Blinded by the Hype
Sinatra Slayings Baffle Police
One of the more bizarre stories to break this weekend comes courtesy of Gizmodo, who shared a chilling tale of karaoke terror. You read that right: karaoke terror.A string of slayings known as the 'My Way' Murders have swept the Philippines. Police can't explain why singers have been killed for their renditions of Sinatra's signature tune, but dozens have died after singing it.
Sure, we've all heard horrible versions of Sinatra songs over the years, but would you kill someone for it? Is this meant to be some sort of bizarre honor killing for those who might damage Sinatra's legacy by making a mockery of this song in particular?
In any case, it gives new meaning to the term 'stage fright.'
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Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:06:51 GMT | JT_Ramsay
An Interview with John Legend
J T. Ramsay: Valentine's Day is just around the corner. What's the best love song of all time and why?John Legend: Wow...there's so many. I don't even know where to start. One of my favorites is 'I Love You, Porgy.' Nina Simone's version of it is gorgeous.
JTR: You've worked with a lot of people throughout your career. I'm wondering who you like to work with most.
JL: I've worked with so many great people. One of my favorites is Will.I.Am. We work well together and we've written some of my favorite songs together. I also love working with Kanye. I really enjoyed doing the song with Andre 3000 on the last album.
JTR: You brought up both Will.I.Am and Kanye and I wanted to ask you something. You're a pretty smooth guy. Is there anything, any advice you could give to Kanye to help him bounce back in 2010?
JL: Oh I just think he'll focus on the music. When he comes back with some great music I think people will let the other stuff kind of fade to the background and appreciate him for what he does so well, which is make great records.
JTR: Would you say that he gets treated unfairly by the media?
JL: Well, you know, he invites a lot of attention by some of the things he does, so, it is what it is. But, at the end of the day, he's one of the great artists of our time and, you at least have to respect that.
JTR: You also mentioned the work you did with Andre 3000. There's an interesting interplay between the two of you on your most recent album and I wanted to ask you about that. Since you gone more eclectic with 'Evolver,' do you ever find yourself pigeonholed as a soul singer?
JL: You know, I don't worry about, you know, people pigeonholing me because at the end of the day your music is what it is and your fans will appreciate it for what it is. I don't worry about the labels and all that stuff, what categories people put me in. I just let the music speak for itself.
JTR: You mentioned Will.I.Am. Obviously you were an outspoken supporter of Barack Obama. I wanted to ask you how you think he's doing and what would you say to his critics?
JL: You know, I think he's doing an excellent job and I think his critics will decrease when the economy gets better. I think his favorability ratings will go up when the unemployment rate goes down and that's going to take some time. And anybody who understands the economic cycle and understands what they did with the stimulus bill and things like that know that what they did was certainly important and helpful, but it's going to take time and it's gonna take some more action by the government to help the economy move forward, and these things don't happen overnight. The crisis didn't happen overnight and, certainly, the solution won't either. When things get better, his approval ratings will go up. I think it's pretty much that simple.
JTR: I've read that you were working on something for Michael Jackson's next album. Can you tell me a bit about that.
JL: Well, I had written a song with Will.I.Am for it and he had heard it and he liked it, but I don't know if he recorded it yet and I don't think it would ever see the light of day at this point.
JTR: You're involved with a new documentary that's about our school system and I wanted to hear some of your thoughts on what's happening in education right now.
JL: I'm working with a film called 'Waiting for Superman.' I wrote the closing title song for the film. I'm a big advocate of the film because I really believe in it. It was directed by David Guggenheim and he directed '[An] Inconvenient Truth.' He really shines a light on what's happening with our school system; how it's fallen off when it comes to being compared to other systems around the world and really shows, first of all, the difficult plight of so many kids in the inner cities who are faced with very few options for getting a decent education. [He] also shows some schools that are doing well and could help us see the way forward and how to reform the schools as well.
It makes you frustrated because you see how many kids are suffering and see how many kids want a chance, but don't really have it. It also makes you somewhat optimistic because you can see schools that are working in tough situations and are really making a big difference. You just hope that those kind of reforms can be replicated throughout the country.
It's really well done. It's a great movie in itself; just the drama and the story of it is interesting. It's such an important topic.
JTR: Shifting gears a bit, is there any possibility that you'd release a collaborative album with Steven Colbert? You guys work pretty well together.
