celebrity
09/18/2007
Kelly, "Let Me Borrow That Top"
From Liam Sullivan, the man who brought you "Shoes," comes another music video starring the delciously bitchy Kelly (Sullivan himself). Actually, first there's a four minute, non-musical intro with a quirky look at Kelly's whole family, and the hilarity that ensues when her Aunt Susan, an earthy lesbian folk singer, comes to visit.
But then Kelly's neighbor Caitlin comes home with a cute new top, and the musical highjinks get underway. Chearleaders! Ninjas! Heaven! Riots! LisaNova! Dave Navarro! Margaret Cho! This video has everything!
Seriously, betch. Let Kelly borrow that top. She's earned it. (Don't make me have to betchslap the dumb out of you.)
08/10/2007
John Mayer Takes a Shot at Tay Zonday
As we've previously covered here, John Mayer is a funny guy. He likes to goof around, be silly, etc. But in this clip from Best Week Ever, Mayer takes it one step further and has his fun at the expense of one of the "little people" -- YouTube semicelebrity song stylist Tay Zonday.
One of the best and worst things about YouTube is that it gives anyone with a vision the opportunity to let their freak flag fly, and Zonday is no exception. His vocal gymnastics have earned him many fans and many slams, but it's "Chocolate Rain" that won him the Mayer treatment.
Mayer, accompanied by BWE's Sherrod Small, does not so much cover "Chocolate Rain," Zonday's earnest commentary on racism and poverty, as he does take the title, set it to Nelly Furtado's "Say it Right," and improvise new lyrics about poop.
Granted, putting oneself on YouTube is an invitation to mockery. And Zonday's an odd duck; he's easy to make fun of. But he's also a kid with a passion for music who's working his ass off to make a name for himself and make his dream happen. So it doesn't seem all that clever and funny when a rich and famous musican takes cheap potshots at him. It seems, to be honest, kind of poopy.
07/02/2007
Elton John, "Your Song" at the Concert for Diana
Sunday's giant Concert for Diana wasn't so much star-studded as it was star-glutted -- everybody from Duran Duran to Kanye West was there to pay tribute to the late Princess of Wales on what would have been her 46th birthday. But it was Sir Elton John who set the tone. Here, he opens the show, not with his trademark theatrics or the heart-tugging "Candle in the Wind," but with a simple, uplifting performance of "Your Song."
Sir Elton is in fine voice here, but what's even greater is the way he connects with the audience, glancing at crowd and camera as if they are old friends gathered round the piano with him. It's the opposite of mugging -- a peformance that is genuine and personal and absolutely note-perfect for the evening.
That earring, on the other hand, might be a bit much for the occasion. But hey, Elton can pull it off.
06/18/2007
John Mayer: Public Apology
John Mayer may be the King of Sissy Rock, but never let it be said that the guy doesn't like to mix things up. He got white people dancing on Chappelle's Show, he donned a bear suit to chat with fans on his own show (the little seen and creatively named John Mayer Has a TV Show), and now he's broken out this tearful post-show confession at Red Rocks Ampitheatre.
Seems that John's regularly scheduled backstage pit bull fight went awry during the show, and things went downhill from there. Oopsie.
I'm sure an angry letter from the National American Pit Bull Terrier Association is on its way as we speak, but I myself prefer to focus on the positive, such as John's fine use of the word "truncated." You don't get a lot of good "truncated" nowadays.
Pan away!
06/08/2007
Paris Back In Jail: The Music Video
All this Paris Hilton news has caused more than one instance of Lohan-esque exhaustion around the office; sometimes it's hard to believe how much time and energy a nation can expend caring about this one person. And then it's Friday morning and there's another update in the case. And here we go again.
But while we wait to find out if Hilton is returning to jail, enjoy this rather witty music video from Allan Murray and Sean Haines of omovies.com -- a lament from Paris in regards to her incarceration. It's not exactly high art, but it's by far one of the more clever and original things to come out of this whole mess. And for that, I am thankful.