FameCrawler : Russell Brand

Comedian Russell Brand Writes of His Friend Jade Goody

Karl Erikson — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:30:00 GMT

Russell Brand, who some people apparently find funny, wrote a very nice blog entry about Jade Goody. The two were friends and he wonderfully touches on Jade and her life.

It's been a week since Jade died of cancer. Though her funeral is next Saturday, her sons Freddie and Bobby are supposedly not attending the service.

Here's the entry from Brand:

"When my Mum first got cancer I must’ve been around the age Jade’s eldest son is now. Too young, in fact, to properly comprehend what was happening, only old enough to sense the tingling presence of fear, the averted looks, the stifled, thin lipped sympathy and muddled, neighbourly compassion. My Mum, Thank God, did not die and whilst her cancer returned several times; each time more frightening for me as my innocence waned to be replaced with dread, she lives still, so I can but imagine the sad confusion of the two bereaved boys.

"I knew their Mother, Jade Goody, not especially well, but Jade’s defining characteristic was her easy warmth that ingenuously enveloped folk, so perhaps like many people I felt more engaged by her than normal and feel more saddened by her death than I ought. I dislike the fetishisation of grief that accompanied the death of Jade’s forebear, The Princess of Wales, it makes me uncomfortable as I query its sincerity. Sentimentality is often called the unearned emotion and intrusive carnivals of public mourning unsettle me. In the case of Jade Goody however it is understandable to feel morose, she was a young mum from an awful background who got a break and shrewdly capitalised on it.

"For a time we shared management and we met when she came to see several shows of mine at the Edinburgh festival about five years ago. We all hung out, me my Mum, Jade, some people from the agency and a few of my mates. She was a right laugh, she joined in with everyone and created a garrulous giddy vibe in bars and cars that elevated the perfunctory time between shows into something which retrospectively seems more special now than it did then. Most of all though I was impressed with how she formed an immediate and genuinely sweet bond with my Mother, chuckling and chatting with the effortless intimacy that strong yet tender women frequently conjure and which has umbrellad me from anxiety throughout my life. She also came on a few of my dopey TV shows in later years where she filled the room with her ebullience and wicked laugh connecting with the audience in a way that most skilled showman can only dream of.

"One of the charges often levelled at Jade was that she was just a normal girl with no trade or practiced skills. Well people didn’t care and our heroes are not prescribed to us, we have the right to choose them and the people chose Jade. Fame has long been bequeathed by virtue of wealth and birth and this was the first generation where it was democratically distributed by that most lowbrow of modern phenomena - Reality Television. She was a person who, I think due to her class always had the propensity to irk people. When Big Brother 3 made her famous she was vilified in the paper and bullied in the house but through her spirit she won people back round and became a kind of Primark Princess with perfumes and fitness videos and endless media coverage - because people were interested in her. They remain interested. One of my best friends, a woman in her mid twenties is genuinely heartbroken at the death of Jade, herself a Mother from a working Class background she obviously connects with this sad narrative in a way that she doesn’t seem to with J-Lo or Jennifer Aniston or Posh Spice most likely because of Jade’s authenticity and accessibility.

"I was working on a Celebrity Big Brother spin off show when Jade returned to the house and through unschooled social clumsiness blundered into a whooped up race row. As I said at the time, the incident where Shilpa Shetti was poorly treated by a group of young women was not an example of the sickening scourge of racism but simply a daft lack of education. Jade was a tough girl but utterly lacking in the malice upon which true prejudice depends. The slick of spilled newspaper ink and the cathode conveyed H-bomb that followed this innocuous event was the real crime. Jade was made the focus of a debilitating wave of righteous loathing and condemnation, a gleefully indignant storm of trumped up wrath that served the cause of racial harmony not one iota; but that was never it’s intention. The intention was sacrifice. Well now Jade Goody is no more. Claimed by cancer, a disease often brought on by extreme stress. When my mother was sick someone unkindly informed me that her illness was my fault, induced by my bad behaviour and for a long time I believed it.

