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Martha Ekim 23, 2021

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Lady Gaga’s ‘Telephone’ Video Turns 10: A Look Back at the Epic Two-Day Shoot - Variety

Posted: 15 Mar 2020 07:07 AM PDT

On March 15, 2010, Lady Gaga's "Telephone" music video, featuring Beyonce, hit YouTube. To say that it made an impact in pop culture would be an understatement.

The sprawling, nearly 10-minute video started with Gaga in prison (picking up directly after her crimes in the "Paparazzi" music video) and followed her and Beyonce as they took a joyride in the Pussy Wagon from Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" on their way to poison an entire diner. On the way, there's everything from sunglasses adorned with cigarettes to PlentyOfFish.com product placement to a killer dance routine done in American flag-themed outfits. There is, put simply, a lot to dissect.

And dissect the internet did. In the decade since it was released, "Telephone" has racked up a massive 346 million views and inspired countless thinkpieces, as well as criticisms.

Jonas Åkerlund, the Swedish filmmaker who directed and co-wrote the music video, spoke to Variety 10 years after its release about its hectic two-day shoot, improvising lines with Beyonce and Gaga and if fans ever will get a sequel after the mysterious "to be continued" note at the end of "Telephone."

Tell me about how you and Gaga came up with the concept for the "Telephone" music video.
We had a practice run on "Paparazzi" like, a year earlier. So we kind of knew each other a little bit. I learned early on that Gaga is a very visual-driven type of artist – she's filled with ideas. So my job was basically to filter and just take in all her stuff and try to make a reality out of it, you know? It was a really good collaboration, actually, a respectful collaboration, as always, with her, I have to say. But yeah, I don't remember exactly where everything came from. Like we always do, she talked to me on the phone and I wrote everything down and added stuff to it. It's a back and forth, and that's how we do it.

"Telephone" was a direct sequel to "Paparazzi." When you were working on "Paparazzi," did you have an idea of where it would go?
Not really, to be honest. It wasn't really meant to be a series. I kind of like the idea of putting "to be continued" at the end [laughs], just to make it more exciting. And then that kind of became like, "Oh, wait a minute. Let's continue." And then we ended "Telephone" with "to be continued" as well. It's kind of fun, and it would be cool to have a third one coming.

And the internet has certainly been clamoring for that. Have you ever discussed doing a "Telephone" part 2?
Not really, not really – [pause] yeah, we have actually. I don't remember what song it was – we started to write it, but then we ended up doing something else.

The "Telephone" shoot was so ambitious, so big-budget. How many days did you spend on set?
We shot the whole thing in two days, which is pretty incredible. It had everything that's kind of like a production nightmare, with wardrobe changes and car stuff and different locations. So we did one day around that jail, and then we did one day out in the desert. So it was a two-day shoot, and I remember clearly, while running out of time, when Beyonce showed up, and Beyonce and Gaga were practicing, like, literally there on the spot, figuring out the choreography while we were waiting. It was crazy. We were actually meant to shoot Beyonce's performance part out in the desert, but then we lost daylight, so we improvised and put it in that little weird motel room. It was part of the location, where we were. We shot that whole part, like her speaking on the phone, all that stuff, in that motel room.

Was there ever a moment where you thought, "Oh my god, we're not going to be able to pull this together"?
I mean, every music video is like that, because the ambition level is always higher than the budget and the time you have. You always want to push it as much as you can. And I knew that this was an ambitious idea because we wanted to tell a story, we wanted to have dialogue, we wanted to have choreography, all those things. It should've been really, like, a four- or five-day shoot, to be honest.

What was the casting process like for the actors in the opening prison sequence?
It's so long ago, but I remember I wanted some bodybuilder girls in there, so we had some of those – you know, just like, rough. And the styling and all that, that's the fun part with Gaga, because you can do stuff with her that you can't necessarily do with other artists. She allows you to go fully all the way with stuff, that's kind of the fun part of it.

