Oprah Rocks Out with Stars of the 70s and 80s

Oprah did a show with rock goddesses of the 70s and 80s and man it fun!

Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow, Joan Jett and Miley Cyrus, Salt-N-Pepa, Pat Benatar and Avril Lavigne all sang and it was a nice musical flashback.

It all ended with a rousing rendition of "We Are Family" with Sister Sledge, Oprah and the others.

You can catch some of the performances on Oprah.com.

And even though it was a good time, what was really frightening was, I know I'm old when "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa sounds quaint compared to some of the raw stuff being downloaded from iTunes today.

Photo:  Harpo Productions

Motown at The White House (Video)

If y'all didn't get a chance to watch "In Performance at the White House:  The Motown Sound" on PBS, here's your chance.

Included in the show were Amber Rilery and Mark Salling from "Glee," "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks and assorted Motown royalty like Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder.

President Obama and his wife Michelle couldn't help from tapping their feet to all those wonderful Motown classics and all the performers were on their game for the Pres, his wife and guests.

Hosted by Jamie Foxx, the show also showcased Nick Jonas, John Legend, Seal and Cheryl Crow.  I dare you to keep from singing along.  Enjoy.

Watch the full episode. See more In Performance at The White House.

Watch the full episode. See more In Performance at The White House.

Grammy Highlights, Lowlights and a Gaga Madonna Mashup!?

Image courtesy CBS

Last night's Grammy show was a musical knockout. There were stars galore, one bang up performance after another, and oh yeah, a couple of awards thrown in. Christina Aguilera nearly fell on her face, Mick Jagger proved age ain't slowin' him down and Esperanza Spalding proved that Bieber-fever isn't as deadly as it seems.

It kicked off with a rousing all-star, diva salute to the ailing Aretha Franklin by Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Martina McBride, Yolanda Adams and Florence Welsh and ended with a rock performance by Arcade Fire.

In between, Justin Bieber, Eminem, Usher, Rhianna and a whole bunch of other people I never heard of but whose albums I want to run out and buy, took to the stage.

Here are my highlights and lowlights:

Lisa Marie Breaks Her Silence About Michael Jackson to Oprah

Lisa Marie Presley's interview with Oprah last week gave the public a rare look into her relationship with Michael Jackson and how even she didn't fully understand it until after his untimely death, a year and a half ago.

I gotta tell you, Lisa Marie Presley has always kind of turned me off.  I don't know if it's the monotone voice, the retro-sixties eye makeup or the lack of public charisma, but I've never found myself very interested in her life.  That is until she married Michael Jackson.

At the time I remember thinking it was probably a good match.  After all, she was the daughter of Elvis Presley and he and Michael had so much in common:  the massive talent, the level of public adoration, the fan-enforced isolation, the power to create whatever world they wanted, for good or ill.

Like Michael's friendship with Brooke Shields, another highly scrutinized Hollywood kid, it made sense that Lisa Marie and Michael would be kindred spirits.

On Oprah, she talked about their marriage, their breakup and how she wishes she could have saved him.

Fun with Lady Gaga "Telephone" Video Spoofs

You've heard the song, you've sung the song, you've marvelled at the weirdness of the video. Now it's time to watch the spoofs. Lady Gaga is now so popular, spoofs of her songs are all over the internet. That includes her latest viral video, "Telephone" -- and it's only appropriate that it features the previous queen of the viral video, Beyonce, whose "Single Ladies" video last year had everyone, young and old, large and small, black and white, hairy and bald, taking a turn on the "Single Ladies" dance floor.  And spawned a slew of "Single Ladies" spoofs.

Now it's Gaga's turn. First, the original.

But have you seen the Afghanistan troop version?It stars some troops in Afghanistan who evidently have secret desires of being back up dancers for Gaga when they come home. It's had more than 3 1/2 million hits.

