Saturday, November 16, 2024
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Kennedy Center Looking for New Leader as Billionaire David Rubenstein Announces Exit, Buys Baltimore Orioles

The Kennedy Center is looking for a new CEO.

Billionaire David Rubenstein, whose name and imprimatur is on the Center, the Washington Monument, and many other institutions, is stepping down. At 74, he says he’s had enough and will concentrate on buying the Baltimore Orioles. Because, why not?

Rubenstein is said to be worth $4 billion, all of it derived from his work at the secretive private equity firm, The Carlyle Group, which he founded.

In 2014, Rubenstein made news when he unceremoniously dismissed the beloved creator of the Kennedy Center Honors, producer and director George Stevens Jr. Rubenstein was determined to turn the Honors into something more resembling the Grammy Awards than a real salute to all the arts.

Rubenstein leaving now, before the fall presidential election, makes sense. This way there can be a transition to a Biden- backed successor rather than gamble on something unforeseen happening after the election. Meantime, Deborah Rutter, who’s very popular, will remain CEO.

RIP Chita Rivera, Broadway Legend Starred in the Original “West Side Story,” Won Every Award Including 2 Tonys

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Chita Rivera seemed like she’d live forever. She died today at 91, but will live on forever in Broadway history.

She starred in the original “West Side Story” on Broadway and caused a sensation. Chita Rivera won two Tony Awards and had eight other nominations. She also was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Chita had an indomitable spirit. She loved the audience, and the shows themselves. She was Broadway’s Queen. Several years ago, the Chita Rivera Awards were established in her name. They’ll be held this year on May 20th here in New York.

Condolences to her family, friends, and fans. The latter includes everyone!

Celine Dion Getting an Infomercial Like “Documentary” Made by Sony Music, Sold to Amazon for Streaming

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Celine Dion is getting what some people call a documentary.

“I Am: Celine Dion” is produced by Sony Music, so it’s more of an infomercial than an objective non fiction film. It’s going to tell the story of a girl who came from a very large family and fought her way to the top of show business. Amazon MGM has bought it, and the movie will play on Amazon Prime.

It really should have been titled, “It’s All Coming Back to Me.”

Celine has gone through a lot health wise lately. It’s hard to say how much of her Stiff Person Syndrome will be discussed, or her bouts with depression or anorexia since the death of her husband and manager, Rene Angelil. A real documentary would be about Rene and how he became a huge player at Sony over the years when Celine was selling buckets of records every hour. You forgot about that? Well, it’s all coming back to me now.

What we will see is a lot of performance and singing, which for Celine Dion fans will be worth the whole thing.

The film is directed by Irene Taylor, who was co-nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Doc in 2009.

Taylor Swift Touchdown: CBS Says Chiefs-Ravens Game Highest Ever Ratings for AFC Championship

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CBS says The NFL ON CBS scored the most-watched AFC Championship Game ever, averaging 55.473 million viewers in the early window (3:03-6:12 PM, ET).

The previous record was 54.850 million viewers for Jets-Steelers in the late window (6:42-9:54 PM, ET) on Jan. 23, 2011.

That’s the Taylor Swift effect, which then spilled over to Fox, which had an almost identical number. NFL football was dead? It just shows you, all these things are cyclical.

The games are good, but they’re not better than ever. The fact is, Taylor Swift has turned a whole generation onto football. The love story of Taylor and Travis Kelce is American pie, it’s the saga everyone needs after the pandemic, Trump, and the onslaught of horror every night on TV.

Will the Chiefs win the Super Bowl? Who knows? Will Taylor endorse Joe Biden? Probably, in some way. But imagine a ticker tape parade with Taylor and Travis in a big open convertible! Then they go to the White House, where they’re married in the Rose Garden. It’s going to happen!

Britney Spears Takes It Back, Rescinds Apology to Justin Timberlake, Others, Removes Post Fawning Over Ex’s New Song

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Apologies are fleeting, folks. Savor them.

Britney Spears has rescinded her apology to Justin Timberlake and others for what she dictated into her book, “The Woman in Me.”

The Instagram post is gone after less than 24 hours and making headlines everywhere. (We were the first to report it over last night.)

Spears had posted a video of Justin playing a medley of his hits on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight show with school instruments. She said she was sorry if she offended anyone in the book. Also, she really liked Justin’s new music.

This was after she drew Timberlake as a villain in the book, putting her through an abortion at age 17 and then dumping her.

But that was last night, which was full of regret and nostalgia. Tonight, either Spears or someone in her camp pulled the post. She was getting a very negative reaction from her fans, who had worked themselves into a frenzy hating Timberlake.

Yes, we have wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, over 100 Israeli hostages missing, the specter of a madman running for President again. But this is what we are worried about.

Below, please find the original post, now without music. But you get the idea. Tears for Spears. The circus continues, albeit without that apology.

Timberlake performs a one time only show tomorrow night at Irving Plaza in New York, to promote his new single, “Selfish,” and album coming in March.

Fox Sports Says Whopping 56.7 Million People Watched Detroit Lions-San Fran 49ers Game

Fox Sports says last night’s game between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers was a massive, stunning hit.

They say with 56.7 million viewers it was the biggest NFC Championship Game in 12 years.

The game benefited from the earlier one on CBS, with the Kansas City Chiefs took down the Baltimore Ravens. Taylor Swift refereed from the boxes.

We still don’t have the CBS numbers for Sunday afternoon. So hang on…

Britney Spears’ Selfish Run on the Charts Ending as Justin Timberlake Fights Off Rap Feud, Right Wing Politics

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It was short and sweet. But Britney Spears’ run on the charts is ending as fast as it began.

On Friday, Spears’ fans fished out a 2011 track of hers called “Selfish” — the same title as Justin Timberlake’s new song. The fans pushed it up to number 3 on iTunes, planning to go to number 1.

Alas, neither the fans nor Timeberlake could predicted the other disturbances on the weekend chart. Other people were also plotting ways to game the system.

Also released on Thursday was a record called “Facts” from right wing singer Tom McDonald, whoever he is. The record features right wing agitator Ben Shapiro. It’s not a good record, and I can’t imagine any radio stations will play it. There are no “Facts” involved. But someone in a red state is pressing “Buy” over and over. McDonald’s record is number 1.

Then comes the feud between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. Megan released a foul mouthed diatribe called “Hiss” on Thursday. Nicki responded with “Big Foot” — two versions. This means that four spots on the iTunes top 5 are taken up with these kerfuffles. Timberlake’s “Selfish” — the only actual song of the bunch — is stuck at number 5, despite his compelling performance on “SNL” over the weekend.

And Britney? Her “Selfish” has dropped to 10, and should be back off the charts soon enough. It was a fun play by her fans, who got the satisfaction of knowing they’d slighted Justin for a few hours. That’s all it was about in the first place. Britney, in the meantime, apologized to Justin for the bad things she said about him in her book. That angered fans who thought she should hold a grudge. But Britney is too big for that! Lesson learned.

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.