IGBS Babs Blog

I had not heard her do this since her first album where she sang something about a big, bad wolf. Last week, she authored an article on Huffington Post called Elections Should Be Won — Not Bought. Demonstrating her complete lack of political know how and common sense, she throws her support behind the Fair Elections Now Act (FENA). FENA basically would use Federal funds to finance campaigns. Hello? Government is broke so now it should also pay for candidates to run for office?

While the concern she raises has been well known for decades (businesses contributing to campaigns), she fails to acknowledge the failure of the current government. She cites the inability of lawmakers to make progress on issues and blames it on corporations and financial institutions. Need I remind Miss Streisand that corporations and financial institutions do not have a vote in law making–senators and House representatives are the ones that vote. As we speak, the majority of these senators and representatives are Democrats–many of which were supported by Streisand.

Democrats control the Presidency, the Senate, and the House. Until recently, they even had a super-majority in the Senate. With this kind of power, they could do anything they wanted to. But they couldn’t even pass healthcare reform. They could not agree on what needed to be done. The 2000+ page senate bill was an absolute mess that gave some states privileges other states did not get (ie, more pork). Aside from the pork, all it consisted of was regulating insurances companies and forcing the coverage of most uninsured–at the expense of the middle class.

So, the all-powerful Democrats could not agree and pass a decent health care reform. The horror of this spectacle resulted in the unimaginable–the loss of Ted Kennedy’s senate seat to a virtually unknown Republican whose main claim to fame was a nude spread in Cosmo. Now Miss Streisand wants to blame the banks and corporations for lobbying. EXCUSES. It was the Democratic Congress that could not agree on what to do. Lobby or no lobby, each lawmaker is responsible for what he does and has to accept blame for his failures.

Regardless of the one-seat loss, Democrats still control the Presidency and Congress. And they still can’t get anything going. Is there any wonder that Obama’s approval rating has tanked? He can’t even hide his frustration anymore. As CNN pointed out, gone is his poker face. And who is to blame? Not John Roberts, not Wall Street, not the lobbys. The Democrats only have themselves to blame.

While I think charity is commendable, there are many ways to accomplish it. Resurrecting a 25 year old jingle doesn’t seem to be the way to go. However, that’s what’s happened with We Are The World. 25 years ago, Michael Jackson wrote this song with Lionel Ritchie. Many top artists of the time participated in its recording, making this jingle a hit. I say jingle, because it sure sounds like one. Great jingle. Horrible song.

Well, with the Haiti earthquake, WATW has come back. And it should have been left alone. I just endured an 8 minute video that jumped from artist to artist with the cohesiveness of an exploding galaxy. Amidst this tragedy (the song–not the earthquake), Barbra appears singing the 10 seconds which took her 30 minutes to record (while the other stars waited). I couldn’t help but think, “Why did this take 30 minutes?” There was nothing to it and definitely nothing special about it.

Towards the end, even rap music is mixed in plus some other styles I did not recognize. Again, it’s all over the place.

I think Haiti is an important cause. But there are better ways to give then to subject yourself to this torture.

For someone who retired, she sure comes back. Several reports indicate a summer tour is in the works. This time, I am NOT going. If I never hear People again, it will be much too soon. And I must say I am also tired of Evergreen, The Way We Were, Happy Days Are Here Again, Don’t Rain On My Parade, etc. Then she has to release a CD and/or DVD. No, please–not again.

Also, a rumor is circulating that they wanted to pay her 100 million for three years in Vegas. This appears to be just a rumor, as Cesar’s Palace has just announced the return of Celine Dion.

Barbra participated in We Are the World 2.0. For Haiti. For charity. Nevertheless, various reports are quietly highlighting her lack of manners. For starters, she spent 30 minutes recording and re-recording and re-re-re-recording and re-re-re-re-….recording her 10 second solo. Of course, everyone else was waiting. The poor thing did not realize her efforts were being broadcast on a giant screen outside the studio. Not to mention those in the studio who were waiting and watching this spectacle. As if this wasn’t enough, she reportedly stated that she “did not come down all this way to record one line.” So they let her record some additional improvisations. Then people wonder why she gets bad press.

Meanwhile, the real star of the effort was Celine Dion. Quincy Jones and Lionel Ritchie asked Celine to reprise the part done by Cindi Lauper 25 years ago. This part was the hardest to redo. But is there anything Celine can’t sing? From the clips, she was in astounding voice.

