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Weird: Tony Awards Get Grammy’d — Choose Pop Star Pink as Host This Year, She’s Never Been on Broadway Or Acted in a Play

Roger Friedman
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Weird: Tony Awards Get Grammy’d — Choose Pop Star Pink as Host This Year, She’s Never Been on Broadway Or Acted in a Play

Why not, I guess?

Singer PINK has been chosen to host the Tony Awards this year.

She’s never been on Broadway or acted in a production. She’s a pop star. (And also a trapeze artist.)

But Pink — real name Alecia Beth Moore — is here in New York and may wind up hosting a talk show soon. She’s in a pivot mode.

Frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t go for Drew Barrymore.

“When I was asked to host the Tonys,” Pink said in a statement, “I immediately thought, ‘I have to get permission from my daughter.’ I’ve never been on Broadway, and shouldn’t you have to have been on Broadway in order to host? That seems fair and right. But when I asked my daughter, she was really excited about being able to have a ticket to go to the Tonys, so I’m hosting the Tonys and I’m really, really, excited and very nervous because that girl is a tough crowd!”

Bizarre as this all sounds, there’s been a feeling at CBS for some time that Jack Sussman, former head of specials and now a producer of the Tonys, has wanted to turn these shows into the Grammy Awards. Now that CBS has lost the Grammys to ABC, Sussman seems to think putting a pop star into any special will get good ratings.

Strange.

The Tony Awards take place June 7th.

Cannes Not: Annual French Festival Very Light on American Films, Stars as Studios Shy Away from Croisette Red Carpet

Roger Friedman
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Cannes Not: Annual French Festival Very Light on American Films, Stars as Studios Shy Away from Croisette Red Carpet

The Cannes Film Festival has announced its slate for next month.

American films are few and far between, and not very promising or from major filmmakers.

You know things are bad when the Festival is excited by movies directed by John Travolta, or Andy Garcia (great actor but really?).

Actually, Garcia’s movie — if they all come — will have the best red carpet with the director, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, and Brendan Fraser.

Otherwise, it would be hard to justify the expense of five-to-ten thousand dollars for this trip. I don’t know how the trades will do it.

American films include Ira Sachs’ “The Man I Love” in Competition; Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death At Camp Miasma” and Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid” in Un Certain Regard; Andy Garcia’s “Diamond” Out of Competition; John Travolta’s “Propeller One-Way Night Coach” in Cannes Premiere, and Special Screenings for Steven Soderbergh’s “John Lennon: The Last Interview” and Ron Howard’s “Avedon.”

Competition

“Minotaur,” Andrey Zvyagintsev

“The Beloved,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen

“The Man I Love,” Ira Sachs

“Fatherland,” Paweł Pawlikowski

“Moulin,” László Nemes

“Histoires de la Nuit,” Léa Mysius

“Fjord,” Cristian Mungiu

“Notre Salut,” Emmanuel Marre

“Gentle Monster,” Marie Kreutzer

“Nagi Notes,” Koji Fukada

“Hope,” Na Hong-Jin

“Sheep in the Box,” Hirokazu Kore-eda

“Garance,” Jeanne Herry

“The Unknown,” Arthur Harari

“All of a Sudden,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi

“The Dreamed Adventure,” Valeska Grisebach

“Coward,” Lukas Dhont

“La Bola Negra” (“The Black Ball”), Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo

“A Woman’s Life,” Charline Bourgeois-Taquet

“Parallel Tales,” Asghar Farhadi

“Bitter Christmas,” Pedro Almodóvar

Un Certain Regard

“La Más Dulce,” Laïla Marrakchi

“Club Kid,” Jordan Firstman

“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” Jane Schoenbrun

“Everytime,” Sandra Wollner

“I’ll Be Gone in June,” Katharina Rivilis

“Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep,” Rakan Mayasi

“The Meltdown,” Manuela Martelli

“Elephants in the Fog,” Abinash Bikram Shah

“Iron Boy,” Louis Clichy

“Ben’imana,” Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo

“Congo Boy,” Rafiki Fariala

“Ula,” Viesturs Kairišs

“Forever Your Eternal Animal,” Valentina Maurel

“Words of Love,” Rudi Rosenberg

“All the Lovers in the Night,” Sode Yukiko

Out of Competition

“Her Private Hell,” Nicolas Winding Refn

“Diamond,” Andy Garcia

“Objet du Deli,” Agnes Jaoui

“De Gaulle: L’Age de Fer,” Antonin Baudry

“L’abandon,” Vincent Garenq

“Karma,” Guillame Canet

Cannes Premiere

“Kokurojo: The Samurai and the Prisoner,” Kiyoshi Kurosawa

“Propeller One-Way Night Coach,” John Travolta

“The Third Night,” Daniel Auteil

“The Match,” Juan Cabral and Santiago Franco

“Visitation,” Volker Schlondorff

Special Screenings

“John Lennon: The Last Interview,” Steven Soderbergh

“Avedon,” Ron Howard

“Les Survivants du Che,” Christophe Réveille

“Les Matins Merveilleux,” Avril Besson

“Cantona,” David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas

“Rehearsals for a Revolution,” Pegah Ahangarani

“L’affaire Marie-Claire,” Lauriane Escaffre and Yvo Muller

Midnight Screenings

“Roma Elastica,” Betrand Mandico

“Full Phil,” Quentin Dupieux

“Colony,” Yeon Sang-ho

“Jim Queen,” Nicolas Athane and Marco Nguyen

“Sanguine,” Marion Le Coroller

Opening Film

“The Electric Kiss,” Pierre Salvadori (previously announced)

Paul McCartney Set as Musical Guest at “Saturday Night Live” in Advance of His “Boys of Dungeon Lane” Album

Roger Friedman
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Paul McCartney Set as Musical Guest at “Saturday Night Live” in Advance of His “Boys of Dungeon Lane” Album

Here’s a huge score for Lorne Michaels (no surprise).

He’s signed Paul McCartney for the season finale of “Saturday Night Live” for May 16th.

Sir Paul has previously appeared on the show in 1980, 1993, 2010, and 2012. This is his first appearance in 14 years.

The reason? He’s promoting his new album, “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” coming on May 29th.

We can only hope that Lorne will let Paul play three songs — two from the new album and at least one classic, maybe “Hey Jude” to end the show. Imagine those ratings!

It won’t hurt that Will Ferrell is the host that night. That’s A plus show!

PS Last week’s show, with Jack Black and Jack White, scored 4.5 million viewers, middle of the pack.

Michael Jackson Movie Drops Final Trailer, Stirs Up Fans with Talks of a Sequel That Won’t Happen, Tales of Dropped Scenes

Roger Friedman
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Michael Jackson Movie Drops Final Trailer, Stirs Up Fans with Talks of a Sequel That Won’t Happen, Tales of Dropped Scenes

The Michael Jackson movie, “Michael,” dropped its final trailer today.

The movie opens April 24th. The press sees it on April 20th. But there are rumors.

The biggest one is of a sequel. This is unlikely, however, because it would be a much different movie than this one.

“Michael” is a celebration of Jackson’s amazing rise in popularity in the 1980s. I told you when I saw the tracklist for the soundtrack– the movie ends with the “Bad” album and tour. That’s it.

The reason is that what happens next is very dark. A sequel would have to address two decades of accusations of child molestation.

Already the filmmakers had to re-film and erase any reference to the Jordie Chandler scandal. In Michael’s settlement with the Chandlers, it was agreed this would never be portrayed in a movie.

After the Chandler situation subsided, Michael went through a mysterious period that included his 30th anniversary concerts at Madison Square Garden. That was followed by his 2003 arrest, 2005 trial, and subsequent death.

There’s no upside to any of that. That movie would be a dark drama which ends in tragedy. And there’s also plenty of facts from those years that would open more wounds than heal them.

Still, “Michael” looks like great fun. Cross fingers.

Broadway B.O. Up $5 Mil from Last Week But Lags Behind Last Year, “Lion King” Sharp Rise, “Harry Potter,” “Hamilton” Still Rocking

Roger Friedman
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Broadway B.O. Up $5 Mil from Last Week But Lags Behind Last Year, “Lion King” Sharp Rise, “Harry Potter,” “Hamilton” Still Rocking

Broadway had a great week last week.

Box office receipts were up about $5 million from last week.

But they were also a notch behind last year on this date even though there were more shows.

For some reason, “The Lion King” zoomed up about $800,000 to $2.8 million. Easter and spring break probably had a lot to do with it.

The two shows really leading the pack are “Hamilton” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” There was surprise yesterday that Tom Felton extended his run in the latter for another six months. But the actor from the Potter movies has made the play go crazy. I hope he’s getting a taste of that action.

Down by $200,000 was “Dog Day Afternoon,” which sustained brutal reviews last week. I fear this is the beginning of a big decline.

