Klaxons were one of the most hyped bands to emerge from the UK in the past ten years. (That's saying a lot for a decade that produced The Darkness.) They produced some energetic, rave-y, falsetto-filled singles ("Golden Skans," the cover of Grace's "It's Not Over Yet"), pulled off some ballsy live shows, and threatened world domination.
However, the band went a little dodgy at the 2008 BRIT Awards. It should have been a great evening for Klaxons: they were performing a mash-up of "Golden Skans" and "Umbrella" with that year's golden girl, Rihanna. Unfortunately, lead singer Jamie Reynolds was so wasted - nay, dude was 'effin obliterated - that he was rendered completely incapacitated on the red carpet and throughout the entire night. (Yes, rockers booze it up, but keep it together, man.) Looking back at my wrap-up post from that year's BRITs, I noted, "Jamie Reynolds spent the entire evening behaving as if he'd been recently stricken with cerebral palsy." It was a sad sad turn of events.
Ahead of their sophomore album, which has been 3 years in the making, it appears the band has learned the error of their ways. Gigwise.com asked Reynolds if the band has changed the way they approach live performances. Reynolds responded, "We're kind of stronger and we're sober - I think the sobriety thing's got a massive thing to do with it. We've actually figured out that we can play these songs, and we've going on stage sober and playing them to their best, playing into the songs, where as before we were just a train wreck. Now we're playing as a strong unit."
Maybe it's not quite over yet for the boys. Here's their new single "Echoes" from their new album Surfing the Void, which is set to be released here September 7:
BBC AMERICA founder and former CEO Paul Lee has been named president of ABC Entertainment Group, taking over from the much-maligned Steve McPherson, who has apparently resigned to go stomp some grapes. Lee had been president of ABC Family from 2004 up until yesterday when the news broke of McPherson's departure.
Yes, if it weren't for Paul Lee, BBC AMERICA wouldn't exist - the British-born, Oxford-educated exec founded our network back in 1998, and its success helped make him a U.S. media superstar. Some background info from his ABC Family press bio:
Prior to joining ABC Family in April 2004, Lee was chief executive officer and founder of BBC America, and was responsible for the development and launch of the company in March 1998, starting as general manager and chief operating officer. During his tenure, the hit comedy series The Office (British version) garnered two Golden Globes®. Other shows under Lee's supervision included the BBC's Changing Rooms, which formatted into TLC's signature show, Trading Spaces, What Not to Wear and The Graham Norton Show. BBC America, since its initial launch in 1998, is now in *50 million homes.
*Ahem, correction: we're in nearly 70 million homes now. Just call me Anderson Cooper, folks. Keeping 'em honest.
Well, congrats to Mr. Lee: the longtime vets here have great things to say about him, his ABC Family tenure has been filled with success, and I'm sure he'll accomplish a lot as HBIC (Head Brit-in-Charge) at ABC Entertainment Group.
And there are persistent rumors Smith will leave Doctor Who after the sixth series (even though co-star Karen Gillan has emphatically denied this). DW head writer Steven Moffat also writes Sherlock, and their working partnership sets up Cumberbatch as a prime candidate to replace Smith when the day comes. In a video interview a week ago, Digital Spy just came out and asked Cumberbatch if he was joining Doctor Who. The actor's deeply ambiguous response only fanned the flames of the web chatter:
Not an episode. Did you hear that? Not AN episode. Maybe two episodes. Possibly three. Hell, perhaps a whole series! But not AN episode.
Like Matt Smith, Cumberbatch looks like a totally shaggable alien. He has an angular face, gorgeous reptilian eyes, and a black-coffee voice that commands you to shimmy out of your panties. But Benedict also has a sinister demeanor that might be more appropriate for the Master, as a few YouTube posters have said. Anyway, I still hold to my prediction that Damian Lewis will play the Twelfth Doctor, finally giving the Timelord the ginger locks he's always wanted.
If Sherlock maintains its massive ratings success, Cumberbatch could be locked up in that series for quite some time. Check out some cool videos promoting Sherlock, including another interview with Benedict and a trailer:
Regarding that interview with Cumberbatch, it says only that he and David Tennant talked about him doing the role, not that he was actually offered the role. Steven Moffat said that they first saw Matt Smith when he auditioned for Watson; Holmes had already been cast before they started the search for 11, so it seems unlikely Cumberbatch even auditioned for the role.
posted by World-Traveler, Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The source of the rumors is the SUN, Britain's version of the National Enquirer. Rumors of Matt's departure based on that rag should be taken with a big grain of salt.
In Planet Earth, we brought you the world like you've never seen it before. Now get closer with Life. With versions narrated by Oprah and David Attenborough.
A bewildered but resilient group of survivors are left to start again in a bleak new world where the once safe and familiar is now strange and dangerous.
Pour a hot beverage into your mug and watch the Doctor's cleverly disguised time capsule materialize in galactic space! As your mug cools, the TARDIS dematerializes before your eyes...
BBC AMERICA founder and former CEO Paul Lee has been named president of ABC Entertainment Group, taking over from the much-maligned Steve McPherson, 
Maybe BBCA was in 70 million homes, but 20 million dumped BBCA when they started airing Star Trek: NG twice a night!