Barbra Streisand Page 4

Duo Ward Thomas have become the first British country act to top the UK album chart. The homegrown country stars have hit number one this week with their second album Cartwheels and landed themselves in the history books in the process.

Ward Thomas are on top of the UK album chart

Ward Thomas is made up of twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas from Hampshire. The duo released their first album Where We Stand in 2014, which reached number 41 on the UK album chart.

Continue reading: Ward Thomas Are The First UK Country Act To Score A Number One Album

With a career spanning six decades Barbra Streisand is one of the most famous singers and actresses of all time. But the icon still struggles with people mispronouncing her surname, including Apple’s virtual assistant Siri, who pronounces Streisand as if it contains a ‘z’.

Barbra Streisand has asked Apple to correct Siri’s pronunciation of her surname

But while most of us would just have to live with it, Streisand has earned some major clout during her career and she was able to take her problem right to the top.

Continue reading: Barbra Streisand Gets Apple To Correct Siri's Pronunciation Of Her Name

Beyonce is reportedly ready to return to the big screen, in a remake of musical A Star Is Born. According to Page Six, Beyonce is onboard to star opposite Bradley Cooper in the film, who will also be making his directorial debut.

Is Beyonce set to star in a remake of A Star Is Born?

“Beyoncé is a go,” a source told Page Six, adding that the rest of the cast had not yet been found. “(Cooper’s) out to find the rest of the cast, but he may take another acting role [in the meantime]. He’s furiously making everything he can.”

Continue reading: Beyonce Reportedly Set For Lead In 'A Star Is Born' Remake

Veteran director Steven Spielberg and multi-platinum selling singer Barbara Streisand are among the list of names to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States.

President Barack Obama will present the awards to an exclusive selection of 17 guests during a ceremony at the White House next Tuesday (November 24th). Among the names to be honoured are singer Gloria Estefan, her music producer husband Emilio Estefan and songwriter Stephen Sondheim, as well as a list of sportsmen, activists, academics and civil servants.

Steven Spielberg

Continue reading: Steven Spielberg, Barbara Streisand Among Recipients Of Presidential Medal Of Freedom

Keira Knightley has always baffled the world with her first name's unique spelling, but as it turns out, rather than it being creative license on the part of her parents, it was a simple spelling mistake that less than impressed her father.

Keira Knightley has done well despite the difficult start her name had

In an interview with Elle magazine, the 29-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star explained that she was supposed to be named after the Russian figure skater Kiera Ivanova but her mother got the spelling wrong when she went to register the birth. Apparently, this didn't go down too well with Mr Knightley.

Continue reading: Keira Knightley Admits She's A Spelling Error, But Who Else Has A Weirdly Spelt Name?

With Dame Shirley Bassey confirmed to perform at The 2013 Oscars, alongside fellow songstresses Adele and Barra Streisand, it looks as though we can expect some powerful performances at the Academy Awards come February 24th. 

Having conducted for the 79th and 83rd Oscars, this will be the first time Bassey has performed at the Oscars, and it's been a long time coming. The well-respected composer and arranger has worked for clients like fellow performer Streisand as well as Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble, Mariah Carey and the late Whitney Houston. Craig Zadan - who is producing the ceremony alongside Neil Meron - says, "We are thrilled to welcome the legendary Dame Shirley Bassey to our Oscar show. Her association with film music is world renowned and we are proud that she will be making her first Oscar appearance on our telecast." The pair refused to divulge any information about her performance, but considering the Academy is set to honour James Bond's 50th anniversary, we can't see anything but her Bond themes to Goldfinger and Moonraker being performed.

Of course, the real attention will be for the on-screen talent set to be recognised for their feats in 2012. Ben Affleck's excellent Argo - which he starred in as well as directing - has recently overtaken Lincoln as favourite for best picture, while Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day Lewis remain favourites to pick up the Best Director and Best Actor in a Lead Role nods respectively.

Continue reading: Dame Shirley Bassey At The Oscars Alongside Adele And Barbra Streisand

Rick Ross Survives An Attack, Jennifer Lawrence Wins But Slips Up, Lindsay Lohan To Learn Her Fate In LA

You Da Boss: Rapper Rick Ross had a lucky escape this week, somehow avoiding a hail of gunfire aimed at his Rolls Royce in Miami. The Diced Pineapples hit-maker ploughed into a nearby apartment block but emerged relatively unscathed. Now who would want to kill Rick Ross?