"I’m glad that Jade’s death has been handled with saccharine mittens by the papers, she lived and died in the glare of their interest and doubtless benefited from it hugely at times. I recall her tearstained face pegged across some rag as she endlessly sought to be forgiven by the media her misconstrued conduct had so incensed and it made me a little angry. She wanted to be accepted, loved, redeemed, and now through her early death, she is. I hope some of the lessons of this modern Fairy Tale are learned, that the people who aspired to be like Jade observe the price she paid. I hope her sons are ok and that on some imperceptible level contrition is felt by the media that gave Jade Goody everything.

"And I mean everything."

Source

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My Take on the VMA Suckfest

Karl Erikson — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:02:00 GMT

Right, I know I'm the new kid on the block here at Famecrawler, but I've been working my tail off getting into the gossip game. I love it here. My fellow bloggers are all very friendly and snarky - just the way I like 'em - and we have loads of great (and some insane) commenters.

Here's how dedicated I am to this new gig: I actually sat through the MTV Video Music Awards last night. The. Whole. Thing. Holy hell, what a clusterfook THAT shit was. I haven't watched the VMA's since, well, the 80s. You know, back when MTV actually played music videos. I haven't seen a video on MTV since Clinton was in office.

Now I know why I hate awards shows. Last night's show was absolutely terrible in almost every respect. It was slow, it was boring, and most every music performance blew big chunks. If you missed it, feel blessed because God was obviously smiling down upon you. Go play the lottery right now. Really, you're THAT lucky. There wasn't a single thing worth seeing, trust me.

And now, because I know you care, let me run through the VMA's as I see it. I'm referring to my tweets on Twitter last night to refresh my memory because the atrocity was just that memorable.

Let's start with the British "comedian" Russell Brand. Who the frak is this moron? I know he was in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," but the dude is not funny. Not for one solitary second. In fact, he was terrible. Why on Earth MTV decided to let this moron host their failing trainwreck of an awards show is beyond me. He started off on a political rant and just kept going downhill for over 2 hours.

He cracked a lot of offensive remarks, many aimed at the chaste Jonas Brothers. He made fun of them for wearing promise rings on their fingers and said he planned on stealing the rings from the boys by, well, you get the idea, I'm sure. Listen, I'm not a Jonas Brothers fan. I thought the song they sang last night sucked, but I know I'm not in their prepubescent demographic. However, I do think it's a pretty refreshing thing to see young men in show biz not out whoring around, sleeping with as many women as they can. And believe me, based on the crowd reaction during their performance, they could easily get a truckload of women. Or girls. Whatever. I was a virgin until I was 18 - granted, it wasn't voluntary, but still. The Jonas Brothers could get laid every hour of every day if they wanted, bastards.

Brand was an asshole to them. And everyone else. Except for when he was licking Britney's ass. The fact that Brand supposedly has over 2 million listeners for his BBC radio show every week just proves to me that the planet is populated by morons with no taste. Come to think of it, last night's show proves it, too. I'd rather see Dane Cook host, and trust me, that's saying a lot because I heretofore thought Dane Cook was the worst comedian on Earth. I was wrong.

And Russell...what is with the freaking hair? I've seen homeless people with better style and fashion sense. Cut that's rat's nest. It's not cool, it's not even funny. It's just hideous. But hey, maybe that's the look you're going for.

Britney Spears. Sure, she's trailer trash and I think she's borderline psychotic and should never gain custody of her children. Yes, she hasn't had a good song out in years, but even I must admit she looked great last night. No, she wasn't funny in her much-touted opening skit with Jonah Hill (he WAS funny, though). But she's in great shape and if I have any reason to like her, it's because she kept her acceptance speeches to under 15 seconds a piece.

