SHOW STILL GOING ON
At a Friday press conference, organizers again insisting that the 75th Annual Academy Awards will go on as scheduled Sunday evening. But the situation is being evaluated on a "moment by moment basis."
Come back here on Sunday for comprehensive Oscar predictions!
Taylor 'Best Of' Offers New Song
The new song "Bittersweet" is among 19 classic tracks on the forthcoming collection "The Best of James Taylor." Due April 8 from Warner Strategic Marketing (WSM), the set collects material recorded over the last 35 years from the catalogs of Apple, Warner Bros., and Columbia.
Each selection has been newly remastered for the compilation. Also noteworthy is that WSM is in the midst of remastering Taylor's entire WB catalog for eventual reissue. The singer/songwriter's 1970-76 tenure saw him release six albums through the label: "Sweet Baby James," "Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon," "One Man Dog," "Walking Man," "Gorilla," and "In the Pocket." The label also released a "Greatest Hits" set in 1976, and a prior "Best Of" in 1990.
As previously reported, the veteran artist will hit the road in North America beginning May 15 in Dallas. The tour comes is in support of Taylor's latest Columbia album, "October Road," which was released last August to a No. 4 bow on The Billboard 200. The set has sold 918,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Here is "The Best of James Taylor" track list:
"Something in the Way She Moves"
"Sweet Baby James"
"Fire and Rain"
"Country Road" (Single Version)
"You've Got a Friend"
"You Can Close Your Eyes"
"Long Ago and Far Away"
"Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight"
"Walking Man"
"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
"Mexico"
"Shower the People"
"Golden Moments"
"SteamRoller" (Live)
"Carolina on My Mind" (1976 version)
"Handy Man"
"Your Smiling Face"
"Up on the Roof"
"Only a Dream In Rio"
"Bittersweet"
DVD Rental Revenue Tops VHS For First Week Ever
Is the disc mightier than the cassette? For the first week ever, DVD rentals generated more revenue than VHS rentals last week -- six years to the month after the launch of the DVD format in the United States.
For the week ending March 16, 2003, DVD rentals generated $80 million, with VHS rentals pulling $78 million, according to figures from the Video Software Dealers Assoc. (VSDA) VidTrac.
"Consumers rejoice in the quality, convenience, and value-added features of DVDs, and are clearly attracted to DVD as an item both to purchase and to rent," says Bo Andersen, president of VSDA. "Given the choice to buy or to rent DVDs, the American public has chosen both."
In 2002, DVD rental revenue accounted for 35 percent of the total video rental market, but DVDs have dominated sales revenues over VHS formats since 2001, according to Adams Media Research.
In terms of number of actual units rented, VHS remains the preferred format by 54 percent last week, according to VSDA VidTrac. However, DVD rentals are steadily increasing and is expected to soon overtake VHS in actual units as well.
VSDA VidTrac measures national consumer video rental spending based on actual rental transactions.
Philbin Latest Eye Casualty
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Perhaps Conan, Craig, and the ladies of "The View" should make an appointment with the ophthalmologist, because eye ailments are tearing through the talk show ranks. First it was David Letterman with the shingles. Now it's Regis Philbin seeing double.
On Wednesday (March 19) morning's "Live! With Regis and Kelly," Philbin told viewers that his recent focus problems have been diagnosed as the result of a weakening eye muscle caused by closure of a small blood vessel. Citing his neuro-ophthalmologist, Philbin says that the condition should clear up within six to eight weeks, but that surgery is often required.
Philbin began experiencing problems last week, but mentioned on his show that he'd had trouble meeting up with his doctor.
On Monday, in a conversation with his wife Joy, he joked that he "woke up with two women in my bed -- and they were both Joy."
Amusingly, Philbin was one of the first celebrities to fill in for Letterman as host on "The Late Show."
Gas in car to go to groomers- $4.50
Cat car carrier- $32.99
Grooming fee- $80.00
Getting The Look from one seriously ticked-off cat- Priceless!
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
Eminem's feature debut 8 Mile selling 2 million DVDs and earning an estimated $40 million during the first 24 hours after its release.
...The New 'Harry Potter' Book Will Have Two Covers, And Not Just A Front And Back
LONDON - The fifth installment of the Harry Potter books will have two separate covers, one for adults and one for children.
Bloomsbury Publishers unveiled the designs Thursday. The adult edition of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" features a somber black and white picture of a phoenix, while the children's version of the boy wizard book is illustrated with a more vibrant red and orange bird rising from flames.
The designs will be used for editions released in Britain and other English-speaking countries, except the United States, where the book is to be published by Scholastic Children's Books.
The latest work of author J.K. Rowling will be released around the world on June 21. Fans have waited nearly three years for the schoolboy wizard's fifth adventure. Bookstores have already been deluged by Potter fans pre-ordering copies of the book.
Online retailer Amazon has taken more than 130,000, twice as many as were taken for the fourth book, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Released in July 2000, that installment sold more copies on the first weekend after publication than any other book, according to Bloomsbury.
