During the same week when North Carolina residents passed a constitutional amendment that defines marriage exclusively between a man and a woman, it looks like Queen Latifah has decided to come out of the closet. Rumors about the veteran star’s sexual preference have been circulating for years, but now it appears she’s chosen to end the speculation… by headlining this year’s Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival. It takes place on May 19/20. Said Pat Crosby, co-president of the event: “From hip to R&B, pop to standards, Queen Latifah is the voice of our generation, and her concert here will be phenomenal. For her to make her worldwide Pride debut here in Long Beach is a tremendous testament to the popularity of our celebration and to the strength of our community.”
Justin Bieber, Flo Rida, Lady Antebellum and Hall & Oates also perform leading up to Team Blake’s victory. By James Dinh Blake Shelton and Jermaine Paul celebrate on “The Voice” Photo: NBC Universal Records added a new artist to their roster Tuesday night (May 8) when Jermaine Paul of Team Blake was named season-two champ during the finale of “The Voice,” which also featured some major star power appearances from the likes of Justin Bieber and Flo Rida. “I just wanted to say thank you for everyone that voted for me,” the former Alicia Keys backup singer said on the sparkler-filled stage, before giving credit to his wife, children and parents. “God bless y’all, man. Nobody but Jesus, man, nobody!” It was a close call, as host Carson Daly revealed just moments before the announcement that only a mere 4 percentage points separated Paul and runner-up Juliet Simms. Kicking off the two-hour episode was a brief contestant introduction with Paul, Simms, singer/songwriter Tony Lucca and classically trained Chris Mann, before segueing into a recap of the previous night’s live final round and some thoughts from each of the judges about their contestant. But it wouldn’t be a big ol’ finale without some collaborative performances from our season’s favorite former contestants, so Paul rallied up Jamar Rogers, James Massone and Pip to lead the pack on a cover of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” It was a solid effort that most importantly proved why Paul stands as the last remaining singer of the bunch and won the contest. After a montage of silly bloopers from the panel (proving that Xtina is surely more than just full of sass) and a quick commercial break, Simms of Team Cee Lo joined Flo Rida for a medley of his singles “Whistle” and “Wild One.” Missing in action was singer Sia, but Simms took over for the Australian crooner’s chorus, temporarily walked away from her rock element and jumped to some fist-pumping Top 40. Team Xtina’s Chris Mann brought back his lady favorites Lindsey Pavao and Katrina Parker for an appropriate cover of the Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” and the couple complemented Mann’s lively onstage urgency. It may have been an intense evening for the contestants, but “The Voice” kept the show lighthearted by dedicating an entire segment to Shelton and Levine’s on-camera bromance with highlights of their cutesy interactions. “It is clear that Adam has a crush on me, and Miranda is a little bit jealous, but I think it’s cute,” Shelton joked about wife Miranda Lambert. Hall & Oates were up next to sing their classic “Rich Girl” alongside the men of the evening: Tony, Jermaine and Chris. As the duo jammed out to their 1977 hit, the trio of finalists crooned on the side as background vocalists to the iconic act. Living out one more performance were former contestants Naia Kete, Cheesa, Kim Yarbrough and Sera Hill with a performance of “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder. Full of energy, attitude and smiles, the quartet blended their distinctive voices for a great number. But it wasn’t enough to outshine Juliet Simms’ group performance alongside Erin Willett, RaeLynn and Jamar Rogers for a cover of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends.” It was the best of the all-star performances and brought all the judges to their feet for standing ovations. NBC doubled up when they brought some buzz for the season finale of “Parks and Recreation” as Cee Lo took to the set of the comedy sitcom and had the cast cater to his guest appearance and, of course, the famed swivel chair. Lady Antebellum repped for country music when they appeared for a performance of “Wanted You More,” but the biggest rumble of cheers went to Justin Bieber, who served up a flashy debut performance of his hit “Boyfriend.” As teased a few weeks ago, the teen superstar took the stage for an elaborate production of his lead single. Entering through the floor, the pop singer walked down an alley of bright lights and spent much of the number as the center of attention for a crew of dancers with misty smoke seeping in between his choreography. Before the Biebster took center stage, Team Adam’s Tony Lucca re-emerged for his main number of the night with Jordis Unga to sing Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way.” It was a friendly throwback to the competition’s battle rounds, as the two played off each other’s lines and catered to different parts of the stage before joining together for an ending hug. What did you think of Jermaine winning “The Voice”? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Justin Bieber
