Thursday Musings Part II: Resurrecting Shevine and Liam Payne is Doing Swimmingly

 

If you wish to start with Part I, we can hook you up right here!

Well, Oliver,  if you think you can handle a few more helpings.   We have a few more items to touch upon because folks have been busy - in lots of ways!  

 

• Simon Cowell visited the Kelly Clarkson show last week and it was a real eye opener.

 

Simon has dramatically changed from the Simon Cowell that folks were used to seeing in the American Idol and X Factor (UK) days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most people already knew that Cowell was supposed to have suffered a terrible electric motor bike accident in August 2020, a calamity that, according to the victim, resulted in a broken back.  Interestingly enough, this high profile make-sure-to-feel-sorry-for-me-mishap just happened to have occurred less than a month after Louis Tomlinson announced his departure from the Syco label, which also included Sony Records gaining the sole rights over Cowell's Syco music empire, including One Direction's lucrative back catalog. 

With this context in mind, Simon made sure to recount the details of the accident on Kelly's show, mentioning several interesting details such as knowing he had broken his back as soon as it happened, and remembering that he "wasn't supposed to move". Inexplicably adding that he nonetheless managed to get up and "somehow" made his way back into his bedroom." The accident supposedly took place on his private property in front of his house (Malibu courtyard) and was recorded on his security camera.  More convenient coincidences, don't you think? Oh, and although Simon recalled that he was hallucinating, he somehow clearly remembers every detail of what happened. Quite the feat given the catastrophic injury that he suffered. 

To lend more credence to the story, there's, of course, lots of evidence of the "accident," just in case there are any questions, but somehow Simon Cowell and his six-year old son were the only eyewitnesses; the sole available unseen footage of the event from his own surveillance system. Cowell then made sure to clarify that he "got carried" to his bedroom even though earlier he had said that he made his way to his bedroom on his own, and soon thereafter had a 7-8 hour operation for a broken back. As usual when it comes to narratives surrounding Cowell, somehow only Simon is available to supply all the answers. How very convenient.

Despite the contradictions, this still was quite the one-on-one interview coup for Kelly Clarkson and amazingly, while her show was airing, this conspicuous announcement appeared on Just Jared:

 

 

In 2022, Kelly's show will be occupying Ellen DeGeneres' time slot on NBC when fall arrives in 2022.  

Look at the words of NBCUniversal Local's president:  "By 2022, The Kelly Clarkson Show will be the star of our daytime entertainment schedules and an asset to our early afternoon newscasts."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indeed Ted, those are big words for Kelly's career.  Who doesn't like or love Kelly?!  She's funny, relatable, charming.  But watching that interview with Simon and knowing how abusive he was to the One Direction men, it was interesting to watch her softball-sized questioning and expressions of innocent amazement over Simon's tales and chatter of his new "nice-ness and state of vulnerability".  

"You get to make so many dreams come true.  That's - That's really cool.  They should write a movie about you [being] a dreammaker." - Kelly Clarkson to Simon Cowell, 05 26 21.

Oh, he helps to make dreams come true alright. No doubt about it, Kelly.  Especially, for himself since so much of his career is self serving and self promoting his favorite person... Simon  Cowell. But what about those contracts the winners have to sign?  What about the NDAs? Those image rights clauses that allows him to manipulate, control and sabotage anyone who dares to fight back? What about no one being able to criticize him on any planet in the solar system? What about the constant allegations of forced closeting and retaliation if his "stable" of talent dare to challenge his authority. 

Her effusive, praise of Cowell, definitely not the most promising of signs.  And if her endorsement of the PR-generated "Shefani" is anything to point to, she is more than willing to play the game.   In other words, Kelly has learned how the reward system in Hollywood and the music industry really works and well, look how Ellen worked her way up. Kelly was given her show in the fall of 2019, with impressive ratings. Soon thereafter, by July 2020, here come all the twitter trends for days about Ellen's abusive behavior to her staff. Trends that happened more than once that year which set the stage for Clarkson to conveniently take over Ellen's role as the afternoon talk show hostess, i.e.,  enabler of closeted stars.

We hope Kelly's road doesn't take the same path as Ellen, as this is a great opportunity for her, a break whose announcement came right on the heels of Simon's guest appearance on her show.  👀  Hopefully, we can at least look forward to more appearances by Blake on her show.

longtime friends Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton

 

•  And speaking of Mr. Blake, let's see what he and Adam Levine are up to.  Number one, Blake has a new album out called Body Language.  Body Language and Minimum Wage are two songs in particular that I took an immediate liking to.  So best wishes to him on the new release, and like Jake Gyllenhaal, Blake seems to be one who works hard to promote his latest projects.

