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Oscar News: Best Song Nominee “Seen (Io Si)” Is Getting Hit Radio Play, Song by 12 Time Nominee Diane Warren

Roger Friedman
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Oscar News: Best Song Nominee “Seen (Io Si)” Is Getting Hit Radio Play, Song by 12 Time Nominee Diane Warren

This is crazy. I told you a couple of weeks ago that the song “Seen (Io Si) from the movie “The Life Ahead” was getting radio play.

Well, it’s turned into an actual hit on Adult Contemporary radio. Laura Pausini sings the English version of Diane Warren’s song, nominated for Best Song at this year’s Oscars.

It’s Warren’s 12th nomination for Best Song. And even though there is a lot of jockeying for the Oscar from the other nominees, this is the only one that’s turned into a HIT on the radio. I’m not sure even Diane Warren — who’s written tons of top 10 hits over the years — has seen this chart from Media Access. “Seen” is number 20, ahead of a lot of established stars’ hits!

“Seen (Io See)” is a great record, and one that deserves the Oscar. It’s entirely original, not patterned after other music in its movie. (Some of the other nominated songs are written to sound like other songs in their film.)

I hope the music branch of the Academy realizes how important it is to have an Oscar Best Song on the radio. I think they do. And breaking Pausini as a new artist in America is very exciting. Netflix, which showed “The Life Ahead” with Sophia Loren, should be sending out cannoli’s or Prosecco to celebrate!

 

Country Awards Stick to their Guns: No Morgan Wallen for Big Show on April 18th Thanks to “N” Word Video

Roger Friedman
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Country Awards Stick to their Guns: No Morgan Wallen for Big Show on April 18th Thanks to “N” Word Video

Morgan Wallen is still paying for his TMZ video in which he’s heard using the “N” word.

Despite selling a gazillion albums this winter, Wallen won’t be on the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 18th on CBS.

The show will be hosted by Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton, the first real Black country female star ever. (She’s even bigger than that. She’s a star!)

They’ve booked 25 stars to perform including Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Mickey Guyton, Ryan Hurd, Jack Ingram, Alan Jackson, Elle King, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Maren Morris, Carly Pearce, Jon Randall, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton, The War and Treaty, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, CeCe Winans, and Chris Young.

That’s the creme de le creme of country, but no Wallen. Does he mind? I doubt it. He’s counting his money and wondering where it all went wrong.

Over 25 artists will perform more than 30 songs from three iconic Country Music venues: the Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, and The Bluebird Cafe.

Since attending the Country Music Awards last winter may have killed the legendary Charley Pride, the ACM’s note this on a press release regarding COVID:

“The health and safety of the artists, fans, industry, staff and partners involved in the ACM Awards is the number one priority. All guidelines set forth by national, state and local health officials will be closely followed and implemented during the production along with additional safety measures to be instated by dick clark productions and the Academy of Country Music.”

Let’s see who’s wearing a mask on this show.

Pop Star The Weeknd Makes $2.29 Mil Over the Weekend Selling Videos and New Song as NFTs on Bitcoin Market

Roger Friedman
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Pop Star The Weeknd Makes $2.29 Mil Over the Weekend Selling Videos and New Song as NFTs on Bitcoin Market

No one knows what bitcoin is, but we’re learning fast, right?

Abel Tesfaye aka pop star The Weeknd made $2.29 million over the Weekend on the bitcoin market.

He sold some digital stuff– new pieces of art he collaborated on, plus a video with a clip of new music. The latter sold for around half a million dollars.

Tesfaye sold the pieces on a site called Nifty Gateway, an NFT marketplace that’s recently sold work by Calvin Harris, Steve Aoki, and Grimes, aka Elon Musk’s babymama. among others. The Weeknd worked with visual artist Strange Loop Studios, which developed the creative direction. I’m assuming they cut of the action.

This is a new world, kids. Whoever bought this stuff owns but it doesn’t really. We can all download it, too.

The Weeknd says: “I’ve always been looking for ways to innovate for fans and shift this archaic music biz and seeing NFTs allowing creators to be seen and heard more than ever before on their terms is profoundly exciting. I intend to contribute to this movement and can see that very soon it will be weaved into the music industry’s mechanics.”

I’ve looked on bitcoin exchanges and so far there’s not much out there from celebrities. But they’re going to figure this out, and for a few minutes, people will make money.

You can the video with new Weeknd music here

Ellen DeGeneres’s NBC “Game of Games” Show Has Lost Half Its Audience This Season Along with Daytime Show Worries

Roger Friedman
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Ellen DeGeneres’s NBC “Game of Games” Show Has Lost Half Its Audience This Season Along with Daytime Show Worries

Last night’s “Ellen’s Game of Games,” hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, scored 1.6 million viewers.

