Victor Trent Cook, Ken Ard, Adrian Bailey and Frederick Owens are featured in Keep In Rollin’ and Searchin’, two of the songs featured in this final performance of Smokey Joe’s Café.
Category Archives: Entertainment
Smokey Joes Cafe Last Performance: Fools Fall in Love – B.J. Crosby
B.J. Crosby sings Fools Fall In Love in this emotional last performance of the long-running play Smoky Joe’s Café. The song builds to a crescendo in the last moments of the song, that you will never forget.
Disregard the foreign language captions, since the main thing is the song itself and the fantastic job B.J. Crosby does singing with so much emotion, that the audience gives her a standing ovation at the end of the song.
Frankie Valli Still Going Strong At 79
Frankie Valli earlier in his career.
Frankie Valli was born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio on May 3, 1934 in Newark, New Jersey. The 79 year-old singer appeared on American Idol singing his classic hits Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You and Grease in the Season 12 American Idol finale.
Frankie Valli shown with Curtis Finch, Burnell Taylor and Lazaro Arbos on the stage during the Season 12 finale for American Idol.
Valli was enticed to sing after seeing Frank Sinatra in concert at the Paramount Theater in New York City. He appeared with various groups, but his main claim to fame came during his time singing with the Four Seasons. The group had monster hits like Sherry, Walk Like A Man, Big Girls Don’t Cry, which all went to No.1 on the Billboard charts in 1962 and 1963. Another 1963 hit Candy Girl peaked at No.3. Dawn (Go Away) would also climb to No.3.
His first hit as a soloist was Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, which reached the No.1 spot on the Billboard charts. My Eyes Adored You went to No.1 in 1974, then he had his last No.1 solo song with Grease.
An interesting note of trivia is that the Four Seasons were named after a New Jersey bowling alley.
When Valli recorded solo albums he sang in his regular voice, not the falsetto he used with the Four Seasons. Valli sounded good whether singing in falsetto or regular voice.
The Four Seasons and Valli weren’t affected by the British invasion, as they didn’t alter their sound to fit in with the Beatles craze.
The late 70′s would see Valli battle otosclerosis, which causes loss of hearing. He would have to sing from memory during this time and but would regain his hearing in 1980.
He would record his first solo album in 27 years in 2007 and is still active today 62 years after he first became an active singer.
A crowning achievement for Valli and Four Seasons was their induction, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
These are some 30 second clips of the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli hits:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/frankie-valli-mn0000794449/songs
Four Seasons singing Working My Way Back To You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pI1BgbYIPk
Four Seasons singing a medley of Dawn, Rag Doll and Bye Bye Baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmFFsBCHLB0
Ryan Seacrest who is usually shorter than most of the singers on American Idol had to be happy, to stand next to the diminutive Frankie Valli who is five foot five, so Seacrest towered over him at five foot eight.
It is great to know that 79 year-old Valli is still active, with no signs of retiring anytime soon.
American Idol: America Got It Right With Choice of Candice Glover
Candice Glover is the new American Idol of Season 12.
It has been evident since the Final 10 were chosen by judges, that Candice Glover was the best singer among those singers in the Final 10.
American Idol fans confirmed that she was the best, by choosing her as the new American Idol for Season 12. The only surprise would have been if Candice had not won. Kree Harrison finished second and Angie Miller was third in Season 12. I look for Kree and Angie to have successful careers, but Candice should have her first album released long before either of them, since her album should be in stores for months, before Kree and Angie release their albums.
The producers are smart to release the first album of Candice much sooner than usual. Most albums by the current American Idol are not released till November, so the summer release will let fans of Candice have her music, in their MP3 players and phones sooner rather than later, plus many albums should be sold on the American Idol tour this summer.
There were many guest artists on the finale, but none of them came close to matching Frankie Valli and him singing with the five guys on I Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You and Grease. Valli commanded the stage like giants of entertainment do when they enter the spotlight. Valli turned 79 earlier this month and was born a year before Elvis Presley. Valli has been singing since 17, which was 62 years ago.
Aretha Franklin also sang but her singing didn’t have the impact of Valli, since she was singing from New York, but she sang some of her biggest hits, which were received well by the audience.
It was great to see Candice become the first girl to win American Idol since Jordin Sparks won in Season 6.
Randy Jackson said his goodbyes to fans of American Idol last night. He is the only one of ten judges to remain with the show the first twelve seasons. Latest rumors say that the other three Idol judges could be leaving too, but it could be several months, before any changes to the judging panel will be announced. There are even some reports that the show could return to a three judge format.
It is too early for ratings results for the finale, but it is almost a foregone conclusion that the ratings will be the lowest for any finale in the 12 year history of the show.
The Voice Season 4 will be ending soon, then Season 5 of The Voice will return in the fall along with Season 3 of X-Factor, so three music competitions will end before American Idol returns in January.
American Idol: Candice Glover Should Be Next American Idol
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/candice-glover-performs-i-who-have-nothing/17womoku7
It will be complete shock if Candice Glover isn’t crowned as the next American Idol. The above video escalated Candice to a whole new level of excellence. Kree Harrison is a great singer, that should have a long and successful career, but she is not the singer that Candice is.
Her rendition of I Who Have Nothing the Ben E. King classic showed that she is the best singer on American Idol this season. However, her chances of winning depend on how her voting base voted last night.
American Idol needs a win by Candice, since she is a powerhouse singer, that should sell millions of records and draw thousands to her concerts. Kree may sell a lot of albums, but she will never reach the star power of Candice, who delivers the big moments in her songs, that the Idol judges are looking for.
There are rumors that Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey will not return as judges, while Randy Jackson has already announced he won’t be returning for Season 13.
Simon Fuller: Creator of American Idol
Simon Fuller the creator of American Idol was criticized last night, for the songs he chose for Candace and Kree to sing last night. Randy Jackson disliked his song choices and Ryan Seacrest interjected, that he only said that since he would be leaving the show after tonight’s finale.
Randy was wrong to even mention song choices, since Candice and Kree only sang the songs and had no part in selecting them. Why criticize the man who created the American Idol juggernaut and paid Jackson millions of dollars since the first show?
We can expect many changes in American Idol in Season 13. Another year of lower ratings demands that changes be made.
There is way too much emphasis on the celebrity of the judges, when the focus should be entirely on the contestants. Paying Mariah Carey $18 million, Nicki Minaj $12 million and Keith Urban $5 million was not able to attract viewers in larger numbers and in fact this season had the lowest ratings in the history of the show.
There are already rumors that Jennifer Lopez may return as a judge in January, but can’t see the producers signing another high salary celebrity.
I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the previous winners join the judge panel, who wouldn’t have the clout to demand huge salaries, plus they would understand better, what the contestants are experiencing during the life of the show.
Former American Idol contestants currently have albums in the Billboard 200. The Voice may be attracting more viewers, but their winners are not selling albums and downloads like winners or also-rans from American Idol. That makes American Idol the king of the singing competitions, till the other shows start producing singers that sell albums in the millions.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/idolchatter/2013/05/15/american-idol-sales-finale-week/2164287/
American Idol: Angie Miller Goes Home, All Four Judges Reportedly To Be Fired For Season 13
Angie Miller went home on American Idol leaving Candice Glover and Kree Harrison to compete on the last performance show next Wednesday for the coveted title of American Idol.
It was an almost foregone conclusion for me at least, that Candice Glover and Angie Miller would be the last two standing on American Idol but the voters chose Kree Harrison to face Candice in the last performance show next Wednesday night.
There was no doubt that Kree is a good singer, but to me she was not a singer of the caliber of Angie Miller. I don’t think Kree can connect with an audience nearly as well, as Candice who clearly has to be the favorite next week, but even she is not a sure winner, unless her supporters take time to vote her the next American Idol next Thursday night.
All Four Judges Could Be Fired
The latest reports circulating in the media are saying that all four judges will be fired, before the start of Season 13 next January.
In fact, Randy Jackson announced he is leaving the show in a Thursday statement. It would have been no surprise if Nicki Minaj or Mariah Carey had been fired or both, since their feud was a distraction during Season 12. Nicki Minaj telling Mariah to “simmer down sir” was a prime example of their dislike for each other.
Mariah has fired Randy as her manager, so that may have been a cause of a reported dustup between the two.
However, doubt many observers thought that all four judges would be fired. I thought Keith Urban did a good enough job to be retained for another season.
Even executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is reportedly in line to be fired. Ryan Seacrest could be the only familiar face to return next season.
The days of the high priced divas may be over for American Idol, after paying Mariah $18 million and Nicki $12 million, for this season.
Worst of all the May sweeps ratings determine the prices that sponsors are charged and with only 11.11 million tuning in last Wednesday night the show won’t have the money to pay the high salaries in Season 13. The 11.11 million viewers were the fewest viewers watching American Idol this season.
Season 6 ratings averaged around 30 million, so that is an indication of how far the ratings have tumbled since Jordin Sparks was the last woman, that was voted the winner of American Idol six years ago.
We should hear from American Idol management in the coming months, if these latest rumors are true. The show really has no choice, but to make changes in light of the extremely low ratings. There is almost no chance of the show being cancelled, since it is one of the top money-making shows on television.
So if you watch American Idol next week soak in the atmosphere, because it is almost a sure bet, that there will be major changes in Season 13.
American Idol: Nobody Going Home
Angie Miller and Kree Harrison were Top 2 in American Idol results show in which nobody went home to get the show on schedule after judges didn’t use their save.
Kree Harrison had to be shocked to be in the Top 2 with Angie Miller, on the Thursday night results show on American Idol. The judges had roundly criticized her performances on Wednesday night, but evidently the judges couldn’t sway the voters into not voting for her.
It was a shock to see Candace Glover in the Bottom 2, since she had some of the best feedback from the judges on Wednesday night. Amber Holcomb also was in the Bottom 2, but that wasn’t too surprising since there was some criticism of her decision to sing MacArthur Park on Wednesday’s show.
Ryan Seacrest teased the audience by saying “And going home is no one” and then explaining the show was expecting the judges to use their save, but when they didn’t the show needed an extra week to finish on the original schedule.
According to my calculations there should be three more weeks, with the final three revealed next week, then the final two the following week and finale the third week. None of this is official so is only conjecture at this point.
Lee DeWyze, the Season 10 winner, who is probably the least recognizable winner among the 11 winners so far sang a song from his new album.
Angie Miller seems to be favorite to win American Idol.
The favorite to win Season 12 of American Idol seems to be Angie Miller, unless she falters in the remaining shows. She needs to follow the advice of the judges and Jimmy Iovine and sing while playing the piano, which seems to be the niche she needs to be in to become the next American Idol.
However, with the votes from yesterday and those cast next week anything can happen, so it is crucial for each of the remaining four contestants, to make good song choices and to perform them as flawlessly as possible.
American Idol has lost almost 5.5 million viewers since the premiere show in January. I think many fans have gone over to The Voice and don’t care to watch American Idol the next two nights. A Big Bang Theory rerun topped American Idol last week, which shows how far the ratings have tumbled this season.
Only 12.46 million viewers tuned in to the Wednesday performance show, but no results are available yet for last night’s show.
George Jones Dies at 81
1931-2013
George Jones has died in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 81. He had been admitted into the hospital, with fever and irregular blood pressure.
Jones was a traditional country singer in the purest sense. He was far removed from the uptown country sound heard so much today. When a country music fan thought of the greats of the past Jones was one of the first to come to mind.
George Jones shown early in his career.
The first George Jones song to make the Billboard charts was Why Baby Why which went to No.4 in 1955. Three years later White Lightning would be the first No.1 hit for Jones.
Tender Years would reach No.1 in 1961, then She Thinks I Still Care was No.1 in 1962. Five years later Walk Through This World With Me became his last No.1 hit in the 60′s.
The Grand Tour and The Door were his only No.1 hits in the 1970′s and both were released in 1974.
The 1980′s would see him release his signature song He Stopped Loving Her Today in 1980 and followed by another No.1 song Still Doin’ Time in 1981. 1983′s I Always Get Lucky With You was his last No.1 hit in the 80′s.
It has been 30 years since Jones recorded a No.1 song, but he did release three No.1 singles with Tammy Wynette, which included We’re Going to Hold On in 1973, Golden Ring and Near You in 1976.
He recorded Yesterday’s Wine another No.1 song with Merle Haggard in 1982.