Rowling's four published titles have sold an estimated 192 million copies worldwide in hard and soft cover; the books have been published in at least 55 languages and distributed in more than 200 countries.
ABC, TV Industry Ask Must the Oscar Show Go On?
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - For the ABC network, it is a nearly-unprecedented dilemma: go to 24-hour-a-day, commercial-free news coverage of the war with Iraq or stick with plans to air the highly lucrative Academy Awards on Sunday night as scheduled?
That was the question on Thursday, as the war moved slowly through its first day, with the anticipation among many that the big push that the U.S. military has been promising would come within the next two days.
And the answer, at least according to a number of people who are closely involved with TV and the television industry, is that a brief delay in the show couldn't hurt anybody and might actually seem like the right thing to do.
"The Academy (of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and ABC have to tread really cautiously," said J. Max Robbins, a senior editor at TV Guide magazine. "People in the industry are really struggling with this."
ABC is scheduled to broadcast the Oscars live on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. EST and the show's producers have already said they expect it to run its full, usual 3 1/2 hours.
But earlier this week, they canceled the traditional "red carpet" celebrity entrances before the show, opting instead for more muted arrivals without the glitz and glamour or the chance for a reporter to ask a frivolous or tough question.
ABC has already indefinitely postponed Barbara Walters' post-Oscar interview show, which has been going on for 22 years.
"We are proceeding and obviously are monitoring the situation on a moment-by-moment basis," ABC spokesman Kevin Brockman told Reuters. But he said as of Thursday morning the status quo, that the show would go on, remained.
MONEY NOT THE KEY
"The Oscars have had weeks to consider what's happening ... and now they have even more information," Bryce Zabel, the chief executive of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, told Reuters. "They can make a much more informed decision about what they think Sunday will be like."
Zabel knows something about postponed awards -- his organization puts on TV's annual Emmy Awards, which had to be postponed twice in late 2001, once after the Sept. 11 attacks and again when the U.S. began its bombing campaign in Afghanistan the same day as the rescheduled show.
But Zabel said he thought that, as in his situation, money would not be a significant factor in deciding whether or not to go ahead with the show.
"The networks probably aren't planning to make the same money they would have made anyway," he said.
The live Oscar telecast is one of TV's biggest nights, ranking only behind professional football's Super Bowl in terms of advertising potential. Last year's show drew 42 million U.S. viewers. Ad spots for this year's show sold for between $1.3 million and $1.45 million for 30-second slots.
Some industry experts said that if nothing else, it might seem distasteful to carry on with the awards.
"It's pretty close, and there simply may be a little taste issue (in) that you're having this almost hedonistic display of self-congratulation of the entertainment industry when the smoke hasn't cleared from the first missiles," Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, told Reuters.
But beyond the issue of taste, Thompson said there could be some more practical concerns in airing the show, which the network typically turns into a high-profile showcase.
"You want your Oscar story to be front page news; if you do it Sunday the only front page news will be 'Should they have played the Oscars last night?"' Thompson said.
But TV Guide's Robbins said the fact the network and the Academy needed to proceed cautiously did not mean that they had to scrap the show entirely.
"At this point I don't know if there's a reason to postpone it," he said.
National Guard in at Oscars, Will Smith Out
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The state of California on Thursday assigned a National Guard unit to protect the Oscars, but at least one prominent star withdrew from the ceremonies, saying now was not the time to celebrate.
Actor Will Smith pulled out of Sunday's scheduled Oscars show while other stars announced plans to wear peace sign pins, doves and even duct tape to protest the war in Iraq.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences said on Thursday it was still planning to go ahead, for now, with the ceremony -- minus the glitzy red carpet -- but a final decision was not expected before Friday.
Meanwhile, California authorities said that they would station a National Guard unit at the ceremonies, equipped with a mobile testing laboratory that could quickly detect any chemical or biological threat.
"I can say the Academy Awards will be as safe and secure as any awards ceremony ever held," California Gov. Gray Davis said in announcing the security measures at a press conference.
He said having the National Guard unit and testing facility at the Oscars would mean that the ceremonies would not be interrupted if threats were made against its stars.
"The value to the Los Angeles Police Department is that the lab can get results within 30 minutes," he said.
Smith, star of "Men in Black," was scheduled to present an award at the show. He withdrew before the U.S. bombing campaign in Iraq got underway in earnest on Thursday.
"He felt uncomfortable in attending and respectfully asked to be excused. There's no agenda, there's no speeches. He just didn't feel personally comfortable in going because of the world situation," said his publicist, Stan Rosenfield.
Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, who is nominated for a best foreign language film Oscar for "The Man Without a Past," said he would stay home in a protest against the war in Iraq.
Artists United to Win Without War -- a group of more than 130 celebrities who have campaigned against war -- has produced a special peace pin for the event. Artists including Dustin Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Jim Carrey, Ben Affleck, Michael Moore and Kirsten Dunst have agreed to wear it on awards night.
Others plan to wear a peace dove or a piece of duct tape on their gowns or tuxedos.
