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“Melania” Movie Scores an 8 on Rotten Tomatoes, Offers Little Proof of Subject’s Existence, Or Even the Sound of Barron’s Voice

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Only one reviewer so far on Rotten Tomatoes likes Brett Ratner’s “Melania” documentary.

That’s the London Evening Standard, in an unsurprising kiss ass moment.

Other than that, the movie is completely panned. The rating so far is 8 percent. It would have been zero without without the Evening Standard.

Variety: “A documentary that never comes to life. It’s a “portrait” of the First Lady of the United States, but it’s so orchestrated and airbrushed and stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial.”

The Guardian: “The fun’s not infectious and the guests are a nightmare, and two hours of Melania feels like pure, endless hell.”

The Hollywood Reporter “To say that Melania is a hagiography would be an insult to hagiographies. This is a film that fawns so lavishly over its subject that you feel downright unpatriotic not gushing over it.”

There will be more reviews. But actual reviewers were stopped from seeing the movie last night at the Kennedy Center. Audience members from the Kennedy Center and select premieres among Republicans are posting stuffed ballot box raves, but they’re not remotely reflective of the reality of the situation. (They don’t use their real names, for one thing.)

One thing we knew already: there is no Barron, no sound of his voice, or proof of his existence.

Also, Melania Trump evidently has no friends, certainly no girlfriends, or interior life. There is scant proof of her own existence. Her best friend is her clothing designer.

Among the people who didn’t show up for the $75 million launch was Jeff Bezos, who paid the money. I guess he gets what he wants. But at the same time that he fired 16,000 Amazon employees with families and needs like health care and food, it’s not a good look.

I’ll add more reviews as they come in.

PS No word on whether the Kennedy Center guests were given the popcorn bucket.

Report: Oscars Network Broadcast Will Only Feature Two Best Song Performances, Others Snubbed by Academy

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This isn’t going to go over well.

Variety reports that the final Oscars network broadcast will only have two featured performances for Best Song.

The remaining three will get feature packages with clips.

The two that will be spotlighted are the “Demon Hunters” song, “Golden,” and “I Lied to You” from the vampire drama, “Sinners,” featured Miles Caton.

Diane Warren’s “Dear Me” from her documentary “Diane Warren: Relentless,” Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner’s title song from “Train Dreams” and “Sweet Dreams of Joy” by Nicholas Pike from “Viva Verdi!” are all off the show.

Announcing this before voting concludes suggests the Academy is saying only one of the two live songs will win. The others have been minimized to mere nods.

Variety says a letter went to Best Original Song nominees from the show’s executive producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan, along with producer Taryn Hurd.

The letter reads: “This year, the best original song nominees are being treated with the same care, storytelling focus and intention as the other awards categories — all of which will be included on the show.”

The news broke around midnight last night West Coast time, so we don’t know the fallout yet.

This means we won’t see Kesha perform the Warren song, Nick Cave doing “Train Dreams,” or “Sweet Dreams of Joy,” which was actually recorded in 2017. The latter was an unexpected nominee, especially since new songs had been written for “Wicked: For Good.”

Excluding Warren’s song is really a snub considering she’s the only songwriter ever to receive a Governor’s Award aka Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy.

to be continued…

“Melania” Premiere: No Trump Kids, Barron MIA, Empty Seats in Kennedy Center, Many Trump Cronies AWOL, No Bezos

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Let’s make this simple.

The only celebrity at the premiere of “Melania” at the Kennedy Center was Nikki Minaj.

The rapper has sold her soul to get citizenship papers from Donald Trump and maybe a pardon for her sex offender husband.

Otherwise, the guests didn’t include many Trump cronies. Or family. Barron, 19, was home turning his computer on and off, hanging with his maternal grandfather and speaking Slovenian.

There was no sign of Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka, or Tiffany either. (There was a report that Don Jr. was coming, but no evidence so far.)

