The Savage Animal 09.09.09: Pop Diva Meltdowns
Posted by Mikey MiGo on 09.09.2009
Remember when Britney shaved her head, when Mariah had her breakdown, or when Whitney fled to Israel? Of course you do. In this edition of The Savage Animal, 411’s Mikey MiGo takes a look into the public meltdowns of some of the world’s most renowned pop divas. Plus reviews of Dragon Gate USA’s first PPV, the horror movie “Midnight Mean Train”, and other entertainment randomness.
This past week came and gone with the quickness of a hiccup. Deep into a big graphic design project that I can't wait for the world to see, the production of the current movie project, and lots of randomness. I'm exhausted and energized at the same time. No complaints. Idle hands are the devils' play toys. I'm way too busy to worry about mythical creatures playing with my fingers.
FLUFFY MUSIC WITH A ROTTEN CORE
"A "diva" is what you call a "…." when she's not in the room"
"POP DIVA"
Just by typing those two words, I'm sure you already have a few female vocalists in your head. Even if you despise the genre of music, you know who the pop divas are. You know Aretha, Whitney, Christina, Britney, and probably a dozen more without even having to try to put much thought into it.
Sadly, there are discouraging odds that about half of the world's most renowned pop divas is going through or at least has had a huge public meltdown. A train wreck, if you will.
Is it the pressure of being under the limelight? The hounding press? The depression of not living up to one's own hype? Drugs? Alcohol? Bad crowds? There's plenty of reasons and excuses for diva's to just go off their rocker. While the media basically glamorizes a celebrity's downfall, it's still pretty depressing.
Any woman could be a pop singer. You don't need a good voice anymore. You just need an image and one or two catchy tracks to become a "celebrity". Lady GaGa proves just that. But the REAL pop divas are what we're talking about here. The talented or at least once talented vocalists who have sold millions of albums and have proven their lasting power one way or another are what we're discussing today.
Whitney Houston
The 411: Everyone knows her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" from The Bodyguard soundtrack. Whitney Houston was an 80's pioneer for serious female pop singers. She didn't wear any gimmicks like Madonna and was just a great singer to represent real people. As you may know, "real people" have "real problems". Miss Houston is no different. The duo of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown was a mobile trainwreck. With his own series of problems that probably makes him our generation's "Rick James", his mess still pales in comparison to Whitney's. In the midst of her breakdown, Houston fled to Israel to claim her "honorary Jewishness", denied heroin and cocaine rumors, no showed to a lot of important gigs, and a was featured on a really bad reality show. There's no proof of the drug rumors, but you couldn't help but wander/be concerned when she lost all that weight and just seemed to be completely nuts whenever she appeared on camera. With her husband's history, what were people supposed to assume? The silver lining is that she's still capable of putting out quality music. Her latest album, "I Look To You" has garnered a lot of positive reviews and things seem to be on an upswing for Whitney. I'm all for her to have a huge comeback, but I'm hoping she doesn't fall into the same problems again.
Madonna
The 411: I remember when the sassy pop singer was first on MTV. During my childhood, her popularity was a huge heights. I remember the gloves, the hair spray, the wedding dresses, and all the gimmicks that rose to "80's fad icon" levels. It seems once the 80's faded, so did Madonna's sanity. She always had controversy around her due to her risqué image, controversial musical videos, and sexual legends. It seems like it was the mid to late 90's when she went all adoption crazy on the world. I mean, she adopted, adopted, and adopted. First she adopted an English accent, then a new religion, then some third world children. Her levels of pretention grew leaps and bounds. Her personal life easily overshadows her music career these days. When Madonna is mentioned, it's normally in reference to her being involved with a baseball player or her falling out with her former director beau. I try to keep up to date on current music and I couldn't tell you the last Madonna single other than "Music". Before that, who knows.
