Rachel Crow's Soulful "I'd Rather Go Blind"

Rachel Crow, great dreamer

Silent Night

“If they have a dream, they should always go for it because that’s what happened to me and my dream came true.”
_ Jackie Evancho, Age 10, Great Dreamer

Click link to hear Silent Night . . .
Jackie Evancho Official Website

Greyson Chance a Social Media Success Story

Greyson Chance performed Lady GaGa's "Paparazzi" at his local hometown 6th grade talent show on April 28 and posted the video of it on You Tube. Now with more than 23,260,000 You Tube views, two guest appearances on Ellen, $10,000 in prize money, new Yamaha piano, and a contract with Ellen's record label, no one could be more surprised than Greyson. This social media success story took less than 30 days.

Lady GaGa's personal advice to Greyson? "Stay away from the girls . . . and focus on your music." Elton John, Billy Joel--how about adding Greyson Chance to your show? Check out Greyson's "Broken Hearts" and watch clips from Ellen as he speaks about what inspires him.
__ Greyson Chance, Great Dreamer

Watch Greyson97 You Tube viral video . . .

Derek Paravicini On 60 Minutes

Watch CBS News Videos Online


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Susan Boyle, I Dreamed A Dream . . .

_Susan Boyle,Great Dreamer

Oh, This and That and Stuff Like That, Tina Fey on Palin

"Not since Sling Blade has there been a voice that anybody could do," Tina Fey.

SNL Mavericks Take On Biden-Palin

"Gosh Darnit" NBC's Saturday Night Live Mavericks delivered another hysterical parody with the Biden-Palin VP Debate. The gang surprised us with a guest spot for Queen Latifah as journalist and moderator Gwen Ifil. A perfect pitch for Ifil's new book, who could ask for any better publicity? Latifah really held herself together as she tried not to laugh outright at Tina Fey's too funny Sarah Palin. To be fair, SNL gave "scrappy" Joe Biden the "Scranton is a hell-hole" business, too.


Links:
Tina Fey at"30 Rock"SNL's Perfect Palin
Queen Latifah Lights Up Symphony Hall

Tina Fey at "30 Rock" SNL's Perfect Palin

NBC's Saturday Night Live team gave fans a perfect parody of Sarah Palin with Tina Fey's return to 30 Rockefeller Center last night.

Amy Poehler portrayed the tougher stereotypical view of Hillary Clinton in sharp contrast to the clear likeability quotient of Sarah Palin. If we've learned one thing during this campaign, the likeability factor remains King or Queen.

Fey hit the mark on every media discussion point of recent days by covering the difference between pitbulls and pigs, Palin's foreign policy experience "I can see Russia from my house," and professing her service as mayor of the "crystal meth capitol of Alaska." SNL fans should expect to see more of Fey's Palin. It seems only fitting at this point, if we can't cry over the election mess, we'll just have to laugh. Again.

Border Collie on Britian's Got Talent Contest

Gin and her owner Kate Nicholas awarded Perfect 10's for spot on Britian's Got Talent.

The Christmas Song

A most beloved holiday song transcending the 20th Century into the 21st is Mel Torme's The Christmas Song. Torme also was one of the most gifted entertainers in the industry. I remember discovering how wonderfully talented he was in about 1964 or '65 on a trip to New Orleans with my parents. We caught his dinner show high atop The Roosevelt Hotel's Blue Room--my first "nightclub" experience. Here's a real holiday treat, Mel Torme with the incomparable Judy Garland:

On Pocket Change

Once upon a time, children spent a rainy day inside building castles out of pennies and other loose pocket change. We relied on our own imagination---it was a time before great dreamers made it possible for us to own a personal home computer with fabulous software to help us create something wonderful with pennies and loose pocket change.

Paul Potts Wins Britian's Got Talent!

Paul Potts triumphed tonight in final competition on Britian's Got Talent.

He won't be returning to his day job selling mobile phones in South Wales. Instead, Potts heads for the recording studio to cut his first album.

Potts wins £100,000 and the chance to sing for HRH The Queen at a Royal Variety Performance in December. He wowed the judges and audience once again with Puccini's Nessun Dorma. Bravo!

Winner Announced:

Brenda Leigh Johnson Down To Her Bones

Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson returns for a third summer season in The Closer on Monday night and I'm happy.

