Evans Above

When I first saw Leona Lewis’ X Factor performances on Youtube, I thought she had an amazing voice.

Months later, her album hits North American shores and, after an appearance with Simon Cowell on Oprah, Leona’s single “Keep Bleeding Love” is everywhere.

And it bores me. The girl’s got a killer set of pipes and this boring, generic song does nothing to really show off her vocal skills. It could have been released by any fill-in-the-blank artist.

I was just watching the local CTV news in Toronto and their community interest story was on a girl, Nicolette Nardi-Addesa, who was having her sweet sixteen party.

Mention sweet sixteen parties these days and your mind turns to the self-absorbed, vain, unappreciative girls on MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen. The type that yell “I hate you!” at the mother who bought them a Lexus in the wrong colour.

Nicolette is NOT that girl. She decided that instead of throwing a party that was about how much you could receive, hers would be about how much you could give. Tickets for her party required a minimum donation and the money raised would go towards the Children’s Wish Foundation so that a sixteen-year-old with a life threatening illness could have their wish come true.

Congratulations to Nicolette on her sixteenth…and congratulations for growing up to be a young woman who can think of others in this increasingly insular world. If you’re inclined to make a donation to Children’s Wish to follow Nicolette’s example, visit their site at https://www.childrenswish.ca/.

My friend, actress/writer/singer/whatever-she-sets-her-mind-to Jaclyn A. Smith, is hosting Unplugged at Vancouver’s Grace Gallery this Saturday, March 29th, 2008 starting at 6pm PT. The evening of art, food, drinks and live music, which is helping to raise awareness for Earth Hour, will feature appearances by Greenpeace founder Rex Weyler and director of The Whale Center, Dr. David Randle.

Jaclyn, or “Jax”, who can currently be seen opposite Eugene Levy in American Pie Presents: Beta House , has also made a video in support of Earth Hour. Take a look:

I’m pretty sure that Kristy Lee Cook wasn’t planning to say anything raunchy to American Idol judge Simon Cowell when she said that, if she stuck around another week, “I can blow you out of your socks and you know it.”

Simon for once was speechless and tactful, while fellow AI judge Randy Jackson immediately went “Whoa, whoa!” and suggested that host Ryan Seacrest not go there. Seacrest was doing his best not to laugh, his voice cracking as he went on, while Paula Abdul had the possibilities of the phrase fly over her head, adding, “Aim for that. Blow him out of his socks.”

Cowell, grinning ear to ear, managed to stay quiet, while Seacrest finally ventured that, “It’s hot! Turn on the air, Debbie!”

A great live TV moment that hit the border of family TV but didn’t cross it, but the big question is whether FOX’s Standards & Practices people will snip it out for the West Coast airing.

Of course, Cook’s online bio on the Idol site says her favorite quote is: “Rope it, ride it, wrestle it, cowgirl it.” I bet.

Man, oh, man what a sham NBC’s coverage of the 65th Golden Globe Awards was.

After losing the exclusive on the press conference that replaced the usual glam ceremony, NBC tried to salvage whatever ad dollars still remained in the building. While E!, CNN, and the TV Guide channel held the press conference live, NBC took its ball and went home, having Access Hollywood anchors Billy Bush and Nancy O’Dell announce the winners “live…as we get them .”

How were they getting them? Was an asthmatic homing pigeon flying the results from Beverly Hills to the Burbank studios? The other cable nets finished showing the awards announcement live in 30 minutes, while NBC stretched it out to an hour.

The worst moment? Nancy O’Dell, in the last few minutes of the broadcast, asking Entertainment Weekly’s Dave Karger to predict the race for Best Motion Picture – Drama, even though the winner, Atonement, was announced half an hour earlier.

Check out DigitalHit.com’s coverage of the 2008 Golden Globes, the saddest Globes ever.

Another DVD set to arrive a day before the holidays was Kissology, Vol. 3: 1992-2000. Again, the KISS fan in your household won’t care what day of the year they get this. The DVDs are chock full of material, but I found the commentary tracks by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley to be the most interesting. The two are quite honest in their discussions about Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. Paul says their return to the band in the mid-90s was “a miraculous second lottery” where “2 individuals chose once again to throw away the winning ticket” while Gene describes the reunion period as “torture.” To be fair, there are two sides to every story, but the KISS ball belongs to Gene and Paul now, so they can decide what laundry gets aired.

The package contains over ten hours of performances including the MTV Unplugged performance, the Dodgers Stadium Psycho Circus concert, the Detroit Rock City premier party performance, The Last KISS performance from Continental Airlines Arena, and their Coventry gig from 1973.

Song’s performed include “Rock and Roll All Nite”, “Domino”, “Lick It Up”, “God of Thunder”, “Shout It Out Loud” and too many others to mention.

If you are, or you know, a member of the KISS Army, then this DVD set is for you.

Wow, just before the Xmas holidays hit, we received yet another package in the ol’ DigitalHit.com mailbag. This time it was Get Smart the Complete Series — Seasons 1-5 DVD Box Set. It doesn’t matter one iota that the holidays have passed. If you’re a fan of this classic series from Mel Brooks and Buck Henry you really won’t care which one of the 365 days of the year you’ll get it on.

