Entertaining Posts

Friday, September 16, 2011

Bluesman Willie "Big Eyes" Smith dies at age 75

CHICAGO | Fri Sep 16, 2011 5:03pm EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Grammy-winning blues musician Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, who was a longtime sideman for Muddy Waters, died of a stroke on Friday in Chicago at age 75, according to a statement on his website.

Smith's death comes less than six months after the passing at age 97 of blues master Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, with whom Smith shared a Grammy win this year in the best traditional blues album category for their 2010 release "Joined at the Hip."

Smith said backstage at the Grammy Awards that he first met Perkins as a boy and was glad to have found success recording with his elder. "To tell you the truth, right now I'm one of the happiest men on earth," he said at the February event.

While the Grammy win at age 75 was Smith's first, he had previously had a long career playing with the late blues legend Muddy Waters.

Born in Helena, Arkansas, in 1936, Smith went to Chicago at age 17 and heard Waters playing for the first time. He later joined Waters' band as a drummer in the early 1960s.

In 1964, Smith was forced to pack up his drum kit for a time and he supported himself with odd jobs such as driving a taxicab in Chicago, according to a profile on his website.

But Smith rejoined Waters' band in 1968 and played with him through the 1970s, the period when Waters won his six Grammys.

Aside from the drums, Smith also played the harmonica and sang. In the 1980s, he performed in the Legendary Blues Band with Perkins, Louis Myers, Calvin Jones and Jerry Portnoy.

Neil Portnow, president and CEO of The Recording Academy, said in a statement that Smith was a "great, versatile Chicago bluesman" who "made an indelible impact" on the blues genre.

"Our sincerest condolences extend to his family, friends, fans and all who will continue to appreciate his rhythm and riffs for generations to come," Portnow said.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Peter Bohan)

Charlie Sheen admits he was not "winning" but losing

LOS ANGELES | Fri Sep 16, 2011 2:27pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Six months after his very public firing from TV's top-rated comedy, Charlie Sheen admitted that he was out of control and not really "winning" during the ensuing media frenzy, but losing.

In television appearances, the 47-year-old actor appeared calm, clearheaded and repentant about the events surrounding his March dismissal from the CBS comedy "Two and A Half Men."

"I couldn't really put out the fire, so I had to keep fueling it," Sheen said on Friday on NBC's "Today" show. He told host Matt Lauer that he regrets claiming he had "tiger blood" and "Adonis DNA," calling them jokes and metaphors that he never really believed.

Discussing his new outlook with Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show," Sheen claimed he's eager to "lead by example again" -- in sharp contrast to his erratic behavior earlier this year, which he described as being the "reluctant conductor" of a runaway train;

Sheen had been TV's highest-paid actor for his role as Charlie Harper, a womanizing bachelor on the sitcom "Two and a Half Men." He was fired after a public dispute with CBS and Warner Bros. television executives, during which he lashed out at show creator Chuck Lorre.

Afterward, he posted videos on the Web in which he bragged about his "winning" ways and the "tiger blood" in his veins.

"I would have fired my ass too," Sheen told Leno. "Well, maybe not like they did."

The actor's firing and subsequent public behavior followed a series of incidents in late 2009 and 2010 that landed him in legal trouble and in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse.

It was when he was fired that Sheen "realized I was pretty much losing," he told Leno on Thursday, adding the humorous dig, "I thought I could come back -- kind of like you did."

Not only did Sheen say he bears no ill will toward everyone involved with "Two and A Half Men," but he'll be watching the show on Monday, when it premieres with Ashton Kutcher as his replacement -- Sheen's character having been killed off to make way for the change.

His character's demise notwithstanding, he said on "The Tonight Show" that he'd welcome the chance for a guest spot on the show. "I'd be completely on board for that."

The reconfigured "Two and a Half Men" airs the same night as Comedy Central's roast of Sheen, which will include appearances by Mike Tyson, William Shatner, guitarist Slash and Sheen's estranged wife, Brooke Mueller.

Despite the "very biting" humor during the roast, the actor told Leno that "it was a celebration for a life that has presented itself as being very roastable."

(Reporting by Sheri Linden; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Bocelli marks another milestone with NYC concert

By Richard Leong

NEW YORK | Fri Sep 16, 2011 1:25pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Star singer Andrea Bocelli dazzled thousands with his signature brand of pop and opera in a cold, wet night in New York City's Central Park, which will be etched in his memory as an important career milestone.

The Italian tenor considers Thursday's free concert, which 60,000 had been expected to attend, as one that keeps him squarely in the footsteps of other opera stars including Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo who also have performed on the stage of the famed park.

"Most of (my) important milestones happened in New York," the 52-year-old told Reuters through an interpreter before the concert.

Bocelli, who has sold 70 million records worldwide, has performed at other famous New York venues including Lincoln Center and Madison Square Garden. But a free concert in Central Park is always a special event for performers as well as New Yorkers.

"Things are all things one would hope for. This is something I'm doing for the city," he said.

Among the biggest concerts held in Central Park were the ones by Garth Brooks in 1997 and Paul Simon in 1991. Each of them drew more than half a million people.

Thursday's concert goers including billionaire Donald Trump were entertained for more than two hours. The music accompanied by the New York Philharmonic was a mix of well-known arias such as "La donna e mobile" and Italian and American pop songs.

