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The Who Still Rock…Dear Mel, You’re in 4th Place…Estelle Chows Down…

Roger Friedman
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It may have been said before, but The Who got famous singing, “Hope I die before I get old.” That was 45 years ago.

Well, it didn’t happen (except to Keith Moon, who took the line literally). Roger Daltrey (age 65) and Pete Townshend (age 64) are still around, and they absolutely killed as the Super Bowl half time entertainment. The group broke up in the 80s, but then kept going. Some twenty five years later, Daltrey sounded better than ever. Pete is still a guitar madman. “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” came out in 1971 on “Who’s Next,” yet they are better than anything we heard on the Grammy show last Sunday. Unfortunately, we’ve been fooled over and over…

Great news: “Dear John,” a new romantic weeper, sent both “Avatar” and “Edge of Darkness” scurrying for cover over the weekend. “Dear John” made $32 million in one weekend ‘ $3 million more than “Edge” has made in two full weeks.

“Dear John” is a chick flick, yes. But it’s directed by the tremendous Lasse Hallstrom, who can spin silk from a sow’s ear any day. Hallstrom is one of our most gifted directors. His great resume includes “The Cider House Rules,” “Chocolat,” “My Life as a Dog,” “What’s Eating’Gilbert Grape” and underrated films like “Hoax,” “Casanova,” and “Once Around.”

Whoever onces the rights these days to D.M. Thomas’s “White Hotel” should hire Hallstrom immediately. It’s the movie he was meant to make.

“Edge of Darkness” fell more than 59% from last week, more than any other top film. It finished fourth for the weekend with a $7 mil take. Odds are it will be more than halved again next week. Mel Gibson has proved unworthy of a comeback in every respect. It’s hoped that Leonardo DiCaprio will get the message and pull out of Mel’s next scheduled project before it starts.

“Edge” shouldn’t be a total bust. Even if it totals just $40 mil domestically, it should have a good life overseas, especially in the U.K. (It was a British mini series originally)…

…Yes, that was the legendary Ben Gazzara having lunch at Balthazar on Sunday with wife Elke. He’s going to be 80 in August. God bless…

…People are still talking about the lunch last week at Phillippe Chow in Hollywood for R&B singer Estelle (”American Boy”). She played us some tracks from her new, upcoming CD and welcomed an elite crowd including Hill Harper, Sam Jean (Wyclef’s lawyer brother), and host Kim Porter ‘ aka P Diddy’s babymama of three. The lunch went on extra long I think because the guests loved the energy drink, called Sin, sponsoring the event. They all got bottles of it and Sin’s sister drink, Serenity, which is designed to put you to sleep. Other guests included our “cousin” Bill Werde, the editorial director of Billboard,’”Today show” producer Melissa Lonner; plus Jaime Hilfiger, Darren Henson, and Claudia Jones…Watch out for Estelle in 2010…she’s gonna be big…

Natalie Cole: ‘I Thought I’d Be Dead by 30′

Roger Friedman
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Natalie Cole: ‘I Thought I’d Be Dead by 30′

59498145“I never thought I’d live this long,” Natalie Cole told the sold-out-to-the-rafters crowd Saturday night at New York’s City Winery. “I thought I’d be dead by 30.”

Instead, she’s lived twice as long, and celebrated her 60th birthday on Saturday night with style, grace, and her amazing voice.

The Saturday-night show was the second in a row, and capped a birthday week that included her singing on Quincy Jones‘ remake of “We Are the World” this past Monday. In between, though, Natalie managed to have a little trouble ‘ she fell in her home and broke her elbow. The result was a black sling to go with her slinky black dress.

But elbows aside, Natalie rarely performs in New York, so her appearance was really a treat. (She would have done better to leave her rude corpulent female road manager at home, but that’s another story.) The show was mostly standards, which was just fine. Of course, there was “Unforgettable,” with a video of late dad, the original R&B superstar, Nat “King” Cole.

But Natalie is truly unforgettable. Her voice has more of its lilt and texture than ever. Her father has his place in history. Natalie Cole is one of the few progeny in the popular arts to match if not exceed a famous parent. Whether it’s upbeat material like “Paper Moon” or Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile,” Natalie can turn any standard into her own. She does “Come Rain or Come Shine” not in the melancholy way of Ray Charles, but as the promise that was first offered by Sammy Davis Jr. and Lena Horne. It sounds fresh and new. A revelation from the night: “Better than Anything,” a song she originally sang with Diana Krall. Lovely.

