July 4, 2022 - Music Observer

Multitalented Registered Nurse Kathleen Farless Shares Her Fearless Journey in the Music Industry

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

The music industry will always be a demanding landscape for anyone who dares to dream big and accomplish excellent achievements through their unique musical talents. The most successful artists have similar characteristics, and one of those is high-level uniqueness. Excellent artists understand that to stand out, they must be remarkably unique — like the singer, songwriter and performer Kathleen Palma Farless.

Kathleen Farless’ unique brand of music was birthed by the influence of different artists coming from different genres. People who have heard her perform say she is a mix of Judy Garland and a splash of Freddie Mercury. Others say she is a hybrid of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. Farless’ strong stage presence feels like a bright light, with confidence that goes well with great crossover appeal.

The fearless singer was born and raised in the Philippines and embraced myriad musical influences from different bands and artists, including Coldplay, The Imagine Dragons, One Republic, Freddie Mercury and Queen, Sara Bareilles, Ane Brun, Kelly Clarkson, Ingrid Andress and Broadway star Lea Salonga.

Farless is known for being a successful songwriter from Manila. One of her most extraordinary feats is the ability to incorporate contrasting values or elements in songwriting. She believes her experience as a registered nurse strengthens her ability to connect with people with her songs. For instance, one of her tracks, entitled “Who I Am,” has become an anthem for those navigating through the pandemic’s effects. Through it, she shares her struggles as a front liner herself.

“Only a few people know that I am a registered nurse. I think only a few people comprehend the duties involved in the nursing profession, especially in the intensive care setting,” shares the resilient and talented artist. “Also, the mental and physical stress the healthcare professionals endured during the lockdown and the first wave of Covid was beyond imaginable.” The independent singer-songwriter feels more significant and more fulfilled with her career not just because of the people that listen to her but also because she sees her songs’ impact on her followers’ lives.

Today, the independent singer-songwriter feels a profound kind of strength and contentment. Kathleen’s latest single, “Just a Friend,” was launched in January and had already made rounds online. This song became a reminder and statement that Farless stands out as an artist while embracing her weaknesses, bearing the message of navigating the complexities of today’s world while striving to fight for love, connection and compassion that make life worth living. “Above all, I dream of uniting people with my music, work and example,” adds Farless. “Life will throw things at you, things you might not be prepared for. But if you stay connected, stay strong and keep trying to be your best, you’ll come through feeling empowered to be whatever your heart calls you to do.” Kathleen continues to strive to be an artist worth emulating as she further pushes her limits to get her music out there.

To know more about Kathleen Farless, you can visit her website.

Big Zuu Talks Representations and Breaking Norms

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

An acceptance speech from rapper, actor, TV chef, and radio DJ Big Zuu went viral earlier this year.

Among his famous statements is: “We did this for working-class people. People that come from nothing, bro.”

The TV chef’s Dave show, Big Zuu’s Big Eats, has won two Tv Baftas.

Zuu, whose birth name is Zuhair Hassan, appears alongside his childhood best friends Tubsey and Hyder. In the show, they cook different dishes each week for a famous guest from their trailer’s kitchen.

The show is in its third series and has been gaining popularity since its debut in 2020. While most of the show’s appeal comes from the tantalizing dishes and comedic jokes between the three – and their guests – there is also a push to the envelope. The trio has a history of refugees, a topic raised by Zuu in his speech to the Bafta.

“Our main thing when picking a guest is… about representation and having a fair spread of different people, different voices that we kind of give life to because the food we cook is based on the guests,” Big Zuu elaborates.

“So, when we cook food for people from different backgrounds, we tap into different cultures and cuisines.”

In an interview with BBC, Refugee Council’s CEO, Enver Solomon, says: “Refugees, like the family of Big Zuu, are ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances who simply want the chance to live in peace, away from the war, conflict and violence that shattered their lives.

“Refugees have so much to contribute to their new communities, across many spheres of society, and it is vitally important they have a voice.”

Big Zuu’s Big Eats has had several guests of prominent personalities such as Jimmy Carr, Mo Gilligan, Judi Love, and Harry Redknapp. In addition, Mel B and Johnny Vegas appear in series three.

Zuu also ensures that the food is accessible and affordable, precisely due to the current cost of living.

“How many people actually say, ‘You know what, I’m gonna go cook what I just was on Channel 4 or on Saturday Kitchen?” the chef asks.

“No disrespect to my peers [but] sometimes the recipes and ingredients… are not accessible at home. For our show, it’s very important [that you can] make it at home [and can] afford to make it. Even when we do specialist dishes, we like to break the mould and just say: ‘If you ain’t got this [ingredient], use something else.'”

