a division of the Chersonian Institute

Author: Cher Scholar (Page 74 of 102)

My Divas Book of Essays

Medium_My_Diva There's a new book out called "My Divas" and it's a large collection of short essays by gay men ruminating about the famous women who inspire them.

The only writer I recognized was the poet Mark Doty who talks about writer Grace Paley. Mark was a prominent poet figure while I was in graduate school at Sarah Lawrence in the mid-90s and was very popular and well-liked. I've seen him read a few times at the LA Book Festival – in what I have dubbed the "poetry nook." He's a very funny poet and an astute critic of poetry at the Book Festival's poetry panels.

But anyway, such fine divas as Cher, Bette, Ava Gardner, Jessica Lange and Tina Turner are discussed. But there are many, many more divas included and the essays are short – about 5-10 pages.

Poet Aaron Smith (who wrote "Blue on Blue Ground") wrote the essay on Cher. I wonder if he has any Cher poems. I’ll try to find out. Anyway, his essay was more of a brief personal diary of his most memorable Cher moments. It didn’t delve into characteristics of Cher specifically.

The book's jacket however does provide some illumination on why divas are so sticky with devoted fans…because they pose as simultaneously: “sister, alter ego, fairy godmother [that one seems important], and model for survival” for not only gay men by for "anyone who ever needed a muse" and that these women represent both "vindication and transcendence" and can be “where we find our courage.”

So, some interesting theories to chew on. I’d like to read more about evidence of vindication and what that might mean. A good review can be found here:

http://blog.nola.com/susanlarson/2009/05/gay_men_reflect_on_cher_and_av.html

  

Hole Fit Furor

Newholefit Last Saturday Cher was performing at the music producer David Foster's "'Hit Man: David Foster and Friends" concert at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Not a huge David Foster fan but let's let that go because he's really not much of this story…incredibly. (This story is actually apropos for this week because my maid of honor and I just started planning my bachelorette party at Mandalay Bay. I’ve always wanted to stay there and luxuriate in their beachy-pool.)

But for the life of me, I cannot figure out why Cher wearing an elderly version of her hole-fit has caused such a reaction in the press. She’s been wearing a similar version of the same outfit in all her Vegas shows, in all the Farewell shows, and an odd covered-up version in the Believe tour shows and back through time to the original one seen on the cover of People Magazineback in 1979 which was sold at her auction a few years back. Yes, the fit has evolved as her figure has evolved. But the press notices that now?? And don’t tell me they just don't pay attention to each costume in each show when the costumes are paraded out as the most newsworthy element of each dern show.

But who am I to judge the timeliness of pubic concern over Cher outfittery? Here are the most memorable quotes from each report:

http://www.usmagazine.com/news/cher-wears-a-see-through-bodysuit+-2009115

At a David Foster and Friends concert Saturday in Las Vegas, the singer, 62, wore a sheer black bodysuit, similar to the one she wore 20 years ago in her "Turn Back Time" video.

This is actually an error: she wore the V-fit in "Turn Back Time" Video…she wore her hole-fit singing the same song in the concerts. Bob Mackie made much over having to design the basically non-existent V-fit for the video–she herself felt uncomfortable with it in front of the sailors and threw on a leather jacket at the last minute. Why do people always confuse those two outfits? The V-fit is more risqueĂ© by far.

People79

Tbtfit

http://www.celebitchy.com/50440/62_year-old_cher_in_recreation_of_her_turn_back_time_cut-out_bodysuit/

This past weekend Cher donned a see-through body suit that was nearly identical to the iconic one she wore for her “Turn Back Time” music video in 1992. (that same error again)

The Daily Mail wondered if body suit was the original – and it’s definitely not. The cut outs are different on the sides of her torso – there were two in the original, and there’s only one now. So there’s a teeny bit more coverage. No matter what, Cher looks amazing.Maybe getting to 62 and looking this good will feel like an accomplishment, and she will finally compromise a bit and allow herself to age.

Daily Mail via Cher World: http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=755

Cher stunned audiences when she first donned her trademark black cut-out body suit 17 years ago. (Again, 17 years ago was the "Turn Back Time" video – again…wrong! Her first wearing of the hole-fit was 30 years ago as seen above.)

The Kansas City Star: http://www.kansascity.com/stargazing/story/1190851.html

She's still putting it out there, you have to give her that.

http://dlisted.com/node/31998– this snarky blog titled theirs “Git it Granny”  and although technically incorrect (Cher is not yet a Grandmama), it’s still funny. The rest of their review is pretty raunchy, however. Proceed to read it at your own risk. This is all I felt okay with quoting:

Ole' girl shimmed her crotch like a pre-op tranny working for his last layaway payment on a sex change surgery.

http://www.stylelist.com/blog/2009/05/11/cher-turns-back-time/print/ - these guys celebrated Cher's over-the-top fashion sense and joie de vivre and her "scandalous, leaves-nothing-to-the-imagination glittery getup"

“In 1992, she donned a black bodysuit with so little material we'd hesitate to even classify it as an article of clothing.”

“…the jacket is definitely shorter and the hair is even bigger — who knew, it was possible?…But, the, "I'm way more fabulous than anyone else in Hollywood could ever even dream of being," attitude hasn't changed a bit.”

Stylelist allowed users to vote on two questions:

1) How do you feel about Cher's blast from the past?
Wow! She's amazing! 55% 11,614 votes
Yikes! Leave it in the past! 38% 8,118 votes
She's still performing? 7% 1,530 votes
Total Votes: 21,262

2) Which leotard lady wears it best?
Cher 70%
Lady GaGa 15%
Madonna 15%
Total Votes: 17,166

My review of Cher's hole-fit and TBT-fit through time: http://www.apeculture.com/music/summerofcher.htm 
(scroll down for a review of the hole-fit through time and the "Turn Back Time" V-fit through time)

Video of the David Foster event: http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/05/74090/

 

Cher to Fireman: Call Me

Fireman Cher Hearts Firemen!

I love this story…I love everything about it: Paramedics rushing to save a National Treasure, the National Treasure going all lusty on 'em. It's nice.

Apparently, emergency services were called to Cher's home in Malibu when someone testing her alarm system accidentally activated it.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Fire Department confirmed to Access Hollywood that they were called to Cher's home on Tuesday after the panic alarm/medic alert button was pushed in error. "The alarm was set off at 11:16 AM and Sheriffs and paramedics responded," the spokesperson told Access.

But Cher’s publicist Liz Smith said "It was a false alarm but [Cher] said she never saw so many cute firemen and paramedics in her life," the rep told Access. "She added there was an especially gorgeous black haired ambulance driver that she is really sorry she didn't get to meet. Maybe there'll be another false alarm."

Cher World's article included this funny blurb:

When emergency crews scramble to a celebrity’s home and it turns out to be a false alarm, journalists don’t usually write about it.

Especially since most Americans don’t even remember who she is…right Fox News?
 

Three Nifty Cher Scholars (Expert Corner)

Scholar Recently I’ve added a new section to CherScholar.com called Expert Cornerand it’s a place where other profound Cher thinkers can ponder the deep questions of the Cher. It's been my pleasure to post a standard Q&A on Cherness and also the first in (hopefully) a series of timelines that show the arc of the Cher phenomenon from different angles. Material so far has been contributed by these very fine Cher scholars:

 

 

 

Ward Lamb
The first time I heard about Ward Lamb was at the first Cher Convention at Chicago in 2000. Everyone (and I mean everyone) left the main floor in a rush to go hear his Cher seminar. I was a bit peeved that I couldn’t attend too. I had to hold down the fort at my Cher Zine table next toMary Anne Cassata’s (of the awesome Cher Scrapbook) and her magazine table. Then I remembered I had read his very thorough Cher album retrospective in Goldmine the year before. Later at the convention, I met him at the final banquet dinner. I had just won a framed Italian print of Tea with Mussolini while those convention auctions were still winnable. Ward introduced himself with compliments about the zine. At the next Cher convention two years later in Vegas I made sure to attend his seminar on rare Cher 45s–I loved it. My friends asked him if he was related to the novelist Wally Lamb (he wasn’t). He entered in the first Cher game, a trivia contest I was hosting and he won first place. He went on to do quite detailed liner notes for Cher’s Sundazed and Rhino re-releases.

Ward's essay on 3614 Jackson Highway: http://www.geocities.com/marcapreguntas/chernotes2.htm
Ward's liner notes for Sundazed
:  http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/wilderness/468/ward.htm
Ward's expert corner Q&A: http://www.cherscholar.com/lamb-qanda.htm

Robrt Pela
Years ago writer Robrt Pela contacted me with some very kind words after having read through CherScholar.com and since then he’s been a great source of not only great wit and Cher commentary but cultural commentary in general. His pushes me to be a better scholar.

Robrt's 2003 article on Cher: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2003-09-11/music/cher&page=158
Robrt's 2005 article on the movie Chastity: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-03-17/film/the-virtues-of-chastity/
Robrt's NPR stories: http://kjzz.org/inside/bios/commentators/robrtpela/allstories
Robrt's expert corner timeline: http://www.cherscholar.com/cher-hair.htm

(By the way, both Robrt and Ward have expertise in the decade of Cher I am particularly weak in – the 60s.)

Mike Khouri
Recently I read some of Mike’s liner notes for Cher’s DVDs and a few compilation albums on MCA. He also did the liner notes for the re-release of I Paralyze, filling in some detail on the making of that that oft-glossed-over album.

Mike's I Paralyze liner Notes: http://www.justplaincher.net/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=23
Mike's expert corner Q&A: http://www.cherscholar.com/khouri-qanda.htm

I hope you enjoy these Cher writings as much as I have. These are three swanky-smart Cher scholars!


Where Cher and I Have Been

Shower There’s so much news to chat about I think my head will explode. I just had my bridal shower. A beautiful day and at the house of my friend Julia (who I met years ago when I first moved to LA and worked at Agribuys, a now-defunct agribusiness technology company). Her house has awesome harbor and ocean views off the coast of San Pedro. We had fabulous Mexican food made by her husband and played three games– one trivia game about us that my mother won (I was honestly surprised by that), another game where everybody filled out a list of their likes and dislikes. Then all the women lined up behind the groom and all the men behind the bride and the person with the most in common with each one was deemed their “perfect match.” My bf ended up with a co-worker (who I suspect wasn’t really paying attention to the game and so in confusion never sat down) and I ended up with a childhood friend from Albuquerque. Then we played The Newlywed Game with five couples which included my parents. The last question was “What is the last day of the week you made whoopee.” When it came to me I said emphatically that I was indeed a virgin. My Dad’s card read “What is whoopee?” My parents ended up winning the game. No cards were slammed on spouses heads.

While my parents were in town we also visited Catalina (more quiet and quaint than you’d think on a weekday), Seal Beach for lunch at Walt’s Warf, Pasadena to view some possible wedding program paper, Huntington Library to see The Blue Boy and the HUUGE gardens, and The Charles Lummis House. Talk about a contrast in gardens! The poor Lummis house is dilapidated! He was such a founding part of California history…quite a shame. My parents also helped us planting flowers, and we showed them our future wedding site and talked over wedding favor chocolates we want to get from Wilburs Chocolates, my parents’ local chocolatier.

My most recent opinions on news events:

1. Torture: you can’t be for the sanctity of life and for torture.

2. Susan Boyle: the subtext of this story offends me. To get excited about it presumes that we are so surprised that homely people have talent…when it’s obvious to everyone and their dog that talent comes in all shapes and sizes. So on behalf of all homely, unusual or average looking people, and Susan Boyle,  FU!

Cherhudson2 Speaking of pretty people….Cher was at Kate Hudson’s birthday party (in case you live under a rock, Hudson is Goldie Hawn’s daughter). Cherhudson5

 

 

 

 

News items on the Hudson party:

http://www.themedpartysupplies.com/party-news/cher-timberlake-get-hudsons-party-started-world-entertainment-news-via-yahoo-uk-ireland-news/

http://celebs2day.com/celebrity-news/cher-amp-timberlake-get-hudsons-party-started/

http://sify.com/movies/hollywood/fullstory.php?id=14882012

Cherjewison2 Cher also attended an Norman Jewison tribute in LA and gave good speech. She allegedly also defended her choice of lobbying for Nicholas Cage for his role in Moonstruck.

Normal_cherjewison7

Normal_cherjewison18

 

 

 

 

News items on Jewison tribute:

On a related note, here is a Nicolas Cage Movie Plot Generator: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bkFIPLIOGL8/Sd6OQbdcsxI/AAAAAAAAfZU/FKFtOHBxnJI/s1600-h/nicolas-cage-movie-plot-generator.jpg
 

Cher is Not Sorry

Stern Why do I scan the Internet…err…rather read my daily Cher RSS Yahoo feed and leach off the Cher research of CherGroups posters  🙂 …for news of Cher every week? For blogs like this one, that's why.

Sure, some years I coast by…keeping up with the latest Cher deeds and automatically regurgitating some inane thoughts about them week to week. But then once in a while I get re-engaged in the ever-interesting topic of “what cultural phenomenon is going on with our fascinations and, for some, negative attitudes, about Cher." Deep thoughts is what I mean.

I’m always looking for some Cher Scholarship out there on the wires. Which is why I’m excited about my new Cher Scholar section Expert Corner – two new posts will be going up this week, too. But this blog below was not written by a Cher Scholar;  she's an everyday-Jane-Cher-appreciator nicknamed Pilgrium Soul. And it’s a pretty smart Cher theory she speaks of.

http://www.harpyness.com/2009/04/30/youve-got-me-cher/

The article begins by talking about her conflicting like and dislike of the movie Moonstruck and its “weird gender issues.” I would love for her to elaborate about this. I suspect there is something to this, and it might be an Italian cultural thing in play. But then she defends her love of Cher (against claims of commercialism, plastic surgery and the silly costumes thing – familiar proclamations of Cher’s lack of seriousness). But she loves Cher anyway. Why? Because…

“Before I knew I was a feminist I knew Cher was not sorry. She was not normal, she was not what people expected and she did not seem to care.”

Cher isn't (publicly) sorry and that's something to chew on. I think this explains a lot about why certain fans have gravitated to her. Fans who, for whatever reason in their lives, have been made to feel or have made themselves feel sorry.

And Pilgrim Soul verifies that this hearkens back her to own childhood of sorryness (as opposed to sorrow) and her own feelings of guilt and sorryness over her self-perceived flaws.

“I grew to love women who grew tired of making apologies for themselves.”

That is so awesome. It reminds me of what an influence my 11th grade English teacher was on me, someone who got married later in life, was having a kid later in life, and had a “why worry” attitude about pretty much everything. She also had a Tyne Daily air about her.  She too wasn’t sorry.
I wanted to be like her. What a life that would be, I thought. Empowered and unapologetic.

I feel like Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck right now: “That’s it!…No, that’s it!”
  

Caesars Show News and Rumors

Cher-at-caesars The News: Not surprisingly ticket sales are down all over town: http://www.thewrap.com/article/2770

Among Vegas’ woes: Danny Gans died unexpectedly at 52 last week, stories have been simmering that Bette Midler sales are down, Elton John just left town, and the fact that Vegas is reportedly the most hard hit US city in the current recession.

Interesting to note: Elton’s show made $125 million and shows were filled at 95% capacity. Celine Dion beat him earning $400 million from 717 shows. Midler has been playing to 78% capacity in comparison. No word on Cher’s seat numbers. But Cher and Midler allegedly have cut ticket prices 9 % across all price points. Bette’s new bottom price of $45.45 and she’s also offering upgrade programs for locals and customers of Travelzoo.com. It’s also interesting to learn that Barry Manilow had the highest ticket price of any performer in the US last year? And his tickets are now more expensive than last year. Now I’m a Barry fan but…wtf?

The Rumor: Cher to end her Vegas run early

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2009/04/22/curtain_will_fall_on_cher_s_vegas_show_t

http://www.goldminemag.com/collectorresources/ 

This false bit of gossip frenzy got a few fans buying tickets to Vegas last week, fans who had been procrastinatin.

One smart Cher-groups fan smartly did the math on the rumor:

“Well she'd better hurry if she plans on finishing this year…the 2008 shows plus what's presently scheduled through December 2009 only makes a total of 114 shows!”

Where did the misinformation come from? Was it a cynical ploy to boost ticket sales or someone’s misreading of the latest Cher press release on the final 2009 show dates? Who knows.

