I Dreamed a Dream

Nick Jonas has just dropped another bombshell on his unsuspecting fandom.  He’s been hinting at something big in his twitter lately, and now we know what it is.  According to the Daily Mail, Nick is going to be taking the role of Marius for a three week London run of Les Miserables.

Say what? 

So Long to Jemi & Bye-bye Demoe

 

Awwwww.  Joe and Demi broke up.  Or rather, decided to stop force feeding us the surrealationship.  Kind of surprising though, weren’t they supposed to do that after the tour/CD/movie happens?  That’s all still to come for Camp Rock 2. What gives?

We Love Our Fans

Oh yeah.

“We Love Our Fans” is clearly the mantra these days for the Jonas Group.  Because if I’ve heard Nick Jonas say it once in the past month I’ve heard it 20 times.  And well he should love his fans, since the fans certainly love him and his brothers.  They picked up the tab on Nick’s solo venture and will likely turn out for the Disney Owns Jonas Brothers and Is Bankrolling Their World Tour 2010 In Order to Plug Camp Rock 2 tour.  Mayhap not in the great numbers of tours past, it remains to be seen if economics or attrition will affect the numbers of tickets sold.  But, the boys are leaving nothing to chance here; they want the fans to know that every dime they expect you to shell out is appreciated.  Operation Woo the Faithful is in full swing.

What a Man Should Be

The Jonas Brothers did a press interview recently.  The interview is fairly typical (we’re blessed to do what we do, we love our fans, etc.) though it does include an interesting conversation about how Nick “would rule” Celebrity Apprentice if he were on it, though the reasons given aren’t terribly compelling.  If anyone is interested, the entire interview’s transcript is here.  But what stood out to me are two moments, which I’ll quote after a jump:

It’s SOOOO On…

OMCR2!

I was excited to see the trailer for Camp Rock 2 when it premiered on Sunday, May 1, a mere Four (!) Months before the air date of the movie, which is September 3.  And may I say, it did not disappoint.  Not only did it cause me to resurrect Coolmom’s Cringe-O-Meter, a device I created to quantify the level of embarrassment caused by cheesy entertainment (see Sidebar for complete guide), but it exceeded even my wildest hopes in terms of potential Badness So Bad as to Be Great.  Going out on a limb, I’m going to rank Camp Rock 2 as a solid 5 on the meter, based simply on what I saw in the trailer.  But really, given how Bad the first Camp Rock was, the sky’s the limit here.

You’ll see what I mean after the jump…

Ridin’ On the Gravy Train

Vindication is sweet.  Or in this case bittersweet with an emphasis on the bitter, because I’m not savoring the taste of this correct call that I made way back when Nick Jonas went solo.  At that time, I predicted that the Jonas Brothers, either as a band or as a brand, would never again be anything but a means to a Disney/Jonas Group moneymaking end.  I sensed it, my gut told me it was coming, and I hated it. And what do you know, here we are.

Lots more to say after the jump…

Good News, I’ve Got Good News

So the Jonas Brothers and I both went to church today.  I went to my home church and I also tuned in online to Saddleback Church’s (the author of The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren’s Southern California mega-church) Easter service from Angel’s Stadium, at which the Jonas Brothers were guests.  I was intrigued when I heard they were playing.  Lots of kids will go anywhere to hear the Jonas Brothers do almost anything, and they have to bring a parent or two.  Ergo, lots of people to hear the Easter Message.  I’m down with that, I’m a believer myself and though Pastor Warren is a little too Evangelical for my theological taste (I’m a Presbyterian) I’m always happy when people who might not otherwise hear the Good News have an opportunity to do so.  That’s something that can happen on Easter, and it’s great when it does.

Will Someone Please Put Us Out of Kate Gosselin’s Misery?

I beg you.

Yeah I watched Jon & Kate Plus 8 occasionally.  What of it?  I even kind of liked her uptight, slightly-to-the-left-of-Joan-Crawford parenting style, because by comparison I seem like a calm, well-balanced parent.  And isn’t that why we ever watch reality TV anyway?  So we can feel superior in our knowledge that no matter how screwed up we are, we’re not as screwed up as those people on TV!

The Kids Have Chosen, and It’s Not You

Man, it must have sucked to be Nick Jonas at Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards last Saturday night.  There he was nominated for two awards, neither of which he won.  But to add several insults to this injury:

• He was an obvious fifth wheel with his brothers Kevin and Joe, who were each there with their wife and girlfriend respectively.  And while it’s true that his brothers also lost the awards for which they were nominated, at least they had the prospect of a little consolatory sugar from their gals to render their evenings not a total loss.  Not so poor Nick.  I felt for him, plunked in the audience between two cuddling couples, watching Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez—not one, but two of his ex-girlfriends or publicity-generated hook-ups, take your pick—get awards.

 

• And those ladies looked hot, which by the way, Nick did not, particularly.  His suit and bow-tie seemed natty enough, but the dark shoes appeared a questionable choice.  His aviator glasses were pretty cool, but his hair seemed bushy and like it was trying to hard—he could use a cut.  I’ve never been more certain that the Jonas Brothers have parted ways with their stylist.  All three of the brother’s ensembles last night were less than stellar, truth be told.  If letting their stylist go has been an economy measure, I’m sure they have their reasons, but they need to at least renew their subscription to GQ.

 

• But perhaps economizing is the way to go for Nicholas, because the last and most bitter sign that the times have changed came when he had to sit through Justin Beiber’s performance and hear the hysterical screaming that just one short year ago was all for him.  I am less than thrilled by Master Beiber myself, but that matters not, because my daughters, your daughters, and many, many, many other daughters think he is “totally hot and has it going on.”  And while his music is not my cup of tea, I’m astute enough to understand that this pretty boy with the pretty voice who can sing hip-hop, no less, with enough credibility to pass muster with Usher et. al. and a host of school girls is destined to be massive.  I can only imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the inner sanctums of the Mouse King, as he agonizes over owning no part of this particular Big Thing.  Because Big Thing Justin Beiber is, make no mistake, until his voice changes or two years passes, whichever comes first.

 However, at least Nick was in good company last night as he heard the bell tolling and read the handwriting on the wall.  He could commiserate with Jesse McCartney, for whom Nick had opened back in the day, when Jesse was the Big Thing and Nick and his brothers were the Next.  Jesse could have perhaps offered some career advice to Nick as he picked up his award for his work in Alvin and the Chipmunks 2:  The Squeakquel. 

Voice-overs, Nick.  Something to aspire to perhaps, to avoid another shut-out at next year’s awards? 

 [Via:  JonasPhotos.Org (Photos)]

Holiday Movies I Love Which AREN’T It’s a Wonderful Life

What’s that I hear?  The hate mail starting up at the sacrilege of suggesting there are other worthy holiday films besides It’s a Wonderful Life?

If you’re not too angry, you can…