If Jane Tennison returned in another episode of Prime Suspect one day, I'd be thrilled.

Juicy screen roles for women with a little seasoning under their hats seem few and far between. The lead in The Closer was originally written for a male. It looks like there's a trend brewing as more talented actresses play lead and ensemble roles in cable and network television series.

Anytime we see exceptional writing for exceptional talent, we breathe a sigh of relief and relish the storytelling. While the writer brings a character to life on the page, both Kyra Sedgwick and Helen Mirren help us discover Brenda and Jane down to their bones.

Brenda and Jane could be us. We connect. We understand them. We feel their disappointment and glow with pride in their triumphs. We've been there. We enjoy watching them reveal who they are in ways which surprise us---and them.

The two remain different in personality, if not in their approach to life and career.

Take a look:

Addictions: Brenda is addicted to sweets, Jane to alcohol.

Sex & Relationships: Brenda satisfies her sexual libido with a guy from the office. Ditto for Jane. Their relationships develop into more than one-night stands.

Saying What They Mean: Brenda uses a true Southerner's affinity for meaningful metaphor when describing a situation. Jane uses the English language. Brenda and Jane never mince words.

Fashion Sense: Brenda's wears off-the-rack ensembles, perhaps Target-like vintage. Sometimes they're flowery and quirky with a classic jacket over a short dress or skirt. Jane often prefers white blouses, classic skirts and jackets, and sensible heels. She begins wearing colored blouses, a single strand of pearls and nice scarves. Fashion remains a necessary afterthought at first as both evolve their own sense of style.

Heart: Brenda often hides her heart. Jane hides hers. Both are softies who wear a suit of armor and tough-as-nails attitude. A natural survival instinct, look at their line of work.

Humor: Brenda comes with a sense of humor. Jane either lost it along the way or never had one.

Love & Family: Brenda grapples with insecurity, commitment, parental approval, and a ticking biological clock. Jane struggles with most of these same issues. And don't forget about Jane's abortion decision as her own biological clock ticked down.

Professional Reputation: Brenda's competency and skill drives her boss and the other guys a little nuts. As rivalry among department peers and her own staff develop, she deftly works around and through it. Ditto for Jane. Both face sabotage and work to restore their professional reputation.

As Helen Mirren discovered Jane Tennison, we grew to love and accept Jane along with her often self-destructive behaviors and misguided relationships between home and office. We rallied around Jane when plum assignments and promotions passed her by. We worried about Jane when she drove herself to right criminal wrong doing---she was losing herself in the process. And there were times when we didn't know if Jane would see the light of tomorrow.


During interviews promoting last year's final episode, Mirren remarked how easy it was for her to play Jane Tennison even after being away from the role several years. She said that it was as if she were meeting 'an old friend.' Mirren wore Jane well.

Kyra Sedgwick admits that after first turning down the role of Brenda Leigh Johnson, she kept hearing a voice in her head say Prime Suspect. We're happy she listened. Like Mirren wears Jane, Sedgwick wears Brenda well. Both actresses know who these characters are right down to their bones.

Photo Credits: The Closer, TNT and Prime Suspect, Granada Television

I'm Paul Potts . . . Cell Phone Salesman's Opera Dreams

Great dreams, great talent, great inspiration! Paul Potts secures semi-final win this week on Britian's Got Talent.

British Cell Phone Salesman's Opera Dreams

Paul Potts sells mobile phones in South Wales, United Kingdom and holds a great dream of singing opera. Paul's audition for Britian's Got Talent brought the audience to their feet and landed him a spot to compete. Take a listen to Paul singing one of Puccini's most famous arias Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep) from Turandot. Bravo, Paul!

The Sopranos Cuts To Black In Final Hour

Wow! Brilliant. Series creator David Chase wrote and directed the final episode--he does not disappoint. From scene to scene, deliberate moment to moment. As real as one could have envisioned. A needles and pins riveting finale without resolution. Hamburgers and onion rings. Made In America. Of course it would end this way, it's The Sopranos.

Photo Credit: Will Hart/HBO

Made In America . . . The Sopranos Final Hit List

OK. I called my friends in New York. Here's my friend Larry's prediction for tonight's final episode. It's worth sharing.

