CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Mariah Carey Engaged To Aussie Billionaire

Mariah Carey is in the news this week because she has announced that she is engaged to an Australian billionaire, James Packer. Packer, 48, is the 4th richest man in Australia, worth at least $4.7 billion. Mariah is 45 years old and has two 4 1/2 year old twins (named Moroccan and Monroe). She is recently divorced from her second husband, Nick Cannon.

Hat/tip to People

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: New Mariah Carey Album Cover Revealed!

Mariah Carey has revealed that she will be dropping a new album on the world on May 27, 2014.
It has the curious name of "Me. I Am. Mariah" based on a self-portrait that Mariah made of herself at age 3!

Hat/tip to Wonder Man

FILM REVIEW: Lee Daniels' The Butler

The film  Lee Daniels' The Butler (formerly known as The Butler) has been getting a lot of attention lately because it stars the Queen of all Media, Oprah Winfrey in a very dramatic role along with Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker and a huge cast of well-known actors portraying well-known political figures. The cast includes Jane Fonda (Nancy Reagan), Alan Rickman (President Reagan), John Cusack (President Nixon), Robin Williams (President Eisenhower), James Marsden (President Kennedy), Liev Schrieber (President Johnson) and whole lot of black actors. Mariah Carey (somewhat controversially appears as a field negro who is also the Whitaker character's mother), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette from True Blood plays Martin Luther King, Jr.) Lenny Kravitz, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Terence Howard are all also in the movie.

Daniels is the first openly gay and Black man ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Directing for 2009's Precious (which won 2 Oscars, for Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay) and so his movies are bound to get more attention now.

The movie is based on (or inspired by) a real story that is quite extraordinary. The story in question is the life of Eugene Allen, who served as a butler in the White House for seven Presidential administrations. In Danny Strong's screenplay he is called "Cecil Gaines" and played by Whitaker, while Oprah plays his boozy, adulterous wife Gloria. He has two sons Louis (played by David Oyelowo) and Charlie (played by Elijah Kelley) and the film's main action is the depiction of important American historical events starting in about 1960 and their impact on the Gaines family.

The film depicts a gripping version of important events in civil rights history: the lunch counter sit-ins, the freedom riders, the national guard enforcing school desegregation orders, Black Panther movement, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and President Kennedy, among others. The film is enthralling because it shows you these well-known events from the perspective of the ultimate insider by following Cecil as he works inside the White House serving the Presidents who were involved at the time.

One key thread in the film is the strategic debate between the people who felt it was necessary to but their bodies on the line to force change (represented by Cecil's son Louis) and those who wanted change but who did not feel like their individual efforts would be enough to cause the change to happen (as represented by Cecil). The film shows Cecil opposing Louis' desire to get involved in the civil rights movement as well as Louis' evolution from non-violent protester in college to Black Power militant to permanent agitator against the status quo and eventual establishment politician (as an elected Congressperson). The other  main thread in the film is the relationship between Gloria and Cecil. Cecil works very long hours in the White House and at first Gloria is proud that he is working for the First Family but eventually she becomes jealous and bitter because she believes that he cares more about that family than his own. She also drinks a fair amount and as the kids grow up and leave the house the relationship between Cecil and Gloria becomes more central to the story.

Overall, I enjoyed Lee Daniels' The Butler quite a lot and thus understand why it has become a box-office hit, especially with the big 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington happening this week.


Title: Lee Daniels' The Butler.
Director: Lee Daniels.
Running Time: 2 hours, 6 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for some violence and disturbing images, language, sexual material, thematic elements and smoking.
Release Date: August 16, 2013.
Viewing Date: August 20, 2013.

Writing: B.
Acting: A.
Visuals: A-.
Impact: A+.

Overall Grade: A-/B+ (3.50/4.0).

Celebrity Friday: Mariah Carey Plays A Field Negro in The Butler

This photo of Mariah Carey playing a slave working in the fields in openly gay director Lee Daniels' latest movie, The Butler, is causing a stir on Twitter and other social media online. Carey and Daniels have worked together before, in the Oscar-winning (and controversial) Precious, for example, where again Mariah played against her  image as a diva, to good reviews. The Butler is about the story of Eugene Allen, who was a butler in the White House serving 8 presidents of the United States.

Actually, I am happy about the controversy because it alerted me to the existence of the film, which has a jaw-dropping cast including Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Forest Whitaker, Terence Howard, John Cusack, Vanessa Redgrave, Robin Williams, Melissa Leo and many more. It also has a pretty strong trailer:


This looks like it might be a must-see next Fall!

