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Stars mourn Whitney Houston at rousing New Jersey funeral

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on February 22nd, 2012

NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) – Stars, family and friends mourned Whitney Houston in a spirited Baptist funeral service at her hometown church on Saturday, a week after the death of the singer whose spectacular voice made her one of the biggest pop stars of her era.

Gospel and soul music greats, celebrities and family members swayed to gospel hits and delivered tributes both sung and spoken to the crowded New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where Houston honed her wide vocal range as a young choral singer with her mother Cissy Houston, a backup singer for Aretha Franklin.

“Whitney returns home today to the place where it all began,” said actor Kevin Costner, who starred opposite Houston in the 1992 hit film, “The Bodyguard.”

He urged those around the world to “dry our tears, suspend our sorrow – and perhaps our anger – just long enough, just long enough to remember the sweet miracle of Whitney.”

Houston, who died in a Beverly Hills hotel room last week, recorded stirring love songs and vibrant dance tunes during a 30-year career that peaked with her 1992 signature hit “I Will Always Love You” and paved the way for a generation of singers that followed.

She was among the greatest singers of the 1980s and 1990s, but later admitted to heavy use of cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and prescription pills. Officials have said prescription drugs were found in the hotel room where she died.

Her death at age 48 shocked her family, fans and the music industry. Houston was found underwater in a hotel bathtub on the eve of the music industry’s Grammy Awards. Her cause of death has yet to be determined.

She suffered a turbulent personal life and marriage to singer Bobby Brown, who said in a statement he left the service early after being repeatedly asked to move by security, who prevented him from seeing the daughter he shared with Houston, Bobby Kristina Brown, 18.

“This was a day to honor Whitney,” Brown said. “I doubt whether Whitney would have wanted this to occur.”

During the service, her cousin and famed soul singer Dionne Warwick read out a funeral poem and introduced music greats from the past and present, including Alicia Keys who said “it was so obvious the way she just crept into everybody’s heart” before singing an emotional rendition of “Prelude to a Kiss.”

GOSPEL AND SOUL

Singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder spoke of once having “a little crush” on Houston before singing a version of his 1982 R&B hit “Ribbon In The Sky,” inserting the lyrics “No more, Whitney, No more, Do you have to cry – You’ll always be a ribbon in the sky.”

Others spoke eloquently of Houston’s passion, strong-willed spirit and once hopeful future, including Clive Davis, the founder of her label Arista Records, who discovered and molded Houston into a global pop phenomenon. He said shortly before she died, Houston had promised she was getting back into shape.

“You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime. You wait for a face like that, a smile like that, a presence like that, for a lifetime. And when one person embodies it all it takes your breath away,” he said. “Music was her passion. Whitney lived music. Whitney loved music.”

R. Kelly performed the 2009 song he wrote for Houston, “I Look To You,” and director Tyler Perry talked about Houston’s “grace that led her all the way to the top of the charts.” The service was dominated by gospel music, by singers Kim Burrell, Donnie McClurkin and others.

Houston’s family decided against a public memorial, as was done for pop star Michael Jackson after his 2009 death, but they agreed to allow the four-hour service to be broadcast live by television networks and on the Internet.

Many of Houston’s fans left cards and balloons around the church dedicated to the singer, who became a global star with her 1985 debut album, which included the hits “Saving All My Love For You,” “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love Of All.”

Police urged fans to stay home and watch the funeral on the Internet or television, but some flew and drove from around the country to get as close as they could to the late singer.

“This is history,” said fan Hedwig Berthold, 40, who flew from Miami and watched the broadcast with dozens of others in a nearby cafe. “I bought her records, I saw her concerts, I saw her in the good times. So I wanted to be here for her final farewell.”

‘THEY LOVED YOU’

Others gathered on the streets, including Wendy Saunders, who drove from Detroit to pay her respects to Houston and said “She meant so much to me,” while Renee Taylor, from Baltimore, held a sign, “You gave us more love than we will ever need.”

Houston grew up surrounded by gospel and soul music legends like Franklin – who fell ill and was unable to attend the service – as well as Warwick. She later forged new territory for a black female artist who brought R&B and gospel touches into pop music’s mainstream.

