HOT: Holy Pipe Dreams
Singer Sinead O’Connor has always been incredibly personal in her songs, but when she discovered the Internet, her world became a completely open, deeply annotated book. Recently she took to her blog to claim the American Music Awards approached her about appearing on the awards show next month with Pope Francis, but producers got back in touch three weeks later to say it wasn’t going to happen (oh, and she found the whole idea “warped and disrespectful” in the first place). Sources told TMZ there was talk of her appearing on the show, but that the Pope claims came out of nowhere. For his part, Pope Francis says he couldn’t participate anyway; he has a non-compete clause in his contract to appear alongside Daft Punk at the next Grammy Awards.
WARM: No ‘Royals’ by the Bay
For a 17-year-old New Zealand Pop star, Lorde sure is getting a lot of weird press lately. After being a part of two South Park episodes, Lorde’s “Royals” is now being “banned” on two radio stations in San Francisco. For the non-sportos, the San Francisco Giants are playing the Kansas City Royals in baseball’s World Series, so airing a Pop song that vaguely references the opponents (Lorde said she got the name after seeing ex-KC player George Brett in National Geographic, presumably in their 18-page spread on pine tar) would most certainly help the Kansas City team win the championship. A Kansas City station responded by announcing it would play “Royals” once an hour between 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on the first day of the series, which seems pretty lackluster (pre-radio conglomeration mania, they would have played “Royals” all day long until the series was over). Based on radio hijinks, the series edge goes to the Giants.
Psst, SF DJs … play this one to counteract Lorde’s mysterious voodoo jinx power
COLD: Ringo’s Perfect Fit?
A couple years ago, the website celebritynetworth.com ranked ex-Beatles skinsman Ringo Starr the richest drummer on earth, with an estimated net worth of $300 million. He’s about to get a little richer thanks to one of the weirder celebrity pitchman deals in recent memory. Ringo would obviously be ideal for selling drum kits and sticks, and it wouldn’t raise an eyebrow if he hawked, say, a Rock Star-like video game, beard trimmers or sunglasses. But Ringo’s new gig is appearing in a global marketing campaign next spring for Skechers Relaxed Fit shoes. The shoe company’s president says Ringo was perfect for the campaign not only because of his “charm” and “cool charisma,” but also because he is a “style icon.” He is, the press release continues, the “perfect ambassador to illustrate how our comfortable footwear helps keep you relaxed in any situation.” Who better to understand the importance of comfortable footwear than a 74-year-old mega-rich dude?
Maybe Skechers was looking for Ringo the cat and signed Ringo the drummer instead by accident?
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2014.