Tag Archive | Lady GaGa

Katy Perry and Kristen Stewart Fighting Over Role in Freddie Mercury Movie

Dec30

Katy Perry Freddie Mercury
Image Source

From Ultimate Classic Rock:

Pop singer Katy Perry and  Twilight star Kristen Stewart are reportedly fighting over a plum role in an upcoming movie about the life of flamboyant Queen front man Freddie Mercury. According to a recent article, the pair are both vying against Lady Gaga for the role of Mary Austin, Mercury’s lifelong best friend and confidante with whom he had a romantic relationship in the ’70s.

Mercury lived with Austin in the early ’70s before beginning a relationship with a male record company executive, and even after that, the pair were best friends for the rest of his life. He was the godfather to her oldest son, and when he died in 1991, he left his London home to Austin instead of his partner, Jim Hutton.

“Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Kristen Stewart are on the short list for Mary, who played a huge role in Freddie’s life,” a source reportedly told Star magazine (quote via Popcrush). “They all desperately want the part, and it’s getting ugly!”

Sacha Baron Cohen is slated to play Mercury in the biopic, and he reportedly has the final say in choosing his leading lady. The women apparently aren’t doing themselves any favors with their catty behavior. “With the girls fighting like this, it’s just hurting their chances of getting the part,” the source adds. “It’s unprofessional, and Sacha is tired of the back-and-forth — he wants to choose one of them and be done with it.”

Screenwriter Peter Morgan says he has had to tread carefully in dealing with the three surviving members of Queen for the film, which has no title or projected release date as yet. ‘Queen are sensitive because it will show rancour and disagreements in the collaborative process,” he tells Time Out. “In a way, the film, for me, reflects my own experience of film making as a collaborative process. Just as a film is never the result of one person, so the band doesn’t like the idea of Queen being ‘a band by Freddie Mercury’ – and they’re right. It won’t just be about Freddie Mercury.”

Fine Dining at Philippe: Haute Chinese Cuisine By Philippe Chow

Jul26

Fine Dining in Manhattan isn’t always all about molecular gastronomy and tiny portions served on over-sized plates. While “Fine Dining Bargain” is not a phrase you are likely to hear at any time other than during restaurant week, there are upscale restaurants in town where you can get an exceptional value for your hard earned cash while also indulging your inner Foodie. One such destination is Philippe on East 60th Street, which has become a favorite of celebrity clientele from Lady Gaga to President Obama, and we think we know why: the location is discreet and food is off the hook.

Mango Ice Tea Cocktail: Potent & Refreshing (Photos By Anne Raso)

The creation of Chinese-born owner and executive chef Philippe Chow, Philippe takes traditional Chinese dishes that you might find on any storefront take out menu – from Shrimp Toast to Sweet & Sour Pork to Prawns in Black Bean Sauce – and elevates each to the realm of the gourmet. The dishes are uncomplicated; often featuring just few key ingredients, but prepared in a flavorful and creative manner that indicate you are in for some seriously exquisite food. Likewise, the tastefully minimalist interior decor allows diners to lend all of their sensory attention to the food. And while the prices may seem steep at first glance, be aware that all dishes are portioned for two, so you can easily compare an entree priced at $40 to two entrees at $20. Add a couple of appetizers and you will leave satisfied and smiling, without emptying your wallet.

Pork Dumplings: Super Yummy

Philippe’s menu is extensive and exciting. Perhaps being a bit overwhelmed with so many choices  is what prompted us to just go with familiar favorites with our appetizer selection, with mixed results. The Wok Fried Pork Dumplings ($12) were delicious and put their take-out kin to shame, but the Scallion Pancake ($12) was a bit doughy/undercooked and lacking in distinct scallion flavor. Better options would have been to go with Philippe’s acclaimed appetizer selections, such as the Chicken Satay ($18) – whose reddish color hinted at it having been cooked in a Tandoori oven – or the Chicken Lettuce Wraps ($18) – a very popular choice, served in what looked like main dish-sized portion, which was enjoyed by diners at tables on either side of us. “Next Time,” as they say!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Recommended

Beijing Chicken

For our entrees we were delighted with the tender Beijing Chicken with candied walnuts in a sweet brown sauce ($44/2), but we would recommend that meat lovers bypass the Crispy Beef ($56/2) which, though a house favorite, and admittedly lovely to look at, tasted predominately of its white flour coating and thus was very disappointing.

Crispy Beef: Looks Great, Yes. Tastes Great, Not So Much.

Instead, red meat fans should head directly for the melt-in-your mouth House Mignon ($75/2). Craving a green vegetable, we spotted this dish at a neighboring table and added a side order of Sauteed String Beans in a light Black Bean Sauce ($10), which were the best I’ve ever tasted.