Where we should see a huge uptick this week: “Becky Shaw.” Rave reviews from every reviewer. Hilariously funny and extremely accessible to all audiences.

Tomorrow night, Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf open in “Death of a Salesman.” Many questions here including Nathan Lane in a dramatic, non singing role. Scott Rudin trying to make a comeback as a producer. The public’s interest in seeing a new production of this pla after so many in recent years. Last week’s box office was $928,000 in the cavernous, sight lined impaired Winter Garden.

Kanye Lands A Shocking 16 Tracks on the Billboard Top 100: His Record Label Is Owned by Same Company as Music Magazine

Roger Friedman
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Kanye Lands A Shocking 16 Tracks on the Billboard Top 100: His Record Label Is Owned by Same Company as Music Magazine

There are a shocking 16 titles from Kanye West’s new “Bully” album on the new Billboard Top 100.

How is that even possible?

In the rest of the music industry, “Bully” tracks are barely making a dent.

For example: On iTunes, there are two Kanye titles.

On the Apple Streaming Music chart: just 5, all in the lower half of the chart.

There also only five “BUlly” tracks on the daily US Spotify top 100.

And yet, there are SIXTEEN on the Billboard Top 100.

Of course Billboard is co–owned by Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries.

It’s probably just a coincidence that Eldridge is the primary investor in Gamma Records, the label for Kanye West’s “Bully.”

Valued two months ago at $420 million, Gamma Records’ continued existence is dependent on “Bully” being a hit. Gamma president Larry Jackson already gambled on Mariah Carey’s new album, “Here For it All,” and lost big time. It sold only 70,000 copies.

He did the same with Sexxy Red, featuring Bruno Mars. That single, “Fat Juicy & Wet,” was a bust, opening in 2025 with just 5,200 copies sold.

Usher’s album, “Coming Home,” sold only 70,000 copies since its 2024 release.

So the success of “Bully” is essential. That total, through its second release week, is about 210,000.

Sixteen tracks on the Billboard Hot 100?

You’re asking, Can the Billboard Top 100 be manipulated? The answer: it’s actually in their DNA. My late friend Seymour Stein, long before he created the wildly successful Sire Records, worked at the Billboard chart. He used to regale me with stories how songs got placement and “bullets,” why records went up and down the chart.

And of course, if you own the magazine, it would be so much easier.

Hey — if you owned the creative company and the trade magazine for that company’s industry, wouldn’t you do the same thing? It’s called making lemonade out of lemons, especially if you own the lemon trees.

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Kanye’s “Bully” Album Dropping 50% in Sales Second Week to 70K, Mostly from Streaming as Music Fans Wake Up

Roger Friedman
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Kanye’s “Bully” Album Dropping 50% in Sales Second Week to 70K, Mostly from Streaming as Music Fans Wake Up

Poor Kanye West.

The UK has blocked him from performing there. His Wireless Festival has been canceled.

Bad press is finally catching up to him. Social media is full of posts recalling his heyday — just last year — supporting Hitler and Nazis, carrying on with antisemitic posts.

Now his “Bully” album is starting to fade. The collection sold around 150,000 copies in first week.

Second week sales are predicted at around 70,000 or down 50%.

While first week sales were more CDs and downloads, second week has seen streaming taking over. Only 10% of this week’s sales are from downloads or physical media.

Even on streaming, Kanye’s not doing so well. The highest any track from the album stands at on the Spotify top 50 is 25.

“Bully” will finish this week at number 3 or 4. At this rate, Kanye won’t even get a gold record.

Keep in mind, the next trouble you hear about will be Gamma Records, which paid for “Bully” with investment money from Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, and Apple.

Sorry, Kanye fans. And don’t forget, your hero says Slavery is a choice.

The Oscars Will Stay In March for the Next Two Years Despite Low Ratings and Nominated Films Already Out of Theaters

Roger Friedman
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The Oscars Will Stay In March for the Next Two Years Despite Low Ratings and Nominated Films Already Out of Theaters

A lot of people, including yours truly, would like the Oscars to move back to February.

This year, the show took place on March 15th. All the nominated movies were long gone from theaters. Interest in them had waned significantly.

The result was a big drop in the ratings.

It seems like this didn’t matter either to ABC or the Academy or both.

Next year, they say, the Oscars will be on March 14th. The following year, the last on ABC, will take place March 5th. The latter will be the 100th anniversary of the Oscars.

Then the show moves to YouTube. Perhaps the Academy will have more luck with an earlier date since there is no ratings sweep period streaming. February is a sweeps month for advertisers on TV.