Tony lives. The worse thing that could happen? Hit his family. Carmella is expendable. He'll be upset, angry. Feel guilty. And return to business as usual.

Carmella hit. Why? She's a phony. Lives a double-standard. Contrary to the Soprano clan theory that family members are not targets, they do get hit sometimes.

Dr. Melfi hit. Everyone knows Tony's been seeing a shrink for years. Who knows what she knows. Another Phil's "no scraps in my scrapbox" solution.

Paulie lives. Which ever way the wind blows, you always know where he stands.

Nancy's Sidebar: If this happens, Tony will move to Las Vegas and smoke peyote the rest of his depressed life. AJ escapes the hit (remember he's with Carmella)and joins a terrorist cell because he's confused, lost, and stupid. Meadow survives and goes to law school.

Photo Credits: HBO

Made In America . . . The Sopranos Family Ties Cut Chord

Tomorrow. One day.
And in less than one hour of small screen time, millions will watch a bittersweet ending to The Sopranos.

This feels alot different than anticipating the last episode of MASH, Seinfeld, or Friends.

Mastermind David Chase began picking off our closest "Family Ties" clan before Memorial Day. Tony's cold-blooded suffocation of Christopher left most of us rationalizing the act. Of course Tony would kill Christopher, he'd become more than a liability for Tony, we'd been waiting for Christopher to take a powder.

Of course Dr. Melfi cuts the chord to Tony, we figured she would. Finally. A great line in last Sunday's episode occurred as Melfi sat at a dinner table with fellow shrinks. Discussion turned to the relationship between shrinks and criminal sociopaths. Elliot offers a clue about Melfi's star patient, "the answer is: a female opera singer and gangster." As Silvio and Patsy leave the Bada Bing for Patsy's car, you know it's an ambush waiting to happen. When Bobby heads into the train shop, you know he won't come out.

Can I say this now? I've never cared for the Soprano kids. Not AJ in his meltdown, tragic and ironic as it is. Or Meadow as she matures into a respectable moral beacon of hope for Carmella and Tony. No matter what Meadow becomes, it doesn't stand up to Tony's expectation for AJ. Of course not, gender has a pecking order.



I figure Tony's done for. One day. We'll watch and see.

Photo: HBO

On Bada Bing! Bada Boom! The Sopranos Final Season

The Sopranos eases into it's final nine episodes as fans across the globe speculate how America's best loved home-grown Mafia family completes Season 7. When the doorbell rings, Carmela's opening line to Tony in bed, "Is this it?" sets the episode in motion. It's only fitting that Tony leaves the house in a terry cloth bathrobe after his arrest on lame gun charges. Released on bail, Tony and Carmela end up at his brother-in-law's lake house in upstate NY to celebrate Tony's 47th birthday."No risk, No Reward," Tony muses during a conversation sitting in a motor boat fishing with Bobby.

Music plays as much a character as the family members do. There's karoke singing with Carmela appropriately crooning, "Love Hurts." Jazz fans will enjoy hearing Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" throughout a game of monopoly and during Bobby and Tony's drunken fist fight. Bobby feels compelled to defend Janice's honor after Tony insults her.

"We're family, these things happen," says Janice the next morning, everyone is hung-over. Another great scene follows this one with Tony sitting alone on the dock lamenting to Carmela, "I'm old Carm, my body has suffered a trauma it will probably never recover from." Tony continues to brood over last year's life-changing shooting and heart attack.

Episode 78 ends with Bobby taking care of business. He blows away some skinny long-haired chump in a laundromat and returns to the lake house where his children are having a tea party out by the lake. As Bobby's young daughter runs toward him, "This Magic Moment" begins to play. We watch Bobby embrace his daughter---the one pure good thing in his life.

Photo Credits: HBO

On Larry "Bud" Melman: David Letterman Sidekick

Here's a funny clip of the late beloved Calvert DeForest, best known for his character work as Larry "Bud" Melman on David Letterman's Late Night show. DeForest died Monday in New York after a long illness. News reports said the show's producers first saw DeForest in a New York University film student's video. They later found him working as a file clerk in a drug rehab center and hired him.

Larry "Bud" Melman introduced television audiences to the first Late Night show on February 1, 1982. DeForest once said his first appearance "was the greatest thing that had happened in my life."