Also absent: Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, who’s spent $75 million on movie no wants to see or will see. Almost no one has bought a ticket around the world. Bezos is accused of bribing Donald Trump by making this ridiculous movie for 75 times what it should cost.

Caught on open mic, reporters on the red carpet talked about who was missing from the show including Kari Lake, Bret Baier, Kellyanne Conway, Riley Gaines, Kash Patel, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Sean Duffy, and Peter Navarro.

Inside, another spy filmed the theater which showed many empty seats.

See both videos below.

Reporters were not allowed into the theater, so are there no reviews right now. But there will be plenty this afternoon, and they should be a howl.

If they’d let the reporters into the theater, they could have filled some seats!

There was an after party, with all white guests. The entertainer was said to be rapper Akon, who must need money badly.

Springsteen “Minneapolis” Song Number 1 on iTunes, Almost 4 Million Views on YouTube, But Still Not Showing up on Spotify

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Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis” is a huge hit in most place.

It’s number 1 on iTunes.

The video has almost 4 million views on YouTube in just a day.

But so far the protest song hasn’t shown up on Spotify. It’s listed, but no numbers have come up and it hasn’t charted.

Let’s stream “Streets of Minneapolis” and it to number 1 there, too!

BTW, Bruce recorded it just with Ron Aniello playing all the instruments. For a protest song, “Streets” is really catchy and a rocker. Bruce knows how to write a hook!

Kennedy Center’s New Artistic Programming Chief Quits After Less Than 2 Weeks, Probably No One Would Answer His Calls

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On January 16th, the Kennedy Center hired a new artistic programming chief.

Yesterday, he resigned.

Kevin Couch is gone. He gave no reason for resignation.

For a laugh, I’ll say that JD Vance found him and the rest was misery. JD loves a good couch!

Couch probably couldn’t get anyone to answer his calls in the theater or music community.

No one will perform at the “Trump Kennedy Center.” That’s why his predecessor left after many years.

Like everyone Couch needs a job and probably thought he could work this out. But he no doubt discovered this made him a pariah in entertainment.

Maybe also Couch didn’t want to attend tonight’s all-MAGA premiere of “Melania” the documentary. His skin was probably crawling at the idea of spending an evening watching the infomercial with the likes of Stephen Miller and Krist Noem!

So what now? Maybe if Miller loses his White House job over immigration and the murders and disappearances of Americans, this can be his new position.

Country Stars Delta Rae Step Up with their Own Song about Alex Pretti and Renee Good from Founder Ian Hölljes

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Bruce Springsteen is already at number 1 with his protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis.”

Now singer Ian Hölljes, co-founder of country superstar act Delta Rae, has hit back with his own song.

He writes: “We are sending love and solidarity to our brothers and sisters in Minneapolis, doing God’s work protecting our democracy and its most vulnerable against a creeping fascism that appears to be hitting a tipping point. We love the Twin Cities and are devastated by the senseless chaos and death being visited on them by our federal government. And I am sending this message to my classmate at Duke.”

The singer songwriter actually went to Duke with evil fascist Stephen Miller. He knows what he’s talking about. We all do!

Just a note to Hölljes: I remember when Seymour Stein signed you. he couldn’t stop talking about you and the group. He would be very proud!

Lady Gaga to Perform on Grammy Awards as Her “Mayhem” Album Set to Win a Lot of Prizes

The Grammy Awards are heating up for Sunday.

Harry Styles is presenting — probably Album of the Year.

Who will get the award? My bet is on Lady Gaga, for her “Mayhem” record.

Gaga is performing, too, which will make the night. Her album and her song, “Abracadabra,” are going to pick up a lot of prizes.

You can imagine she’s spent a lot of time getting “Abracadabra” ready for a new production.

Also performing are Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and all the Best New Artists nominees including Olivia Dean and SOMBR.

Other presenters include Carole King (likely Best Song), Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, Doechii, Jeff Goldblum, KAROL G, Lainey Wilson, Marcello Hernández, Nikki Glaser, Q-Tip, Queen Latifah, and Teyana Taylor.