Barbie Character Image Features Ryan Gosling as Ken

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

Ryan Gosling has traded his intimidating on-screen character for a spray tan and denim.

The actor draws attention to his over-the-top transformation in a brand new photo from his forthcoming movie Barbie.

Warner Bros. unleashed a bold pink photo of Gosling on Wednesday, just days after releasing its first display of an equally colorful picture of Robbie in Barbie’s pink car from the highly anticipated production.

The adaptation, directed by Greta Gerwig, features Margot Robbie as the iconic toy character. It is also written by Gerwig alongside her partner and long-time collaborator Noah Baumbach.

The film stars famous actors such as America Ferrera, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Simu Liu, and Kate McKinnon.

In a previous interview, Liu talked about his hairless entry to his portrayal, an approach that, according to the looks of the image, was also used by Gosling.

“Waxing has been an education, to say the least,” he said in an interview with The Independent. “It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I have such a newfound admiration for the incredibly brave women who go through this on a monthly basis.”

The film’s plot and additional characters from the Barbie collection have not been revealed yet.

Barbie will hit theaters on July 21, 2023.

Stars of The Umbrella Academy Discusses Cliffhanger of Season 3

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

The Umbrella Academy has always ended its seasons on cliffhangers. The first season concluded with the end of the world, and the second season ended by presenting the Sparrow Academy. Now the third season has taken the Hargreeves family to a whole new dilemma.

Besting their Sparrow versions, the siblings seem to have restored the world to its proper register.

But one thing seems to be missing: Their powers are no longer existent. Number Five’s (Aidan Gallagher) power to jump through time and space is gone. Likewise, Diego (David Castañeda) can no longer bend objects to his own accord – even spinning a knife is a flop for him.

Producer Steve Blackman wants audiences to contemplate whether this new state is “a gift or a curse” given by their adoptive dad, Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore).

“I think it depends on the siblings,” Gallagher says in an interview on EW’s Around the Table video show. “Who’s going to end up wrestling with this reality versus accept it and try to cut out a semblance of a normal life?”

Numerous cast members see their characters being significantly shocked by the sudden disappearance of their powers – like Klaus (Robert Sheehan), who merely mastered his immortality, and Lila (Ritu Arya), who can imitate everyone’s abilities.

“I think Lila’s confidence heavily relies on her power to mimic everyone’s powers,” Arya states. “I would be really interested to see her without that and if she’d be as uninhibited or aloof – or just very clumsy and bumping into walls.”

Yet, Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) had already experienced being powerless in season 2 when she didn’t have her voice and appeared to enjoy it. Her power to alter reality with her voice is very tempting – we saw it when she used it in season 3 to harass Luther (Tom Hopper) sexually.

“She fell in love with that version of herself,” Raver-Lampman states.

“Without her powers, she was starting to love the woman she was becoming, and discovering other sides of herself that she didn’t know existed because she had come to rely on the easiest way in or out of situations with her powers. Her time in the ’60s with Ray is this bubble of quiet that she’d never had before… There’s a part of me that thinks she would be okay without it because it did seem easier for her personal life when she didn’t have them.”

The Umbrella Academy has been one of Netflix’s most popular shows, but there is still no news on whether or not it will have a season 4. Unfortunately, this new situation could be the show’s ending.

The disappearance of their powers could finally enable the family’s relationship to be on center stage.

“I wish Luther and Diego find themselves working in a theme park,” says Castañeda.

“Some of us should open a bakery,” Gallagher continues. ‘A couple of us running a shop? Could be fun!”

Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy is now available on Netflix.

Cameron Diaz Returns After Retirement Due to Jamie Foxx

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

Cameron Diaz is back in the headlines.

The actress has announced that she is getting back to action four years after retirement. The film will be titled Back In Action.

It has been reported that Diaz is starring alongside Jamie Foxx, making this their third film together since 2014’s Annie adaptation (Diaz’s last movie before retiring) and 1999’s Any Given Sunday.

“Jamie Foxx, only you could get me back in action!!!” Diaz said in her Instagram Story. “I can’t frickin’ wait; it’s gonna be a blast!”

Foxx took to Twitter to break the news on Wednesday, along with an audio recording of his phone call with Diaz. The 49-year-old star, on the call, states that she is thrilled to come back to acting; however, she isn’t quite sure how to go about “un-retiring.”

Fortunately, Tom Brady knew what to do when he saw an opportunity. The former NFL star retired from football early this year and went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a month later. So, Foxx included him in the call for some tips for Diaz.

