Stephen Colbert is really “at home.” With COVID.
TONIGHT: Stephen isn’t in the Ed Sullivan Theater, but he IS bringing his A-game!#Colbert pic.twitter.com/ng1g86kRcC
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) October 17, 2023
Stephen Colbert Has COVID, Tests 3 Times, Regrets Not Meeting Jada Pinkett Smith in Person
Scooped Here First: No NBC Deal for Golden Globes, Awards Show Headed to Streaming Says New Owner
I told you one week ago right here that the Golden Globes had no broadcast partner for their January 7, 2024 show. A source said, “No wants to pay for it.”
Now Todd Boehly of Eldridge Industries, owner of the Globes and Dick Clark Productions, part owner of the Hollywood Reporter, has confirmed this on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
He said today: “I doubt we’ll be on NBC. There’s a giant transition going on. Streaming is becoming part and parcel with where the world’s headed. The flexibility that we can do on a streaming environment is very different than what we can do on a broadcaster. I think we’re going to take advantage of that flexibility.”
After getting kicked off of CBS years ago, the Globes — then run by the Hollywood Foreign Press — moved to NBC. They were paid millions in licensing fees because they were the first awards show of the season and guaranteed big movie and TV stars.
But this site has long questioned who voted, and why, and what was going on with the HFPA finances. When Black Lives Matter became an issue four years ago, it was revealed that the group had no Black members. That, plus questions about the finances, sealed their fate. The HFPA has been disbanded, Boehly bought the name, discharged around 15 older members, and tried to shape things up.
But NBC — after taking a year off — returned in 2023 for one year to see what would happen. Ratings were the lowest, ending the long association.
If Boehly goes to YouTube, the Golden Globes will be very different. And since the much more credible Critics Choice Awards run a week later on the CW Network, that group will likely become more important to the studios.
At least Boehly can still do his show from the Beverly Hilton (despite last year’s host Jerrod Carmichael calling it “the hotel that killed Whitney Houston” on last year’s show). He’s the owner.
Sour Note: Hipgnosis Songs Stock Price Drop Continues, Quarterly Dividend Cut as Board, Company, Face Shareholder Fate, Possible Asset Sell Off in 10 Days
TUESDAY AM: Hipgnosis Song Fund stock in the UK is at 66.70. On October 13th, it was at 74.00. On September 12, the price on the London Stock Exchange was as high as 94.00.
MONDAY: For the last few years we’ve had headline after headline about rock stars selling their song catalogs for millions. Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, members of Fleetwood Mac have all been in the mix for figures from $300 million to $500 million. Even whippersnapper Justin Bieber cashed out.
Some of the catalogs were sold to solid music publishers like Universal, Sony, or Warners. But many were sold to a fund called Hipgnosis, run by Merck Mercuriadis, and bankrolled in part by Blackstone Group.
Hipgnosis Song Fund stock is dropping quickly. This was because the company announced they would not be paying dividends this quarter. What made the stock price drop? Hipgnosis announced today that “Citrin Cooperman, the Company’s Independent Portfolio Valuer, has materially reduced its expectations of industry-wide retroactive payments.” In layman’s terms, the thousands of songs now owned by Hipgnosis are not monetizing as promised.
Last month, Hipgnosis announced that they were proposing to sell off $465 million worth of the catalogs they bought — something no artist envisioned. They thought their publishing and/or masters were going just to Hipgnosis. If stockholders approve this at a meeting on October 26th, it could mean the end of the company and maybe the end of Mercuriadis. Maybe.
The “maybe” is because Hipgnosis is really two companies. One is the publicly traded entity, the other is a management company owned by Blackstone and run by Mercuriadis. Even if stockholders decide to sell off the assets, Blackstone could buy it and put Mercuriadis in charge. And what’s not discussed is that Mercuriadis himself has the right to find other investors and buy the catalogs.
Mercuriadis is a survivor, so no one should count him out. But this is a perilous moment. Hipgnosis’s artists include all stars like Manilow, Neil Young, Carole Bayer Sager, Journey, Lindsay Buckingham, Chrissie Hynde, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Stewart and his Eurythmics songs. These people have all their money already, but now Hipgnosis has to make the money back.
Among the assets they’ve proposed selling, the biggest is probably Barry Manilow — who, ironically, is opening a Broadway show this Thursday. Manilow, for example, could wake up soon to find his part of songs like “Copacabana,” “Daybreak,” “Even Now,” “I Made it Through the Rain” sold off to new proprietors.
One Manilow song that’s safe: “I Write the Songs.” Manilow didn’t write it. Someone else owns it.
Stay tuned…
Kanye West Threatening to Release New Album Despite His Outspoken Antisemitism: Read the Room
Kanye West is shopping a new album to distributors. He’s made it with rapper Ty Dollar $ign.
