NEW YORK (AP) – Laughs didn’t start “Saturday Night Live” this weekend. Instead of the usual comedy sketch, the show opened with a children’s choir sing “Silent Night.” Then after members of the New York City’s Children’s Chorus closed the song with the refrain: “Sleep in heavenly peace,” they shouted out the show’s intro: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” It was in memory of the victims of the Connecticut school massacre Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) – Tomorrow is “Saturday Night Live’s” Christmas show and Lorne Michaels hopes it’ll be emotional as well as funny. Michaels says the Christmas show “has to have an emotional component.” He says it also has to be good enough to keep people talking while SNL goes on hiatus until next year. It’ll be up to Martin Short and his musical guest Paul McCartney to give Michaels what he wants.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The top trending search on Google in 2012 was a sad one: the death of Whitney Houston. Psy’s “Gangnam Style” video was second, with Superstorm Sandy in third. When it came to images, the top search was for One Direction, then Selena Gomez. On Yahoo, the top search for lyrics was Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” followed by “Gangnam Style” and Adele’s “Someone Like You.” Justin Bieber’s farewell to six-year-old fan Avalanna Routh, who died of brain cancer, was number two on the retweet list. He had written “RIP Avalanna. i love you.” The top retweet was President Obama’s “Four more years.”
NEW YORK (AP) – What Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band started, Paul McCartney finished, with some help from Alicia Keys. And in between some of music’s top stars rocked Madison Square Garden for a show that put out the call for aid to the New York City area in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The show was a mixture of a telethon and an act of defiance – with celebrities calling for donations to a fund for Sandy victims and celebrity hosts defiantly urging New Yorkers to bounce back. Springsteen launched the show with the tune “Land of Hope and Dreams” before teaming up with fellow New Jersey native Bon Jovi on “Born To Run.” McCartney closed out the proceedings nearly six hours later joined by Alicia Keys with “Empire State of Mind.” The show was sold out – and was televised, streamed online and aired on radio all over the world. Producers say up to 2 billion people were able to experience the show live, along with the thousands who saw it in person.
I have to send a shout out to my old community college pal (and fellow radio geek) Matt Twardy for pointing this one out to me! It’s our favorite jungle-animal-based holiday song (just edging out “A Rhinoceros In A Pear Tree”), performed live rrrrrrrright here on “The Ed Sullivan Show”!
http://youtu.be/qhaR_1rmO5I
NEW YORK (AP) – Mick Jagger says we can only wonder how bad the effects of Superstorm Sandy would have been if there hadn’t been so much warning. The frontman of the Rolling Stones says if there hadn’t been a week to prepare for the storm which devastated much of the coastal New York metropolitan area, the results “would have been pretty dire.” Jagger will lead the Stones in tonight’s 12-12-12 concert at Madison Square Garden – along with dozens of other acts to raise money for victims of Sandy. He says it’s important to “support people who have been in harm’s way” – and he’s especially fond of New York because he is “very familiar” with the area.
Besides the Stones, the 12-12-12 concert features Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Who, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, Dave Grohl, Chris Martin of Coldplay and Eddie Vedder.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Rush fans have gotten their wish: Rush is heading for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the first time, the Rock Hall let fans help decide who should be inducted, and Rush led the fan poll. Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson says fans were more hurt about Rush being snubbed than Rush was. Deep Purple had been running second in the fan poll but that wasn’t enough to get them in this year. Donna Summer will be inducted after six years on the ballot, but it’s bittersweet — she died in May. Public Enemy makes induction the first time they appeared on the ballot. Randy Newman, Heart and bluesman Albert King will also be inducted. The ceremony is April 18 in Los Angeles.
Here’s this week’s message from Eagle Radio Alliance/Chadron General Manager Terri Friesen.
Listen:
From Bing Crosby’s final Christmas special, taped in London weeks before his passing in 1977:
NEW YORK (AP) – Why do the Rolling Stones keep playing shows? Because people keep showing up. The Stones played in New York Saturday night in one of the few concerts they’re doing this year to mark 50 years as a band. Mick Jagger told the audience, “You’re the reason we’re doing this. Thank you for buying our records and coming to our shows for the last 50 years.” Mary J. Blige and Gary Clark Junior were guest musicians. The Stones will also play in Newark, New Jersey on Thursday and Saturday. The Stones are also the latest big-name act to sign on for next week’s Superstorm Sandy benefit show in New York City. They will perform with other Brit acts The Who and Paul McCartney. Among the others to appear include Alicia Keys, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel and Chris Martin. The 12-12-12 show at Madison Square Garden will be available on TV or online to some 2 billion people – and producers say it will be the most widely available live concert ever.