The five DVD set has the complete series and over nine hours — 9 hours! — of extras including featurettes, commentary from Mel Brooks, an interview with Buck Henry, highlights from the reunion seminar held at the Museum of Television & Radio, footage of Don Adams’ 75th birthday party at the Playboy Mansion, bloopers and a whole bunch of interactive features.

It’s great seeing the series again as Max and his Control cohorts The Chief and 99 battle Siegfried and KAOS. The shoe phone, the cone of silence and “Would you believe…” are all here to provide you with hours of comedic pleasure.

Every once in a while, an epic historical movie comes along that stirs the soul and moves the heart. This is NOT that movie.

The Last Legion weaves the fall of the Roman Empire into the Arthurian legend by following the life of the young Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus (Thomas Sangster), his mentor Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley), his sworn defender Aurelius (Colin Firth) and a beautiful, deadly female warrior, Mira (Aishwarya Rai).

Rome has fallen to the invading Goths and Firth and his loyal soldiers take a stand to defend the final Caesar after making their way to the last legion in Britannia. Unfortunately, the Goths must have looted the film’s budget as well. What should be epic battles seem to involve a few hundred combatants without the CGI-generated swarms of warriors we’re now used to. There are also a few visual effects shots here that even a first year computer animation student would decide not to submit for marks.

What should be a sweeping epic instead comes across like a TV movie from the History Channel and perhaps this film works better as a DVD then as a big screen experience, especially as it only clocks in at just over 90 minutes. It’s the sort of film you’d find yourself watching on a Sunday afternoon when it’s raining out. It’s mildly entertaining, elicits a few chuckles (both intentional and not), and Firth is likable as ever. It just never attains the grandeur we expect from this sort of film.

It’s pretty easy to see how they assembled such an all-star cast. Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai was looking for another foot in Hollywood’s door. Ben Kingsley was looking for a cheque. Finally, Colin Firth thought that this might be his only chance to play a Roman general and if someone was going to offer him an action film, he better take it.

Even the extras feel a bit half-hearted. A few deleted scenes. Some raw footage of fight choreography. A trailer and a “Making of…” segment.

The Last Legion probably won’t hurt too many people’s careers. Audiences would have to see it first for that to happen.

Two items arrived in the mail yesterday that are definitely worth talking about. The first is Paul McCartney’s Memory Almost Full – CD/DVD Deluxe Edition. This package is comprised of Macca’s new CD and a DVD featuring concert footage from a concert at The Electric Ballroom in London as well as videos for “Dance Tonight” and “Ever Present Past”.

Paul’s having fun on this CD. The energy’s there and it actually feels a bit like a Wings album. I may not be the biggest fan of “Dance Tonight” but Paul rocks and wails through tunes like “Only Mama Knows” and “Gratitude”. “Mr. Bellamy” could have been an extra track from Sgt. Peppers and “Nod Your Head” shows that a senior McCartney stills likes the wail of guitars.

Paul’s having a ton of fun here and it doesn’t feel like he’s going to stop anytime soon.

The other package in the mail was the remastered and expanded deluxe version of U2’s The Joshua Tree, which has been released in honour of the album’s 20th anniversary.

The Joshua Tree was U2’s first album to reach #1 in the United States. The album also won the Irish lads Album Of The Year and Best Rock Performance By A Group Or Duo at the Grammy Awards.

Some of U2’s most memorable tunes are here: “Where The Streets Have No Name”, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, and “With or Without You” start off the first CD. The second CD is comprised of rarities and B-sides from the album’s sessions. The package also contains a 36 page bound book that features Bill Flanagan’s liner notes, an essay by The Edge, photos by Anton Corbijn and handwritten lyrics by Bono.

Toss either of these releases under the tree and you’re sure to please a music lover.

While some people’s thoughts at Christmas turn to the man in the red suit, country fans might find their thoughts drifting to the man in black.

Shout Factory has released two new DVDs Johnny Cash Christmas 1976 and Johnny Cash Christmas 1977. The Country Music Hall of Famer teams up with other musical legends in these two Xmas TV specials chock full of music.

In the 1976 special, Cash and wife June Carter Cash invite pop star Tony Orlando and country great Roy Clark to their family farm in Bon Aqua, Tennessee. In this segment of the show, they perform hits and classics like “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree”, “Far Away Places” and “That Lucky Old Sun”. Later Clark and Orlando join Cash in a medley of Stephen Foster classics including “Camptown Races”, Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair” and “Oh! Susanna”.

Later in the special, Johnny and June head to their home in Hendersonville, where they joined by Merle Travis, Barbara Mandrell, the Carter Family and Billy Graham.

In the 1977 special, filmed at the Grand Ol’ Opry two months after Elvis’ death, Cash pays tribute to Presley by inviting along the other artists that worked with Elvis at Sun Records: Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. Besides singing some of their hits, they also pay tribute to Elvis’ love of gospel by signing “This Train Is Bound For Glory”.

Roy Clark makes his second appearance on a Cash Xmas show, and he and Johnny pay tribute to the Gene Autry Christmas classics “Here Comes Santa Claus”, Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Cash and the gang are also joined by the Statler Brothers. The entire cast of the special then join Johnny and June in a closing rendition of “Children Go Where I Send Thee.”

Fans of Cash or the big ol’ Xmas variety shows will love these two new DVDs.

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