It is hard to believe that Jones only had nine solo No.1 hits, but this is all that showed up on Wikipedia as being No.1 songs.
George Jones had a tumultuous life, but this is no day to go over his past. This is a day to remember one of the best pure country singers during our lifetime.
George, Thanks for the memories.
American Idol: Judges Praise Angie, Trash Kree
Candace Glover, Angie Miller, Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb will find out who is going home next on American Idol on the results show tonight.
The judges may not have that much influence on American Idol voters, but if they do make a difference in the voting, then Angie Miller and Candace Glover should be in Top 2 and Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb should be in the Bottom 2. However, we can only guess what the actual results will show, when Ryan Seacrest reveals the results tonight.
Kree Harrison got trashed, hammered and battered by the judges after she sang the Susan Tedeschi song Hurt So Bad. I was thinking how good of a job, that she had done with the song, but the judges hated her rendition of the song. It was plain to see that Kree was shocked at being attacked so mercilessly by the judges. I thought she did a creditable job on A Whiter Shade of Pale, but the judges were not impressed by that either.
Keith Urban seemed to think the one hit wonder songs should have been recorded in the last 10 years. The contestants are not mind readers and shouldn’t be expected to know what timeline the judges were wanting the songs from.
I can understand A Whiter Shade of Pale being a one hit wonder, since it was the only hit of Procol Harum, but Cry Me A River recorded by Julie London 58 years ago in 1955 would not be considered a one hit wonder, since London recorded many more albums after its release. It has been covered many times over the years, including my favorite version by Diana Krall in her Look of Love album released in 2001.
Candace received mixed reviews from the judges, while Angie received more praise, than any of the other three contestants. It would be a tremendous shock if Angie is in the bottom two and it would show that the opinions of the judges were not affecting the voting results.
Jimmy Iovine did not like Amber singing MacArthur Park, which was written by Jimmy Webb. Iovine called the song corny, probably because of the lyrics saying “Someone left a cake out in the rain and I’ll never find that recipe again” which was corny. Interesting side note about the song: Webb wrote the song after breaking up with Linda Rondstadt, since they had met many times in MacArthur Park.
Kree and Amber clearly got the worst feedback from the judges, so it looks like Angie and Candace should be the top vote-getters.
Vote For the Worst website has Kree as the one to vote for this week, which might help her stay another week. There is speculation that Ryan Seacrest’s surprise tonight may be that nobody goes home, since the judges haven’t used their save.
So the surprise may be either that the judges use their save or that Ryan will announce nobody will go home. The bad thing about that scenario is that fans cast millions of votes for nothing, so it would make sense if the judges are allowed to use the save, rather than just announce nobody will go home.
I don’t think the judges should even have judged the two group songs. The group songs are only filler anyway and it gave the judges a third chance to trash Kree. I don’t know if Kree can recover from hearing how much the judges hated her singing to become the American Idol.
There is no sense in American Idol having a two-hour show for four contestants and next week it will again be two hours for three contestants, unless the judges use their save to keep all four contestants for another week.
Next week’s show could be the next to last show of Season 12, unless everybody stays another week tonight.
Rumors have been flying around the internet that Mariah Carey might be fired, before the completion of Season 12, to boost the ratings, but those rumors seem to have been unfounded.
For a more complete recap of last night’s show:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/04/25/american-idol-amber-holcomb-judges-argue/
Lizard Lick Towing’s Ron and Amy Shirley Worth Combined $5 Million
Ron and Amy Shirley who star in Lizard Lick Towing reality show on TruTV.
Ron and Amy Shirley know that each renewal of Lizard Lick Towing means they can deposit huge amounts of money in their bank account.
They are both worth a total of $5 million, with Celebrity Net Worth showing they both have net worths of $2.5 million each.
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/business-executives/ron-shirley-net-worth/
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/business-executives/amy-shirley-net-worth/
One of the articles says that the Shirleys recreate some of the their encounters, when repossessing cars, so that tells me they are using actors in the wild scenes seen on the show. I don’t mind that the show is fake, as long as the producers don’t try to fool the fans, into thinking that the action scenes are real.
Bobby Brantley in his cool shades.
Bobby Brantley once stated that some of the scenes were staged. The last I knew Bobby Brantley was married to his fourth wife Anita, so it surprised me that the show had a storyline, that showed Bobby dating a local girl on the show, which infuriated Amy, since Amy had a long and bad history with the girl. Anyone that knows if Bobby is still married is welcome to comment.
It doesn’t really matter to me that it is fake, since it is an entertaining show. I have seen scenes where Ron and Bobby have been shot at during a repossession. A person being shot at in real life would have called the police, but even with all the fights at repossession sites and in the office police are seldom called.
They are inviting trouble in the office leaving stuff that can be thrown around. That office lobby should not have anything that is not nailed down, since if it is not then it will be destroyed.
Ron and Amy Shirley may not be earning Kardashian type money, for their reality show but most of us wouldn’t mind having $5 million in our bank accounts
It is another reason that Ron and Amy are probably on pins and needles, till they get their renewal notices for the next season.
Wikipedia says that Ron and Amy were going to be in Wife Swap. Just thinking about them being on the show makes me laugh. However it didn’t pan out, but it may have turned out for the best as Lizard Lick Towing was first seen on All Worked Up, before TruTV offered a deal to Ron and Amy, to have their own show and they hopped on the money train that would make them both millionaires.
I assume there will be new shows, if it is renewed next summer or fall.
The main thing is that Lizard Lick Towing is a fun show to watch, whether it is fake or not.
.
American Idol: Janelle Goes Home: And Then There Were Four
Janelle Arthur received the fewest number of votes and was sent home on American Idol.
Janelle Arthur who expected to be sent home last night became the first girl to be eliminated on American Idol on Thursday night.
The judges could have saved her, but seem to be saving their save for one of the remaining four contestants. Had heard that they had to use their save by Top 5 week, but apparently they will have it at their disposal for one more week. I will be surprised if these judges will ever save anyone, as they can’t seem to agree on who is worth saving. The following article says the judges will not be allowed to use their save now:
http://www.rickey.org/american-idol-12-to-end-one-week-early-after-non-save-in-the-top-5/
Top 4 week will see Amber Holcomb, Candace Glover, Angie Miller and Kree Harrison try to extend their time on American Idol. It was surprising to see Kree in the Bottom 2, but in another way it was not surprising, since any of the four remaining contestants would make excellent American Idols.
From now on the competition should be even tougher for the contestants, since we are nearing the end of Season 12. If the save is not used Season 12 will end the second week in May. The judges will have their hands full, as they and the voters hold the fate, of the remaining contestants as the season nears its end.
Nicki Minaj and Jimmy Iovine did not see eye to eye on the merits of Amber Holcomb’s singing on Wednesday’s show.
Clay Aiken and Fantasia sang on the show last night and Paula Abdul made a surprise appearance. Paula may have not been the best judge ever, but would be an upgrade over either Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.
American Idol continues to trail The Voice in the television ratings. The Voice has seen a spike in their ratings during the Battle Rounds. The Voice may be an excellent show, but until one of their winners makes a real mark in the music world I can’t take it too seriously. I lose interest after the blind auditions on The Voice, then watch when they get down to the live shows after the Battle Rounds are over. Worst thing is that there is such a long gap from seeing The Voice contestants in the Battle Rounds, till all the finalists from the Battle Rounds appear individually in the remaining shows.
All four of the remaining contestants on American Idol should have recording careers, plus Janelle Arthur should make it big in the world of country music.
Lazaro Arbos has some less than flattering words about one of the remaining contestants, after he went home from the show:
“I’m not gonna say names and I don’t wanna sound rude,” Lazaro told ABC News Radio backstage at Live with Kelly & Michael earlier in the week. “But I think that one woman in particular is cra-a-a-a-z-y and she wants to win!” Lazaro would not say if the contestant was Kree, Candice, Amber, Angie or Janelle, but he thinks that she — whoever she is — needs to chill out. Big time. “She thinks that we’re in The Hunger Games and she’s fighting for her life,” dished Lazaro about the mystery contestant. “She needs to realize that it’s not about winning: it’s about what you do after the show.” – Vote for the Worst website
Janelle was chosen by Vote For The Worst website as their choice to vote for this week. It will be interesting to see how they choose as the worst remaining contestant, now that Janelle has been eliminated.
Facts on remaining contestants:
Candace Glover – Candace is 24 and from Beaufort, South Carolina. This was her third try at American Idol having competed in Season 9 and Season 11. She made it to Las Vegas week in Season 11 and performed in a group with Season 11 finalists DeAndre Brackensick and Jessica Sanchez.
Angie Miller – Angie is 19 and from Beverly, Massachusetts. She is partially deaf and has a You Tube page with 2.8 million views.
Amber Holcomb – Amber is 19 and from Houston, Texas. She was seen in Season 11 and was in a group with Season 11 finalists Shannon Magrane and Joshua Ledet.
Kree Harrison – Kree is 23 and came from Winfield, Texas, but currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Kree’s father died in an airplane crash when she was 12 and her mother died in a car accident, when Kree was 16.
The following poll asks which of the remaining four contestants will be the Season 12 American Idol:
American Idol: Candace Glover Current Favorite To Win American Idol
Angie Miller, Candace Glover, Janelle Arthur, Kree Harrison and Amber Holdomb comprise the Final 5 on American Idol Season 12.
The American Idol judges Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey have their work cut out for them since only the most talented singers are left in the competition.
It is looking like Candace Glover is the current favorite to win the title of the American Idol for Season 12. It will be interesting tonight to see how Candace fares in the voting results, that will be revealed tonight. The best singer on American Idol is not always the winner on the finale in May.
Janelle Arthur on the other hand is almost certain to be in the bottom two tonight, after receiving lukewarm critiques from the judges. I agree with Nicki Minaj that Janelle will make a mark in country music, even if she doesn’t win the competition.
It will be sad to see Janelle go home tonight, if she does receive the fewest votes. She is very likeable and seems to be able to handle any criticism from the judges well.
However, there are no guarantees in American Idol voting, as Pia Toscano can testify to when she was eliminated early in Season 12.
Pia Toscano eliminated early in Season 10 of American Idol.
So Ryan Seacrest might reveal some surprising results tonight, but in all likelihood Janelle will be bidding adieu to her fellow contestants tonight.
Kree Harrison probably will be among the top vote-getters tonight, with Angie Miller or Amber Holcomb joining Janelle in the bottom two.
The shocking event of the night was that Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey actually talked to each other, for the first time that I know of during Season 12 live shows.
Unreality TV delves further into their altercation last night:
Personally, I thought all the contestants performed well, but the judges know music much better than me who missed notes or sang offkey, so my opinion and a dollar will get me on the city bus, but doesn’t really mean that much.
New York Daily News has posted a recap of last night’s show:
Latest Idol News
Pia Toscano mentioned earlier in this article will be seen in her first movie Grace Unplugged in October and should also release her debut album. New York Daily News has more info on the Season 10 American Idol contestant:
Fantasia will be seen on American Idol tonight singing Lose To Win and Clay Aiken is also slated to appear in the telecast.
Taylor Hicks is still appearing in concerts, but his albums are not selling well. His 2011 album Taylor Hicks has received great reviews with 248 Amazon reviews rating the album 5 stars, while only 5 gave the album 1 star. His problem is that it has not sold well and is currently 87,267th in sales and new and used copies of the album can be bought for one cent.
Duck Dynasty Stars Duck Autograph Signing
The Duck Dynasty stars apparently think they don’t have to fulfill their obligations. They failed to stay for an autograph signing after an archery event.
It is not surprising since they march to a different drummer, than most of us since they are used to doing what they want and when they want.
A&E network can’t be happy with their behavior, since disgruntled fans will be probably be non-fans in the future and won’t waste time tuning in to see the same people who didn’t think of their fans, but of themselves at the Las Vegas event.
Maybe it is time that we stop making celebrities of people who become too big for their britches, while thinking they are too good to spend time with the “little people” who made them so popular.
It is not asking too much to expect celebrities to spend time with their fans. Maybe the Duck Dynasty stars were anxious to try out the gambling casinos in Las Vegas and didn’t want to delay their fun, by stopping to sign autographs for the “little people”.
If they continue to behave this way, their record ratings will begin to tumble, as they seem to have forgotten who made them reality stars in the first place.
