Ricky Gervais will not apologize for the jokes he’s planning to tell during this weekend’s Golden Globes telecast.

At least, that’s what he’s been explaining in one media interview after another to drum up interest for the show. Usually, the avowed athiest just does his shtick and gets out of the way.

Heck, if the folks behind the annual Globes telecast don’t want him back for another hosting assignment, so be it, he often says.

Lately, Gervais has been downright chatty in defending himself against charges that he’s far more cruel than funny. So, will this year’s event, to be broadcast 8 p.m. Sunday night on NBC, bring more of Gervais’s politically correct firepower – hitting addict celebrities, aging starlets and people of faith?

Can Gervais resist a Tebow crack?

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Even in the vast annals of Hollywood sycophantic suckuppery, the recent UK Guardian profile of Oliver Stone by Carol Cadwalladr is in a class by itself.  It is a fawning treatise hailing everything about Ollie, from his unique artistic vision to his unique attitude toward self-love – and, unfortunately, I’m not referring here to his narcissism.  Yet this hagiography still provides some intriguing clues about a question that arises every year or so when Stone puts out a movie:  Why does this pretentious clown still get taken seriously?

I think it’s because entertainment journalists seem to think he’s hot.

I mean, after all, Stone “is a man’s man… a sort of latter-day Ernest Hemingway, an action man with a reputation for women and drugs who won the Purple Heart for bravery in Vietnam “

Wow, a Purple Heart “for bravery” – glad we have the MSM’s famous layers of fact-checkers and editors hard at work making sure reporters don’t make basic, embarrassing errors.  But I digress.

The overriding theme of the profile – and Stone’s own personal narrative – is simply how hunky the auteur is.  Whether he’s palling around with Castro and Chavez or simply talking about his Daddy issues – which, trust me, are nowhere near as terrifying as his Mommy issues – we learn that Ollie is all-man, all the time. (more…)

“At last the Dodo said, ‘everybody has won, and all must have prizes.’”
- Alice in Wonderland

On Wednesday night American Idol aired its season finale.  The true star of the evening wasn’t the endless parade of aging music groups trotted out to croak medleys of their ancient hits.  Nor was it either of the two finalists anxiously hoping to be crowned the newest American Idol.

No, it was Simon Cowell, the most popular judge on the panel, who is leaving the show.  So integral is he to its success that fans and producers alike worry the show won’t be the same without him.

When American Idol first premiered, nobody would have predicted that Simon Cowell would become its favorite judge.  Instead, they might have pointed to the cloyingly supportive (and creatively medicated) Paula Abdul, who never had a negative word to say to any contestant.

The reason is very simple:  Simon Cowell is the most conservative personality on primetime network TV.  And America is a center-right country, fertile ground for Simon’s point of view. (more…)

The Sun:

TV mogul Simon Cowell says tomorrow’s General Election MUST bring change to Britain.

Writing for The Sun, he signals that the country he deeply loves needs a new government to pull it out of crisis.

Cowell, 50, talks of the need to inspire young people and unlock talent, promote family values, stimulate business and reduce knife crime.

He says: “I have always hated celebrities lecturing people on politics. So forgive me. But I am passionate about this country.

“I am equally passionate about the potential of the people who live here.”

Cowell describes Labour’s Gordon Brown as a “sincere man” but says the PM is “tired”.

He warns of the dangers of a hung parliament and casts doubts on the Lib Dems and Nick Clegg, saying: “I worry about a lot of his policies.”

And of Tory leader David Cameron, he says: “I like him, I trust him. He has substance and the stomach to navigate us through difficult times.” (more…)

Even though the show is currently in its ninth season and its panel of judges has changed throughout the years, “American Idol” remains one of the most popular programs on television today. Its combination of young talent, smart judges and song choices has made “AI” a massive success. Although the show is nearly a decade old, it’s still a fun and entertaining program that continues to inspire.

If you’re unfamiliar with the singing competition, “AI” gives young people the chance to sing and become the next American Idol. At the beginning of this season (as in past seasons), the show went on the road to various locations throughout the country to find young talent to compete on the program. Young singers performed in front of the judging panel which included a revolving door of guest judges who took the place of Paul Abdul, who left the show after last season. On the show, we are currently down to a final few contestants and each week the contestant with the lowest numbers of votes from viewers is sent home until one of the remaining contestants becomes the next American Idol. (more…)

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I have never really watched “American Idol” until this season. My wife is a huge fan and every year I would watch the first few “audition” weeks with her for the same reason people slow down near a car accident. I want to see the blood and ugliness! I love the people who didn’t have any friends to tell them they couldn’t sing and the other train wrecks that show up with the delusion that they might be the next Kelly Clarkson.

