Entertaining Posts

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Hank Williams Jr. apologizes for Obama-Hitler comment

LOS ANGELES | Wed Oct 5, 2011 2:14am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Country music singer Hank Williams Jr. canceled a Fox News Channel interview on Tuesday and said he was sorry for any offense given by his recent statement comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler.

The apology of sorts was posted on his website a day after the Disney-owned cable sports channel ESPN pulled Williams' theme song from its latest "Monday Night Football" broadcast in a rebuke to the country star for his Hitler remark.

Appearing on the Fox News morning program "Fox & Friends" on Monday, Williams said he thought that a June 18 golf summit pairing Obama with Republican House speaker John Boehner in the midst of the congressional budget crisis had "turned a lot of people off."

Asked what he didn't like about the friendly bipartisan golf match, Williams replied, "Come on! It'd be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu." He went on to refer to Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as "the enemy."

After his "All My Rowdy Friends" song was yanked from the "Monday Night Football" opening by ESPN later that day in protest, Williams issued a statement acknowledging that his "analogy was extreme" but insisting it was intended to illustrate how ludicrous he thought it was for Obama and Boehner to team up at golf.

"They're polar opposites and it made no sense. They don't see eye-to-eye and never will," the bearded singer said.

Williams, 62, was scheduled to return to the Fox News Channel with an interview on Tuesday on the "Hannity" show, but the network told Reuters that the singer decided to cancel.

Hours later, he posted yet another, somewhat more contrite statement, saying: "I have always been very passionate about politics and sports, and this time it got the best or worst of me.

"The thought of the leaders of both parties jukin and high fiven on a golf course, while so many families are struggling to get by simply made me boil over and make a dumb statement, and I am very sorry if it offended anyone," he wrote.

He concluded, "I would like to thank all my supporters. This was not written by some publicist."

The statement was posted just below a link to a video clip from the ABC daytime talk show "The View," in which host Whoopi Goldberg suggested Williams was judged too harshly.

"Hank is a musician, and he's always been provocative," Goldberg said on the show. "He could have chosen his words more wisely, but as someone who steps in it quite often, we all do it. Those among us who are without sin, cast the first stone."

Reporting on Williams' apology on its own website Tuesday night, ESPN said it had no comment on whether his song would be used on future telecasts.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Adele cancels U.S. dates due to vocal hemorrhage

NEW YORK | Wed Oct 5, 2011 2:13am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - British singer-songwriter Adele is canceling the remainder of her sold out U.S. tour due to a hemorrhage in her vocal chord, her record label said on Tuesday.

The Grammy-winning singer pulled out of 10 dates, starting with Atlantic City in New Jersey on October 7 and finishing with three gigs in Texas two weeks later, on the back of her bestselling album "21" that has produced hits such as "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You."

"I have absolutely no choice but to recuperate properly and fully, or I risk damaging my voice forever," the 23-year-old singer said in a statement on her website. "I have great confidence in believing you know how much this upsets me, how seriously I take it and how truly devastated and annoyed I am by this."

Adele was already forced to postpone several U.S. dates earlier this year due to vocal chord issues and was finishing up a tour in Britain when her illness reappeared and she decided to cancel the remaining U.S. dates, said a statement by Columbia Records.

"My voice is weak and I need to build it back up. I'm gonna be starting up vocal rehab as soon as, and start building my overall stamina in my voice, body and mind," the singer said. "I will be back and I'm gonna smash the ball out the park once I'm touring again. I apologize from the bottom of my heart, sincerely I do."

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant)

Adele cancels US dates due to vocal hemorrhage

NEW YORK | Tue Oct 4, 2011 6:03pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - British singer-songwriter Adele is canceling the remainder of her sold out U.S. tour due to a hemorrhage in her vocal chord, her record label said on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant)

Fox says can't afford more "Simpsons" without cuts

LOS ANGELES | Tue Oct 4, 2011 2:53pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The future of long-running animated television comedy "The Simpsons" appeared to be up in the air on Tuesday after 20th Century Fox Television said it could not continue to afford producing the show under its current business model.

Fox Television, a unit of News Corp, issued its statement after a report that the cast of the subversive comedy had refused a proposed 45 percent pay cut.

"We believe this brilliant series can and should continue, but we cannot produce future seasons under its current financial model," Fox said.

"We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the voice cast that allows 'The Simpsons' to go on entertaining audiences with original episodes for many years to come," the statement added.

"The Simpsons" is the longest-running comedy series on U.S. television and is currently in its 23rd season on Fox. The show also generates billions of dollars through global syndication, as well as DVD and merchandise sales.

The Fox statement followed a report on news website The Daily Beast that the six principal voice cast members -- including the voices for Homer (Dan Castellaneta), Marge (Julie Kavner), Bart (Nancy Cartwright) and Lisa (Yeardley Smith) -- were having difficulty negotiating their contracts that currently see them earning around $8 million each per season.

The Daily Beast, quoting an unnamed insider, said Fox had threatened to end the series if the cast refused to accept a 45 percent pay cut.

The Daily Beast also said the cast had tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a 30 percent pay cut in return for a portion of the show's profits.

Fox declined to comment further.

"The Simpsons" is broadcast in more than 100 countries and 50 languages and has become a staple of American culture, with the family earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

"X Factor" moves into demanding boot camp stage

LOS ANGELES | Tue Oct 4, 2011 1:09pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Almost 200 acts survived their first encounters with Simon Cowell on "The X Factor", but this week's boot camp episodes of the TV singing contest will sort out the weak from the strong.

"X Factor" creative director Brian Friedman said the aspiring singers went through several days of tough vocal, dance, performance and style training in Los Angeles before they were whittled down to 32 acts.

"It was very long days," Friedman told Reuters. "They are having to do this without being at home. It was very draining and you see a lot of people crumbling under the pressure. They really are weeded out in every area of performance."

The boot camp episodes air on Fox on Wednesday and Thursday as the new talent competition moves closer to what judge and creator Cowell says is its most entertaining and distinguishing feature -- the four judges competing against each other as mentors to different groups of contestants.

But before then, Friedman said those who made it through the initial nationwide auditions are mentally and physically challenged at boot camp.

"They had to sing multiple songs that they did not know. They had to dance and that is a challenge we have not seen yet," he said. "We want to see what they are going to do if they are at the Grammys or performing at the MTV awards. They have got to learn how to work the stage."

But no-one is thrown out at this stage just for forgetting the lyrics or because they have two left feet, Friedman said.

"If you forget your lyrics, what are you going to do to survive? How do you make up for it? How do you handle your mistakes," he said.

"You may not be able to dance, you might be overweight, or off rhythm but you can definitely make it. It just depends on how strong a fighter you are. You have to have something memorable about you," he said.

By the end of the boot camp stages, the remaining contestants will be separated into four groups of eight -- girls under 30, boys under 30, men and women over 30, and groups -- and the mentoring process really gets underway.

The public finally gets their say when the show goes live on Nov 2, building to its climax on December 21 and 22 when the winner will receive an unprecedented $5 million prize and a recording contract.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Christine Kearney)