Archive for November 12th, 2008
CMA Awards 2008 Results, Photos, and Winners
Results from the 42nd annual Country Music Awards, which were held Wednesday evening at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Kenny Chesney won Entertainer of the Year, Brad Paisley won Male Vocalist of the Year, Carrie Underwood won Female Vocalist of the Year, and George Strait’s ‘Troubador’ won Album of the Year.
Strait also surpassed the record for most CMA awards in history, with 22, after winning Album of the Year and Single of the Year for “I Saw God Today”.
Visit the CMA Awards site for a full list of the winners.
Here’s a gallery of CMA photos from the red carpet.
UPDATE | Nov. 13th
George Strait’s mantle got a little more crowded as he became the artist with the most CMA Awards in history, adding Single of the Year for “I Saw God Today” and Album of the Year for Troubadour, both co-produced by Strait and Tony Brown, to his tally. With these two trophies and two additional for producing, Strait’s 22 CMA Awards trophies eclipse Brooks & Dunn’s previous record of 19 Awards.
PREVIOUSLY – Nov 12th: Here is the complete list of 2008 CMA nominees.
Kenny Chesney is the lead nominee with seven and is seeking his third straight — and fourth overall — entertainer of the year award. If he wins, Chesney would tie Garth Brooks for most wins. Also nominated are Brad Paisley, George Strait, Sugarland and Keith Urban.
Other key categories:
_ Female vocalist. Carrie Underwood, who is co-hosting the show with Paisley, is going for her third consecutive win. She’s up against Krauss, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride and Taylor Swift.
_ Vocal duo. Brooks & Dunn are nominated for their 15th award in this category. They’ll have to top Big & Rich, Montgomery Gentry, the Wreckers and last year’s winner, Sugarland.
_ Vocal group. Rascal Flatts has had a lock on this award the past five years. They’re nominated again with the Eagles, Emerson Drive, Lady Antebellum and Little Big Town.
_ Single of the year. Trace Adkins has his first CMA nominations in 10 years for single of the year and video of the year for “You’re Gonna Miss This.” For single, he’s up against Chesney (“Don’t Blink”), Lambert (“Gunpowder and Lead”), Strait (“I Saw God Today”) and Sugarland (“Stay”).
Tags: Culture | Music | Tennessee | Nashville | United States | Chesney | country music | Carrie Underwood | cma nominees | cmas 2008 | brad paisley | cma award winners | cma awards | jennifer nettle | cma results | cma pictures | cma entertainer of the year | george strait
Anthony Kiedis Memoir ‘Scar Tissue’ Becomes HBO Series
Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is having his best-selling rock memoir ‘Scar Tissue‘ turned into a television series for HBO.
Chili Peppers fans everywhere are rejoicing and suggesting that this could be a watershed moment in music television history.
Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis is developing a series for HBO based on his unconventional, rock ‘n’ roll childhood.
Kiedis has partnered with Catapult 360 partners Marc Abrams and Michael Benson to create the series, tentatively titled “Scar Tissue.”
The autobiographical material Kiedis has to work with is compelling stuff.
The show will also center on West Hollywood and Los Angeles in the early 1970s, including the rock stars encountered by Kiedis and his father (who, according to lore, was a drug dealer for the Who and Led Zeppelin, among others).
Kiedis plans to be heavily involved in the project and is regularly corresponding with his father, who now lives in Portland, to record memories of their life 30 years ago on Palm Avenue in West Hollywood.
Kiedis himself battled addiction for many years and the anecdotes of his roller coaster rock star life will provide ample fodder for television greatness.
Can HBO pull it off? The Guardian believes they can.
Kiedis spent years in the grip of addiction (though he doesn’t sound like he regrets much of it) before emerging as a rehab bore (and didn’t sobriety ruin his band?). And there are serious conversations to be had about responsible parenting and the glamorisation of substance abuse. But we won’t be having those debates here. If the series is packed with half the rock’n'roll war stories, stranger-than-fiction anecdotes and crazed characters as the book, then it promises to be the next great US TV show, hinging on a surprisingly touching story of a father and son. The get out clause being that you know, eventually, there is a happy ending.
If that sounds shocking for US TV, then only a channel with as much intelligence and class as HBO could pull it off.