Of course, we love Natalie singing jazz, but the audience came with ulterior motives. “Maybe you remember the R&B Natalie Cole,” the singer said humbly toward the end of the show. Many titles were shouted out, but there was one in particular that everyone wanted: her original 1975 hit, “This Will Be.” “The music will be fine, but we don’t have any singers,” Cole protested. Still, with the audience clapping in time, she did it ‘ with no augmentation or background singers or Auto Tune. Thirty-five years just melted away. We need more Natalie Cole. So many of today’s singers could take lessons from her.

P.S. City Winery is a beautiful space with an excellent sound sytem. Owner Michael Dorf has done a great job with the music, food, and of course, beverages. One caveat: Get rid of the belligerent, brain dead security people. More 12-year-olds with headsets we don’t need, especially when they’re nasty to their elders.

Paul McCartney on the Beatles: ‘We Were a Great F-ing Band’

Roger Friedman
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Paul McCartney on the Beatles: ‘We Were a Great F-ing Band’

mccartney Paul McCartney on the Beatles: We Were a Great F ing BandPaul McCartney watched the rehearsals for the Beatles’ “Love” show from Cirque du Soleil and this is one thing he had to say: “We were a great f-ing band.”

This moment is captured in the documentary “All Together Now,” which seems like it was supposed to have come out last fall, did or didn’t, and is being pushed this week. Regardless, I watched it over the weekend, and it’s wonderful. Beatles fans will just eat this up. What a pleasure.

First of all, you get a real sense of the main players involved: George Martin, who deserves a purple heart; his devoted and talented son Giles; McCartney, of course; and Ringo Starr. You also get a real sense of Olivia Harrison, George’s incredibly loyal and devoted widow; and Yoko Ono. And there are the people from Cirque du Soleil: from creators Guy Laliberte and director Dominic Champagne, to a South African dancer who’s struggling to fit in.

Director ‘ yes, this was directed ”Adrian Wills gets short shrift among all these creative geniuses. But he really pulls it together. McCartney is at most his disarmed in this film, a little gobsmacked I think, as he sees the enormity of the Beatles unfold on stage through Champagne’s vision. Ringo is his usual charming self. Yoko One comes off better than you’d think, though she’s not easy on Champagne as the production is getting ready to open. “She hates it,” Champagne says to an associate in French. It doesn’t matter.

The whole “Love” show with Cirque du Soleil came about because of George Harrison. He didn’t get to see the project realized. Instead, Olivia and their son Dhani played a big backstage role in bringing “Love” to fruition. Olivia is on camera quite a bit, and she makes the most sense as she and Yoko ‘ thrown together in their joint widowhood ‘ are often together.

“All Together Now” answers quite a few questions too: the whole father-son relationship between George Martin ‘ who’s 84 years old! ‘ and son Giles, who’s inherited the mantle of protecting the legacy; McCartney’s perspective on having created the body of work; Ringo’s memory of Brian Epstein knocking on his door one day with an offer to join the band; the one new creation in the show ‘ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” ‘ to which Martin added a new violin score. He reveals that the musicians sent him two dozen roses upon completion. “Usually you just get invoices,” he jokes.

More than anything, you do get a real idea of George Martin’s role as the fifth Beatle (Billy Preston was sixth Beatle then). I loved a little anecdote he and McCartney share about Martin playing a harmonium on some song (”Penny Lane,” maybe) with the Beatles producing and giving him instruction. Their roles were reversed for once.

I was at the opening night of “Love” when all the parties mentioned were guests. I went back about a year later. It’s the best thing in Las Vegas, without a doubt. It’s a shame it can’t be brought to New York, Los Angeles, or London. I think people would be shocked about how extraordinary it is. Seeing “All Together Now” made me want to book a ticket immediately. In the meantime, we have the DVD and the CD, “Love,” which even yours truly ‘ a Beatles purist ‘ loves, loves, loves.

P.S. The documentary is properly dedicated to the memory of Neil Aspinall, who shepherded “Love” and ran the Beatles’ Apple Records for 40 years.

Mel Gibson’s Career on the Edge of Collapse?

Roger Friedman
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mgibson Mel Gibsons Career on the Edge of Collapse?Mel Gibson’s new film, “Edge of Darkness,” cost at least $80 million. Add in another $15 million, let’s say, for marketing, and you’ve got nearly a $100 million movie.

