HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CABARET?

If a movie becomes a classic, it is because there really is something interesting in it that calls attention, even if at first it seems not so nice. The musical Cabaret, for instance, released in 1972, sounds at first like a comic romance with daring and funny coreographies. But make no mistake. It is in fact a musical with a central romance and several fun moments. But there is much more there, subtleties that make Cabaret something like an essay on German pre World War II.

It is colourful, it is funny, it is Cabaret. It is inteligent, it is political, it is Cabaret. It is classic, it is rich, it is musical, it is Cabaret. The movie that gave Liza Minelli her greatest moment of her career is a must for anyone who likes movies. Cabaret presents a plot about friendship, about sexual discoveries, and about the rising of nazism in the pre World War II Germany. The center of the story is the Kit Kat Club, a cabaret in which the lovely Sally Bowles (Liza Minelli) frequently performs. Also, it is there that the musical presentations interpreted by the brilliant Joel Grey take place. Sally meets Brian Roberts (Michael York), a charismatic English teacher that just arrived in Berlin. Living in the same hostel, they quickly become half friends, half lovers,  then beginning a relationship with Miximilian Von Heune (Helmut Griem), involving a bissexuality that is never shown clearly, but in a quite subtle way. And that causes the movie to be really attractive, a movie that values details, light humor and sensibility. The characters' perceptions and feelings, just like the political situation of that time, are illustrated by the gorgeous performances during the movie, which turns such performances into a kind of a Greek Theater Chorus. The script is a adaption of a Brodway musical from 1966. The direction was in charge of the competent Bob Fosse, also responsible for the excellent coreographies. The movie was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 8 of them, losing Best Movie for The Godfhater - a potential rival, I must say. Cabaret has the trump of showing delicately a time of rising nazi domain. There is a quite well constructed scene in which a boy sings what seems to be a ode to the beauties of nature. Then, we see that the boy is dressed with a nazist uniform, praising Hitler's party with his song. As mentioned ahead, Cabaret is a movie in which the main qualities are the details, the accuracy with which each scene was created, the accuracy of a fluent and rich text. And that is what we call a classic.

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FINALLY, SHE IS BACK

Fiona Apple broke her own record, again. In between the release of Tidal (1996) and When the Pawn... (1999), there was a three year gap. From the latter until the release of Extraordinary Machine (2005), there was a 6 year hiatus. Once her new record, entitled The Idler Wheel... was released last week, there was a long 7 year waiting for something new. Finally she managed to released it. And, although being in a way inferior to her previous albuns, it is not bad at all. But it is not that good either. The fact is - she really took too long. Expectations were really high. And the final product did not match such expectations.

The Idler Wheel debuted on number 3 on Billboard TOP 200,  Fiona Apple's best performance in the United States. That was not a surprise. All her fans has been expecting her new album for about two years. Now they got it. Now we got it. But, was it worth the waiting? Honestly, it is a good album, although too short (only 10 songs). All Fiona's best features are there - the rustic drums, the heavy jazz piano, and her typical under control rage, expressed with irritated vocals and cynical lyrics. But there is not a great moment on the album. It is all too constant, with nothing particularly new. Maybe "Valentine" might be seen as a highlight. It is a very lovely song that reminds us of the Fiona from Tidal. Lyrically, the songs on The Idler Wheel... revolve around the same issues - auto critic and frustration in a fail to change. "How can i ask anyone to love when all i do is beg to be left alone", she spits in "Left Alone". In fact, that is the same thematic she explores since the beginning of her career, with few exceptions. But she does explore it quite poetically, always coming up with acid verses. Musically, the album resembles in general that first version of Extraordinary Machine, with Fiona's powerful vocals ready to explode. Her voice is gorgeous in songs like "Anything We Want" and the funny "Daredevil". Although it is not Fiona's best release, it is a record that does not lack good qualities. As a mentioned afore, the problem was that we perhaps expected something wild, bigger, given such a 7 never-ending-waiting years. But it's good to finally have Fiona back. Enjoy it. We never know how long she will take to produce another album.