The Muppets Perform "Bohemian Rhapsody" Hee, hee! (Video)

Need a good laugh?  Well here it is:  the Muppets performing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." (Via Boing Boing)

Hy-ste-ri-cal!!!

Enjoy!

 

Did Adam Lambert Go Too Far on the AMAs? Nah! (Video)

Dear Adam,

It's me, Megan.  You know, I write those "Idol Chit Chats."  We met briefly in New York right after you lost the American Idol title to that other guy, Allen what's his name.  You were so nice and sweet. 

But you weren't showing off that sweet side the other night on the American Music Awards, were you?  Simulated man on man oral sex!  Man on man open mouthed kissing!  Right there on the live ABC stage!

Oh the humanity!

Now, just between us, I still love you.  I thought the performance was actually pretty cool.  Even though I've had to defend you all over the place the last couple of days.  After all it was at the end of the show.  Any kiddies should have long since been in bed. 

And honestly, the worst part about the simulated oral sex was it was bad choreography.  There is nothing about simulated sex on stage that's actually well, sexy.  Didn't anybody learn that from Madonna and the wedding dress masturbation act?

 

By the way, did those 1500 people who called ABC to complain about you miss Janet Jackson's crotch grabbing during her opening number?  Little Sis took a page out of poor Michael's book but the effect was the same.  Not. Sexy.

Now that kiss with the keyboard guy?  Absolutely sexy!  Ever since "Brokeback Mountain," this heterosexual lady has come to appreciate sexy guy on guy action.  And that kiss?  Hotty, McHot!

Also, are you okay?  I saw you fall on the stage and do that little tumble and roll to cover it up.  Hoping you're not sore today.  If you are, put some ice on it.

Beyonce Gives Taylor Swift Back Her Moment on the MTV VMAs

Last night, a bright, beautiful, black woman took the stage in New York and won the hearts and minds of an audience by being extremely classy.

No, I'm not talking about Serena Williams--though she too was at the MTV Video Music Awards.  I'm talking about Beyonce, she of "All the single ladies, all the single ladies...." fame.

First of all, can I just ask, how do I keep missing these things!?  Is the music industry doing this to me on purpose?  First it was the BET Awards back in June and now this.  Last night I was watching the "True Blood" finale, the latest episode of "Mad Men" and cheering on Kim Clijsters--you know the player who didn't threaten a line judge with a tennis ball.

Chris Brown Apologizes For Pummeling Rihanna...Again (Video)

I spent the majority of my childhood in fear of my life.  For me bedtime was not the cozy, warm and safe experience it was for other kids.  For me, it meant years of waking up in the middle of the night to screaming voices, thuds from objects being thrown, and the fear that my father would kill my mother before the night was through.

There were also the fights in the car, with me in the backseat and my father throwing punches at my mother while we were driving. 

Mercifully that all came to an end by the time I was ten when my parents split.  I'm often amazed I survived it all physically intact, but psychologically, that was a whole other story.  My father's damage didn't need to be visible to be permanent. 

Which brings me to singer Chris Brown.  He of the beating up his girlfriend Rihanna in the middle of the street in Los Angeles on the night of the Grammy awards.  Yesterday, he posted a two minute video apology on his website. 

Here's his apology.

This is at least his second apology regarding the attack.  As Reuters reported back in February, Brown apologized right after the incident in a written statement that said:

Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired.  I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God's help, to emerging a better person

Brown eventually pleaded guilty to assault and is due to be sentenced on August 5th.   In a plea deal he's expected to get "five years of formal probation and six months - roughly 1,400 hours - of community labor."

When I heard about his sentence I remember tweeting that I thought a better sentence would be if he were beat to a pulp on the street in the middle of Los Angeles.  I was only half joking. 

Now take a look at this photo and let me know what you think.  I'm usually against this kind of stuff making it into the press, and I almost never use it, but I'll make an exception for this one because it allows me to give equal time to the victim.

What do you think of Brown's apology now?  Still feel the same?

