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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A SAD FAREWELL TO MRS. MCCLUSKEY…IN REAL LIFE!

Here a case in which art imitated life and life imitated art. Those who watched Desperate Housewives until the end saw in the last episode the death of the sweet-annoying-intriguing Karen McCluskey because of a cancer. In fact, her interpreter Kathryn Joosten, 72, was also struggling against a cancer, lung cancer, and passed away last Saturday, around two weeks after the end of the series. Marc Cherry, Desperate Housewives’ creator, may follow his way with a feeling that he made his part.  – Mrs. McCluskey was strongly honored in the final series’ episodes. And the fictional tears are now real tears. Kathryn Joosten began her career as an actress in the end of the 80s, after working as a nurse during many years. Among several performances, Joosten got famous not only for her work in Desperate Housewives, but also because of the character Dolores Landingham in the NBC series The West Wing, broadcast in between 1999 and 2006. Joosten was a long time smoker and was fighting against cancer since 2001. Here it is the end of the fight. Peace be waiting for her wherever she is.  

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LADY GAGA’S BORN THIS WAY: ONE YEAR LATER

On March 23, 2011, Born This Way was released. Lady Gaga said it would be one of the best records of the decade, pointing that she had given her best to produce the album. In fact, it was a great commercial bomb, selling more than a million copies in its first week in the United States, and being one of the best selling albums of the year 2011. But, was it really what Gaga said it would be, that is, the greatest album of her career?

Born This Way was heavily anticipated by a huge success of its homonymous first single, which spent five weeks atop Billboard Hot 100. With pro gay lyrics that incorporate religious references, Gaga created a brand new gay anthem. It was enough to promote the album and make it one of the best selling albums of 2011, with more than 8 million copies sold around the globe. But, although being quite a commercial success, Born This Way failed to be what Gaga called one of the best records of the decade. In fact, the album doesn’t do justice to Gaga’s previous records – The Fame and The Fame Monster – which were both innovative, rich and intense. Apart its five singles, all of which reached the top 10 in several countries, Born This Way doesn’t have any other really relevant moment. The songs are in general repetitive, with very similar and obvious beatings and lyrics. “Bloody Mary” brings verses that seem to exist only to create easy religious controversies, while “Americano” and “Judas” are desperate copies of “Alejandro” and “Bad Romance”, respectively. Lady Gaga was a victim of its own marketing. Expectations around Born This Way were extremely high, and they were not well satisfied upon its release. Lady Gaga was a victim of its own marketing. Something to learn and not to repeat on next releases.

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MICHEL TELÓ ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Who could expect that? The success of “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” broadcast the name of Brazilian Singer Michel Teló not only to the United States, but also to several European countries.  Besides being in 94 on Billboard Hot 100, the hit hás become a fever in Europe and it is in the Top 10 in Czech Republic, Ukraine, Denmark, Holland, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and, also, it occupies the first place in Russia. Just like Teló, Gustavo Lima has put his song “Balada” on the forth place in Switzerland, second place in France, and First place in Belgian and Holland. It seems like “sertanejo universitário (Universitary Country music – a new brazilian rythm) has pleased not only the Brazilians and maybe it has becoming a new mark of Brazil all around the world. Who could say that songs with such simple chorus would be quite huge bombs in such distant countries. It is Brazil showing its power!

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DO YOU KNOW GOTYE?

He has come from downunder, the land of bands like Silverchair and Men At Work, and topped recently the Billboard Hot 100 with the hit “Somebody That I Used to Know” (the first Australian to achieve such accomplishment since Savage Garden did so in 2000),  besides having topped the charts in other 17 countries. His third record, Making Mirrors, is among the best sellers also in several countries. Quite an achievement. And, in general, artists who reach quite a success has some good stuff to show.