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EUROPEAN CHARTS

AUSTRIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, SWITZERLAND AND NORWAY

"Do you know what Tacatá is?" That is the first verse of "Tacatá", a song by Italian duo Tacabro, featuring Cuban singer Martínez Rodríguez. The result, which became a smash hits in several countries, is a eletro-tribal-dance sound, something quite pitbull-anian. "Tacatá" is on the top of Switzerland, besides being among the 10+ in Czech Republic and Austria.

Speaking of Áustria, it is the Swedish singer Loreen that holds the first position there with "Euphoria", an euro dance ballad that is also on the top of Norway and is among the favorites in Czech Republic too. 

 

Charts in Czech Republic is full of international artists with few exceptions like the duet  "Ležím v tvé blizkosti", by rapper Lipoand the female singer Debbi. Lipo sings his rapin Czech  and Debbi sings the chorus in English. It resembles "Airplanes", duet by BOB with Hayley Williams. Among others, the TOP 10 has names like the aforementioned Tacabro, Pitbull, Flo Rida e Gotye. The first position lays on Carly Rae Jepsen with the worldwide hit "Call me Maybe".

"Kde Si" by Elán is another highlight in Czech Republic, where it holds the 13º position. It is a lovely ballad a la Simon & Garfunkel.

The Swiss chart, besides having brazilian singer Gustavo Lima on number 2 with his ever lasting "Balada", presents the comeback of German punk rock band Die Toten Hosen with the beautiful "Tage Wie Diese" something like "We are Young", by Fun. Still, on 20º there is the group Müslüm with "Süpervitamin", a reggae-hip hop beat with a very funny video. Think of Sacha Baron Cohen in Bruno.

In Norway, apart th internation domain, the TOP 10 counts with the eletro dance  "E Vil Bara Dans" by Norwegian group Sirkus Eliassen Og Ben Kinx. On 10º, there is Swedish female singer Alina Devecerski with "Flytta Pa Dig". Justin Bieber has 3 song among the TOP 20, and Brazilian Michel Teló keeps a strong audience, holding the 11º position.

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FROM LANA, TO JACKIE, WITH ELEGANCE

After broadcasting a trailler of her new video yesterday, american singer Lana Del Rey released today the full video of "National Anthem", featuring rapper A$ap Rocky, an open admirer of her. The music video is a trip into Kennedy era, and also an invitation for Lana Del Rey's young fans into a History class. Just like she does in her music, Lana works once more with a revival of the last century, of which she has not known too much, but seems willing to get in touch with it more and more.

What connects Lana Del Rey to Jacqueline Onassi? Besides the classic elegance, Lana performs the role of the most charismatic American first lady in her new music video, "National Anthem", released today by the singer. John Kennedy's role was in charge of rapper A$ap Rocky. It is a kind of a short film with around 8 minutes, filled with intimate moments of Kennedy and Jackie, performed passionately by Rocky and Lana. The video carries tha amateur tone that Lana's music videos usually have; though, it has a gorgeous black and white photography and a careful art direction. The first minute is the video's highlight, with Lana Del Rey, sensual and classy as ever, singing "Happy Birthday" for Kennedy, who stares at her with pure passion and desire. The nostalgic atmosphere gets a modern look with the choice for a black rapper to incorporate John Kennedy, who was white. Maybe a reference to Obama. Maybe just a joke? Lana doesn't look like the sort of girl who jokes while working. In fact, she seems to know exactly the image she wants to show in public, that is, a sexy XXI century young woman who did not lose the XX century elegance and classic beauty. Watch the video below. Draw your own conclusions.
 de uma jovem sexy do século XXI que não perdeu a elegância e a classe do século XX. Veja o vídeo abaixo. Tirem suas próprias conclusões.

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LET'S GO TO THE BEACH WITH NICKI MINAJ

Suddenly at a beach there it comes a black woman with a massive hot body in a tiny bikini and a blond wig. She shakes her body like crazy and sings things like "bad bitches like me it's hard to come by". That is the video of "Starships" and that woman is Nicki Minaj - singer, songwriter, rapper, and so much more. A girl that likes to party with absolute no sign of shyness. The good thing is that, for her, party doesn't mean sex scandals. Party means just party!

