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On “SNL” this weekend, JLo sang two new songs from her new album, “This Is Me..Now.” The title track — she was covered in roses — was really shrill and showed off her thin voice.
The result was…nothing. Neither the title song nor “Can’t Get Enough” have cracked the top 200 on iTunes. There has been literally no response to the songs.
And that’s bad since the album is about to drop, costing a fortune. But it’s now likely the album will be met with the same indifference.
On social media, comments about the title song have been rough. Lopez was never a great singer. Her voice was always masked by backup singers like Ashanti, who was the real singer on records like “I’m Real.” But someone convinced her to drop the blending of those voices with her own. And now it’s a little like “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Yikes. Also, a Dunkin Donuts video thing is coming with Ben Affleck. Get ready for the Super Bowl.
The first episode of the final season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” aired last night on HBO.
It was pretty, pretty bad — which surprised me because I have loved this show.
But this episode — maybe called “Cordial” — was kind of shrill and out of the usually spectacular rhythm of past seasons.
The plot: Larry gets invited to Atlanta to mingle at a rich guy’s birthday. The guy is a white South African his wife is Black. Larry insults the wife, and the guests. We’ve been here before. The rich guy ultimately reneges on the contract drawn up by Jeff.
Hilarity does not ensue. I felt like I was watching a take on “Curb,” and the Larry character rather than the real thing. It seemed like the real Larry was trying to re-create the TV character instead of doing something fresh and new.
One plot line has Larry losing his glasses and having to wear the cat eye specs of an older woman Leon’s aunt. It made no sense. Atlanta, like every city, is full of optical shops and pharmacies. Larry could have replaced the glasses in two minutes. Instead he got to make fun of the aunt’s head size, which looked pretty normal. He claimed she stretched out his glasses.
Larry also has a run-in with a hotel housekeeper. Instead of being clever it comes off as another attack on a non-Caucasian person who is not a big enough personality to pick on. And, to boot, the housekeeper doesn’t come off as wise or smart. She’s made out to be an idiot who does something stupid. Also featured in the episode is the always harmoniously weird Leon (JB Smoove) and Maria Elena (Keyla Monterroso Mejia), the Latinx actress from Larry’s fictional TV series who should have been written out of this season. Her purpose was served last season. Now she’s just a target.
I don’t know what the rest of Season 12 looks like. HBO wouldn’t send more episodes. I guess they know it’s not good. I hope it’s alright. I wouldn’t “Curb” to end on a sour note, even though it’s a sour show. There are so many genius seasons and episodes in the catalog. Nothing can take away from them. But maybe David’s waning interest is showing up now. You can feel it.
I’m hearing Taylor Swift may sue herself over the new album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” Then she’ll re-record the album and add seven songs, call it “Tortured Poets (Taylor’s Version).”
Seriously. Both Post Malone and Florence and the Machine are featured on the April 19th release. They are random choices, certainly. Swiftians will spend the next nine weeks trying to figure out the titles of tracks mean. (Tracklist below.)
“So Long London” is easy. It’s her kiss off to Joe Alwyn. “Fortnight” is probably also Alwyn, maybe a duet about breaking up over two weeks’ time and leaving London. “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” is either Kanye, Scooter, or a combo. This will be Taylor’s “You’re So Vain.”
The song titled “Clara Bow” will be about the 1920s It Girl movie star who eventually retired to raise cattle. Taylor will somehow compare herself to Clara Bow. At least one of the songs is about Matt Healy from the group 1975 who Taylor dated for two weeks before she met Travis Kelce. I’m surprised there’s no song called “Pigskin” but look for football references throughout.
As I wrote on Monday, the album, the art, the merch was all organized to go with Swift’s fourth Album of the Year win, which she obviously knew about earlier in the night Sunday before she took the Grammys stage. She is an expert at marketing 101. I’m sure there will be a new album by November if not sooner.
PS None of the songs is called “Argylle” because she didn’t write the book that has become a flop movie.
Star player Bowen Yang has wiped most of his Instagram including any reference to the show.
Yang is angry about Nikki Haley’s appearance this week and the recent end credits cameo by comic Dave Chappelle.
This morning Yang posted a picture of a Champagne bottle and note that was left for Haley, a welcome from Lorne Michaels. The photo showed a bouquet of flowers and rows of expensive bottled water along with a card that read, “Amb. Haley ― Welcome to Studio 8H! From Lorne + Everyone at SNL.” Yang captioned the picture “Everyone :)” to make a point then quickly removed the whole thing.
Yang’s distress over these political incidents on the show is not surprising. Both Haley and Chappelle are the antithesis of things he would stand for, and now he’s made his feelings known.
Just to catch up: Haley appeared in the show’s cold opening in a parody of her town hall answer about slavery not causing the Civil War. Chappelle, who’s anti-trans, turned up at the end of a recent episode. Yang could could be seen showing his disapproval on camera. ( Last night, bizarrely, Chappelle actually won a Grammy award for best comedy album.)
