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UPDATE Justin Timberlake Album “20/20” Sold Close to a Million Copies

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE Justin Timberlake Album “20/20” Sold Close to a Million Copies

SECOND UPDATE: With about 70% of sales counted so far, “20/20” is at 760,000 copies. That’s more than the combined sales of the rest of the top 50 last week.

UPDATE Justin Timberlake’s “20/20” album looks like it will hit between 975,000 and 980,000. This according to our pals at hitsdailydouble.com. Not a million? Anyway, the hits hit counter has a glitch, but they’ll be up and at it shortly.  The original writers of “Suit and Tie” should be celebrating. Let’s hope they got a good deal for use of their song “Sho Nuff.” Keep refreshing for updates…

EARLIER Well, well. A week on Jimmy Fallon, plus “Saturday Night Live,” not to mention the Grammy Awards and the after parties and the constant barrage of media–it’s all worked. Hitsdailydouble.com says “The 20/20 Experience” should come a cropper on Monday with between 800,000 and 900,000 copies sold. But I am told that the number could be higher. Two versions of “20/20” are occupying the numbers 1 and 2 slots on iTunes. The album is number 1 everywhere else. “Suit & Tie” — based on a song called “Sho Nuff” by 70s R&B group Sly Slick and Wicked (Cleveland edition) has turned into a huge hit. Timberlake and Jay Z will head off on arena tour this spring. Everyone else sampled or interpolated on “20/20” will get paid handsomely (at some point). All that’s left is for JT to sing for President Obama to complete this marketing plan. I like Justin Timberlake doing comedy more than doing soul, and Robin Thicke may be knocking soon, asking for his act back, but if the success of “20/20” gets people to investigate the underlying real thing, I’m all for it.

Rolling Stones Summer Concert Deal with $20 Mil Advance Took Only 45 Minutes

Roger Friedman
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Rolling Stones Summer Concert Deal with $20 Mil Advance Took Only 45 Minutes

The recent surprising news that the Rolling Stones’ 18 arena concerts in the US would be promoted by AEGLive took only 45 minutes to negotiate. As recently as two weeks ago, I told you that AEG would promote the Stones two shows in Hyde Park, London in July. But the 18 American dates, beginning in May in Vancouver, were going to be through Australian Paul Dainty fronting for Richard Branson’s Virgin Live. That pairing had taken care of the Stones’ five in November and December, at the o2 Arena, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and the Prudential Center in Newark.

Those dates had been a great success. The Stones got a $25 million advance, and sold out all the shows after charging astronomical prices for the tickets.

This time around. I am told, the Stones wanted at least a $20 million advance as well as a line of credit from which they could draw down as the dates progressed. Sources say they were waiting for Dainty/Branson to come through with a letter of credit showing they had the funds and were ready to go. But something happened–no one’s sure what. At the last minute, the AEG execs got a call from the Stones’ lawyer Joyce Smyth. The letter of credit was not coming through. Could AEG pick up the slack?

They say that it one phone call fromA AEG Live’s Randy Phillips to AEG owner Philip Anschutz. “The whole thing took a total of 45 minutes,” says a source. “Phil knows what it is to have the Stones.”

So far, 18 dates are booked but none yet in Madison Square Garden. That would be the likely last stop for the Stones in the US–and maybe their farewell forever show.  Meantime, I am told that the bottom ticket prices will be lower than the ones from last fall. (They couldn’t be higher.) Nosebleed seating will have a lower price point. And with Lady Gaga off the circuit, and contemporary bands just not so interesting, expect the 51 year old Stones to be the summer’s big draw.

photo c2013 Showbiz411

As Predicted Here: 2014 Oscars On March 2nd

Roger Friedman
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As Predicted Here: 2014 Oscars On March 2nd

Just as I told you a few weeks ago, the 2014 Academy Awards will be held a little late– on March 2nd. That’s because of the Winter Olympics wiping out the month of February. Everything else has been pushed back into January including the Grammy Awards. The last thing you’ll see on TV before the Olympics will be the Super Bowl from New York on February 2nd. Rest at ease, the Oscars return to February 22, 2015. All the Oscar prognostcators already know who won those awards.

There’s a silver lining to the moved date for next year. The nominations announcement will move back to after the Golden Globes, which will held on January 12th. The deadline for voting will be January 8th. So get ready. Time waits for no one.

here’s my original story about all these dates:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/03/03/tv-wars-2014-winter-olympics-could-push-oscars-to-first-sunday-in-march

Happy Birthday Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, Still Reigning

Roger Friedman
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Happy Birthday Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, Still Reigning

It’s Aretha Franklin’s birthday. She’s got a party in New York tonight, and then two dates in the tri-state area. She is still the Queen of Soul, with a catalog that shows her immense range and diversity as the greatest singer of our time. No one comes close to matching Franklin’s tone and delivery although there some amazing singers out there. No one working today will ever match what Franklin’s done in part because they simply don’t have the songs, the hits, the arrangements. There’s no “Respect” for Beyonce, or any of the others. How many of Aretha’s records just make you want to start dancing in your car, in your seat, down an aisle in the grocery store? Here are just a few gifts she’s given to us:

“Mad Men” First Three Episodes Get Names

Roger Friedman
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“Mad Men” First Three Episodes Get Names

There’s always a lot of secrecy leading up to the new season of “Mad Men.” So I’m happy to say that at least we now know the title of the first three (or four ) episodes of Season Six. The first two hour episode is called “The Doorway.” Then Episode 2 (or 3, since “The Doorway” counts as two) is “The Collaborators,” and it’s directed by series star Jon Hamm. Episode 4 is “To Have and to Hold.” A Los Angeles screening audience saw “The Doorway” last week. I’m not sure if anyone in New York will see anything but screeners went out to reviewers. Everyone’s been asked to keep a tight lid on the storyline. We do know that “The Doorway” was partially shot in Hawaii, that Don Draper is best man at a soldier’s beach wedding, and that since we saw them all Megan Draper is now acting in something full time. (Broadway, soap opera, something.) I am told that we’ll see a lot of Betty Draper Francis (January Jones), much more than in last season when Jones was pregnant or giving birth. Sundays get a lot better beginning April 7th.

A Phil Spector Broadway Musical? Murderer’s Wife Should Keep Her Money

Roger Friedman
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A Phil Spector Broadway Musical? Murderer’s Wife Should Keep Her Money

A Broadway musical about Phil Spector? If I were Rachelle Spector, the 32 year old woman who married Phil Spector after he was arrested for murder– and before he received a 19 years to life sentence– I’d keep my money. The latest and last (presumably) Mrs. Spector tells Tim Appelo in The Hollywood Reporter that she’s got plans to put Phil’s life and music on stage.

This sanitized version of Spector’s life, she says, is already underway. I don’t know who’s writing this thing. but my advice is, stop now.  There is no audience for a musical called “Be My Baby” or whatever. Not one about Spector. As much as the excellent HBO “Phil Spector” movie is presented as a “fiction,” it’s pretty accurate up to a point. And I don’t think the public will be forking over $150 a ticket to see Rachelle Spector’s version of events turned into a musical comedy.

Indeed, while Rachelle complains to Appelo about the HBO movie, someone licensed Spector’s music to HBO for use in the film. And that would have to have been her, since Phil’s in jail. This is interesting since Spector won’t allow his famous ex wife Ronnie, who he treated like dirt, didn’t pay, etc, to use her songs in a dramatic presentation. Ronnie Spector has been trying to mount a stage show about her life. But as she says in the performance, Phil Spector has prohibited her from using her own hits.

Nevertheless, Ronnie’s master recording of “Be My Baby” is heard right at the beginning of David Mamet’s “Phil Spector” movie.

Rachelle Spector also says in that interview that she’s got a new deal with Sony Legacy. Well, no. The deal was announced in September 2009. The great Spector boxed set, “Back to Mon0,” is now out of print from ABKCO Records. Too bad.

And the musical? Phil Spector murdered Lana Clarkson. I do think audiences will be a tad uncomfortable celebrating his life and legend, dancing in the aisles, knowing their hard earned money will be going straight to his bank accounts. As much of a genius as Spector was, he was also crazy. And now, like O.J. Simpson, he is paying the price for his bad deeds.

Saturday Night: The Champ Takes It Easy; Cissy Houston Turns Out for A Friend

Roger Friedman
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Saturday in Scottsdale, Arizona: Muhammad Ali, the Champ, took it easy all weekend for his annual Fight Night celebrity fundraiser. Ali, who’s 71 and still in there fighting, skipped the Friday night private dinner and was very low key on Saturday night. There were tons of celebrities, though: Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, “Soul Man” Sam Moore, basketball legend Nancy Lieberman, Jennifer Lopez with her young man, and so on including Billy Ray Cyrus, Bo Derek, producer David Foster, and emcee Reba McEntire. Italian singing star Andrea Bocelli flew in from Italy just to appear at Fight Night….

Saturday in Harlem: Cissy Houston and Dionne Warwick turned out for their great friends Vy Higgensen and Ken Wydro. It’s the 30th anniversary of Vy’s much loved show “Mama I Want to Sing.” At the gala at the Dempsey Theater on West 127th St: Valerie Simpson, 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl, Damon Dash, Angie Stone, and Nate Berkus.

“Mama” is based on the story of Vy’s late sister, the great Doris Troy– “Just One Look (That’s All it Took)”– who defied her family and left the church to sing pop music. Doris was a singer’s singer– she recorded solo album for the Beatles’ Apple Records, and is the voice you hear all though Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”

“Mama I Want to Sing” also begat The Mama Foundation in Harlem– a school for young people getting into music, learning gospel. You can always send money their way at www.mamafoundation.org.

PS the whole “Mama” was underwritten by Freddie Gershon and his wife Myrna, who are great philanthropists. If you don’t know, Freddie was a music lawyer in the early 70s with big stars. Then he joined Robert Stigwood Organization, and was the man behind “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease.” Freddie and Myrna are top notch do-gooders.