When the season began last October, “Game of Games” started with 3.2 million. At one point early in the season, it was on upswing at 3.3 million and change.

But something happened with the March 7th installment. The show dropped 47% to 1.5 million. It’s as if it just went off a cliff, for no particular reason, and it’s never recovered.

I’ve written about the daytime talk show losing viewers this year, and the New York Times echoed that on March 22nd. “The Ellen Show” has lost over a million viewers in the last year since a scandal ripped through the production over backstage squabbles. Producers were fired. There was speculation that celebrities wouldn’t come, but most of them have kept showing up and supporting DeGeneres despite an avalanche of bad publicity.

But the prime time number may really be indicating what’s going on. When half of your audience just gets up and goes, that’s a problem. Of course, “Game of Games” has competition at 8pm on Sunday from “American Idol” and Queen Latifah in “The Equalizer.” But it was light counter-programming, and depended on DeGeneres’s fans tuning in. Surprisingly, they have started tuning out in droves.

With a rating under 2 million, “Game of Games” may get the axe soon and not return next season. Warner Bros. Telepictures has to concentrate on the daytime show, and start looking for successors. That is not easy to do. Syndicated talk show hits are hard to come by. Kelly Clarkson is just finding her footing right now. Drew Barrymore only got a second season renewal because the show is produced by CBS. Establishing a new Ellen for Telepictures is a challenge.

Oscars Alert: SAG Awards Make History and Point the Way to Academy Awards Winners in 4 Acting Categories

Roger Friedman
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Oscars Alert: SAG Awards Make History and Point the Way to Academy Awards Winners in 4 Acting Categories

I think we have the four acting winners for the Academy Awards on April 25th. After the SAG Awards last night, it’s pretty clear we know the names on the envelopes. The SAG Awards are incredibly accurate predictors of the Oscars as all Academy voters who are also actors are in the Screen Actors Guild.

The winners are history making, too. Three Black actors, and one South Korean. For the first time, no white actors have won the SAG acting awards for movies. This is an extraordinary moment. Additionally, the two lead actors– Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, are from a movie that wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

Then there’s Daniel Kaluuya, who’s had an amazing year playing Black Panther Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Like all the SAG winners, he was told on Thursday that he’d won. Two days later he hosted “Saturday Night Live.” He must have been bursting to tell everyone, but had to keep it a secret.

Yuh-Jung Youn, who played the grandmother in “Minari,” doesn’t speak English well. She’s a star in South Korea. She’s 73, and sort of their Judi Dench. She was nearly in tears when she won last night. And I loved the expression on Glenn Close’s face. She was beaming with happiness for Youn. Everyone on their Zoom looked delighted.

Boseman, of course, is being rewarded for his incredible but short career posthumously. Davis has an Oscar, for “Fences,” but that’s in supporting. This will be her first win as a lead actress. She deserves that statue for her stunning transformation into Ma Rainey. While Frances McDormand is excellent in “Nomadland”– which I think will still win Best Picture– but she has two Oscars and has more or less abdicated. She knows it’s Davis’s moment.

Last night’s wins are particularly poignant while the trial of George Floyd’s accused murderer, Derek Chauvin proceeds, and while we’re in the middle of this insane time of violence against Asian Americans. What better symbols of justice could there be? Seeing those four with their gold statues on April 25th will be an absolute pleasure.

SAG Awards Winners: “Chicago 7,” Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Daniel Kaluuya, Youn Yuh-Jung Sweep Film Awards

Roger Friedman
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SAG Awards Winners: “Chicago 7,” Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Daniel Kaluuya, Youn Yuh-Jung Sweep Film Awards

The SAG AWARDS have given their top acting prizes in movies to four non white actors. It’s amazing and about time. Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman won for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Daniel Kaluuya won for “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Young Yuh-Jung won for “Minari.” Congrats! These actors will likely win Oscars on April 25th.

Best Ensemble went to “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” Now this film will battle “Nomadland” for Best Picture at the Oscars.