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/04/duck-dynasty-star-refuse-sign-autographs-angry-fans/
Comedy Icon Jonathan Winters Dies At 87
Jonathan Winters 1925-2013
America has lost another comedy icon of the early days of television, with the passing of Jonathan Winters today at the age of 87 in Montecito, California. Winters was born in Dayton, Ohio on November 11, 1925.
The thing I remember most about Jonathan Winters were the funny faces he could make. He first made a name for himself in stand-up comedy and released 22 comedy albums from 1960-2011.
His first television appearance appearing as someone other than himself was when he appeared, on Omnibus in 1954. He was heard on one old-time radio show Monitor in 1959, before old-time radio died on September 30, 1962.
Winters appeared in It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World in 1963. This is physical comedy at its best as Winters levels a service station singlehandedly and he earned $130,000 for his appearance in the movie. :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzZsp8SvJj8
He later appeared as Mearth on Mork and Mindy television series. His last movie appearance was as Papa on Smurfs 2, which is in post-production. He was to have appeared in Big Finish, but it is in pre-production, so he won’t be seen in that film.
Many of his best known television appearances were Tonight Show, Jack Paar Show and Hollywood Squares.
The world has lost of the best improvisational comics ever. Jonathan Winters will be missed by a legion of fans.
American Idol: Candace Glover In Bad Situation
Candace Glover received the most positive feedback on American Idol.
Candace Glover received enthusiastic praise for her singing on American Idol last night. Her rendition of Love Song was so good, that Randy Jackson said that it was the best performance of any singing competition ever. It is looking now like Candace is the one to beat. However, she didn’t even finish in the Top 3 last week. Instead Kree Harrison, Angie Miller and Lazaro Arbos finished in the Top 3.
The question now is whether her voting base will cast enough votes for her to be in the Top 3, when the voting results are announced by Ryan Seacrest tonight. American Idol is not always about who is best, but who has the strongest voting base.
A case in point is Lazaro Arbos, who is still around despite being the worst of the boy singers and worst of the remaining contestants. Lazaro was hammered unmercifully by the judges last night, but that may actually work in his favor. It may have caused him to garner sympathy votes, which may keep him on the show. Or maybe the criticism may cause some of his supporters, to abandon him and start voting for real singers. I like Lazaro but know good and well, that he is not going to be the next American Idol.
For the tenth best singer among the ten contestants, to be competing for a spot in the Final 5 tells me the voters are not particularly voting for the best singer.
However, even if Lazaro stays the girl who receives the least votes would almost certainly be saved by the judges.
Nicki Minaj continues being nice to a contestant one minute, then the next minute rip their singing the next minute. She seems to enjoy sticking it to a contestant, after luring the contestant into thinking she is going to say something positive about their performance. Janelle Arthur was the victim last night of her criticism saying her song was boring. I am not saying Nicki doesn’t have the right to criticize the contestants, but she should start her criticism from the start, instead of acting like she really cares about a contestant, then jump on them with both feet.
If the voters vote strictly on performance, then Candace, Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb should be in the Top 3 tonight, with Janelle, Angie Miller and Lazaro at the bottom of the vote-getters. If Lazaro stays I look for Janelle to finish last and then be saved by the judges.
My personal pick as of today to be the next American Idol is Candace, with Kree Harrison likely to be the finalist with her on finale night, but Amber Holcomb is still in the running, if either of them falters.
One criticism for the show is that I see no need for the show to be two hours long, with only six singers left in the competition. The songs last about two minutes or less, so the 12 songs last night lasted only about 24 minutes. That left one hour and 36 minutes for judges to make their critiques, run umpteen commercials and fill the rest of the time with filler.
We are forced to watch the show on regular antenna, since the satellite network doesn’t carry the closest Fox station. We used to record the shows when we were on cable, which saved us watching about 40 minutes of commercials and turning the show into an hour and 20 minute show. The show will be two hours again next week, even though they may be down to five singers, unless Lazaro stays and a girl singer is saved, which would still leave six singers.
For a complete rundown on last night show from Hollywood.com:
Annette Funicello Dies At 70
Annette Funicello 1942-2013
Annette Funicello died in a Bakersfield, California hospital today at the age of 70. She had suffered from multiple sclerosis for the last 26 years.Her death was caused by complications from multiple sclerosis.
She could longer walk in 2004 and lost her speech in 2009.
Her last movie or television appearance was in Back To Beach film, which was released in 1987.
Longtime fans will remember her as Annette from the Mickey Mouse Club, which debuted in 1955. She starred in several beach movies with Frankie Avalon from Beach Party in 1963 till they co-starred on Back to the Beach 24 years later.
Annette recorded several albums and one of her songs Tall Paul peaked at No.7 on the Billboard charts. She recorded singles from 1958-1983.
I can remember watching Annette on Mickey Mouse Club many years ago and then saw many of her beach movies over the years.
Her husband Glen Holt survives her along with three children, from her first husband Jack Gilardi.
American Idol: Will Lazaro Arbos Go Home Thursday?
Lazaro Arbos is only remaining male contestant in Season 12 of American Idol.
Lazaro Arbos may be going home on Thursday night, since he is only male contestant left in Season 12. However, that is not a foregone conclusion, with him finishing in the Top 3 last Thursday night. Those in the Top 3 were not announced in a particular order, so it is conceivable that Lazaro may have even been the top vote-getter.
Lazaro may be a sentimental favorite of the voters this season, since the judges have not had many kind words about his singing during the season. Their critiques of his singing may even be helping to garner sympathy votes for Lazaro.
Janelle Arthur may even be going home next Thursday, if Lazaro isn’t sent home this week. She finished in Bottom 2 last week, so unless she steps it up next week she could be going home.
If a girl doesn’t win in Season 12, then something is very wrong with the voting procedure, since the girls are clearly much better singers than the boys this season.
If Lazaro is sent home, then it means a very talented singer will be going home the next week and every week after, till the new American Idol is announced.
Any of the remaining girls including Janelle, Amber Holcomb, Candace Glover, Angie Miller and Kree Harrison are worthy of being the next American Idol.
It will be interesting to see how American Idol fans vote in this poll, so we can see if Lazaro’s fan base can keep him on the show and send a better singer home.
American Idol – The Voice Ratings Battle
Season 4 of the Voice premiered with 13.64 million viewers and has increased to 13.93 million viewers on the last episode.
Meanwhile American Idol garnered more viewers, for their premiere of Season 12, with 17.93 million viewers, but last Thursday’s results show drew over 6 million less viewers, with 11.72 million watching the results show. The producers have to be concerned with the loss of that many viewers.
Evidently, viewers are tiring of the music competition genre. Television has a predilection to latch onto a hot trend and doesn’t let go of it till it fizzles out. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was a prime example of overkill at its worst. The show did well till it was shown on more than one night a week, then withered away till where it wasn’t even shown during primetime.
Singing competitions are proliferating to the point, where summer is our only respite from the shows. However, with X-Factor and The Voice in the fall and then American Idol in January and The Voice in March we are having singing competition shows from September to May.
American Idol: Nicki Minaj Going Overboard……Again
Nicki Minaj tweeted that ousted contestant Devin Velez needed to be gracious after being voted off the show last week and that she wasn’t going to use the save on a boy contestant.
Nicki Minaj took to Tweeter lecturing Devin Velez that he should be gracious for being on the show. When Velez sang I Can’t Help Myself on Wednesday night, with Lazaro Arbos and Burnell Taylor Minaj compared their singing to that of Hollywood week. Even worse, she ordered the group off the stage, which to me was extremely mean. They had to feel bad enough, after being trashed by Minaj, without her ordering them off the stage.
Nicki Minaj tweeted to Devin Velez last week, after he tweeted that Minaj was not very professional in ordering the group of Velez, Lazaro Arbos and Burnell Taylor, off the stage after their rendition of I Can Help Myself. Velez did admit the performance was sub-par, but thought Minaj acted unprofessionally, when ordering them off the stage. Minaj tweeted back that Velez needed to be gracious for his shot on the show.
Nicki Minaj was angered by a tweet by Devin Velez, after he was voted off the show and tweeted back to him that he should have been gracious for even being on the show. She went on to say in her tweet, that she was not going to save a boy, since the girls are much better singers. Velez said he didn’t mind being criticized by Minaj after the group of Velez, Lazaro Arbos and Burnell Taylor performed I Can’t Help Myself, but thought she acted unprofessionally, by telling the group to get off the stage.
I don’t think that the group singing should have even be judged on Wednesday night. It was just more filler to justify having eight singers sing in a two-hour show. Fox could have easily cut the show to half and hour, since each song takes about a minute and a half and then the judges do their critiques for 3 or 4 minutes, so each song and judging of that song should last no longer than 6 minutes. That comes out to 48 minutes for 6 songs. That left an hour and 12 minutes for commercials and filler material. Can’t wait till they get down to 6 songs, so maybe they will cut the show down to an hour and a half.
The first poll question is if Nicki Minaj is helping or hurting American Idol ratings in Season 12:
The second poll question is which of the remaining 7 contestants will become the American Idol of Season 12?
I think Minaj has been a major factor in Season 12 of American Idol losing so many viewers. Last Thursday night’s results show was the lowest ratings of the season. I do agree that the save will not be used on a boy, when it could be used on a girl with real talent.
My personal picks for top three to win and not necessarily the one I want to win would be between Candace Glover, Angie Miller and Kree Harrison.
There are even rumors that Ryan Seacrest may not return for the next season, but if I remember right he is in second year of three-year contract paying him $15 million a year.
Will The Voice Find A Singer That Can Sell Albums?
Shakira, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Usher, judges and Carson Daly host of Season 4 of The Voice on NBC.
The Voice has done well in the ratings, but still hasn’t come up with a winner that can sell records. Season 1 winner Javier Colon’s album Come Through For You peaked at No.134 on the Billboard 200 chart and has sold only 45,000 copies, as of late last December, more than a year after its initial release.
Season 2 winner Jermaine Paul has an album Finally that has no release date listed at Amazon.com, almost a year after he won The Voice in May of 2012.
Season 3 winner Cassidee Pope has released these singles which have sold a lot of downloads. She covered Cry a song recorded by Faith Hill and sold 81,000 copies in one week last December and debuted at No. 60 in its first week.
.Pope also recorded singles of Over You by Miranda Lambert which rose to No.25 on the Billboard Country chart and also recorded Keith Urban’s Stupid Boy which was at No.40, plus Michelle Branch’s Are You Happy Now, which was No.95. The real test for Pope will be when her first album is released later on down the road.
So the judges this season are intent on finding someone who will become a bona fide star, with name recognition something which has eluded the first three winners of The Voice.
Shakira and Usher the two one name judges seemed to have settled in well, in the first shows of Season 4.
Monday night’s show saw all four judges turn around their chairs for the Morgan Twins who sang Fallin’ and Judith Hill who sang What A Girl Wants.
Midas Whale a duo singing Folsom Prison Blues and Sarah Simmons singing One of Us sang well enough to have all four judges turn around for them on Tuesday night.
Cathia who sang “No Me Doy por Vencido” attracted the attention of Shakira, Usher and Blake Shelton and Cathia naturally chose Shakira as her mentor.
No judges turned around for six contestants on Monday night and for one of the six singers shown last night. It is heartbreaking to see a singer sing their heart out, only not to have one judge turn their chairs around. That is what gives the show credibility though, since everyone knows, that some of the singers are not ready for prime time yet.
I usually watch the Blind Auditions, then skip the Battle Rounds, since it seems to be a contest of who can sing the loudest and hit the highest notes. I then return for the individual competitions in the last weeks of the show.
The Voice may be very popular, but until they have a singer who breaks through and has national name recognition it will be known more as the show that features judges turning around in their chairs.
After all these singers are vying to win The Voice and hope to sell millions of albums, like some past winners of American Idol have done. Selling 45,000 albums in close to a year like Javier Colon is not going to help him or The Voice. That is far from the record sales of Carrie Underwood, who has sold 15 million albums, which included 7 million copies of her Some Hearts album.
For The Voice to be taken seriously as a star maker they have to come up with a star that can sell more than 45,000 albums, while an American Idol winner like Carrie Underwood has sold 15 million albums.
The Celebrity Net Worth website discloses that American Idol Season 4 winner Underwood has a net worth of $45 million, while Season 1 American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson has a net worth of $14 million.