Janet Jackson
The 411: It's probably true that some people wouldn't put Janet on the same level as the others on this list. She's talented and has a lot of success in her career, but that is overshadowed by her last name. We know the history of her family and everyone is probably tired of hearing about it by now. That doesn't mean that Janet's problems are purely because of it. We can jump around on her personal timeline from the Super Bowl nipple slip, to the rumors of her having a secret child, and just the overall mystique of her personality. She never really had a public display that would be a "meltdown", but the rumors and gossip about her has tarnished her career.
Mariah Carrey
The 411: This lady can SING. I'm not a huge pop fan, but Mariah's voice is an amazing tool that she utilizes very well. Back when jokes about "Glitter" being a horrible movie were fresh. The scary thing was when she showed up on TRL and was completely off her rocker. She was incoherent and gave out popsicles to the crowd. I'm not sure what happened to the crowd after consumption, but the claims were that she was having these issues due to "lack of sleep". If she was THAT tired, maybe she should have taken a nap instead of making an impromptu TRL appearance. From there things just sorta snowballed with the casual consensus becoming "Mariah is craaaazy!" Things like having MTV staff pretend to be diehard fans on camera, the "dishes accident" where she "accidentally cut her wrist", and her label buying out her contract didn't help the cause. That stuff still sticks out in most people's mind, but I think its past for the most part. She's had like a billion number one singles and albums and apparently enjoys the company of Nick Cannon for some reason. No, the Nick Cannon thing, as odd as it is, isn't her meltdown. If anything, she's been a lot more in control and tamer since hooking up with the Nickelodeon golden child. I'm talking about the stuff from a few years ago. Despite random eccentric claims, she seems to of bounced back fairly well and has become more reclusive. Probably for the best.
Britney Spears
The 411: Britney Spears is an obvious one. She went from being that "underdressed school girl" from "that Hit Me Baby One More Time" video to super celebrity. Sadly, most of her celebrity is from the girl just being bat shit crazy. She's sadly warped into some sort of sick and twisted version of a "Beverly Hillbillies" character. You know, the crazy cousin who shaved her head in haste, lost custody and visitation of her own children, had a Vegas wedding with a guy who shares his name with "George Castanza", provided casual panty shots, and have had more tabloid stories about her than pretty much any other celebrity alive AND dead. The stories are outrageous and have been built up to this odd obsession to nitpick more of her outlandish personal life to display. The media constantly in her face only seems to push her off more into the deep end. She seems to be putting in a lot into rejuvenating her career, but sadly the stories and her reputation ALWAYS stands out more than her efforts. Her bad decisions and the media's display of her faults are to blame. I know it's "the price of fame", but when is enough enough?
Why do YOU think these divas meltdown?
And for sick fun, which meltdown have you enjoyed most?
RANDOM VIDEO OF THE WEEK
My Modern Nostalgia
"The Outsider" (live) by A Perfect Circle
The 411:My first concert was Nine Inch Nails back like ten years ago. That specific tour had "A Perfect Circle" open up, thus them being the first band I've ever seen live. That night, Maynard James Keenan set a bar that's been pretty fucking high to compete with. I was a Tool fan prior, but never avidly into them. Just a casual observer who was always a fan of what he had heard. I always remember the full glory of my first concert being my favorite band, but after seeing NIN nine times the A Perfect Circle set stands out that much more. The shadow of Maynard on the wall had me in awe just as much as that first album's material did. Granted, "The Outsider" is found on another album and it's a talk show setting it's still a great example of how awesome this group was for the short time being.