In an musical era dominated by women and teen pop, anything that sneaks out of that arena is pretty welcome. Maybe that is why Belgian-Australian singer Gotye was so praised by the public and the critics. On the road since 2002, he had previously experienced a great success with his first two records, Boardface, from 2003, and Like Drawing Blood, 2006. But the release of Making Mirrors in August, 2011, broke all the boundaries and broadcast his name all over the world, mainly because the delighting “Somebody That I Used to Know”, a mixture of a disappointed Jason Mraz with Sting. Gotye has a quite particular musical style, an alternative pop-rock that mixes a diversity of instruments with reflexive and well constructed lyrics, creating an introspective and ethereal atmosphere. Making Mirrors has 12 very good songs, all of them composed by Gotye himself. Its title expresses at the same time the personal feelings he put into each song (or each ‘mirror’) or the several influences that each song mirrors, like The Police in “I Feel Better” and INXS in “Smoke and Mirrors”. Gotye’s lyrics has that sentimental and intimist  tone  a la Jason Mraz, with a slight difference: Gotye is a little less optimistic. In Making Mirrors, verses about the end are more frequente than verses about the middle or the beginning. “Everything we had/Everything we did/Is buried in dust”, he sings in the intense “Eyes Wide Open”, one of the highlights from the record.  Other great moments are the strange “State of the art”, a questioning on technological progress with a futuristic and exotic sonority, and the touching “Save Me”, in which Gotye shares the depression he had been through while producing the album. Making Mirrors é definitely one of those records that does not come up frequently, one of those rare cases where huge sensibility and musical ability joins each other in a piece of art that goes far beyond pre-established definitions. It is a work at the same level of Adele’s 21 or Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, which will probably leave a very positive mark.

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LADIES OUT OF CONTROL

 In their most recent video clips, Rihanna and Madonna surrended to lust and produced nice sensual thrillers.  In “Where Have You Been”, Rihanna travels into some beautiful African landscapes to create a hot and exotic atmosphere while dancing together with a group of shirtless men. Rihanna finally shows that, yes, she knows how to be sexy, without being vulgar. Still, her mysterious look gives the video a suspense climate, which is emphasized with a perfect photography. On the other hand, Madonna, equally sexy, travels back in time to 1992 and reproduce in “Girl Gone Wild” that Erotica and Sex book universe – black and white photography (which by the way, got also perfectly beautiful), men (also) shirtless, homoerotic insinuations, and religious symbols (a crown of thorns, an apple). Nothing more Madonna, right? Yes, it seems like she wants to revive that ‘nasty’ part of her curriculum in an attempt to rescue some old hardcore fans. While expressing herself sexually was always something simple for Madonna, Rihanna has been learning the lesson little by little, exploring her sensuality since the video “S&M”, which finally gave her the chance of playing slightly dirty.  And it seems she really liked it. And there’s no way she is coming back…

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TWEEN BROTHERS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

In 2005, the writer Stieg Larsson released in Sweden the novel Män som hatar kvinnor, the first part of a trilogy which the author entitled Milennium.  Shortly after its release, the book became a huge worldwide success, a success that Larsson, unfortunately, didn’t survived to see. He would probably get happy if he knew that not only one, but in fact two cinematographic versions were made based on the novel. He would probably get sad if he knew that both versions are strongly similar. But he would finally get happy if he saw that both movies ended up being really  great, just the kind of adaptations the novel deserved.