I will start taking The Voice more seriously, when they can produce stars of the magnitude of Underwood and Clarkson.
Mr. Ed Still In Reruns 52 Years Later
Mr. Ed the talking horse shown with owner Wilbur Post who was portrayed by Alan Young.
Mr. Ed a comedy series about a talking horse debuted in January of 1958. The owner of the horse in this show was Wilbur Pope, while Alan Young would portray Wilbur Post, when the show became a regular show on the CBS television network.
Mr. Ed was originally named Bamboo Harvester, after being born in El Monte, California 64 years ago in 1949. His name was changed to Mr. Ed after appearing on the show.
Imdb.com says that Mr. Ed died in 1979 at the age of 30,33 or 34, but other sources say that Mr. Ed died in 1968, 1973 or 1974, so in other words nobody seems to really know the date of his death.
Larry Keating, who portrayed Roger Addison the next door neighbor died in the third season and was replaced by Leon Ames of Topper fame and portrayed Col. Gordon Kirkwood.
Katy Rose a singer grew up in the home Mr. Ed lived in many years after the show ended.
The show was owned by George Burns McCadden Production and Burns chose Alan Young to play Wilbur Post, since he seemed like the kind of guy a horse would talk to.
Mr. Ed was a golden Palomino who would only respond to his trainer Les Hilton, since Mr. Ed would not respond to his co-stars.
His daily diet consisted of 20 pounds of hay and a gallon of sweet tea to wash it down. If he got tired Mr. Ed would simply walk off the set. Anyone else would get fired for such insubordination, but not Mr. Ed who was the real star of the show.
Allan “Rocky Lane” a cowboy star was the voice of Mr. Ed.
Alan Young and Connie Hines with Mr. Ed in the background.
Alan Young who portrayed Wilbur Post and Connie Hines who played his wife Carol Post on Mr. Ed shown a few years later.
Mr. Ed was the kind of show that was entertaining, without being controversial. It may have been silly nonsense, but who cared if the viewers enjoyed it. I still record it off the Hallmark Channel, then watch the shows later so I can zip past the commercials.
This is typical of the dialogue heard on the show:
Wilbur Post: [after Ed finds a straw hat] What are you going to do with a straw hat?
Mister Ed: I’ll wear it till it goes out of style. Then I’ll eat it!
Alan Young was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England on November 19, 1919. He was heard in the old-time radio show on the Alan Young Show. I recently heard one of the shows for the first time and the show was surprisingly good, since the show is not mentioned much in old-time radio circles. The show kept me entertained from beginning to end.
Young later would be the voice of Scrooge McDuck on the Duck Tales series.
Alan Young is now 93 and lives in Laguna Niguel, California.
Connie Hines who played Carol Post was born in Dedham, Massachusetts on March 24, 1931 and was seen in the Whirlybirds series for those of us who go that far back.
Hines only acted three more times after Mr. Ed ended, with appearance in one episode each of Bonanza, Love American Style and her last appearance in Mod Squad in 1971. She didn’t appear on TV or in the movies the last 38 years of her life.
She died due to a heart condition on December 18, 2009 at the age of 78.
Mr. Ed may have left the air in 1966, but is still in reruns 52 years later. Mr. Ed was and still remains one of my favorite shows. The interaction between Mr. Ed and his owner Wilbur Post is the highlight of the shows.
This is one of the few remaining shows on television, that you can watch with no bad language and no double entendre jokes, that are so prevalent today on the situation comedies of today. Shows like Mr. Ed, Andy Griffith, Father Knows Best are a refuge, from the shows being shown on the networks today. Some of the older shows, that were so entertaining are seldom seen on television today. I haven’t seen an episode of Amos and Andy, Ozzie and Harriet, Red Skelton Show, Life of Riley and others for years and years. Those reruns are not being shown for some reason. There may be stations or networks telecasting some or all of those shows, but if they are I am not aware of it.
Thanks Mr. Ed for still being around to bring back the memories of years gone by.
American Idol : Two Boys Down, Three To Go
This photo shows the Top 9 of American Idol, but Paul Jolley on the far right left the show on Thursday and became the second boy to go home.
It was no surprise that another boy was sent home on the results show of American Idol last Thursday. Paul Jolley became the second boy in a row, to be sent home in Season 12.
This is looking more and more like the years of the girls on American Idol. They are so much better than the boys, that if a boy wins I will be completely shocked.
I have honestly tried to like Nicki Minaj, but when she asked Paul Jolley if he was jolly, then said his song was terrible it just shows how insensitive she can be. Why say something nice about a contestant, then rip his singing in the next sentence? Nicki plays favorites and that has been clear this season. I don’t mind her criticizing the contestants, but she could do it with a little more respect.
There is no way that Amber Holcomb should have been in the bottom three, but my poll a couple of weeks ago sort of gave an indication she does not have a strong fan base.
The results of my poll from the March 13 blog shows the results, with 69 voters in the poll as of this minute:
Angie Miller – 34 votes, 49.28 percent
Candace Glover – 12 votes, 17.39 percent
Kree Harrison – 11 votes, 15.94 percent
Lazaro Arbos – 4 votes, 5.8 percent
Janelle Arthur – 4 votes, 5.8 percent
Amber Holcomb - 2 votes, 2.9 percent (Have no idea why Amber received only 2.9 percent for her 2 votes, while Curtis received 3 percent for his 2 votes.)
Curtis Finch – 2 votes, 3 percent ( Was eliminated last week)
Burnell Taylor, Devin Velez and Paul Jolley ( Was eliminated on Thursday) received no votes.)
The poll showed 5 girls in the first 6 positions.
Lazaro Arbos is being touted by Vote For the Worst website as their poster boy. They are seeking to make Lazaro into another Sanjaya Malakar, who lasted much longer than he should because of the support from the website.
Speaking of Lazaro, there was some confusion over when he learned the song, with him saying he learned it the night before the live show, while Jimmy Iovine claimed he had the song for many days.
Some of the contestants didn’t seem to be very knowledgeable about the Beatles, as some didn’t even know of the song they picked.
It was good to see Jessica Sanchez and Casey Adams again, as they sang for the audience. It looks like both of them could go far in music.
Casey Adams released an album last June, that is currently No.16 among albums on Amazon. Most of the songs are original, with the exception of a duet with Haley Reinhart of the Ray Charles classic Hit the Road Jack. Samples of the songs can be heard in these clips:
It is looking like Candace Glover, Angie Miller and Kree Harrison are the top three contestants this season. I think Amber Holcomb belongs up there with them, but her voting base needs to strengthen to become a factor in the voting.
I don’t think anyone was surprised to see the judges decide not to use their save on Paul Jolley. I doubt if they will use on any of the boys, since they may need it to save one of the girls.
OTHER AMERICAN IDOL NEWS
Katy and Kris Allen are expecting a baby boy later this year.
Kris Allen and his wife Katy were involved in a car accident in January, which left Kris unable to play the guitar due to a broken wrist. However, they now have some good news, with the announcement that they are expecting a baby boy later this year….The ratings for American Idol continued to dip, as the performance show on Wednesday only drew 12.94 million. The performance show from the previous week had attracted 13.44 million viewers. The 11.65 million viewers watching the Thursday results show was the lowest number of viewers for any show in Season 12….Grey’s Anatomy topped American Idol last Thursday night for the first time ever.
The Voice starts on Monday, which could cause further erosion for American Idol. Viewers may be burned out after watching The Voice for a couple of nights, then face two more nights of singing competition on American Idol. This will be a real test, that tells us what direction American Idol is going.
John Mayer has announced that Phillip Phillips winner of Season 11 will be opening for his next tour. Phillip Phillips seems to be one of the more successful American Idols….There has not been a girl voted the American Idol, since Jordin Sparks won in 2007….Aubrey Cleland won out over Charlie Askew as the 11th member of the American Idol tour this summer.
Nicki Minaj has angered the other judges during the auditions, when showing up late for the shows. I have always heard that Mariah Carey was a diva, but it appears Nicki is even more of a diva.
http://popcrush.com/nicki-minaj-said-to-be-the-biggest-diva-on-the-american-idol-set/
Net Worth of Petula Clark, Fabian, Prince Jackson, Connie Francis and Gordon Lightfoot
Petula Clark – $10 Million
The Celebrity Net Worth website lists 80 year-old Petula Clark as being worth $10 million. Clark has now been singing for 74 years. When I think of Petula Clark I think of her hit song Downtown.
Fabian – $25 Million
Fabian Forte known only as Fabian by most rock and roll fans was 70 last February and although he may not have a lot of hit songs he made his mark in the movies, appearing in a total of 45 movies and TV shows from 1959-1996. Celebrity Net Worth lists Fabian’s net worth at $25 million.
Prince Michael Joseph Jackson – $100 Million
Prince Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. may be only 16, but he is already worth $100 million.. He may or may not have access to that money now, but his financial security is insured, if he doesn’t go through his money too fast.
Connie Francis – $25 Million
The net worth of Connie Francis is listed at $25 million despite the fact that she only had three No.1 hits in her 70 year career. The 74-year-old Francis had her first No.1 hit in My Heart’s Got A Mind Of Its Own in 1960. Her next No. 1 hit was released in 1961 when Together was No.1 on adult contemporary chart and her last No. 1 hit was Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You which reached No.1 on the Billboard charts in 1962. Francis has not even released an album since 1969. One of her best known songs was Who’s Sorry Now, but it peaked at No.4 for her first Top 10 hit in 1957.
Her biggest regret was not marrying Bobby Darin, after her dad chased Darin out of a building at gunpoint. He then said Darin was out of their lives, when the news of his marriage was broadcast on the radio. Francis said she wished their car had been filled with water, while driving in the Lincoln Tunnel and hoping her father would both be killed.
Gordon Lightfoot in 1967 – $30 Million
The 74 year-old Gordon Lightfoot is listed as being worth $30 million. Lightfoot has been singing since 1956 at the age of 18. Bob Dylan said Lightfoot was one of his favorite songwriters. He wrote Early Morning Rain, which was covered by many well-known singers including Elvis Presley.
His first No.1 song was If You Could Read My Mind, which reached No.1 in Canada in 1970. His other No. 1 hits on Canadian pop charts were Sundown in 1974 and The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald in 1976. Lightfoot had nine songs reach No.1 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. Sundown was the only Lightfoot song to reach No.1 on the U.S. pop charts, but he placed four songs on the U.S. Adult Contemporary charts.
He released his last album All Live on Rhino Records in 2012. It includes most of his most well-known hits in this list from Wikipedia:
- “14 Karat Gold”
- “If You Could Read My Mind“
- “Fine as Fine Can Be”
- “Baby Step Back”
- “Early Morning Rain“
- “Restless”
- “A Painter Passing Through“
- “Rainy Day People“
- “Ringneck Loon”
- “Shadows”
- “Sundown“
- “Carefree Highway“
- “Christian Island”
- “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald“
- “Canadian Railroad Trilogy“
- “Let It Ride”
- “Blackberry Wine”
- “Song for a Winter’s Night“
- “Old Dan’s Records“
- All Songs Written By Gordon Lightfoot
Remembering Roy Orbison 25 Years After His Death
Roy Orbison 1936-1988
It doesn’t seem like this December will mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Roy Orbison. Orbison was born in Vernon, Texas on April 23, 1936 and died in Madison, Tennessee on December 6, 1988 at the age of 52.
Orbison has left behind a rich musical legacy with his signature songs like Crying, Only the Lonely and Oh, Pretty Woman. He also was a songwriter writing songs like Claudette, which was recorded by the Everly Brothers.
1960 would bring his first Top 10 hit Only the Lonely which reached No.2 on the Billboard charts. Orbison would release his first No.1 hit in 1960, when he recorded Running Scared and then would also see Crying reach No.2 on the charts that same year.
His main hit in 1963 was Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) which topped out at No.4 on the Billboard charts. Blue Bayou, one of his better known songs only reached No.29 in the United States, but went to No.1 in Australia. Mean Woman Blues peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard charts that same year. In fact he only had two No.1 songs on pop charts in the United States, but had nine No. 1 hits in Australia.
Oh, Pretty Woman was his last No.1 hit in 1964, but he released It’s Over, which topped out at No.9 on pop charts, but claimed the No.1 spot on adult contemporary charts in 1964.