RANDOM MOVIE REVIEW IN 411 WORDS OR LESS
"THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN"
STARRING BRADLEY COOPER, LESLIE BIBB, AND VINNIE JONES
The 411: I was told to watch this movie by a few friends over the past six or so months. I've avoided it and have ignored it until this past week. Something about a horror movie, one of my least favorite genres, being called "Midnight Meat Train" really didn't whet any desires to watch it. Then as time went on, I found out more and more about the movie to make me a tad more curious. I didn't know it was based on a story by Clive Barker. Vinnie Jones is a bad ass. Leslie Bibb is as hot as she is talented (a lot). And now that I've seen "The Hangover's Bradley Cooper" (that's REALLY his name now, pay attention) in "The Hangover", I just wanted to see the movie that much more. So like I said, this past week I sat down and took a ride on this ridiculously titled movie. The title makes perfect sense when watching the movie, but I think it's a barrier that the average renter/viewer has to overcome to watch it. "The Hangover's Bradley Cooper" plays an aspiring photographer who is told by an art snob played by BROOKE SHIELDS(yeah, that one!) that his photography isn't "in the moment" enough. So he starts following around this weird train patron played by Vinnie Jones. After following him around only to find out this guy is a butcher. Chaos ensues. That's sort of a spoiler, but not really. You can pick up on this from the trailer, but what happens is what freaked me out a little. The story itself seems a bit ridiculous, but it works. As awkward as the movie seems, it's one of the best horror movies I've seen in recent years. I really don't want to say anymore about the movie in fear that I'll do it injustice or spoil something else. I will say that "The Hangover's Bradley Cooper" ‘s performance was easily his best acting work that I've seen. Maybe it was the tone of the movie, but there was a definite "Fight Club" vibe to it. I'm not saying they're remotely similar, but in the same ballpark. It's a sharp story, it's gritty, and it's very violent all in an intelligently provided package. It's a horror movie for adults who actually still care about plot over their gore. Yeah, I'm talking to YOU Saw fans. Flat out, I highly recommend this. A.
RANDOM STUFF ON MY TV IN 411 WORDS OR LESS
"THE BERNIE MAC SHOW" (Random Episodes)
I never really watched "The Bernie Mac Show" that much. I knew the characters on the show and the basic plot, but I couldn't tell you anything specific. This past week, out of the blue, I started tuning in to watch this syndicated show on FX. I instantly lose my fears of "sitcom hell" as it's everything that "According to Jim" is not. It's funny, well done, and actually worth watching. I've always enjoyed the comedy and just overall larger than life presence of Bernie Mac. This show is pretty fun and not the typical lame sitcom. Mac breaks the forth wall often to discuss the plot of the show with the viewer at home. There's no laugh track! That's a huge plus for a sitcom. The kids in the show played their characters very well. To the point where they're likable, but annoying like most kids can be. That's hard to pull off. If I watch other sitcoms, the children are normally just cute little people with bad acting skills. In this show, the kids stand firm and hung with Mac's charisma. Of the few episodes I saw, there was a plotline where the youngest girl start repeating Mac's curse words, the oldest girl being revealed as the real boss of the family, and just so much more crammed into these half hour episodes. I'm normally home during the day and will start watching this show more regularly. I sorta feel that if this show was out even just five years before it originally aired then we'd all be speaking of it as one of the best family sitcoms of all time. Yes, nonbelievers, it's that solid of a show.
WRESTLING WITH PILLOWS
Looking Out From the Inside.
I missed RAW this past week despite looking forward to Bob Barker's hosting duties. I read the recap posted on 411mania and the show seemed solid. I'm not going to really comment on any of it. I've not seen it and unlike others who'll base their opinion on a review, I'll reserve an opinion until I catch up on it. I doubt I will actually watch it, but I'm sure I'll catch up rather quickly come next Monday. I wasn't completely away from wrestling this past week. I caught the Morrison/Mysterio match from Smackdown online. That match rocked and is definitely worth the 15 second Hulu commercial to see it. Even then, there was still more wrestling to come. A friend and I sat down out of the blue to check out the first pay per view of Dragon Gate USA. As much as I love professional wrestling I've never had any desire to watch Japanese wrestling. In the 90's I did watch the Japanese Death Match stuff with Funk and Foley and did quasi-follow Hayabusa via those lame FMW DVDs. Today, I am still vaguely familiar with the style and some of the performers. I keep up online with the bigger events and news items, but it's just never been my cup of tea. I like promos. I like there being a verbal reason behind a match or rivalry. I respect talent and those who appreciate it on all levels. For my liking, a good match is only as good as it's build up. A random 3 and half star match on RAW is never as memorable as a well built 3 and a half star match on PPV. That's just the flavor of my wrestling taste buds, that's all.