My major problem with these talent shows is they try to give the impression that all of the contestants are just diamonds in the rough that took an hour off from the Burger King to come down and give it a shot. The people at “American Idol” want you to believe they have discovered some guy with a day gig and a dream and they helped polish up their act and transformed them into stars. Adam Lambert and Kris Allen did not go stand in line with the rest of the mob. They were somehow pre-screened and told when and where to report. Is there anyone in American who thinks that Adam Lambert wasn’t a professional singer before he was on “American Idol?” (more…)

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: Obama’s Egypt speech, Massachussetts welfare, conservatives, Republicans, GOP, Michelle Obama, Sesame Street, Barbara Walters, Anderson Cooper, Rosie O’Donnell, Kelly McGillis, and Simon Cowell.

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: The War on Terrorism, President Obama, the Associated Press, Osama Bin Laden, Attorney General Eric Holder, Al Qaeda, FDA, Botox, Nancy Pelosi, Keith Olbermann, Simon Cowell, Ryan Seacrest, and Clay Aiken.

America is facing a self-esteem crisis.  There’s too damn much of it.

In a nation where failure is rewarded with bailouts, the successful are public enemy number one and society’s nannies spread the lie that everyone is a winner, a simple TV singing contest provides the loudest voice of bedrock conservative values like hard work and personal achievement.  And that voice has an English accent.

For the three folks who don’t know because they have been living in a cavern next to Osama bin Laden since 2002, “American Idol” has wannabe crooners appear before a panel of four judges and warble some song for about sixty seconds.  The viewers vote (by paying a buck to the phone company) on who stays in the contest and who gets tossed off, but before the voting the singers get feedback.  This is when the fun begins. (more…)

I was going to let this one go.  I like the story, I was a fan, and it made me smile and yeah, (sniff) warmed my heart, too.  But after a week-long worldwide hoopla, and finally this morning hearing Mike Gallagher gush about this story on his radio show, (plus the fact that I’ve been mysteriously stricken this year with a terminal case of Can’t-Shut-Up Syndrome)…

…I must weigh in.

(Hey you think living with me is fun?  Ask my family – I’m insufferable.)

Susan Boyle became an overnight sensation with her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent.   A rather frumpy and homely middle-aged woman by today’s beauty standards, she presented an unlikely candidate for singing stardom last week in front of the Celebrity judges, Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, and Piers Morgan.  But as she began to sing, everyone was snapped into shock, so unanticipated was her fine singing voice.  The ovation and accolades that followed went straight to YouTube and set Boyle on the road to viral cyberspace superstardom. (more…)

True beauty and true ugliness do not enter the room quietly. They barrel in, and spread quickly. Within hours of each other, extreme beauty and extreme ugliness came in different forms, overwhelming lesser matters.

A woman named Susan Boyle walked onto a stage in a British singing competition. A 47 year old woman who lives with a cat, she drew derisive laughter from the moment people saw her. To describe her as “frumpy” would be generous. People looked at her and thought that she was “ghastly.”

Competitions like the one she was in are for beautiful people. Frumpy people need not apply, and ghastly people should not even be outside. After all, how could society possibly survive if anything other than A-List celebrities were allowed in our living rooms?

Then she began to sing. She chose the song “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables.” From the moment the audience heard her voice, they began cheering wildly. There is beauty, and then there is sheer gorgeousness. This was one of the all time stunningly beautiful vocal performances. If she does get to sing for the Queen, there will be two queens in the room. (more…)

The Writer’s Guild (WGA) is back to doing what it does best, sending unemployed members out to threaten with picket signs before they go back home to create more TV shows about dark, gritty, dramas featuring liberal gay heroes fighting mom and dad’s racist, Bush-like values.

Sheldon Bergstein demands the guild get fair treatment, “This just isn’t fair. Everyone in this country wants to watch American Idol and nobody wants to watch what we write. When did America get so stupid?” (more…)