Demi Moore. Still hot, still gorgeous, but will someone please tell her that she's 45 and not 25? I mean, you'd think her stylist would break the news to her. Just because you're married to a 17-year-old (or however old Ashton Kutcher is) doesn't mean you should DRESS like one. Please, Demi, for the love of God, start dressing your age. I thought you were classier than that. Well, you ARE married to Ashton Kutcher. Never mind. I guess you dressed appropriately.

How come the Best Male video category read like the BET Awards? And how come all the songs sucked? Yeah, not a fan of (c)rap or hip hop. Shoot me. I like songs with melodies, you know? If there's any upside to watching the VMA's it's that I didn't see them in person, so I could mute all the shit songs. Li'l Wayne's "Lollipop." That's music? Is he some kind of brilliant lyricist, because clearly the subtle symbolism is way above MY head.

Speaking of musical performances, was there a shortage of musical artists there last night? Because having Rihanna sing twice in 20 minutes was just ridiculous. Yes, she's hot. Yes, she can sing, but what the hell? She's not THAT good. Also not good? Katy Perry. Love Katy's album but be sure to skip her live act if last night was any indication of her show. Can't sing.

And there was so much lipsyncing going on last night that at times I thought I was watching a Japanese Godzilla movie. And it wasn't even GOOD lipsyncing! I'm sorry, lipsyncing is totally uncalled for at a music awards show. Show me what you've REALLY got in those "winning" voices of yours. Or are you that bad live? Never mind, I know the answer. I keep answering my own questions.

Christina Aguilera. I saw nothing last night to make me think she's NOT a transvestite. She looked awful and the song she sang was no great shakes, either. If that song is the only thing new about her pending greatest hits album coming this fall, save your money. Guess she's moving back to her "Dirty" phase, which didn't work the first time out. It's a shame because I know she's capable of being attractive but she had on enough black around her eyes last night to make racoons look like they're wearing light eyeliner. Yuck.

Speaking of eyeliner, the lead singer of that Tokio Hotel group - whose song also sucked - looks like Bjork, doesn't she? I mean...he. Didn't even wear a swan dress.

How did Britney Spears win for best video against Panic At The Disco? I get that MTV wanted to award her SOMETHING after all her years missing out on a moonman trophy, but really? I can't even recall the name of Brit's song, but it was trash compared to PATD.

Who knew Kadeem Hardison (remember Dwayne Wayne?) was singing now? He rocked it with Kid Rock. And Kid Rock. Ugh, I hate looking at that dude. He just screams White Trash and "Try a Bath!", but he did rock it last night. In fact, it was perhaps the only song worth listening to last night, and he wasn't lipsyncing, either. Yeah, he really stood out. Love the cup of booze with the little napkin wraparound, by the way. And the wifebeater. Classy, thy name is Kid Rock.

Kanye West. Sucked. His new song blew. He was clearly lipsyncing and his voice sounded so overprocessed that I wonder just how much his voice was actually used on the track. Course, I could say the same for Christina Aguilera.

I can't believe I watched the entire freaking show. I love this job, believe me, but I dearly wish I had those 2-1/2 hours of my life back. Terrible production all the way around. Absolutely nothing worth seeing, truly. If you have this disaster on Tivo, do yourself a favor and delete it fast. It might infect your other quality shows. Like that "Jerry Springer" marathon.

To sum the whole thing up, the only real winners last night were those of you that missed the show.

Photos: AP, People, Time, WENN

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Christina Aguilera VMAs 2008: She Keeps Gettin' Better (Video)

sweatpantsmom — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:55:00 GMT

Christina Aguilera's performance at last night's MTV Video Music Awards blew me away. I'm not a huge fan, and yeah she may have been lip synching a bit, but I still thought she gave one of the most energetic performances of the night. And the choreography was, as the young kids say, tight.

And also even more impressive since she just gave birth in January to son Max. I'm not exactly sure what I was doing seven months after the birth of my first child, but it sure wasn't cavorting on stage in a pair of spandex pants. Mine were leather.

Here's Xtina's performance last night of Keeps Gettin' Better