Brooks & Dunn’s ACM Tribute Adds Seven Country Artists, Jennifer Hudson
The Academy of Country Music has added seven country artists, as well as Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), to its upcoming Brooks & Dunn tribute concert. Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Taylor Swift and Sugarland have all joined the list of performers for ACM Presents: Brooks & Dunn — The Last Rodeo, which will be filmed on April 19 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The special will air on CBS on May 23. Previously-announced entertainers include Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. Tickets are still available for the concert for $150 and $100, with proceeds benefiting ACM Lifting Lives, the organization’s charitable fund.
Lawyers for legendary music producer Phil Spector have asked an appellate court to throw out his second-degree murder conviction on grounds of judicial error and prosecutorial misconduct.
In an extremely detailed 148-page brief filed Wednesday, the attorneys cited multiple reasons they believe Spector was denied his right to a fair trial. They asked the California Second District Court of Appeal to reverse the jury verdict and order a new trial.
Among the issues raised was the admission of testimony from five women who claimed they were threatened by Spector with guns in years past and the prosecution’s use of a videotape of the trial judge commenting on evidence in the case. They said prosecutors improperly used the women’s testimony to persuade jurors to convict Spector “based on his bad character and evil propensities.” They said that was impermissible under the law.
Spector, the 70-year-old rock music producer, is in prison serving a sentence of 19 years to life for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, who was shot through the mouth in Spector’s castle-like mansion seven years ago. Spector’s defense team argued that the one-time star of “Barbarian Queen,” was depressed and shot herself.
It took prosecutors two trials to convict Spector. The first trial ended in a jury deadlock.
In the appeal, attorney Dennis Riordan outlined errors he said were committed by Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler in both trials, calling one of the judge’s actions “startling.”
The appeal said that occurred when Fidler allowed prosecutors in the second trial to show jurors a videotape from a hearing held outside the presence of Spector and his jury in the first trial. On the tape, they said, the judge was seen interpreting the action of a key forensic witness testifying about the position of blood spatter on Clarkson’s body.
Riordan said that in final arguments prosecutors showed side-by-side photos of the forensic witness and the judge and pointed to them as “persons who supplied crucial evidence supporting a guilty verdict.”
They quoted from a transcript in which the judge resolved a conflict over where a blood spot was located. The judge later refused to exclude his own comments saying he had the right to say what he observed in court.
“Under California law, a judge may not offer evidence in a trial over which he presides,” said the appeal, adding that Fidler could not be cross-examined by the defense on what the prosecution told jurors was the most crucial issue of the case — whether blood spatter evidence showed who pulled the trigger on the gun.
“The evidence was profoundly conflicted on the one issue at the center of the case: who was holding the firearm when it discharged” the appeal said.
Riordan, a highly regarded San Francisco appellate lawyer, was joined by his partner, Donald M. Horgan and well known San Diego attorney Charles Sevilla in filing the appeal.
Among their arguments were claims that the prosecutors’ inflammatory language in closing arguments and their “vituperative attacks on the integrity of defense counsel and the expert witnesses…passed over the line separating aggressive advocacy from prosecutorial misconduct.”
They cited Deputy District attorney Alan Jackson’s final argument in which he accused defense attorneys of soliciting untruthful testimony from expert witnesses by paying them huge fees. They called that egregious misconduct.
The appeal quoted Jackson as telling jurors: “How does homicide become a suicide? Just write a big fat check…Just go out and buy yourself a scientist.”
After those comments to the jury, defense attorney Doron Weinberg moved for a mistrial claiming the remarks were prejudicial, saying Jackson was accusing him of paying people to lie.
The judge turned down the motion and commented it was “a fair inference that if you pay them enough they will say anything,” the appeal said.
The appeal focused heavily on Fidler’s decision to allow testimony from five women who had dated Spector in the past, some in decades before, who told of his penchant for threatening women with guns. The lawyers said the incidents they described did not meet the test of similarity to the events surrounding Clarkson’s death.
“None of the…evidence involved events in which Mr. Spector put a gun in someone’s mouth, much less fired it.”
The appeal said the judge also improperly allowed the prosecution to assert that Spector “had a history and propensity of violence against women and thus should be convicted based on his bad character and evil propensities.”
The lawyers said there was “a cumulative prejudicial impact” on jurors which “cannot be deemed harmless given the inflammatory and lurid manner in which the prosecution made use of the material in closing arguments.”
They noted that Jackson and Deputy District Attorney Truc Do used the term “pattern” 40 times in closing arguments to describe Spector’s behavior.
The state attorney general’s office, which is to file a reply brief next month, did not return a call seeking comment.
Iggy Pop was starting to feel like the Susan Lucci of rock ‘n’ roll.
