Thompson Square to play Country Radio Seminar’s New Faces showcase Feb. 24 in Nashville
Newcomers Thompson Square, the husband-and-wife duo that features Miami, OK, native Keifer Thompson, will be among the performers at the New Faces of Country Music Show during Country Radio Seminar on Feb. 24 in Nashville, Tenn., according to CMT.com.
Hunter Hayes, David Nail, Sunny Sweeney and Eli Young Band also will perform at the the showcase, which will close out the three-day event for radio programmers and personnel.
Hosted by the Country Radio Broadcasters, the industry event will take place at the Nashville Convention Center in downtown Nashville. The New Faces showcase is sponsored by the Academy of Country Music and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Thompson Square also will perform a home state show for Keifer when they join Lady Antebellum on the road for their “Own The Night World Tour,” which kicks off Jan. 27 at Tulsa’s BOK Center. For more information, go to www.bokcenter.com.
Lady A’s tour, featuring Thompson Square and Darius Rucker, will return to Oklahoma for an April 7 show at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. For more information, go to www.lloydnoblecenter.com.
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Bryan White returning to Oklahoma for second Christmas tour
Platinum-selling country music singer-songwriter Bryan White is coming home for the holidays and gearing up for the second annual Christmas tour, launching Friday in his birthplace of Lawton. The tour will promote his third holiday album, which will be available soon.
White embarked on his first Christmas tour last year, and it was so successful, he decided to make it an annual event in his home state.
He will be performing in Bricktown at 7 p.m. Saturday at the ACM&UCO Performance Lab, 329 E Sheridan. Doors open at 6 p.m., and tickets can be purchased at www.ticketstorm.com. Ticket prices are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Children 6-12 years are $5 and kids younger than 5 are admitted free.
The Bryan White Christmas Tour, which features special guest Inspirational Country Music Award-Winner Steve Richard, also will make stops in Stillwater, Enid and Woodward. It will feature a special blend of yuletide favorites, plus, a sprinkling of his greatest hits such as “Rebecca Lynn,” “So Much For Pretending,” “Someone Else’s Star” and “Sittin’ On Go,” as well as songs from his current album, “Dustbowl Dreams.”
The Oklahoma native began playing drums when he was 5, and after graduating from Putnam City West High School in 1992, he packed up his guitar, drum sticks, angst, dreams and $500 and headed to Nashville to pursue a career in country music. The move proved to be beneficial when he was signed to Asylum Records when he was only 20 years old. Since then, he has charted six No. 1 singles, eight Top 40 singles, two platinum records, one gold record and joined forces with Shania Twain for the hit duet “From This Moment On.”
For more information, go to www.bryanwhite.com.
2011 Bryan White Christmas Tour:
Friday
7 p.m. at Cameron University Theatre, Lawton.
Saturday
7 p.m. ACM@UCO Performance Lab, Oklahoma City.
Friday, Dec. 9
7:30 p.m. at City of Stillwater Community Center – Winfrey Houston Theater.
Thursday, Dec. 15
7 p.m. at Gaslight Theatre, Enid.
Friday, Dec. 16
7 p.m. at Woodward Arts Theatre , Woodward.
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Nice People Records offering free holiday music compilation
Norman-based Nice People Records is again offering a seasonal music compilation that you can download for free by clicking here.
Here is the tracklist for “The 2011 Nice People Holiday Companion”:
1. The Wurly Birds – Way Up North
2. Low Litas – Holidaze
3. Lizard Police – Xmas Song
4. Luna Moth – Winter Light
5. Chrome Pony and the Chromettes – This Christmas
6. Depth & Current – Lonely Special Day
7. Penny Hill – Wait for December
8. Naked Kids – Christmas Sucks (Without You)
9. Student Film – You Can’t Take The ‘Christ’ Out Of Jiminy Christmas
10. Kite Flying Robot – On Your Merry Way
11. Skating Polly – Just Be Cold
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New releases for Nov. 29, 2011: Hot Chelle Rae, “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” “Friends with Benefits,” “The Smurfs,” “Hedy’s Folly”
Just a friendly reminder that there’s less than a month until Christmas.
Here is a list of the new CDs, DVDs and books out this week, in case you need gift ideas:
CDs
Hot Chelle Rae, “Whatever.”
Yes, “In the Present: Live From Lyon.”
Broadway cast, “Follies: New Broadway Cast Recording.”