“NCIS” Star Pauley Perrette Awaits Sentencing of Convicted Ex Husband

Roger Friedman
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“NCIS” Star Pauley Perrette Awaits Sentencing of Convicted Ex Husband

“NCIS” star Pauley Perrette is almost at the end of a long, harrowing journey with her ex husband. Scheduled for sentencing this week in a Los Angeles court room is Francis “Coyote” Shivers, whom Perrette managed to divorce after a short marriage. This was just at the beginning of her long run on “NCIS.” Shivers was recently convicted of violating a restraining order Perrette had in place against him. Shivers was also convicted on a second count of “prohibited electronic communication.”

Shivers — a Canadian national– knows very well from “electronic communication.” He spends most of his time on Twitter, inventing websites, and using the internet to cause trouble.

The charges carry potential prison time of two and a half years. Shivers–well known to the Los Angeles Police Department after years of complaints by Perrette and Shivers’s first wife, writer and rocker Bebe Buell–could get the maximum sentence.

Shivers, who is unemployed. has one only drawing card:   for a third time he’s managed to marry well– this time to a Brazilian heiress named Mayra Dias Gomes. Sources say her late father, Brazilian author Dias Gomes, an Oscar winner from the 1950s, left her millions. Gomes, much younger than Shivers, has spent a fortune defending him, using controversial Los Angeles mob lawyer Tony Brooklier, himself the son of a late Mafia legend, Dominic Brooklier.

I first wrote about Perrette’s situation back in 2006 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216205,00.html.

The story was called “Pauley Perrette’s Endless Divorce Nightmare.” Shivers, who is infamously litigious, sued Fox over the artlcle and lost. At the time, Perrette said to me — referring to herself, Buell, and another woman, Angela Garber: “I’m the only thing standing between him and his next victim,” she says. “The three of us,” she adds, “fear for our lives 24 hours a day. We’re always looking over both shoulders.”

But come the sentencing of convicted Shivers, the ordeal may finally be over for the trio. Judges have recently become much harsher in their rulings against stalkers and harassers of celebrities, recognizing the dangers therein.

PS Michael Musto also wrote about this case recently in the Village Voice. http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2013/02/coyote_shivers.php

Friday Night Box Office: James Franco Has 2 Movies in the Top 5, Beats Tina Fey

Roger Friedman
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Friday Night Box Office: James Franco Has 2 Movies in the Top 5, Beats Tina Fey

Friday night box office: “Spring Breakers,” the witty  Harmony Korine sex fest starring James Franco, beat “Admissions,” the panned comedy about getting into college — and the former was in 1,000 fewer theaters. “Spring Breakers” is turning fast into a cult comedy of sorts and deservedly so.

You don’t think it works, but it does. And Franco is memorable– in a very good way. “Admissions” was panned by critics even though it stars TV darling Tina Fey and the always likeable Paul Rudd. Only Lily Tomlin was praised for her efforts. “Admissions” made just over $2.062 million last night, and will be lucky to score three times that over the weekend. It’s playing on 2,104 screens. “Spring Breakers” made $2.1 million on 1,104 screens.

Franco now has 2 movies in the top 5– the indie “SB” and the major major “Oz, the Great and Powerful.” And he did all those extra things while filming them–all those things everyone gossips about like teach and attend schools.

Each of these films, by the way, beat “Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” which took in just over a million dollars and looks to be a total write off. The Steve Carell-Jim Carrey feature has reaped $14 million. It cost the usual $100 million to make, at least, although many of the players have agreed to back end participation since the studio is only owning up to $30 million. Whatever happens, none of those people did the movie for free, and someone’s going to have to pay them.

Jay Leno Jabs At NBC Twice Friday Night: About a “Knife in His Back” and Being Sent on a Carnival Cruise

Roger Friedman
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Jay Leno Jabs At NBC Twice Friday Night: About a “Knife in His Back” and Being Sent on a Carnival Cruise

Jay Leno made it a fifth night in a row on Friday telling jokes about and jabbing at NBC. Leno is in a tug of war for the third time in his career with NBC over who should host the Tonight show even though he remains at the top of the ratings. Adding to the jokes of the last four days, Leno gave it to the network twice on Friday. The first joke was the best:

“Doctors in Canada were shocked after pulling a three-inch knife blade from the back of a 32-year old man. The knife had been in there for three years! Imagine that, the guy had a knife in his back for three years. He must’ve worked at NBC too. I was stunned by that.”

And the second at least referenced his dinner last night with NBC brass even though it didn’t seem to have done much good: “Have you heard about this alleged feud that I’m having with NBC? I think it’s going to be OK. This is real: I had dinner last night with a bunch of NBC executives. To make it up to me, what they did, they are sending my wife and I on an all expenses paid Carnival cruise. How about that? So it looks like it’s going to be OK. How about that? Fantastic!”

And now, a weekend break. When the Dowager Countess asks on Downton Abbey: “What is a week- end?” the new answer will be: two days in which Jay Leno and NBC lay off each other. We’ll miss them until Monday!

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