Celebrity Friday: Mariah Carey is 43!

Mariah Carey's 43rd birthday was Tuesday March 26th. She sent out the above picture on Instagram, presumably to show what the mother of nearly 3-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe looks like without make-up.

Pretty impressive, I'd say!

WATCH: New Mariah Carey Video "Almost Home"

The official diva of MadProfessah.com is Mariah Carey. Mariah has a new music video out today for the song called "Almost Home" from the movie Oz The Great and Powerful starring James Franco, which opens today.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Celebrity Friday: Mariah Joins Idol For $17m

Getty

Mariah Carey, the best-selling pop diva with the multi-octave vocal range, has decided to join the cast of Fox's American Idol as a judge on the show's 12th season for the regal fee of $17 million dollars. Carey, 42, is married to the hella phyne Nick Cannon, 31, and the proud mother of 14-month old twin babies Madison and Moroccan (don't ask).

Carey is my favorite singer of all time, but her appearing on the show will still probably not convince me to watch the show, though it may make it more likely I won't change the channel instantaneously if I stumble upon it.

Do you still watch American Idol? If not, will you watch it now that Mariah is going to be on it?

Celebrity Friday: Monroe and Moroccan Cannon

Mariah Carey and her husband Nick Cannon released pictures of their now 6-month old twins, Monroe Cannon and Moroccan Cannon this week by creating a website called DemBabies.com. The twins are adorable and hopefully will grow up not too scarred by having the most ridiculous celebrity baby names in recent history.

Go to DemBabies.com to see even more pictures of Nick, Mariah and the twins.

Celebrity Friday: Monroe Cannon and Moroccan Scott Cannon

 The names of the twin baby boy and girl that Mariah Carey gave birth to on Saturday April 30th have been revealed: the boy will be Moroccan Scott Cannon and the girl will be called Monroe Cannon (notice both of them thus will have the initials "MC." Mariah said she didn't want Monroe to have a middle name, because she didn;t have one. Monroe was named after Marilyn Monroe, and Moroccan was named after a type of interior design that Mariah loves. She has a Moroccan room in her Central Park palatial apartment and that was the room in which her husband Nick Cannon proposed to her.

Mariah Carey Has Her Twins (Boy And Girl)!

Mariah Carey, 41, and Nick Cannon, 30, welcomed their twin babies, a boy and a girl, on Saturday April 30.

Carey's representative, Cindi Berger, confirmed the births to The Associated Press. The singing superstar gave birth Saturday at 12:07 p.m. EDT at an undisclosed hospital in Los Angeles. Berger says the baby girl was born first, weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 18 inches long; her brother was next, at 5 pounds 6 ounces, and was 19 inches.

The two will celebrate their third wedding anniversary on Sunday May 1st.

Happy New Year! Happy 2011!

Mariah Confirms She's Expecting Twins

Mariah Carey with husband Nick Cannon

Pop diva Mariah Carey, 40, and movie star husband Nick Cannon, 30, have confirmed that they are expecting twins, Dlisted.com reports.

Nick and Mimi were trying to keep the news locked inside their lips for as long as they could, but he says he just had to blurt it out when the Obamas asked about her uterus situation after the Christmas in Washington Concert on Sunday night.

Nick explained, "They, ironically enough, questioned my wife about, you know, 'So, what are you having, are you having twins? And at this point she hadn't told anybody anything because doctors advised us to keep it to ourselves until we get further along. And because of the excitement, because of the emotion, she was overwhelmed [and] she shared with the President and First Lady that we are having twins."

This is amazing news for my favorite singer! I'm very happy for the couple. What do you think the names of the babies will be? Dlisted said they are hoping for "Lamberiah Ensemble Cannon and LisaFrank Tajazzle Cannon." LOL!

Celebrity Friday: Mariah Carey Is Pregnant

My favorite singer Mariah Carey is clearly pregnant, but since she is 40 years old, she and her husband Nick Cannon (who is 29 and phyne) have been coy about confirming the news. I think these pictures take care of that, don't you?

Mariah Carey In Drag As A Man!

These shots of the pop star dressed as a man are for the video to Mariah Carey's "Obsessed," the first single from her next album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.

hat/tip to TowleRoad.

Mariah Carey's Next Album Cover

Hat/tip to Wonder Man at Maybe, it's just me.

Mariah Carey's Obsessed Drops Today

Mrs. Nick Cannon, umm, excuse me, Mariah Carey is releasing the first single "Obsessed" from her upcoming album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel to radio today.