Kylie Minogue, “Aphrodite: Les Folies” (2 CD + DVD).
Various Artists, “Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4.”
Gorillaz, “The Singles Collection: 2001-2011” (CD+DVD).
Trey Songz, “Inevitable.”
DVDs
30 Minutes or Less
30 Rock: Season 5
The Art of Getting By
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Friends with Benefits
The Future
Hot in Cleveland: Season Two
One Day
Our Idiot Brother
Seven Days In Utopia
The Six Million Dollar Man: Pilot TV Movies & Season One
Smallville: The Complete Tenth Season
The Smurfs
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Books
Hedy’s Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Richard Rhodes
The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
The Drop (Harry Bosch Series #17) by Michael Connelly
Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis
Fate’s Edge (Edge Series #3) by Ilona Andrews
Catch Fire: How to Ignite Your Own Economy by Douglas Scott Nelson
Frost Wolf (Wolves of the Beyond Series #4) by Kathryn Lasky
Legend by Marie Lu
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What to do in Oklahoma on Nov. 29, 2011: Check out Yukon’s Christmas in the Park
Today’s featured event:
YUKON – See 4 million lights and 360 one-of-a-kind displays at Christmas in the Park from 6 to 11 nightly through New Year’s Eve at three interconnecting city parks: Yukon City Park, Jim Watson Drive off S Holly Avenue; Freedom Trail Park, 2200 S Holly Ave.; and Chisholm Trail Park, 500 W Vandament.
Visitors can drive along illuminated paths or bundle up to traverse the available walking trails are available. Horse-drawn carriage rides and the Santa Express Train also are offered.
For more information, go to www.cityofyukonok.gov.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
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Video: Toby Keith officially makes “Red Solo Cup” a single
It’s no surprise considering the number of fans eager to toast it, but Oklahoma country music superstar Toby Keith has officially made the boozy party anthem “Red Solo Cup” his latest single.
According to a news release, Keith’s Show Dog-Universal has made “Red Solo Cup” the most remarkable and commercially successful new country single in recent memory. An album cut from Keith’s recently released No. 1 album “Clancy’s Tavern,” the song became a viral video sensation even before the album’s debut. Radio stations pulled audio straight from YouTube and began playing “Red Solo Cup,” and now it’s officially the second single from “Clancy’s Tavern.”
While the album’s first single “Made In America” shot to No. 1, it’s successor has an unparalleled head start. Already the No. 1 downloaded country song, the video has surpassed 4 million online views and is the No. 1 requested video on CMT. As it becomes an official single, “Red Solo Cup” is already receiving airplay on three-fourths of reporting country stations, according to the release.
The “Cup” is sweeping through popular culture in other ways, too. The hit Fox television show “Glee” will feature the song in its Dec. 6 episode. “Red Solo Cup” has been used as a music bed in spots for the new Tim Allen sitcom” Last Man Standing”. Major media hailing the tune have included the Boston Herald, Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Slate, AOL and NPR.
The song is so popular, crowds have continued singing it long after Keith finishes his performance of the song during is “Locked & Loaded” tour stops. In fact, the Norman has even played the song twice at shows in an attempt to satiate his fans’ thirst for the tune.
In a recent phone interview, Keith told me that during the standing-room-only dates on his “Locked & Loaded Tour,” the crew started dressing up in giant red Solo cup costumes and doling out the mini versions of the cups to the frenzied crowd. Keith is taking his tour to Europe starting Sunday with a date in Edinburgh, Scotland.
During our chat, the Norman resident jokingly called “Red Solo Cup” “the most profound, intelligent thing I’ve ever done.”
The catchy ditty was written by Brett and Brad Warren and Brett and Jim Beavers, and Keith said it wasn’t pitched to him to record but just sent to him as an MP3.
“It was ‘listen to what I heard last night,’ one of them deals. I played it, I laughed out loud, and my first comment was, ‘That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. That is stupid; somebody wrote a song about red plastic cups,’” Keith said.
“And next morning, I wake up from just hearing it and I’m going, ‘Holy cow, I know that song inside and out. I cannot get it out of my head,’” he added. “It just gets stuck in your head like an infection.”