Ben Affleck , director, makes his most ambitious movie yet in this fall’s Argo , the crazy true (and until recently, secret) story of how the CIA attempted to rescue six American diplomats during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis by disguising them as a film crew working on a science fiction movie. The first trailer for Argo ranks up there with the best we’ve seen all year, setting up the stranger-than-fiction premise with juicy moments from veteran thesps (John Goodman! Alan Arkin!) and up-and-comers (ladies and gentlemen, Scoot McNairy) alike as Affleck serves up a bizarre slice of history. Affleck directs from a script by Chris Terrio (based on Joshuah Bearman’s engrossing 2007 Wired article “How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran”), casting himself as CIA officer Tony Mendez, the orchestrator of the so-called “Canadian Caper.” He’s joined by Goodman as Planet of the Apes Oscar-winner John Chambers, the Hollywood make-up artist who helped Mendez set up the operation, and Arkin as a producer delivering choice zingers (“If I’m doing a fake movie, it’s going to be a fake hit!”). In addition to folks like Goodman, Arkin, Victor Garber, Bryan Cranston, Michael Parks, Zeljko Ivanek, Affleck tapped a few rising actors to fill out his cast: Scoot McNairy ( Monsters ), Christopher Denham ( Sound of My Voice ), and Kerry Bishe ( Red State ) join Tate Donovan, Clea Duvall, and Rory Cochrane as the six imperiled diplomats. Add in the muted ’70s palette and sense of humor tempered by life-and-death stakes and you’ve got what promises to be an intriguingly layered ride, if Affleck the director can pull it off. Argo is slated for release on October 12, gunning for awards season. Verdict: If it measures up to the true story and the article it inspired, this could be great. Thrill me, Affleck.
Up in Canada, documentary festival Hot Docs gave out its prizes over the weekend, while Stateside, the Tribeca Film Festival unveiled plans for a new event in Italy. Madonna remembers Beasties’ Adam Yauch and Morgan Spurlock launches a new production company. Check out more in Monday’s Biz Break. Bloody Disgusting & The Collective Launch Finishing Fund Horror website BloodyDisgusting.com and production outfit The Collective have joined on a new finishing fund initiative. Selected movies will receive up to $100,000 in funds and filmmakers will also be provided the opportunity for distribution through the Bloody Disgusting Selects brand of horror films, which includes cult favorites Rammbock: Berlin Undead , The Woman and Yellowbrickroad . The World Before Her Wins Top Doc North America’s biggest documentary festival Hot Docs handed out its awards over the weekend with Nisha Pahuja’s The World Before Her winning Best Canadian Feature while Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright’s Call Me Kuchu took Best International Feature. Go to Hot Docs’ site for more prizes. A Second Round of Aim High Online series Aim High received the green light for a second season. Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, Dolphin Digital Studios, Inc., and Wonderland Sound and Vision are producing. Jackson Rathbone, best known for his role as “Jasper Hale” from the Twilight film series will return as government operative “Nick Green.” Check Out Rooftop If you’re in NYC, this is a summer rite of passage. Rooftop Films has been around for more than a decade and a half, screening films on a roof (or not) near you. This year’s lineup includes 23 features and 183 shorts with New York, U.S. and world premieres. Kicking it off are a group of short films that are “a rebellion against stale cinematic forms and status quo stories.” For the full schedule of Rooftop’s lineup through August, go here . Around the ‘net… Tribeca Heads to Florence Dubbed Tribeca Firenze, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff will head to Florence, Italy with their Tribeca brand June 11 – 18. The European premiere of Tony Bennett doc The Zen of Bennett joins the lineup. Deadline reports . His Turn: Actor Liam Hemsworth Talks Gary Ross’ Exit Liam Hemsworth is opening up about Francis Lawrence replacing Gary Ross as director of The Hunger Games followup, Catching Fire : “I’m really sad to see that Gary’s not going to be part of the second one,” he said. “He did such an amazing job on the first.” E Online reports . Local Biz Mulls French Election Despite the difference in political philosophy, the change in leadership is not likely to severely impact the film and TV biz, one of the country’s most economically vibrant sectors, Variety reports . Actor George ‘Goober Pyle’ Lindsey Dies Lindsey also appeared in several movies, including Cannonball Run II . And he lent his voice to animation films such as Robin Hood , The Rescuers and The Aristocats , BBC reports . Madonna: Adam Yauch Was “One of a Kind” The singer says the seminal hip-hop group was “integral to the musical revolution that was happening at the time.” The Beastie Boys member and founder of NYC-based film distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories died Friday . AP reports . Morgan Spurlock and Keith Calder Launch Warplant Morgan Spurlock’s New York based production company Warrior Poets has teamed with Keith Calder’s Los Angeles based Snoot Entertainment and 16 year commercial production veteran Shannon Lords to create Warpaint, a commercial production company that “will serve as a home for innovative directors who are looking to expand their craft into more diverse and lucrative opportunities.” More at Deadline.