JL:
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Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:01:40 GMT | JT_Ramsay
Watch Taylor Swift's Grammy Performance
If 'Today Is a Fairytale,' then the day after is a nightmare for country superstar Taylor Swift, whose recent performance on last Sunday's Grammys fell flat with critics and fans alike. Swift opened with her latest single, 'Today Is a Fairytale' before introducing songstress Stevie Nicks for a performance of the Fleetwood Mac classic, 'Rhiannon.' The pair closed with a spritely take of Swift's ode to true love, 'You Belong With Me,' accompanied by banjoist Butch Walker.
It's no secret that Swift's voice has been less than stellar during her TV appearances over the course of the past year, but her duet with Nicks seemed particularly off-key. If her voice wasn't bad enough, viewers cringed at the thought of the strait-laced Swift appearing together with the witchy, wonderful Nicks. Stevie Nicks singing backup on a teeny bopper ballad about true love? When Nicks was Swift's age she was opening for wild acts like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix!
It was a moment that captured the bizarre magic of the Grammys, much like pairing the Jonas Brothers with Stevie Wonder last year.
What did you think of the performance? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:59:53 GMT | JT_Ramsay
We Will Get Fooled Again
The New York Times ran a piece yesterday entitled, 'The Who, and the Super Bowl's Evolving Halftime Show.' It's an interesting read, but it left me wondering if the author of the piece understands the meaning of evolution. Now, I know the halftime show has come a long way from the days when Carol Channing would front a marching band (check out my picks for the worst Super Bowl halftimes of all time if you don't believe me), but there's nothing to suggest that the parties responsible for booking halftime really understand their audience.Let's start with the exception to the rule: Prince. Prince's Super Bowl halftime will go down as the best of all time because he was able to harness the gravity of the event, embrace the horrific weather, and introduce something novel to the halftime proceedings: spontaneity. Who for a second thought that a Foo Fighters song would work its way into Prince's medley, or that it would actually be cool when it did?
Nobody. Yet someone was brave and smart enough to grasp that Prince's eclectic hits were perfect for an impromptu Super Bowl dance party. They should've canceled all future halftimes after it. Who could follow that act?
Turns out that person was Tom Petty, whose by-the-numbers performance of his mid-tempo hits showed just how out of touch the powers that be are. The audience craves excitement, and can find it anywhere you can project media. Tom Petty's sluggish set was the opposite of that. It was the sort of performance that makes you think that the Super Bowl halftime is an outtake from that classic 'Freedom Rock' informercial.
Petty, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul McCartney all demonstrate how the Super Bowl halftime performer could be chosen by that guy in accounting who 'likes music,' but hates that 'rap crap.' Yes, they're big names who sound great in stadiums, but most of us aren't at the stadium. We're at home munching on chips and dip.
Let's face it, the Super Bowl halftime show is too old and too white to be even remotely entertaining.
It's not like they didn't try to gear the halftime to a younger audience, but the melange of artists they threw together rarely made sense. In what universe does it seem like a good decision to have 'N Sync, Aerosmith, and Britney Spears perform together? Granted, we have Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson to thank for thwarting any effort to make the halftime show relevant to anyone born after 1970.
But the folks in charge of planning the halftime entertainment threw the baby out with the bathwater. Heck, you might argue that they threw the bathtub, too. Since that fateful night we've watched a string of veteran arena rockers lumber through their overplayed hits to an audience of 'fans' who were probably paid to cheer. It's embarrassing and it's not good entertainment.
What can be done to fix the halftime show? Is it even worth saving?
The answer is that it can be saved and we know just who can save it. Why not take a page out of the Grammys playbook? (I can't believe I just wrote that.) The Grammys audience swelled to 25.8M viewers, their largest audience in six years. Not bad for a dying industry. Sure, nobody may know who the Zac Brown Band are, but they like to watch artists like Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Taylor Swift.
It may be news to NFL executives, but women can actually entertain mass audiences.Tap into that energy and you may just have something worth watching.
As for me, I'll be watching the Puppy Bowl while the surviving members of the Who ghoulishly pantomime their hits.
Check out our 10 picks to save the Super Bowl halftime show.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Message Edited by JT_Ramsay on 02-04-2010 04:45 PM…
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:24:17 GMT | JT_Ramsay
Madonna Gets Dumped
Looks like Madonna's 23-year-old boyfriend wasn't ready to spend another Valentine's Day with the Material Girl.Huffington Post reports that Jesus Luz decided to end things. Apparently their love couldn't conquer the generation gap between them. Did you know that Madonna is 14 years older than Luz' mom? They just ran out of things to talk about, according to a source close to Madonna.
