guy Ritchie, the director of “Sherlock Holmes” and “Snatch.” He is not Jewish. Moreover, Madonna Louise Ciccone Penn Ritchie was born Roman Catholic.
Of course, the service is said to be at the Kabbalah Center in New York. The Kabbalah Center isn’t a synagogue. It’s a pay-for-pray facility, a cult run by the Berg family. The Bergs– Karen and her two sons, Yehuda and Michael, are said to be in New York for the big occasion. No word on Karen’s boyfriend, Muki, or her not-seen-anymore husband Philip.
If Rocco is being “bar mitzvah”-ed, I can only imagine the ceremony: lithe dancers with headsets sinewing around the “bimah”– the stage– wearing all white– Kabbalah Center people wear all white. First, a Vogueing service. Then: A candle lighting ceremony in which Madonna’s boytoys like Brahim and Jesus are called to the front. And then everyone throws $26 red strings at Rocco. Copies of Madonna’s “Sex” book are given to guests as parting gifts. Sounds like fun.
Since my invite was lost in the mail, I won’t be in attendance. And I had a nice fountain pen all picked out for Rocco! I hope Mercy and David Banda, the children Madonna got in Malawi, try the kugel and someone from the singer’s family pinches their cheeks. And Madonna is lifted up during “Hava Negillah” in an expensive antique chair.
Or maybe none of this is true, it’s just Tevye’s nightmare from indigestion.
Justin Timberlake Clever Michael Jackson Tribute in New Song “Take Back the Night” (Listen)
Justin Timberlake does a clever mini Michael Jackson tribute in his new single “Take Back the Night” from “20/20” part 2 due September 30. It comes in at around 2:30 here. Listen — “Wanna Be Starting Something” and a line about “Michael Jackson/can drive you crazy.” Nicely done. Between this single, JT’s first 20/20 album and “Get Lucky,” it’s really the summer of 1978 all over again. Disco lives. I never thought that would happen. But it’s like a breath of fresh air. This reminds me of George Benson’s “Give me the Night.”
WWOR Canceled Newscast– Seven News Writers Fired: Writers Guild Outraged
Writers Guild East just realized Channel 9’s newscast is gone. WWOR is owned by Fox News/News Corp. I don’t understand why the FCC hasn’t stepped in already. WWOR replaced their only newscast with a crap canned show a la TMZ that looks like a bunch of jackals running around with minicams. They should all be ashamed of themselves. But you know CHannel 9 once hosted Morton Downey Jr’s embarrassment of debasement, so I guess they could argue it’s the station’s history. Even worse: Richard Bey. The fact is, Channel 9 has always been a garbage dump. FoxNews/NewsCorp just cinched it.
Statement:
The Writers Guild of America, East learned last week that WWOR was abandoning New Jersey news coverage by canceling its last remaining local news show.
As a result seven Writers Guild, East news writers – all of them long time employees – were given their walking papers. This was done in typically cold corporate form: members were called into a meeting on July 3rd and told they were out of a job and that they should collect their things and leave. The boxes they packed were searched before they left. Because their Guild contract requires two weeks’ notice before a layoff, those members will continue to receive their salaries until the middle of the month as well as one week of severance pay for each year they worked, cushioning the blow but not the injustice.
WWOR owner News Corp. (whose television division is now known as “21st Century Fox”) has long underplayed the legal requirement that it provide local news coverage to the people of New Jersey – a legal condition of its holding the license to operate in the state.
The Guild joins Senator Robert Menendez’s call that the FCC conclude its review of 21st Century Fox’s application to renew its license for WWOR, as well as the ongoing investigation into whether WWOR made misrepresentations related to that application.
“We agree that WWOR is not serving the interests of the people of New Jersey as required by FCC rules,” said WGAE Executive Director Lowell Peterson. “The people of New Jersey deserve a television station that will honor its responsibility to provide thoughtful, professional coverage of the issues facing the state. WWOR should add news programming, not chase it off the airwaves.”
Review: “Pacific Rim” Is the Weekend’s Big Studio Success
Guillermo del Toro, thankfully, never disappoints his slavishly devoted film groupies. The futuristic “Pacific Rim” gloriously shows his quintessential touch, by reflecting his rich poetic fantasy and testerone filled imagination. That and so much more is up on the screen in this nonstop raucous filled visual feast of filmmaking.
Who knew that monsters fighting robots and the layered characters that save the earth could become a true summer experience that fulfills what so many movies so far this year have unfortunately not. “Rim” is scary, smart and scientific, with humor weaved in throughout. The visual effects are stunningly believable and artistic in every scene. The way cute and capable Charlie Hunnam plays a former Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket, Jaegers being the massive robots the humans built to defeat those pesky alien ocean creatures. Idris Elba always is perfection and he is again here. The gravitas he portrays playing the seasoned professional marshaling his forces for one last stand against the creatures is the emotional vortex of the story.
Scene-stealers Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are the Laurel and Hardy version of the nerdy to the rescue scientists. Veteran actor Ron Perlman has a terrific comic turn as the black market evildoer. Rinko Kikuchi plays the young Japanese protégé with heartbreaking secrets of her own.
Del Toro’s films are always filled with detail and carefully thought out, there is art and skill here, the way it should be. Not these awful so-called blockbusters we’ve been forced to sit through, hear that “Lone Ranger,” “Man Of Steel,” “White House Down,” well the list goes on. The Academy should hand the Oscars for Visual, Animation and Sound Effects to Del Toro’s team right now. Del Toro’s artistic integrity and his otherworldly mastery creates magic, excitement and good old fashion fun. Get ready for the “Pacific Rim” movie ride; it’s the best one to go on this summer.
Lady Gaga Album in November: I Told You This in February
Remember when I told you Lady Gaga’s album “ArtPOP” would come in November? http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/02/12/lady-gagas-new-album-wait-until-november. Today she announced it on Facebook. A single will arrive on August 19th. Gaga is recording a duets album with Tony Bennett right now. She won’t finish “Art POP” until after that. This does mean that only the single will be eligible for Grammy awards on January 26th. The album will have to wait until 2015. Lady Gaga aka Stephanie Germanotta is very talented. I really wound up liking “Edge of Glory.” But let’s hope the new songs take her away from sounding like Madonna, and are more like “Just Dance” and her earlier, more original hits.