Best Golden Globes Jokes: 'SNL' Reunion And 'Dog President'

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Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig put on an improv master class, while Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler star in an awesome fake movie.

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Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell at the 70th annual Golden Globes
 

If the jokes at this year's Golden Globes had Adele "pissing" herself laughing, it's safe to say there was some pretty funny stuff coming off the stage at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's annual awards show Sunday evening.

That may have been hard to believe, though, after co-host Amy Poehler made the sobering revelation in the first five minutes of the show that when left untreated, the HFPA can lead to cervical cancer.

Poehler and her former "SNL" castmate Tiny Fey opened the show with some zingers — but not too many, in fear that, like Ricky Gervais, running afoul of the HFPA would force them to accept the punishment of hosting the show at least two more times. They praised Kathryn Bigelow's authority on the subject of torture ("I would trust the lady who spent three years married to James Cameron") and Anne Hathaway's role in "Les Misérables" ("I haven't seen someone so totally alone and abandoned since you were onstage with James Franco at the Oscars").

"Dog President"
Of all the movies and television shows that were honored with nominations, this production got the biggest shaft in the awards department. Fey and Poehler dressed up as fake actors Damian Francisco and Darcy St. Budge, the stars of "Dog President," and were announced as nominees in the Best Actor and Actress in a Miniseries categories. Francisco, the professional volleyball player battling restless leg syndrome, later slipped onstage to gush over seeing "Bill Rodham Clinton" backstage.

"You Get Outta Here!"
Will Ferrell plus Kristen Wiig equals hilarious, at least during their comedic duet onstage Sunday as they introduced the nominees for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy. In an impressive round of improvisation, they intentionally bungled the characters and plots of the nominees' films. "Meryl Streep? Hope Springs and she's the sassy sheriff!" It was all fun and games, until the camera flashed to Tommy Lee Jones, who looked like someone skinned his cat.

"A Much Happier Ending Than the Movie"
A more-behaved-than-usual Sacha Baron Cohen (with drink in hand) delivered an intro to the Best Animated Feature Film category riddled with jokes about his "Les Misérables" co-stars. "Russell Crowe had four months of singing lessons. That was money well spent. And Helena Bonham Carter gave the head of the Academy a personal massage, which I'm led to believe had a much happier ending than the movie."

"They Call Cookies Biscuits!"
According to Aziz Ansari, the cast of "Downton Abbey" had some really awesome weed backstage. And he can't feel his ears.

"I Can't Be Worse Than You"
Who speaks English better: Stallone or Schwarzenegger? The two aging action heroes made fun of each other's famously slurred and accented speech while ironically introducing the award for Best Foreign Language Film. In an additional twist of irony, the winning film happened to be from Austria ("Amour"), Schwarzenegger's native land.

"Look How Drunk Glenn Close Is!"
Poehler and Fey made a point to make fun of the fact that the show attendees should be half in the bag at the midway point of the show, with all that free booze going around. Golden Globe nominee Glenn Close ("Damages") played along, delivering an award-winning performance for the cameras.

"I Promised Myself I Would Thank Chad Lowe"
"Girls" producer and actress Lena Dunham made a point of tacking this extra thanks on to the end of her second acceptance speech of the evening. Why? "Because Hilary Swank forgot," she said to reporters in a post-show press conference, referring to the infamous dis Chad Lowe received from then-wife Hilary Swank in forgetting to thank him during her 2000 Oscar acceptance speech for "Boys Don't Cry."


What We Learned From the 2013 Golden Globes
This image released by NBC shows co-host Tina Fey, left, and Amy Poehler on stage during the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif.  The Golden Globe Awards, the funner, drunker love child of the Oscars and the Emmys, were last night, and while most of the event followed the typical awards show script—tearful acceptance speeches, teleprompter malfunctions—a few moments stuck out:
 
1. Jodie Foster wants privacy and/or a talking stick that only dogs can hear: Perhaps the most memorable speech of the Golden Globes was Jodie Foster's acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award. She started humorously enough, with a reference to the "I'm 50!" SNL skit.