The unedited version of the video features cameos from late-night TV host Craig Ferguson, comics Carrot Top and Jeff Dunham, rockers Sammy Hagar and Ted Nugent, basketball legend Larry Bird and fellow country singers Joe Nichols and Eric Church. Look for my interview with Church, including what he had to say about his memorable appearance in Keith’s video, on Friday. Church, who toured with Keith on his “Locked & Loaded” tour, will play Saturday at Thackverille’s WinStar World Casino.
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Box office report for Nov. 28, 2011: “Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1″ holds top spot with “The Muppets” in second place
For the second straight week, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1″ maintained its supernatural hold on the domestic box office.
The fourth and penultimate film based on Stephenie Meyer’s paranormally popular books took in $42 million domestically over the three-day weekend and $62.3 million in the five-day Thanksgiving boom time from Wednesday to Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
It’s strong Thanksgiving showing raised the movie’s domestic total to $221.3 million, while the Summit Entertainment release added $71.5 million overseas to lift the international total to $268 million and the worldwide take to $489.3 million.
Debuting at No. 2 was the holiday comeback movie “The Muppets,” the first film for the pack of music-and-comedy-inclined puppets since 1999′s largely ignored “Muppets from Space.” The first Muppet movie under the Disney auspices took in $29.5 million for the three-day weekend and $42 million over the five-day holiday, according to the AP.
Three other family films rounded out the top-five: the Warner Bros. sequel “Happy Feet Two” at No. 3 with a three-day total of $13.4 million and $18.4 million for five days; Sony’s animated comedy “Arthur Christmas,” which debuted at No. 4 with $12.7 million for three days and $17 million for five days; and Paramount’s period adventure “Hugo,” which bowed at No. 5 with $11.4 million for three days and $15.4 million for five days.
Between “Breaking Dawn” and the blitz of family films, analysts thought Hollywood had a shot at record revenue over Thanksgiving, one of the year’s busiest weekends at movie theaters. But viewers did not come in anywhere close to record numbers, according to the AP.
“I was pretty surprised by this. I just thought this was the perfect combination of films in the marketplace,” Paul Dergarabedian, analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com, told the AP. “Maybe there was just too much out there.”
Domestic revenue totaled $234 million from Wednesday to Sunday, well below the $273 million record set two years ago, when “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” led the Thanksgiving weekend. Receipts also fell short of last Thanksgiving’s $264 million haul, when “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ finished on top.
Studio executives concede it’s growing harder to lure fans into theaters given all the portable games, devices and other electronics people have to fill up their entertainment time. A so-so Thanksgiving on a weekend with such a good variety of movies could be a sign that Hollywood simply has to live with diminished expectations, the AP reports.
“I don’t know that choice is ever a bad thing, and in terms of a weekend for families, this is one of the best,” Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney, told the AP. “The challenge is breaking through and being relevant and meaningful and fresh enough to take the more finicky customers and have them choose you.”
According to the AP, “The Muppets” drew a good mix of families and couples without children who fondly remember Kermit, Miss Piggy and the rest of the gang on “The Muppet Show.” The film stars Jason Segel (who also co-wrote and executive produced) and Amy Adams as fans helping to reunite the Muppets for a telethon to save their declining Muppet Studios from the scheming of an evil oil baron (Oscar winner Chris Cooper).
“The Muppets” also earned stellar reviews, including mine. Plus, look for my feature on Miss Piggy Wednesday.
“Breaking Dawn – Part 1″ was holding close to the pattern set by “New Moon” two years ago – “Eclipse,” the third chapter in the saga, opened last year in the summertime rather than in November – but domestic revenues were off slightly. Factoring in higher ticket prices since “New Moon,” the audience shrank for the first half of “Breaking Dawn,” with “Part 2″ set for November 2012 release.
“I think the audience has changed a bit. Everybody’s grown a little older, and I guess we lose a few of our patrons to age,” Richie Fay, head of distribution for Summit, told the AP.
With no big releases slated for this Friday, all the movies that entered the crowded Thanksgiving time frame will have a little bit of time to rack up ticket sales before a new spate of potential blockbusters arrive later in December.
“Happy Feet Two” has failed to live up to its Academy Award-winning predecessor, a blockbuster that took in nearly $200 million domestically. The sequel about singing and dancing penguins has madejust $43.8 million since opening Nov. 18, a 10-day total that barely matches the opening-weekend gross of the 2006 original, according to the AP.