Orbison would not record another No.1 hit in the United States in the last 28 years of his singing career.
Opened For Beatles In United Kingdom
Duane Eddy was scheduled to appear in United Kingdom in 1963, but he was replaced by Roy Orbison. He opened for the Beatles and he performed without moving and yet the fans liked him so much that they asked for encores fourteen times. By this time the Beatles finally had to physically hold him back, so they could go on stage. The crowd was chanting “We want Roy” which was a surprise, since the fans came to see the Beatles that night.
Orbison didn’t even know who the Beatles were and asked what’s a beetle and John Lennon said “I am”. The Beatles and Orbison became good friends later as they admired Orbison for commanding a crowd, even though he hardly even moved.
Wife Has Affair With Contractor
Orbison’s wife Claudette had an affair with the contractor who built their Hendersonville, Tennessee home. Claudette did join him that fall on a tour to England. She gave Orbison the idea for his hit song Oh, Pretty Woman, when she told him that she was leaving for home. He asked her if she needed money and she said ” Pretty woman never needs money” and it was only 40 minutes later before the song Oh, Pretty Woman was finished.
Personal Tragedies
The first of a string of tragedies began for Orbison during a 1965 tour in UK. He broke his foot in front of thousands of screaming fans and had to perform in a cast. He reconciled with his wife Claudette after the accident, but she would die the next year when she was hit by a semi-trailer while she and Orbison were riding home on separate motorcycles on June 6, 1966.
Tragedy struck Orbison again on September 16, 1968, when he learned his Hendersonville, Tennessee home had burned down and his two eldest sons had perished in the fire. Orbison had now lost his wife and two sons in 27 months time. He would marry Barbara Jakobs of Germany on March 25, 1969.
Orbison would have to have a triple heart bypass on January 18, 1978.
Career Revived in 1987
Roy Orbison started to revive his music career in 1987, after being pushed into the background by the British invasion. He joined the Traveling Wilburys, which played a major part in reviving his career. His stage name was Lefty Wilbury in honor of the late country music star Lefty Frizzell.
Death and Aftermath
Orbison would travel to Europe in November of 1988 and some observers noticed that he looked ill, but he continued to perform. He then returned to Hendersonville to rest, before embarking on another trip to London this time, to film two videos for the Traveling Wilburys.
However, the trip would never take place, because he would fly model airplanes with his son on December 6, 1988 and then visited his mother for dinner and died after dinner that night. Ironically his wife Barbara would die on the same date 23 years later on December 6, 2011 from pancreatic cancer.
Legacy
Roy Orbison left a rich musical legacy behind for his fans. Only Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison have had two Top 5 albums at the same time. He will be forever remembered for singing while not moving, wearing his sunglasses and being dressed in black. His music is still being sung today as evidenced by Kree Harrison, an American Idol contestant sang Crying last Wednesday night, which reminded me of Orbison singing the original version which can be heard below.
19 Kids and Counting Returned Last Night With Asia Special
19 Kids and Counting plus two parents and a grandmother plus wife of Josh and two babies.
19 Kids and Counting returned last night on TLC as the family traveled to Asia in the first of three episodes of specials featuring their trip. The regular episodes of the show will return on April 2.
Jim Bob and Michelle, the parents of the 19 children were married on July 21, 1984 and took birth control the first four years of their marriage, then went off the pill and Michelle miscarried. They then they let God decide how many children they would have. Jim Bob only had a sister while growing up, while Michelle had five sisters and a brother.
Their first child Josh was born on March 3, 1988 and their last child Josie was born on December 10, 2009. Michelle lost the next baby, when its heart stopped beating during the pregnancy.
Michelle and her family appeared on the Today show on November 8, 2011 and a month exactly later the family announced the baby had died. This episode was one of the most dramatic shows in the series, as the series showed Jim Bob and Michelle being told the baby had no heartbeat.
It was particularly emotional, when the children were told that the baby had died. Then the funeral was extremely emotional seeing such a small casket for the baby.
The Duggar family lives in Tontitown, Arkansas a city of only 2,460 people but has grown 161 percent since 2000, when the population was only 942 people.
The cost and logistics of raising 19 kids has to be very expensive and they have to be very organized to make sure all the kids follow a routine, to make sure everything that needs to be done is accomplished. Jim Bob is a real estate agent and investor, so he must be doing very well to provide for such a large family. TLC is also probably paying the family something for them being on the show.
Their 25-year-old son Josh and his wife presently have two children of their own named a girl Mackynzie and a son Michael. The couple is expecting their third child in June.
American Idol Poll: Who Will Win American Idol in Season 12?
Little Couple Adopts 3 Year-Old, Return to TLC on April 30
Dr. Jennifer Arnold and Bill Klein who star in the Little Couple series on TLC are adopting a three year-old child from China.
Dr. Jennifer Arnold had problems conceiving a baby on her own and then they tried having a surrogate mother for their child. That didn’t work either when the surrogate mother suffered a miscarriage. Now Dr. Arnold and her husband Bill Klein have adopted a three year-old boy from China named William.
The parents who star on TLC’s Little Couple series had wanted a child with dwarfism and this child is a dwarf like them.
The show was last seen on May 15, 2012 and will be returning for a sixth season, almost a year later when they return to TLC, for a new season on April 30.
Little Couple has been one of the most drama-free reality shows, since Jen and Bill get along so well. They have to be the most likeable reality stars on television today.
They both apparently make a very good living as Dr. Arnold is a doctor working as a neonatologist at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. Bill owns a sales, training and telecommunication business.
When the new season starts on April 30 we should see some shows about the adoption process and how they are settling into their new home in Houston, plus they have a pet shop in Houston.
This couple has been through a lot in recent seasons, when they hoped Jen would be able to conceive a baby on her own. When that didn’t work they went the surrogacy route and that also failed, so it will be good to see them with their new adopted child in Season 6.
Chase Rogan of Joe Schmo Show Talks About Show
Chase Rogan of the Joe Schmo Show is shown with his “Spirit animal” llama from the show.
Chase Rogan of the Joe Schmo Show recently was interviewed about his experiences on the Joe Schmo Show. The interview was apparently filmed at his Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania home.
It is fun hearing Rogan relate his experiences from the show and telling of some situations, which made him wonder what was going on. The following article and interview tell in Rogan’s own words, what it was like to be the only real person in a reality show, with everyone else being actors.
The following article is about Rogan’s wedding to Taylor and includes a wedding photo:
http://www.goerie.com/article/20120325/LIFESTYLES16/303259941/Taylor-Baker-Chase-Rogan
This is Chase Rogan’s website for his business and includes some photos from the party, after he was told he had won $100,000 on the Joe Schmo Show. He is planning on assisting gardening enthusiasts with their vegetable gardens..
http://www.pureturfconsulting.com/Home_Page.html
Watching Rogan watch himself on television makes this video worth seeing, as it gives us an idea, of how he was feeling in certain situations on the show.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/tv-radio/reality-show-a-blast-for-local-joe-schmo-677651/
We didn’t miss an episode of the Joe Schmo Show and we were happy to see Chase Rogan win the $100,000, because he deserved every penny of it, for being such a good sport after he found out he was only non-actor on the show. The producers couldn’t have picked a more deserving person than Rogan to be on the show.
American Idol: Top 10 For Season 12 Announced
Ryan Seacrest is pictured with the American Idol Season 12 Top 10 which includes left to right, Paul Jolley, Curtis Finch Jr., Angela Miller, Candace Glover, Burnell Taylor, Devin Velez, Janelle Arthur, Lazaro Arbos, Amber Holcomb and Kree Harrison.
American Idol started back in January and last night finally revealed their Top 10 for Season 12 of the show. I wish that the voting would be based on the best singers, which may have allowed Breanna Steer (my personal favorite since she was from Louisiana and was very talented) and Aubrey Cleland to be in the Top 10. However, only five girls and five boys were allowed to join the Top 10.
It was an especially emotional moment, when Janelle Arthur was voted into the Top 10, in her third try at becoming the American Idol. She and Kree Harrison were not the only ones voted in that were from the same state, with Arthur living in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, which is located close to Knoxville and Harrison who hails from Nashville, Tennessee. Paul Jolley lives in Palmersville, Tennessee.. So three of the Top 10 reside in Tennessee.
Curtis Finch Jr., from St. Louis, Missouri, Devin Velez from Chicago, Illinois and Angela Miller from Beverly Massachusetts were the only Top 10 finalists, who were born outside the south.
The others from the south include Candace Glover, St. Helena Island, Georgia, Amber Holcomb, Houston, Texas, Burnell Taylor, New Orleans, Louisiana and Lazaro Arbos of Naples, Florida.
The Clicker Today website says this about the 11th singer going on tour with American Idol:
(And if you’re furious about someone getting eliminated, you may get a second chance to see your favorite again: The male and female who finished sixth in the semifinal voting in their groups will take the stage once more next week. The winner of that match will get a bonus 11th spot on the tour.)
Not sure if this means the 11th singer will sing only on the summer tour, since it doesn’t mention anything about the winner actually being a contestant.
There were a few surprises among the Top 10, but overall it seems to be a good group, especially the girls in the Top 10. It may be time to not split the Top 10 evenly among girls and boys, when the girls overwhelmingly had the best singers this year.
It was no surprise that Charlie Askew and Zoanette Johnson didn’t make the Top 10. Askew for some reason completely changed his look for the boys competition, which detracted from his singing. Askew seems to have serious emotional problems, which need to be addressed immediately. Zoanette may have made the Top 10 female singers, but she was not the singer the other girls were. She may have had an intriguing back story, but this is a singing competition and when Randy Jackson said her song was a mess it gave no reason, for voters to vote for her, with so many girls who sang much better on the show.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/showbiz/tv/american-idol-top-10-ew/index.html
Joe Schmo Ends Season With Big Reveal
Chase Rogan was Joe Schmo on fake reality show and won $100,000.
Joe Schmo that ended last night was a reality show, on Spike TV that admitted that it was fake. They recruited Chase Rogan of Pittsburgh, a certified agronomist who owns his own company. The producers chose Rogan to appear on a fake reality show named Full Bounty. What Rogan didn’t know was that the entire cast were all professional actors, who were all in on the joke.
The winner of Full Bounty will win $100,000 which is real and is promised a fake job as a bounty hunter with the Jake Montrose bounty company.
The show was filled with ridiculous competitions like being shackled to inmates. Rogan’s inmate is unlocked to go to bathroom and disappears, which creates chaos for Rogan thinking he is responsible for the prisoner escaping. He then looks out a window and sees production assistants walking around like nothing was going on. He then asks “Is this a setup?”
In another competition the contestants are sent to be part of the capture of a skip. Rogan is in the van, when he is called to assist their instructor Jake Montrose, portrayed by Ralph Garman with the capture of the skip and is in the house in a matter of seconds. The actors are amused by how seriously Rogan is taking the competition, since they are just along for the ride.
One of the closest calls was when Rogan asks a deaf girl contestant who is doing handstands a question. He is surprised when she answers, since her deaf interpreter is not there with her at the time. The girl recoils in horror afraid that she has blown the whole show, since it makes Rogan question why she is talking when she is supposedly deaf and would not have heard the question.
The producers saw that Rogan was writing in his journal and that he was wondering, if there were actors among the contestants. Rogan finally gets back into the game, after not talking for an interminable time, which was causing the producers much concern, that he was onto the idea that the show was fake.
Chase Rogan cries after being told the other contestants on the fake reality show Full Bounty were actors and that there was no bounty hunting job for him.
The Big Reveal
The season culminated with the big reveal last night. This was the big moment everyone was waiting for to see his reaction, when told that all the other contestants were actors and that there was no bounty hunter job waiting for him. Before the big reveal the losing contestants voted for Lorenzo Lamas to win the $100,000 check, but then the Jake Montrose character tells Rogan, that he was the winner and that Rogan was the only non-actor among all the contestants on the show.
Rogan’s wife was let in on the secret shortly before the reveal and even wore a gold outfit, that had been worn by Lady Justice a lady that stood above the place, where the contestants cast their votes on eviction nights. However Lady Justice just watched as the losing contestants cast their votes from their seats. Then Jake mentions Lady Justice after the reveal and Rogan sees it is his wife and runs up to hug her.