Tags: California | Culture | TV | United States | red hot chili peppers | Anthony Kiedis | rchp | scar tissue hbo | scar tissue series | kiedis scar tissue
$400 Obama Newspaper ‘Souvenirs’ Sold on eBay
American President-elect Barack Obama was featured on the cover of nearly every major newspaper in the world last week following his election win.
History-hungry folks cued up for hours in the days following, in order to purchase newspapers as remembrances of the historic occasion. But more enterprising collectors found they were able to resell them on eBay for up to $400.
Does this mark the case for their increased relevance or, as TechDirt suggest, a flash-in-the-pan trend of souvenir-driven media consumption?
Following last week’s historic election of Barack Obama, there was a rush to buy up paper newspapers announcing the news, with the idea being that those newspapers would be quite valuable. In fact, some newspapers were quickly being resold on eBay for up to $400 — and many buyers plan to preserve the papers, hoping they’ll be worth even more in the future. Of course, it sounds as though many newspaper publishers got exactly the wrong lesson from this. Some publishers celebrated the rush to buy newspapers as evidence that newspapers were still relevant and that in “big events” people still turned to print papers. Except, that’s not true. Publishers who believe that are deluding themselves. People got the actual news from the internet and TV. The newspapers just represent a souvenir of the event — not the place to turn to for news about it. Newspapers are never going to figure out how to survive if they take the wrong lessons out of this. People bought newspapers because they could be saved (and resold) — not because they were suddenly relevant.
Tags: Culture | Media | Journalism | Barack Obama | Obama | President Obama | obama newspaper | newspaper souvenir
Mayor of Batman Turkey Sues Batman Makers
This ain’t no Thanksgiving chicken, kids.
Huseyin Kalkan, mayor of Batman, Turkey, is suing the studio responsible for producing the Batman franchise and Christopher Nolan, the director of The Dark Knight, for using the name of Batman without informing the townspeople.
So, who’s got more bat-clout in this bat-tle?
Warner Bros, producers of:
- Batman
- Batman Returns
- Batman Forever
- Batman & Robin
- Batman Begins
- Batman: The Dark Knight
Batman, town of:
- Town Name: Batman
- Provincial Capital: Batman Province
- Closest River: Batman River
[drum roll....]
Verdict: Batman, ftw!
The mayor of Batman, a small oil-producing town in Turkey, has filed suit against The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros., the studio behind the record-shattering blockbuster, looking for a cut in the film’s royalties in exchange for using the city’s name without permission.
Which begs the question of where hizzoner has been the past 70 years.
“There is only one Batman in the world,” Mayor Huseyin Kalkan said, per Variety. “The American producers used the name of our city without informing us.”
In addition to the name share, Kalkan claims the emotional distress that apparently comes from having one of the most indelible superheroes share a moniker with your town has led to several unsolved murders and a high suicide rate.
A WB rep, meanwhile, says the studio has seen reports of the legal action in the media but have yet to receive any court papers.
Tags: Culture | Movies | Entertainment | hollywood | Batman | Turkey | Strange | Warner Bros | dark knight | batman turkey
Monopoly Movie Takes Board Games to Big Screen
Ridley Scott, acclaimed director of classic films like “Blade Runner”, is taking on a decidedly different project: producing (and possibly directing) a movie based on the Monopoly board game.
Ridley Scott will direct “Monopoly,” based on the Parker Bros. board game, for Universal.
Screenwriter on the project is Pamela Pettler (“Corpse Bride,” “Monster House”).
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Ridley Scott, who has been attached as a producer on “Monopoly” and has been mentioned as a possible director, is now officially attached to helm the project, with an eye toward giving it a futuristic sheen along the lines of his iconic “Blade Runner.”
As Alex Balk asks, Do Top Hats Dream Of Electric Trains?
Imagine the finished film, replete with a penultimate impassioned monologue, as follows:
PENNYBAGS: [Slowly, deliberately] I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Boots mortgaging property to tiny dogs. Apartments torched on Baltic Avenue just for the insurance money. I watched someone roll triple sixes and land on Free Parking where a Get Out Of Jail Free card had been tossed into the kitty. All those moments will be lost in time, like a bank error in your favor. Time to die. [As the rain continues to fall, he drops his head and silently expires.]
Aaaaaaand…scene!