String Beans: Delish

We were also distracted by an unidentified, deep fried prawn dish which the couple seated adjacent to us confessed is the pivotal reason they visit Philippe regularly. “We order it ever time we eat here, and we love it!” they exclaimed. (I just wish I could recall the name of the dish!).  Another specialty of Philippe is the whole Peking Duck served table side (allow 45 minute for this dish) which has been rated “Best Peking Duck in the City” by The NY Observer, New York Magazine and several other notable food critics. Prices for this special, crispy-skinned treat range from $55 to $75 depending on the weight of the duck.

Service at Philippe is top notch. Our waiter was very friendly, super attentive and offered suggestions as well as happily answering any questions we had about the ingredients of specific dishes. The food also arrived at our table with remarkable swiftness, yet you could tell each dish was made fresh to order. Between each course we were presented with steaming hot, lemongrass-scented hand towels, which added a touch of pampered luxury to the dining experience. Philippe’s polished attentiveness with regard to every facet of customer care allows the staff to turn over tables multiple times during dinner service, though we never felt rushed.

Molten Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. Moo.

After rounding out the meal with coffees and a couple of decadent dessert selections, we were beyond full but couldn’t stop babbling about all of the delicious dishes we wished we could have tasted. Philippe is definitely a place where stage whispers of “I want what they’re having” are overheard a lot. But one can only eat so much in one sitting, which is why repeat visits are in order.

Philippe By Philippe Chow is located at 33 East 60th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues in New York City. Phone 212-644-8885 for Reservations.

Lady Gaga Dollar Bills By Craig Gleason

Jun13


A Selection of Craig Gleason’s “Gaga Dollars” (Image Source)

Artist Craig Gleason likes to draw Lady Gaga on the dollar bill, which he then sells as individual works of original art. Genius. Sometimes Craig frames and sells these altered pieces of still-negotiable currency in sets of three or six bills all grouped together. You can kind of see how these things would lend themselves well to having mass appeal – because Gaga is everywhere – as well as a high collectability-factor. Read about and see more Gaga Dollars at Gleason’s Website (NSFW, trust me). The bills pictured above are from 2010, but he might still be doing this project. I’m not sure because the header graphic of his blog is so disturbing I had a hard time keeping the browser open.

Music Lovers: Hang With Rock Stars at Rock Paper Photo!

May29


The Beatles By Tom Murray

If you’re passionate about music and appreciate a photograph’s ability to tell a story beyond words, you will have a field day checking out the archives of rock photography on sale at Rock Paper Photo. Whether you dig modern pop stars like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber or go for the classic rockers like Led Zeppelin, The Stones, Bowie and The Beatles, you’ll find a vast cache of both black & white and color shots, representing most genres of music, from a variety of famous photographers, in all sizes and within a price range to fit the casual fan to the avid collector. Rock Paper Photo was co-founded by Guy Oseary (Madonna’s Manager) and LiveNation, the world’s leading live entertainment and eCommerce company, so between those two entities you know the site has access to any image you could covet. I recommend you cruise on over there and waste some time right now! And have your credit card handy!


Ben Harper By Vincent Lignier

Must See Art: Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty at the MET

May22

Alexander McQueen was not so much a fashion designer as he was an artist who created wearable works of art. When McQueen died by his own hand at the age of 40 in February of 2010, the world lost a staggering genius whose contribution to the art world was, at that point, already unfathomably huge. Thanks to curator Andrew Bolton, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has installed a phenomenal retrospective exhibit called Savage Beauty that showcases the Haute Couture collections of McQueen in a way that will undoubtedly touch the heart and stir the mind of everyone who sees it, making the tragedy of his early death almost unbearably poignant.

All Images Courtesy of The Met. Click on Each Image to Enlarge for Detail

Savage Beauty is divided into six consecutive galleries entitled The Romantic Mind, Romantic Gothic and the Cabinet of Curiosities, Romantic Exoticism, Romantic Nationalism, Romantic Primitivism and Romantic Naturalism, and each one is a mind blowing experience on its own. On display you will see garments made not only of traditional fabrics such as silk, wool and synthetics but also many natural materials including feathers, horsehair, metal, glass, fresh and fabric flowers, wood, and even razor clam and muscle shells. McQueen also created unique, thematic accessories to accent his garments, such as elaborate headdresses made of carved wood, metal, animal horns, and butterflies among many other materials. His signature “Armadillo shoe” can be seen in a variety of styles and is easily recognizable as a style of footwear that Lady Gaga has made popular just recently.

While McQueen also designed ready-to-wear clothing, as stated previously, the clothing on display here dwells in the realm of exotic costuming and wearable art that was not really made for everyday use. Much of it also borders on fetishistic, and that adds to its incredible beauty and enigma. For example, there is one striking headpiece on display called the Crown of Thorns Headdress that must really be seen to be believed. Further, Savage Beauty is a multi-sensory experience, consisting not only of the stunning visuals created by McQueen’s clothing and accessories but also by the design aspects of the individual galleries in which the garments are displayed. One gallery is decorated in a surface treatment of ancient mirrors while another is contained amid walls of grey concrete, and yet another collection is displayed in a room with walls made of rusted metal. In one of the final galleries you’ll see the walls adorned in McQueen’s own drawings, which were blown up to create wall treatments.

The exhibit  takes on an almost Disneyland-esque feeling, where it seems like you are on more of a theme park ride than walking through a staid art museum. Each gallery has accompanying visuals such as video screens on the walls or embedded in the ceiling and there is an amazing 3-D hologram of Kate Moss from one of McQueen’s later shows on display in one of the final galleries. Of course, no fashion show would be complete without a soundtrack, and there is music that ranges from modern abstract rock to tribal rhythms to Mozart, as well as sound effects such as the sounds of a beating heart and shallow breathing in one gallery while another gallery is filled with the low rumbling of an excited crowd. All of these different sensory aspects come together to make Savage Beauty’s “Oh Wow” factor leap off the charts.

You can watch an eight-minute video about McQueen that also previews the exhibit at this link. I cannot recommend this exhibit highly enough. In fact, I loved it so much, I actually bought the catalog ($45, on sale in the gift shop).

Savage Beauty runs through July 31, 2011 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located at 1000 Fifth Avenue, near 85th St. in New York City. The entrance line for the McQueen exhibit closes at 4:30 PM on weekdays and at 8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays. Expect to wait at least one hour in line for entrance to the exhibit, but be assured that it will be very well worth it.

Queen Celebrate 40th Anniversary With Album Re-Issues

Mar2

QUEEN’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION KICKS OFF

WITH DELUXE REISSUE OF

FIRST FIVE STUDIO ALBUMS, PLUS GREATEST HITS II,

 “STORMTROOPERS IN STILETTOS” GALLERY EXHIBITION AND MORE

Queen’s 40th anniversary is now upon us, and the band plans to pull out all the stops to celebrate this historic occasion. “2011 is an important year for Queen,” said Brian May “and there will be a lot of activity.” Adds Roger Taylor, “I can’t believe it’s been that long and that we are still around in such a big way. I’m amazed and grateful!” This yearlong event will be marked by a series of releases, re-releases, special limited-edition items and events around the world.

It was in March 1971 that bassist John Deacon joined May and Taylor’s buzzed-about London group, which had changed its name from Smile to Queen nine months earlier, following the addition of multitalented singer/pianist Freddie Mercury, thus completing the classic lineup. The four simpatico musicians proceeded to take the world by storm. The band has released a total of 18 chart-topping albums and 18 #1 singles, while selling more than 300 million albums worldwide, making them one of the biggest rock acts of all time. They’ve received seven Ivor Novello awards in the U.K., were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003, the  UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and even received their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in October 2002.

As live artists, Queen literally conquered the world. Acknowledged as one of the greatest stadium bands of all time, Queen performed over 700 concerts, reaching into every corner of the world. They achieved rock history by being the first band to open up South America and the Eastern Bloc, with world record- breaking concerts in Argentina, Brazil and  Hungary.

This is a timeless band whose music retains such immediacy and undiminished power that new fans continue to discover and embrace it, along the way inspiring a host of diverse artists from Lady Gaga (who took her name from Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga”), and Katy Perry, through to the Foo Fighters.  It’s worth noting that Queen’s videos have collectively generated well north of 300 million views online—a remarkable figure that figures to expand exponentially with the launch of a dedicated Vevo channel this spring, in yet another iteration of the anniversary rollout.

As the centerpiece in the 40th anniversary celebration, Queen’s entire 15-album studio catalog is being reissued in a series of deluxe editions. Every note is being tweaked, every piece of artwork is being cleaned, freshened up and resourced, wherever necessary, with the legendary Bob Ludwig doing the remastering, working from the original source material. The albums will be released in three waves, staggered over the next year, with the first wave—comprising the first five LPs—coming this May.

More Info and Bonus Track Listing After The Jump!

Continue reading →

Virgin Mobile Announces Monster Blogger Contest for Lady GaGa's 2011 Tour

Feb26

WHAT IT IS: Virgin Mobile is looking for 10 amazing bloggers or video journalists (or any Lady Gaga fan for that matter) to submit a 1-to-2 minute video showing us why you should be the Little Local Monster Blogger. The 10 winners will join one of the Monster Ball shows alongside Virgin Mobile’s Monster Ball blogger, Dannielle Owens-Reid. Nine (9) winners must be residents of the U.S. and one winner (for the Newark NJ show) must be an international participant.

WHO IT’S FOR: Lady Gaga fans, emerging video journalists and bloggers. Participants must be 18 years of age or older.