Notice how clean and smooth and pretty Brown's young, unmarked face is in his video?  Notice the difference between that and Rihanna's in the photo?

That's why I'm not moved in the least by Brown's consultations with his pastor, his mother, and Jesus Christ.

Paul McCartney On David Letterman--At Age 67! (Video)

The big news last night wasn't that former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney was on the David Letterman show. 

It wasn't that it was a return for Paul to the Ed Sullivan Theater where the Beatles rocked America and where Letterman's show is now taped.  It wasn't that he did a performance on top of the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater, for an impromptu late afternoon concert for summer tourists and New Yorkers.

No, it was that I couldn't get over the fact that Sir Paul is 67 years old!  That's right--67.  He first performed with the Beatles at the Ed Sullivan Theater on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 and he was 22 years old.

You do the math.

After that shock wore off, I thought about how well put together Paul still looks.  Yeah, he might have had a nip and a tuck, here and there, and the hair may have a little touch of boot polish to keep it that chestnut brown, but really--would we want him to look any different?  If he came out looking like his unretouched 67 year old self we, the public would be appalled.

And after mourning Michael Jackson so recently and thinking about how mistreated and misunderstood he was by the press and the public, I thought it a good time to appreciate one of our other musical greats while he's still around.

At 67 years old.

Here's the performance he did on the Letterman show.   He doesn't sing badly for an old geezer.

Though there are many, many Paul McCartney songs that I love, during the Beatles era and afterward, I tried to remember the most recent song of his that I really, really liked. It took me about four Google searches, but finally I came up with it. It's "Hope of Deliverance."

Letterman actually asked Paul about Michael Jackson, showing a picture of the two of them from the 80's and Paul told the story of how Michael first called him and asked if he wanted to "make some hits" together.  Paul was like, "Sure."  He then hinted at their falling out after Michael bought the Beatles catalog from under Paul's nose, but he was nice enough not to speak too ill of the dead and called Michael a nice man who will be missed.

Love ya' Paul.

Michael Jackson Memorial: The Words Of A Daughter

"Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine.  And I just wanted to say I love him...so much."  Those were the tearful words of Michael Jackson's 11 year old daughter, Paris at her father's memorial service today.

When I first saw Paris Jackson about to take the microphone at the very end of the two hour service, my head said, "No, no, don't put that little girl up there!"

But ultimately I was wrong.  Ultimately it was the right thing to do to let her speak.  She was surrounded by her family and this little girl, whose face we've seen for the first time only since Michael's death, wanted to tell the world what her father meant to her.  In those two tearful sentences, she turned Michael "the freak" into Michael "the human being."

He wasn't just a celebrity, he was someone's brother, son, uncle and most importantly to Paris Jackson and her siblings, someone's father.

It was a daughter's grief for a father who was gone too soon, as Usher had sung earlier in the ceremony. 

His gold plated coffin was carried into the Los Angeles Staples Center to the voices of a gospel choir singing "We are going to see the King."  His brothers who performed with him for all those years on stage as part of the Jackson 5 were pallbearers.

They wore matching yellow ties, red roses in their lapels and then later in the ceremony, single, matching sequined gloves.

For all the anticipation of a spectacle and a circus-like atmosphere since his death nearly two weeks ago, this memorial service was really quite dignified, well orchestrated and the right balance of public spectacle and private grief.   It's what his family wanted and his fans needed.

2009 BET Awards: Michael Jackson Tribute or Travesty

BET gave out their annual music awards Sunday night.  I'm going to be straight up right now and say I didn't watch it.  That's right, I'm the BlogHer TV Contributing Editor and I didn't watch that TV show. In fact the only way my cable box ever lands on the dreaded BET channel is if my finger slips on the remote.  Then I make sure to get the heck out of there before my eyeballs fry and my blood boils. 

If you're not sure why, read up on why "BET Dishonors This Black Woman" and just insert my name.  Or read my open letter to Al Sharpton awhile back about the image of black women and the music industry.

