Sunday, October 6, 2024
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Broadway Whisper: Tony Winner Denzel Washington May Be Eyeing “Othello” for 2025 Season

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As we know, Denzel Washington can do anything. Movies, Broadway, TV. He’s a star in every arena.

Now the big rumor on Broadway is that Denzel will return to theater, probably in spring 2025, with a new production of “Othello.”

William Shakespeare wrote it. You’ve heard of him.

The rumorers say that the part of Iago could go to either Adam Driver or Jake Gyllenhaal. They each have Broadway experience and want to make their own returns.

They say where there’s smoke there’s fire, and there’s a lot of smoke on this one.

Who would direct? The likely suspect is Kenny Leon, who steered Denzel to a Tony Award in 2010 with “Fences.”

Another choice would be George C. Wolfe, who helped Mr. Washington to a Tony nomination in 2018 with “The Iceman Cometh.”

So hold onto this idea as it forms into something solid. The last Othello we saw was with Daniel Craig and David Oyelowo directed by Sam Gold in 2016 at New York Theater Workshop. That one was pretty extraordinary, but it’s enough time — nine years! — to see a new production.

PS A Denzel insider says it can’t happen this year, he’s too busy. Spring 2025 would make sense. And since January is done, 2025 is just around the corner!

JLo Gives It Another Try with “Can’t Get Enough,” New Video Features Latto and a Lot of Flesh

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Jennifer Lopez is giving it another try with “Can’t Get Enough.”

The single and original video weren’t hits. So now she’s made a new video featuring Latto, a Lizzo type performer. Will it help? Is Latto that popular?

JLo pounces around in many states of undress this time. No wedding dress. You have to admire her. She looks fantastic. There’s no denying it. Maybe sex will sell this time around.

UPDATING Overnight Ratings: Taylorpalooza Expected for Kansas City Chiefs-Baltimore Ravens AFC Championship Game

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Sunday night’s Kansas City Chiefs-Baltimore Ravens NFL AFC championship game was a Taylorpalooza in the ratings.

Overnight numbers are coming in shortly. Keep refreshing.

Compare this to last week’s Kansas City-Buffalo Bills game, which scored 41 million in the fast overnights, and went on to be 50 million average for CBS, peaking at 56 million when all the numbers were counted.

All of this has to do with Taylor Swift, America’s Sweetheart, cheering on Homecoming King Travis Kelce. The Taylor mania is so crazy now that two things have emerged: first of all, someone’s estimated that Taylor has generated over $300 million in brand value for the Chiefs and the NFL this season.

My other favorite idea is from the right wing: that the Chiefs will win the Super Bowl so Swift can endorse Joe Biden and win him the presidency. I love that one.

Also, the latest speculation is how can Taylor perform four nights of concerts in Tokyo prior to the Super Bowl and still make it back in time on February 11th. And that will be less than a week after playing at the Grammys in Los Angeles on February 2nd. And then she has to return almost immediately to Australia for more shows!

Trust me, she’ll do it all. If she’s tired, she’ll just shake it off.

Exclusive: Britney Spears APOLOGIZES For Things She Said in Her Book, Raves About Justin Timberlake’s New Song: “It is sooo good”

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Britney Spears says on Instagram she’s sorry for things she wrote in her bestselling book.

Some of that was about her ex, Justin Timberlake, whose “SNL” performance she is praising and raving about.

She writes: “I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book. If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry… I also wanted to say I am in love with Justin Timberlake’s new song “Selfish” It is soo good and how come every time I see Justin and Jimmy together I laugh so hard ???”
In the book, Britney revealed she’d had an abortion during her teenage relationship with Timberlake and that he treated her callously. She turned the pop singer into Public Enemy Number 1.

And now, not so much!

JLo Doubles Down on New Single, Sets 2nd Video, with Latto, for Monday Despite No Sales

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Jennifer Lopez really can’t get enough.

She’s doubling down on the failure of her first single from the album, “This is Me…Now.”

On Monday Lopez is releasing a second video for “Can’t Get Enough,” despite no sales and little interest so far.

“Can’t Get Enough” is a hybrid of samples from old songs. In two weeks’ time the single has sold about 15,000 copies, almost all from streaming.

The original video, an expensive little 4 minute film about a wedding gone awry, has accumulated 8.1 million views. That’s not a lot.

The song is already off the iTunes top 100.

Can Latto, a more contemporary artist, revive the song? Or should JLo just cut bait and move on? I guess we’ll find out shortly.

By the way, who’s paying for all this? Not Dunkin’ Donuts.

Congress is Coming to the Grammys: Judiciary Subcommittee Will Hold Field Hearing This Friday in Los Angeles

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Guess who’s coming to town? The House Judiciary Committee!

Congressman Darrell Issa will host a Field Hearing this Friday in LA connected to the recording industry. The meeting is set for 9am at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It’s all about AI, of course, as well as copyrights, trademarks, and artists rights.

The players will be from a subcommittee on all these issues. The 10 reps want to hear what’s going on with all these things. Issa, a Republican, is “very involved in artists rights,” a source says. Among the subjects will be radio monetization — in other words, radio companies trying to avoid paying performance royalties. )We’re always up for that conversation.)

AI is a looming problem for the music industry as Frankenstein records are being created without anyone’s permission. A fake song by Drake and The Weeknd turned up last year, and since then Spotify has been on the lookout for equally fake albums by many artists.

Issa is serious about this stuff. He holds 37 patents himself. So he knows the perils of what’s coming. It’s hoped that some name recording artists will rouse themselves out of bed and participate in the conversation. So far they’ve got country star Lainey Wilson. They’ve also got Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr.; Christopher Mohr, president of the Software and Information Industry Association; and Jennifer Rothman, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

The hearing will be in person and also live streamed. So stay tuned…

Celebs Drop in On as GBK Begins Its New Swag Awards Season Full of Goodies from Around the Country

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The Oscars are not until March 10th, but the swag that tinsel town loves is in full swing.