Tags: Culture | Movies | hollywood | United States | Blade Runner | universal | Ridley Scott | monopoly movie | monopoly ridley scott | parker bros | corpse bride | pamela pettler
Lance Bass Loses Two Inches After Space Training
‘N Sync singer Lance Bass couldn’t come up with the £12.9 million to pay for a full round trip to space, but he was able to do a little cosmonaut space training. And the result? Bass lost two inches. Yeah, ummm….
‘N Sync singer Lance Bass has revealed that following cosmonaut training he received in Russia in 2002 he was two inches shorter than he was was before he started
Tags: Culture | Celebrity | space | training | Cosmonaut | Singer | pop | Lance Bass | entertaiment | n sync
American Idol Donates More Than $64M to Charities
American Idol raked in the cash donations during their annual “Idol Gives Back” event this past spring and now the popular U.S. television show is donating more than $64 million to charities.
“American Idol” has allocated more than $64 million in grants to six U.S. and international charities from contributions to its “Idol Gives Back” fundraising event.
The popular Fox singing competition’s star-studded gala, held at the Kodak Theatre in April, featured musical performances by Miley Cyrus, Fergie, Heart and Snoop Dogg. Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams were among the celebrities who also appeared on stage.
“Idol Gives Back” said Wednesday that grants have been made to The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Malaria No More; Children’s Health Fund; U.S. programs of Save the Children; Children’s Defense Fund; and Make It Right, Pitt’s campaign to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina.
Tags: Culture | TV | Entertainment | United States | American Idol | IDOL | Idol Gives Back
Cat Power to Issue New Covers EP
Cat Power, the smoke and honey-voiced songs of the ever-enigmatic Chan Marshall, is planning to release a new EP of covers that will include renditions of classics by Otis Redding, The Pogues, Aretha Franklin, and CCR.
If you’ve yet to indulge in a soothing, scarred dose of Cat Power’s interpretations of others’ music, The Covers Record is a fabulous place to start.
Cat Power has announced the release of a new EP at the end of this year.
The record, ‘Dark End Of The Street’, features the last remaining unreleased covers from the sessions for her latest album, ‘Jukebox’.
Released on December 8, the songs including Otis Redding’s ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’ and The Pogues‘Ye Auld Triangle’ as well as Aretha Franklin’s ‘It Ain’t Fair’ and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Fortunate Son’.
Tags: Culture | Music | Cat Power | CCR | Otis Redding | Aretha Franklin | covers ep | chan marshall | the pogues | cat power ep
Outkast Set to Release Three New Albums
ATL’s favourite rap duo, Outkast, are getting ready for a slew of new releases in 2009. The group is working on a new full-length Outkast album, their first in more than three years, as well as solo records from both Andre 3000 and Big Boi.
After a three-year absence after the release of their conceptual record Idlewild, Big Boi and Andre 3000 will unite for a proper Outkast release in 2009 — in addition to a pair of solo albums from each! “Y’all gonna get three records from the ‘Kast next year,” Big Boi told MTV.com.
The forthcoming releases include Boi’s oft-delayed sophomore solo outing, Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty, a new Andre 3000 record, which “he’s working on,” and the much-anticipated Outkast album. “We’re gonna wait until the top of the year — January or February — to put it out,” Boi said of his solo set. “Then ‘Dre is gonna come hit y’all, and [then] we’re gonna do the Outkast album.”
Tags: Culture | Music | Atlanta | rap | hip-hop | outkast | Big Boi | andre 3000 | idlewild | Sir Lucious Leftfoot | son of chico dusty
Suge Knight Sues Kanye West Over Stolen Earring
Hip-hop is rather comical sometimes, isn’t it?
The formerly much-feared, reviled, and respected gangsta rap mogul Suge Knight is suing Kanye West over an earring that Suge lost more than 3 years ago.
Grasping at straws, Suge, you gotz to chill.
TMZ is reporting that as part of his October 30 bankruptcy filing, Knight is blaming Kanye West for the loss of a beloved 15-carat diamond stud earring that was stolen from him three years ago. According to a lawsuit filed by Knight against West and some of his partners on September 12, the label boss blames ‘Ye for allowing someone to smuggle a gun past security at the rapper’s 2005 pre-VMA party in Miami, the same party where some unknown person shot Knight in the leg.
Tags: Culture | Suge Knight | rap | hip-hop | Celebrity | United States | Kanye West | earring