From there the speech took all types of twists and turns, as she pseudo-came out of the closet, spurred (later clarified) retirement rumors by suggesting that she would hold a not-sparkly talking stick that may be "so quiet and delicate that only dogs can hear it whistle," and made a plea for more privacy, confirming that she is not, in fact, "Honey Boo Boo child." The speech deserved its own lifetime achievement in confusion: Some raved about it, others were just flat-out confounded.

2. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are the best: Everybody knew this before the Golden Globes even started. By explaining their own drinking game for the show last week, Fey and Poehler had already made the 2013 Golden Globes 100 percent more enjoyable, Their opening number, in which they took shots at James Cameron, James Franco, and "the rat-faced people of television," had more laughs than the entirety of other awards shows.

Their antics continued, posing as nominees for the ridiculous-sounding fictional movie Dog President, canoodling on George Clooney's lap, and even getting Daniel Day-Lewis to do the E.T. finger. The one complaint? There wasn't enough of them. But if Ricky Gervais gets to host three Golden Globes, then Fey and Poehler should be allowed host the next decade of award shows.

3. Hollywood loves Washington: Show business has a crush on its uglier counterpart, as politically themed T.V. shows and movies won the Hollywood Foreign Press's accolades. Homeland cleaned up the best television drama, best actor, and best actress awards, despite an uneven second season.

Game Change won for best miniseries or motion picture made for television, and Julianne Moore, while picking up her Globe for her portrayal of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, thanked Katie Couric and Tiny Fey for making "a significant difference in the 2008 election."
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Golden Globes: Jodie Foster hints at being gay, retirement in strange 'lonely' speech

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That was the question on Golden Globes watchers minds, on two totally separate topics, following Jodie Foster's rambling speech Sunday night.
Those two topics: Is she gay, and is she ... retiring?
There were a lot of memorable moments during the 2013 Golden Globes, but probably the most head-scratching was Foster's lengthy acceptance speech after receiving the Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement.
Foster, 50, noted that she did her "coming out in the Stone Age" and revealed herself as a "single woman," before talking about her life in terms of reality television.
"Now, apparently, I'm told that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference... You guys might be surprised, but I'm not Honey Boo Boo child," she continued. "If you have been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler... then maybe you, too, might value privacy above all else. Privacy."
Foster also unleashed a deeper sense of sadness behind the veil of her Hollywood existence, saying that she wants "to be seen, to be understood deeply, and to be not so very lonely," and offered a shout-out to her mother, who is seemingly at the end of her life:
"I love you, I love you, I love you, and I hope if I say that three times, then one of those times will sink in and you will believe you were a good mother," she said.
The star also hinted at retirement from acting by stating that she would not be returning to this stage, or any stage, and moved much of the star-studded crowd to tears.
"It's just that from now on, I may be holding a different talking stick," Foster said.
Throughout her clearly rehearsed, but still somewhat nonsensical, onstage stream of sentences, eyebrows were being raised backstage, with many wondering what on earth she was really trying to say. 
And then once backstage, Foster backtracked completely on her perplexing words about ending her life in front of the lens, and seemed shocked that it was interpreted that she was retiring.
"Oh, no, that's so funny," she responded. "You couldn't drag me away. And I'd like to be directing tomorrow."
Yet when asked if she was concerned about her strange speech being the subject of speculation post-Golden Globes, Foster didn't waste a moment in saying no.
"It stands for itself and it's an expression of who I am and what I'm thinking and feeling," she said.

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Via: FoxNews

Adele porn video Came to light

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Despite the release of the pictures, Adele said that is false and take legal action against the magazine that published it.

Fake or Not ? Adele sextape released by French paparazzi

A new scandal for alleged porn video came to light at this time. This time, the victim was British singer Adele, the big winner in the latest installment of the awards "Grammy", "Golden Globe" and the "Brit Awards". Thus, the artist adds to the long list of celebrities who suffered a violation of privacy.

After becoming a mother for the first time, the British singer was the victim of a video Viralization in which she can be seen allegedly involved in a sexual situation. Catches of that record were published by the French magazine Public and limited minutes in which, it is said, is seen masturbating, and would have been released by his ex, the left-jilted by the object of inspiration song "Rolling In The Deep".