After her debut, her popularity grew exponentially with her second album, “Whitney” (1987), with all four singles – “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional,” “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” – hitting No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Her music videos featuring her 1980s style and innocent, fun-loving image made her wildly popular around the world. In “The Bodyguard,” with Costner, Houston played a character not far removed from her real self: an international singing sensation coping with fame.

Costner recalled during his speech that Hollywood executives were hesitant to cast Houston in her first starring role, preferring “somebody white,” but she soon won everyone over. He also spoke of Houston’s immense talent – and insecurities.

“The Whitney that I knew, despite her worldwide success and fame, still wondered, ‘Am I good enough, Am I pretty enough, Will they like me?’ It was the burden that made her great, and the part that caused her to stumble in the end,” he said. “People didn’t just like you, Whitney. They loved you.”

She made other films, including “The Preacher’s Wife,” but the 15-year period when she was married to singer Brown coincided with a decline in the quality and frequency of her albums. The couple, who have an 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, divorced in 2007.

Houston’s powerful voice suffered in recent years. On her last world tour in 2010, she struggled to hit the high notes.

But the service ended by focusing on the old, soaring voice she had promised to reclaim. Her inimitable “I Will Always Love You,” rang out as the casket was carried out of the church.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Reaney and Gianna Palmer; editing by Anthony Boadle and Todd Eastham)

Winning Words With Friends: It’s All About Strategy

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on February 19th, 2012

Story By: by Whitney Blair Wyckoff

Words With Friends has a lot to do with strategy.

So when I got the app, I immediately invited my younger brother to a match.

“I’ve never lost a game,” my brother bragged over Gchat after he got the invite. I was undaunted about the prospect of sparring with my brother, who is studying engineering, in a game that tests word knowledge and spelling.

But, to my surprise, it didn’t take long for him to achieve a comfortable lead on my score.

“I won’t play with you if you cheat,” I messaged him.

“I’m not cheating,” he replied.

As the point spread exceeded 100 points, it made me think: Is there more to Words With Friends than the ability to string words together with letter tiles? Turns out, there definitely is. After browsing YouTube, I came across several strategy videos by William Spaniel, a political science doctoral student at the University of Rochester who studies game theory. He also authored Game Theory 101: The Basics.

One of his big tips: Think about trying to limit how many points your opponent scores on you.

“When you play random games against players, you see a huge separation between bad players and average players,” he says.

The bad players, he says, aim to make the longest words and score a lot of points. But better players try to restrict their opponent’s access to big-money bonus spaces, particularly triple letter and triple word score spots.

“If you make a bad mistake about that, that can be the end of the game right there,” he says. In one of his YouTube videos, he says that 80 percent of the game revolves around the triple letter and triple word spots — and the spaces connecting them.

Another pointer?

“You should definitely know all the two-letter words to play across another word,” he says. For example, if the word “candy” is on the board, a player could put the word “broom” parallel to the “y” in “candy.” The move creates two words: broom and by. And if that “b” is on a bonus spot, that means mega points.

After implementing some of Spaniel’s tips, I’ve definitely seen an improvement in my own Words With Friends performance. But that — and learning that players can try out several different letter combinations on the board without losing a turn — still hasn’t been enough to catch up to my brother.

Whitney Houston dies

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on February 12th, 2012

CNN’S Alan Duke contributed to this report.

Real, reel bonding

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on February 12th, 2012

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s most ambitious project, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, starring Farhan Akhtar, is set to start production this month and athlete Milkha Singh, who is the inspiration behind the film, will be actively involved in recreating key incidents of his life on screen.

The Olympian sprinter will be present on the location when those scenes will be shot.

"Milkha Singh wants Rakeysh Mehra’s film to portray him as realistically as possible. He has told the team he will make himself available throughout the making of the film," said a source close to the project.

Singh will also participate in a series of events being organised up to the release of the film.

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Sachal Vasandani On ‘Piano Jazz: Rising Stars’

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on February 11th, 2012

Sachal Vasandani’s vocal revelation stems back to middle school: “I would raise my hand to do a scat solo on one of the jazz choir songs and found out that the ideas that were in my head were coming out a lot easier in my voice than on the French horn.”