He then is led into the room, where the production staff has been working all season and Rogan graciously thanks them. The production staff was worried that Rogan might react negatively, when told about the other contestants being actors, since one winner from the past had a lot of problems dealing with the fact that he had been duped.
However, Rogan handled the situation well, after the initial shock of knowing he had been duped. The object of the show was to see how much Rogan would put up with during the season and he met every challenge and if it had been a real reality show probably would have won.
Some of the contestants were not the bounty hunter type at all, like the deaf girl who wouldn’t even hear gunshots if someone was shooting at her. Another girl was a doctor and why would a doctor want to be a bounty hunter in the first place? Rogan questioned the doctor early in the shows, about how she graduated from college at 14 and was a doctor by the time she was 18. The actors did make some mistakes like this and Rogan usually picked up on anything, that didn’t seem to make sense.
Chase Rogan was one of the most likeable characters ever on any reality TV show. You couldn’t help but like him, since he was so serious about becoming a bounty hunter. Even then it makes me wonder why he would think of giving up his business to become a bounty hunter.
He deserved the $100,000 prize, because he went through $100,000 worth of anguish during the season, as he was puzzled several times at the way things didn’t always jive on the show.
The bad thing is that if Chase had figured out, that the show was fake early in its run, then he would not have won the $100,000 and the show could have even ended in its first week.
Congratulations to Chase Rogan for being such a good sport and for providing several hours of entertainment to us during the Joe Schmo show.
The following video shows the big reveal, when Rogan is told the rest of the cast are all actors and that he has won $100,000.
http://www.spike.com/video-clips/kyr9br/the-joe-schmo-show-the-big-reveal
Celebrity Apprentice All-Stars : A Trainwreck Waiting to Happen
Celebrity Apprentice All Stars minus Omarosa and La Toya Jackson shown with Donald Trump.
Celebrity Apprentice All-Stars should provide plenty of drama this season. Donald Trump has assembled a cast guaranteed to spark some fireworks. With Dennis Rodman, Omarosa and Gary Busey in the cast we can expect a lot of in-fighting among the contestants.
Trace Adkins and Bret Michaels were chosen by Trump to pick their teams. Michaels made a huge mistake, by selecting Omarosa first for his team. Trace Adkins’s team chose Plan B, as the name for their team and he was chosen as project manager. Michaels was prepared to be project manager for his team after naming the team Power, but reluctantly let Brande Roderick be the project manager, when she got down on her knees begging Michaels for the job.
The challenge was for each team to make meatballs and sell them to those on street and to celebrities. However, Trace Adkins decided to close his meatball store and sell only to high rollers. Adkins became very upset when Gary Busey went outside and hollered at the people on a tour bus to come in and buy some meatballs. So Adkins team really had little to do, since they more or less waited for the big money to come in. Amy Grant came in and donated $75,000, but the big contributor was T. Boone Pickens who sent his representative with a check for $100,000.
Meanwhile Stephen Baldwin apparently didn’t call anyone as he collected no money. His reasoning was why use up his contributors to help Trace Adkins, when he could use those contributors on a week, when he was project manager.
Power’s meatball store was a beehive of activity, as they scrambled to sell the meatballs to people off the street and to big contributors. Roderick made a huge mistake, by putting Omarosa in charge of keeping track of which contestants had raised how much money. Omarosa was talking about bringing down Bret Michaels.
Boardroom Chaos
Trump called all the contestants into the boardroom and found out, from Steven Baldwin that Baldwin had not collected a penny. Trump said that Baldwin was at a risk of being fired if Team Plan B raised the least money. He then asked Adkins if Baldwin should be fired and Adkins replied in the affirmative.
Piers Morgan who along with Ivanka Trump were the advisors in the boardroom seemed to enjoy trashing Omarosa, who deserved the criticism since she was anything but a team player, by working against her own team member Michaels.
It was then revealed that Team Power had raised $250,333, which included a $20,000 bonus for their meatballs being chosen the best on Live with Kelly and Michael. Then the total for Team Plan B was announced and they raised $419,539. When combined with the money Team Power raised it totaled over $670,000 raised for the American Red Cross, which was Adkin’s charity.
Team B was sent upstairs to watch Team Power while they battled each other in the boardroom. Trump and the two advisors wanted to know who raised how much money but Roderick or Omarosa couldn’t give them a total, in which the numbers didn’t add up. I feel Omarosa was low-balling Michael’s total by mentioning he gave $15,000, while Michaels said he collected over $25,000.
Roderick had raised $132,000, while rapper Lil’ John raised $60,000 according to his total, but $55,000 according to Omarosa. Roderick finally decided to bring Bret Michaels and La Toya Jackson in with her to the boardroom, while the rest of Team Power went upstairs. I have no idea why La Toya Jackson was brought back into the boardroom, since Omarosa didn’t have a clue as to how much each team member had given and her total didn’t match with the total raised by Team Power.
Once Roderick, Michaels and Jackson returned to the boardroom it looked like Michaels would be going home. Trump who repeatedly said that Michaels should not have returned to the show. If he was that concerned about Michaels he could have refused to let Michaels return.
Trump then asked Michaels how he (Trump) could fire Roderick when she raised $132,000, which was over $100, more than what Michaels had raised, then told Michaels he was fired.
The show may be an hour too long, as the boardroom sessions seem to last longer and longer. Don’t know if I will be in the mood to watch this two-hour program week after week.
Fans that love confrontation should see plenty of it as the season progresses. Omarosa by herself provides enough drama to keep the shows interesting and can see her and La Toya Jackson won’t be best friends on the show. There should be more confrontations between her and Piers Morgan, as long as he remains an advisor. I have a feeling Trump will avoid firing Omarosa as long as he can avoid it. He knows her value as a troublemaker on the show, to push buttons of the other contestants.
One question I have about the show is how many times will the celebrities ask their big money contributors to contribute. I can’t imagine T. Boone Pickens donating another $100,000 if Adkins needs to raise money again this season.
One down and 13 contestants to go.
Note: This is the 900th article posted on Nostalgia and Now since it was first published in April of 2009.
American Idol: Judges Send Zoanette To Top 20 in Shocker
Bryant Tadeo was eliminated last week on American Idol after scathing critique by Nicki Minaj.
Nicki Minaj once again showed her mean side on American Idol last week, when she complimented Bryant Tadeo for his powerful closing of New York State of Mind, but then turned on him and said that was only good part of the song. It is easy to see Ms. Minaj has no compassion for some contestants, when the night before she heaped lavish praise on Zoanette Johnson who was mediocre at best singing Circle of Life.
Ms. Minaj clearly plays favorites and has let the back stories of some singers sway her critiques of the contestants. I thought Rachel Hale sang much better than Zoanette, but someone had to be sacrificed so Zoanette could advance. I can tell from the expression on the face of Minaj if she will praise or criticize a performance.
Just my opinion but I think Keith Urban is the best judge on the panel this season. He focuses on the singing and nothing else.
If Zoanette advances to the Final 10 there might be a backlash from American Idol fans. If the fans vote her into the Top 10 it will be a shock. However, she may show she can be a serious singer next week, so it isn’t fair to write her off yet, but just can’t see her selling millions of albums in the future.
The girls are much better than the boys this season, which makes me wonder if the judges should have been allowed to pick the best singers and not have to choose 10 boys and 10 girls.
These are the remaining 20 contestants according to the Wikipedia page for Season 12:
| Contestant | Result | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lazaro Arbos | |||||||||||
| Janelle Arthur | |||||||||||
| Charlie Askew | |||||||||||
| Nick Boddington | |||||||||||
| Aubrey Cleland | |||||||||||
| Curtis Finch, Jr. | |||||||||||
| Candice Glover | |||||||||||
| Kree Harrison | |||||||||||
| Amber Holcomb | |||||||||||
| Zoanette Johnson | |||||||||||
| Paul Jolley | |||||||||||
| Adriana Latonio | |||||||||||
| Elijah Liu | |||||||||||
| Angela Miller | |||||||||||
| Vincent Powell | |||||||||||
| Cortez Shaw | |||||||||||
| Breanna Steer | |||||||||||
| Burnell Taylor | |||||||||||
| Tenna Torres | |||||||||||
| Devin Velez | |||||||||||
American Idol Season 12 ratings continued to tumble on Thursday night, as the show attracted only 12.56 million viewers, which is the fewest for this season. The Voice and Dancing With the Stars return later this month, but not sure if they will going against each other head to head . It is similar to the situation of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire a few seasons back,when it was being shown so much that fans eventually tired of seeing it so often. Season 11 had a season low 14.85 million viewers, which was surprisingly the night the Final 2 sang. You would think that would be one of the most-viewed shows of the season, but instead it was the least-viewed, probably because Phil Phillips and Jessica Sanchez were in final two, while Josh Ledet was clearly a better singer than either one of them, yet finished third so there may have been some viewer backlash in play that night.
Maybe once the Top 10 is chosen the ratings may move upward again, but with the proliferation of singing competition shows the bubble may have already burst.
The following poll may give us a better idea of how American Idol fans felt about Zoanette being advanced:
Dale Robertson of Tales of Wells Fargo Fame Dies at 89
Dale Robertson 1923-2013
Dale Robertson who starred in the television series Tales of Wells Fargo died last Wednesday at the age of 89 in San Diego, California at the age of 89. He died of complications from lung cancer and pneumonia.
Robertson was born Dayle Lymoine Robertson in Harrah, Oklahoma on July 14, 1923. He served during World War II in a tank crew and in the combat engineers in North Africa and Europe. He sustained an injury in both the North African campaign and in the European theater.
Will Rogers Jr. advised Robertson to avoid formal acting training and to just be himself.
Robertson made his movie debut portraying a policeman in The Boy With Green Hair released in 1948. He only appeared in movies till 1956, when he made his television debut in an episode of Ford Television Theatre. He continued to appear in television and movies till 1957 when he became the star of Tales of Wells Fargo was Jim Hardie on the series. The show ran from 1957-1962 and Robertson appeared in all 200 episodes. The show featured several well-known guest stars including Eddie Albert, Chuck Connors, Buddy Ebsen, Michael Landon, Steve McQueen and Jack Nicholson.
He then starred in Iron Horse which was seen from 1966-1968 and 47 episodes of the series were filmed. He didn’t star in another television series until 1987-1988 when J.J. Starbuck ran for only 16 episodes, in which Robertson played the title role. Jimmy Dean portrayed Charlie Bullets in 15 of the 16 episodes.
His last role was as a guest star in two episodes of Harts of the West, with one episode airing in 1993 and the other in 1994.
I will always remember watching the show when it was on network television. The following list shows 10 westerns among the Top 30 shows for the 1957-1958 season, with Tales of Wells Fargo ranked third behind Gunsmoke and Danny Thomas.
http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1957.htm
Bonnie Franklin Of One Day At A Time Dies At 69
Bonnie Franklin 1944-2013
Bonnie Franklin died earlier today in her Los Angeles home at the age of 1969 from pancreatic cancer complications.. One Day At A Time was the television show that catapulted her to fame. She first appeared on the show on the Dec. 16, 1975 “Ann’s Decision” debut episode and would remain on the show till the 208th and last episode “Another Man’s Shoes”, which aired on May 28, 1984.
Franklin was born as Bonnie Gail Franklin on Jan. 6, 1944 in Santa Monica, California. She made her television debut in Shower of Stars in 1954, when she portrayed Susan Cratchit in “ A Christmas Carol “. She free-lanced in movies and television from 1954-1975 before landing the role of Ann Romano in One Day At A Time.
She was seen on television only sporadically , after leaving her hit show and was only seen seven times from 1984- 2012. Her last two appearances were on Hot in Cleveland in 2011 and an episode of Young and Restless in 2012. She was seen those seven times on television, in the last 29 years of her life.
The reason given for the success of One Day At A Time is that the average viewer could identify with her situation and some who wrote the show said the show was “my life”.
We have lost another television icon today and it makes me wonder, why this show is not being shown on any network ( that I know of).
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-bonnie-franklin-20130302,0,6526075.story
American Idol Popularity Waning: Almost 20 Million Less Viewers Than in 2007
American Idol judges Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban are shown with host Ryan Seacrest in the center. The show is staggering into Season 12 as viewers leave the show in droves.