Winners in bold face. keep refreshing…

Motion Picture Awards

Cast in a Motion Picture

“Da 5 Bloods”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Minari”
“One Night In Miami”
“Trial of the Chicago 7”

Best Actor in a Motion Picture

Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Anthony Hopkins, “The Father”
Gary Oldman, “Mank”
Steven Yeun, “Minari”

Best Actress in a Motion Picture

Amy Adams, “Hillbilly Elegy”
Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman”
Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”
Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Sacha Baron Cohen, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Chadwick Boseman, “Da 5 Bloods”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Jared Leto, “The Little Things”
Leslie Odom Jr., “One Night in Miami”


Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
Glenn Close, “Hillbilly Elegy”
Olivia Colman, “The Father”
Youn Yuh-Jung, “Minari”
Helena Zengel, “News of the World”

Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

“Da 5 Bloods”
“Mulan”
“News of the World”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
“Wonder Woman 1984”

Television Awards

Ensemble in a Drama Series

“Better Call Saul”
“Bridgerton”
“The Crown”
“Ozark”
“Lovecraft Country”

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Josh O’Connor, “The Crown”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Regé-Jean Page, “Bridgerton”

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Gillian Anderson, “The Crown”
Olivia Colman, “The Crown”
Emma Corrin, “The Crown”
Julia Garner, “Ozark”
Laura Linney, “Ozark”

Ensemble in a Comedy Series

“Dead to Me”
“The Flight Attendant”
“The Great”
“Schitt’s Creek”
“Ted Lasso”

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Nicholas Hoult, “The Great”
Dan Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”
Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Christina Applegate, “Dead to Me”
Linda Cardellini, “Dead to Me”
Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant”
Annie Murphy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”

Best Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Bill Camp, “The Queen’s Gambit”
Daveed Diggs, “Hamilton”
Hugh Grant, “The Undoing”
Ethan Hawke, “The Good Lord Bird”
Mark Ruffalo, “I Know This Much Is True”

Best Actress in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Cate Blanchett, “Mrs. America”
Michaela Coel, “I May Destroy You”
Nicole Kidman, “The Undoing”
Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Queen’s Gambit”
Kerry Washington, “Little Fires Everywhere”

Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series

“The Boys”
“Cobra Kai”
“Lovecraft Country”
“The Mandalorian”
“Westworld”

“60 Minutes” Profiles Black President of the Ford Foundation, Omitting First Black CEO Franklin Thomas, Who’s Very Much Alive

Roger Friedman
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“60 Minutes” Profiles Black President of the Ford Foundation, Omitting First Black CEO Franklin Thomas, Who’s Very Much Alive

I find myself frustrated lately watching CBS News. I’ve already written about how “CBS Sunday Morning” screwed around with Woody Allen.

Now I’m watching Lesley Stahl’s report on Darren Walker, the current head of the Ford Foundation. Yes, he’s Black and grew up poor. He’s achieved a lot. But he’s not the first Black president of the Ford Foundation.

That was Franklin Thomas, who’s 86 years old and very much alive. He must have watched tonight’s segment and thought, “What am I? Chopped liver.” Thomas ran the Ford Foundation from 1979 to 1996. I never knew him, but I friends who worked for him and he was very highly regarded.

Here’s just the beginning of his bio from Wikipedia: “Franklin Augustine Thomas was born on May 27, 1934 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. After the death of his father, his mother, Viola, an immigrant from Barbados, headed the household where he was the youngest of six children as a housekeeper and waitress. He attended the Franklin K. Lane High School. Thomas graduated from Columbia College in 1956, where he was a star basketball player and the first African-American captain of an Ivy League team. He later graduated from the Columbia Law School 1963 after a stint in the Air Force.”

Thomas was also quite the ladies’ man, and with brand name ladies. He had a thing with Gloria Steinem in the early 70s, then married FDR’s granddaughter. Now that’s a success story!

Any, if Mr. Thomas reads this, he should know he hasn’t been forgotten. Lesley made Darren Walker seem like a pioneer. I’m sure in some way he is, but Franklin Walker was first! He once said, “One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.”

I’m not sure how Thomas was left out of the story, by the way. It turns out the big boardroom at the Ford Foundation is named for him.

Very strange.

 

 

Paul Simon Is On the Same High Level as the Beatles, Dylan, As the All The Major Songwriters of the Classic Pop Era

Roger Friedman
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Paul Simon Is On the Same High Level as the Beatles, Dylan, As the All The Major Songwriters of the Classic Pop Era

As the great rock and pop songwriters are nearing 80 and selling catalogs, it’s time to look back at what became the canon in our culture. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, Carole King, the Motown gang (HDH, Ashford and Simpson) and so on.

I’m thinking about how smart part of NBCNews.com let a writer named Jeff Slate slag off Paul Simon this week on their website. He called him a “footnote” to Dylan. It was just extraordinarily stupid, and earned this person the ire of every music and culture writer who heard about it. I imagine this guy is enjoying his notoriety.

Paul Simon doesn’t need any help from me. He’s rich, and I think, happy. Plus he knows his place in history. I do recall, though, that Rolling Stone, reviewing Simon’s self titled first album, said something like: “If Paul Simon was worried about his place in history, with this album he no longer has to.”

Indeed.