Stieg Larsson wrote his novel in Swedish  and it was published in 2005, a year after his death. Soon after, in 2009, when the book was still turning into an international best seller, a Swedish movie based on the novel was made, which carried the same title of it. The movie, directed by Niels Arden Oplev, was a great success mainly in its country. In 2011, when was already a international phenomenon, an American version was released. Directed by David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragoon Tatoo seems to have been inspired rather by the Swedish movie than by the book itself. The similarities shared by the two versions are huge in several aspects. The selection of what is in and what is out is practically the same: secondary characters’ are quite diminished and the Mikael’s sexual escapades are also strongly reduced, in order to keep the focus on the central storyline, that is, the investigation regarding Harriet Vanger’s disappearance. Also, both movies opted for developing Lisbeth’s storyline without cuts, keeping her rape scene. Such scene calls more attention in the American version once it made clear that Lisbeth is forced to have anal sex, an important detail that the Swedish version did not mention. On the other hand, the Swedish version scores pretty well in several other aspects. It has a better photography – more expressive, more real – and an atmosphere closer than that of the book; the cast is charismatic and the chemistry between Mikael (Michael Nyqvist) and Lisbeth (Noome Rapace) is intense. She, it is worth saying, manages to achieve the exact tone her character required, from her looks to her look, which expresses at the same time fear and anger. The American Lisbeth was in charge of Rooney Mara, that got a Oscar nomination for her role. Although she does in fact a very good job, she was not able to give Lisbeth a sense of reality. She seems more like someone who came out from Matrix and out of sudden appeared in Stockholm. And Daniel Craig, the American Mikael, do not disappoint, but he is really below Swedish Mikael. The same flaws fall on both versions. Both are not self-sufficient, tha is, they depend on a previous reading of the book to be fully understood. Besides that, they both eliminate the social tone present in the novel, which is not a mere policial story a la Agatha Christie, but also kind of a denouncement about the women’s situation in actual Sweeden and the rests left by Nazism in the country. Regarding the ending, the Swedish version chooses to respect Harriet’s and change Lisbeth’s final. The American version does just the opposite and changes Harriet’s ending – which causes a good surprise -  while keeping for Lisbeth the same destiny presented in the novel. In general, the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragoon Tatoo beats the American version – that does not present anything considerably new but the ending. In fact, it seems like the American version was produced due to a simply commercial matter, since a movie in English is much more easy to sell, mainly in the United States, than o movie in Swedish. But if you have to choose between both movies, instead, choose the novel. Stieg says thanks.

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KATY PERRY'S NEW SINGLE: NEW, BUT NOT THAT NEW

Katy Perry really does not stop. Since May, 2010, when “California Gurls” was released, she has been producing singles with no breaks. “Wide Awake” is the second single from the re-released of Teenage Dream, that occurred last March. Just like “Part of Me” and just like some other furious ladies – Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, for example – Perry sings about staying alive after a huge love disappointment (she recently got divorced). They are aggressive verses as “I wish I knew then what I know now/Wouldn’t dive in/Wouldn’t bow down”, that get more intense along a strong beat, also aggressive, similar to that of “E.T.” and have their climax in a powerful chorus. The song was produced by Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Bonnie McKee, Perry’s long time colleagues. One more ballad among several others that Perry has released, “Wide Awake” is, though, stronger and deeper. The song will serve to promote the 3D documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me, set for release in July. Katy sang the song yesterday on Billboard Music Awards, medium performance, really below what “Wide Awake” deserved.

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A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT HERTA MǕLLER

For those who don’t know her, Herta Müller is a German writer born in Romania. In 2009, she received the Nobel Prize in Literature for her novel Atemschaukel, in English Everything I Own I Carry With Me. It is a book about the deportation of German people who happened to live in Romania to the Stalinist Soviet Gulags to serve as slaves. In her works, Müller talks about some personal issues. Her themes are in general related to the terror and violence present in Nicolae Ceausescu’s comunista government, which Müller experienced during part of her life. Her writing bleeds, it is painful, profound, full of intelligent and rich metaphors. And her eyes already told you something about her work.

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AND THERE GOES ANOTHER ONE...

 First, it was Amy Winehouse, in July, 2011. Then Whitney Houston, last February. And yesterday, May 17, 2012, Donna Summer, queen of the disco music, left us. In last than one year, this is the third significant woman in music that passes away. The pity of it. Great singers are leaving us. Just when the world of music needs them the most.

Donna Summer died last Thursday night. At the age of 63, she was struggling with cancer. Donna leaves us with a strong legacy. There were 130 million records sold, 5 Grammy awards, several US number 1 hits, and the label of queen of the disco era. Just like Quincy Jones ‘tweeted’, Donna Summer was ‘ the heart beat and the soundtrack of a decade”. Still, she had powerful influence on women like Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Beyoncé. Donna’s gone brings forward a important reflection: pop has been losing its icons, that helped to establish it (Michael Jackson, Donna summer) or to create new tendencies (Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse), at the same time that new artists at the same level are not coming up. The music market is targeted at teenagers. Singers with some content beyond obvious beats and verses about the dance floor are in danger. The situation is critical. Good pop musicians still exist, but just few. Definetely, this is not a good moment for losing artists like Donna Summer. But, death is something that we can not usually negotiate with. A cruel doubt remains: Who is next? 

