Category Archives: uk celebrity

George Ezra Addresses Decision To Remove Death Lyric From Queen’s Jubilee Performance

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George Ezra has explained the decision to remove a lyric about death from his performance at the Queen’s Jubilee celebratory concert.

Earlier this month, George was one of the A-list performers who took to the stage outside Buckingham Palace in honour of the 96-year-old monarch’s Platinum Jubilee.

However, fans watching at home quickly picked up on the fact that during his rendition of the song Green Green Grass, he took out the lyric: “You better throw a party on the day that I die.”

During Tuesday’s instalment of Good Morning Britain, George was asked about the censored lyric, admitting he was asked by organisers to remove the line.

“When you’re playing for the Royal Family, when they say ‘jump’, you jump, you don’t question it,” he told Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley.

The Shotgun singer continued: “My take on it was that it was going to make it more obvious to change it, and the thing is it kind of turned out that way.

“It’s the thing that I get asked about a lot now and I just say, ‘Well, I wasn’t going to fight back, was I?’.”

George previously told The Sun: “I don’t know if it came from the royals or the producers of the show, but it’s pretty obvious that if you’re playing for the Royal Family and the powers that be say, ‘We don’t want you to sing that lyric,’ then you’re not going to argue.”

Other performers on the night included Diana Ross, Eurovision singer Sam Ryder and Rod Stewart, whose rendition of Sweet Caroline also raised eyebrows.

Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6am on ITV.

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Sharon Osbourne Offers Update On Ozzy’s Health After His Recent Surgery

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Sharon Osbourne has said that her husband Ozzy is “doing well and on the road to recovery” after the rocker underwent surgery recently.

The former X Factor judge provided an update on her Instagram story as she thanked fans for their “love and support” in the lead-up to the procedure.

She previously revealed that she was travelling to Los Angeles to support the Black Sabbath star, who has Parkinson’s disease.

Writing on Instagram, Sharon wrote: “Our family would like to express so much gratitude for the overwhelming amount of love and support leading up to Ozzy’s surgery!

“Ozzy is doing well and on the road to recovery! Your love means the world to him.”

Sharon thanked Ozzy's well-wishers in an Instagram story post
Sharon thanked Ozzy’s well-wishers in an Instagram story post

Instagram/Sharon Osbourne

Ozzy has a rare form of the disease called Parkin 2, which he has had since birth.

In an interview with Classic Rock magazine in May, Ozzy said he was waiting on more surgery for his neck after a quad bike accident in 2003 left him with lasting damage.

He added: “I can’t walk properly these days. I have physical therapy every morning. I am somewhat better, but nowhere near as much as I want to be to go back on the road.”

The singer previously cancelled his North American tour in 2020 to undergo medical treatment.

In April, Sharon revealed that Ozzy had contracted Covid, noting that she was “very worried” for him given his health conditions.

After travelling from the UK to Los Angeles to look after him, she shared a bed-ridden picture of herself hooked up to a drip, explaining that her “entire household” had later tested positive as well.

The couple have been married since 1982 and they have three children together – Aimee, Kelly and Jack.

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Andrew Lloyd Webber Booed By Cinderella Audience As His Latest Musical Closes For Good

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The mere mention of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s name was met with jeers and boos as the curtain came down on his Cinderella musical.

Last month, it was announced the show’s final performance would take place on Sunday 12 June, with the production team being met with criticism after some members of the team – including actors who were poised to join the cast – discovered the news of its closure on social media.

The curtain came down on Cinderella for good on Sunday, and while Andrew was not there in person, his presence was certainly still felt.

Director Laurence Connor read out a speech from the Phantom Of The Opera creator after the show, with a comment branding the show a “costly mistake” not going down well in the room.

Carrie Hope Fletcher in character as Cinderella
Carrie Hope Fletcher in character as Cinderella

David M. Benett via Getty Images

The speech read: “I am hugely sorry not to be able to be with you today, but I want to thank everyone from our fabulous cast, crew and musicians, the superb creative team, Laurence.

“I keep thinking if only we had opened three months later, we wouldn’t have had to postpone our opening twice because of COVID – I promise you we would have been here for a very long time to come.

“My huge thanks to everyone. We kept the government’s feet to the flames and led the charge to the West End opening again. It might have been a costly mistake, but I am proud of what we did and will forever be grateful to everyone who supported me.

“Cinderella got some of the best reviews of my career and I am immensely proud of it and it’s hugely due to you all. All my love, Andrew.”