“I was talking to Jamie, and he said you need a few tips on how to un-retire,” Brady said in the phone call with Diaz, “I’m relatively successful at un-retiring.”

But just before we hear more from him, the recording ends.

Back in Action will have Seth Gordon as director, who co-wrote the script with Brendan O’Brien. Executive producers include Foxx, O’Brien, Datari Turner, and Mark McNair, alongside producers Gordon and Beau Bauman. No release date has been announced yet.

Diaz appeared in EW’s Sweetest Thing reunion in 2018 with Christina Applegate and Selma Blair. There, she disclosed that she was “actually retired” from acting. After a few years, she told Kevin Hart in Hart to Heart that she feels “whole” following her decision.

“When you do something at a really high level for a really long period of time, there’s a lot that – when you’re the person who’s sort of delivering on this one thing, you’re the person on the screen, you’re the person who’s ‘the talent’ – everything around you, all parts of you that isn’t that, has to be handed off to other people,” she stated.

“It’s fun to do, I love it, I love acting. I feel like I was really lucky because I had people I worked with for 20 years who I know they have my best interest, but for me, I just really wanted to make my life manageable by me. My routine in a day is literally what I can manage to do by myself.”

Drake Performs with the Backstreet Boys

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

On Sunday night, the Backstreet Boys was graced with a surprise guest on stage at their Toronto, Canada show.

Rapper Drake went up on stage with the boy band while they were playing “I Want It That Way.” It was the second show the group performed in Canada for their DNA World Tour.

Ahead of starting the iconic track, People magazine, citing an online footage source, said Drake had revealed a personal story about the Backstreet Boys’ significance to him and why.

“At 13 years old, I had a bar mitzvah; for the first time in my life, this girl I was in love with came up to me while one of the greatest songs in the world was playing, and she asked me if I would dance with her,” he stated, says the magazine.

“It was the first time I ever felt acknowledged, and it was the first time I ever felt like, you know, I had a shot at being cool.”

A clip uploaded on the band’s social media shows Drake contributing his vocals to some harmonies, but mainly dancing, boosting the crowd’s energy, and enjoying the performance from the best seat in the venue.

Drake also made a final bow with the group. Perhaps he wanted it that way.

The Backstreet Boys’ tour lasts until November, going through the US and Canada, and then Spain and Germany.

Dakota Johnson Narrates Impact of Horrifying Gift from Alfred Hitchcock to Her Mother

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

When she was just a young girl, Melanie Griffith received the most petrifying gift from Alfred Hitchcock, a director famous for molding horror film history and supposedly damaging the career of her mother, Tippi Hedren.

“What happened with my grandmother was horrific because Hitchcock was a tyrant,” said Dakota Johnson, Griffith’s daughter, told Vanity Fair. “He was talented and prolific – and important in terms of art – but power can poison people.”

In a recent Vanity Fair cover story, Johnson revealed that her family was forever pained by Hitchcock’s venom, particularly a horrifying Christmas gift the filmmaker allegedly handed Griffith when she was a child: A miniature replica of Hedren in a tiny coffin.

“It’s alarming and dark and really, really sad for that little girl,” said Johnson of her mother. “Really scary.”

Hedren and Hitchcock’s professional ties were vividly portrayed in HBO’s 2012 film, where Hedren and Hitchcock were portrayed by Sienna Miller and Toby Jones, respectively, during the making of The Birds in the 1960s.

The film, directed by Julian Jarrold, documents the duo’s toxicity when working together, which significantly impacted Hedren’s future work.

According to Johnson, she watched a film screening with Hedren, which instilled a lasting impression on her.

“We sat at HBO, my family, and watched that movie together,” Johnson revealed.

“It was one of those moments where just like, how could you not have warned us? We’re in a room with some execs. Maybe this warranted a little conversation beforehand? You look over, and you see a woman who’s just been reminded of everything she went through, and it was heartbreaking. She was an amazing actress, and he stopped her from having a career.”

Griffith revealed in 2012, guesting on Jimmy Kimmel Live, that she indeed got the doll Johnson mentioned in the Vanity Fair story, which she said was donning “the green suit and the hair in the French twist” that Hedren wore in The Birds.

“Can you imagine the psychological effect?” she queried Kimmel. “[Hitchcock] was really weird. He was a really weird guy.”

She then talked to Kimmel about The Girl; however, she described it as a “really wonderful” project.