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JAY Z, OBAMA AND GAY MARRIAGE

Following the statement by US president Barack Obama  saying gay marriage should be approved , some politics and celebrities shared some points on the subject. And, well, this may seem kind surprising, but Jay Z was one of these celebrities. The rapper, married to singer Beyoncè, pointed in a interview for CNN that what people do inside their houses is only their business. Also, Jay Z said that discrimination, either against black people or against gays, is the same. His declaration is quite important, considering that Hip Hop is still seen as a sexist cultural style. Jay Z shows that maybe things are not exactly like that. Maybe people in general are starting to notice that, as he stated, discrimination is and will always be discrimination.

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DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: SOME FINAL POINTS

ABC broadcast last Sunday the two hour special Desperate Housewives finale. With about 9 million people watching it, ABC stayed on top. Unfortunately, Cherry and his team did not manage to end the show just the perfect way it had started. Although, in between tears and laughing, some sequences help the finale not to be that bad. 

  

Everything began when Mary Alice Young moved to Wisteria Lane taking a secret with her. One of her neighbors, Martha Hubber, notices while they chat for the first time that she is hiding something. She then decides to investigate Mary Alice, leading to her suicide, the hit to the whole series. It was in the prologue of the second hour of the show that Cherry explained how it all started, in a sequence so beautifully written that it turned out to be the best moment from the whole finale. Regarding the rest, Cherry and his team failed in several aspects, from the text until the last scene. These two last episodes were slow, with just feel exciting scenes and without that acid and carefully constructed text which we all know.   It is awkward because these last episodes before the final day were really good, leading to a great expectation. It is also strange the fact that all clichés avoided during the whole series – remember that Desperate Housewives came up like anything but cliché -  ended up being altogether in the finale: A  baby, a death, a wedding, a reconciliation, and happy endings with money for the four ladies. Watch to believe. And what could maybe become good moments got lost in hands that didn’t know how to use the right tone. Katherine Mayfair, for example, has her part reduced to two little scenes that worked only to develop Lynette’s storyline. The text wasn’t that good either. Desperate Housewives most of the times opted for suggesting instead of saying out loud, but in these two final hours they simply decide to do the opposite. Scenes that good end up pretty nicely become obvious and boring. Still, the series ended with a lot of missing characters – Andrew, Danielle, and Danielle, for example. Strangely, most of the dead characters appear in the end. Besides the prologue mentioned above,   Renné’s scenes were the highlights of the episodes, along with Mckuscly last moments and the ending chosen for Bree – she became a politician. Well, it is a pity that a series that always fought for quality in the most diverse aspects fail so much at the end. And Cherry wanted one more season…

On her Blog, Felicity Huffman published a series of “Love Letters” to say goodbye to the show. In one of them, she chooses some of the best sentences said throughout the series. Click here to check. 

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MDNA: SHE STILL OWNS IT

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LADY GAGA x INDONESIA: A REFLECTION

This week, extremist Indonesian Islamists declared war against Lady Gaga. The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) intends to prevent the singer from performing a show in the country. According to them, Lady Gaga is satanic, vulgar and dangerous. Interesting the fact that FPI is responsible for violent attacks against gays in bars and clubs. Is it really Gaga who is satanic, vulgar and dangerous?

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face book: Leonardo Romanov 

LIKE WATER TO CHOCOLATE: SIMPLE, SUBTLE, AND QUITE GOOD

There are some movies that, even using several types of devices, still keep being uninteresting. Others, though, do not need much to pass some kind of charm to who is watching. That is the case of Like Water For Chocolate, a movie the trusts above all in the story that it has to tell.

For those who do not know it, Like Water For Chocolate is a 1992 mexican movie, with a script by Laura Esquivel, based on the homonymous novel also written by her. The story takes place in the beginning of the XX century. The storyline is quite simple and direct: Tita, the protagonist, performed with beauty and charisma by Lumi Cavazos, is forbidden from getting married because of a family tradition, since she is the youngest daughter, who is supposed to take care of her mother until she dies. Being in love with Tita, Pedro (Marco Leonardi) marries her sister in order to stay close to the woman he truly loves. There is a war as a background and the kitchen as the main setting for the whole movie.  It is there where Tita gives away all her love making recipes that causes everybody, including Pedro, to feel delighted. With just few special effects and few action scenes, the movie has other qualities, like a gorgeous photography together with a gorgeous recreation of the beginning of the century. The Scripts count strongly on its lovely characters, each one carefully designed. An Tita, as the main character, is who causes the story to follow ahead, either in the moments she confronts her mother, or in so many others in which she has to deal with her sister and the man she loves leaving in the same house. The beaty and the charm that Lumi Cavazos gives to her character é remarkable. Tita gets us the very moment she appears for the first time on the screen, putting together sensibility with atittudes that litle by little construct her character and cause the public to really wish her a happy ending. Like Water to Chocolate is not only a love story. It is a movie about family, about breaking traditions and about trying to be happy without hurting someone, which is not always possible. 

