Taylor's glorious return with Folklore
Taylor Swift and Kanye West were in news together again albeit for different reasons. Not dwelling into Kanye and his issues out of respect for mental health in general. Let's talk Taylor!
(Image source:https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-07-24/taylor-swift-folklore-album-reviews)While Taylor has always had really good albums, 1989 is my favorite ever from any artist. My feelings for Taylor herself were mixed after the whole #TaylorSwiftIsOver fiasco. I did not particularly enjoy Reputation because I admit, I was really influenced by an article on Buzzfeed that announced to the world that Taylor has been self-victimizing herself for the sake of popularity. And the entire album did sound too self-victimizing.
Then it seemed like the old Taylor wasn't actually dead when she dropped Lover on us! It had all the elements of a pre-Red era Taylor- colors, confetti, et al! But besides the title song itself, I did not enjoy the music on this one so much. A few tunes sounded repetitive, some reminding you of her old songs.
Two weeks ago, Taylor had a glorious return with Folklore. Without any kind of promotion or social media fan fare, she made the surprise announcement just 16 hours before the album's release. My first thoughts after listening to it was, "what a beautiful record this is!". Each song is better than the previous one, my personal favorites being Invisible String, Seven, Cardigan and August. Not only does she mesmerize you with those words (as usual) but also the music is very different from what she has done before.
The album is already breaking records within weeks of its release, including- Guiness' record for the most day-one streams of an album on Spotify (female), 1st Artist to Open Atop Billboard Hot 100 & Billboard 200 in Same Week and it sold more than a million copies within a day of its release, and continues to break more records.
#FreeBritney
If you haven't read about #FreeBritney, please do here. My initial thoughts to this entire movement that has caught up again recently was that people were just giving Britney a hard time for being herself. Her sort-of-ramp-walk at her home from left to right and back with the same clothes, her posting the same pictures from the same day again and again and then some, etc. I thought she is stuck at home like the rest of us due to the pandemic and she is just killing time with those posts.
But reading some of the comments and paying a little attention to her posts, I am convinced too that she is sending signals of not being happy. Her mother recently applied to be a part of the conservatorship and what's more people close to her are vouching for this to be taken as a serious matter. I hope I am wrong about this. But if its true, its not fair. It's disheartening to know that a grown adult is being controlled that much, while her earnings are distributed partly among all those involved in her "conservatorship"
She has gone through so much in her life at such a young age, this pop diva deserves much better. She had been doing pretty well imho a few years ago, what with being a judge on X Factor and releasing new music (I really enjoyed Slumber Party). I hope and pray that she gets back to being happy, safe and just the pop princess she is.
Ellen Degeneres might be kind of a jerk
I have had a thought that Ellen Degeneres is kind of a jerk to her guests many times (esp to my favorite actor ever, John Stamos!). Sometimes it seemed she was bored, other times, she wasn't paying attention and then there were times, she wouldn't laugh at their genuinely funny jokes because she's gottu be the funny one?! Remember that clip of her where she sat in her mansion and called it a "prison"? Cringe!
(Image source:https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/ellen-degeneres-letter-to-staff.html)Now there is news that not only is she rude to guests, her show and its production has had a history of toxic work culture. Former employees have come forward with allegations of sexism, racism and fear/intimidation. Considering that her mantra is "be kind to one another", this came as a really disappointing news. Buzzfeed has covered this new extensively here. (Yes, my go-to news source is Buzzfeed!).
(Image source: https://tenor.com/search/conan-o-brien-dance-gifs)There are talks that she is quitting and James Corden might take over. Please god, don't let that happen. He is seriously annoying. On the other hand, a comedian/ talk show host who has never gotten his due imho is Conan O'Brien. He is funny, smart and makes his guests laugh! He was on Linkedin a few years ago with some good skits, I hope he gets back there again (Hey, I even tweeted at him!). If anyone, Conan should take over the show.
(Image source: https://wifflegif.com/tags/12512-graham-norton-gifs)Same goes with Graham Norton but he already is running a good show and nobody wants that ruined.
Other news that caught my attention
1) Cori Bush who was featured on Knock Down the House along with AOC just became Missouri's first black congresswoman! (Just like AOC, she beat a long term incumbent). I admit I don't follow politics too much but for me, its all about these strong, successful women who came out of nowhere and are really killing it out there!
(Image source: https://ryanblotnick.bandcamp.com/track/knock-down-the-house)2) Adele's weight loss has become the talk of the town again. There are people being "critical" of it and then there are that support it. As a person who has had a changed body herself, I have to say this- please stop talking about other people's bodies! I will write about this in detail in a later post - may be open a whole different blog for it. But the point is, repeat after me, other people's bodies are none of your business!
(Image source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDWzJe8A5Xz/?utm_source=ig_embed)3) The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have distanced themselves from the new tell-all book Finding Freedom that makes several not so factual claims. According to me, if you haven't seen it yourself, you don't write a book full of stories from "credible sources". Anyway, I don't get the overwhelming hate towards Meghan (apparently, she has become the most hated celebrity in Britain). Why an entire country spewed venom on someone they didn't even get to know well is beyond me. I sometimes wonder if its deep-rooted racism. Whatever it is, it's time everyone left her alone.
(Image source: https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/meghan-markle-birthday-plans-royal-family-well-wishes-abroad-source)
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