This is compounded by the coming appearance as host by Shane Gillis, who was fired from “SNL” before the 2019 season for making racist comments in a podcast. Now Gillis is being welcomed back.
Will this be a tempest in a teapot? Or is more to come? Yang has risen quickly through the ranks at “SNL” and has done enough outside work that he could possibly leave and have a career. But exiting “SNL” is dicey even for the biggest stars. Kenan Thompson has stayed for decades, had a sitcom that failed, and stuck around. Even big recent stars like Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong have not blasted off in the solo world.
The Grammy Awards show was a huge hit last night on CBS.
With no football or Taylor Swift performing, the show went through the roof ratings wise.
Fast overnight numbers from CBS affiliates show 15 million people were watching the entire night. That’s up more than 30% from last year. At one point during the In Memoriam, 18 million were watching the show.
The interest was not just from Swift fans, but in all the stars. There was nothing offensive, no Satanic videos, no porn for once. Everything was tasteful. There was nothing political.
Also, the show stressed legacy stars Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, Annie Lennox and so on. This is what the Grammys always needed, a balance between new acts and older ones. And it worked.
These numbers will increase when everything comes in from around the country. But looking at the iTunes charts you can see the impact the show had on the audience. Congrats to producer Ben Winston for righting the ship, even during a monsoon!
What if Taylor Swift had not won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal last night at the Grammys? How would she have announced her new album?
It’s all a little suspicious, isn’t it?
When Taylor hit the stage to pick up her 13th Grammy Award, she coyly let the news drop that “The Tortured Poets Department” was coming on April 19th.
At that moment all of her social media changed to feature the album cover and start pushing merchandise. It was as coordinated as a military takeover.
As in keeping with all Swift albums, there’s already a bonus track called “The Manuscript.” All the art direction is done and running today. There’s also a $35 version of the album that comes with a book full of arty photos.
So ask yourself: what if SZA had won last night? Or Miley Cyrus? What would Taylor’s people have done with all that pre-planned, ready to go marketing?
I was told several times over the last couple of weeks that Swift wouldn’t even commit to even attending the Grammys, let alone perform, if she wasn’t guaranteed a major win in advance. Even more oddly, all the main executives connected to her were seen exiting the main floor area of the Crypto Center before Album of the Year was announced. Did they know something we didn’t?
The timing of all of this is certainly worthy of a conspiracy theory. Taylor Swift is the best organized business since Apple. No stone is left unturned, ever. All of it is highly calculated and immaculately presented. This isn’t happening as a fluke, or by chance. I’ll bet the Harvard Business School will be offering courses soon in the marketing of this unique pop icon.
Stop the presses: Aerosmith is not over, by a long shot.
Also, Mariah Carey has some news about her next recordings.
At Clive Davis’s wild over the top A list pre-Grammy dinner, I had a cheerful chat with Ms. Carey. She never looked better and was happy to be in a music crowd.
I thought what was interesting about Mariah this past weekend is that she seemed a lot more like a team player. Not only did she bask in the camaraderie of Clive’s gang, but she also presented at the Grammys. With age, comes wisdom!
When I ran into her on the red carpet Saturday night, we talked about what she might be working on. I suggested maybe doing an album of classic songs that would show off her voice — which seems to be better than ever.
“It’s funny that you say that,” Mariah said. “There are going to be some things like that. You’ll see. You’ll like it.” I asked about some classic R&B, too. After all, the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” and Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” are two of her best recordings. Mariah agreed, and gave some hope that she’ll put aside scatting through hip hop songs at least once for a knock out pure vocal album!
I also connected with one of my best sources of info about Steven Tyler and Aerosmith. I’ve been concerned about Tyler. Last year he was in rehab. Then later in the year he had to cancel the rest of the group’s farewell tour because of vocal damage.
So what happened? “Steven really did have problems with his throat,” my source said. “The doctor said he had to stop singing and do nothing for at least six to 12 months. So he’s halfway through it and improving well. He will be back.”
And an album? “The group is planning an album of rap collaborations, just like they did with Walk this Way,” I was told. In the 80’s, Aerosmith joined Run DMC and a classic hit adapting their original record with those beloved rappers. Aerosmith is funky enough to do that with a bunch more of their songs.
It would make sense and also revitalize interest in their catalog that includes “Janie’s Got a Gun,” “Crazy,” “Dream On,” “Dude Looks Like a Lady,” and so on. There are plenty of new rappers whose talents would take to this project seamlessly. Maybe we’ll hear all this by the end of the year or early 2025.
With Chapman’s Grammy performance of her 1988 hit, “Fast Car,” the single is number 2 on iTunes and Luke Combs’s version is number 4. On the album charts, the Chapman album of the same name is number 1, and Chapman’s Greatest Hits collection is number 4.