As of Wednesday, “Edge” had $21 million in its till. But it also had a unique problem. From Tuesday to Wednesday, it had the largest drop-off of any movie in the top 10. It was off 19.7%. The next closest drop went to “When in Rome,” Disney’s sort of straight-to-airplane romantic comedy which fell 19%.

The other eight were all at much less, including Denzel Washington in “The Book of Eli,” also from Warner Bros and a comparable commercial big studio entertainment.

The gauge for “Darkness” will show up later today, when we can see who went to see it on Thursday night.

What happened? It’s taken a few days for movie fans to hear about ‘ and see ‘ Gibson’s vile personality exhibited in public again. This time, he became belligerent during a perfectly friendly interview with a TV correspondent. Gibson did it by satellite, and when it was over, with his microphone on, he called the interviewer an “a**hole.”

The interviewer asked Gibson very politely about his DUI arrest and subsequent problems. It was perfectly valid. Gibson shot back this was now something that happened four years ago. That is true. Gibson’s legal problems began in 2006. But still, they happened, and they are absolutely noteworthy. He drove drunk. When he was arrested, he made anti-Semitic and racist comments. And there was an attempt to cover this up.

Here’s the clip of Gibson calling Chicago’s WGN’s Dean Richards an “a**hole.”

“That’s almost four years ago, dude. I’ve moved on. I’ve done all the necessary mea culpas.”

Well, no, Mel, you haven’t done the necessary mea culpas. You haven’t apologized directly for any of it. You haven’t explained why you continue to fund a “Catholic” church that isn’t recognized by the Catholic church. You haven’t explained or apologized for being a Holocaust denier, or answered questions about your father, Hutton Gibson, who’s said outrageous and awful things about the current Pope and the last one, too.

Here’s the thing: Mel has invested $50 million into that ideology. He got the money from people like us going into movie theaters and paying $12.50 per ticket. The public, huge segments of which Mel hates and despises, created this Frankenstein. Catholics, Jews, blacks, people against drunk driving ‘ all get to vote with their wallets on whether Mel Gibson remains a movie star. He called Dean Richards an “a**hole.” He picked a fight with Sam Rubin. He is not contrite. He is not sorry.

Wednesday’s drop may be a reflection that the fans are finally getting it.

Hilary Swank Film for Fall Has Oscar Promise

Roger Friedman
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59403592Hilary Swank ‘ a two-time Oscar winner ‘ will try again next fall to score big at the boxoffice and with critics.

Swank’s latest film, “Betty Anne Waters,” has been sold to Fox Searchlight. Directed by Tony Goldwyn, “Betty Anne Waters” concerns a sister who puts herself through college and law school to defend her brother on murder charges. Swank plays the title character, Sam Rockwell is the brother. Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, and Clea DuVall co-star.

Yesterday, one of the movie bloggers outrageously wondered why, after Mira Nair’s “Amelia” tanked, anyone would want to be in business with Hilary Swank. This is one of he more preposterous things I’ve read in these blogs. Swank has two Oscars (for “Boys Don’t Cry”and “Million Dollar Baby”). She’s a great young actress with a huge future. That assertion was so crazy that I called up Fox Searchlight chief Nancy Utley to see what she thought.

“We love Hilary, who wouldn’t want to have one of her movies?” Nancy said. I agree. “This movie feels very commercial. The performances are wonderful. It’s a true story, too. Betty Anne ‘ who’s alive ‘ didn’t have a high school degree. She became a lawyer. When we tested the film at previews, it went through the roof.”

So there, bloggers. “Amelia” was no dud, but it was hard to market. Everyone knew the ending, for one thing. Richard Gere was miscast, some thought. And there was no one alive to hang the marketing on.

Utley, who’s busy with “Crazy Heart” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Oscar campaigns, says “Betty Anne Waters” will be at some key festivals, then open in the fall.

Fergie Joins ‘We Are the World,’ But No Jackson Kids So Far

Roger Friedman
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59496350I gotta feeling: The gorgeous and full-throated Fergie ‘ Stacy Ferguson ‘ of the Black Eyed Peas has joined the cast of Quincy Jones’s “We Are the World 25.” The powerhouse song and video for Haiti relief debuting next Friday, February 12th during the Olympics.

Fergie did not make the recording session this past Monday, but she has since added her vocals and been filmed by Paul Haggis’s video crew. Her pea in the pod, Will.i.am, participated in Monday’s marathon session.

Fergie is only the second artist to add vocals to the record. On Thursday, Janet Jackson added hers by satellite link from Atlanta.

