The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Country music stars bid George Jones a final farewell Posted: 03 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT
And the song that brought about 4,000 fans and friends to their feet on Thursday was Jones' signature song, "He Stopped Loving Her Today," fittingly a tune about both love and death. Alan Jackson, a long-time friend, sang the song, channeling Jones' country traditionalism. Jackson ended by removing his white cowboy hat and waving it toward the heavens, looking up, tears on his cheeks, saying: "We love you, George." Jones, whose honky-tonk career spanned more than six decades, died on April 26 at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalised with a fever and irregular blood pressure. He was 81. Tanya Tucker and the Imperials, Randy Travis, The Oak Ridge Boys, Charlie Daniels, Travis Tritt, Kid Rock, Ronnie Milsap, Kenny Chesney and Wynonna Judd all paid tribute to Jones during a service that lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes. All four Nashville TV stations carried the event live. After Jackson left the stage, a spotlight shone on the yellow flower-draped coffin, and family members began to exit as a recording of Jones' voice filled the Grand Ole Opry with "When the Last Curtain Falls." It was Jones' final farewell to the Grand Ole Opry, the home of the venerable radio show in which he had been a cast member since 1956, almost from the East Texas beginnings of a career that was celebrated by musicians, politicians and other guests throughout the service. ELDER STATESMAN OF COUNTRY MUSIC Although the stunningly successful early years of his career were celebrated, the spotlight was on the last 30 years and his marriage to the former Nancy Ford Sepulvado, who Jones frequently said "saved my life." During his career, Jones' drug and alcohol abuse and the incidents that accompanied them often gained more headlines than his legendary voice. But country's King of Broken Hearts - with the help of his wife - was able to chase away those demons for the most part and live out his career as a revered elder statesman of country music. Brad Paisley was among the performers to take their turns on a stage that was filled with floral arrangements, photographs and a rocking chair, a salute to Jones' classic "I Don't Need Your Rocking Chair." "I'm lucky enough to have met George when he had gotten right, beat the demons, found Nancy and found God," Paisley said. CBS chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer talked about the voice, the songs and the dreams they fueled. "Nobody could sing like George Jones unless you were George Jones," said Schieffer, a part-time country musician by hobby. Former first lady Laura Bush, who sat next to Nancy Jones during the service, said she heard Jones' voice frequently during her White House years. "We've had few sounds more lovely than the voice of George Jones," she said. "I heard 'White Lightning' as George W. worked out on the treadmill listening to George." "He was blessed to be able to walk through the last 30 years with wife Nancy by his side," she said. — Reuters |
| ‘Iron Man 3’ blasts off US blockbuster season Posted: 03 May 2013 07:45 AM PDT
Robert Downey Jr returns as the metal-suited Marvel superhero, in a sequel to the last "Iron Man" movie in 2010, but also playing off the back of last year's comic-book mega hit "The Avengers," which also featured him. The film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Kingsley as well, has already made nearly US$200 million (RM600 million) around the world in the last week, and could earn a similar sum in its first weekend in North America. "The summer firework show has already begun for most of the world. Disney's cash rocket ... is expected to light up the box office with US$165 million (RM495 million)," said Jeff Bock, box office analyst at industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. That may be short of the best opening weekend box office ever - US$207 million for "The Avengers" - but it would be the biggest "Iron Man" debut after US$98 million for the first one in 2008 and the second three years ago. Downey Jr was in suitably relaxed mood when promoting the movie recently ahead of its US release, bantering with Paltrow, whose character's teasing romance with his reaches new levels in this movie. "These guys are wimps, okay? The suit is not that bad," Paltrow said after Downey Jr and metal-clad co-star Don Cheadle complained about how heavy their suits were, and how much they had to wear them on set compared to Paltrow. The "Iron Man" star shot back: "And Gwyneth by the way, she did come in and she was having a ball, and her kids were there and she was in rockin' shape, so it was all nice and easy. I think she wore it once or twice. "It's an accumulative issue," he joked at a Beverly Hills press conference, before acknowledging: "I admit, we're wimps." In the new movie, Tony Stark, his billionaire playboy character who transforms himself into "Iron Man," faces formidable terrorist The Mandarin, played by Kingsley. There are two baddies in all, with Anglo-Australian actor Guy Pearce playing evil scientist Aldrich Killian, who has developed a fluid that can turn people into superhuman mutants. "These movies are only ever as good as their bad guys," said Downey Jr, paying tribute to his co-stars - who in turn heaped praise on the US star actor, who makes fun of his past problems with drugs and the law. "The truth is that these movies work because Robert has a really big picture creative mind about what these movies should feel like," said Paltrow. "He is always asking ... how can we make it feel like something we care about, and we want to watch. So I think ... that's why the movies keep working, and they're not a weaker carbon copy of the one before." Box office analyst Bock noted that in China, "Iron Man 3" made US$21.5 million in just one day, a record he said - compared to US$18 million taken by "The Avengers" there over two days last summer. "In fact, 'Iron Man 3,' straight out of the gate, may be the top movie of the summer," he told AFP, adding that it was "definitely playing like a pseudo-sequel to" last year's "The Avengers." So will there be an "Iron Man 4?" "We never could have known what and who was going to come together for the third Iron Man. Usually, the third of anything struggles to even meet the first two, let alone the first one," said Downey Jr. "So in all earnestness, things are very much in flux right now. Marvel has their plans and we're all living and growing, so we'll see what happens," he added. "The future, as usual, is uncertain." — AFP-Relaxnews |
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