The Grammys have also sent Miley Cyrus’s Record of the Year award winner “Flowers” back to number 1 on the singles chart. Three different versions of Joni Mitchell singing “Both Sides Now” have hit the top 30. Fans may not know about the original single, by Judy Collins, from 1969.
The number 3 single is Billy Joel’s “Turn the Lights Back On,” which Joel played last night on the show. “You May Be Right” and “Piano Man” are also on the iTunes charts. Fans also went looking to iTunes for Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” But Annie Lennox should have been allowed to finish the song. She was cut off too soon.
The Grammy show wasn’t perfect but it gets mostly high marks.
As for Tracy, you may not know this but she was discovered by Brian Koppelman, who went on to co-create “Billions” and movies like “Rounders.” Brian saw Tracy playing in Boston and got her to his father, the late great music man Charles Koppelman, and the rest is history!
There were so many big moments on the Grammys, it’s hard to know where to start. Joni’s reading of “Both Sides Now” was incredibly poignant after everything she’s endured healthwise. Fantasia took down “Proud Mary” in a fiery performance. Billy’s “Lights” lit up the stage. Burna Boy and co. were exceptional.
There were some misses. Janelle Monae was nominated for Best Album and never even mentioned. What was that all about? None of the nominees for Best New Artist were featured, especially Jelly Roll — he should have been front and center. Why did they choose “The Best is Yet to Come” for Stevie Wonder to sing about Tony Bennett? Tony is dead, the best has come and gone.
Overall the show was strong, though. We’ll see soon about the ratings. Meantime, the Academy might have done more to prepare for the monsoon rains engulfing the Crypto Center. The red carpet was incredibly soggy, and entree to the arena was not easy.
PS Meryl Streep has certainly taken to son-in-law Mark Ronson’s fame. She looked amazing on stage. But earlier in the day, Streep lost her Grammy contest for Best Spoken Word performance to Michelle Obama. No EGOT for Meryl this year!
For some reason no one understands, controversial congressman Matt Gaetz has been seen at Grammy rehearsals today. Oy vey.
Meantime, Taylor Swift does not seem to be performing despite her 6 nominations. I had heard over the weekend that Swift’s people said she would only do it if she knew in advance she was going to win. But this is the Grammys and CBS, so that wasn’t happening. So Swift will sit through the show from the audience to learn her fate.
Dua Lipa will open the show, and Billy Joel will close it. There will be In Memorian tributes to Tony Bennett, Sinead O’Connor, and Tina Turner. Jimmy Buffett gets a video tribute. Stevie Wonder — who I last saw at 2:30 this morning — will honor Tony. Fantasia and Oprah — still plugging “The Color Purple” — will do the honors for Tina. Annie Lennox sings “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
There’s been a lot of grumbling among nominees who aren’t superstars. The Recording Academy is giving only ticket to each nominee, and making them pay for a plus 1 or more. A musician named Cathy Fink originally posted her complaint to Facebook. Then I heard even Billie Eilish and other stars were in the same boat. But tickets cost a minimum of $750. For folk, jazz, and others who don’t have massive incomes, buying the extra ticket is a hardship to say the least. (Someone joked they could go to the Academy’s Musicares for the money. But they’re in trouble anyway.)
Gillis was fired from the cast in 2019 before the season started when videos were uncovered of him saying ugly things about Chinese people and making racist references to Chinatown. At other times, Gillis used homophobic and sexist language.
The comic was cancelled at least on “SNL.” But now that he’s become a hit on Netflix, the show is forgetting all that ever happened.
Gillis’s rise on Netflix seems unusual, but the streaming service is pursuing comedians in a huge way. Last night, CEO Ted Sarandos hosted a party at his home here in LA for 30 comics. Even Sarah Silverman was there, and her specials are on HBO. But everyone from Chris Rock to Tiffany Haddish was present. “It was an all star night,” said one guest.
When Gillis was fired from “SNL,” Lorne Michaels said in a statement that the language Gillis used was “offensive, hurtful and unacceptable” and that the show was “not aware of his prior remarks.” “After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining ‘S.N.L.,’” the statement said.
The Gillis host appearance news comes on the heels of Nikki Haley making a controversial cameo on the show last night. She was mocking her famous “do you know what caused the Civil War?” answer in a town hall. This time around, “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri played the questioner, continuing the question by saying “it starts with sl and ends with avery.” Haley replied “that’s what I should have said.”
Why in the world would Lorne Michaels allow Haley a chance to repair her image on that show? I suspect this was a divisive moment not just for the audience but the cast. Edebiri, who’s beloved at the moment, is going to be asked about that a lot in the future.
But let’s not forget Donald Trump once hosted “SNL.”
Also of note on “SNL” last night: Jennifer Lopez lip syncing. Always fun to see the smoke machine, the hair flying around, the gyrating dancers all trying to distract from the spectacle of JLo. She’s done everything to sell her new record, and no one’s buying it.
