Geffen Preps New Joni Mitchell Collection
Geffen has rounded up 16 of Joni Mitchell's more issue-minded tracks for the compilation "The Beginning of Survival," due July 27. The songs are drawn from the Mitchell album "Dog Eat Dog," "Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm," "Night Ride Home," Turbulent Indigo" and "Taming the Tiger." Among the guests sprinkled throughout are Don Henley, James Taylor, Willie Nelson and Michael McDonald.
The album's self-described "commentaries on the world in which we live" find Mitchell addressing such as topics as greed and corruption ("No Apologies," "Dog Eat Dog" and "Passion Play (The Story of Jesus and Zachius ... The Little Tax Collector)," featuring actor Rod Steiger), Western culture ("The Three Great Stimulants") and environmental responsibility ("Cool Water," "Lakota").
Also featured are "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" (adapted from a poem by W.B. Yeats), "The Beat of Black Wings," "The Reoccuring Dream," "Impossible Dreamer" and "The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)."
Mitchell co-produced the album and contributes an essay plus original artwork. The liner notes include a reproduction of an environmentally themed letter to the President of the United States, thought to have been penned by Susquamish Indian Chief Seattle in 1852.
"The Beginning of Survival" is Geffen's second recent archival Mitchell release, following last September's four-disc boxed set "The Complete Geffen Recordings." The artist has not issued a new studio album since 2002's Nonesuch set "Travelogue," which she has said will be her last.
'Family Guy' Crowd Heading to Montreal Yukfest
OTTAWA (Hollywood Reporter) - Wayne Brady, Caroline Rhea, Tim Allen, Tom Arnold, Jackie Mason and the voices behind the animated show "Family Guy" are among the comics slated to perform at the 22nd Just for Laughs Festival, running July 15-25 in Montreal, organizers said Tuesday.
Just for Laughs chief operating officer Bruce Hills said he is particularly excited about having Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green and Mila Kunis do a live script reading of "Family Guy." A question-and-answer session with cast and creator MacFarlane will follow the reading.
"The big thing this summer is 'Family Guy,"' Hills said. "That's a big one because they rarely do this, and that show is one of the biggest-selling DVDs out there."
Brady ("Whose Line Is It Anyway?"), Rhea ("The Caroline Rhea Show"), Allen ("Home Improvement") and Arnold ("The Best Damn Sports Show Period") are slated to headline six galas, with Brady and Allen handling gala duties twice.
The festival also is catering to children for the first time, with the North American premiere of James Campbell's stand-up comedy for kids ages 5 and older.
For more mature audiences, Mason, once a regular on "The Ed Sullivan Show," is performing his one-man show "Jackie Mason Freshly Squeezed." There also will be the world premiere of "Evil Dead 1 & 2: The Musical," a comedy based on the director Sam Raimi's campy horror classics.
Brady will be joined by his "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" co-stars Colin Mochrie, Greg Proops and Brad Sherwood as well as Sean Masterson ("The Drew Carey Show") for some improvisational comedy.
Also, British comic Dave Gorman will present his "Googlewhack Adventure," which premiered at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. New on this summer's roster is "Late Nite Down Under," a spotlight on the funniest acts from Australia and New Zealand, including performances by Colin Hay of the Grammy-winning band Men at Work.
Fantasia Barrino Crowned America's Idol
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Feisty soul singer Fantasia Barrino was voted the newest "American Idol" on Wednesday after a nationwide television search for the nation's next pop star.
Barrino, 19, edged out rival Diana DeGarmo at the end of the hit reality TV show that saw 70,000 wannabes audition in a bid to win a recording contract and instant stardom.
Victory was sweet for Barrino, a black single mom from North Carolina who had twice narrowly escaped being booted off by viewers earlier in the season in favor of cuter but weaker singers.
The close calls, along with the early exit of two other powerful black singers, prompted cries of racism. "This has been a very unpredictable season," record producer and "Idol" judge Randy Jackson said on Wednesday.
Producers said a total of 65 million votes were called in by telephone or text message on Tuesday after lines were kept open an extra two hours and extra numbers added to counter logjams and busy signals that have called voting procedures into question.
"Idol" host Ryan Seacrest told Access Hollywood that the two finalists were separated by a margin of just over 1 percent.
Barrino's style, which ranged from tender to earthy, moved the three-judge panel to tears and captivated audiences.
In an emotional final on Tuesday night watched by some 25 million viewers, acerbic British judge Simon Cowell declared her the best contestant ever in the "Idol" phenomenon which has swept more than 20 countries worldwide.
YOUNGEST FINAL CONTESTANT
DeGarmo, 16, was the youngest contestant to reach an "Idol" final. Her show-stopping voice and poise belied her youth while her bubbly friendly personality won fans alienated by Barrino's cheeky backchat. "My lips are big but my talent is bigger," Barrino quipped earlier in the season.
DeGarmo, a Georgia schoolgirl who started singing when she was 5 years old, suffered uncharacteristic pitch problems in the Tuesday night finale before a live audience at Hollywood's Kodak Theater.
DeGarmo is unlikely to go home empty-handed. Both last year's winner Ruben Studdard and runner-up Clay Aiken secured recording contracts. Tone-deaf contestant William Hung, who won the hearts and laughter of the nation in early auditions, has already released his own album.
"American Idol" has proved Fox TV's biggest hit and one of the hottest shows in the nation during the past three years, averaging some 25 million viewers.
But the show has been a victim of is own success, with jammed phone lines causing frustration among fans trying to cast their votes each week.
Hours before the winner was announced, Fox Broadcasting Entertainment President Gail Berman defended the integrity of the vote, which is independently audited.
"When you have a show this big, you are going to hear from some people who are not satisfied with whatever you do ... We are confident that we have the most sophisticated telephone voting system that you can put in place in this country," Berman told reporters.