That’s it, then. No other artists are scheduled. As for Michael Jackson’s kids, Quincy Jones has an idea to have them read a poem by Maya Angelou at the end of the video version of the new recording. But so far nothing’s happened in that regard.

What is happening now is the process of setting up a new We Are the World Foundation, separate from the old organization from 25 years ago. That’s a good thing, too. The old charity, USA For Africa, has a lot of accounting issues and many questions to be answered.

Maybe because of that, Quincy Jones wanted the new group to be free of old baggage. “He wants complete transparency,” says a source. The board members for the new We Are the World Foundation are Jones, Lionel Richie, Wyclef Jean, Paul Haggis, Randy Phillips, and Ambassador Louis Moreno for the InterAmerican Development Bank.

Meantime, the old USA for Africa looks like it’s a little dodgy these days. Frankly, it’s surprising it’s still in business. according to its last three tax filings, USA For Africa more or less exists to pay the salary, rent and expenses of one executive, Marcia Thomas. She’s been receiving about $50,000 a year in salary, plus all those other amounts including $18,000 in travel and expenses.

USA for Africa was set up originally in 1985 to send money to Ethopia because its population was starving. But in 2008 a total of $20,000 went to grants, and ‘none of them were in Africa. A grant of $1,000 went to an Entertainment Law Student, another $9000 went to public relations. And $4,000 went to insurance ‘ presumably for Marcia Thomas.

The president of USA for Africa is a Beverly Hills ob/gyn named Dr. Lloyd Greig. When I spoke to him, he told me to call Ms. Thomas. Her phone, however, rings without answer.

Streep Vs. Bullock Could Produce a Surprise

Roger Friedman
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julijulia blindside 341 Streep Vs. Bullock Could Produce a SurpriseMeryl Streep vs. Sandra Bullock: It’s the only real race in the Oscars besides best picture.

Should we vote for Meryl, who is perfection in “Julie & Julia” as Julia Child? She hasn’t won an Oscar since 1982. She’s the best actress in the world. And she’s won a lot of awards this year.

Or Sandra Bullock: lots of fun, very friendly, very real. This is probably her one shot at an Oscar, playing a Kathie Lee Gifford lookalike. I’ve always had a thing for Sandra Bullock, but her high-water mark was in “While You Were Sleeping.” She’s a B-plus comedienne. She makes a lot of movies of varying quality. Witness “All About Steve,” which she made in the same year as “The Blind Side” and “The Proposal.”

More awards coverage

We won’t get into it too much here, but “The Blind Side” is really a terrible movie that has clicked with audiences for all the wrong reasons. But Sandy has also won some awards, almost going toe-to-toe with Streep as the season has progressed.

What might happen? Well, a few years ago Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson were in such a battle. DDL was in “Gangs of New York.” Jack was in “About Schmidt.” They alternated winning award after award. And who won the Oscar? Surprise! Adrien Brody for “The Pianist.”

aneducationmulligan Streep Vs. Bullock Could Produce a SurpriseIf Streep and Bullock cancel each other out, look for Carey Mulligan to pull off an out-of-left-field win for “An Education.” There’s also a slight chance in such a scenario that Gabourey Sidibe would wind up winning for “Precious.”

Is this really happening?

The fact is, Streep should win. While everyone admires Bullock’s pluck, Streep is the actress of our time. And it’s not like this is a career nod. She embodies Julia Child. The strength and depth of her performance is even more noteworthy because Child was parodied so much in the past. For years people imitated Child via Dan Aykroyd on “Saturday Night Live.” The high-pitched voice, the cutting of the finger. This was Aykroyd. For Streep to have overcome that re-created Child, that is the demonstration of her remarkable abilities.

Then, again, there is the Golden Globe. Bullock won it for “The Blind Side.” The Academy is not disposed to ratifying Globe choices. And the actors’ segment of the Academy tends to go for the real thespian. In that case, Streep would be it.

Say tuned…

Michael Jackson’s Doctor to Be Arraigned on Monday

Roger Friedman
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conradmurray1 Michael Jacksons Doctor to Be Arraigned on MondayTMZ’s long week of predicting, nay, demanding, the arrest and arraignment of Dr. Conrad Murray has come to an end.

Despite the Web site’s wacky hourly announcements about Dr. Murray’s legal situation, Michael Jackson’s alleged killer will actually be formally charged on Monday in Los Angeles.