Olivia Rodrigo is ‘Devastated and Terrified’ about Supreme Court Ruling Over Women Abortion Rights

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

Musicians from all over have come together in response to the recent court decision that could potentially risk reproductive rights for women. Olivia Rodrigo and Lily Allen criticized the ruling with a song.

Saturday was an epic day for Rodrigo. She performed at the Glastonbury Festival and even got on stage to sing a flaming version of Allen’s 2009 famed “F— You.”

“I’m devastated and terrified that so many women and so many girls are going to die because of this,” the hit singer stated. “I wanted to dedicate this next song to the five members of the Supreme Court who have showed us that at the end of the day, they truly don’t give a s— about freedom.”

Allen pointed her middle finger at Rodrigo while he mentioned the names of five different Supreme Court Justices – Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh.

“We hate you!” she shouted ahead of her, and Allen started her song.

Rodrigo presented Allen to the crowd in amazing terms, calling her “the most incredible songwriter, the most incredible artist, the most incredible person.”

The two singers were not alone in their criticism of the Supreme Court’s verdict for dropping federal protections on abortion rights that were installed 50 years ago. Phoebe Bridgers ushered the crowd during her performance on Friday to chant “f— the Supreme Court.”

Lizzo revealed on Friday that she and Live Nation would team up to donate $500,000 each to Planned Parenthood and the National Network of Abortion Funds.

Rage Against the Machine vowed to allocate its earnings from two concerts in Wisconsin and Illinois – they have raised $475,000 thus far – to reproductive health care in those states.

Many more have expressed their protest against the decision.

Kate Winslet to Star in New Limited Series in HBO

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

Image commercially licensed from Unsplash

Kate Winslet has been confirmed to star in one more limited series for HBO.

The multi-award-winning actress has been confirmed to play a role in Trust and will be an executive producer.

The show is based on Hernan Diaz’s best-selling novel. It follows a wealthy financier who reads a novel inspired by his life; however, he is unhappy with how he and his wife, the daughter of unconventional aristocrats, are characterized.

Later, she discovers that he’s attempting to rewrite his history and his wife’s role. The show, which navigates wealth and talent, trust and intimacy, and reality and perception, will also be executive produced by Diaz.

The show is the third collaboration between Winslet and HBO, where she has previously been featured in Mare of Easttown as a detective who probes a fatal murder in her hometown, Pennsylvania.

In 2011, Winslet won an Emmy Award for her outstanding performance as a mother in Mildred Pierce. Her two previous roles had earned her Emmys for the outstanding lead actress category.

We will see Winslet in James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. Other titles are Naya Legend of the Golden Dolphin, Lee, and Fake!

Diaz published his first popular novel in 2017 – In the Distance. It became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He was also nominated for the Whiting Award.

Adele Roberts Wins British LGBT Awards

Music Observer Staff on July 4, 2022

Adele Roberts has been given the role model of the year award at this year’s British LGBT Awards for her story of dealing with a bowel cancer diagnosis.

The 43-year-old broadcaster has been complimented for sharing her experience during treatment following her revelation of having the disease last October. In addition, she has utilized her platform to spread awareness about the illness – the signs and symptoms.

The event host, Sue Perkins, called her a “hero” in London on Friday.

Adele, speaking through a video message, received the award and expressed her gratitude to the LGBT community for their support during her treatment.

“You’ve inspired me to do better and to be better…” she said. “I understand the importance of standing up, being proud, not apologizing for who you are and just being that person really, that we all needed when we were younger.”

She added, “So, I hope I’m doing that for anybody who’s dealing with cancer.”

Roberts has gone through intense treatment, and she currently wears a stoma bag. In May, she and her stoma were featured on the front cover of Women’s Health magazine to inform people about the disease.

Previously, the Radio 1 DJ complimented her fiancée Kate Holderness for being her “counselor, mentor, and the best nurse ever.”

Meanwhile, Lady Gaga snagged the celebrity award, which was announced by Dame Kelly, who just came out as gay.

Alicia Keys has been named the celebrity ally of the year. The award is given to someone who backs LGBT issues through their artistry, and she did just that.

Keys, accepting the award in a pre-recorded video message, complimented the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex communities.

“I know the powerful LBGTQI+ community has a lot to fight for, stand up to and care about, so just like all of you here tonight, I am here with you to keep showing up, representing, and reminding each other we are not alone,” she stated.

“Let’s scream at the top of our lungs; everyone deserves love, kindness, equanimity, and most of all, respect.”

She added, “Of course, we’ve come a long way, but there’s so much more to do, and there’s so much more that has to happen, but that’s why ceremonies like this are so important.”