Number two, we do seem to be in the warm-up stages for some long, long-awaited nuptials between Blake and Gwen Stefani.  Stefani, former lead singer for No Doubt and solo artist, was brought on board to be a judge on The Voice in 2014, one year before Adam's exit from the show.  Both Blake and Stefani experienced the demise of their previous contracts, I mean marriages during 2015 and took this hinky looking Instagram selfie in the fall of 2016, to plant the seed for "something's up".

It would appear, lol, that the social media intern could have gotten a little carried away with the cropping tool on Blake's right arm?  ✂   That is one heck of an odd-looking photo with all kinds of lighting issues and are they both squatting or just what kind of logistics going on there?   Perhaps a flip phone camera was being used at the time?  😉  

Then, we were told to understand that Stefani was "comforting" Blake during his difficult time, which is kind of confusing because Blake told top 30 country radio host Lon Helton with Country Countdown USA, 

"I actually went and stayed with the guy [Adam Levine] when I was going through my divorce, and he was a really good friend to me during all that.". - NashvilleGab, Nov 13 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and well, anyway, lo and behold, Blake and Stefani became something "more" and before you knew it, thanks to one of Adam's notorious Halloween parties, the twosome were spotted holding hands at the festivity. #OopsFoundOut   The typical "organic, oblivious and spontaneous" photos were posted on the Daily Fail,

Narnia Disclaimer:  hey, we can't help the quality

Even Narnia has standards for publicist and social media team skills, and this author has to say that "Shefani's" team is giving J2's team a run for their money with regards to effort.   LOL!   But it is what it is.  Nice of Adam to provide the venue, wasn't it?  We thought so.  😉  The pictures even came with a play-by-play in case the average reader couldn't decipher what was going on at the time:

"The snaps show Blake standing pressed up against Gwen's back with his hand on her shoulders before they move down (to) her waist." - The Daily Mail, Nov 4, 2015

And the Cliff Notes continued in the article, but as stated earlier, Narnia does have standards for the intellect of our readers and this kind of spoon feeding should be shared in moderate to low doses.  😁 No doubt, there is much more to share with regard to this fauxmance, but another day, another time.  The only mystery which remains is when these alleged nuptials will be taking place.

 

I can't wait

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 • Funny enough, Adam Levine and his group Maroon 5 are also bringing out new music.  Their latest album, Jordi, will release on Friday, June 11, with the title named after their late manager, Jordan Feldstein, who passed away in December 2017.   Understandably, that was a huge loss for Adam, who grew up with Feldstein, so it's a nice tribute that the group names their new album after him.  

Maroon 5 was a musical guest on the finale of The Voice on Tuesday, May 25, singing their newest single "Beautiful Mistakes", featuring Megan Lee Stallion.    The ad promo for their appearance and Adam's return to the show, was seen in this tweet,

This @BlakeShelton & @AdamLevine moment made us SO happy. #VoiceFinale 🙌🤣 pic.twitter.com/YEw9YZdbvu

— The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) May 26, 2021

 

Admittedly, the ad was amusing with Blake as the texting crazy person and Adam as himself, perfect with his inexpressive responses.  But for anyone who noticed, isn't it interesting that Adam almost seemed to have his hair colored differently for this promo with Blake and then the group's appearance in the finale?   His hair wasn't dyed before (if you are to believe social media, which we are supposed to, right??? 😉)

But there's Adam in the promo, electric pink hair (nice shade, though!), wild Hawaiian shirt, a totally clashing, button-down beneath it, baggy jeans - a free-flowing ensemble and then there's Blake, resplendent in a black 3-piece suit, hair perfectly coiffed...in other words, could the close friends have looked any more from different worlds?

And then we're to believe that the next day, Adam is in Hawaii with actor Eric Christian Olsen from the show, NCIS: Los Angeles and another gentleman who is a friend of Behati Prinsloo.  Now if you were to read up about the trip in Page Six, this was a family trip.  But the story on Just Jared with its numerous pictures, doesn't even show Prinsloo or children.  

And Adam's hair is back to being dark!  So, something about that appearance on The Voice seemed to call for bright pink hair, in addition to a can't-miss, eye-catching wardrobe.  Hmmm...  Below is Adam and his nice looking watch, enjoying the water and waterfalls.  ⌚😉

 

Just for old times' sake, let's remember Adam as he was during his time on The Voice, having fun and warm moments with Blake, and before time needed to be created for Stefani.

 

 

 

 

 

 

they're just having too good of a time, aren't they?

 

 

 

 

 

Awwww, now those are nice, aren't they?   We hope that someday, these two could be reunited on television again - would be a riot, wouldn't it?

 

Now, you know, since Adam is still supposed to be in Hawaii, 

 

 

"Daily Shirtless Walks"

 

 

 

 

 

Just think - he could've checked out Patrick Mahomes' "15 and Mahomies' Aloha Golf Classic" that was going on in Maui!  Especially considering how much he likes to play golf!

 

• Because look at who was in Maui over the Memorial Day weekend playing in Patrick's first golf classic and could have met Adam!