[Verse 1] If I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go I can take you places you ain’t never been before Baby take a chance or you’ll never ever know I got money in my hands that I’d really like you to blow Swag swag swag, on you Chillin’ by the fire while we are eating fondue I don’t know about me but I know about you So say hello to falsetto in three two Swag [Pre Hook] I’d like to be everything you want Hey girl, let me talk to you [Hook] If I was your boyfriend, never let you go Keep you on my arm girl, you’d never be alone I can be a gentleman, anything you want If I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go, I’d never let you go [ Lyrics from: www.lyricsfreak.com ] [Verse 2] Tell me what you like yeah tell me what you don’t I could be your Buzz Lightyear fly across the globe I don’t never wanna fight yeah, you already know I am ‘ma a make you shine bright like you’re laying in the snow Burr Girlfriend, girlfriend, you could be my girlfriend You could be my girlfriend until the —— world ends – Make you dance do a spin and a twirl and Voice goin’ crazy on this hook like a whirl wind Swaggie [Pre Hook] I’d like to be everything you want Hey girl, let me talk to you [Hook] If I was your boyfriend, never let you go Keep you on my arm girl you’d never be alone I can be a gentleman, anything you want If I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go, I’d never let you go [Bridge] So give me a chance, ’cause you’re all I need girl Spend a week wit your boy I’ll be calling you … http://www.youtube.com/v/Saxn5tb_dGA?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata View post: Boyfriend – Justin Bieber – With Lyrics
Juliet Simms and Jermaine Paul also pull out all the stops for their mentors and America. By John Mitchell Tony Lucca on “The Voice” Photo: NBC With a trip to the finals on the line, Monday night’s (April 30) “Voice” semifinals saw the remaining two artists from each team take the stage to sing their hearts out for America’s votes and high scores from the coaches, which, combined, determine who moves on to next week’s finals. First up was Mouseketeer-turned-rocker Tony Lucca, who ditched his guitar for the first time in the competition to show off a different side of himself, singing “How You Like Me Now.” Lucca upped his game last week with his rocking rendition of Britney Spears’ ” … Baby One More Time” and knew he had a lot to prove. Without his guitar to hide behind, Lucca delivered plenty of pop-star swagger. Blake summed it up most succinctly, saying Lucca’s swinging performance was reminiscent of similarly suited-up Robert Palmer in his prime. Even Christina, who has often been Lucca’s harshest critic, went on and on with praise for so long that host Carson Daly cut her off. (Didn’t he notice her tiara? Who cuts off a pop diva in fishnets and a bejeweled crown?) Erin Willett entered the ring with a “special song choice”: a rearranged take on David Guetta and Usher’s dance thumper “Without You.” It was a risk, but that’s what Erin, who said during rehearsals she felt like she’s “never had a moment” on the show, was after. She was expectedly powerful, earned a thumbs-up from the judges and got very emotional onstage when she finished singing, but we’re not sure everything came together just right to make the performance memorable for the right reasons. Throughout the competition, Christina has pushed classically trained Chris Mann into pop and rock territory to prove — both to himself and the voting public — that he could do more than sing opera (as he did during the blind auditions). However, as the contest winds down, Aguilera was keen to show off what attracted her to Mann in the first place (his perfect voice) and gave the singer one of the most well-known classical songs ever, “Ave Maria.” He nailed it, so much so that Aguilera caught Cee Lo tearing up. Aguilera was so moved by Mann’s performance that she jumped from her chair and joined him onstage to give him a hug. Fan favorite Jamar Rogers from Team Cee Lo was next to the stage with the classic “If You Don’t Know Me by Now.” A born entertainer with a penchant for high-energy performances, Rogers reeled it in this time, hoping to showcase his voice, and the judges took notice. “Forget the competition for a minute,” Adam said. “I’m just a fan of what you do.” Though they are ostensibly competitors, there’s always a good bit of camaraderie among the contestants on “The Voice,” and that showed through when the teams joined forces for group performances of the Killers “All These Things That I’ve Done” (Teams Cee Lo and Adam) and Lady Gaga’s “The Edge of Glory” (Teams Christina and Blake). Similarly, though they may bicker in their judges’ chairs, Christina was bobbing her head (a task given how much that jeweled tiara must weigh) along to Blake’s performance of his new single “Over.” Hoping to show that Mann isn’t the only true powerhouse male vocalist in the competition, Blake paired former Alicia Keys backup singer Jermaine