Kanye cannot read the room, as they say. He’s an unrepentant antisemite who’s made so many anti-Jewish comments that he lost his businesses with Adidas and Balenciaga.
Billboard says all the major labels, including West’s previous business partner Universal Music, have declined this opportunity. West would have to self-distribute through a company like DistroKid, but why would they take on that kind of bad press? He’s also a pariah on social media.
Considering the current world situation, a new record from a publicly proud antisemite wouldn’t seem like a smart business move. The record can’t be promoted on TV or radio — no show will take it. West is finished as an ‘artist,” frankly. Anyone who gives him an advance is not playing with a full deck,
UPDATE: Taylor Swift US Box Office Revised Down to $92.8 Million, Still Highest Grossing Concert Film
Yesterday, box office guesses for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie put it between $95 million and $97 million.
AMC now says the total for Thursday through Sunday was $92.8 million.
“The Eras Tour” is still the highest grossing concert movie ever, beating Justin Bieber’s tour film by $20 million.
“Eras” is not the highest grossing music film of all time. That would be Michael Jackson’s “This is It.”
“Eras” won’t return to the box office lists until Friday, when we get Thursday numbers. There are no shows today through Wednesday so the fans can get their homework done. Not kidding.
Model Gigi Hadid Triggers Criticism from Israel Over Pro-Palestinian Post While Boyfriend Bradley Cooper Releases Movie About Famous Jewish Composer
War makes for strange bedfellows.
According to the tabloids, Bradley Cooper is dating model Gigi Hadid now that she’s aged out of Leonardo DiCaprio’s demographic.
Cooper is about to release “Maestro,” about the very Jewish composer Leonard Bernstein. He stars in it and directs the film, which is thought to be in the Oscar race from Netflix.
Hadid works for Louis Vuitton, which is owned by LVMH, a French company owned now by Jews, ironically.
Yet Hadid is now the first celebrity to be denounced by the State of Israel on their Instagram page. She is half Palestinian and half Dutch, according to Wikipedia.
Hadid wrote: “There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. Condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic and supporting Palestinians is not supporting Hamas.”
Leonard Bernstein, who was quite political and vociferously Jewish, is rolling in his grave.
The State of Israel responded: “Have you been sleeping the past week? Or are you just fine turning a blind eye to Jewish babies being butchered in their homes? Your silence has been very clear about where you stand. We see you.”
Israel offered her a rewrite: “There is nothing valiant about Hamas’ massacre of Israelis. Condemning Hamas for what it is (ISIS) is not anti-Palestine and supporting Israelis in their fight against barbaric terrorists is the right thing to do.”
Hadid scrambled to right her situation. She quickly added in another post, in part: “I have deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle and life under occupation, it’s a responsibility I hold daily. I also feel a responsibility to my Jewish friends to make it clear, as I have before: While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person. The terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with and does not do any good for the ‘Free Palestine’ movement.”
But the damage is done. We will not be seeing her at “Maestro” events, that’s for sure.
Taylor Swift’s Movie Sends 30 Singles onto iTunes Top 100, “Cruel Summer” is Number 1
As you are all too well are, Taylor Swift’s concert movie made $94 million over the weekend. Swift appeared on “SNL” with boyfriend Travis Kelce after appearing at his football game on Thursday.
The result of all this is that Swift currently has 30 of the top 100 singles on iTunes. “Cruel Summer,” a rip off of the Banarama title of a much better song, is number one. It was released in 2019.
The rest of the 20 other songs don’t matter. They are interchangeable to adults. To tweens, they mean everything. But they are bland songs, mostly the same musically, and a far cry from the female singer songwriters of the past.
Swift also 15 of the top 100 albums including “Lover,” also from 2019, at number 1.
A bigger question is, What has happened to the record business? Why is there room for 30 tracks by the same person? Are there any other acts out there? Why is radio so much more narrow than it was than the last 20 years when it was already incredibly narrow?
The only album to sell more than 79,000 copies last week was Drake’s new “For All the Dogs.”
It’s time for a new way to mark the top 100.
Review: “Frasier” is the Worst Reboot of a Beloved TV Show Since the Disastrous “Murphy Brown”
The new “Frasier” on Paramount Plus is the worst reboot of a TV show since the disastrous revival of “Murphy Brown.”
I eyed it warily last week. Then yesterday I watched the first two episodes. I wish I could unsee them.
Kelsey Grammer is back as Dr. Frasier Crane, pompous and effete as ever. Grammer still has ‘it’, and know the character so well it’s a pleasure to see him return.
But the setting is all wrong. The premise and characters are cockeyed. The whole thing is painful.
In Seattle, Frasier could be as out of proportion as he liked because he was installed in an apartment with his family. Even though Niles, his brother, was just like him, their dad, Martin, was grounded. So were the people at the radio station, like Roz, his producer.