Recently, GBK hosted their Pooph’s luxury lounge by LA Smile and GBK Brand Bar at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Angela Bassett, Mira Sorvino, ‘Succession’s’ Brian Cox, Shari Belafonte, William Stanford Davis from ‘Abbot Elementary’ ‘The Bear’s’ Liza Colon Zayas and more visited.

ROOT Brands products were a hit, with celebs sampling their Zero IN, Rahm Roast Coffee, ReLive Greens, Give Me Back My Youth, Restore, Immune Defense Shield and more. Co-founder Clayton Thomas was explaining to all, as well Dr. Christina Rahm who was touting her book ‘Cure The Causes.’ Pooph, the best-selling pet eliminator and Care A2+, an Australian wellness formula for babies. (ROOT will be back for the GBK suite for the Oscars,)

Michael Todd Beauty proved to be a highlight; he had his widely popular organically based skin care products and at home beauty devices that ‘bring the spa home’ by Spa Sciences. Todd’s products are sold through prestige retailers and exclusive spas throughout the world. Other cool stuff was El-Cristiano’s ultra-premium tequila, Ike’s Love and Sandwiches and Milena’s Los Angeles vegan candles and body butter.

For the doggies there was Glow Pups, an LA based doggy life style brand and Angel City Pit Bulls and Paws for Life K9 Rescue were featured. Also showcased was Rear Ended “Frame the Beauty” luxury athleisure brand that is hip, functional and stylish. Lo & Sons and their globally recognized travel essentials brand which includes eco-friendly weekender bags, crossbody bags, laptop bags and wallets, one of the celeb faves of the event.

Celebs were also drawn to the Rest Duvet’s Evercool Cooling Comforter’s game-changing temperature regulating technology and moisture-wicking fabric, designed to deliver a cool, dry and restful sleep experience for all types of sleepers. Comfy and cozy, you can’t go wrong. GBK of course, always gets it right with their buzzy suites with their unique assortment of swag!

Boom! Joni Mitchell Set for Grammy Awards Next Sunday — First Ever Time for Famed Singer Songwriter After Winning Career 10

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Joni Mitchell will perform at the Grammy Awards next Sunday.

The famed pop/folk/jazz singer songwriter has won 10 Grammys in her lifetime but never performed on the show.

This is big, big news and a stunning comeback for Joni. Nine years ago Joni suffered a brain aneurysm that almost killed her. Initially she couldn’t walk or talk. But she battled back, mightily, to the point where this year she is nominated for Best Folk Album, for her live performance at the Newport Folk Festival.

Will Brandi Carlile join her? Carlile has been a huge part of Joni’s career recovery. Will Taylor Swift be part of the proceedings? Taylor is nominated for 6 Grammys this year including Album, Song, and Record of the Year. This Grammy show could be her own Super Bowl!

Joni Mitchell has blazed a path in all genres of music, especially folk, pop, and jazz. Her hits include Both Sides Now, Big Yellow Taxi, Help Me, Free Man in Paris, The Circle Game, River (It’s Coming on Christmas), and many, many more. They could do a whole tribute to her on the Grammys– and maybe they will.

Kudos to Grammy producer Ben Winston for pulling this off!

Trump Insists In Over-Value Fraud Case of “Brand, Good Will” Not Considered Including: $88 Mil in Defamation Judgments, Stormy Daniels, Etc

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Unable to attack E. Jean Carroll on social media, Donald Trump has returned to squawking about Judge Engoron and the impending decision in the New York fraud over-value case.

Trump just forgets that he’s already lost that case. Judge Engoron is just deciding by how much.

In new rants, Trump says the value of his assets didn’t include his “good will” or “name.” He doesn’t realize he has NO good will whatsoever. He especially doesn’t now after being judged guilty of sexual assault and defamation, and being ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $88 million. And that’s just this week!

What about Stormy Daniels? And a thousand other things?

Justin Timberlake Makes A Strong Comeback on “SNL” After Britney Spears Fans Bombard iTunes Chart for Revenge*

What a weird night for Justin Timberlake.

The good news is, his comeback on “SNL” after six years was a hit. Timberlak sang live, which was great, and performances of new songs “Sanctified” and “Selfish” went over like gangbusters. The production for each song was very high and skillful. The songs will be on his new album, coming in mid March.

The weird news is, Britney Spears fans exacted revenge* on Justin by fishing out a 2011 track also called “Selfish” and bombarding the iTunes charts with it. The result was that Britney’s “Selfish,” jumped ahead of Justin’s.

But even the Britney fans couldn’t have imagined the curve ball they got when right wing personality Ben Shapiro released a “rap” record with singer Tom Johnson and it went to number 1. So the ballot boxes were double stuffed tonight, iTunes was gamed, and it was all a chart mess.

As for “SNL,” something seemed ‘off’ in the sketches. Host Dakota Johnson wasn’t in rhythm with anyone, and some of the skits just didn’t make sense. The best bits where Jimmy Fallon and Timberlake reviving The Barry Gibb Talk Show, and Weekend Update. Otherwise, the whole thing felt disjointed. The cold open with NFL football players was a waste of time. The opener should have been about Trump and the $83 million judgement in the E. Jean Carroll case. Big missed opportunity.

On Thursday, Timberlake performed “Selfish” with Fallon and co on the Tonight Show (see below) plus a medley of his hits. He performs this coming week in New York for one night only at Irving Plaza. By then I would think the Spears record — was not even a single in 2011 — will be gone.

*If you don’t know what the revenge was for, I can’t get into it now.