How do we know? Because the LAPD and District Attorney have each sent out a press release with the info. That takes the mystery out of it! Dr. Murray will be arraigned at the Airport Court on So. La Cienega on Monday after charges are filed with the DA.

My favorite part of this story was TMZ’s insistence that the LAPD and DA were having a “feud.” It was hilarious.

A friend of mine on the inside says, “Sorry. No feud. No agreement ever was made with Murray attorneys about a surrender. No one at LAPD ever wanted a perp walk or even mentioned it. That and most of the other stuff that has been going out has been simple horse hockey.”

But this is the nature of unsourced hourly blogging. It’s terrible and funny. So much energy wasted on nothing.

And what will happen? Dr. Murray will plead not guilty. The DA will ask for bail, which Murray will offer. He will await trial for involuntary manslaughter. Much is already known. He’s admitted to giving Michael the Diprivan/Propofol that killed the singer. He also allegedly was on the phone with his girlfriend — babymama No. 7 — while Michael was “out.” So the defense will have to prove that his administration of the drug was right and proper. Good luck, Dr. M.!

Exclusive Pictures From ‘We Are the World 25′

Roger Friedman
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Life in a fishbowl: Rock stars brave the heat for "We are the World 25"

Life in a fishbowl: Rock stars brave the heat for "We Are the World 25"

Here are just a few photos taken by Martin Aiono during the taping on Monday of “We Are the World” 25th anniversary for Haiti.

Off their Rockers: Maroon 5's Adam Levine and Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas

Off their Rockers: Maroon 5's Adam Levine and Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas

It’s still a mind-blowing memory of 80 stars all in one place, working hard and fast to get this job done. The windowless studio got so hot that air conditioning had to be pumped in from a temporary rig set up at the last minute. I overheard one assistant who ran to the A-list talent coordinator Tisha Fein, yelling, “We need fans!”

Q is for Quality: Quincy Jones gets in the middle of it

Q is for Quality: Quincy Jones gets in the middle of it

No one complained, though. And everyone was a team player, including 83-year-old Tony Bennett, who stood in the studio for five hours, never took a break or a snack. His manager/son Danny was worried about him, but Bennett characteristically soldiered on.

Ececutive producer Randy Phillips really pulled this extravaganza off. What a year he’s had: Phillips also shepherded the Michael Jackson film “This Is It” after Michael’s sudden death. Contrary to a wrong report yesterday, Phillips assembled the talent with the respected Fein based on requests from artists to participate after clearing their names with Quincy Jones. Of special pride was the inclusion of Motown great Gladys Knight. “She has to be there,” Jones told me a few days earlier. And so she took a “midnight train” from Las Vegas to be there.

Chorus Kids: Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Tony Bennett

Chorus Kids: Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Tony Bennett

Hard at Work: Lionel Richie and producer Quincy Jones

Hard at Work: Lionel Richie and producer Quincy Jones

Pictures C2010 Martin Aiono for Showbiz411

Jeremy Renner: The Best Actor Who Could

Roger Friedman
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59454605“Hurt Locker” star Jeremy Renner hit New York this week with a thunderclap. On Tuesday morning he and co-star Anthony Mackie were on the “Today” show when word came that Renner was nominated for an Academy Award ‘ best actor. He and Mackie embraced. Back in September 2008, when “The Hurt Locker” debuted at the Toronto Film Festival, it was an indie film with no budget. The actors had no publicists. The whole thing was a crap shoot.

Now Mackie is rehearsing on Broadway for a major play. And Renner did “Letterman” and some other shows. I ran into him last night at the Greenwich Hotel having drinks. He’d just been at dinner up at Elaine’s with his manager Beth Holden and publicist Sue Patricola and the famed Bobby Zarem. When the waitresses at the Greenwich realized who he was, they fetched Renner his favorite drink: Woodford Reserve mash bourbon. It went down smooth. He was joined for a bit by Oscar Isaac, from the upcoming “Sucker Punch” and “Robin Hood.” Isaac just found out his long-awaited “Agora” opens in May.

A year ago, Renner was on a short-lived TV series that followed “Lost” and no one remembers. “The Hurt Locker” was still mostly unknown to everyone. Now he’s a star. He just finished “The Town,” directed by Ben Affleck, with Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall and Blake Lively. It sounds like a winner.

What did he do before this? In 2002, he played Jeffrey Dahmer in a feature film. Don’t hold it against him. No one knew he’d be an overnight sensation after 15 years in the business.

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