Paul with Journey’s massive ballad “Open Arms.” Jermaine rose to the challenge, digging deep into the song’s emotion and tackling the song’s runs with aplomb. The judges were not shy about praising Paul’s performance. “You came in and you murdered that song,” Christina said. “Jermaine, I would like to congratulate you, because you are no longer a background singer, my friend,” Adam added. But his own coach made the most crucial point, given how close Paul is to the finals, saying, “You’re peaking at the right time.” Katrina Parker also opted to change things up, singing “Killing Me Softly” in the style of the Fugees’ remake. Outside her usual Adele-like belting, she showed off a new vocal personality — more sultry and raspy than ever. Noting that later in the night the judges would be forced to award percentages to the contestants and that Tony Lucca and Adam are maybe a more natural mentoring fit, Christina championed Parker, telling Levine to “take a look at Katrina Parker because she’s a star.” Having saved her from elimination twice in the competition, we think he gets it, Christina. While many singers opted to show off a different side of themselves, being in the bottom two last week chased Lindsay Pavao right back into her hipster-indie wheelhouse, where she found Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love” waiting for her. The performance was very Florence and the Machine-lite, with Pavao looking ethereal while strumming a guitar and sounding as unique as ever. Even Blake complimented Christina’s strategy of returning her contestants to their roots (Mann with opera and Pavao with light indie rock). The final contestant to hit the stage was rocker Juliet Simms, singing James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.” She earned a standing ovation from her coach Cee Lo and fawning praise from the rest of the judges (Adam said she was “the one to beat” tonight), but Aguilera’s words of support — saying that Simms sings for herself and that often leads to the most gut wrenching performances — were perhaps the most important, as she tore the roof off the 2007 Grammys with her take on this song. At the very end of the show, the coaches were given 100 points to divide between their two contestants, the results of which will be tabulated alongside America’s vote and revealed Tuesday to determine who moves on to the finals. Who are your picks for the finals? Let us know in the comments below!
It’s hard to say whether Sound of My Voice is a wholly bogus and pretentious indie enterprise or a weirdly compelling bit of low-budget storytelling. Probably it’s a little of both – this is the kind of picture that may often make you snort audibly, even as you’re wondering how the heck it’s going to resolve itself. And ultimately, even if the payoff isn’t quite what it should be, the picture leaves a faint chill in its wake. You probably won’t feel totally shafted for sticking with it – maybe just a little punk’d. Snuggly couple Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius) have set out to make a documentary about cults, hoping to infiltrate one mysterious group in particular. The gang’s meeting place is a top-secret basement location; the faithful are ferried to and fro in a van, but they’re not allowed to see where they’re going. Once the loyal subjects have gathered, decked out in aggressively peaceful looking white yoga clothes, a mysterious creature appears in their midst. Her name is Maggie — she’s played by indie darling Brit Marling , who also co-wrote the script – and she greets her followers while hooked up to an oxygen supply. You see, Maggie is a refugee from the future – 2054, to be exact – and she’s come back to show the human beings she loves how to prepare for what lies ahead. To do this, she wears white leggings and swaths her long blond tresses in a white scarf. Because she’s allergic to modern food, she grows her own fruit in the basement. Also, she’s wearing massively chipped dark nail polish, the kind of WTF touch that makes you stop and wonder – WTF? Actually, Sound of My Voice relies heavily on just that kind of WTF-ness. Is Maggie a con artist, a master manipulator, as Peter and Lorna at first believe her to be? But when she appears to have read bits of Peter’s past as if they were tealeaves, doubt begins to creep in, driving the couple apart. Maggie certainly knows how to challenge her followers, urging them to eat apples tainted with something that causes them to throw up (the fruit is a metaphor for logic, you see) and serving them a post-fast repast straight out of Fear Factor (I won’t tell you what it consists of, but she seems to carry a supply of it around in a baggie). There’s also lots of sharing and hugging, Esalen-style, as Maggie probes the psyches of those in her midst, testing them to see if they’re worthy of the wisdom she’s carrying around in her futuristic noggin. Director Zal Batmanglij – also Marling’s co-writer — doesn’t attempt too many fancy tricks, other than dividing