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Pop star Benson Boone flipped out last night on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.
Boone was there to promote his new album, “American Heart,” which drops on June 19th.
But will all these acrobatics help sustain a singing career? I guess we’re going to find out.
Boone is a good singer and songwriter. But apart from his song, “Beautiful Things,” he’s had trouble finding a new hit. Instead, he keeps doing back flips.
He’s obviously good at them. But he’s having trouble moving beyond “Beautiful Things.”
Indeed, the song he sang last night, “Momma’s Boy,” only got to number 27 on iTunes.
Meanwhile, “Beautiful Things” went up to number 5. It’s been in the top 20 for a year.
Another new single, “Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else,” is stuck at 40. A newer single, “Mystical Magical,” got up to number 10. (It’s not his best work.)
Boone, who turned 23 years old this month and a refugee from “American Idol,” is certainly not ready to become an oldies act. He’s also not a circus act. A lot is riding on “American Heart.”
The famed Harlem venue celebrated its 90th birthday with an off the hook celebration of stars.
Among the performers: Busta Rhymes, Deborah Cox, Shoshanna Bean, Martha Redbone (who really needs a PBS showcase ASAP), all of whom simply killed it with the backing of Adam Blackstone, Avery Sunshine with an amazing band.
Presenters included Kenny Babyface Edmonds, Monica, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Method Man. Kym Whitley kept things moving as a very hilarious emcee.
But the night belonged to the two main honorees: actress Teyana Taylor, and music business legend Clive Davis.
Taylor — who got the Innovator Award — is multifaceted as an actress in many hit movies, a singer with hit records, and a plethora of other projects. (She just dropped a great single called, “Long Time.”)
But the night belonged to Clive, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his devotion to Black music for the last 60 years. The love and adoration swept like a wave through the room. Davis is responsible for such a long list of artists that it’s hard to pick just a few: Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Earth Wind & Fire, Sly & the Family Stone, Santana, Alicia Keys, Gil Scott Heron, and so on. Clive put Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International records on the map with the now classic hits by The O’Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, Billy Paul, and The Three Degrees, to name a few!
Two of his favorites turned up last night to perform for the audience. Deborah Cox, with her golden voice, peeled the paint off the walls with her hit, “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here.” She was joined by Shoshanna Bean, who sang Alicia Keys’s “Fallin’,” which she did in the musical, “Hell’s Kitchen,” and then the two women together threw down, as they say, for Carole King’s “Natural Woman.”
They were followed by rapper Busta Rhymes, who brought the audience to their feet and gave a speech of his own thanking Davis and talking about his own life’s journey that brought tears to everyone’s eyes.
The Apollo announced that Bloomberg Philanthropies had contributed $2.5 million to the evening, bringing the total to about $6 million The legendary theater will close for a year soon to make much needed renovations. Its importance as the key beacon of the arts in Harlem cannot be overstated. Already other renovations including a new hotel next door, has transformed the neighborhood.
PS The big night was followed by an elegant tented party a couple of blocks down from the Apollo. D_Nice deejayed and at one point turned over the microphones to Cox and R&B star Melissa Morgan, who knocked out a couple of her own hits without any help. Insane!
She’s looking for a non Christmas hit on the radio and charts. Will she find it?
Mariah’s whole career revolves around her holiday song, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” She hasn’t had a real hit in 20 years.
Today she previews “Dangerous” on social media. The single and video drop tomorrow night.
The video looks like it was filmed in and around a car. One fan pointed out that about 15 Carey videos have autos as themes.
From the clip, “Dangerous” sounds good. It also sounds like it was made in 2005 for “THe Emancipation of Mimi.” Why doesn’t she try something new? Cover classics. Or at least make some songs that sound like “All I Want.”
It’s nearly impossible for legacy artists to crack the charts or the radio these days. Mariah better get on TV and sing this thing LIVE, no fooling around.
And we’re off to the races. Her 16th album is coming soon, too.
This is an item dedicated to the late Liz Smith, who we lost in 2017 (and nothing has been the same).
Liz once said to me, with Trump elected, “Politics is the new show business.” And wasn’t she right? Liz, who knew Trump well and interviewed him often, would be so appalled by his policies, especially concerning book burning and banning.
But there’s good news.
Liz pushed a group called Literacy Partners into the forefront back in the 1980s. She was introduced to them by the great NBC TV reporter Carol Jenkins. Liz took LP by the lapels and dragged it into the spotlight. She wanted to teach the world to read. Eventually she enlisted her pals designer Arnold Scaasi and his partner, Parker Ladd, to underwrite incredible fundraisers.
On Monday June 9th, Liz, Arnold, and Parker will be beaming from heaven as the special guest and presenter for this year’s gala — at Chelsea Piers — is Oprah Winfrey, whose book clubs have done more for literacy in America than almost anyone over the last 40 years.