Gaga said to me, "I was right on the edge of getting bored with making music videos. MTV was never really good for me. They didn't like me at MTV, I was always censored, and my ideas were always too ambitious or too big or too long, and they censored me and they cut my stuff." There was even a point where MTV, like, approved treatments for us. They really controlled what to show in a really horrible way. So Gaga was, like, the first artist that came to me and said, "F— MTV, we can do this, we don't need them. We can do this all online, on YouTube." So that kind of made me excited again and realized what music videos could really be about, and the reason why I started music videos – all those things came back to me with her amazing attitude and her ideas and everything.

The video did feel like a rebellion in a lot of ways – the "I told you she didn't have a d—" line comes to mind, in particular. Whose idea was that?
That was my idea. It wasn't part of the treatment, I added that as a voiceover in the edit. Right around that time, there was speculation and rumors that, you know, Gaga was not a woman for some reason. And those were just, like, stupid rumors, obviously. And I wanted to make a thing out of it. We did it in the post-production.

After that prison sequence, you have the scene where Gaga and Beyonce officially join forces – Beyonce's feeding Gaga, and they're swapping these crazy lines. What were you trying to convey with that scene?
To be honest, I think that we improvised the dialogue. I think we had a few ideas written down, but I think we improvised the dialogue. I'm pretty sure that's what we did. You know, there's the whole thing with like, "you kill a cow, you gotta make a burger" and all that stuff. That just came from Gaga. She just made that s— up. I remember we shot a lot more dialogue than we ended up using in the actual video. But we wanted to have dialogue in the beginning, middle, end, to make it more like a short film, I guess, than a music video.

Do you remember how you got the actual Pussy Wagon from "Kill Bill"?
I know exactly how we got that, because we had another car, and then Gaga had a meeting at Quentin's house, and she sent me a picture and said, "This is in Quentin's driveway. Do we want it?" And I was like, "Yeah! We want it." And I think it didn't run or something, so we had to fix it up. And we fixed it up, and that's why we ended up using it.

And Quentin was fully okay with it?
Yeah, I mean, thanks to Gaga being at his house, I guess. I would've never thought about it, because I remember we already had another car. This was literally, like, a day before the shoot or something.

There are so many iconic looks jammed into those ten minutes, from both Beyonce and Gaga. Do you have a favorite costume or outfit?
Oh, I mean, that's impossible. I like the whole diner scene, with the choreography, the American flag kind of stuff. But like you said, it's overwhelming, the iconic looks in that video. This is how it is to work with Gaga. I write in the treatment that she walks out on the jail courtyard smoking a cigarette, and then when she shows up, she has the glasses with cigarettes. That's kind of the collaboration-type that you have with her, and it's the same with the diner. I remember writing in the treatment that there's, like, an American flag on the wall or something like that, and then she shows up in a full American flag outfit. It's that kind of collaboration with her.

She takes everything to the next level.
I don't even think she thinks it is the next level. I think it's just the way she thinks, the way she sees the world, and that's what I love about her. For me, making music videos and trying to make an impact and trying to touch people or move people or whatever it is, making memorable images that are supposed to be attached to music, you know, she's like a dream client. She works harder than most people I work with, and she encourages you to become a little better than you think you are. So that's, to me, everything I need. It really takes two to tango – I can never make great videos without an artist who wants it, or believes in it, and pushes you.

Do you remember her being particularly passionate about getting something in the video? Like, "no, this has to be in here"?
No, I don't think so. I mean, we really wanted Beyonce to show up. When you do these collaborations, they basically do favors for each other to show up and do each other's videos. And unfortunately, we were shooting outside L.A., so we knew that was a long drive for Beyonce, but thank god she did. That was the one thing that I kept thinking about, you know: "I really hope she shows up."

You worked with Gaga before "Telephone," and you've worked with her since on "John Wayne." Do you have plans to work with her again as she releases new music?
I don't know. We have a good thing going, and I show up and do my thing. If I had it my way, for sure. I love her to death. I've said it from day one: the first time I saw her play the piano on YouTube, I said, "This is, like, one of the most talented artists I've ever seen." She can do anything she puts her head to, and that's what she's doing now. Again, for me as a director, she's a dream person to work with.

