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“Grease” Was Not the Word: CBS Sunday Night Sing-a-long Replacement for Tony Awards Beaten by…Celebrity Family Feud

Roger Friedman
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“Grease” Was Not the Word: CBS Sunday Night Sing-a-long Replacement for Tony Awards Beaten by…Celebrity Family Feud

“Grease” was not the word Sunday night.

CBS’s answer to not having the Tony Awards was a sing-a-long to the movie “Grease,” based on a bad musical that never ever won a Tony Award. A lot of people in the theater community were angry, and rightly so.

So what happened? Not a lot of people wanted to sing-a-long. “Grease” was beaten by a game show. ABC’s “Celebrity Family Feud” found 5.7 million viewers at 8pm. “Grease” lost the next hour, at 9pm by a notch, and regained a slight win at the 10pm hour over ABC’s “Match Game” by about half a million viewers.

CBS could have tried at least to do something to honor the Tony Awards. Maybe they were mad because last year’s Tonys hit a ratings low. But “Grease” didn’t even come near those ratings. So much for that. At least the 2019 Tonys scored over 5 million viewers. And this year probably would have been a lot better, with performances from “Tina!” and “Moulin Rouge,” among other new shows.

Bono Introduces All-Star Cover of U2’s “Beautiful Day” Featuring Cynthia Erivo, Khalid, Ben Platt, Camilla Cabello, Noah Cyrus, Produced by Finneas

Roger Friedman
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Bono Introduces All-Star Cover of U2’s “Beautiful Day” Featuring Cynthia Erivo, Khalid, Ben Platt, Camilla Cabello, Noah Cyrus, Produced by Finneas

I’m not sure how this came together or why, but Bono debuted an all star cover of U2’s “Beautiful Day” on the Obamas’ virtual graduation day ceremony. It’s all young people except for Chris Martin, who’s nonetheless enjoyable. But the one person who really shines, besides Khalid, is Cynthia Erivo. Watch her.

The song is preceded by a spoken introduction from Bono. He says, “As an Irishman, I’ve always believed that America is not just a country, it’s an idea, it’s a dream that belongs to the whole world,” he explained. “Now I know in recent times the world has been reminded that America is an idea that doesn’t even belong to a lot of Americans, and that for many black Americans, Lady Liberty’s torch is far from a beacon of hope, it’s often a flashlight in the face.”

What I got out of this that Finneas, Billie Eilish’s producer brother, likes spare recordings. This is just about a cappella. Instrumentation might have been interesting. Also, the song really holds up. It’s a real song. Note to the 25 people who are cramming their names onto a credit right now for some pop singer.

Upside Down World: Trump Calls Tom Cotton’s “Send in the Military” Op-Ed “Excellent” as NYTimes Ousts 2 Top Editors

Roger Friedman
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Upside Down World: Trump Calls Tom Cotton’s “Send in the Military” Op-Ed “Excellent” as NYTimes Ousts 2 Top Editors

We are living in the upside down world. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has just called an op-ed piece by conservative nut senator Tom Cotton “excellent.” The essay has been so widely criticized that this afternoon two top editorial page editors at the New York Times have been ousted.

But Trump thinks “Send in the Military” was great. He wrote:

Opinion Editor at @nytimes just walked out. That’s right, he quit over the excellent Op-Ed penned by our great Senator  @TomCottonAR. TRANSPARENCY! The State of Arkansas is very proud of Tom. The New York Times is Fake News!!!”

Cotton, who I think should be in a straitjacket with a ball gag, wrote of the protestors this past week: “One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers. But local law enforcement in some cities desperately needs backup, while delusional politicians in other cities refuse to do what’s necessary to uphold the rule of law.”

Cotton, who is 100% polyester, is a sick man. He continued: The pace of looting and disorder may fluctuate from night to night, but it’s past time to support local law enforcement with federal authority.
After a massive protest within and outside the Times, the publisher has decreed that “Stop the Military” didn’t meet the paper’s standards. Op Ed page editor James  Bennett was forced to resign for letting the editorial run, and editor James Dao has been reassigned to the hot dog counter at Schnipper’s off the Times lobby.
I do feel bad for those guys. To think a loony tune like Cotton has wrecked their careers.
But much worse is that Trump has backed the editorial. He obviously was aiming for Marshall Law, and wanted the National Guard to move in on Washington DC permanently. He’s erected his nine mile triple fence around the White House — “the people’s house” — in defiance of all American tradition. His level of paranoia is way beyond Nixon’s. And that, back in the early Seventies, was so unacceptable we swore it would never happen again. And yet, here it is.