However, the artist described as "false" and "defamatory" sexual photos of her published in a French magazine, as part of a video is now available online.


Meanwhile, the French magazine ensures that the photos, you can see only the face of a woman identified as Adele, are an excerpt from a video that was shot in the back seat of a vehicle.

Through a statement sent to the Daily Mail, a publicist for the singer says his client does not appear in the video sex magazine mentions that these claims are "false" and "defamatory".

Furthermore, the statement announced that the singer of 23 years will take legal action against the publication.



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Via: LiveLeak

A Veteran's Day

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Leather patch of the 561st Bomb Squadron of the 388th Bomb Group.

My father entered the Army Air Force in January 1943. The flight records in his folder show training flights at Gulfport Army Air Field MS from July to October 1944 and Hunter Field GA in October 1944.

The next record is from December 1944 at an unstated location for "8th, 3d Air Div, 388th, 561st". We know from other records now public that he was at RAF Knettishall in Suffolk County, England. Technically a Royal Air Force base, it was used exclusively by the United States Army Air Force's 388th Bombardment Group from June 1943 to August 1945. Its only other use was for a few years more as British army supply base. There is a monument at the site.

Peter Brennan flew 33 missions from Knettishall, from November 16, 1944 to March 29, 1945. His role was togglier in a B-17 "Flying Fortress" aircraft. The togglier sat in the glass nosecone, next to the navigator who was behind and to the left. He released the bombs, and he also had a forward-pointing gun. This late in the war, my father said, the Luftwaffe were almost gone, so almost all the enemy fire was from anti-aircraft guns on the ground.

He is sometimes described on paper as a bombardier, and on a rare occasion that he talked about it, he said that technically the lead plane in the formation had a bombardier who determined when to drop, and that the toggliers in the other planes just dropped when they saw lead plane drop. A few days ago I got a better description from Dick Henggeler, 388th Bomb Group historian:

A bombardier was an officer who was able to use the Noden bombsight. A toggilier was able to arm and release the bombs manually. In the group the bombardier in the lead plane released his bombs using the bombsight. All other planes released their bombs when they saw the lead ship release.

The bombsight was very complicated to use and required a lot of training. It actually took into account air speed, ground speed, altitude, and humidity. The bombardier actually flew the plane on the bomb run remotely. I am sure that it is easier to tell people bombardier (which they could understand) rather than toggelier.

The Good Conduct Medal.

It is awarded for exemplary behavior, efficiency, and fidelity in active Federal military service. It is awarded on a selective basis to each Soldier who distinguishes himself or herself from among his or her fellow Soldiers by their exemplary conduct, efficiency, and fidelity throughout a specified period of continuous enlisted active Federal military service, as outlined in this chapter. There is no right or entitlement to the medal until the immediate commander has approved the award and the award has been announced in permanent orders. — Army Regulation, Military Awards

Peter Brennan's 33 missions are all listed on the 388th web page.

There's always more to the story than a list of data. The longest gap he had was between December 31 and Jan 20, a full 18 days. Any reason? Yes.

The December 31 mission, his tenth, was a bad one. Co-pilot Stevens was killed in action. Ball turret gunner Martin and waist gunner Sevy did not fly again. This must be the mission my father told my brother about once. He said only he and the pilot came back in good shape, and that he helped carry out a dead crew member.

He and engineer Huntzinger reappear in a new crew on January 20, and tail gunner Woods joined them January 29.

The crew they joined, Edelman, hadn't had it easy either. They crashed on January 5, apparently in Germany, attributed to flak. None died. Three men became POWs and did not fly again, but they survived the war. The six others are listed as "evadee" but that word is all we get from the available record. Did they get out together? How? Whatever happened, they were not all back in action until February 15. They were put together into their old crew as they became available for duty. The three men from the SmithO crew, including my father, replaced the POWs.

The plane from the December 31 mission, now flown by another crew, met its end in a crash on January 20, and the men were all taken as POWs.




The Air Medal.