The honorees are knockouts. The brilliant Bob Woodward, Neil deGrasse Tyson, book publishing’s Errol McDonald, and veteran TV journalist Cynthia McFadden of ABC and NBC News fame.
In keeping with tradition, the program will bring to life stories that speak to the power of literacy — from overcoming adversity to achieving new dreams. The evening will also include remarks from a Literacy Partners Student – always an important and moving part of the program.
There will also be a tribute to late British best selling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. I met Barbara many times. She was not Doris Lessing, but she was an inspiration to millions of women through her many novels including “A Woman of Substance.”
Since 1973, Literacy Partners has provided free, high-quality literacy education to more than 25,000 adults and families through its two-generation approach. Its unique programs empower adults, parents and caregivers to create success for themselves and the children in their care by building adult capabilities and improving child outcomes.
Contact for tickets: 212-725-9200 Fax:.212-725-0414 Email: info@literacypartners.org
This past week, an interview with Clint Eastwood surfaced to commemorate his 95th birthday.
There were a lot of juicy quotes and they were picked up around the world. In particular, he criticized Hollywood for making endless sequels and remakes. He said: “Do something new or stay at home…”
Except, he didn’t say it. Or if he did, it was years ago. Turns out that longtime Golden Globe member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association cobbled together old quotes of Eastwood’s from years past. She published the article in Austrian publication Kurier.
Many outlets picked up the translated version including Variety. Ironically, the Variety publisher, Penske Media, owns the Globes after saving them from extinction. Eastwood’s people saw the article and sent a statement to Variety’s Penske cousin, Deadline.com, deny he ever gave this interview.
Clint said: “I never gave an interview to an Austrian publication called Kurier, or any other writer in recent weeks, and that the interview is entirely phony.”
Sereda said in her statement: “Quotes from Mr. Eastwood cited in the story are culled from several of those 14 press conferences I attended and covered.”
Imagine that this all took place under one corporate umbrella. Variety, Deadline, and the Globes are all owned by the same people.
Sereda stayed on with the Globes after the magazine publisher gained control of the HFPA. She was one of the original members who was asked to stay, and given a salary under a contract that was recently disavowed by the publisher. The HFPA and Globes have suffered numerous scandals over the years. I was the lone wolf writing about it going back to 2000. It never ends, apparently.
John Morales is the longest tenured broadcast meteorologist in South Florida. He’s been on the air with NBC6 for three decades.
Two nights ago he told his viewers he can’t properly predict the hurricane season because of deep cuts made to the National Weather Service by Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
This is extraordinarily brave of him. He does say that he was asked to speak about this potential catastrophe, so we can assume it came from his bosses.
Morales isn’t kidding around. He’s a Cornell University hurricane specialist, founder & lead Certified Consulting Meteorologist at ClimaData. Morales posted the segment to his Instagram account as well. He wrote: “Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV on the first weekday of the 2025 hurricane season.”
If I lived down there in south Florida, I’d be pretty nervous this summer.
Two years ago, Miley Cyrus had the biggest success of her life — and a lot of people’s — with the song, “Flowers.”
A monster hit, “Flowers” was on the charts for months. It won a Grammy Award. “Flowers” resurrected Miley’s recording career.
Somehow, now, that’s all been squandered. Her follow up album, “Something Beautiful,” is tanking since its release on Thursday. Projections are that will sell 48,000 copies through its first week. Of those only 28,000 are downloads or CDs. That means 20,000 people streamed it. Shocking.
It’s dead.
A lot of mistakes were made with “Something Beautiful.” First, Columbia for some reason issued three singles in a row, only to watch them all fizzle out. “End of the World,” “More to Lose,” and “Something Beautiful” should have all been hits — but spaced out, and only one released before the album dropped.
I won’t get into my disappointment over the mix and production on “More to Lose,” which drowned poor Miley out in its string grandiosity.
Also, they played up Miley giving private concerts at the Chateau Marmont for “hand selected” fans and celebs. WTH? The whole thing came off as elitist and exclusive, not relatable. Where was a morning show outdoor park concert? Hitting the talk shows with the songs?
The worst part of this is that “Something Beautiful” comes with an expensive film that gets a one day only release on June 12th. This has “Hurry Up Tomorrow” written all over it — a vanity project that will vanish on sight. (Remember– JLo did this with her last album, what I now call The Greatest Waste of Money Never Sold.)
Poor Miley. She was soclose to having another hit. It’s a shame because the songs are good. But no one thought through how they’d be presented. They were just dumped. And now the album will be lucky to sell 100,000 copies.
Bill and Ted have been to outer space, but never to the Tony Awards.
Until now.
This Sunday, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter will among the A list presenters on CBS for the annual Tony Awards at 8pm. (There’s a pre-show free on Pluto TV from 6:40pm to 8 o’clock). They’re going to be on Broadway this fall in “Waiting for Godot,” which will be an adventure in itself!