Silver Lining? Jennifer Lawrence's Christian Dior dress let her down badly at the SAG Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday evening. The Silver Linings Playbook star made her way to the stage to collect the award for Best Actress, only to see her gown literally split in the middle! What caused the wardrobe malfunction? 

Continue reading: A Week In News: Rick Ross Survives, Jennifer Lawrence Slips Up, Lindsay Lohan To Learn Fate

After the holiday season, the movie world is slowly cranking up to speed. Although the really big news doesn't start until next week, with the announcement of the Oscar and Bafta nominations.

This week's biggest nominee announcement came from the Producers Guild of America, seen as a taste of the Best Picture Oscar race. The PGA's 10 feature film nominees are: Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Les Miserables, Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies Feat: Naomi Watts Powerful In The Impossible, Dustin Hoffman Directs Quartet And Screenwriter Dan Fogelman Talks Barbra Streisand

The unlikely pairing of Seth Rogan, who takes his mother, Barbra Streisand on a work trip in Guilt Trip, didn't just have us (and the rest of the movie world) stumped, it also had Streisand second-guessing. 

However, talking a press conference, she revealed that it was her own son who convinced her to take the project on.  "Mothers develop guilt trips," Streisand said. "(When my own son was young) I was working a lot and I felt guilty as a parent that I cannot pick (up) my son everyday from school, bake him cookies, that kind of thing. And so you try and compensate," she continued. "I thought it was interesting to investigate this - trying to be his friend versus a mother...this movie, it hit on all those things that I thought I could explore." It was that real life, paternal relationship with his mother that influenced the movie for Rogan, too. "That dynamic where your mother is trying and the more she tries, the more it bugs you, the more it bugs you, the more she tries....All that is very, at times, real to my relationship with my mother," he explained.

The pair, however, might be regretting their Guilt Trip, as the reviewers certainly did. With a measly 37% on Rotten Tomatoes and reviews calling it "Embarrassing dreck, masquerading as comedy," (USA Today), it doesn't look like this particular trip will turn any heads. 

Continue reading: Barbra Streisand Talks Guilt Tripping With Seth Rogen

Barbra Streisand returned to her home town of Brooklyn on Thursday (October 11th 2012) for the first time in several long years to perform the first of two concerts in the New York borough.

The American superstar who has in her acting and singing career won two Academy Awards, five Golden Globes and eight Grammy awards thrilled her Brooklyn audience as she appeared on stage with her orchestra at the Barclays Center which seats 19,000 people. She opened her set with the words, 'Who says you can't go home again?' before launching into her 1994 track 'As If We Never Said Goodbye'; an appropriate opener for a homecoming concert of this kind. Surprises were also in store for her fans as the rumors of a guest singer were confirmed when she introduced her son and first child JASON GOULD on to the stage to exercise some of his own vocal talent.

Streisand managed to send tears streaming down the faces of every man and woman in the audience with a rendition of her 1974 number one hit 'The Way We Were' which she dedicated to the recently deceased composer Marvin Hamlisch who wrote the music for the track.

Continue reading: Barbra Streisand Returns To Brooklyn For Spectacular Two-Show Homecoming

Barbra Streisand is now half-way through her triumphant homecoming, having performed to a sell-out audience at Brooklyn’s Barclays Centre for the first time last night (October 11, 2012). The screen, stage and studio superstar will head back to her home town’s new massive concert venue for a second time tomorrow (October 13), before hitting the road once again as she continues her already massively successful Barbra Live tour.

Whilst blaSting out the hits last night, there was no shortage of famous faces in the crowd, with Barbara Walters, Jimmy Fallon, Sting, Katie Couric, Woody Allen, Michael Douglas and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg all spotted in the crowd. And if that wasn’t enough, the upper echelons of the fashion world also made an appearance at the show, designers Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors being spotted in the audience.

Streisand's ex-husband, Elliott Gould, was also at the event, in support of his and Barbara’s son Jason, who accompanied his mother on stage. Barbra introduced Jason to the audience as her “pride and joy,” before performing ‘How Deep Is the Ocean’ together.

Continue reading: Brooklynite Barbra Streisand Returns Home For Two Sell-Out Shows

There have, to date, been three versions of 'A Star is Born' the first in 1937, the second in 1954 and the most recent came out in 1976, and all have been wildly successful. The recipe for success seems to be in having an extraordinary leading lady, with Judy Garland starring in the 1954 version, and Barbara Streisand the latter, the biggest stars with the strongest and most distinctive voices of their time, there is no question as to why Clint Eastwood would want Beyonce to be the leading lady in the newest proposed adaptation of the classic film. He must now be devastated as she's pulled out of the project-for a second time.