“Arthur Christmas,” from the British animation unit Aardman that made “Chicken Run” and the “Wallace and Gromit” films, has long-haul potential because of its good reviews and holiday story line. The voice cast includes James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie and Jim Broadbent in a Christmas Eve romp about a child’s present that falls through the cracks in Santa Claus’ high-tech delivery operation.
Paramount has similar long-term hopes for Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo,” which also garnered great reviews. Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese makes his 3-D filmmaking debut with the film, based on Brian Selznick’s much-admired 2007 junior novel, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.” Set in the 1930s, the family-friendly mystery stars Asa Butterfield (“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”), along with Jude Law, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen and Chloe Moretz, in the tale of an orphan boy who lives in the walls of a Paris train station.
Critics have rightly praised “Hugo” for Scorsese’s dazzling and immersive use of 3-D. Unlike 3-D fatigue that set in for some other recent movies, whose 3-D business dipped below half of total revenues, “Hugo” audiences have been willing to pay an extra few dollars to see it in three dimensions. About 75 percent of the film’s revenue came from 3-D screenings, according to the AP.
In narrower release, the Marilyn Monroe drama “My Week with Marilyn” opened solidly with a $1.8 million weekend and $2.1 million since opening Wednesday. The Weinstein Co. release stars Michelle Williams as Monroe during her tumultuous time filming Laurence Olivier’s “The Prince and the Showgirl.”
Playing in 244 theaters, “My Week with Marilyn” had a weekend average of $7,266 a cinema, compared with a $10,330 average in 4,066 locations for “Breaking Dawn,” according to the AP.
Here are the top 10 movies over Thanksgiving weekend, from the AP:
1. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1,” $42 million ($71.5 million international).
2. “The Muppets,” $29.5 million ($1.6 million international).
3. “Happy Feet Two,” $13.4 million ($10 million international).
4. “Arthur Christmas,” $12.7 million ($11.9 million international).
5. “Hugo,” $11.4 million.
6. “Jack and Jill,” $10.3 million.
7. “Immortals,” $8.8 million ($8 million international).
8. “Puss in Boots,” $7.5 million ($9 million international).
9. “Tower Heist,” $7.3 million ($7.3 million international).
10. “The Descendants,” $7.2 million.
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Monday Catchy Quote No. 190
A catchy quote from a movie, TV show or other source to brighten the beginning of your week:
Mama Topolino: Chi trova un amico, trova un tesoro.
Uncle Topolino: It means, “He who finds a friend finds a treasure.”
- Click here to learn the source.
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What to do in Oklahoma on Nov. 28, 2011: Hear Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa
Lukas Nelson (AP file)
Today’s featured event:
TULSA – Hear Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Revoltaire at 8 tonight at Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main. Doors open at 7 p.m.
For more information, go to www.cainsballroom.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
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Video: “Leverage” resumes new episodes tonight
New episodes of the caper series “Leverage,” which stars Norman-bred actor/singer Christian Kane, resume at 8 tonight on TNT.
The second half of the fourth season will launch tonight with new jobs and adventures for the “Leverage” team: former insurance investigator Nathan Ford (Oscar winner Timothy Hutton), grifter Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman), hacker Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge), cat burglar Parker (Beth Riesgraf) and heavy-hitter Elliot Spencer (Kane).
Sunday’s show will be the season’s 11th episode, “The Experimental Job.” Here is the synposis:
When homeless veterans in the Boston area begin disappearing, the team must go back to college and infiltrate the world of Skull & Bones secret societies.
Back in August, TNT renewed “Leverage” for a 15-episode fifth season, noting that the fourth-season ratings were better than the third season’s marks.
“That’s unbelievable to hear. It’s very tough especially in this day and age in the entertainment business … in television to even go two seasons. So to be going into our fifth season that’s just a testament to what we do, and we’re very fortunate,” Kane told me in a phone interview earlier this fall.
“Our ratings are actually going up, and that just usually doesn’t happen. Usually you fall down in the fourth season, and our ratings have actually gone up in the fourth season. And that’s just unbelievable,” he added.
“Well, we’re a blue-collar show. We’re a working man’s fist, and I think that actually works out (for us). I mean, how many times do people just want to quit their job or punch their boss? And the economy’s tough right now, I mean, it really is. I wish it wasn’t that way, but unfortunately it is. And we kind of represent that, we kind of represent the working man getting to throw punches at some people that are the bad guys. So I believe that this is a show that you come home and you sit down and you have a beer and you watch and it kind of helps you through the day in the times that we’re going through right now.”
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