The track is apparently another dig at Eminem, who Mariah last slapped down with one of my favorite tracks from her Charmbracelet album called "Clown" and who (in return) dissed Mariah on the track "Bagpipes from Baghdad" from his latest album Relapse, which was released earlier this year to very little notice. Mariah's husband made headlines by complaining about the track on his blog at the time.

Anyway, courtesy Love B Scott here are the lyrics to Mariah Carey's latest single "Obsessed":

OBSESSED
(Mariah Carey – C. Tricky Stewart – Terius “The-Dream” Nash)

I was like, “Why are you so obsessed with me?”

So oh oh oh oh
So oh oh oh oh
So oh oh oh oh
So oh oh oh oh

Will the real MC please, step to the mike?

So oh oh oh oh
So oh oh oh oh
So oh oh oh oh
So oh oh oh oh

All up in the blogs
Saying we met at the bar
When I don’t even know who you are
Saying we up in your house
Saying I’m up in your car
But you in LA and I’m out at Jermaine’s.
I’m up in the A
You so so lame
and no one here even mentions your name
It must be the weed. It must be the E
Cause you be popping hood
You get it popping, Oh

Why you so obsessed with me (Boy I wanna know)
Lying that you’re sexing me (when everybody knows)
It’s clear that you’re upset with me
Finally found a girl that you couldn’t impress
Last man on the earth still couldn’t hit this
You’re delusional, you’re delusional
Boy you’re losing your mind
It’s confusing yo, you’re confused you know
Why you wasting your time
Got you all fired up with your Napoleon complex
Seeing right through you like you’re bathing in Windex
Boy why you so obsessed with me?

You on your job
You hating hard
Ain’t gon’ feed you
I’m gonna let you starve
Gasping for air
I’m ventilation
You out of breath
Hope you ain’t waiting
Telling the world how much you miss me
But we never were
So why you trippin’
You a mom and pop
I’m a corporation
I’m the press conference
and you a conversation

Why you so obsessed with me (Boy I wanna know)
Lying that you’re sexing me (when everybody knows)
It’s clear that you’re upset with me
Finally found a girl that you couldn’t impress
Last man on the earth still couldn’t hit this
You’re delusional, you’re delusional
Boy you’re losing your mind
It’s confusing yo, you’re confused you know
Why you wasting your time
Got you all fired up with your Napoleon complex
Seeing right through you like you’re bathing in Windex
Boy why you so obsessed with me?

Why you so obsessed with me
Lying that you’re sexing me
It’s clear that you’re upset with me
Finally found a girl that you couldn’t impress
Last man on the earth still couldn’t hit this
You’re delusional, you’re delusional
Boy you’re losing your mind
It’s confusing yo, you’re confused you know
Why you wasting your time
Got you all fired up with y our napoleon complex
Seeing right through you like you’re bathing in windex
Boy why you so obsessed with me?

You can also hear the track by playing the video below:

Mariah Carey 's"Hero (2009)" with newly recorded vocals

Mariah Carey has re-recorded "Hero" for her forthcoming album Ballads which features 18 of her slow jams, nine of which are former #1. It's really disconcerting to compare the 2009 version of her vocals with the 1993 original.

Leona Lewis Tackles "I Will Always Love You"

When I was a young queer I used to listen to Mariah Carey's music every day and she still remains my "diva" no matter how messy she gets. But I can see how the young 'uns may have moved on to Leona Lewis, the 2006 winner of the British version of American Idol and the singer of "Bleeding Love," the #2 pop single of 2008. Below is her (overly faithful) rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."

The Top 100 Singers Of All Time

oooh, child! Thanks to kennethinthe212 I was alerted to this list compiled by Rolling Stone magazine of the 100 greatest singers of all time. Miss Aretha Franklin was #1, with only one other female in the Top 20 (Tina Turner, #17).

Now, you know the gay boys will be fighting over this list all during Thanksgiving, but did they really need to list Miss Whitney Houston at #34 and Miss Mariah Carey at #79?

Who would you put in your Top 10? This is their list:

1 Aretha Franklin by Mary J. Blige
2 Ray Charles by Billy Joel
3 Elvis Presley by Robert Plant
4 Sam Cooke by Van Morrison
5 John Lennon by Jackson Browne
6 Marvin Gaye by Alicia Keys
7 Bob Dylan by Bono
8 Otis Redding by Booker T. Jones
9 Stevie Wonder by Cee-Lo
10 James Brown by Iggy Pop

First of all, how could they forget the recently deceased Yma Sumac?

Mariah Carey's "Bye Bye" Video