Music
Taylor Swift Fans Want Ticketmaster Cancelled
Taylor Swift’s next US concert tour tickets have yet to go on sale to the general public, but many fans hoping to see her in concert have already been disappointed by Ticketmaster.
Nancy Abulmagd, a mother of an 11-year-old daughter and friends, spent hours in a virtual line with thousands of other people, hoping to secure seats for her daughter and friends, only to have the website crash repeatedly and eventually turn her away empty-handed.
And Nancy was one of the lucky ones; she had won a lottery that allowed “verified fans” to participate in a four-day pre-sale before the general public.
“I got so close three or four times, and the website broke; it was agony,” the 41-year-old New Jersey resident says. “It was a deflating experience that messed with your emotions and sucked up your entire day.”
Nancy hoped to obtain Taylor Swift tickets for her 11-year-old daughter and friends.
The company selling the tickets, Ticketmaster, has stated that the issues are due to “historically unprecedented demand” for the singer, who first appeared on the scene in 2006 and has provided a steady stream of hits exploring fame and romantic entanglements.
Midnights, her most recent album, has topped the charts worldwide.
Millions of Swifties, as her fans are known, competed for tickets to her 52-city US tour during the pre-sale, with hundreds of thousands securing seats, according to Ticketmaster.
The company claims that the pre-sale system will help prevent ticket touts – known as scalpers in the United States – and bots from scooping up seats.
However, the process flaws have reignited rage against the company, which has long been accused of abusing its clout in the industry.
In an episode earlier this year, comedian John Oliver called it “one of the most hated companies on the planet,” blaming it for the exorbitant prices, fees, and scarcity of tickets for concerts and other events.
“You’re kind of at their mercy,” Nancy said, adding that Ticketmaster could have better organized the sales given the anticipated high demand for Taylor Swift tickets.
In the 1990s, Pearl Jam expressed concerns about Ticketmaster’s role as the primary ticket seller.
Since then, the company’s power has only grown. It purchased Live Nation in 2010, which operates many of the country’s event venues and has an artist management division.
Democratic lawmakers in the United States, who have called for the merger to be reversed, chimed in again amid the chaos of Taylor Swift’s pre-sale.
“Ticketmaster’s excessive wait times and fees are completely unacceptable, as seen with today’s @taylorswift13 tickets, and are a symptom of a larger problem,” wrote House Competition and Antitrust Committee Chairman David Cicilline. “It’s no secret that Live Nation-Ticketmaster is a monopoly unchecked.”
“Daily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, that its merger with LiveNation should never have been approved, and that they need to be reigned in,” wrote left-wing congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “Split them up.”
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on the Taylor Swift scandal.
Ticketmaster is already subject to government oversight, which was imposed when the LiveNation acquisition was approved.
After regulators discovered that the firm had violated the terms of the agreement, the oversight was extended a few years ago.
Last month, US President Joe Biden, who has expressed concern that monopolies are becoming more common in the economy, stated that his administration would investigate concert ticket fees.
Krista Brown, the senior policy analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project, is part of a coalition of artists and others who called on the government to break up Ticketmaster last month.
She hoped that the outpouring of rage from Taylor Swift’s massive fan base would pressure the administration to act.
“If there were healthy competition in this space, [these issues] would simply not exist, and customers or fans would have other services to turn to,” she said. “You probably wouldn’t have sites crashing… This is what happens when you only have one supplier.”
But whether that will be of any comfort to fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift in concert remains to be seen.
Before the general public can try again, the company is restricting purchases to people who have credit cards from Capital One, the company that is sponsoring Taylor Swift’s tour.
Ticketmaster did not respond to a BBC inquiry about how many tickets were expected to be available.
Swift has added 25 shows to her tour in response to overwhelming demand and has occasionally picked fights with corporate behemoths, and has remained silent on the matter thus far.
Nancy plans to try again as a member of the general public on Friday. However, she is not optimistic.
Celebrity
Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’
Celine Dion focuses on her family and the future while she deals with health issues.
On March 15, the iconic artist commemorated International Stiff Person Syndrome Awareness Day with an Instagram post in which she addressed her autoimmune illness, stating that it “has been one of the hardest experiences of my life.”
Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’
Dion said she is “determined to one day get back on stage and live as normal a life as possible.”
A picture of Celine’s three sons—René-Charles, Nelson, and Eddy—accompanied her heartfelt letter.
Celine had three children with her late husband, René Angélil, who died in 2016.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, stiff person syndrome (SPS) is an uncommon neurological disorder that causes spasms and muscle rigidity. It also causes increased sensitivity to stimuli such as sound, lighting, and emotional discomfort, which can trigger muscle spasms.
Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’
Dion first disclosed her diagnosis in 2022. She has ceased touring and performing live.
A documentary about the “My Heart Will Go On” singer, due to premiere on Prime Video, will follow her return to the stage.
On Friday,Celine stated in her caption that she is offering “encouragement and support to all those around the world who have been affected by SPS.”
“I want you to know that you can do it!” “We can do it,” she concluded.
Celine Dion is a powerhouse vocalist from Canada. She’s sold over 200 million albums worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists ever.
Dion shot to fame after winning the 1988 Eurovision song contest.
Celine Dion Says Living With Stiff Person Syndrome ‘Has Been One Of The Hardest Experiences Of My Life’
Her hits like “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic and “Because You Loved Me” showcased her incredible range and emotional delivery. Despite taking a break to care for her late husband René Angélil, Dion remains a Vegas headliner and touring force.