The Air Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the U.S. Army, will have distinguished himself or herself by meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Awards may be made to recognize single acts of merit or heroism, or for meritorious service... — Army Regulation, Military Awards

The exact requirements for this medal varied. To some degree the "meritorious achievement" was measured by ships and aircraft destroyed and by number of missions flown in combat. The relevant example was that the Eighth Air Force Third Bombardment Division defined the criteria in April 1944 as six "Bomber, Bomber-Fighter, Photographic, Air Transport, or Observation sorties with distinction" for the medal, and then an oak leaf cluster for each six additional sorties.

At the completion of his tour my father had the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters, which makes five awards. As stated on a typed document dated April 4, the dates follow his missions 6, 12, 19, 28, and 32. Characteristically, I feel, he did not bother to attach the oak leaf clusters to the ribbon! Allowing for delays, the six awards correspond to the first 30 missions completed "with distinction".



My father completed 33 missions. The standard by this date was 35, and you better believe the men counted those missions. My sister has the paper where our father wrote out each mission, one per line, make that one per numbered line. There wasn't going to be any mistake!

Of the original Edelman crew, two had reached 35, three 34, and one 33. The three added to replace the original crew POWs, including my father, were at 33, 33, and 30. I suppose the commander could have kept most of them around to see if they could fill in another mission or two with other crews, but there must not have been enough need. And besides the main reason they weren't all at 35 together was that six of them had "evaded" after a crash and the other three had escaped serious injury from flak. They'd done enough.

But my brother recalls our father being astonished. As he told my brother, when they came in after the mission and were told that their tour of duty was complete, he felt the need to point out to the officer that he had only 33. And when told again, he actually repeated that he had only 33, causing the officer to firmly say he was all done. And then he said to my brother, still not believing it some sixty years later, "but I only had 33!".





More information at the 388th BG Association web site.

Ball's Bluff

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It was nice day today, Sunday, so we went wandering in the woods in South Mountain Reservation in search of two places. There was a place called Ball's or Balls Bluff that I had never been able to find, and not far from it is Hemlock Falls, our own local natural wonder, which we've found many times but not approaching from the south.

According to the local journal Matters Magazine (originally Maplewood Matters, which was a nice pun, but hard to adapt when they decided to cover South Orange too),

On March 18, 1896, Philander Ball, who lived in Maplewood at 172 Parker Avenue, sold three and a half acres of nearby wooded property to the recently created Essex County Parks Commission. This transaction is remarkable because Ball's parcel of land was the first to be acquired for what would become South Mountain Reservation.

He was of the same family as Timothy Ball, whose colonial-era house I've mentioned in posts about stone houses and the Crooked Brook.

Here's a quick awful map of where we walked. Like many local maps the county's park map follows Dutch tradition and has west at the top.


We parked in a small lot with only two cars in it, the one where the red lines touch the solid black automobile road.

We struck off through the woods following vaguely the so-called trail shown by a dashed line on the map, and found the "bridle path" shown as Overlook Trail. The bridle paths are wide, unpaved, and well eroded. No one rides horses on them.

As shown the bridle path divides at "Balls Bluff". The location is a high knob overlooking the valley to the west, through which flows the West Branch of the Rahway River. It was probably a fine overlook 200 years ago when all the trees had been cut down for lumber.

Here's the same area on the 1902 map, when the reservation was new. The so-called bridle paths are shown by solid lines, which the legend calls "Temporary Drives / Old Woods Roads Improved". The double lines are "Proposed Drives" that were never built.


On the 1902 map, Balls Bluff is called Overlook Point, which matches nicely with the name Overlook Trail on the county's park map.

We started down the Lenape Trail, shown by a dotted line on the map, and found the remains of the Balls Bluff shelter. There's probably an old photograph of it somewhere but I can't find it. (By the way it is hard to search the web for Balls Bluff because there was a Civil War battle of the same name.)

Although we failed to bring a camera with us, all is not lost. Last September the blog Gone Hikin' ran photographs of scenes from a pretty long hike in the res including where we walked today. Before I send you there, let me describe the ruins. Pillars of rounded stones cemented together form a circle around sloping ground. The pillars on the uphill side are very short while those on the downhill side (seen in the photograph) are the tallest. After a moment we realized the tops of the pillars, or at least the unbroken ones, are all level. They must be supports for a wooden floor that is now gone.