The first American Idol show was telecast on June 11, 2002 with 9.85 viewers watching The 2003 premiere show attracted 26.50 million viewers almost tripling the viewers from 2002. The 2007 premiere show attracted a record 37.44 million viewers, but there has been a steady decline of viewers since then, bottoming out at 17.93 viewers to start Season 12 last January. The show has lost close to 20 million viewers in the last six seasons.
Surprisingly the season finale topped out in Season 2 in 2003 at 38.06 million viewers and last year’s finale only attracted 21.49 million viewers, which is the all-time low for a finale.
With The Voice being telecast twice a year and X-Factor being shown in the fall it appears singing competition shows have reached the saturation point. With American Idol starting about a month after the last X-Factor show has been shown, fans are not getting much of a break.
The Voice and X-Factor winners don’t get near the publicity of the American Idol winners. Quick, name all three winners of The Voice and the two winners of X-Factor. Only the most devout fans of either show could give you those names, without stopping to think it over.
Melanie Amaro who won X-Factor in December of 2011 has yet to release her debut album, which will be released next month. Meanwhile Phil Phillips the Season 11 winner of American Idol has already sold 700,000 copies of his debut album Dark Side of the Moon which has received 361 five-star reviews, while receiving only 5 one star reviews. I have to admit that I didn’t think Phil Phillips would go far as an artist, but he could be on the cusp of a great career.
Phil Phillips has been opening shows for Matchbox 20.
Season 12
American Idol went from a three judge panel of Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson in Season 11 to a four person panel of Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Mariah Carey in Season 12. The show got off on the wrong foot, before the first show aired as Nicki Minaj threatened to knock out Mariah Carey at the Charlotte auditions. They tangled more along the way to the opening show, but in recent weeks they have both calmed down and don’t talk to each other. Minaj is said to have said that if she had a gun she would shoot Carey, but later denied ever saying that.
Placing two divas on the judging panel was a recipe for disaster and that was what it turned out to be. I am sure the producers have told them to cool it, because most viewers like me don’t like a lot of attention being placed on the judges. Nicki Minaj seemed to be harsher with contestants a few weeks ago but seems to have calmed down and show more compassion for the contestants.
Keith Urban has really surprised me with his knowledge of American music and has very well thought out critiques of the singers. Randy Jackson has apparently appointed himself as the villain among the panelists, as he seems to be more critical of the singers, than the other three judges. Mariah Carey is taking over the Paula Abdul role as the judge who seldom says anything critical of most singers.
Ellen DeGeneres was by far the worst judge in the history of American Idol. She seemed to be more intent on cracking jokes, than on making meaningful critiques of the singers. It was no surprise, that she was a one season and out judge. I think even she sensed she didn’t belong on American Idol as a judge. Know that has nothing to do with Season 12, but just felt compelled to mention her judging skills or lack of.
It is too early to have a favorite or even to mention any names of the Season 12 contestants, since there are many eliminations ahead before the Final 10 is announced.
Apparently the tradition of judges going to rooms with contestants and telling which rooms are going home and which ones are advancing has been dropped, but that could change before the Final 10 is chosen. I liked that the Hollywood group week contestants were sorted into groups by American Idol executives. It ridded the show of the drama of singers begging to join a group or being dismissed by a group. I will never forget the season when the young boy from Louisiana was dumped by one group and him having to find a new group.
I don’t know if the tradition of contestants taking the long walk to talk to judges and being told their fate by the judges will be repeated this season. I am hoping by the end of this week, that we will know who the Final 10 singers are. Right now I think that the girl singers are better and should have more singers in the Top 10, but the producers may want an even number of girls and boys in the Top 10.
TV By the Numbers shows that both Big Bang Theory and Person of Interest attracted more viewers than American Idol last Thursday. The show is no longer the juggernaut it used to be, but it still is one of the most-watched shows on television.
It will be interesting to find out who the Final 10 will be composed of and we should know by the end of Thursday night’s show.
Nicki Minaj: Harshest American Idol Judge Ever?
Nicki Minaj
I thought Simon Cowell was the harshest American Idol judge, but Nicki Minaj gave him a run for his money last night. She not only criticized the singing of the singers, but their attitude and demeanor as well. She seemed to enjoy trashing the singing of Matheus Fernandes and then added insult to injury by saying he was choosing songs about his height, so he could have a pity party. She could have handled this situation better, by telling him backstage not to dwell on his height.
Matheus Fernandez
Fernandes may be remembered by some viewers, when he competed in The Glee Project on the Oxygen channel in 2011. The 4′ 9″ Fernandes was the shortest of all the American Idol contestants in the 2012 season.
Mariah Carey, who I had considered as a diva of the first magnitude showed a lot more class than Minaj during the show last night. Keith Urban and Randy Jackson didn’t seem to get as much camera time, as Minaj since she obviously enjoyed having the spotlight on herself, rather than on the contestants, who should have been in the spotlight. It is almost like Minaj enjoys stabbing the contestants with a knife and then gives it a little twist for maximum shock effect.
I think it was important that American Idol brought back Randy Jackson for Season 12, to give the show some stability. Keith Urban has shown how well he knows American music, by knowing a song that one of the singers hadn’t heard of, with Urban being from Australia.
http://t.entertainment.msn.com/nicki-minaj-most-hateable-tv-personality-ever-1?toc=ent
American Idol Officials Choose Groups
With the judges picking which contestants were in each group it eliminated some of the drama. There was no drama of someone begging to join a group, or to be kicked out of a group and finding a new group. However, there was still the drama of not all the singers liking a song choice. One group in particular had a country singer, who was trying to learn a Maroon 5 song Moves Like Jagger. The song choice sealed his fate as he couldn’t remember the words and was clearly uncomfortable singing a song out of his comfort zone.
TV Ratings Down
American Idol premiered this year on January 16 and drew only 17.93 million viewers, which was the lowest since the show debuted in 2002 with 9.8 million viewers. This was the first season since 2002, that less than 20 million viewers watched a premiere show.
A season low 13.28 million viewers watched American Idol last night and this is during the Hollywood week.
The proliferation of singing competitions has dealt American Idol a blow, that they may never recover from. To make matters worse The Voice will be returning again, about three months after ending their fall version in December. That could put a further dent into American Idol ratings. X-Factor finished their season a month before the 2013 debut of American Idol.
It would not surprise me to see a viewer backlash against Nicki Minaj, if she continues to belittle the contestants in such a cruel way. The way she is behaving tells me she won’t be back for Season 13.
Can’t Place The Name: Henry “Bomber” Kulky
Henry “Bomber” Kulky 1911 – 1965
When I think of Henry Kulky I think of him playing Otto Schmidlap on Life of Riley television series in 16 episodes from 1953-1958.
Kulky was born Henry Kulakowich on August 11, 1911 in Hastings – on – Hudson, New York. He died February 12, 1965 in Oceanside, California at the age of 53.
He was a professional wrestler using the name Bomber Kulkavich, before he made his first movie. You would never guess it by looking at him, but he played the piano in San Clemente, California night spots.
Kulky was extra busy from 1953-1958, since he also appeared in six episodes of Ozzie and Harriet during those years.
His movie career started in 1947, when he appeared in A Likely Story. Kulky’s movie career really took off in 1949, when he appeared in nine films. He would add eight more films to his resume in 1950, with him appearing in 17 movies during 1949 and 1950. 1951 and 1952 were also busy years for Kulky with seventeen more film appearances. He also appeared in the Abbott and Costello, Racket Squad and Adventures of Superman shows in 1952. From 1947-1952 he had appeared in 39 movies and three television shows.
He continued to appear in films and television shows during the rest of the 50′s and would appear in six Red Skelton shows from 1956-1961.
Kulky is best known for his portrayal of Chief Max Bronsky in the Hennessey television series, which ran from 1959-1962, in which he appeared in 46 episodes. He appeared in 22 episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea television series from 1964 till the year of his death in 1965. Kulky appeared in a total of over 80 movies, in only 17 years of being in the movies.
I had no idea that Kulky was such a prolific actor, before researching for this article.
This website has more info on the career of Kulky, but the wrestling numbers don’t jive, with one portion saying he was 172-3 as a wrestler, while another part says he wrestled in 7,000 matches.
Memories of a Lifetime: 2011-2013
2011 – We were living in Sulphur, Louisiana, a city of about 20,000 at the start of 2011. We were living on Live Oak Street in Sulphur and we found a home church in Calvary Baptist Church on Lewis Street. We were impressed by the pastor Rev. W.D. Darnell, who lived what he preached and only used the King James Version of the Holy Bible. We made many friends, among the members of the church. Rhonda was very involved with the activities at the church and I often sang special music on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Rhonda and me sang duets a couple of times and she sang On The Wings Of A Dove with another lady one time.
Rhonda liked living in Sulphur, since she had a sister and her mom living there. We lived close to the neighborhood, where my daughter and family had lived before moving to Groves, Texas.
I would return to working as a caregiver again in November of 2011. I worked with a disabled man with diabetes and lost the job at the end of the year, when his family changed to another caregiving company.
An international news story was when an earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan took 15,840 lives.
President Obama announces the death of Osama bin Laden on May 1.
Casey Anthony was acquitted of the murder of her daughter Calee Marie Anthony, in a controversial verdict by the jury.
Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computers dies on October 5 of cancer.
House were renting at $955 a month in 2011.
A gallon of gas cost $2.89.
Movie tickets were selling for $8.20.
2012 – I worked as a crossing guard at a school in Sulphur for a few weeks, toward the end of the school year. It was interesting work and enjoyed the job. The job could turn out to be the last job I will ever work, since I haven’t worked since becoming sick a couple of months later.
We moved to DeRidder, Louisiana in July and are living in a trailer, that is about halfway between Merryville, Louisiana and DeRidder. We are living in the country and liking it so far.
Knew something was wrong when I began vomiting up blood and lost about 35 pounds in less than two months during the summer. Found out in October in Houston VA Hospital, that I had duodenal cancer. It was a very disease to diagnose, since it mimics acid reflux and duodenal ulcers. It is very rare disease with only two percent of gastrointestinal diseases being duodenal cancer.
Surgeons in Houston performed a resection surgery on Oct. 16 to remove a blockage, which was cancerous and was successful. However I found out in November, that duodenal cancer has a history of returning and has a relatively low survival rate.
Chemotherapy started at the VA hospital in Pineville, Louisiana on Dec.13 and have had three chemo IV’s since that date, with five more to go. Have finished six of a 24 week program of chemotherapy. It seems like the side effects have been worse with each chemo IV. Had difficulty walking in a straight line after the last IV and sort of lurch from side to side.
2012 was a life changing year for us, with us being evicted, moving to a new city and finding out that I had cancer and had surgery a few days later. Spent a total of 32 days in hospital in Houston.
July 20 would be the first of two mass shootings in the United States, when a gunman killed 12 and injured 58 in an Aurora, Colorado theater.
December 14 would bring the second mass shootings of 2012, when a man kills 20 children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, along with six adults, before killing himself.
A gallon of gas would rise to $3.89 during 2012. It is about 64 cents a gallon cheaper now in 2013.
House rent average goes over the $1,000 mark for the first time, as it rose to $1,045 a month.
A pound of bacon which was $2.96 in 2008 had risen to $4.48 in 2012.
2013 – This year should be a very interesting year, as the chemotherapy continues through May and it will be interesting to learn the results of the bloodwork after the last week of chemotherapy. May 21 will be another important date for us as we return to Houston for another C-scan, which will show if the cancer is completely gone or has returned.
We don’t know what this year holds, but we plan to remain positive, even if the news is bad and I don’t plan on being negative, regardless of what happens in 2013.
Memories of a Lifetime: 2006-2010
2006 – I would return to my job at Louisiana Community Care, after losing my job with Coastal Culvert. I primarily worked in a group home with seven guys at the time. It was a very demanding job as I had to assist them with their hygiene and washed and dried all their clothes. I would walk in the door at the group home at 4:30 PM and wouldn’t sit down for the first time till about 11 PM, when I had to write down the events of the day for each individual client.
One time a client who ate too fast threw up and I was mopping up the mess and he came up to me and hit me in the head and stomach with a 1-2 punch. Needless to say I was more wary around that client from then on. Another time he woke up during the night wanting chips and when I didn’t give him any he overturned a table and dumped a pitcher of Kool-Aid on the kitchen floor.