his movie into convenient, bite-sized chapters. He and Marling infuse the story with just enough slackerish suspense: You may not care much about the rather aimless lead characters, but you do want to know what this Maggie shaman is all about. That’s partly thanks to Marling’s off-kilter charisma, which appears to be equal parts nerd-girl intensity and beach-babe shrug. Marling garnered heaps of attention last year for Another Earth , a movie she both cowrote and starred in, and it’s clear to see she knows how to do a lot with a little. The question of whether it’s enough depends on your expectations, and it’s possible that people have taken Marling too seriously too soon, which in turn has led her to take herself too seriously. She certainly digs right into this enigmatic role, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find her weirdly fascinating, with her heavy eyebrows and serene, pillowy half-smile. Still, a bit of skepticism is a good thing when dealing with either cults or alleged wunderkinds. At one point in Sound of My Voice , Maggie’s followers urge her to sing a song from the future, and she obliges, reluctantly, with an a capella version of a sweet little ditty about life changing all around us. A guy named Lem is banished from the circle forever after he points out that, far from being a song from the future, the tune Maggie just warbled is actually a Cranberries hit from the ’90s. Lem just may be the hero of the movie. Similarly, the jury is still out on just what it is, exactly, Marling is trying to sell us. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Pop star tweets standard and deluxe album covers for June 19 release, cryptically telling fans, ‘expect the unexpected.’ By Katie Byrne Justin Bieber on his Believe album cover Photo: Justin Bieber/ Twitter Judging by the cover art for Justin Bieber ‘s Believe album, the 18-year-old pop star is well aware of one of his best assets: his boyish good looks. The cover, which Bieber tweeted on Friday evening (April 27), is simply a black-and-white close-up of his face with the word “BELIEVE” stamped in a yellow caution-tape font underneath. “Here is the #BELIEVEalbumCover standard version,” he tweeted, followed by a second tweet that included a sepia-toned version of the same image: “and this is the DELUXE #BELIEVEalbumCover – #52DAYS – excited? expect the unexpected.” After posting the Believe album cover on Friday, Bieber retweeted one fan’s over-the-top reaction to the artwork: “That awkward moment when I almost ran over a lady and hit the car in front of me cuz I saw the #BELIEVEAlbumCover lololol,” @julieannxoxo wrote. Bieber just revealed the June 19 Believe release date last week on “The Voice,” also bringing along a teaser from his yet-unreleased “Boyfriend” video. Even after revealing that sneak peek, Bieber was spotted shooting new scenes for the highly anticipated video, kissing a mystery brunette (hey, that’s not Selena!) on set. “The concept of this video, I mean, it’s not like a steady concept,” Bieber told MTV News while shooting the video back in March. “It’s not like ‘Justin follows this girl to this spot.’ No, it’s a bunch of amazing scenes: like a fire scene, we have an ice scene. “It’s kind of like bouncing back and forth,” he said. “And then there’s scenes of me and just a bunch of girl dancers, and just some great shots, great artistic shots, great shots of me smiling. It’s fun.” What do you think of the album cover? Let us know in the comments below! Related Artists Justin Bieber
There is currently no law that says you have to hand over a foul to a nearby toddler who was also reaching for it and cries as a result … but come on, guys. At the Rangers-Yankees game Wednesday night, a couple was so stoked to have caught one, they not only didn’t give the thing up, they openly celebrated and preened for the cameras with the ball as the youngster bawled nearby: Crying Rangers Fan Loses Foul Ball to Adults This earned them a tongue-lashing from Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay, and landed the three-year-old and his parents on Good Morning America (above). Luckily for our little buddy, the Rangers are giving him a ball signed by the ENTIRE TEAM. Class move by Texas and not a bad consolation prize for the kid. Sean Leonard and Shannon Moore, on the other hand, have been castigated by the media – and wants an apology from Kay, who led the charge. “Oh my God they can’t give it to the kid? They’re actually like rubbing it in the kid’s face. Very cold,” he said of the pair, which disputed this account. They told a Dallas television station that they had no idea the young boy next to them was crying or even upset over missing out on the baseball. Leonard and Moore say they were simply caught up in the moment during the game and would’ve given the toddler the ball if they’d seen him. They want an apology from the Yankees’ play-by-play man for his remarks about them. Think they deserve it? Or should they sell their ball and buy a clue?