The premise of every film is a female rising star, taken on by a veteran in the business, who sees his own career decline with the career of the 'rising star' rockets. The main problem this project is facing seems to be finding the right leading stars. The casting crew has been through a long list of Hollywood's greats, but left without much, and now with Beyonce's premature exit they're left with nothing. Bradley Cooper has been cited as a hot favourite for the role that would have been opposite Beyonce.

In TheWrap.com Beyonce cites a jampacked schedule for her abdication from the role. She said: 'I was looking forward to the production of A Star Is Born and the opportunity to work with Clint Eastwood. For months we tried to coordinate our schedules to bring this remake to life but it was just not possible. Hopefully in the future we will get a chance to work together.' However, some critics have questioned whether political differences have pushed Beyonce and Eastwood apart, as the former has been vocal in her backing of democrat Barack Obama, whereas Eastwood is a life-long republican.

Continue reading: As Beyonce Quits Clint Eastwood Movie; Can Anyone Else Keep The Project Afloat?

Beyonce’s role in the latest remake of A Star Is Born, directed by Clint Eastwood, is no more, due to scheduling issues, reports E! Online.

“I was looking forward to the production of A Star Is Born and the opportunity to work with Clint Eastwood," Beyonce said in a statement to E! News. "For months we tried to coordinate our schedules to bring this remake to life but it was just not possible. Hopefully in the future we will get a chance to work together." So it looks like it’s back to the drawing board for Clint, who has been busy with his latest flick, Trouble With the Curve, which didn’t really do that well at the Box Office. "We've talked to several people, and we probably won't address that one till next year," Eastwood explained to E! at the premiere of his recent film. "Early next year,” he added.

The 1937 original had rising star Janet Gaynor falling in love with Frederic March. In 1954, Judy Garland rose and in 1976, Barbra Streisand found her voice with the help of Kris Kristofferson. Eastwood is said to be eyeing jazz star Esperanza Spalding as a replacement, but wants to secure a male lead before approaching female stars. As of yet, there is no date for the film, which is allegedly another reason for Beyonce’s withdrawal.

John Travolta has been reunited with his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John, for a forthcoming Christmas album, entitled 'This Christmas.' It's something of a surprise move from the actor, who has been busily defending himself against sexual assault claims and allegations that he is a closet homosexual. We're thinking that if he was really trying to prove to people that he's not gay, releasing a Christmas album with a ridiculously camp photograph of himself sharing a cup of tea (or coffee, maybe. or something else. we're not quite sure) with Olivia Newton-John possibly wasn't the strongest part of his game plan.

Music Fix and NineMSN.com have quoted Travolta as saying "My desire was to make This Christmas an intimate album, not something too ostentatious or showy." To achieve this aim, he invited Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Cliff Richard and Kenny G to join him as guests on the album. Um, not ostentatious or showy at all, then, John? He added "I wanted people to be able to play it around the house or in the car during the holidays, and make us part of your celebration." Olivia added that it was a struggle getting the recording done, in amongst their hectic work lives: "It just fell into place. With our busy schedules, I don't know how we got it done. John and I have always connected. That's never gone away. When we're together, we have a good laugh and feel bonded to one another. We've been through some amazing experiences together."

Ostentatious or not, at least it's all for a good cause; proceeds from the album sales will go to the Jett Travolta Foundation and the Olivia Newton John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne.

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John will once again be multiplying chills with a new Christmas album, reports Entertainment Weekly. The proposed album will also feature the vocal talents of Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand and Kenny G.

Christmas just comes earlier and earlier each year, doesn't it? It won't be long before Christmas cards are sold in the summer months and trees become freeze-able to be taken out on December 1st. Greece stars Travolta and Newton-John have kicked X-Mas mania off in early October this year, by announcing their reunification to collaborate on a Christmas album. "We all felt a wonderful, joyful energy while recording this album," Newton-John said in a statement. "We want to make a lot of people smile and happy. It's a project that we're hoping turns into a perennial, one that can continue to raise money for these causes year after year, a gift that keeps on giving." Diehard fans of their classic film, which shot the pair to stardom, will be delighted to learn that a You're the One That I Want 'sequel' will be on the festive record, entitled I Think You Might Like It, written John Farrar who also penned the original.

The guaranteed Christmas stocking success will be available on November 13th, 2012, but here's the track listing.

Continue reading: John Travolta And Olivia Newton-John Back With A Christmas Album!