Do you remember the last time you watched the "Telephone" music video?
No, I don't. Maybe I should've watched it before this interview [laughs]. Sorry! But you know, I'm an editor too, so I know every frame of it. Once it's digitized in my head, it's there. So I do remember everything.

Gaga said in an interview after it was first released that she wanted the video to be about "the idea that America is full of young people that are inundated with information and technology." Ten years later, I think we seeing that concept even more. Do you think the video might resonate even more in 2020?
I don't know. I do know that music videos are not really meant to get a long life. They're always just meant to be in that moment. Like, they used to be [made] to sell an album, like at that moment. But now, if you're lucky, you get a video that people remember, and if people remember 10 years after, that's a good thing. And people seem to appreciate it. I still have people tell me they love it.

Kobe Bryant Memorial: Beyoncé, Jimmy Kimmel, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, NBA Legends & Vanessa Bryant Lead Celebration Of Life - Deadline

Posted: 24 Feb 2020 01:05 PM PST

UPDATED with speech videos, photo gallery: Beyoncé opened the Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant's memorial service Monday at Staples Center by singing "XO," complete with a chorus and multi-piece orchestra for a song she said was Kobe Bryant's favorite. It kicked off an event heavy on emotion and themes of loss, love and female empowerment embodied in Bryant's father-daughter relationship, which his longtime friend, agent and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said in his eulogy made Bryant "the world's greatest girl dad."

Performances also came separately from Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera, and the several speakers included Jimmy Kimmel, who emceed the two-hour plus event; and Michael Jordan, Bryant's childhood hero. (Click on the top photo to launch a gallery from the day.)

Also delivering a eulogy was Bryant's Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal, with whom he won three consecutive NBA titles as teammates despite often being each other's biggest rival.

Shaquille O'Neal
O'Neal Etienne Laurent/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

"In truth, Kobe and I always maintained a deep respect and love for each other," O'Neal said.

Highlighting Bryant's legendary competitive nature, O'Neal during his remarks recalled his Lakers teammates once complaining to O'Neal about Bryant not passing the ball enough.

"I said, 'I'll talk to him,'" O'Neal said. "I said, 'Kobe, there's no I in team.' And Kobe said, 'I know, but there's an M and E in that motherf*cker." It got the somber ceremony's biggest laugh. "I got back and told [the guys], "Just get the rebound he's not passing."

Beyoncé's opening song was followed by longtime Lakers fan Kimmel who introduced a shaky but strong Vanessa Bryant, who talked about her "baby girl" Gianna and her husband, "my everything." She sat in the front row alongside her other daughters for the event.

Later, Keys played a version of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" in reference to a story in Pelinka's eulogy where he recalled Bryant teaching himself the song, one of his and Vanessa's favorites, on piano to play for her. (Keys helped tribute Bryant as host of the Grammy Awards, which were held at Staples Center the night of the tragic crash.)

Vanessa Bryant dabbed away tears during the performance.

The sold-old Staples Center crowd drew luminaries from the basketball world, from Lakers teammates past and present like O'Neal, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, and Dwight Howard, former coach Phil Jackson and with former GM Jerry West, the latter of whom brought Bryant to Los Angeles; Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez; Dwyane Wade and wife Gabrielle Union; and NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

Michael Jordan
Jordan Etienne Laurent/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

NBA legend Jordan, Bryant's basketball idol, also was in the crowd and later spoke through tears.

"As I got to know him, I wanted to be the best big brother that I could be," Jordan said. "To do that, you have to put up with the aggravation, the late-night calls, or the dumb questions. I took great pride as I got to know Kobe Bryant, that he just wanted to be a better person, a better basketball player. We talked about business, we talked about family, we talked about everything."

Vanessa Bryant nearly broke down after she was announced to the stage, which was set up as a theater-in-the-round style in the center of the arena. She recovered after encouraging applause from the crowd, reading a tribute to Gigi, who was 13.

"I miss her so much," she said, adding that "she would have been the best player in the WNBA…she would have changed women's basketball."