Cynthia Erivo, aka Elphaba, is the host — which means the opening number should be insane. (Is Ariana Grande surprising us? Hmmmm.) Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell is the show’s announcer.
Who else is on the show? Are you ready?
Aaron Tveit, Adam Lambert, Allison Janney, Ariana DeBose, Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, Carrie Preston, Charli D’Amelio, Danielle Brooks, Jean Smart, Jesse Eisenberg, Katie Holmes, Kelli O’Hara, Kristin Chenoweth, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Lea Michele, Lea Salonga, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michelle Williams, Oprah, Rachel Bay Jones, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Samuel L. Jackson, Sara Bareilles, and Sarah Paulson.
The Tony’s will feature live performances from all the nominated shows this year including “Maybe Happy Ending,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Gypsy,” “Operation Mincemeat,” etc.
But the real buzz is about the original cast of “Hamilton” reuniting for a 10th anniversary performance.
Bruce Springsteen caused an uproar a couple of weeks ago when he opened his tour in Manchester, England.
He spoke out against Donald Trump, calling his administration “corrupt” and “treasonous.”
Trump responded by saying Springsteen was a “dried up prune.”
But the Boss release a four song EP containing the speech. Two weeks later, “Land of Hope of Dreams” is a hit
On YouTube, just the video with the speech and title song has had a whopping 660,000 views.
On Spotify, each of the tracks has had over 100,000 streams — a lot for a political speech by a 73 year old singer.
At iTunes, the EP has stayed in the top 20 for two weeks, starting at number 3. It’s sold at least 6,000 copies (all the numbers aren’t in). It’s number 18 right now, ahead of albums by Lady Gaga, Benson Boone, and Shaboozey. Bruce’s total sales for 2025 are up by 23%.
Trump thought Springsteen’s astute take down of him would hurt the singer’s career. But far from it. Fans have taken to it like crazy. And the more times it’s played, the more it will sink in.
There were a lot of expected and surprise winners Monday at the 2nd annual Gotham TV Awards in New York held at Cipriani Wall Street.
She wasn’t at the glittering black tie affair, but Kathy Bates won Best Lead Performance for her CBS series, “Matlock.” Bates is on her way to an Emmy Award now. It’s quite an achievement for Bates and for “Matlock” a semi-reboot of a tired old show that gained new life.
Netflix’s drama, “Adolescence,” won Breakthrough Limited Series. HBO Max’s “The Pitt” took home Breakthrough Drama Series
Seth Rogen’s Apple TV series, “The Studio,” won Breakthrough Comedy Series. “Social Studies” won Breakthrough Nonfiction Series.
“Pee-Wee as Himself” Wins Original Film, Streaming or Broadcast.
Outstanding Performances were awarded also to Owen Cooper (Adolescence), Stephen Graham (Adolescence), Poorna Jagannathan (Deli Boys), Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge), Jenny Slate (Dying for Sex), Julio Torres (Fantasmas), and Ben Whishaw (Black Doves).
There were emotional tributes throughout the night. Sheryl Lee Ralph won the Sidney Poitier Prize, and it was given by Poitier’s gracious daughter, Pamela. Now an Emmy winner on “Abbott Elementary,” Ralph recalled getting her first acting job in a movie Poitier directed when she was just 19. That cemented their friendship.
It would take 8 years before she broke through in Broadway’s “Dreamgirls” in 1985. Even with that exceptional credit, Sheryl Lee has spent the last 40 years surviving in Hollywood, working every year in different TV shows. Before “Abbott” her longest run was in “Moesha.”
She’s seen it all, and still persisted. “They call me Betty White Black,” she joked through tears.
There were also tributes to Elisabeth Moss and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” prolific writer and producer David E. Kelley, one for the “Squid Gamer,” and a hilarious moment honoring Amy Sherman Palladino and husband Dan Palladino, creators of “Gilmore Girls,” “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and the Amazon drama, “Etoile.” They’d prepared no acceptance speech, which resulted in off the cuff, brief hilarity.
Later, I talked to them, as well as actor Luke Kirby, who stars in “Etoile.” (Rachel Brosnahan and Kelly Bishop were there to support them.) The Palladinos are hoping for a second season renewal on “Etoile,” the classiest show on Amazon Prime. “We love doing it,” Amy said. “Etoile” is a lot like HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” which didn’t catch on until its second season. It would be a shame not see it return.
Finally, Parker Posey took the stage to accept her Lifetime Achievement Award. Her resume of off beat comic performances culminated this year in “The White Lotus,” where her character of wealthy suburban housewife Victor became the touchstone of the series. She was introduced by real life couple Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bibb, her co-stars on the HBO show, who did a fine job mimicking Posey’s catchphrases like “Piper, no!” with a southern drawl.
