Categories
Music

In other words, don’t expect the new stuff to be very good at all.

Shania Twain wants to ‘forget’ music she made with ex-husband

Shania Twain is moving on from the sound created by her ex-husband and former producer Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange.

The country star, 51, has not released a studio record since 2002, a delay that in part is down to the turmoil in her professional and personal life caused by her break-up from her husband Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, who doubled as the producer of all her albums.

The couple’s 2010 divorce came after Robert admitted an affair with Shania’s best friend Marie-Anne Thiebaud. Shania ended up getting close with Marie-Anne’s betrayed husband Frederic Thiebaud, and the pair wed in 2011.

She is planning to release a new album this spring, and says she told those working on her record, including One Direction producer Jake Gosling and Bruce Springsteen collaborator Ron Aniello, to erase all her previous work from their minds.

“I told anyone getting involved musically to forget about my other records,” the musician tells Rolling Stone. “I didn’t want it to be related to Mutt’s productions at all. I wanted a more organic approach.”

When Robert was her producer Shania sold 85 million records and became country music’s biggest pop crossover star, but she now wants to move away from her pop roots.

“Most of them started off quite melancholy and a lot darker,” she explains of her new songs.

However she’s philosophical about how her split from the man she shared her life and music with has affected her.

“I’m a different singer now,” she shares. “There was a lot of coming to terms with that. It’s been one of the obstacles in my life I’ve just had to learn to live with.”

The country veteran’s new album is yet to receive an official title, but tracks include Swinging With My Eyes Closed, and Who’s Gonna Be Your Girl?, a ballad about the breakdown of her marriage.

Categories
Television

I’ve been over Fallon for a long, long time now. Colbert is great, but the best in late night right now is Seth Meyers.

Colbert beating Fallon in ratings since Trump took office

President Trump’s promise to change America is already producing results — at least when it comes to late night TV.

CBS’ “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” attracted more viewers than its rival, NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” during the week that ended Feb. 10 — the second week in a row the Peacock Network finished No. 2.

And Colbert’s margin of victory is growing.

In the week ended Feb. 3 — Colbert’s first week of new shows since Trump’s inauguration — “Late Night” edged out “Tonight” by a mere 10,000 viewers. Last week, that margin of victory grew to 130,000.

While Fallon still draws in a bigger audience of 18-to-49-year-olds, the demographic advertisers covet, his once comfortable margin of victory is getting slim.

In the last three weeks, including the five days of “Late Show” repeats during the week ended Jan. 27, Fallon’s margin of victory in the demo has gone from 0.36 to 0.19 to 0.17.

Colbert’s resurgence could be tied to his show having a sharper political bent than “Tonight.” Colbert’s opening monologue and at-desk banter is dominated by jokes and banter that take aim at Trump’s missteps.

Fallon’s show is more skit-focused and covers a wider range of topics.

On ABC, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” usually draw about 1 million fewer total viewers than his CBS and NBC rivals and trails significantly in the demo, statistics show.

Categories
Business

Actually, I’d make the argument that attendance is down due to poor films.

Cineplex revenue down due to poor attendance

Canada’s largest movie theatre chain is open to the idea of producing original content like Netflix and Amazon do, the head of Cineplex said Wednesday.

CEO Ellis Jacob said the Toronto-based company isn’t signing up to produce Hollywood blockbusters but he would consider smaller productions.

“It’s a matter of being opportunistic in certain circumstances,” Jacob said Wednesday following the company’s latest earnings release.

“For example, if there is a particular movie that a distributor has that we feel comfortable with, we may join venture with them. But as far as getting into large productions of movies, that’s not a business that we’re going to head down.”

Producing content can be financially risky. Companies generally need a large amount of capital up front in the hopes that a film would take off with audiences in order to generate a healthy return.

“To say, OK, by making our own movies, (we’re) diversifying in that degree, the risk of how they do is still there,” Jacob said.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad business. I’m saying it’s not a business that we’re focused on to look at from a big numbers perspective.”

Cineplex said the idea came up earlier this month during a panel in Ottawa featuring Michael Kennedy, its executive vice-president.

Adam Shine, a media and telecom analyst at National Bank Financial, said he doesn’t see moviemaking becoming a core focus for Cineplex, especially as it has already dipped into other businesses such as gaming.

Earlier in the day, Cineplex reported a 12 per cent decline in attendance in its fourth quarter compared to the same period last year. It attributed that to a stronger movie lineup in the fourth quarter of 2015 that included some of the highest-grossing films of all time, such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.

The drop in attendance to 17.9 million visits from 20.4 million was partly offset by higher per-patron spending on tickets and concessions.

Cineplex’s net income was down 69.6 per cent, falling to $23.3 million or 37 cents per diluted share in the quarter ended Dec. 31 from $76.8 million or $1.20 per diluted share a year before.

Its 2015 fourth quarter profit included an unusual gain related to the acquisition of CSI and a favourable change in the value of a financial instrument linked to a 2013 acquisition.

Categories
Television

I don’t love the show, but I like it. Hope he makes it great!!

Dan Aykroyd will guest star on Workin’ Moms

The mothers of Workin’ Moms are getting a visit from a Blues Brother.

CBC says actor Dan Aykroyd will guest star on the Feb. 21 episode.

Aykroyd is a Canadian comedy legend, known as one of the early cast members of Saturday Night Live and for roles in movies like The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters. He also appeared in the 1989 drama Driving Miss Daisy and was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar.

In Workin’ Moms, a new comedy created by Catherine Reitman, Aykroyd guests as the father of Reitman’s character Kate.

The series airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m.