"Now my soulmate," she later said of Kobe Bryant. "He was my sweet husband…he was mine — he was my everything."

In her final comments in a speech that held the crowd rapt in attention, she said: "God knew they couldn't be on this Earth without each other. He had to bring them home to have them together. Babe, you take care of our Gigi, and I'll take care of Nani, Bibi and Coco — we're still the best team. We love and miss you Boo Boo and Gigi, may you both rest in peace and have fun in Heaven until we meet again one day. We love you forever and miss you always. Mommy."

Beyoncé was introduced as "a close friend of the Bryant family." "I'm here because I love Kobe, and this was one of his favorite songs," she said to the crowd, which had been lining up since pre-dawn outside Staples Center to honor Bryant, his daughter and seven others who were killed in the helicopter crash January 26.

Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel Entienne Laurent/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Kimmel followed Beyoncé, his voice noticeably shaky during his eulogy of sorts, saying "you picked the wrong guy to guide you through this, I'll tell you," as he read off the names off all nine victims of the crash that occurred in the morning hours last month.

"I've been trying to come up with something positive to take away from this — it was hard because it isn't much — the best I can come up with is this: 'gratitude.' It seems to me all we can do is be grateful for the time we had with them and the time we have left with each other," he said.

Other speakers included WNBA and Olympics icon Diana Taurasi; college star Sabrina Ionescu, who plays for the University of Oregon and became close with the Bryant family; and Geno Auriemma, the Hall of Fame coach of the University of Connecticut's women's college basketball team, who said Vanessa Bryant asked him to speak. All highlighted Bryant's relationship with Gigi, a budding basketball player who was following her father's path.

"If you're a father, a grandfather, you feel a different kind of emotion when there are children involved," Auriemma said, referencing the crash. "Because this is always about the children." He later talked about his conversations with Bryant about coaching, before Bryant first began coaching Gigi.

The itinerary for the event has been under wraps, with no program handed out to the 20,000-plus attendees in the arena where Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Proceeds of tickets sold today go to Bryant's Mamba and Mambacita sports foundations, and the MambaOnThree fund.

The ceremony ended with Bryant's final speech playing on the Staples Center jumbotron, when his Lakers numbers were retired ("Mamba out," he memorably said, dropping the mic). Aguilera then took the stage to wrap things singing "Ave Maria."

The event concluded with the showing of Bryant's Oscar-winning short film Dear Basketball.

"This season is all I have left to give," he says in his ode the sport he ruled. "My heart can take the pounding, my mind can handle the grind, but my body knows it's time to say goodbye. And that's OK — I'm ready to let you go. I want you to know now, so we both can savor every moment we have left together, thee good and the bad, we have given each other all that we have. … Love you always, Kobe."

Coronavirus spoiling your concert plans? Watch these music movies at home - Tyler Morning Telegraph

Posted: 22 Mar 2020 06:00 PM PDT

The concert business is in crisis, with the coronavirus causing cancellation or postponement of giant festivals like South by Southwest and Coachella, and cities' bans on large public make arena-sized musical experiences out of the question.

So how does one get a live music fix while social distancing and self-quarantining?

By hunkering down on the sofa and watching musicr movies at home, reliving those halcyon, prepandemic days when standing elbow-to-elbow with masses of fans in muddy fields didn't mean taking your life into your hands.

To that end, I've compiled a baker's dozen of concert films made over the course of more than 50 years of pop music history.

Some have behind-the-scenes elements, but all are performance films. The list is arranged not from best to worst, but in the chronological order of the events captured on film.

The other filtering factor is availability. All 13 can be streamed on services like Netflix, Amazon Prime or YouTube. I left out a number of personal favorites because they aren't streamable. Neil Young's "Rust Never Sleeps"; 1980's "No Nukes," starring Bruce Springsteen; "Jazz On A Summer's Day," about the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival; Beastie Boys' "Awesome; I … Shot That!" and the 1976 outlaw country doc "Heartworn Highways" are all in that category.

