Word: star
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Liza Minnelli wasn't the only reason Rosie O'Donnell's NBC variety special flopped a couple of weeks back, but she sure didn't help. Waddling out onstage as the show's big-name guest star, accompanied by fervent cheerleading from the "surprised" host, she looked plump, shaky and a little out of touch. As my colleague James Poniewozik pointed out in his review, the show's disappointing ratings were further evidence that Broadway is not mainstream American entertainment anymore...
...pretty much obliterates the intricately ironic lyrics in Comden and Green's "If.") She shines in a medley paying tribute to the Palace Theatre's vaudeville past and proves she hasn't lost much off her fastball in "Cabaret" - only this time, the famously large-living star pronounces, "When I go, I'm not goin' like Elsie...
...verge of either laughter or hysterical tears doesn't really seem to connect with the specific lyrics she's singing, but it's expressing something - if only her fierce love of performing and need for affirmation. The concert is a testament to the power of an indomitable star of diminishing powers who still has enough adrenaline, musical instincts and smart packaging to get up there and demand our love. Maybe she even deserves...
...black to white radio. He finds Chuck Berry, the guitar-slinging, pioneering rocker of “Johnny B. Goode” fame with only one vice: women. Chuck Berry, played by Mos Def, is soon incarcerated for his antics and Chess sets off to uncover yet another star. This time, Chess’s salvation comes in the form of talented jazz/blues singer Etta James, played by Beyoncé Knowles. While Beyoncé’s voice doesn’t quite match the prowess of James’s in the classic “At Last...
...club rap that is “What A World,” featuring ex-Harvard popsters Chester French, Common’s delivery is reduced to simple monosyllabic rhymes with the same monotonous meter: “I met a boy from Chicago, had dreams to be a star / And make a way, and get some pay, and drive a fancy car.” Nevertheless, Common’s rapping seems practically virtuosic compared to the album’s disappointing guest appearances by Cee-Lo, Chester French, and Kanye West. Kanye’s performance...