Much has been written in Simon’s defense using “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as his masterpiece, which is probably right. But his catalog is much deeper than that, and that’s like saying “Like a Rolling Stone” is Dylan’s one stand out. There are few lyricists at Simon’s level, whether it’s “The Boxer” or “American Tune” or the songs from “Graceland.” I have a few favorites like “Rewrite,” from a recent album, or “Fathers and Daughters,” or “Rene and Georgette Magritte With their Dog After the War.”

Simon is far more acerbic than Dylan in his wording. In his compositions, he finds the hook more easily, and invokes jazz and Tin Pan Alley in ways that recall Gershwin and Porter. Billy Joel is definitely his descendant. Go back to the album “Still Crazy After All These Years,” from 1975. It’s a watershed moment, even for Simon, who’d just had two or three groundbreaking collections precede it. There’s a reason he and Stevie Wonder were locked in a fight for the first half of that decade. And Dylan — with the exception of “Forever Young” and “Blood on the Tracks” — wasn’t. They were in an unparalleled zone of creativity.

So “footnote”? Not quite. They’ll be singing “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, tenement halls” long after we’re gone.

Meantime, I found this Dick Cavett Show clip in which Simon explains how he wrote “Bridge,” sort of lifting it from a bunch of different ideas that came from gospel. (Much the same way he adapted gospel for “Love Me Like a Rock.”) It’s fascinating and also instructive because when Aretha Franklin heard it, she knew it was gospel. She reinvented the song, had a huge hit with it just one year after Simon & Garfunkel, and kept playing it and working it right up until her very last show. When I mentioned this to Simon once, he told me to tell her that once he heard her version, he started playing it. This just about as high a compliment as two artists of their caliber could pay to each other. Nothing else matters.

(And don’t tell it’s cultural appropriation. Dylan wouldn’t have existed without Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and so on. Every artist of value builds on his or her influences.)

NBC News, Think again.

 

“Saturday Night Live” Remains Stuck at All Time Low Rating with Host Daniel Kaluuya and Musical Guest St. Vincent

Roger Friedman
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“Saturday Night Live” Remains Stuck at All Time Low Rating with Host Daniel Kaluuya and Musical Guest St. Vincent

“Saturday Night Live” remains at its all time low rating– 3.6 million– after last night’s desperately off key show.

Daniel Kaluuya was guest host and St. Vincent was musical guest, moving the key demo up a notch to 1.7 from last week’ s 1.5.

But the show was not funny, or clever. Almost every bit of hit the wrong note, starting with the cold open of Britney Spears interviewing Lil Nas X and Matt Gaetz. That was not an opening bit. The audience wants to see a cold open of political satire now. The show isn’t getting it.

Kaluuya’s monologue about British and US racism was off putting, not witty. He tried to help it along, but only Dave Chappelle could get away with material like that.

I’m a big Kyle Mooney fan but that video about apologies lost me. I’m guessing it lost almost everyone.

St. Vincent? She’s interesting, I felt like we needed Cliff Notes to understand what she was doing. She’s been around for 15 years but has never had a hit and has a cult audience, I guess. I wish I’d know more about what to expect from her. Her performances were artful.

The Weekend Update hit some sour notes. It was one Jost and Che’s off nights. Nothing seemed to land, and the Gaetz stuff wasn’t that funny.

Who knows? Maybe the “SNL” squad is as tired as we are. Kate McKinnon still has a glint in her eye, but she’s feeling a little pedestrian. Not enough Cecily Strong. And why aren’t we seeing Beck Bennett in more leads instead of backgrounds?

Not a great effort. On to the next week, and Carey Mulligan, lots of potential with “Promising Young Woman” parodies.

Box Office: Pandemic Over? “Godzilla v Kong” Makes Monstrous $48.5 Mil in Opening Week

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Pandemic Over? “Godzilla v Kong” Makes Monstrous $48.5 Mil in Opening Week

Is the pandemic over?

May be.

In its opening week, from last Wednesday through today, “Godzilla v Kong” made a monstrous $48.5 million. That was in fairly wide release, 3000 theaters. (Kong no longer uses “King,” his first name, patterning himself after Madonna.)

The film stars Alexander Skarsgaard, Millie Bobby Brown, and Rebecca Hall, among others. Plus, of course, the leads.

Did people wear masks? Did anyone care? Was everyone vaccinated? Who knows?

Ironically, the battle of the CGI titans comes from Warner Bros., which also had “G v K” on HBO Max, so the movie made even more for those who invited the gnarly pair into their living and bedrooms.

Elsewhere at the box office, a real movie — “Minari,” an Oscar movie — has made $2 million. But “Nomadland,” which may win Best Picture, is playing somewhere but there are no box office results reported. What a year!

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