No one sounds like vocalist Sachal Vasandani right now. In fact, host Jon Weber jokes at the beginning of this session that the thirtysomething Vasandani sounds like “a young Sachal Vasandani.” But the Chicago-born singer is quick to acknowledge his influences.

“I wouldn’t be doing my own thing if it wasn’t for the inspiration and, frankly, the perspiration of trying to ape a lot of the great singers of the jazz lexicon and from outside of jazz,” Vasandani says. “It’s all in pursuit of being your own best individual you — but, hopefully, that’s just greater than the sum of all these different parts.”

There’s something sincere and genuine about Vasandani’s performance, which can be heard in this program featuring a set of standards and originals from his latest album, Hi-Fly.

“I Could Have Told You” ( J. Van Heusen, C. Sigman)

“Every Ocean, Every Star” (S. Vasandani)

“There Are Such Things” (S. Adams, A. Baer, G.W. Meyer)

“Summer No School” (S. Vasandani)

“Here Comes De Honey Man / There’s A Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon For New York” (G. Gershwin, I. Gershwin, D. Heyward)

“Every Night”

“Just One More for You” (A.C. Jobim, B. Blanco, R. Gilbert)

A Short Talk About The World’s Longest Interview

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on February 9th, 2012

Story By: Weekend Edition Saturday

What do you do when the conversation lags? Australian broadcaster Richard Glover knows. This week he and sports author Peter FitzSimons set a new Guinness world record for longest radio or TV interview. Host Scott Simon speaks with Glover about his 24-hour conversation.

Gospel singer David Peaston dies

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on February 6th, 2012

R&B and gospel singer David Peaston, best known for the tracks Two Wrongs (Don't Make it Right) and Can I?, has died aged 54.

His niece Neuka Mitchell, said the star passed away on Wednesday from complications of diabetes.

The musician, who had a string of hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s, came from a family of successful singers.

His mother Martha Bass sang with the Clara Ward Singers and sister Fontella Bass had a top-10 song in 1965.

Peaston kick started his career after winning several competitions on the Showtime at the Apollo TV show in the 80s.

Two Wrongs was his highest charting single, reaching number three in 1989.

In 1990, Peaston beat off competition from the likes of Soul II Soul to win a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist.

In 2006, after a period of ill health caused by his illness – which led to both his legs being amputated, he returned to music with the album, Song Book: Songs of Soul & Inspiration.

Peaston is survived by his wife and two sons.

West End ticket sales hit £528m

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on February 3rd, 2012

The West End enjoyed record box office sales in 2011 for an eighth consecutive year, according to figures released by the Society of London Theatre (Solt).

Takings topped £528.3m in 2011 – up 3.1% on a like-for-like basis on the previous year.

Due to the closure of a number of theatres while new shows were set up, the overall attendance was 13.9m – down 1.73% on 2010.

According to Solt, though, the average audience at each performance was up.

The Society said the growth in sales could be attributed to sell-out productions such as Matilda the Musical and the continued success of Les Miserables, now in its 26th year.

Play revenue also received a 10% boost thanks to such sold-out productions as Frankenstein, Richard III, Jerusalem and One Man, Two Guvnors.

Last year saw several of London's bigger theatres welcome such major new productions as The Wizard of Oz, Shrek the Musical and Rock of Ages.

Solt said this led to an unusually high number of "dark" weeks – when theatres are closed to the public – while set installations took place, causing a fall in overall attendance.

Last year saw 146 dark weeks, when there were only 85 in 2010.

"We are extremely proud that our theatres have yet again gone on to achieve another record-breaking year of sales," said Solt president Mark Rubinstein.

"Despite the prevailing rigours of the economic climate, theatre-goers have acted with their feet and wallets."

The figures relate to the theatres represented in membership of the Society of London Theatre, which include all the commercial West End houses.

However, the Guardian's theatre critic, Michael Billington, sounded a warning about the figures, saying: "Dark weeks can be a convenient alibi for a slight drop in attendances.