So, to help you through until we can all go out and hear music without fear:

"The T.A.M.I. Show"

The title of this 1964 black-and-white movie directed by Steve Binder — who'd later helm Elvis Presley's 1968 comeback special — means either Teenage Awards Music International or Teen Age Music International. The lineup is astonishing: Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore, the Supremes, Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones and James Brown & the Famous Flames. Surf duo Jan & Dean host. The backing band is the Wrecking Crew, with Glen Campbell and drummer Hal Blaine. Brown's performance is breathtaking. He's Mr. Dynamite!

"Monterey Pop"

Directed by D.A Pennebaker on the heels of his Bob Dylan documentary "Don't Look Back," "Monterey Pop" captures the 1960s counterculture as flower power was beginning to bloom. The Who, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix found their audiences there, with Hendrix famously lighting his guitar aflame. Most fabulous is Otis Redding, the Stax soul man who would die in a plane crash at 26 before the year was out. He lights up the audience he dubbed "the love crowd."

"Gimme Shelter"

Which Rolling Stones movie to pick? "Ladies and Gentleman: The Rolling Stones" from 1974 is highly recommended, and "Some Girls: Live in Texas '78" is underappreciated. I'm giving the nod to "Gimme Shelter," the 1970 doc from Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin that follows the 1969 tour that ended at the Altamont Speedway, with four deaths. Besides chronicling the tragic events that symbolically mark the end of the 1960s, there's plenty of primo concert footage, including a blistering "Jumpin' Jack Flash" from Madison Square Garden earlier in the tour.

"Amazing Grace"

In 1972, Aretha Franklin recorded two concerts at the New Temple Community Baptist Church in Los Angeles. The shows, with a band directed by the Rev. James Cleveland, became the basis for the Queen of Soul's bestselling album. The movie was finally released in 2019. "Amazing Grace" really is amazing.

"Soul Power"

Leon Gast's 1996 When We Were Kings, about the 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, is one of the great sports documentaries. Twelve years later, it was followed by "Soul Power," director Jeff Levy-Hinte's chronicle of a concert held before the fight. The bill, headlined by James Brown in a mustachioed, hard-nosed funk phase, matches African American and African acts. Bill Withers, the Spinners, and B.B. King are joined by African greats Miriam Makeba, Manu Dibango, Tabu Ley Rochereau and Franco. Ali steals the show by showing up.

"Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Hammersmith Odeon, London '75"

"It's a wonderful moment," E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt wrote on Twitter this year about this dimly lit Born To Run tour show. "Us between being a bar band and being a concert band by the next album." It's a portrait of a scruffy, still-up-and-coming Springsteen. Free on the Springsteen channel on YouTube.

"The Last Waltz"

Martin Scorsese's 1978 film about the Band's farewell concert in San Francisco is justifiably iconic, gathering on one stage such luminaries as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters and Van Morrison. It's pertinent now given the new "Once Were Brothers," the Robbie Robertson movie that tells the guitarist-songwriter's version of the Band's breakup.

"Stop Making Sense"

The late, great Jonathan Demme made several concert films, including three starring Neil Young (see below). This is the mother of them all, a brilliantly staged Talking Heads film that begins with David Byrne alone on an empty stage with a boom box, singing "Psycho Killer." It gets funkier from there.

"Prince: Sign 'o' the Times"

A live documentary of Prince at the height of his powers, "Sign 'o' The Times" was filmed while the polymorphous purple imp was on tour for the 1987 double album that stands as his most impressive songwriting feat. The band includes dancer Cat Glover and drummer Sheila E.

"Neil Young Heart of Gold"

This Demme-directed movie — shot after Young recovered from a brain aneurysm in 2005 — was recorded at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and timed to the release of the Canadian songwriter's contemplative, country-flavored album "Prairie Wind." The band includes Emmylou Harris and Hammond B-3 player Spooner Oldham. I don't mean to boast, but I was in the audience at the Mother Church of Country Music when it was shot.