 

 

 

There's Travis, Pat Mahomes Sr., Patrick, Rob Riggle and new Chiefs player Kyle Long - all enjoying some golf over the weekend.  And judging by the twitter videos, it looks like this golf tournament was golf clap-rated with no pine cone throwing or other tomfoolery allowed.   😄

 

•  And here's some great news!  Kevin McHale is going to be guest starring on American Horror Stories - episode number 4.  American Horror Stories is on the FX network. 

And Kevin and Austin P. McKenzie will both be appearing in "A Proud Queer Moment" at the Redline Gay Bar - DTLA in Los Angeles.  We're sure that singing and/or dancing will be involved???   This event comes during Pride Month!

Undoubtedly, their participation will involve the arts of some kind, whether it be acting, dancing and/or singing.  Usually the guys are pretty good about sharing on their social media, so we'll wait and see what they've got going on.  And I see Nikki Blonsky is going to attend as well - she was in Hairspray with John Travolta.  The finale number in the movie is terrific.

•   Surprisingly and rather suddenly,  Liam Payne has popped up.  He held a You Tube Round-Up, despite sounding as though he was feeling quite under the weather.  He didn't seem to be able to identify what he had ("whatever this is"), but it sounded quite similar to a bad cold.  It's interesting that his team felt he should go on the air when he was feeling and sounding rather poorly.  

 

A couple of interesting or fun observations on what Liam covered:

- he's learning jujutsu (also jiu-jitsu), a form of Japanese martial arts which sounds like it is more about subduing or neutralizing the opponent.  It is a form of self-defense and close combat.  Perhaps this helps Liam to feel more in control?  Safe?  

- allegedly, "Bear" Payne is learning how to swim and even though we've seen Liam in the water and around water, by water...he's requesting help from viewers on how to train a child to swim.  Not only that, but Liam is You Tube and Instagram Live-trained, now on social mediums Discord and Telegram, thus does no one else find it confusing that he would ask for help on swimming lessons, something which is as attainable as the nearest swimming pool with its likely qualified and certified staff.  😉

-  the question about training tips for swimming precedes Liam cracking himself up over saying the word "Um" too often in his videos, whereby he promptly proceeds to say "Um".  😄

 

our bright light, Mr. Liam Payne

- And finally, did anyone else catch Liam mention in his You Tube Round Up that he had just "moved house"?  What?  I'm confused again.   Didn't he and the beard Mayo just move into a mansion next to "son Bear" so that he could be near him?   For anyone (like me!) who wasn't positive what "moved house" meant, it is a British term for "changing residence".   I had a feeling that's what it meant, but had to make sure.  Interesting mention on the house movement, nonetheless. 

For whatever reason, the people behind Liam's image, have felt the sudden need to push Liam out in front of video cameras despite him still recovering from being under the weather, and constantly bringing up the stunt child Bear.   And Louis appearing in 1000 pictures from a wedding, suddenly needing to be seen with Eleanor Calder only points to the One Direction band members' images still being under Sony's control.

It's always great to see these guys, and while their public images are obviously still not their own (literally, Liam has to have a minder with him at all times during his live social media), they all continue to have a lovely way of making the best of it.

A couple of our faves are selling wares, so we'll take a look before we part off. 

• Austin P. McKenzie has a T shirt out with his image on it.  $15 is all it costs (plus shipping)!  Here's bf Kevin McHale providing the modeling job and looking fantastic while doing so and the link to purchase on Austin's site:  You can link to his site here.

•  Jake is was selling a nice hoodie (partnering with the restaurant Russ & Daughters) to benefit the Actors Fund, NYC theater workers who have been adversely affected by the closures of shows due to COVID.  Looks like it is now sold out, but again - another mighty fine modeling job!   You've sold out twice, Jake, maybe might want to ramp up the production next time!  Can't support the workers if you keep running out of the wares.  😉

 

 

 

To close with, an uplifting, colorful video to a Download prospect from Austin P. McKenzie!  The video was released in April and so I apologize for missing this, but am glad to be able to share this.   Please feel free to give a view and listen!   LOVE this!!  You'll hear it in our accompanying playlist.

Tomorrow is Fri-Yay so that means this is Fri-Yay EVE!!!  Nothing better than Friday Eve except for Friday itself.   Everyone have a good one!  

 

Enjoy this playlist - it's awesome, featuring songs from FOUR of our favorite guys!

 

 

collaboration:  Prairie Girl and Methodical Muser

 

pic sources:  myfitnesspal, MoviesandTV, pinterest, Giphy, weheartit, ET Canada,

                     uopenmyeyes tumblr

our playlist:  Body Language - Blake Shelton

                     Copy of a Copy of a Copy - Louis Tomlinson

                     Summer of Love - Austin P. McKenzie

                     Beautiful Mistakes - Maroon 5

                     Someone - Anna of the North