Taylor Swift Heading for Australia
February 2, 2010 by m.coonce · Leave a Comment
Taylor Swift leaves for Australia this week on a tour. Her managers are happy that she’s going because, back here in the States, they’re worried about her being over exposed. Or people burning out on her, not the other way around.
“The Australian dates had been planned all along, but it actually worked out great,” says Scott Borchetta, who runs Big Machine Records, Swift’s label, and co-manages her career.
“The next time you see her will likely be on the ACM (Academy of Country Music) awards show” in April, Borchetta says. “During that time, we’re going to have a new video, but as far as the talking head of Taylor Swift, that one’s gone into hiding for a little bit, at least on this continent.”
Avoiding overexposure isn’t the only issue the 20-year-old faces. Critics have panned her recent live TV performances as pitchy. The Grammy duet with Stevie Nicks was no exception. “Now, everybody knows that Taylor Swift can’t sing,” influential blogger Bob Lefsetz wrote after the performance.
“They’ve got to figure out how to get this girl to sing on TV and sound right,” says former Spin magazine editor Alan Light. “That’s becoming more of a limitation as she’s flying at that altitude.”
Borchetta says Swift is working on her live TV performances.
“She’s a very intelligent girl,” he says. “She’s going to keep addressing it and keep getting better.”
But Light also points out that in an era when many stars lip-sync, Swift’s less-than-pitch-perfect television performances humanize her. “The fact that it’s not perfect, in some ways, has been an asset,” he says. “That makes it all the more believable, to a certain point.”
Osmond Wins ‘DWTS’, then Pyro Sets Stage on Fire
November 25, 2009 by m.coonce · Leave a Comment
It was the perfect ending to “an emotional roller coaster season” Donny Osmond told PEOPLE minutes after he and partner Kym Johnson were awarded the Season Nine mirror ball trophy. The former teen idol, 51, humbly addressed fans and press members after the show, tearing up as he tried to express how he felt to be the winner.
“If you saw the work that went into this season,” Osmond said softly. “Kym is so amazing. Of all the things I’ve done in my career, this is right up there.”
When Osmond heard his name called, he rushed over to his wife, Debbie, and swept her off her feet and onto the ballroom floor.
Just moments after Osmond and his partner were announced as champs, a pyrotechnic display on the stage behind them sparked a fire. A tarp covering the orchestra pit and instruments caught on fire while host Tom Bergeron was speaking to the victorious couple live on the air. Two crew members rushed onto the stage with fire extinguishers and put out the flames within a matter of seconds.