Charts: Despite Slow Start, Lady Gaga’s “Chromatica” Debuts at Number 1 with Most Sales in CDs, Paid Downloads

Roger Friedman
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Charts: Despite Slow Start, Lady Gaga’s “Chromatica” Debuts at Number 1 with Most Sales in CDs, Paid Downloads

Lady Gaga’s “Chromatica” didn’t have an easy launch. After a six week postponement, the album had a slow start saleswise.

Then came George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. Suddenly all attention was turned away from pop music and other frivolities to more serious problems.

On Wednesday, “Chromatica” met another problem: the release of “RTJ4” by Run the Jewels. The rap duo vaulted to number 1 on iTunes, overtaking Gaga. And this episode had a weird curve ball: the album is free on RTJ’s website, and for sale on iTunes. Why would anyone pay for it? But enough did that it jumped over “Chromatica.”

Still, in the end, Gaga sold roughly 275,000 albums. More than two thirds were CDs and paid downloads– 204,000. The total all together is 295,000 since release.

The “Chromatica” sales are strong, even if they’re nowhere near Taylor Swift or Adele numbers. Lady Gaga was going to make her money on the road with a big tour but that’s not going to happen until next year. That might be a good thing. Pent up demand to see her should sell out stadiums.

Aside from RTJ, “Chromatica” has no competition coming up this week. Friday’s releases are pretty meh, although Norah Jones could be a surprise with her “Pick Me Up off the Floor.” You never know.

One little twist to this story: The Gaga-Ariana Grande duet, “Rain on Me,” is still in the iTunes top 5. But “Sour Candy,” which should be a big hit, is floundering a little. The surprise is that “Shallow,” Lady Gaga’s Oscar winning hit with Bradley Cooper, has jumped back into the top 20. You’d think everyone who wanted that song had it in every form possible. But a great record never dies.

 

Cops Arrest Elton John’s Broadway Songwriting Partner on “Devil Wears Prada” for Cheering on Protestors from Stoop

Roger Friedman
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Cops Arrest Elton John’s Broadway Songwriting Partner on “Devil Wears Prada” for Cheering on Protestors from Stoop

NYPD over zealousness hit a really sour note Thursday. Cops arrested songwriter Shaina Taub, who’s writing the musical “The Devil Wears Prada” with Elton John. They also arrested her husband and possibly a delivery boy. Cops arrested Taub and husband Matt Gehring, a Broadway performer and writer, while they encouraged peaceful protestors on the Upper West Side.

Shaina wrote on Twitter: “last night my husband and I got arrested on the stoop of our building on the UWS just after 8 pm. we were cheering on a peaceful protest on our block. this was my small visceral window into the police brutality black folks have experienced for centuries…”

The cops also also arrested a delivery boy. Shaina observed: “we were in the cop car with this young gentleman. he had every right to be out there and the way the cops treated him was disgusting.”

Eventually Taub reported: “we were in the cop car with this young gentleman. he had every right to be out there and the way the cops treated him was disgusting.”

Needless to say, NYPD will be welcome next year when “The Devil Wears Prada” opens on Broadway.

 

 

Elvis Costello is Back with His First Single Since Winning the Grammy Award: He’s Rocking and Angry

Roger Friedman
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Elvis Costello is Back with His First Single Since Winning the Grammy Award: He’s Rocking and Angry

Elvis Costello is back with his first single since winning the Grammy Award last January for his superb “Look Now” album. “No Flag” is rockin’ and angry. Elvis’s aim remains true. It’s been an amazing 43 years and it feels like it’s just getting started again. I want to hear THIS album.

Lyrics:
I’ve got no religion
I’ve got no philosophy
I’ve got a head full of ideas and words that don’t seem to belong to me

You may be joking but I don’t get the gag
I sense no future
But time seems to drag

No time for this kind of love
No flag waving high above
No sign for the dark place that I live
No God for the damn that I don’t give

I’ve got no illusions
I’ve had no epiphany
Why should anybody listen to me

She said, “I’m tearing up the sheets that your love letters stained
All of your magic powers have drained”

No time for this kind of love
No flag waving high above
No sign for the dark place that I live
No God for the damn that I don’t give

Here’s a line in the sand
A word or two in the aftermath
I’m an arrow that shoots up and down
On an advertising graph

I could write you verses and recite more than one
But they’re not worth the paper that they’re written on

No time for this kind of love
No flag waving high above
No sign for the dark place that I live
No God for the damn that I don’t give

We want everything and we don’t want to share
Outer space for the faces we fear

I look in the mirror and see who I used to be
Made out of plastic in a factory

John Travolta Sets a Record: Last Five Movies Each Has a Zero Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, A Sixth One Wasn’t Shown to Critics

Roger Friedman
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John Travolta Sets a Record: Last Five Movies Each Has a Zero Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, A Sixth One Wasn’t Shown to Critics

John Travolta has set a record, I think, on Rotten Tomatoes.