Duct tape has become a tongue-in-cheek symbol of protest, after ridicule greeted government advice to buy it along with plastic sheeting to set up temporary safe rooms in case of chemical or biological attack.
"People are looking to express in a dignified way their feelings and emotions," producer Robert Greenwald, founder of Artists United, told Reuters. Oscar organizers said they decided to cut out the traditional red carpet -- where stars parade their opinions along with their gowns -- because several celebrities had expressed unease about that part of the show at the start of a major war.
They denied reports that winners had been told to keep their political opinions to themselves in their speeches during the show itself, although organizers said they expected presenters to stick to the script.
Greenwald said he was unaware of any mass move by stars to boycott the ceremony, if it goes ahead. He said celebrities, like other Americans, were struggling to find a balance between life as usual and their personal response to the war.
"The Oscars epitomize that. It is a heightened version of regular life. The question of what people think they should do or not do around the Oscars are symbolic of a series of questions that people are struggling with as to what they are going to be doing in their lives around the war," he said.
Controversial Russian lesbian duo a hit
MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Clad in skimpy tank tops, teenage pop stars Lena and Yulia giggle and clasp hands on a Russian television talk show as their hit music video is played for a studio audience.
The camera pans over the audience, lingering on a Russian Orthodox priest who grimaces and crosses himself when the video shows the girls kissing.
The pop duo Tatu -- Russian slang for "This girl (loves) that girl" -- has long been causing a sensation at home.
But now that the teenagers are also climbing charts around the world, their scanty schoolgirl uniforms, flirtations with lesbianism and in-your-face sexuality are prompting debate about whether this is the kind of cultural export the land of Tchaikovsky and Chekhov wants to become known for.
"Soft but flirtatious lesbian erotica direct on a hit video, and furthermore with underage participants -- not even Madonna came up with that," music critic Dmitry Shavyrin wrote in the daily Moskovsky Komsomolets.
As a marketing tool, it clearly works, said Dmitry Konnov of Russia's MTV, whose viewers voted Tatu's "I Lost My Mind," about young same-sex love, the No. 1 video in 2001.
The group's debut album, "200 km/hour in the Wrong Lane," has sold well over 1.1 million copies, and an estimated 4 million pirated copies. "All the Things She Said" -- the English-language version of the Russian "I Lost My Mind" -- is topping radio playlists from Colombia to Australia. Tatu is the first Russian band to reach No. 1 on Britain's singles chart, and now they are taking on the U.S. market.
This week, "All the Things She Said" climbed to No. 20 on the U.S. Billboard chart.
But Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova, both 18, aren't winning fans everywhere.
Britain's The Daily Mail said they have managed to "degrade marketing and music at the same time," while a British TV presenter urged radio stations to ban Tatu, whom critics have called "pedo-pop." In Bulgaria, officials canceled a Tatu concert that was scheduled for the eve of Pope John Paul II's visit last year, although officials denied a connection.
"People love us or hate us but nobody thinks nothing about us," Lena says on Tatu's Web site.
'Such a thing hadn't been done'
Tatu's English-language single "All the Things She Said" is climbing the U.S. charts.
Tatu was created in 1999 by a former child psychologist who acknowledges that he was trying to produce a sexy, provocative group led by teenage girls.
"Such a thing hadn't been done," said Ivan Shapovalov, 36, whose cheeky attitude has made him as famous among Russia's young hip set as the band he created.
Shapovalov, who jokes about his reputation as an evil Svengali, denied choosing the name Tatu for its slang connotation, saying he was more interested in the word's principle meaning, "tattoo."
"I liked that a tattoo is something that you do to distinguish yourself, something that you do to yourself," said Shapovalov.
He held auditions and chose Lena and Yulia separately. They had both been members of a Russian youth band, which Tatu's Web site said Yulia was forced to leave for "obscene behavior and corrupting other singers."
That racy attitude distinguishes Tatu from the other manufactured boy and girl bands on the market.
So does the suggestion of lesbianism.
Tatu's lyrics and videos allude to such a relationship, an idea both the singers and Shapovalov coyly promote during interviews. [Tatu] degrade[s] marketing and music at the same time. -- The Daily Mail (London)
"Everybody thinks we are lesbians," Yulia teased during an interview on NTV's Namedni program, while grabbing for Lena's top.
"Girl," Lena scolded, laughing.
The Russian media, however, routinely "out" the singers with reports that they were spotted around Moscow with alleged boyfriends in tow.
Such controversies, of course, only bring the pair more attention.
Russian journalists quiz Tatu about what their parents think. Gazeta newspaper slapped the label "Scandal" on a story about the group.
On the respected Russian political talk show "Svoboda Slova," on NTV, Tatu was invited on as guests for a discussion entitled "What are the limits of permissibility?"
But when the show's studio audience was quizzed about their reaction, most didn't see Tatu in a negative light. They expressed more concern about a clip of a Russian politician spewing invective against the United States.
"Tatu -- it's a show," said Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian parliament's international affairs committee. "Russians aren't afraid of that."