So this morning when I started hearing all the rumblings about last night's over three hour awards show and the Michael Jackson tribute, I began reading recaps, commentary and checking out videos on YouTube before they got pulled by Viacom (which owns BET).

The unanimous high point of the show was the appearance of Janet Jackson at the end of the show tearfully speaking about her brother. Other than that, the show sounds like it left a lot to be desired.  I'll let some bloggers who did see the show, tell you what they thought.

Sometimes Out Of Death Comes Life: Happy Birthday Megan's Minute!

Sometimes out of death comes life. 

A month before I started Megan's Minute, a good friend of mine, I'll call him CR, had a stroke and died.  He was 59 years old.

He was a brilliant, funny, often infuriating man who lived and breathed, photography, film and literature.  He was proudly anti-social, unapologetically liberal and would have been as astounded as anyone to see that a black man was now President of the United States.

CR was also an incredible writer, but when he died, his novel was unpublished and his screenplays unmade.  Only those of us who knew him well knew what a wonderfully entertaining and imaginative writer he was.

The last time I saw CR was months before he died.  My last contact with him was exchanged emails the Christmas before he died saying how we had to get together soon.

After hearing of his death, I was devastated that the "get together" would never happen.  And mixed in with the grief of his loss was the thought that no one else would ever read his work.

Why am I telling you this?

It's simple.  I've always believed myself to be a writer.  I've written stories, screenplays, and portions of novels, but never had the courage or the commitment to jump in feet first and find out if I had what it took to make a living as a writer.

After CR died, I discovered I desperately needed for someone to read my work.  Even if it was only five people whose names I never knew.

I'd already been considering blogging thanks to my friend Island Girl.  And after CR died, that was the push I needed to get me past the fear of my work not being good enough, or perfect enough, or whatever.

I chose Valentine's Day 2007 for my first post because it was a Valentine to myself.  A commitment to myself, my work and what I hoped would be a new future.

So at 11:55PM--it took me until the end of the day to summon my courage--I clicked "post" and  my first Megan's Minute post went live.

Coldplay, Jennifer Hudson & Lil Wayne Among 2009 Grammy Winners

Big winners at last night's 51st annual Grammy Awards were Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Coldplay, Lil Wayne and Jennifer Hudson.   But before last night's televised portion of the awards even started there was big news about two performers who were scheduled to appear on the show.  R&B singer Chris Brown was arrested after a domestic violence complaint by his girlfriend, pop singer Rihanna.

According to the LA Times:

Brown and Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, were apparently in a car together and got into an argument on North June Street, according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement. Brown stopped the car, the two got out, and the argument escalated, according to police.

A witness called 911, but Brown was gone when officers arrived at the scene. The woman suffered visible injuries and identified Brown as her attacker, according to police.

Brown was booked at the Wilshire Division station and posted $50,000 bail, sources said. He left the station before 9 p.m.

The Grammy producers couldn't have been happy about the bad publicity overshadowing the award ceremony but the show did go on.

More Fun with Beyonce "Single Ladies" Video Parodies

Okay so this Beyonce "Single Ladies" video parody thing just won't let up.  People are going hog wild!  You'll remember I wrote my original post about some of the very creative "Single Ladies" parodies last week.

Well now even President Obama is getting involved, bragging about how he can do the "Single Ladies" moves as well.

And it seems the married ladies want their due. "Put your mops up!"

Fun with Beyonce "Single Ladies" Video Parodies

She hangs with the Obamas. She hangs with Justin Timberlake on "Saturday Night Live." She sang at the big inauguration concert last Sunday. And last night she sang "At Last" for the Obama's first presidential dance.   Afterward, she was so emotional talking about being a part of the inaugural celebrations, she could barely speak.

She's Beyonce and just so you can continue to get your fill, I've put together this little post. 