The follically challenged has been movie star brag that his last fives movies were given a zero 0 rating by critics and bloggers.

A sixth film, apparently being released in the UK, was never released here nor submitted to critics. Called “The Fanatic,” and directed by rocker Fred Durst, it simply doesn’t exist.

The five films with zeroes are: “Life on the Line” in 2016, “Gotti” in 2018, “Speed Kills” also 2018, “The Trading Point,” and “The Poison Rose” each 2019.

Those aren’t Travolta’s only stinkers, but a few others did better. “I Am Wrath” merited an 11% in 2016. “The Forger” earned a 9 in 2015, and “Killing Season” had a 10 in 2013. In 2009, “Old Dogs” was awarded a 5 out of 100 rating.

Not everyone has these bragging rights. Scientology has sure helped his career.

Here’s a clip from “The Fanatic” for our UK pals.

Paramount Streaming Ava Duvernay’s Snubbed “Selma” for Free After Warner’s Does Same for “Just Mercy”

Roger Friedman
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Paramount Streaming Ava Duvernay’s Snubbed “Selma” for Free After Warner’s Does Same for “Just Mercy”

Paramount did little for Ava Duvernay’s “Selma” when it came out several years ago. They gave it to no Oscar campaign and allowed a negative whispering campaign about LBJ’s portrayal in the film to wreck its chances. The film should have won Best Picture, Duvernay and star David Oyelowo should have been nominated for Best Director and Actor. Bradford Young should have been nominated for Best Cinematography.

I take that back: Oyelowo, who wasn’t even nominated, should have won Best Actor.

Now, in light of what’s going on, Paramount has put “Selma” on all digital platforms for free, for the month of June. It’s a phenomenal achievement. You have no excuses now for not seeing it.

This news comes as Warner Bros. has put “Just Mercy” on all platforms for free.  This movie came out last fall with very little enthusiasm from Warners. Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, Oscar winner Brie Larson, and the young superstar Michael B. Jordan are featured in Destin Daniel Cretton’s shoulda been a contender. When “Just Mercy” was shown at the Toronto Film Festival, I was convinced it would win the Oscar. But it was abandoned.

Now that Black Lives Matter has become in vogue, we’re going to see the studios go back and find their black films, the ones they ignored, and trot them out like prize ponies.

What else? Whoever got “Fruitvale Station” in the Weinstein Company bankruptcy, let’s see you do the same thing. And that’s just the start. Jordan made his debut in that one, directed by Ryan Coogler, before they went on to “Black Panther” together. I’d like to see Denzel Washington’s “Antwone Fisher” and “The Great Debaters” get that treatment, too.  Let’s bring back all the films that were black-centric but failed to catch fire after critics loved them early on.

Well, if you wait long enough, everything comes around again. And just a PS, David Oyelowo has just told a story about the cast of “Selma” being snubbed at its Hollywood Premiere because in sympathy they wore “I Can’t Breathe” t shirts to memorialize Eric Garner. The story’s been confirmed. How atrocious.

 

Paul McCartney on Black Lives Matter: Recalling How the Beatles Refused to Play in Front of a Segregated Audience

Roger Friedman
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Paul McCartney on Black Lives Matter: Recalling How the Beatles Refused to Play in Front of a Segregated Audience

Paul McCartney recalls below how the Beatles refused to play in front of a segregated audience back in the mid 60s. On Black Lives Matter, Paul says “I feel sick and angry about what happened to George Floyd.” You may recall that Paul’s song “Blackbird” was written as a song for racial equality. The only time the Beatles had a fifth member was Billy Preston, who played on “Get Back” and sessions for “Abbey Road” and “Let it Be.” And it was 38 years ago this week that Paul topped the charts with Stevie Wonder on “Ebony and Ivory,” a song that preached equality.

Broadway Star Nick Cordero’s Wife Reaches Out to Insta Family for Medical Help: “Real medically based information from credited sources please!”

Roger Friedman
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Broadway Star Nick Cordero’s Wife Reaches Out to Insta Family for Medical Help: “Real medically based information from credited sources please!”

Broadway star Nick Cordero’s wife is obviously unhappy with what’s going at Cedars Sinai Hospital.

She’s reaching out on Instagram to readers for any referrals of doctors with an expertise on carbon dioxide in the lungs.

She writes: “What Nick needs help with MOST right now is someone is or has researched the release of carbon dioxide from the lungs. If you think you know of a doctor or trial to help ONLY that please reach out to me.

The Cedars Sinai doctors can’t be too pleased with this SOS but maybe someone on the outside can give a fresh look at Nick’s condition. He’s basically been in a coma for around 64 days.

Of course this kind of message can attract tons of quacks and people with crazy ideas. But the wife is obviously desperate, and the clock is ticking.

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