After early sales number showed that Barbra Streisand and Mariah Carey were neck and neck for the number 2 spot on the Billboard album charts last week but the legendary singer actually pulled off the unexpected. Barbra came in at the top of the mountain, beating not only Mariah but fan favorite band Paramore as well. After all of these years, Barbra is still number 1. Congratulations! For someone who did very little to no promotion at all, she certainly came in with a huge surprise. She’s amazing really. The day that she fails to make a huge splash would be the day that pigs fly.
Barry Dennen, a former boyfriend of Barbra Streisand, is auctioning off three tapes of the singer’s earliest performances. The tapes include Barbra singing ‘A Taste of Honey’ and ‘Two Brother’s’ in Barry’s apartment while he accompanied her on guitar. It also includes a rehearsal at the Bon Soir nightclub. The bidding starts at a whopping $1 million. Barry said “I’m a little trepidatious. I don’t know what the fallout will be. I don’t like upsetting Barbra, and I don’t want her fans angry at me.” I’m afraid for him. A member of Barbra’s camp spoke of what they think of the auction, saying “Our lawyers are dealing with this.” Yikes!
The singer recently concluded a deal to release her new book, “A Passion for Design”, which will be an illustrated work with her Malibu home on which she has worked on for about five years… and also other residencies. Barbra Streisand has, however, been reluctant to write about her life and was unsure about the publishing of this book which will also contain 50000 words. She said: “Do I really want to write about my life? Do I really want to relive my life? I’m not sure.” Can you say I want to brag to everybody with my houses, but don’t know how? Somehow it’s very questionable that Barbra Streisand is actually that reluctant to publish written material about herself… maybe the maintenance of her Malibu estate is taking its toll.
Barbra Streisand’s highly anticipated televised concert special was a big old bomb but the diva sure knows how to push a DVD. The singer’s new three disc DVD set ‘Streisand: The Concerts’ is currently sitting on the top of the Billboard Top Music DVD chart in the US and the UK. The DVD has set a record by selling more copies than any other music DVD that’s been released this year. Nice work! I guess she’s recovered more than enough from that crappy televised show that she did. Good for her. I’d rather forget that show ever happened and the DVD sales are nice distractions.
The ratings have just come in for Barbara Streisand’s highly promoted, much anticipated and most likely expensive concert special. The special aired to a very dismal 4.9 million viewers. In other words, it was a total bomb. CBS must be so thrilled at the news. It’s the perfect example of just quitting when you’re ahead and that not all music icons are really welcome back into the scene when they say that they’ve left. Harsh I know but let’s face it, who listens to her music nowadays anyway? The special was nothing but a waste of money, time and space on the airwaves.
Beyonce showed off her glamorous look as she stalked the red carpet at the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, DC last Sunday night. The 27-year old singer and actress was one of several artists who paid tribute to diva extraordinaire Barbra Streisand’s career. Idina Menzel sang ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ from Barbra’s 1964 musical ‘Funny Girl’. Beyonce sang ‘The Way We Were’. Ne-Yo also performed to Barbra’s ‘Lover, Come Back to Me’. Also honored for their contributions to America’s performing arts were Morgan Freeman, The Who rockers Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, singer George Jones and choreographer Twyla Tharp.
With the presidential election fast approaching, many musicians have become active in promoting awareness of the importance of voting. Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand are just a couple of the many that have helped out. Now, the Beastie Boys are hitting the road to perform some shows in the battleground states. The band has announced the ‘Get Out & Vote ‘08’ which will take them to Virginia on October 28th, Minnesota on November 1st, and Milwaukee on November 2nd. Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones and a few others will join them on the Virginia stop while Ben Harper and Tenacious D will help out on the Minnesota and Milwaukee stops.
Did you know that heart disease is the #1 killer of American women? That’s according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. And that’s why Barbra Streisand just donated a cool $5 million to LA’s Cedars-Sinai Medical for women’s heart education and research program. The diva’s gift will fund the Barbra Streisand Women’s Cardiovascular Research and Education at Cedars-Sinai and for the expansion of the hospital’s research efforts. Of the donation, Barbra said “Women need to be educated about female cardiovascular disease and the medical community must be propelled toward change. Just like with breast cancer the impetus must come from women themselves striving to become empowered to reduce their risks for heart disease.”
Janet Jackson was spotted as she caught a departing flight out of LAX airport in Los Angeles which arrived in Japan’s Narita International Airport on Wednesday. When asked about what she loved in Japan, Janet responded with “I love Japan so much because it never bores me. I want to visit KiddyLand, sushi restaurants and clubs with my friends.” All these things she could do in LA. The 41-year old singer is on a 3-day tour to promote her latest album ‘Discipline’. This is Janet’s sixth number one album. She is now tied with Madonna in the US for most chart toppers for a female artist. Barbra Streisand still holds the record with 8.
Superstar Barbra Streisand is set to snub an Australian tour in favor of neighboring New Zealand – because she is still upset by the country’s criticism of a concert seven years ago. The diva was criticized by Australian fans for using an autocue to remember the stage banter in between singing tracks during her Timeless tour in 2000. What ever an autocue is I have no idea of it, she has problems with everything, small or big. She recently cancelled concerts in Europe coz the fans in some countries were not willing to pay for the high concert tickets that the organizers had put up and then she shifted the dates to some other country. Now she does not want to go to Australia coz the fans have criticized her for something. She better decide if she wants to keep her fans happy and thronging to her concerts or she wants to leave behind memories of fans that have liked her but gradually deserted her.
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