"I hope we're not heading for a situation like Broadway, where revenues increase because of ever higher ticket prices while attendances slowly decline."

He added that the healthy state of London theatre might not be replicated elsewhere. "I was at the New Vic in Newcastle-under-Lyme last night where they told me they'd had a 10% rise in attendance," he told the BBC.

"Other theatres have seen a marked drop in box-office. It's in the regions, I suspect, that the recession is starting to bite."

Using the Solt figures, theatre website Whatsonstage.com illustrated how the rise in ticket prices between 1986 and 2011 compared to audience figures.

While attendances rose 26%, over the same time period box office takings rose by 347% – meaning the average ticket price in 2011 was £37.97 versus £10.95 in 1986.

Speaking to Whatsonstage.com, Rubinstein attributed rising costs to a variety of factors including: increased VAT receipts; costlier, more high-tech productions; and rising venue and ticketing technology expenses, as well as inflation.

"The profits in the average producer's pocket have not been getting fatter," he said.

Whatsonstage editor Terri Paddock told the BBC: "It is an expensive business, but the industry is aware that prices can't just rise inexorably. There is point at which the market will bear no more and we are all going to have to be looking at those issues over the next few years."

She added that the high number of "dark" weeks in 2011 did not reflect periods of inactivity.

At the Palace Theatre, where Whatsonstage.com is based, there is currently a changeover period between the Priscilla musical and Singin' In the Rain – which opens on 4 February.

"Those big shows take a long time to set up," she said. "There have been crew members and technicians getting the old show out and putting the new show in. It's a very large undertaking."

Adam Kenwright, is the managing director of aka – the marketing agency behind plays and shows such as War Horse, Shrek, Matilda the Musical and Jerusalem.

"The West End is a real success story for the UK," he said.

"These figures are a testament to the strength, quality and talent of London theatre and show that even in difficult financial times, millions of people are prepared to spend their hard-earned money on world-class entertainment."

Attitudes etched on mirrors

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on February 3rd, 2012

British artist Al Braithwaite has a long relationship with the Middle East and a good understanding of its culture and thinking. The London-based artist’s work often confronts Western stereotypes and biases to present a balanced perspective on contemporary issues. His latest exhibition in Dubai, titled Transgressions, is also about crossing boundaries and bridging divides to find a position of equilibrium. The show references events such as 9/11, the War on Terror and the Arab Spring to stimulate discussion and rethink various socio-political issues.

"This body of work is transgressive in the sense that it attempts to cross physical, ideological or conceptual divides. I have deliberately displaced and relocated familiar objects and sights to present them in a new context. The idea is to offer many different points of view and encourage people to be open and to rethink extreme positions on various issues," Braithwaite says.

In his Hall of Mirrors series, portraits of iconic Middle Eastern figures are etched on the surface of mirrors. The drawings are childish scrawls done with crayons, marker pens and pencil to suggest an innocent and open child-like worldview. But they are hung in antique gilt frames that were originally used to display grand, classical paintings of European kings and generals in museums and palaces.

"This series comments on our struggle to reconcile the past with present geo-political realities. These frames have a set usage in history and I am trying to bring in a new context by recolonising them with contemporary oriental figures. Also, when you look in the mirror, you see not your own face but that of somebody who could be a hero or a villain, depending on your point of view," he says.

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The Silk Road Ensemble: globalFEST 2012

Posted by TerranceV | Entertainment | Posted on January 28th, 2012

By Anastasia Tsioulcas

Cross-cultural dialogue never sounded as good as this 14-member group, founded by superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Blending music from points near and far, this is a serious all-star ensemble, which — even without its founder’s presence — brings fabulous energy to all of its outings.

Four of The Silk Road Ensemble’s core Western classical-oriented members also play as Brooklyn Rider — a longtime NPR Music staff favorite — while other master musicians in this adventurous band include the Galician gaita (bagpipe) dazzler Cristina Pato and pipa virtuoso (and Tiny Desk Concert veteran) Wu Man. When they all played out together in full force, their pure joy and unyielding virtuosity provided one of the evening’s highest high points.