Bocelli alternated his solos by singing duets with his "friends" who included sopranos Ana Maria Martinez and Pretty Yende, violinist Nicola Benedetti, bass baritone Bryn Terfel and flutist Andrea Griminelli.

He acknowledged the diverse audience which braved the inclement weather. "In spite of the rain and cold, you are heroes," he told them.

The crowd jumped to their feet late in the show when pop star Celine Dion arrived on stage in a glittery, white gown to sing a hit duet she recorded with Bocelli, "The Prayer."

That was followed by a duet of "New York, New York" with American crooner Tony Bennett, with whom Bocelli recently recorded for the first time. Their song, "Stranger in Paradise," will appear in Bennett's upcoming CD, "DUETS II".

Bocelli said he was fond of his time spent with Bennett. "I got to know about the man behind the legend," he said.

Bocelli closed out the night with his signature song "Con te partiro (Time to Say Goodbye)" and Puccini's "Nessun dorma" to standing ovations.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Paul McCartney posts wedding banns in London

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON | Fri Sep 16, 2011 10:16am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney posted wedding banns this week at Westminster Register Office in Marylebone, central London, the same venue where he married his first wife Linda over 40 years ago.

The banns allow McCartney to marry New York heiress Nancy Shevell any time 16 days after the September 14 posting at the Register office. It will be McCartney's third marriage.

Shevell, 51, who is divorced, and McCartney, 69, are believed to have begun dating after the Fab Four singer's bitter split with second wife, former model Heather Mills.

The banns list the couple as James Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell. He gives his profession as "business executive" and his multi-millionaire future wife is listed simply as an "executive."

McCartney was happily married for 29 years to American photographer Linda Eastman until her death of breast cancer in 1998. He said at the time that he and Linda had spent just 11 nights apart during their marriage.

The couple tied the knot at the same register office on March 12, 1969, and were greeted by hundreds of fans who had waited outside to catch a glimpse of one of the most famous figures in pop.

McCartney's marriage to Mills was less happy. The couple wedded in 2002 in a lavish ceremony at Castle Leslie in Ireland estimated by celebrity magazines to have cost around $3.2 million.

But four years later they confirmed they had separated, blaming media intrusion into their private lives, and in 2008 the couple divorced.

A judge had to rule on the size of the divorce settlement after the couple failed to reach an agreement themselves.

Mills was eventually awarded 24.3 million pounds, which at the time equated to $48.7 million, ending one of the most acrimonious breakups in showbusiness history.

Mills had sought five times as much and said McCartney was worth 800 million pounds. The judge ruled his fortune at the time was half that amount.

McCartney's partnership with John Lennon in The Beatles in 1960s Britain produced some of the most famous and enduring pop songs of the past 50 years.

The "Hey Jude" singer has five children. He has a son, two daughters and a stepdaughter from his marriage to Linda and a daughter from his union with Mills.

McCartney's spokesman declined to comment on his wedding plans when asked this week about press rumors of an impending ceremony.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

Political satire "Butter" drips with ambition

By Julie Gordon

TORONTO | Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:03am EDT

TORONTO (Reuters) - Ambition and folk art collide in director Jim Field Smith's comedy, "Butter," which uses a state fair butter carving competition to satirize the divisiveness of American politics.

The British comedian-turned-filmmaker crafts the story of Laura Pickler, a woman who steps into her husband's shoes as a competitive butter sculptor after he is pressured into retirement in order to give someone else a chance to win.

For Pickler, played with pitbull edge by Jennifer Garner, being the better half of Iowa's most popular butter artist is just the first step toward an eventual future in politics.

But standing between her and the Governor's mansion is Destiny; a young, black foster child whose prodigal talent and passion for butter carving whip the crowd, and local judges, into a frenzy. It's up to Pickler to put Destiny down.

"To a certain extent it's about ambition," Field Smith told Reuters. "It's about this ambitious woman who will stop at nothing and she's got her blinkers on."

The parallels to the 2008 Democratic primary race, which pitted political heavyweight Hillary Clinton against relative newcomer Barack Obama, are blatant, though Pickler seems to have more in common with Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann.

In fact, the film's executive producer, Harvey Weinstein, went so far as to issue a statement at the movie's Toronto premiere earlier this week, inviting Bachmann to co-host an Iowa screening with him.

"We could take some math classes in the morning to help balance the budget, brush up on the constitution in the afternoon, play some ping-pong and then maybe some verbal ping-pong on gay rights and women's rights," Weinstein's statement read.

"Butter", which is Field Smith's second feature film, came out of the recent Telluride film festival with decent buzz, but has been dogged by negative reviews in Toronto.

Pitched as a satire by its backers, the characters are often so extreme that some critics have accused it of being mean spirited.

"I think comedy and satire are the best at a point of extremes," said Field Smith. "Everything has been pushed into this almost gladiator space and so I think that is something that the movie satirizes. It's become like a blood sport."

As for the lukewarm reviews, Field Smith said the proof is in the pudding -- or in this case, in the standing ovation the film received at its Toronto premiere.

"Comedy's a very subjective thing," he said. "Not everyone's going to like the movie, I think the majority will."

(Reporting by Julie Gordon; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)