Note: 'Like water to chocolate' is a popular mexican expression that means something like 'soulmates'. The meaning comes from the fact that in Mexico and other latin countries hot chocolate is in general made with water, not milk.

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face book: Leonardo Romanov 

SOME SHORT COMMENTS

Billboard Magazine pointed that, since the beginning of the year, only three artists managed to sell more than 200.000 records in their first week in the United States, and, according to the magazine, they are three women: Carrie Underwood with Blown Away (267.000), Madonna with MDNA (358.000) and Nicki Minaj with Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (253.000). They definitely don’t stop going higher.

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The American series House, one of the most successful show of recent years, is going to end after eight seasons. Its creator, David Shore, said that the final episode will be bittersweet. “We never do happy endings”, pointed David.

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The 14º Brazilian Cinema Festival is taking place in Paris since last Wednesday. More than 30 movies are being shown. Just like 2011, the festival is paying homage to Brazilian prolific writer Jorge Amado. By the way, the movie chosen to open the festival was Capitães de Areia, based on the homonymous writer’s novel.

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Lady Gaga stated in her Twitter that she is going to make an special appearance on this season’s finale of The Simpsons. A trailer for the episode is already avaible on You Tube. Click play below to take a look.

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face book: Leonardo Romanov 

LATEST RELEASES: USHER AND JUSTIN BIEBER, FIONA APPLE AND GARBAGE

In the last few weeks, four important American artists released their new songs to promote their new records. In the pop arena, Usher and Justin Bieber showed that r&b and hip hop still generate good hits. In the alternative arena, Fiona Apple and Garbage showed up with songs not too far from what they had previously made. In general, all of them did their homework quite satisfactory – give the public high quality music – each one in their own way.

Usher got back to the pop scene stronger and more mature than ever. Two good singles from Looking for Myself, his new work, are already available, two true aphrodisiac bombs. “Climax” was the first  to be out, a song with sensual vocals a la Michael Jackson and a sound which resembles that r&b from the 90s. Usher sings about being together and reaching the peak of a relationship. It is a calm and sexy ballad, really adequate listen in the climax very moment. Little afterwards, Usher released “Scream”, a pop dance beat with a powerful hook (Uh Baby Baby Uh Baby Baby), the total opposite of the previous song. “Scream” is surely expected to smash the clubs right soon. Usher’s friend, Justin Bieber, has grown up and decided to show it in “Boyfriend”, an almost hip hop song with verses about having money and spending it to please a girlfriend. Nothing more typical for a teenager who has become a pop phenomenon. But, well, the song turned out great and that’s what matters for most people. In the alternative arena, Garbage and Fiona Apple, both out of Picture since 2005, finally provided some nice new stuff, after what seemed a endless expectation by the fans. The waiting was worth it. Both Garbage with “Blood for Poppies” and Fiona with “Every Single Night” produced very interesting things, perfect songs to raise fans’ curiosity. “Blood for Poppies” has that same style present in Garbage first (and excellent) album back in 1995 – strong electric guitars with strong beats and some distortion combined with Shirley Manson’s unique voice. Not bad for who just got back from a 7 year hiatus. On the other hand, Fiona suggests with “Every Single Night” that she aims to keep that quality present in Extraordinary Machine”, her previous record. The song is simple, with a rustic sonority, what helps emphasize Fiona’s vocal power. It seems like something good is coming. Wanting to listening the four songs, checking You Tube is a good idea. They are all there waiting. Do not hesitate. It is going to Worth it.

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face book: Leonardo Romanov