Now go look. About halfway down is a photograph of the ruins at Balls Bluff, and right below it is also a photograph of Hemlock Falls.

That's about it. We took the Lenape Trail over hill and through dale and reached the falls. It hasn't rained a lot lately so it was less impressive than it could be. There are new benches. We went back up the grade on the bridle path, past Balls Bluff again, and again had to make our own way from there to the parking lot. We saw a pileated woodpecker working a hole in a tree, a warbler, and some chickadees. It was good.


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Ball's Bluff

To contact us Click HERE
 
It was nice day today, Sunday, so we went wandering in the woods in South Mountain Reservation in search of two places. There was a place called Ball's or Balls Bluff that I had never been able to find, and not far from it is Hemlock Falls, our own local natural wonder, which we've found many times but not approaching from the south.

According to the local journal Matters Magazine (originally Maplewood Matters, which was a nice pun, but hard to adapt when they decided to cover South Orange too),

On March 18, 1896, Philander Ball, who lived in Maplewood at 172 Parker Avenue, sold three and a half acres of nearby wooded property to the recently created Essex County Parks Commission. This transaction is remarkable because Ball's parcel of land was the first to be acquired for what would become South Mountain Reservation.

He was of the same family as Timothy Ball, whose colonial-era house I've mentioned in posts about stone houses and the Crooked Brook.

Here's a quick awful map of where we walked. Like many local maps the county's park map follows Dutch tradition and has west at the top.


We parked in a small lot with only two cars in it, the one where the red lines touch the solid black automobile road.

We struck off through the woods following vaguely the so-called trail shown by a dashed line on the map, and found the "bridle path" shown as Overlook Trail. The bridle paths are wide, unpaved, and well eroded. No one rides horses on them.

As shown the bridle path divides at "Balls Bluff". The location is a high knob overlooking the valley to the west, through which flows the West Branch of the Rahway River. It was probably a fine overlook 200 years ago when all the trees had been cut down for lumber.

Here's the same area on the 1902 map, when the reservation was new. The so-called bridle paths are shown by solid lines, which the legend calls "Temporary Drives / Old Woods Roads Improved". The double lines are "Proposed Drives" that were never built.


On the 1902 map, Balls Bluff is called Overlook Point, which matches nicely with the name Overlook Trail on the county's park map.

We started down the Lenape Trail, shown by a dotted line on the map, and found the remains of the Balls Bluff shelter. There's probably an old photograph of it somewhere but I can't find it. (By the way it is hard to search the web for Balls Bluff because there was a Civil War battle of the same name.)

Although we failed to bring a camera with us, all is not lost. Last September the blog Gone Hikin' ran photographs of scenes from a pretty long hike in the res including where we walked today. Before I send you there, let me describe the ruins. Pillars of rounded stones cemented together form a circle around sloping ground. The pillars on the uphill side are very short while those on the downhill side (seen in the photograph) are the tallest. After a moment we realized the tops of the pillars, or at least the unbroken ones, are all level. They must be supports for a wooden floor that is now gone.

Now go look. About halfway down is a photograph of the ruins at Balls Bluff, and right below it is also a photograph of Hemlock Falls.

That's about it. We took the Lenape Trail over hill and through dale and reached the falls. It hasn't rained a lot lately so it was less impressive than it could be. There are new benches. We went back up the grade on the bridle path, past Balls Bluff again, and again had to make our own way from there to the parking lot. We saw a pileated woodpecker working a hole in a tree, a warbler, and some chickadees. It was good.


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Bruno Mars stays on top of Billboard's "Hot 100"

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Bruno Mars stays on top of Billboard's "Hot 100" with 'Locked Out of Heaven'

Bruno Mars appears in a photo posted on his Facebook page on January 25, 2012. (Andreas Laszlo Konrath)

December 23, 2012 ( NEW YORK CITY) -- Atlantic recording artist Bruno Mars is standing tall atop Billboard's "Hot 100" for the second consecutive week as "Locked Out Of Heaven" continues its reign at No. 1.