The speech was then met with boos and jeers, with Variety reporting that his name had already been met with a similar reaction from the audience when it was brought up earlier in the curtain call.

The Cinderella premiere took place in August last year, having been scheduled for the previous month but delayed due to Covid isolation protocols.

Cinderella opened with an audience capacity of 50% after the impresario rejected prime minister Boris Johnson’s offer for the show to be included in the coronavirus live events pilot scheme.

Then in December, Cinderella was stopped due to “Covid-related absences”, alongside London productions of hit musicals Hamilton and The Lion King.

At the time, Andrew said he’d found it “simply heartbreaking” to see the theatre industry “decimated” by cancellations, adding “no-one in the government listens”.

He postponed Cinderella until 2022 “to avoid more disruption” as the number of Covid-19 cases increased across the country.

Written by Oscar winner Emerald Fennell, and starring Carrie Hope Fletcher in the lead role, Cinderella is described as a “complete reinvention” of the classic fairytale, and is based on an original idea by the Promising Young Woman director.

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Justin Bieber Battling Virus That Has Paralysed Half His Face

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Justin Bieber has announced he is taking some time off from touring in order to deal with a virus that has paralysed half his face.

In a video posted on Instagram, the singer explained that he’s postponed several shows after being diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a condition that has affected a nerve in his ear.

As a result, he’s unable to blink his right eye and can smile only on the left side of his face.

“This nostril will not move,” he added.

As a result, Justin said, he’s “physically unable” to perform in concert for the time being. Instead, he will “rest and relax” until he’s able “to do what I was born to do.”

Ramsay Hunt syndrome occurs when the varicella-zoster virus ― which also causes chicken pox and shingles ― infects a nerve in the head. Treatment often involves steroids and/or antiviral medicines.

Justin didn’t say if he was taking medicine. However, he said he’s doing “all these facial exercises” to get his face back to normal. He added that he doesn’t know how long that will take.

You can see the complete video selfie below.

This has been a rough year healthwise for Justin and his wife, Hailey.

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Jennifer Lopez Felt Sharing Super Bowl Stage With Shakira Was ‘Worst Idea In The World’

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For fans, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s 2020 Super Bowl halftime show was a peak cultural moment in a year that came to be defined by both political divisions and a pandemic.

J-Lo, however, had a much different opinion on the massively hyped performance ― or at least she did in the days leading up to it. In her Netflix documentary Halftime, the actor and singer is shown in rehearsals with her music director Kim Burse and appears visibly stressed over the time constraints.

“We have six fucking minutes,” J-Lo proclaims, according to Entertainment Weekly. “We have 30 seconds of a song, and if we take a minute, that’s it, we’ve got five left. But there’s got to be certain songs that we sing, though. We have to have our singing moments. It’s not going to be a dance fucking revue. We have to sing our message.

“This is the worst idea in the world to have two people do the Super Bowl,” she continues. “It was the worst idea in the world.”

Elsewhere in Halftime, J-Lo doesn’t hold back as she maps out the logistics of the show with Shakira directly. “If it was going to be a double-headliner, they should have given us 20 minutes,” she says. “That’s what they should’ve fucking done.”

Catch the trailer for Halftime below…

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In the end, J-Lo and Shakira’s performance lasted about 14 minutes. By comparison, Madonna in 2012 and Lady Gaga in 2017 were each given about 14 minutes to perform in the Super Bowl show. This year’s halftime show, featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar, clocked in at nearly 14 minutes.

J-Lo’s manager Benny Medina shared his client’s frustrations over the NFL’s choice of a co-headlining performance.

“Typically, you have one headliner at a Super Bowl. That headliner constructs a show, and, should they choose to have other guests, that’s their choice,” he said, according to EW. “It was an insult to say you needed two Latinas to do the job that one artist historically has done.”

In spite of their limited stage time, J-Lo and Shakira each turned in a dazzling performance that won raves from critics and even managed to deliver a subtle political message. The Los Angeles Times applauded them for having “fused old-school razzle-dazzle with an of-the-moment sense of Latin American pride,” while Entertainment Weekly called it “punchy, political, and flat-out electric.”

Halftime, which premiered on Wednesday at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival in New York, follows J-Lo as she “reflects on her milestones and evolution as an artist, and navigates the second half of her career continuing to entertain, empower and inspire,” according to press notes.

It’s now available for streaming on Netflix.

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