I made a point of having all the clothes washed and put away and the floors all swept and mopped, by the time the 12:30 AM relief worker came in. I worked there till around Christmas and retired, since I was now 62 and eligible for Social Security.
Andrew and Rhonda in 2006 at Matthew’s baseball game.
Wikipedia lists very few newsworthy events during 2006 in the United States, with Twitter being launched that year, which turned out to be the most newsworthy event of the year.
Gasoline was selling for $3.03 on August 11, but had dipped to $2.21 by November 17.
2007 – We moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in August of 2007, as we followed my daughter, son-in-law, when he was named manager of a Knoxville Domino’s store. About three weeks later, when things didn’t work out well with the job they moved back to Pineville, Louisiana.
Since we had used our savings to make the move we remained in Knoxville till December of 2010.
We had a traumatic event that August, when Rhonda was driving down a Knoxville street and was hit by a car turning out into traffic, from an apartment parking lot. Rhonda sustained a broken foot in the accident and was unable to go for a job interview, that was scheduled the next week. We moved to another apartment in the same apartment complex in September and Justin and me moved everything by ourselves, which was a day long job, since Rhonda was unable to help.
Then I went to work for Luxottica, a company that makes lenses for eyeglasses in Knoxville. It was another typical manufacturing job, with pressure to produce the most lenses in the least time. I was operating four machines at once in the fining department. After finishing the fining, we would take the lenses to the next department the polishing department, which made the lenses look even better. This was another temporary Westaff job, so the job played out soon and was without work again. We were given an eviction notice from the apartment on Thanksgiving Eve, but managed to stay there till I found work the next month.
I went to work as a caregiver with Evergreen Ministries in Knoxville, whose headquarters are located in Haughton, Louisiana in December of 2007. The job went well and I remained there till August of 2008. I was required to take a test, to be allowed to administer meds to the clients and scored 91 on the test. I wasn’t allowed to give meds, till I had passed the test, but it made it easier to work in homes, that needed a certified meds person, since some workers never were certified to give meds.
This was the year that the Va. Tech student killed 30 people. My brother lived next to the campus and was driving on campus toward work, when he saw several police cars speeding toward the site of the shootings.
The big news in technology was the introduction of the iPhone and the Nintendo Wii.
Average income was over $50,000 but doubt many of those people worked at the Alexandria Town Talk.
Price of a gallon of gas was $3.38, which is more than it is now six years later, with it being in the $3.25 range in DeRidder, Louisiana area.
An ounce of gold is $630, compared to when I was growing up, when it was $35 an ounce. Someone that had bought 100 ounces of gold at $35 an ounce for $3500 would have seen their gold raise in value to $63,000 for that 100 ounces in 2007.
2008 – Would continue to work for Evergreen Ministries till August of 2008, when Rhonda found a better paying job at Comcast working in their call center. We only had one vehicle, since our Ford Contour had been totaled in the wreck in August of 2007, so only one of us could work.
Would move into this house in Knoxville in 2008:
Our home in Knoxville, Tennessee from August 2008 till December 2010.
We joined Piney Grove Baptist Church in Knoxville and would sing special music there many times and would sometimes be a replacement song leader. The prayers of the congregation had a lot to do, with Rhonda surviving a life or death surgery in 2010.
The average income dipped $10,000 during the year to $40,000.
Gasoline had risen one cent to $3.39 in 2008, while a barrel of crude oil was selling for a record $147.
The average rent for a house was now $800 and the housing market totally collapsed as the value of houses declined precipitously.
2009 – Rhonda drove me to Groves, Texas to spend time with my daughter’s family in June and attended a Astros-Cubs game on June 9. Rhonda drove back to Knoxville, while to boarded a plane to Knoxville from Houston later. While I was gone a tornado hit our home in Knoxville, but luckily the only real damage was to the deck as a tree fell on it.
A tornado hit our deck in June of 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Rhonda would experience the first signs of having a serious health problem about November of 2009, when she was sent home from work being very sick. The next year would see Rhonda have her large intestines removed and will have more on that in the 2010 post.
Monthly rent fell to $675 in 2009, while a gallon of gasoline dropped to $2.73, which is about 52 cents cheaper, than it is in 2013. A barrel of oil which had peaked at $147 in 2008 was now only $53 a barrel.
2010 – Westaff found me a temporary job working at a call center, which involved taking orders for Talbots a clothing company, which had an office in Knoxville. Temp job is an apt description for this job, since it lasted for about two hours. I completed one transaction and then heard the customer telling someone “If this order comes out right it will be a miracle”. My career as a call center employee came to a screeching halt about two minutes later.
March 1, 2010 was a monumental day for Rhonda, as she had her large intestines removed that day and she also smoked her last cigarette that day and hasn’t smoked since. The surgeon found out she had colon cancer that day, but the colon had already been removed and he also found out that Rhonda had diabetes.
The surgery was on Monday and it was on the Thursday night before Rhonda was to go home, that everything went terribly wrong. She went into septic shock and was moved into intensive care. The doctors were at a loss of what to do, before deciding the next day to perform an ileostomy on Rhonda. Her organs were shutting down and was having problems breathing when the surgery started. The surgery went well, but the surgeon told us, that he didn’t expect Rhonda to be alive the next Monday, after the Friday surgery was performed, but was shocked to see that she was still alive.
Rhonda and me after her second surgery in four days, while she was in a six day coma at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in March,2010.
Rhonda was in a coma for six days and didn’t wake up till March 11 on the 16th birthday of Justin. Her sisters had driven from Louisiana to Tennessee, but Rhonda was in the coma the whole time they were there. I did all the housework till Rhonda was feeling able to do it that next summer.
I would return to work at Evergreen Ministries in July of 2010 and would remain there till a couple of days, before we moved to Sulphur, Louisiana. I enjoyed the work and didn’t miss any days of work. Had one close call, when driving the clients home and the brakes failed. I managed to get up on the sidewalk, to avoid hitting a car and drove into a parking lot and stopped the company van.
After the hospitalization and recovery we were ready to return home to Louisiana and left Knoxville. It was 16 the morning we left Knoxville, but when we arrived in Sulphur it was 78 degrees, which is even warm for Sulphur late in December.
Our relatives helped us unload the truck in about a half hour or so. It had taken us three days to load the truck in Knoxville, so it was good to unload it fast.
2010 was a slow news year, with no major story listed at the Wikipedia site.
The Apple iPad is released in 2010.
A gallon of gasoline cost $2.73 and a barrel of crude oil was selling for $73.00 a barrel, which was $20 more than the 2009 price.
Price of gold had skyrocketed to $1237 an ounce, which was $1202 more than the price I remembered as a youngster.
Ralph Emery : 79 And Still On Television
Ralph Emery in his early years on television.
Ralph Emery got his start with radio station WTPR in Paris, Tennessee in 1951, while earning a salary of $39.50 a week. By 1953 Emery was working for WSIX with shows on both radio and television in Nashville.
Emery has been in radio for 62 years and in television for 60 years and will be 80 on March 10 of this year.
I bought my first AM-FM radio stereo, which was about five feet wide in 1967 from Tony’s Appliance Center and I remember listening to Ralph Emery on WSM out of Nashville. I enjoyed the way he interviewed the country stars and played the great country songs of that era. It was like being in another world, when listening to the most famous country music disc jockey ever in Emery. He would work briefly in 1956 for WLCS in Shreveport, Louisiana, before returning to Nashville.
Moves to WSM Radio in 1957
When Emery was hired by WSM radio in Nashville it was a huge career advancement. He was now being heard on a 50,000 watt station, that reached many areas of the country. He worked the graveyard shift at WSM from 1957-1972.
Emery was seen on WSM-TV off and on from 1963-1991 on various country shows that he hosted. He also hosted a syndicated show named Pop Goes the Country.
He brought country music to the forefront when he hosted Nashville Now on the The Nashville Network from 1983-1993.
Ralph Emery interviewing Merle Haggard on Nashville Now.
Nashville Now did more for country music, than any other television show before or since. Country music fans could see their favorite singers sing and be interviewed by the best country music host Ralph Emery. He was the glue that held the show together for 10 wonderful years.
One thing I will always remember is Randy Travis singing as Randy Ray on one show, then he appeared as Randy Travis the next time he appeared on Nashville Now. His real name is Randy Trawick, so finally settled on Randy Travis as his name.
Fans loved that the show was on five nights a week and gave them a chance to really know the singers, when they were interviewed by Emery. This show was a first class production with regular backup singers and musicians, which complemented the singing of the stars.
Emery Can Be Seen on RFD-TV
Ralph Emery started a new show Ralph Emery Live which started on the RFD television cable network in 2007.
For example last week T.G. Sheppard was on the show and Emery asked Sheppard about his days with the Memphis Mafia, that stayed at Graceland. Sheppard was then Bill Browder who worked promoting RCA artists. Elvis Presley was surprised to learn that Bill Browder was recording under the name of T.G. Sheppard. Elvis asked why he didn’t tell him and was told that Browder was afraid of being fired by RCA if the secret came out in the open. Elvis then says “I am RCA” inferring that Browder didn’t have a reason to worry about losing his job. Sheppard tells how he heard about the death of Elvis. He said he got a call from J.D. Sumner, which was unusual in itself, but he had an idea that Elvis had died and told Sumner he knew why he was calling.
Sheppard is then asked questions by viewers who call in to the show, which was interesting as they asked him what songs he liked the most, of the songs that he recorded.
You could tell Sheppard was in awe of Emery and knows what he did for the careers of many country music stars. From the graveyard shift on WSM radio to the television show on RFD TV Emery has been an ambassador for country music.
Have recorded the next show when Emery interviews Lorrie Morgan. In fact Lorrie owes a lot of her success to Emery who hosted a morning show in Nashville, in which Lorrie often sang.
Life has not always been a bed of roses for Emery, as he had a very rough childhood and entered the world of country music, to escape an unhappy situation at home. His marriage to Skeeter Davis who recorded The End of the World was a rocky one that ended in divorce. Emery has written his autobiography and other books about country music.
Ralph Emery to me epitomizes country music and what it stands for and he may be the best interviewer ever in any entertainment spectrum.
It would be 56 years after his first radio job, before Emery was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
Joe Schmo: Full Bounty Hunter Fake Reality Show Is Really Fake
Only one person in this photo knows this is a fake reality show. That person is Chase Rogan, who is standing to the right of the man in jacket at forefront.
It is becoming more and more evident that all reality shows are fake, to create the maximum drama from any situation. The Joe Schmo Show has a cast of characters, who know the show is fake, but Chase Rogan, who is the Joe Schmo this season doesn’t have a clue, that he is being duped by the entire cast.
There was a close call when a girl who was supposed to be deaf answered, when Chase asked her question, which could have brought the show crashing down to earth. Then another time another girl on the show said she graduated from college at 14 and graduated from med school at 18, which sent up red flags to Chase.
The premise of the show is that the winner at the end of the season will become a bounty hunter and win $100,000. Chase is the perfect foil for the show, as he seems to fall for the prank hook line and sinker.
Chase has to wonder why he keeps winning immunity challenges and wears the immunity jacket to the eviction ceremonies. Of course, he is in no danger of actually being voted off the show, since they have no show without him in it. The worst case scenario would be for Chase to overhear something that tells him he is being set up.
The show creates awkward situations for Chase, like when one of the characters reveals to him that he is gay. Then two girls come up to Chase telling him that they are both crazy about the gay guy. Chase then tries to hint that the gay guy is not really interested in girls, without telling them that he knows the secret, since he promised to keep it secret.
One challenge is when Chase is asked to drive the van to a house with bounty jumpers inside. Jake Montrose who is pretending to own the bounty hunter company gives Chase a walkie-talkie, then enters the house alone. Ralph then calls Chase and Chase jumps out of the truck and over the porch and runs into the house. Jake hands him a gun to hold on the lady inside the house, while Jake runs to capture the other bounty jumper.
We have watched the first four episodes with six episodes remaining. We can only assume that the show will last all ten weeks, since it was filmed in July, but anything can happen.
Hope Chase doesn’t do like one of the past winners of the show and be very angry at being duped.
The best thing about this show is that you know that this show is 100 percent fake and doesn’t try to hide it. I know I may be in the minority, but I actually like this show.
The show can be seen on Tuesdays at 10 PM Eastern Time, which is 9PM Central Time on the Spike Network.
To read more about the show and see the funny video clips:
