There is so much Cher news these days, it’s enough to make a scholar feel overwhelmed. Let's try to run through them all pretty quickly.
Cher's boyfriend's comic book
I got my copies of The Rawhide Kid at The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach, the closest comics store to my house. The dude there thanked me for supporting my local comic store vs. buying my comics on amazon. I bought the first collection, Rawhide Kid, Slap Leather, and the first installment of the second series, The Sensational Seven. The lead character is a somewhat flaming cowboy hero and no one else, aside from all the women, can quite put their finger on it. I'm 100% hooked and LOL'd many times. There's plenty of pop culture references and visual gags. Study the faces of the cowboys behind the kid in the comic cover to the right for a giggle.
Seek them out at your local comic store.
California Diva
The site Californiality says Cher is "a megastar singer-songwriter, actress, director, record producer and native Californian. She is the undisputed California Diva of all time."
And although the blogger states the pseudonym Bonnie Jo Mason is a name only suitable for country music, he calls Cher “daring and provocative, she became the fashion trendsetter who popularized bellbottoms and the human navel."
Who popularized the other navels?
After Cher divorced Sonny Bono, I thought I finally had my big chance to marry her…
Professionally, Cher is the ultimate California Diva but, personally, she's a cool individual who totally keeps it real. She's part of what makes the California society the best on earth, and Californians love Cher more than anyone.
The Golden State, as the world's multi-ethnic capitol, has more Native Americans than any other state by far. In 1973, Cher showed support for the America Indian Movement with a song that, still today, is deeply felt by millions of bi-racial and multi-ethnic Californians.
Californiality recognizes and endorses Cher's fearless anthem as a definitive California theme. Thank you, Cher.
http://www.californiality.com/2010/06/cher-california-diva.html
Burlesque News is HOT
A few weeks ago, movie stills showed up on the Internet:
http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/%E2%80%98Burlesque%E2%80%99:-A-peek-a-boo-behind-the-scenes/G1645?loc=interstitialskip
http://www.filmofilia.com/2010/07/01/eight-new-burlesque-photos-cher-christina-aguilera/
http://www.hostguru.org/2010/07/first-images-of-christina-aguilera-and-cher-from-burlesque-hit-the-net-photos/
Along with interviews of Christina Aguilera …
"I love no-bull-(expletive) women, and she's the best of the best," Aguilera says of Cher, who plays Tess, owner of The Burlesque Lounge. "An original trendsetter in her time and a legend in mine. I found her kind and warm. She had helpful advice and stories for days."
Aguilera's famous pipes get a workout, along with her legs ("I've never danced so much in my life"). She wrote four songs for the soundtrack and does an Etta James oldie.
and the director Steven Antin in USA Today
"Her manager loved the script but said: 'You know how hard it is to get Cher to commit. She is very dubious.' " He sent it to her anyway, as did mega-mogul David Geffen, a mutual acquaintance of Antin and Cher's.
"We had a meeting at her house and I begged her to do it," Antin says. "She said, 'This character is me. I can do this with my eyes closed.' "
But then she said no. Twice. Even after seeing Antin's office walls plastered with storyboards and reference material, which led her to call him "the most prepared director I've even seen."
The third time proved the charm. "Once she was on board, she was fully committed," Antin says of Cher, whose songs include a new Diane Warren ballad titled You Haven't Seen the Last of Me. "She was there 16 hours a day in 4-inch heels. It was a dream come true to me, saying 'Action' and giving Cher direction. A dream and a little scary."
It is a dream that former actor Antin, 52, who was one of Jodie Foster's attackers in 1988's The Accused, had been thinking about for 15 years or so, ever since he worked with choreographer sister Robin's burlesque troupe that would later evolve into the singing group the Pussycat Dolls.
His wish was to revive the old meaning of burlesque that came out of Victorian-era England instead of what it turned into in 20th-century America. "People think burlesque shows are rooted in some overtly sexual striptease with G-strings and pasties," he says. "But originally it was parody entertainment meant for the middle classes that was provocative, funny and always based in comedy. That's not to say the movie isn't really sexy. But it's PG-13 sexy."
Antin, who also wrote the script with some input from Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich) and Diablo Cody (Juno), has no problem with comparing Burlesque with its racy costumes and bawdy humor to the likes of Cabaret, Moulin Rouge!, Gypsy, Flashdance and Chicago.
Just don't bring up the notorious 1995 Vegas trash-fest Showgirls.
"Burlesque really couldn't be further away from that," he says. "We are not objectifying women. We are empowering them. They hold all the cards."
And finally, The Lunchtime Poll by Michael Slezak
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/07/02/burlesque-cher-charrr-xtina-christina-aguilera/
A gallery of seven stills from Burlesque hit the Internet this week, causing waves of excitement among diva aficionados, the Gays, fans of the small-town-girl-conquers-the-big-city film genre, and Bob Mackie (not that these categories are mutually exclusive, mind you). And while, personally, I’m curious to see whether Christina Aguilera the Actress is more Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues or Mariah Carey in Glitter, I’m even more stoked for the cinematic return of Cher!
Poll results from the first 13 days of polling, including my somewhat obvious vote:
- the return of Cher – 55.3%
- The big-screen debut of Xtina – 13.3%
- The combined hotness of Stanley Tucci, Kristen Bell, Julianne Hough, Eric Dane, and Cam Gigandet – 31.4%
Obscenity Rule Overturned
A federal court ruling overturned a policy of the Federal Communications Commission intended to crack down on unscripted curse words and wardrobe malfunctions.
Slip-ups from Bono and Cher were used as examples when the FCC policy fined television networks that did not censor indecency, however spontaneous.
Fox and ABC challenged the "fleeting expletive" rule. On July 13, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the agency's policy was "unconstitutionally vague" and a violation of the First Amendment.
The Parents Television Council and other conservative groups have also targeted Fox's American Dad and (my favorite show) Family Guy as indecent shows
Washington-based Concerned Women for America says,
"A federal broadcast license is a privilege held in the public trust," said Jan LaRue, the group's chief counsel. "Pumping sewage into American homes during the family hour violates that trust."
The court said the FCC policy did not specify what comprised offensive material, other than banning sexual and excretory organs.
The Daytime Emmys
See Cher's video tribute to Dick Clark: http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=1159
TV Appearances
Access Hollywood: See video of Cher being interviewed before the AFI tribute to Mike Nichols. I think Billy Bush refers to him as Mike Nicholson. Bush talks to Cher about her hurt foot as she stands in front of the step and repeat wall. I suddenly feel like watching TV Land for some unknown reason. Cher is wearing a ring that gives everyone the finger. She tells a story about how Nichols made her and Meryl Streep cry before the weeping swing scene in Silkwood
http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=1124
Extra: Cher with "her best friend and choreographer, Doriana Sanchez."
http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=1087
The Vegas Show
For some reason, I am again not getting my Cherworld.com rss feed to work…so I missed this awesome pic of Cher in character as pimp/Mafioso, all-around-Un-Diva from her Bob Seger medley…this new number and performance is as awesome as her tour d’Elvis in the “Walking in Memphis” Video.
Sheley Fralic reviews the show for The Vancouver Sun in a piece called "Cher Grande Dame of Showgirls"
Is there anything as radiant, and yet comforting and predictable, as the sun rising every morning in the eastern sky? Well, yes. Cher, actually.
Cher is all pop culture opera, an over-the-top modern day minstrel…it’s the smartest $2 a minute you’ll ever spend in the name of entertainment.
Oh yeah…Cher will tour again. I know. I know. She said for that whole farewell thing she had her fingers crossed behind her back.
No new set list, I’m staying home. If I have to see the same set list over and over again, ’d rather see it in Vegas.
http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=1145
The soundtrack was first to be released November 16 but then was pushed back to Nov 22 (the film hits theatres November 24). So that’s STILL enough time to memorize all the songs before you see the movie.