The first match was actually my favorite of the show. BxB Hulk and Yamato put on one of the best opening matches I've seen in a long time. It was solid all around. The moves were fluid, there was great psychology, and the match just rocked my socks off. It drew me in and made me feel as if I was watching something special. BxB Hulk was awesome and would go on to remain my favorite performer of the show. From there, we go to the CHIKARA 8-Man Tag Match. It was more lucha based, which meant lots of flippity-do-da shit. We got the normal arm drags, head scissors, and fast as possible pacing. That's just not my cup of tea. I like tactical wrestling, but still have more knowledge about Mexican wrestling than Japanese. It was solid and better than most of the matches I've seen from this style. It was solid as fuck and the energy NEVER died down. For each small thing I was irked by, there were three things within the following minute that made me forget about it. I've read high marking reviews for the Yoshino/Dragon Kid match, but to me it was the weakest of the card. That's not saying it was bad. Maybe it was the placement on the card or pacing of the show, but by the time their match started I needed a breather and couldn't get hooked into action. That "out of it" viewing carried on until about the middle of the Young Bucks vs. CIMA/Yokosuka. I've seen CIMA. I know he's awesome. Awesome to the point that I've seen mediocre indy wrestlers copy to the levels of ripping off his gear. At first, I cringed at the Young Bucks who looked like pre-Hot Topic Hardy Boys. They quickly won me over and hung with CIMA and Yokosuka very nicely. The match ended up being pretty damn good and the Young Bucks impressed me with their moveset. The 450 Splash by Nick of the YBs was breathtaking. The main event was good, but the opening match still has my pick for match of the night. Shingo and Doi just didn't appeal to me. They were obviously talented as hell, but the match just didn't click with me as much as the BxB Hulk/Yamato match. It was main event worthy, but there didn't seem to be much emotion behind things. It didn't feel like a "match", but a "exhibition". Almost like watching The language barrier was obviously an issue they had to address and they did so with voiceovers describing the performers and building things up. Maybe it was the announcer, but it just seemed cheap. Hearing about how great someone is as they put their gear on with no emotion at all… boring. I found myself not paying attention. A promo with subtitles would have been better as we'd of gotten some of their personality presented to us as opposed to folklore. Another issue I have is a minor one in relation to the actual wrestling style. There's just too many "drivers". There's a weird variation to every "driver" I've ever seen. Yeah, some of them are awesome creations but there was just way too many. After awhile, it got humorous. Shit was used more times than a suplex at an independent show. I almost want to make it a drinking game next time. Every driver = a shot. That's just my nitpicking. I have a friend who attended the Chicago show this past weekend, that I now regret not going to myself. I won't go into any mark out details, but a friend of mine that I used to book when I was still in the business actually wrestled on the card. I've followed him since his very first match and even without me going to shows anymore, I keep seeing him progress onto bigger and way better things. I'm not proud so much because I booked him in his first match, but proud of him for not just chasing his dream, but for taking control and hunting it down. That's just fucking awesome. I still enjoyed the first show and on the small dose of every couple of months, I'll continue to follow this promotion. Hopefully as it grows so will my appreciation, knowledge, and acceptance of Japanese wrestling. My mind is now open a helluva lot wider than before. For a casual viewer, I'm won over. Order it yourself and give it a shot. It's well worth it.
That's all for this week. I have a vague idea of a topic I want to cover for next week and then it's back off to another "First Impression". After last time's disappointment with "Portishead", I'm weary of another three to five album full discography listen. Any suggestions? Until next time…Have a Great Week!
