- Give up the fight, Simon Cowell. Admit that one of your
crappy reality karaoke shows has run its course and move on to the next totally
lame vehicle to take aspiring karaoke-ers and turn them into terrible,
disposable and eminently forgettable mainstream pop hacks. For now, Cowell is
holding firm and defiantly insisting that “The X Factor
(Karaoke)” will be back for a fourth season. What Cowell isn't so sure of is
whether he wants to slum it as one of the show’s judges next season. "The
show will be back next season," Cowell told reporters on a conference call
Monday. "As to my role on it, I might have a different kind of role."
In other words, let me distance myself from this dumpster fire and move behind
the scenes so someone else can take the bullet and be the face of this mess
when it’s ultimately canceled. Cowell is already an executive producer on the
show as well as its only original remaining judge. He explained that e is in
"the middle of a presentation of what we think the show should look like
and what the fans would like. And yes, my role could change." So what is
his official reason for considering a revised role, other than the truth, of
course? According to the egomaniac himself, he feels that the show "has
got to be more different next year than it was this year.” That’s an ironic
thing to say because every one of his reality shows is a .0000001 percent
variation on the exact same concept. Cowell added that he does not want to
bring back this season's judging panel, continuing a trend of rapid turnover
that has plagued the show in each of its first three seasons. Paula Abdul and
Nicole Scherzinger (who, in turn, replaced Cheryl Cole) left after Season 1. L.A.
Reid and Britney Spears walked away after Season 2, with Destiny’s Child
also-ran Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio stepping in. Along with a new judging
panel, Cowell confirmed that the show is likely to go from two nights of
ear-assailing musical garbage to one next season, which is halfway to where it
needs to be………
- The world’s obsession with freaks and their art never
fails to impress. George Zimmerman is a loose cannon, a man who may have gotten away with
murder and has ended up on the wrong side of the law multiple times since his
inexplicable acquittal, and the public’s fascination with this fool is
absolutely astounding. Zimmerman, who will almost certainly need all the money
he can get to pay his never-ending legal fees, is selling a patriotic painting
on eBay that has already amassed more than 90 bids, pushing the price of the
painting to nearly $100,000. His current legal eagle of choice, attorney Jayne
Weintraub, confirmed the artwork's authenticity when it was put up for auction
on eBay. The auction began modestly with a bid of $50, but skyrocketed to
$99,966 after 98 bids as of 3 a.m. EST on Tuesday. Perhaps the price is flying
up the scale because the 18-by 24-inch painting is autographed and features a
blue American flag with a few words from the Pledge of Allegiance:
"God," "one nation," "with liberty and justice for
all." Better still, the item comes accompanied by a creepy, skeevy message
from the Z-Man himself. "First hand painted artwork by me, George
Zimmerman. Everyone has been asking what I have been doing with myself. I found
a creative, way to express myself, my emotions and the symbols that represent
my experiences. My art work allows me to reflect, providing a therapeutic
outlet and allows me to remain indoors :-) I hope you enjoy owning this piece
as much as I enjoyed creating it. Your friend, George Zimmerman," the
description reads on eBay. The idea of Zimmerman as your friend is the most
terrifying aspect of this farce, not to mention the fact that no one really
needs a friend who is reportedly $2.5 million in debt……..
