Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
Taylor Swift snub bad business for country music awards show
The Academy of Country Music Awards ended their three-year winning streak as Sunday’s telecast fell short of last year’s surprisingly strong haul. Maybe organizers should blame Taylor Swift.
The three-hour CBS ceremony averaged 13.1 million viewers, down from a nine-year high of 14.8 million in 2009, but up from 11.7 million in 2008 and a record low of 9.3 million in 2007. While Carrie Underwood made history at the Las Vegas bash by becoming the first woman to win the coveted entertainer of the year prize twice, it was perhaps more notable that Swift did not win a thing. The country-crossover star, who was nominated five times, has taken home hardware from every big awards show in the past year. And in each case, her victory coincided with a ratings boost.
The Grammys hit a six-year high of 25.9 million viewers in January after Swift became the youngest artist to win the key album of the year award. Last November, the American Music Awards soared to a seven-year high of 14.2 million viewers when Swift won five awards including artist of the year. And at the Country Music Association Awards earlier that month, viewership rose to a four-year high of 17.2 million viewers after Swift’s clean sweep included entertainer of the year.
In September the MTV Video Music Awards achieved a five-year high of almost 9 million viewers, but Kanye West can probably claim a lot of the credit thanks to his on-stage rant after Swift won a statuette he said should have gone to Beyonce. At last year’s ACM Awards Kenny Chesney was the big winner. But Swift was honored for best new female vocalist and stole the show with a water-drenched performance.
Taylor Swift wins Grammys, loses music critics
Taylor Swift’s record label has come out in defense of the young pop/country star after her less-than-stellar performance at the Grammy awards on Sunday had music critics shooting poisoned arrows at her vocal talents.
Swift, 20, took four Grammys on Sunday, including the coveted album of the year for the smash hit “Fearless”, which was also the biggest selling album of 2009. But her haul was somewhat overshadowed by her live Grammy duet with veteran rock singer Stevie Nicks, which The Washington Post called “incredibly wretched” and Ann Powers of The Los Angeles Times described as “tinny and rhythmically flat footed.”
Tay-Squared fails to add up
“New Moon” star Taylor Lautner and “Fearless” singer Taylor Swift are no longer on a first name ba
sis — for the celebrity media that is. The two Taylors set the media world looking for a new couple nickname when they shared some dates this fall, with the mathematical Tay-Squared coming out as the preferred tag for the young romantics.
But Us and People magazines reported on Tuesday that the couple is no longer an item. “It wasn’t really developing into anything, and wasn’t going to, so they decided they were better as friends,” a source close to Swift told Us magazine.
Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus in contention for Oscars
Old-school Hollywood types would be aghast, but think of the boffo ratings if teen starlets Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus nabbed Oscar nominations next year.
The duo are part of the way there, having co-written songs that made the shortlist for Oscar consideration. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday unveiled 63 original song contenders that will be winnowed down to a maximum of five nominees.
Taylor Swift – “Fearless” or tone-less?
She made history at the Country Music Awards last week, is the biggest selling female artist in the United States this year, and she comes magically to life in December’s edition of InStyle in the first ever 3D magazine cover.
But how good is teen sensation Taylor Swift at actual singing?
Not so great, if the growing amount of chat on the Web is to be believed. The higher her public profile rises, the louder are the whispers that Swift often sings flat in live performances.
Taylor and Taylor to be the hookup of the year? Maybe
Some celebrity hookups are hardly worth the ink used to write them up in the tabloids, especially when they involve two stars who clearly shouldn’t be together, or they end quicker than a sumo wrestling match.
But then there’s Taylor and Taylor. Singer Taylor Swift, the top selling female artist of 2008, and actor Taylor Lautner, the “Twilight” teen idol, have been seen out together, first at a hockey game on Sunday and later this week in Beverly Hills, for what the media has described as a dinner date.
Miley slips from teen idol perch — but does it matter?
Miley Cyrus’s status as a teen idol has taken a knock in a poll of teens and tweens, reflecting the tough time many celebrities have making the transition from child star to a young woman. But is she really the worst celebrity influence — on tweens — of the year?
The poll of 9-15 year olds on the web site JSYK.com seemed to suggest that Miley’s star might be fading after a roller-coaster three-year reign as one of the most popular teens in the world.
Kanye West’s arena tour with Lady Gaga killed off
If Taylor Swift had any intentions of catching Kanye West on the rapper’s North American concert tour with Lady Gaga, she will now have to make other plans. The trek is off, according to a terse statement issued Thursday afternoon by concert promoter Live Nation.
“Live Nation announced today that the Kanye West and Lady Gaga ‘Fame Kills’ tour has been cancelled. Refunds are available at the point of purchase. Tickets purchased online and via phone will be refunded automatically.”
Kanye West and Taylor Swift — the backlash begins
When rap artist Kanye West took the microphone from country singer Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night and told viewers that Beyonce should have won her aw
ard instead, he was not likely to win many friends.
And sure enough, celebrities have taken to the Web to denounce Kanye’s actions faster than viral video of the incident, which you can view here.
Jonas Brothers love life gets complicated
As one Jonas goes off the market, another comes back on.
Joe Jonas, 19, has split with his actress girlfriend Camilla Belle, 22, after less than a year of dating.
“Yes it’s true,” they have broken up, Belle’s publicist told People magazine on Monday. “There is no third party involved and they care deeply about each other and will remain friends.”