Her voice and resilience inspire fans globally.
SOURCE – (CNN)
Music
Steve Lawrence, One Half Of Popular Singing Duo Steve & Eydie, Dead At 88
Steve Lawrence, a Grammy and Emmy-winning pop singer who frequently performed with his late wife Eydie Gormé as the pair Stevie & Eydie, died Thursday, according to a statement from his publicist distributed to several sites.
He was 88.
Susan DuBow, Lawrence’s spokeswoman, reported his death in Los Angeles from Alzheimer’s illness. CNN has contacted DuBow for comment.
Steve Lawrence, One Half Of Popular Singing Duo Steve & Eydie, Dead At 88
David Lawrence, his son and a composer, said in a press release shared with Deadline: “My father was an inspiration to so many people. But, to me, he was just a nice, gorgeous, and hilariously amusing guy who sang frequently, sometimes alone, sometimes with his immensely gifted wife. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have him as a father, and I am immensely pleased to be his son. “I hope his contributions to the entertainment industry will be remembered for many years.
Carol Burnett, whose variety show Lawrence frequented in the 1970s, recalled him.
“Steve was one of the most popular guests on my variety show, appearing 39 times. He was a good friend, and I considered him ‘family.’ “He will always be in my heart,” Burnett stated in an Instagram post.
Lawrence was also an actor who appeared in many films and television shows over his career, including “The Blues Brothers,” “The Nanny,” and “Two and a Half Men.”
Lawrence, born Sidney Liebowitz in Brooklyn, New York, began his musical career as the son of a cantor, singing and composing songs throughout his adolescence.
He was a teenager when he won the “Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts” television show, which allowed him to sing for a week on Godfrey’s radio show.
Steve Lawrence, One Half Of Popular Singing Duo Steve & Eydie, Dead At 88
In 1952, the silky balladeer recorded the single “Poinciana” under the stage name “Steve Lawrence”. Soon after, he became a regular on Steve Allen’s New York show, which later became “Tonight” when it went nationwide in 1954.
Lawrence met singer and fellow cast member Eydie Gormé then, and the two married in 1957. The following year, Lawrence was drafted into the United States Army, where he sang in the army band.
As a solo performer, he scored successes like “Go Away Little Girl,” “Pretty Blue Eyes,” and “Party Doll.”
He and his wife were well-known for their repertoire of American favourites when rock and roll were gaining popularity.
The couple starred together in the Broadway musical “Golden Rainbow” in the late 1960s, and a song from that production, “I’ve Gotta Be Me,” became well-known as part of their duet act.
Steve Lawrence, One Half Of Popular Singing Duo Steve & Eydie, Dead At 88
As Steve and Eydie, they rose to prominence on the variety TV show circuit and on stage in Las Vegas while maintaining independent careers.
Gormé, Lawrence’s partner and father of two sons, died in 2013.
SOURCE – (CNN)
Celebrity
Madonna Is Revealing More About Her Near-Death Health Scare
Madonna is discussing how bad her health issue was last summer.
She told the audience during the start of “The Celebration Tour”‘s five-night run in Los Angeles that her doctor, Dr. David Agus, and other medical team members were in attendance.
“It was strange to finally not feel like I was in control,” she said of the bacterial infection that sent her to the ICU in July.
Madonna Is Revealing More About Her Near-Death Health Scare
According to the footage of her remarks, Madonna went on to say, “I’ve fallen from a lot of horses and broken a lot of bones. I have a titanium hip. The list goes on and on, but nothing will stop me.
Madonna, who has previously discussed her recuperation during tour performances, called her medical episode a “near-death experience.”
“I am not kidding. It was quite scary. Obviously, I didn’t realize for four days because I was in an induced coma. But when I awoke, the first thing I said was ‘No.’ Anyway, it is what my assistant tells me.”
She said, “I’m pretty sure God was saying to me, ‘Do you want to come with us?'” Do you want to come with me? Do you want to go this way? And I replied, “No. No. No!”
She described Dr Agus as “a very special man in the audience tonight.”
Madonna Is Revealing More About Her Near-Death Health Scare
“He has put up with many funny phone calls from me. “When I was sick this summer and couldn’t walk from my bed to the toilet, I called him every other day and asked him why I didn’t have any energy,” she explained. “When was my energy going to come back? When was I going to feel like myself again? When can I go on tour again? When, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when And all he said was, ‘Go outside in the light.'”
When she replies that her flawless skin results from staying out of the sun, Dr. Agus says, “Go outdoors in the sun. “You need vitamin D to keep your kidneys working.”
“And I hate the sun, but I did it anyways, and it was so hard for me to walk from my house to the backyard and sit in the sun,” she said. “I know that seems insane, but it was difficult, and I had no idea when I’d be able to get up, be myself, or regain my energy. It was bizarre to finally feel out of control. That was my lesson about letting go.
Madonna Is Revealing More About Her Near-Death Health Scare
She ended with a thank you to “everyone who’s here who looked after me and listened to all of my endless complaining and need for predictions that I couldn’t have.” You are patient and compassionate, and you still are. You still help me care for everyone I know who is sick. Thank you so much wherever you are.
Finally, she expressed gratitude to her children, who “really helped me pull through, because they worked so hard and…I didn’t want to let them down.”
SOURCE – (CNN)
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