The record was set straight on Cher World: http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=748

Pic above from davidkiyokawa.com/blog/2008/09/cher-at-caesars/

  

The FCC Story That Would Not Die

Ap_cher_billboard_070605_mn I need to rephrase that: this is the boring story that would not die. Cher swore on TV. First it wasn’t okay; then it was okay; now it’s not okay again. I’ve culled the pertinent details (in my estimation anyway) from the USA Today story by Joan Biskupic:

“A Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that upholds a prohibition of expletive outbursts on broadcast originated with a case over an appearance by Cher at the 2002 Fox Billboard Music Awards show in Las Vegas.”

 â€śA divided Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a federal prohibition on the one-time use of expletives in a case arising partly from an expletive uttered by Cher at a Billboard Music Awards show in 2002. The ruling, by a 5-4 vote and written by Justice Antonin Scalia, endorsed a Bush administration Federal Communications Commission policy against isolated outbursts of, as Scalia said from the bench, the "f-word" and "s-word." The ruling does not resolve a lingering First Amendment challenge to the 2004 policy that is likely to be subject to further lower court proceedings. Tuesday's decision reversed a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that had said the FCC's decision to sanction "fleeting expletives" was arbitrary and capricious under federal law.

[I hear “fleeting expletives” and I think of a cartoon of a sprinting “foul” word.]

That lower court had agreed with Fox Television Stations, which broadcast the Billboard awards, that such isolated utterances are not as potentially harmful to viewers as are other uses of sexual and excretory expressions long deemed "indecent" and banned by federal regulators. Dissenting were liberal Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. In a statement by Breyer, signed by the others, they said the FCC "failed adequately to explain why it changed its indecency policy from a policy permitting a single 'fleeting use' of an expletive, to a policy that made no such exception."

The policy dispute had been shrouded by partisan differences and moral overtones of what is best for young viewers.

[Yeah but what’s new?]

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Cher Link Zoo

For quite some time there has been a ton of links clogging up my blog to-do list. I’m just gonna throw them all up here now just so I can move on with my life. You can link wherever strikes your fancy. My take for must see items have a star (or two) next to them.

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Cher is a Proud Armenian

Armenia Dyan Cannon tells Al Pacino in the movie Author, Author:

"You know how you can tell an Armenian? Their name rhymes with Armenian."

And it seems to be true. But on a serious note, what few people know about Cher is that, on her father’s side, her family was Armenian genocide refugees. They survived a World War I era genocide that 1 million other Armenians did not.

This week this note about a Cher interview on Armenian Dish Network TV appeared on the Cher news RSS feeds:

http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=724

I'm wondering if this is the interview by Lusine Shahbazyan (hey, rhymes with Armenian) re-broadcast from one taped in the spring of 2008 for her Discovery show, the same one detailed in this 2008 Cher cover story in The Armenian Reporter: http://reporter.am/pdfs/C0216.pdf

I really enjoyed this interview written by Paul Chaderjian (again! rhymes with Armenian). Just being a bit worn out with the usual press questions asked of Cher these days, it was good to get something more focused on her heritage.

The articles shows pictures of her 1993 trip to Armenia, the same one covered in People Magazine by Susan Cheever, daughter of John Cheever. Cher traveled with The United Armenian Fund organization on a DC-8 plane full of humanitarian aid. She visited an orphanage, met with president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, and spoke in front of 1,000 students at Yerevan University among other things on a three day trip. What did she talk about to the president? The book "The Fourty Days of Musa Dagh." Cher also visited Echmiadzin, an Armenian Orthodox Church and gardens built AD 301 where she learned to cut Armenian stone.

Cher said the plane was rickety and they had to bring own food. She described the city of Yerevan as barren with impassable roads. Armenians told her to please tell America of their plight andCher replied regretfully, â€śNobody in America would care.”

We're a bit self-involved.

Yerevan was once a prosperous city; but in the late 80s it had been taken down by an earthquake,the economic collapse of the Soviet Union, and a war with neighboring Azerbaijan (who had blockaded their borders). They were suffering 85% unemployment at the time, had sporadic electric power, and were starving due to high food costs.

Cher also reportedly visited Ankara in an effort to help lift one of the blockades. She said she felt proud to see Armenian strength and resilience in the face of having nothing.

The articles was also interesting in that it depicted the drama of doing a celebrity interview, from initial inquiry calls to the waiting room before the interview, all in minute detail – and with plenty of name dropping. To steal a security metaphor used at a Culver City party I went to this week: it felt like trying to get through a video game.

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