- This is not going to end well. The New York Knicks are a
terrible basketball team and someone is going to pay the price…soon. Owner
James Dolan informed the coaches and staff before the season that he expected
an NBA title this year and now, the Knicks are 7-17 and mired at the bottom of
a terrible Eastern Conference. Forget the playoffs; the lottery is imminent for
Dolan’s team. The scapegoat for the mess has not yet been publicly identified,
but head coach Mike Woodson is
maneuvering himself into strong pole position for the fall of the firing
guillotine. After Monday’s disastrous end to a 102-101 loss to the mediocre
Washington Wizards, Woodson may want to have the cardboard boxes ready to pack
up his office. The Knicks had a one-point lead with 24 seconds to play and a
foul to give, but they elected not to use the foul and instead allowed Bradley
Beal to drive for an uncontested layup with 6.9 seconds to play – coaching fail
No. 1. Now down one point and with plenty of time left, Woodson eschewed his
final three timeouts and allowed Carmelo Anthony to dribble haphazardly up the
court and fling a terrible, off-balance 25-foot shot that fell short as time
expired. The loss was the latest disappointment in a season full of them, but
there is good news for Woodson. According to the man who fired the ill-fated
last shot, the coach is safe. "As far as I'm concerned, he's secure right
now. I haven't heard anything," Anthony said. "There's nothing to
discuss. He's our coach, and we're rolling with him." To his credit, Woodson
a) has probably had the will to win beaten out of him by one of the most poorly
assembled rosters in the NBA and b) admitted that he “probably” should have
called timeout to set up the final possession. "I probably should have
taken a timeout there at the end, but you know, Beno [Udrih] grabbed it [to
inbound] and the ball is in Melo's hands before I could even react, and I
should have reacted a lot sooner once the ball went through the bucket. So,
that's on me," Woodson said. The only other positive for the coach is that
Dolan gave him a public vote of confidence Nov. 20 and despite the typically
dire repercussions of such a vote, he has not yet been fired…yet……..
- High-class art for the masses? Yes, the work of the
masters – Picasso, Rembrandt, Rafael, etc. – typically hangs on the walls of
hoity-toity galleries or the mansions of the rich and arrogant, but the idea of
bringing a great work of art by one of the best artists ever to live to the
masses is a compelling concept. It’s also one that is being put to use for a
good cause in order to save a troubled town. The ancient city of Tyre in Lebanon, a UNESCO
world heritage site, is in danger of falling into oblivion and that inspired
Peri Cochin to get creative. Cochin, motivated to save Tyre, came up with the
idea of raffling off a Picasso painting with a value of at least $1 million to
rally support for the ancient city. It is the first time ever that a painting
from Pablo Picasso's own collection will be raffled off for charity, with
tickets going for $130. The raffle will take place – where else – in Paris,
where "The Man in the Opera
Hat” will be raffled off to its new owner. The auction has drawn strong
interest for hundreds of would-be Picasso owners, some excited at the chance to
own an amazing painting and others licking their chops at the chance to acquire
such a work of art and flip it for some much-needed spending cash. When Cochin
hatched the idea, the painting was hanging in a museum in New York. "Who
else than Picasso could work? When you look for a painter, a famous painter,
everyone knows Picasso," Cochin said. She asked Picasso’s family for
permission to raffle off the painting and after an anonymous donor bought it
from the New York gallery on behalf of the charity, the stage was set. The
auction will take place later this week for the 1914 painting, with the raffle
capped at 50,000 tickets. Oh, and feel free to assume that art thieves are
going to monitor this one closely on the idea that thieving a $1 million work
for art for some construction worker, librarian or secretary’s home is going to
be much easier than lifting it from a museum………
- The next shoe has dropped in Facebook’s interminable
question for monetization of every square inch of its cyberspace. The social
networking site where you can be bombarded with unwanted photos of people’s
babies doing every mundane activity possible and the riveting details of your
grandparents’ latest trip to Sarasota revealed plans on Tuesday to
begin video advertising, a move that takes direct aim at massive spending for
television ads. According to Facebook, marketers will be able to tap into video
ads in a "short amount of time." The guinea pig for the idea of an ad
for the new film “Divergent,” with the ad going for a test run this week. Just
as Facebook wanted, its stock rose 1.6 percent to $54.67 in morning trading
action following the news. Bigger, more prominent brands are among those likely
to be most excited about Facebook adding video and that would mean huge revenue
for Mark Zuckerberg and his friends. With spending on television ads expected
to reach as high as $68.5 billion in the United States this year, there is cash
aplenty. Additionally, U.S. digital video ad spending is expected to rise
nearly 40 percent in 2014, up to $5.8 billion for the year. To nudge the new
video ads gently into users’ consciousness, Facebook will mute the volume until
people turn on their audio. The new video ads will launch simultaneously on both
desktop and mobile systems……..
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