If you haven't heard, she's got a little single out called, "Single Ladies." The video of that catchy dance tune with Beyonce shaking her thang has for some reason sparked one of the biggest online parody frenzies, evah!

Not only that, it's whipped up a bit of controversy about where that distinctive choreography came from. More on that in a minute but I bet there are several of you reading this post right now who have your own "Single Ladies" videos up on YouTube, or Vimeo, or BlipTV, or Meefedia. Don't lie. I know you're out there. And if you don't already have a video up, I know you want to.

Well before you whip out the black leotard and the five inch heels you just might want to check out the collection of the videos I've assembled.

My Belated Two Cents

Though I paid attention to some of the goings on in the world over my Christmas break, I resisted the urge to comment.  Since I'm back to the business of blogging, there are a few stories I couldn't let fade away without throwing in my belated two cents.

In no particular order they are:

The death of Benazir Bhutto: An incredible woman who couldn't finish the job she started.  It's a terrible shame.  She might not have been perfect, but a woman who could command the respect and devotion of a male dominated Muslim country must have been truly something special.  She died I think because she was a political moderate and that's something that's intolerable in the Muslim world right now.

The death of Ike Turner:  I never saw "What's Love Got To Do With It" but I heard the interviews Tina Turner did about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Ike Turner, so I have to take her word about what she experienced.

As much as I think wife beaters should be strung up by their toenails, Ike Turner was part of one of the best musical performances of all time.  The Ike and Tina Turner Revue's performance of "Proud Mary."  It's up there with the first time the Beatles performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show" or Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean" on "Motown's 25th Anniversary" show.

Oprah always says when she was a little girl, if the Supremes were on television, someone in the family would call everyone around the television set and say, "Black people are on television!"  That's how we were in our house too.  If Ike and Tina Turner were on, we would all be up dancing.  Years later, I saw Tina Turner in concert performing "Proud Mary" in her fifties.  It was even more energetic, exciting and exuberant than when I saw her perform it all those years ago on television.  So the only meaning Ike Turner's death had for me was the remembrance of those wonderful memories.

The graduation of Venus Williams: Venus Williams graduated with an Associates Degree in Fashion Design last month.  You want a sports figure who's a great role model, a smart young woman and a credit to her family?  Here she is.  Congratulations to a fabulous young woman.

The big Davis Cup win by the US:  James Blake made this one happen.  It almost makes me take back all the things I said about him after that disastrous loss at the US Open.  Andy Roddick was solid and laid the foundation, and the Bryan brothers played great cleanup but it was the Blake match that was the lynch pin of the entire victory.  Fellow blogger Craig Hickman attended the matches and has some great pictures on his tennis blog.  They're here and here

The retirement then ban of Martina Hingis:  She got caught and she deserves what she gets.  It's just too bad that a night of cocaine partying will eventually overshadow her tennis accomplishments.

The big Mitchell report on steroids in baseball:  It makes me glad I'm a tennis fan.  Roger Clemens now says all those injections were vitamins.  Hmm.  I guess I'll have to watch Sunday's "60 Minutes" to hear what else he has to say, but like Martina Hingis...he got caught and he deserves what he gets.

The breakdown of the writer's strike talks:  Gear up the DVD player and dig in 'cause it looks like this is gonna last a while.

The return of David Letterman:  Love the beard.  My first hopes that his return would put more pressure on the studios and networks and help break the logjam are now dimming. 

The Iowa caucuses:  So Obama and Huckabee won.  Those folks in Iowa have always liked to shake things up.

The Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy:  She still looks like the sensible one compared to the mess that  is Britney.

Offensive Rap/Hip Hop Lyrics Slooooowly Cleaning Up

Is that the sound of reluctant change I hear in the music industry?  There's an AP article in today's USA Today, "Rappers Cleaning Up Lyrics Post-Imus" that suggests it might be.