Apparently, a love affair cannot live on Kabbalah alone.
Take a look at how Madonna's changed throughout her career. Take the Madonna quiz to see how well you know the Material Girl.
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Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:58:53 GMT | JT_Ramsay
Fur Flies as Kanye Blasts PETA
When Kanye West didn't appear to accept a Grammy for his part on Jay-Z's 'Run This Town,' you were probably thinking he was banned from the show, or was just cooling his jets somewhere.Wrong.
Kanye was clearly crafting a cogent, reasonable response to PETA's criticism after he and girlfriend Amber Rose were spotted wearing fur in Paris. Well, he was crafting a response, but 'cogent' and 'reasonable' aren't words you might use to describe it.
No, Kanye unleashed an all-caps, expletive-laden tirade on his blog, CocoPerez reports. Read his rant in full:
'WHEN IT'S ALL SAID AND DONE, REMEMBER THE FEARLESS, REMEMBER THE DREAMERS, REMEMBER THOSE WHO REPRESENT THE GHETTO…THE FAIRY TALE OF NOTHING TO SOMETHING. I'M BRIEFLY SADDENED BY NEGATIVE COMMENTS, BUT I HAVE TO REMEMBER THOSE PEOPLE ARE SCARED, INCAPABLE OR JUST PLAIN IDIOTS. WE ARE THE F***ING ROCK STARS BABY. NO COCAINE, JUST LIFE MY N****S!! NO COCAINE, JUST LIFE! IT'S FUNNY TO ME WHEN FASHION BLOGGERS DOWN OUR OUFITS AND THEN SUPER JOCK OUTLANDISH S*** ON THE RUNWAY BUT THEN THEY DRESS MAD PRUDE AND DON'T LIVE FASHION. WE LIVE IT MAN. F*** THAT, WE LIVE IT!!! WE LIVE IT SO HARD PEOPLE LIVE THROUGH US! WE REPRESENT YOUR INNER SPIRIT!! THE CHILD IN US ALL, THE BRUTAL HONESTY, THE NAIVETY, THE BRAVE WARRIOR, THE ADRENALINE THAT ALLOWS A MOTHER TO LIFT A CAR IF HER CHILD WAS TRAPPED UNDER IT! REMEMBER, THERE WAS A TIME WHEN EVERYBODY DISSED MICHAEL JACKSON EVERY CHANCE THEY COULD. IMAGINE THE PRESSURE OF BEING A TRUE ICON. VERY FEW HUMAN BEINGS ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE CONSTANT HATE!!! IF WE DON'T DO WHAT YOU FEEL IS THE S***, YOU BEAT US UP VERBALLY AND MENTALLY, LIKE A CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEACHER BEATING A CREATIVE STUDENT INTO SUBMISSION. I CAN HEAR YOU SCREAMING 'COLOR INSIDE THE LINES!!!' WELL F*** YOUR COLORING BOOK, COLOR BY NUMBERS APPROACH TO LIFE. AT THE END OF THE DAY WHO ARE WE HURTING??? OH "THE NEW BLACK???" SINCE BARACK IS PRESIDENT BLACKS DON'T LIKE FUR COATS, RED LEATHER, AND FRIED CHICKEN ANY MORE?! WHEN YOU TRULY UNDERSTAND CULTURAL SETTINGS, BOUNDARIES, AND OUR MODERN DAY CASTE SYSTEMS, THEN YOU CAN FEEL THE GLORY AND PAIN FROM THE DAYS OF KINGS IN AFRICA TO THE NEW KINGS OF THE MEDIA. LET THE BALL PLAYERS DANCE AFTER THEY SCORE! IT'S LIFE MY N****S, IT'S LIFE! REMEMBER CLOTHING IS A CHOICE. WE WERE BORN NAKED!!! FRESH IS AN OPINION, LOVE IS OBJECTIVE, TASTE IS SELECTIVE, AND EXPRESSION IS MY FAVORITE ELECTIVE. NO MORE POLITICS OR APOLOGIES!!!'To sum up, Kanye has expressed his certain, unalienable right to wear fur, which is somehow connected to the history of African-American struggle in America.
Message Edited by JT_Ramsay on 02-02-2010 01:39 PM…
Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:24:42 GMT | JT_Ramsay