"Dave Chappelle's Block Party"

This 2005 movie directed by Michele Gondry was modeled after "Wattstax," the 1974 film shot in Los Angeles featuring Isaac Hayes and the Staple Singers. (Watch that, too: It's free on YouTube.) Chappelle gathers all his hip-hop and neo-soul good friends, including Kanye West, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, the Fugees and the Roots.

"Leonard Cohen: Live in London"

The three-hour shows that Leonard Cohen put on as he toured the world in the late '00s were magnificent. In 2008, the Canadian song-poet's elegant, career-summarizing performance was filmed at the O2 arena in London.

"Beyonce: Homecoming "

Beyonce was supposed to become the first back female headliner at the Coachella festival in the California desert in 2017, but a pregnancy — with twins! — put a stop to that. She returned the next year, and rather than reprise her "Lemonade" stage show, she cooked up an entirely new extravaganza in two weekend performances that are woven together in this Netflix movie, employing a marching band and scores of dancers in a show staged as a tribute to historically black colleges and universities. Coachella is not happening this spring, but Beychella lives on.

©2020 The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Michelle Obama on Being Her ‘Natural Self’ in New YouTube Series Celebrating Women [VIDEO] - Eurweb.com

Posted: 17 Mar 2020 03:34 PM PDT

*Gayle King opened up about catching her ex-husband cheating during a candid conversation for Oprah's Visionary Tour. 

In a clip available on YouTube, King dishes about finding her ex in bed at home with another woman (who was also married) when she came home early from a trip with her kids.

As reported by MadameNoire, King was married to William Bumpus from 1982 to 1993 and they share two children together, Kirby, 33, and William Bumpus Jr., 32. She explained to Oprah that at one time she and William reconciled, only for her to later catch him in the acting of cheating.

"This was in the days before cell phones and the airline used call and say 'Your flight is canceled but we can get you on a flight if you leave right now.' So I threw the kids in the car, we rushed to the airport. I came home, actually a day early. He wasn't expecting to see me and I wasn't expecting to see her," said King, via celebitchy.com. "She was married and they were friends of ours."

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Steve Harvey Slams Mark Curry's Claims About Him Stealing Jokes [VIDEO]

Oprah said she knew William was creepin' but Gayle didn't suspect a thing. 

Gayle: You know how they tell you the wife always knows, the wife always suspects? I had no clue, whatsoever.

Oprah: Well, I did. The clue was when I was at your house and the phone rang and the woman on the other end asks to speak to her husband. And I happen to answer the phone and when her husband gets to the phone, he said, 'Nobody's there.' Now, I ain't stupid. Somebody was there and asked to speak to him in a very nice voice too.

Gayle: If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, it would have been explained away. They were both nude, by the way. So I even had to see that. But if they had been sitting there fully clothed, they could have said 'We were talking.' But it did have to be that graphic, that's absolutely true. So I pay attention to all whispers at all times.

Oprah: It was a terrible moment and anybody who has been betrayed that way, in your own home, you know how that destroys your spirit. How it shatters you. So if anybody's gonna cheat, don't bring the person to your house. That is the most disrespectful thing you can do. But in spite of that, you were the kind of mother who never said anything negative around your children, who wanted their father to still be engaged in their life and made it possible for him to still be in their life. Why?

Gayle: Yes! I think you have to love your children more than you're mad at him. Also nobody wants to hear, 'You know what he did to me?' Nobody really cares, except your closest friends and even they get tired of hearing it. As much as you dislike him, you have to find a way to navigate that. I'm happy to say that we can actually be friends and have a civil conversation. I'm very proud of that actually.

King previously opened up about this dark moment of her life in a 2016 Vanity Fair interview. When asked whom she most despises, Gayle said "I'm not a huge fan of the woman who I caught naked with my now ex-husband on June 24, 1990, at 9:16 p.m., but I don't remember the details."

Her ex also apologized for destroying their marriage, noting that "I have nothing but the utmost respect for Gayle and how she handled herself with grace. Despite the situation, she kept our children, as well as my relationship and involvement with them, as a clear priority."

Scroll up and hear more from Gayle about the moment she caught her ex creeping with the other woman via the YouTube clip above. 
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