It focuses on the platinum selling rapper Chamillionaire and why he's decided to clean up his lyrics:

"The rapper, who won a Grammy this year for his socially charged smash Ridin,' says he never cursed all that much in his music anyway. The N-word was a different story: "I've always used the N-word."

But after the success of his last album, he went out on tour and saw mostly white faces lip-synching the epithet along with his lyrics. I was like, 'You know what? I'm not going to say the N-word on this one because when I go back on the road, and I start performing, I don't want them to be saying it, like me teaching them,'" he told The Associated Press.

Good for Chamillionaire.

When this music issue comes up, I always think if women ran the music industry and there was a style of music and a bunch of videos out there with lyrics about gleefully chopping off penis's and how to do it in the most glorified and vulgar way, we'd hear a lot about how wrong and unfair and destructive it was.  Don't ya' think?  But I digress.

The AP article goes on to say:

"Tolerance for such language may be diminishing. Corporations had cozied up to gangsta rappers in recent years, taking their message mainstream — both Snoop Dogg and T.I., for example, were featured in major car ads. In recent months, however, companies seem less likely to align themselves with rougher artists."

The reason?  The bucks.  Slowly, very slowly the advertisers and music industry execs are getting the message that the offensive lyrics just ain't gonna get an easy pass anymore.  They've been getting away with this crap long enough and more women, especially black women need speak up about it.  Not only to the industry, but to high profile people like Al Sharpton and Russell Simmons who during the whole Imus flap promised to address the issue.  Simmons actually called for a ban on certain words, but has anyone heard from him since?  I don't think so.

Reverend Al said he and his followers are going to continue to keep the issue in the spotlight, but I haven't heard from him either.  Maybe I need to write him another letter.

What Chamillionaire said about the whites in his audience reminded me of Dave Chappelle.  Remember Dave Chappelle?  A couple of years ago when he abruptly left his very popular "Chapelle's Show" on Comedy Central ---and his very lucrative contract with it---to go to South Africa and find himself, you would have thought he sold his mother into slavery, the way people talked about him.  How could he do that?  What was wrong with him?  He was so stupid. Rampant media speculation said he was either a drug addict or crazy.

Master P Stands Up

According to this item at eonline.com, Master P and his son the former li'l Romeo are starting a new record label called Take A Stand Records.

As Eonline reports:

"The label will only represent artists who have pledged to be role models for the music industry through clean lyrics and positive moral values. "I have profited millions of dollars through explicit rap lyrics, Master P said in a statement. "I can honestly say that I was once part of the problem and now it's time to be part of the solution."

I suppose better late than never.  If Master P is serious, good for him.

A couple of weeks ago Russell Simmons proposed a ban on the words "ho," "bitch" and "N*gger" in rap and hip hop lyrics.

Is that the sound of the music money machine doing an about-face?  Let's hope so.

Yo Russell, It's A Tiny Step Forward

Earlier this week hip hop mogul Russell Simmons called for a ban on the use of the words, "ho", "bitch" and "N*gger" in rap and hip hop lyrics.  This was partially in response to the beatdown he and several other rap/hip hop representatives got on "Oprah" a couple of weeks ago from a group of very persuasive women and men who basically said, enough already.

But as this post says on the blog Back In Skinny Jeans:

"Just calling for the elimination of three words is not going to even make a dent in what is a monumental issue in the rap/hip-hop culture. It's like trying to put a band-aid on a severed limb gushing blood."

I agree.  My "Open Letter To Reverend Al Sharpton," a couple of weeks ago addressed this topic as well.  It's going to take a major push from people like Russell Simmons, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson with the clout to take a stand on racism and misogyny in rap and hip hop, if anything substantive is to be done.

Women, especially black women should use the Imus incident as a jumping off point to make major waves about this important issue.  We need to find out who the companies are that support these so-called artists---or as Simmons likes to call them "poets"---and put our money where our convictions are.  We have millions of dollars worth of buying power.  It's time we used it. 

Yo Russell, you've got two daughters...get with the program.