Just as the veteran soap actress believed she might never win a Daytime Emmy, the godfather of punk was certain his groundbreaking band The Stooges wouldn’t ever earn a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Well, as it turns out, Lucci got her gold statue on the 19th try. And Iggy and the boys finally are getting their shot to search and destroy at Monday’s induction ceremony, on their eighth attempt.
“At least I won’t be nominated anymore,” Pop said, laughing.
He believed The Stooges never would get into the Rock Hall “right up until the day before somebody called me.”
“I kept telling the guys over and over: ‘We’re not gonna get in, guys.’ Yeah. I was absolutely sure of that,” Pop said in an interview.
It’s hard to say exactly what turned the tide in voter sentiment, but Pop points to three possibilities: the band’s long streak of Rock Hall futility, the January 2009 death of founding member Ron Asheton and … Madonna.
The Stooges honored their fellow Michigan native by performing rocking versions of two of her hits — “Burning Up” and “Ray of Light” — on the night of the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Pop says the gig helped provide some much-needed exposure for a band that wasn’t really heard from for 30 years — the result of numerous band breakups and lineup changes that current members blame on drugs and fights over money.
“I thought, ‘Well, some of the people there will see that we don’t have horns. We’re not gonna breathe fire on the tables or anything,’” he said. “I knew the thing would be televised, and 15 to 20 percent of the viewers wouldn’t be able to differentiate. If they see you on TV, they’ll think you’ve been inducted anyway.”
Whatever the reason, the guys will be on stage at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, but this time they’ll be performing their own tunes.
They selected “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Search and Destroy,” two songs Stooges guitarist James Williamson says are “the most representative” of the band’s work.
The latter was on the 1973 album “Raw Power,” which rates No. 125 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The magazine called it a “proto-punk-rock classic” that featured a certain “hellbent ferocity.”
Fans love and critics appreciate “Search and Destroy” for its searing guitar riff and signature Iggy Pop lyrics. It kicks off with the singer’s guttural snarl: “I’m a street-walkin’ cheetah with a heart full of napalm.”
The song also served as the soundtrack for a Nike ad that memorably featured athletes bleeding and vomiting during competition. The song more recently popped up in an episode of ABC’s “Lost” — it was blasted through a record player while a distraught Sawyer (Josh Holloway) drowned his sorrows following the death of his girlfriend.
Pop, whose solo effort “Lust For Life” also has enjoyed a second life in movies and commercials, sees the usage as an alternate means of exposing people to the music.
“(The Stooges) didn’t get the radio airplay,” he said. “We were shut out of the goodies of the industry.”
When he hears “Search and Destroy” and other songs from the “Raw Power” era, Pop says the music doesn’t sound dated to him.
“Every usage again and again I notice that, and I also notice that the stuff always sounds kind of rippin’,” he said of the album, which is being re-released next month.
After that comes a host of European dates for the band, which currently consists of Williamson (guitar), Ron Asheton’s brother, Scott “Rock Action” Asheton (drums), and former Minutemen member Mike Watt (bass).
Back on lead vocals is the inimitable Pop, who Williamson says simply is “one of the best there ever was.”
“The thing that Iggy did that was all his own was to confront the audience — not just act out on stage like a Mick Jagger does or something like that — but Iggy got in your face,” the guitarist said. “He got out in the audience and was right there with you. And nobody else had ever done that before. He was fearless about that.”
Williamson remembers one show in which Pop egged on the wrong guy — a biker — and got punched in the face.
“I think that was a turning point for the band,” Williamson said. “That was pretty much the beginning of the end.”
Pop went on to a successful solo career, the Ashetons joined other bands and Williamson spent the past 30 years in the business world.
But Ron Asheton’s death and the Rock Hall induction have brought them back together, more than 40 years since they exploded out of Ann Arbor, Mich., with a unique, primal sound that paved the way for the punk, grunge and garage rock movements that sprang up in their wake.
Pop says he and Williamson have been kicking around song ideas, and he’s also looking over some demos the Asheton brothers recorded prior to Ron’s death.
“We’re just kind of seeing where that goes — whether we’ll sneak out a single on the Internet or an EP or try to make a whole album. We’re not sure,” Pop said.
Before all of that gets going, though, the guys will be introduced by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and enter the Rock Hall alongside fellow inductees ABBA, Genesis, Jimmy Cliff and The Hollies.
“I am the world’s forgotten boy,” Pop screeches in “Search and Destroy.”
Teen power won out on “American Idol” as Katie Stevens claimed a place in the top 12 while a more experienced singer got the ax.
Stevens, 17, earned viewer support even though the show’s judges were disappointed earlier this week by her performance of “Breakaway” that Randy Jackson likened to karaoke.
Lilly Scott, despite earning praise for her artistry on “I Fall to Pieces,” was among the four contestants dropped Thursday. They included Alex Lambert of North Richland Hills, Texas; Todrick Hall of Arlington, Texas, and Katelyn Epperly of West Des Moines, Iowa.