The single -- which marks the Grammy Award-winner's fourth chart-topper -- is featured on Mars' just-released sophomore album, "UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX," which has made its SoundScan/Billboard 200 debut at No. 2 with sales in excess of 192,000 -- marking the singer/songwriter/producer/musician's highest first week sales debut.

"UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX" has exploded to the top spot on the British album charts, making history as the United Kingdom's fastest selling solo album of 2012. The album's phenomenal success follows the equivalent popularity of Mars' now classic 2010 debut, "DOO-WOPS & HOOLIGANS," which proved the U.K.'s third best-selling album of 2011 and also entered the charts at No. 1.

"Locked Out Of Heaven" is currently sitting at No. 1 on the European Airplay Chart -- making it the most played song on the European continent. The single is also sitting atop Canada's Hot 100 chart. Stateside, "Heaven" marks Mars' fifth single to hit No. 1 on the BDS Pop Songs chart, tying him with Nelly and Justin Timberlake for the most leaders among solo males. "Heaven" is also the 10th single Mars has written, produced, or performed to hit the top 5 on the overall "Hot 100." In addition, the single is Mars' ninth consecutive top 10 hit on the Billboard "Hot 100 Airplay" chart, sealing his already-established status as the male artist with the longest streak of top 10 hits as a performer since his debut.

Along with its overall chart success, "Locked Out Of Heaven" is an undeniable online sensation, spending multiple days at No. 1 on the iTunes Store's "Top Songs" tally. As if that weren't enough, the "Locked Out Of Heaven" companion video clip is also lighting it up at YouTube, drawing more than 43 million streams thus far at Bruno's official channel, www.youtube.com/brunomars.

This Tuesday saw Mars unveiling the next single from "UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX" with a stunning debut performance of "When I Was Your Man" on the season finale of NBC's smash singing competition series, The Voice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v-8sYPCAf_1o). The track shot to the top 10 on the iTunes Singles Chart within 48 hours of its release, and did so again following Mars' performance on The Voice. "When I Was Your Man" is currently sitting at No. 8 on the iTunes Singles Chart, and an official companion video is currently in production.

Mars' performance on The Voice follows a string of high profile appearances heralding "UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX," including visits to NBC's TODAY, Fox's The X-Factor, CBS' Sunday Morning and their annual The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and the nationally syndicated The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Additionally, Mars' critically acclaimed turn as host and musical guest on NBC's Saturday Night Live -- the episode that marked this season's highest ratings -- will be rebroadcast on Saturday, December 22nd.

As its title suggests, "UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX" once again sees Mars melding a multitude of musical approaches to create his own distinctive sound. Executive produced by The Smeezingtons, the hit-making production team comprised of Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine, the collection also features contributions from such top producers as Jeff Bhasker (fun., Kanye West, Jay-Z), Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lil Wayne, Black Lips) and Diplo (M.I.A, Usher).

"UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX" has quickly earned massive critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone hailing the collection as "a record that makes the competition sound sad and idea-starved by comparison." Entertainment Weekly placed the album atop a recent "Must List," claiming Mars "aims his croon at a range of targets -- reggae, soul, Prince-inspired pop -- and hits the mark every time." Billboard summed it up, declaring that the "boldly ambitious and gloriously irreverent 'UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX' is made for -- and gets better with -- as many repeat plays as you can manage."

Bruno Mars is undoubtedly among contemporary pop's most gifted and compelling artists. And with global sales currently certified at 40x-platinum and over 50 million singles sold worldwide, the 14-time Grammy Award nominee has fully proven himself as a true superstar.

Released in October 2010, "DOO-WOPS & HOOLIGANS" was greeted with both popular success and critical acclaim from all corners of the globe. "The year's finest pop debut," raved Rolling Stone. "Near-flawless...(the album) delivers pleasure without pretension." Fueled by a remarkable string of hit singles, including the multi-platinum ?1 smashes, "Just The Way You Are" and "Grenade," the album instantly confirmed Mars as a major force in modern pop music.