All of those characters are gone as Frasier has moved back to Boston, real mistake. The Cheers bar is around the corner, but he’s ignoring it despite being there every day for a decade. What?
Frasier and Lilith’s son, Freddie is now in his 30s and a firefighter after dropping out of Harvard. He, like his cousin David (Niles and Daphne’s son) is a stock character dullard who delivers brainless one liners from the sitcom playbook. These boys are a disappointment. Their parents were so smart and glib with natural panache. The progeny are one dimensional.
A radio and TV personality, Frasier now goes to teach at Harvard. His office is a windowless room that he shares with an older, British colleague who should have been a cameo. The set up so far is limited and laughless. The colleague, and a Black woman dean, are forced into the show for no reason. Did anyone think this through?
In the new scenario, Freddie has been living with a pal’s widow and their annoying, crying baby. Frasier moves in across the hall (ok, this made the least sense of all — Frasier is rich, is he bunking in a walk up?), invites Freddie the dolt to join him. Fraser is speaking in French, making obscure references that fall flat, and no one cares. At least Niles got it, and Daphne pretended to. Freddie just wants to lift weights, drink beer, and get laid. And he’s supposed to be the son of Frasier and Lilith! Ridiculous!
I’m not watching any more, not even hate watching. The real “Frasier” was like a Swiss watch with perfect 17 jewel movement. It was genius and only got better and better. This is like one of those knock off watches I saw once in the Moscow Underground. It looked good, but inside it was junk.
Also, the laugh track sounds like people from an insane asylum.
Just a thought but Grammer would have been better bringing the original cast to Broadway in a musical. Without David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves and Perri Gilpin, you can’t do this.
Exclusive: Sting, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana Join Narada Michael Walden for Super Secret All Star Single
Back in 2007, superstar producer Narada Michael Walden — famous for working with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey — had a brilliant idea. He wrote and recorded a jubilant song called “The More I Love My Life.” Like the songs Walden wrote for Mariah and Whitney, you can’t get it out of your head after the first listen.
Walden’s famous music pals liked it so much they offered to add their talents to it. Sting contributed vocals, Stevie Wonder went to town on his harmonica, and Carlos Santana wailed away on the guitar.
The result was a secretly made all star single that would have gone to number 1.
And then, nothing happened. The single languished as everyone went on to other projects.
Now, Walden says, the single is coming out. It’s part of his new album, called “Euphoria,” available on November 17th.
For the occasion, “The More I Love My Life” has been remixed and sounds more exciting than ever. Sting’s vocal, especially, is stunning. I guess timing is everything.
Narada (pronounced Narda, which means a sage or traveling storyteller in Sanskrit), explains the recording process:
“Sting was the first one to record his parts on The More I love MY life, second verse and choruses! WOW what a sound he brought with his voice and harmony for the chorus. I’m forever grateful to my brother Sting. We have done over 13 Rainforest concerts together so to record together was the BOMB ! Legendary Carlos Santana was next to add his golden guitar solo and back and forth with Stevie on the ending. Carlos inspired me to listen to the artist Ishmael Lo from Africa where I found the origins of the song. Carlos plays some of best guitar here on this recording, REALLY PEAKING!
“Last to record at Capital studios was the legend himself Stevland Morris the GREAT, Stevie WONDER. He broke out the right harmonica for the key of the song and added the touches you hear. However the soloing on the ending he really got into as he reacted to what Carlos had previously put down in grand fashion. Stevie played some of his most AMAZING EVER Harmonica in history on this recording… And he was well pleased on the playbacks. For me it’s a dream come true to have these Champions on the same track.”
Stay tuned…we’ll have a snippet shortly…
It’s Starting Again: Madonna Starts Second Show at O2 Arena Late, Gets Six Songs Cut off at End Because of Curfew
Last night at the O2 Arena Madonna started late and got cut off at the of her second show.
The word put out was that the O2 had electrical problems so Madonna began her Celebration show at least a half an hour late.
But Madonna is famous for not making start times. On her last tour, if she made it within an hour the audience was lucky.
London and the O2 have a curfew, however. And so at 11pm, they pulled the plug on Madame X. Fans say four or five songs were missing after the abrupt ending.
That’s not good since the fans are paying thousands of bucks to see Madonna. They want the whole show.
As it is, they’re seeing a show that has pre-recorded vocals and a star who spends a lot of time sitting in chairs while performing her songs. Videos show the very clever direction in which Madonna — who moves slowly and needs rests — is surrounded by a lot of pyrotechnics and young dancers who crowd around her.
Well, she’s 65, and in better shape than most people that age. But what she’s attempting may be an over estimation of what the body can do.
The time thing is more pressing, however. Madonna’s predilection for arriving at the venue late and taking her time is going to turn off audiences on the Celebration tour.
Someone has to tell her, this is the way divas behaved in her heyday. Nowadays, acts like Taylor Swift and Pink start on time and have few if any malfunctions.