Scott, who had been warned by Simon Cowell that her version of the country standard might be risky, stood onstage next to Stevens to hear which of them would be going home. Scott appeared stunned when her name was announced.
“I thought I did really well. I put my heart into every performance,” said Scott, 20, of Littleton, Colo. “I just know there’s an audience out there for me.”
Judge Kara DioGuardi, comparing the two, acknowledged that Stevens of Middlebury, Conn., had the advantage of a more contemporary sound but didn’t know herself as a performer yet, while Scott did.
It was no surprise that the judge’s favorite from previous weeks, Michael “Big Mike” Lynche, made the cut.
Lynche, 26, of Astoria, N.Y., especially dazzled the panel Wednesday with his performance of “This Woman’s Work,” which brought DioGuardi to tears.
The other finalists are Crystal Bowersox, 24, of Toledo, Ohio; Siobhan Magnus, 20, of Marstons Mills, Mass.; Lacey Brown, 24, of Amarillo, Texas; Paige Miles, 24, of Houston; Didi Benami, 23, of Los Angeles; Andrew Garcia, 24, Moreno Valley, Calif., Casey James, 27, of Fort Worth, Texas; Tim Urban, 20, of Duncanville, Texas; Aaron Kelley, 16, of Sonestown, Pa., and Lee Dewyze, 23, of Mount Prospect, Ill.
Lambert, 19, who had trouble overcoming his shyness on stage, looked downcast and tearful when he learned his fate.
“There’s a lot of things America hasn’t seen me do yet,” he said, adding, “I wish could just have broken out of my shell.”
Judge Ellen DeGeneres gave him a verbal pat on the back.
“You’re so good. Don’t ever stop believing in yourself,” she said.
Hall, however, looked on the bright side.
“This has been an awesome experience. I came here to prove that I’m not just a dancer, I can also sing. I think that I’ve done that,” he said, earning encouragement from Jackson. “Fantastic, dude,” the judge told him.
DioGuardi had criticized Epperly for “going through the motions” on her version of “I Feel the Earth Move” earlier this week. Cowell compared her performance to request night at a restaurant, but added that he did like her full, curly locks that evoked the song’s composer, Carole King.
“I’m not stopping now. It’s just a push actually, for me. I’ll do more stuff,” Epperly said Thursday.
The 22 pieces of custom-made furniture Michael Jackson commissioned for his London home are going on the auction block.
Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions says a gilded red velvet sofa that seats nine, a leopard-print chair trimmed with ostrich feathers and a pair of velvet armchairs embroidered with gold eagles are among the offerings.
Jackson intended to use the furnishings during his “This Is It” comeback concert run in London.
Fans can visit a re-creation of the home at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood casino from June 14 to June 25 before the items are sold at auction.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit two charities: MusiCares, which provides health care and other services for struggling musicians, and Joshua’s Heart, which aims to end world hunger.
If you’ve ever been to Nashville, you’ve surely visited the world famous Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge on Lower Broadway. It’s the epitome of a honky-tonk where country music can be heard continuously on that tiny wooden stage by the front door. It’s where Kris Kristofferson’s name is written on the ceiling upstairs and pictures of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline decorate the smoke-stained walls. It’s a place where Nashville memories are made — or forgotten — depending on how much you’ve had to drink. But nonetheless, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge is a staple of Nashville and this month marks its 50th anniversary.
The late Tootsie Bess bought the bar (once known as Mom’s) back in March of 1960 and renamed it Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. As the story goes, the place was painted an orchid-like purple — hence the “Orchid” name. Ever since its opening, the bar has been an attraction for country music lovers and hopefuls. But no matter what brings a person to Tootsie’s, everyone leaves with a story.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw it. I was on a family trip and we watched two young women walking in. I thought, “Wow, now that looks like fun. We sure don’t have that back home.” My mom on the other hand, said aloud, “Where is their mother?” We still joke about that today. And as soon as I got the chance to move to Nashville, you bet that’s where I went.
What are some of your favorite Tootsie’s memories?
Gone, but so not forgotten. That’s how I feel about Lance Smith, the former CMT Top 20 Countdown host and red-carpet anchor for every country music awards event I ever watched. He left CMT late last year, which bummed me out, but I’ve kept in virtual touch with him after he moved out to Los Angeles to pursue bigger dreams. He will be briefly heading back to Nashville to teach a two-day workshop at The Actor’s School next week (March 15-16), explaining all about how to be a show host. Smith always made it look easy, but I’m guessing that it’s not, and that a lot of work goes into that kind of gig. The class is $150, so if you’ve ever dreamed of interviewing stars and getting paid to talk about entertainment, it might be the best $150 you’ve ever spent.
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