Mars soon racked up a remarkable record of prestigious international awards and nominations, with victories including a "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance" Grammy Award (for "Just The Way You Are"), an American Music Award for "Pop or Rock Music/Favorite Male Artist," a 2012 Brit Award (for "International Male Solo Artist"), two Teen Choice Awards, a 2012 People's Choice Award (for "Favorite Male Artist"), a Soul Train Music Award, two MTV Europe Music Awards, two MTV Music Awards Japan, a BT Digital Music Award, an ECHO Award, and multiple 2011 Billboard Awards including "Top Male Hot 100 Artist of the Year."

As if that weren't enough, Mars received a truly stunning assortment of 2011 and 2012 honors from ASCAP, including the ASCAP Pop Award for "Song of the Year" (for "Just The Way You Are"). In 2011, he was named to the prestigious Time 100, confirming the superstar as one of the most influential people in the world. 

Nothing ‘Unorthodox’ Here, but Bruno Mars 
Shows His Pop Chops
 Bruno Mars shows flashes of great pop music artistry on his sophomore album but borrows heavily from the past. (EPA Photo/Andrew Gombert)    


It is somewhat ironic that the first time I really paid attention to Bruno Mars as a singer-songwriter was when he was performing someone else’s song.

At the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony in 2011, Mars performed the song “Valerie” as a tribute to the recently deceased Amy Winehouse, who made the song written by the Zutons one of her biggest hits.

Backed by a big band, Mars gave an impressive rendition in a throwback style to the early rock ’n’ rollers of the 1950s, showing off his talent and popular music savvy.

Listeners are treated to a similarly impressive performance in his second studio album, “Unorthodox Jukebox,” released earlier this month.

A follow-up to the massively successful 2010 debut “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” the latest offering from Mars is sure to maintain his place in the popular music stratosphere.

Mars has talent and he is looking after it. Apart from penning his own songs, he also writes for others, produces as part of the production team known as the Smeezingtons, and — as the VMA performance showed — is a genuine and natural entertainer, in contrast to the packaged and produced “stars” that emerge from too many TV talent shows.

“Unorthodox Jukebox” shows Mars as an artist with the ability to span genres and produce memorable, if somewhat formulaic, pop songs.

The title of the album appears to be half true and half false. It’s true that Mars has the ability to be something of a one-man “jukebox” with the variety of songs that he can deliver, but “unorthodox” is really a false description.

Listening to the album, you may find yourself thinking, “This is a time warp and I have been transported back to the early 1980s,” or “This sounds a bit like ...” followed by any number of band names.

A clear case in point is the track “Locked Out of Heaven,” which will surely have Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland thinking that a long-lost Police song had been uncovered and recorded by Mars.

Similarly, the reggae beat and styling of the song “Show Me” would have those who can recall it thinking of the British band Musical Youth — all of this is circa 1982, not 2012.

A sorrowful ballad brings back memories of George Michael, again a recording artist of ’80s vintage. And then Mars takes us further back through the decades — “Treasure” has something of a ’70s Motown feel, while “If I Knew” brings back pop stylings of the ’50s and ’60s.

Mars shows considerable acumen in trawling through the history of late 20th century pop music styles and developments. And is there anything wrong with that? Well, no. The songs sound good, the musicianship is sound and Mars’s vocals are consistently solid. But there’s nothing here that could be called “unorthodox,” as the album title would have us believe.

Perhaps the most unorthodox feature of the album is its lyrical content. Mars uses distinctly adult language in expressing himself. Expletives crop up in unexpected, odd and wholly unnecessary places. Perhaps this alone marks the album as a product of the 2010s.

Another odd feature is the return of Mars’s apparent interest in apes. In “The Lazy Song” video hit from the previous album, Mars is accompanied by dancers wearing chimpanzee masks. The cover of “Jukebox” also features an ape, and one track, “Gorilla” has a lyrical reference to the love life of these primates. All a bit odd — or is that “unorthodox”?

Setting minor quibbles aside, Mars has produced a very commercial, but thoroughly enjoyable, second album that shows his pop sense.


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