There’s also a surprise presenter promised.

Grammys are on Sunday night at 8pm on CBS after the return of “60 Minutes.”

Will any artist mention anything political? Stay tuned. I don’t know if this generation has the balls to do it.

Bruce Springsteen Wrote an Anti-Trump Song about Minneapolis on Saturday, Now It’s Number 1 on iTunes

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Bruce Springsteen wrote an anti-Trump song on Saturday about Minneapolis and the murders of Renee Good and Alex Petti.

He recorded “Streets of Minneapolis” on Tuesday, and released it yesterday.

Today, it’s number 1 on iTunes.

Bruce can only be celebrated and thanked. He’s the real thing, a visionary who is moved by the fate of humans. I guess we should ask why no rockers or singers of younger generations felt the need to speak out.

At least Bruce did. He stands by his convictions. Bravo!

Lyrics are below, followed by video and full song:
[Verse 1]
Through the winter’s ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
‘Neath an occupier’s boots
King Trump’s private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes

[Verse 2]
Against smoke and rubber bullets
In the dawn’s early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead, left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good

[Chorus]
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home, they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

[Verse 3]
Trump’s federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest
Then we heard the gunshots
And Alex Pretti lay in the snow dead
Their claim was self-defense, sir
Just don’t believe your eyes
It’s our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies

[Chorus]
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

[Bridge]
Now they say they’re here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown, my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight
In our chants of “ICE out now”
Our city’s heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis
[Chorus]
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home, they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

[Outro]
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

[image or embed]

— Bruce Springsteen (@brucespringsteen.net) January 28, 2026 at 12:02 PM

Broadway: “Rocky Horror Picture Show” Gets Intriguing Cast with Luke Evans, Rachel Dratch, Juliette Lewis, Stephanie Hsu

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You know, it’s the 50th anniversary of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

I used to go to the Exeter Theater in Boston, and then the 8th St. Playhouse in New York to see midnight showings in its heyday. The audience dressed up like the characters and play scenes from the stage. When the characters clinked glasses and exclaimed, “Toast!,” the audience threw toast. There were also water pistols sprayed at the stage. The whole audience dances “The Time Warp.”

Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, and Meatloaf were among the stars.

Now “Rocky Horror” will come to Broadway with an equally eclectic cast. Brit star Luke Evans will play the Curry role of Frank-N-Furter. Brad and Janet will be Andrew Durand and Stephanie Hsu. Rachel Dratch is the narrator. Juliette Lewis is Magenta.

(Not in the show: Anna Kendrick, who I feel should have been part of this production.)

Richard O’Brien wrote the show, but it was under the direction of the great rock and roll producer Lou Adler that “Rocky Horror” became a phenomenon.

On stage the title is “The Rocky Horror Show,” also the word “Picture” — which was added for the movie — never goes away. The original Broadway version only had 49 performances. Then the movie took off. The stage show returned to Broadway in 2000 and played 477 performances with Dick Cavett as the narrator and Alice Ripley, Joan Jett, Lea Delaria, Tom Hewitt, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Raul Esparza.

Will the audience participate? You betcha. Any why not? The theater now is Studio 54, which back in 1977 felt like a nightly version of the movie. This will be great. I predict big things!

Justin Bieber Comeback Performance at Grammy Awards In Prep for Tour, Coachella

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Just in time.

Justin Bieber will perform this Sunday at the Grammy Awards.

it’s been almost 5 years since Bieber left his last tour and semi retired from concerts.

Last year he released two parts of an album called “Swag.” The album produced a couple of hits. “Swag” is nominated for Album of the Year but is long shot to win the prize.

Bieber also announced he would play the Coachella festival in April. His rumored payday is $10 million.

All of this prelude to a tour, maybe like Harry Styles’ new residency set up. Styles is already sold out, with tickets going for thousands of dollars. Bieber could rake it in.

more to come…