In step with the Oscars, the SAG Actors Awards will take place on February 28, 2027 and February 20, 2028. SAG and Netflix are smart. This timing will actually make the Actors Awards important again. Now they will happen halfway through final Oscar voting. I’ll bet a lot of Academy voters will wait and see the SAG results before casting their Oscar ballots.

Of course, we will need good movies. For 2027, we have the possibilities of “Dune 3,” “Project Hail Mary,” “Disclosure Day,” “The Odyssey,” “Digger,” and more. If you go by the Oscar projection sites, we already know who won!

Broadway Booms with A List Opening of Hit Comedy “Becky Shaw” Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Patrick Ball, Linda Emond

Roger Friedman
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Broadway Booms with A List Opening of Hit Comedy “Becky Shaw” Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Patrick Ball, Linda Emond

Usually no one on Broadway can agree on anything.

But the Broadway debut of “Becky Shaw” last night has brought everyone together. There are no negative or even mixed reviews.

Two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Gina Gionfriddo’s multi-layered comedy is a hit, and probably on the way to a lot of Tony nominations.

The star packed audience at the Helen Hayes Theater last night thought so, too. They included Kelly Bishop — who starred in the original 2009 off Broadway production, plus Danny Burstein, Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham, Jesse Eisenberg, Peter Dinklage, Cherry Jones, Tom Sadoski, Merritt Weaver, and many more friends of the amazing Second Stage Theater Company.

A lot of the actors who came to opening night were there from the cast of “The Pitt” to support the Broadway debut of Patrick Ball, who’s part of this gifted and hilarious ensemble. The other cast members are Alden Ehrenreich, Linda Emond, Lauren Patten, and Madeline Brewer, each of whom outdoes the others at any time during Giofreddo’s sneakily deceptive story about dating and families.

You may know Ehrenreich’s name from Warren Beatty’s “Rules Don’t Apply” or Ron Howard’s Han Solo movie. He was most recently in the hit movie, “Weapons,” and “Oppenheimer,” among others. But he’s never had a breakout role like this one.

As Max, the character around whom “Becky Shaw” revolves, Ehrenreich has found his true calling as a charming but empty finance guy who was once sold by his white collar criminal father to the wealthy Slater family. He’s now their financial adviser since their patriarch has died.

Max is connected on many levels to both Susan Slater, the mother played by show stopper Linda Emond, and the daughter, Susannah (Lauren Patten). Soon into the play Susannah marries sweet but dim Andrew (Patrick Ball), who introduces them all to the titular Becky Shaw (the outstanding Madeline Brewer).

All you need to know is that Becky Shaw, who comes in late, is described by Andrew as “fragile.” She turns out to be anything but fragile. Gionfreddo peels back Becky’s layers as her presence unravels this group in very shocking ways.

What a thrill to have a great new play, so well executed by top notch players. Kudos to director Trip Cullman.

One more thing: Last year the Hayes Theater hosted the award winning play, “Purpose.” Before that, it was “Appropriate.” There must be something in the air, or Helen Hayes is sending blessings from above. “Becky Shaw” is supposed to end in mid June, but I have a feeling it may stick around longer. I hope so! I want to see it again!

PS The Tony category of Best Actor in a Drama is going to be amazing with Ehrenreich, John Lithgow, Adrien Brody, Daniel Radcliffe, and Nathan Lane.

UPDATED The Rolling Stones Will Drop New Rock Single on April 11th, Announce Coming Album, “Foreign Tongues, No Tour Yet

Roger Friedman
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UPDATED The Rolling Stones Will Drop New Rock Single on April 11th, Announce Coming Album, “Foreign Tongues, No Tour Yet

UPDATED EXCLUSIVE Reports are everywhere but I’ve confirmed:

On April 11th, the Stones will drop a new single, but not the song called “Mr. Charm.” The lead track is a rock and roll song, from a new album, not their last one, called “Foreign Tongues.” Andrew Watt is the producer.

“Mr. Charm” is said to be more of a ballad, and will be an album track.

Since a tongue is the Stones logo, the name of the album would be fitting.

I can’t imagine this is last album. Like their contemporaries — McCartney, Ringo, even Elton (a little younger) — they will keep writing and recording right up the moment they can’t do it anymore.

Why shouldn’t they? Especially since their last album, “Hackney Diamonds,” was a huge success.

What about touring? That will NOT be part of the announcement. I’m told a tour is possible, but there is no plan right now.

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