WHO IT’S FROM: Your friends at Virgin Mobile. We provide unlimited data on our Beyond Talk plans to fuel your unlimited obsessions.

HOW THE WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN: The 10 winners will be selected from the highest voted submissions for each show. From this talent pool, final selections for the blogger for each show will be made by Virgin Mobile representatives, based on talent, originality, writing ability, style and creativity.

WHAT THE WINNER GETS: The winners will get behind the scenes access to assist, interview and document alongside Monster Ball blogger Dannielle Owens-Reid on their selected tour date.

TOUR DATES TO SUBMIT TO: There will be one winner per Lady Gaga Monster Ball tour show. Except for the Newark show, which is open ONLY to international (non-U.S.) participants, transportation, accommodations and other expenses are not provided and are the responsibility of the winner.  Participants must refer to the tour dates below and pick the location of the show nearest them for their entry (participants will be submitting for a chance to blog from that show). If you are an international participant, you can only submit for the Newark show.
Tour Dates Are:

· MARCH 25 / LAS VEGAS – MGM Grand

· MARCH 26 / PHOENIX – US Airways Center

· MARCH 28 / LOS ANGELES – Staples Center

· APRIL 8 / HOUSTON – Toyota Center

· APRIL 9 / NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Arena

· APRIL 13 / MIAMI – American Airlines Arena

· APRIL 18 / ATLANTA – Gwinnett Center

· APRIL 19 / NASHVILLE – Bridgestone Arena

· APRIL 22/ NEWARK – PRUDENTIAL CENTER*

· APRIL 23 / UNIONDALE – Nassau Coliseum

* Newark Show: Only participants living outside of the U.S. may enter (flights and 2 nights accommodation and a letter of invitation, if required for visa purposes, will be provided by Talenthouse for this show)

WHAT TO DO NEXT

Make a 1-to-2 minute video showing off your best work to be the Little Local Monster Blogger in your city, and upload it to YouTube. Be sure to tag & title your video submission on YouTube using the following key words: virginmobile, ladygaga, [city] of the show you are submitting for, talenthouseusername, talenthouse, littlemonster

Example: virginmobile, ladygaga, losangeles, lolly, talenthouse, littlemonste

To submit your video, upload your submission to YouTube, then click the “Participate” button and enter your Youtube URL and click “Get Video.”

Please be sure to upload your final video to YouTube at least 48 hours prior to the submission deadline.

Your video being submitted for the Creative Invite (the “entry”) must be in acceptable YouTube format. The Entry must not exceed two (2) minutes in length and must not exceed thirty (30) MB in size. The entry cannot have any music in the background. The entry cannot have been submitted previously in a promotion of any kind or exhibited or displayed publicly through any means.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Submission Deadline: March 7, 2011

Voting Starts: March 8, 2011 at 10am (PST)

Voting Ends: March 15, 2011 at 10am (PST)

Winner Announcement: March 17, 2011 at 10am (PST)

Good luck!

RIP Alexander McQueen

Feb11

Wow, talk about sad and shocking news: Fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead this morning at his home in west London. He was 40 years old. McQueen designed simply amazing clothes that were often more like works of art than wearable fashion. He will be missed.


Alexander McQueen’s Titanic Ballerina Pump

Kanye West: Tool of The Century!

Sep14

Kanye West Taylor Swift

Please Do Not Support This Man

Have you heard / read yet about the classless, douchebag stunt Kanye West pulled at the Video Music Awards last night? The way he completely upstaged Taylor Swift? Or did you maybe witness it in real time? If not, let me know and I’ll send a link to the YouTube video – assuming it hasn’t already been posted a million times to your FaceBook news feed. Gee whiz, what a tool that guy is. I DVRd the whole VMA mess so I could watch it tonight, fast forward through 90% of the crappy parts (i.e. all the music performances) and just watch host Russell Brand being sexy and hilarious. Now it looks like I might have to watch a little bit more than that, because I also understand that this person Lady GaGa – whose music I have also never heard but whose wardrobe I know from memory – did something interesting. But getting back to Kanye West, in every single clip I’ve ever seen of him at an awards show, he’s either interrupting someone or throwing a shit fit. I was on his side for about five minutes for what he said about George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina, but I really don’t understand how he has fans. His best song was based on having lifted an entire Elton John song (“Someone Saved My Life Tonight”), which he then rapped over. Talent! I remember about five or so years ago, my writer friend Nicole and I were reading the results of the Village Voice’s annual “Pazz & Jop” music critics poll, as we had probably submitted our ballots for the only ten rock-type albums that managed to get released that year. And I’ll just never, ever forget Nicole’s voice asking me quite earnestly and sincerely, “Who the fuck is Kanye West?” because he had won the top position of “Best Album Of the Year,” despite the fact that important rock critics like Nicole and me (sarcasm mode turned off) had never even heard of him.  That was the year I stopped writing CD reviews for good.