Onika Tanya Maraj, now known simply by Nicki Minaj, was born in Trinidad and Tobago, 1982, moving to New York at the age of 5. During her childhood, Nicki showed that she was an artist - she used to sing, to play the clarinet, and to perform as an actress. It seems that since then, she learned a lot of new stuff and put everything together in her music, which is funny, saucy, eclectic, and so much more. Nicki has already recorded with a bunch of people like David Guetta, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Britney Spears, and Eminem. Nothing bad for whom is in the beginning. Musically, Nicki explores a wide variety of styles from hip hop to euro dance, passing by dance-pop, r&b and disco. Visually, she is a comic mixture of Beyonce, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, with a tip of brazilian carnival women. But besides this crazy recipe with so many ingredients, there is something that makes Nicki quite more interesting than celebrities like Lady Gaga: differently from Gaga, Nicki doesn't have a heavy sexual approach. Her lack of clothes and her absolute colourful and extravagant costumes are intended to cause a visual impact rather than sexual polemics. And her looks go with her music, that is also colourful, full of surprises. Nicki's last record was Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, released last April. With 19 songs, it is even richer and more ecletic than Pink Friday, her debut album, released in 2010. Roman Reloaded has already spawned smash hits like the hip hop "Beez in the Trap" and the delicious eletro-dance-pop "Starships", probably her greatest hit yet. Definetely, she is something that is worth checking out, even because it is impossible for Nicki Minaj to go blank with a body like that, a voice like that, and looks like that. Check below "Starships".

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MDNA TOUR: BOOBS, ASS, AND LADY GAGA

Madonna always liked being polemic, that’s not a secret. Among ups and downs in her new tour, polemic wouldn’t be left out, that’s a fact. On the first chapters of the novel entitled MDNA TOUR, Madonna has already accused Lady Gaga of plagiarism (again), showed a boob (again), kissed a female dancer (again), abused of religious issues (again) and caused some embarrassment in the Middle East. And if we are talking about Madonna, that’s for sure just the beginning. It’s a pity that there is nothing new among all that. Madonna has become repetitive. And that’s a pity…again.

Madonna started her MDNA TOUR LAST May 31, in Israel. And strategic countries were chosen to continue her new odyssey, places in which sex and religion are still themes strongly delicate. And it worked beautifully. If she wanted polemic – doubts? – her mission was accomplished successfully. Madonna shocked the public in the Arab Emirates with religious messages, and, also, she kissed a female dancer. In Turkey, Madonna showed a boob while she sang “Human Nature” and in Italy she showed her ass. Not yet satisfied, Madonna is also pointing Lady Gaga as her copy once more. In a certain moment of the show, Madonna sings “Express Yourself” followed by Gaga’s “Born this way”, finishing with “She’s not me”. Lady Gaga already showed that she didn’t like it. That is, Madonna got what she wanted – reactions, good or bad, whatever. But causing polemic with religious and sex and Lady Gaga is something made by her several times before. Madonna is living over her past as she notices that maybe she doesn’t have something new to offer other than polemics. But in the past this type of attitude put Maddona as a revolutionary woman, now a days such acts sound more like a woman who doesn’t know to anything other than that, other than causing polemics of whatever type, in a desperate act to be alive. And, except for such controversial moments, there is not too much to expect from this Tour. Madonna simply amplified her SuperBowl Show – the essence of the MDNA TOUR was already there. And what was good and exciting in 11 minutes got boring and repetitive in 2 hours that didn’t bring great surprises, in which Madonna didn’t show anything really new, apart all the visual structure, which is quite impacting, either the scenarios or the costumes, everything impeccable. Talking about music – remember, she is a singer – Madonna fails in several aspects. Her voice didn’t sound any good, even with a playback helping; her body didn’t respond to dance as it did before – moments in which she dances like in other previous tours are rare; and the set list counts with just few hits that cause people to jump and get excited. In a nutshell, watching Madonna’s MDNA TOUR is like watching a very good action movie, with scenes visually amazing, with a script, though, with no further meanings.

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ADELE, BY DION

It is becoming pretty common artists covering other artists during their shows . And nice and curious versions come up from such moments just like last Saturday, when Celine Dion sang Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, in Las Vegas. “Adele is amazing”, said Celine before showing that she is confident enough to risk whatever it is in her voice. Full of breath, Celine put on quite an intense version of Adele’s hit. Interesting would be a duet between them – the encounter of Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives. Maybe one day. Who knows? As Butthead used to say, “That would be cool!”

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