Rapper Jay Z kicked into life the latest concert venue in Brooklyn, New York; the massive, rust-coloured Barclays Centre, taking to the stage for the venue's inaugural night.

Jay, himself a Brooklyn native, wore his heritage on his sleeve during the performance, proudly telling the crowd before his set started, "tonight is a celebration of the borough where I'm from. Welcome to my house."

The concert venue already has such stars as Bob Dylan and Barbara Streisand lined up to perform in the coming month, however not everyone is happy to see the new venue open up it's doors. The powers behind the new venue have hailed the venue as a chance to regenerate the dilapidated part of downtown Brooklyn, as well as offering a home for NBA team the Brooklyn Nets, the first sports team to represent the New York borough since 1957. However critics of the venue, who have been in protest of the venue since before construction began, believe that the new stadium will destroy the distinctive local community.

Continue reading: Jay-Z Cuts The Ribbon At Barclays Centre Opening

Jay Z was the star of the show at the opening of New York’s new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. And he will continue to be the star of the show for the next eight nights as he prepares to embark on a residency at the 19,000 capacity concert hall. Aceshowbiz report that Jay Z was supported by Rihanna, J Cole and Lyor Cohen, as he opened his 40/40 club and restaurant as part of the Brooklyn Centre complex.

Wearing a tux and bowtie, Jay Z welcomed friends and family to the glitzy event and told reporters “yeah I think I'm the American dream. That whole thing that you could come here and pull yourself up by the bootstraps, like that whole thing what America has always put up to the world that we represent. I feel that. Yes, I've lived that.” And who are we to argue? Jay Z is easily one of the most influential music stars in America right now and he and his partner Beyonce are the premiere couple in the celebrity world.

Tonight, the center will be ringing with Jay Z songs, as the hip-hop star will start his eight-date stint there. The multi-billion dollar suite contains 101 luxury suites, four bars and a selection of clubs and retail outlets. Other stars lined up to perform there currently include Justin Bieber, Lady GaGa, Green Day, Barbra Streisand and Rihanna.

The stars came out to pay tribute to the late American composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch who passed away last month aged 68, with Barbara Streisand, Aretha Franklin and Liza Minelli appearing at a memorial service in tribute to the great music writer.

The BBC reports that the invite-only service was held at New York’s Juilliard School and saw Minelli perform If You Really Knew Me from the musical They’re Playing My Song whilst Franklin sung James Bond theme Nobody Does It Better. It was a fitting tribute to someone who won three Academy Awards, a Tony, four Grammys , four Emmys and a Pultizer Prize during their career.
The event was arranged by Streisand and she commented on Hamlisch's life by saying "Without explaining why or how, we understood each other’s anxieties," in reference to their shared Jewish heritage.

An audience that included Michael Douglas and Sarah Jessica Parker were treated to performances not just by three women who are among the finest voices in popular music history, but also three of Hamlisch’s closest friends, making it a wholly fitting evening. Minelli said that she’d known him since they were in their teens, whilst Franklin performed a version of the spiritual ballad Deep River in homage. The tribute also featured While I Still Have The Time - a song from his final musical, The Nutty Professor, which premiered in Nashville in August.

Barbra Streisand has officially become the most expensive touring artist of all time. The 70 year-old singer is about to embark on a rare tour and will be charging her fans up to $1,500 for a ticket. And if you've got the $1,500 for the ticket, the assumption is that you won't mind shelling out the $75 service fee on top of that, either. Huffington Post report that Streisand's newly-announced batch of concerts will be charging the extortionate prices, including two dates at Brooklyn's Barclays Centre on October 11 and 13, 2012.

One tour promoter explained why Streisand is so in demand: "Streisand isn't an artist that goes on the road all the time. In fact, seeing her perform live is a very, very rare thing. I can't think of another artist that could sell tickets at a price like this -- maybe if Elvis came back from the dead. What's the most amazing thing is she doesn't care. Her attitude is, 'If you want to hear me sing, pay up." It's not all an act of greed on Streisand's part though; proceeds from the highly-priced tour will go towards charities supported by the Barbra Streisand Foundation; it's not just a ploy to increase Barbra Streisand net worth. Still, it's a hell of a hike from her 1994 ticket prices, which went at around $100 for the top priced tickets.

Last night (September 18, 2012), Barbra Streisand joined Aretha Franklin and Liza Minnelli in a concert paying tribute to the late songwriter Marvin Hamlisch. Streisand performed a version of 'The Way We Were,' from the film of the same name.