Oy vey. Well, I guess they figure if her fans will go as far as buying The Movie Album and LITA, then they will also want a pair of her panties. It’s hard to argue with that reasoning. Furthermore, her fans will argue the panties are ground breaking and life saving, not to mention they possess DNA traces of Miss Streisand. No matter how many times they’ve been washed, I’m sure there is a random DNA molecule that remains from a queef or other expelling of gas. If there is no DNA, there might be a random poop molecule somewhere. BTW, these are some big panties.

As I type, Love Is The Answer (LITA) sits quietly at 174 on Billboard’s Top 200 after just 14 weeks. Though it started strong, it faded fast and by Thanksgiving had lost all of its steam. Not since What About Today (WAT) has a Barbra Streisand studio album performed this weakly. Outside of her loyal fans, LITA has not received much positive word of mouth, and hence, was destined to burn out quickly.

In sharp contrast to LITA, Susan Boyle (SUBO) sits on Top of the Billboard 200 for her 6th consecutive week. So far, the British Diva has amassed sales of over 3 million copies in just a month and a half. The matronly SUBO, who some would argue is as ugly as Streisand, has endeared herself to many with a CD that is getting a lot of positive word of mouth.

2009 is almost another 1969 for Barbra. At the end of 1969, Barbra released Hello Dolly! which for a few weeks appeared to be a major hit. But come the new decade, the movie was bombing and the album was being given away for 99 cents. Of course, we know that she bounced back strongly in the 70s which became her best decade. However, now at 67, I don’t think she is coming back.

BTW, she has filmed her bit part in the upcoming Meet Little Focker. A little bird told me that they wanted her part filmed early so she wouldn’t have an excuse to rip off parts of the sets. As you all know, part of the Meet the Fockers set found it’s way into her new basement/underground street. Yes, the Diva has built a street under her house.

Whitney Who? Mariah Who? Barbra Who? Those are the questions that Susan Boyle left for us to answer this week. Tomorrow, she will debut at No. 1 on Billboard–with 701,000 units sold. More than twice as many as Whitney and 3.75 times what Barbra sold. For that matter, SUBO has sold more in a week than Barbra’s LITA has done in 9 weeks. Twice as many. As if that weren’t enough, it will be the highest debut of a female singer in Billboard history and the third highest of all. Amazon Queen, QVC Queen, UK Queen and now Billboard Queen. Without doubt or question, SUBO has won the Battle of the Divas. By a a first round knockout.

Also doing well is Andrea Bocelli who managed to hold on to No. 2 with an increase in sales. La Gaga also did well–she will have two albums in the Top 10. Disappointing though was Glambert. He started the week strong (boosted by presales), but then started dropping–fast. Still, he managed a number 3 debut with almost 200,000 units sold (more than Barbra, btw). Still, his team was banking on a much higher figure, only to see their hopes dashed by Glambert’s now raunchy AMA performance. He won’t apologize for it, but I think we all know he wishes he had shown some class.

This year has turned into one of the most exciting years for Diva Wars. We’ve seen releases by Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears–although the last three were just compilations. I forget a few. And of course, we have three more Divas out this week: Susan Boyle, Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert. SuBo has already set an Amazon presale record, is still No. 1 on Amazon, and is showing strong sales overall. Lady Gaga’s AMA performance went quite well and has pushed her The Fame Monster into the Amazon Top 10 and to No. 1 in Itunes–just ahead of SuBo. Now Glambert is not faring as well, even though he is the most talented of the bunch. A horrible album cover, a raunchy AMA performance, and an off target marketing campaign have taken their toll. Glambert’s early sales were good (though not as good as SuBos), but now he is trailing behind both SuBo and La Gaga. In addition, his two singles (For Your Entertainment and Time for Miracles) have failed to catch on. Meanwhile, La Gaga’s Bad Romance looks like it will shortly enter the Top 10. Speaking of AMA performances… Now I know why JLo was given a big tuchus–to protect her from her fall this passed Sunday. As everyone knows, she tried a big jump, lossed her balance, landed flat on her huge derriere and bounced back up. Her Doctor has confirmed she is not injured–not even a bruise. A fall like this would have left many a dancer quadraplegic, but JLo had nature’s protective maxi pads. Bless her.

The Lovely SuBo

The Barbra Barbie is out and about. You might not know it unless you look at the box and see her name written on it. Or you study the outfit to see the little sailor suit. Barbie could have done better. The hair is stringy, the highlights are not realistic, the hair is too short, the face doesn’t look like Barbra, the nose is perfect except it should have been bigger… Well, you get the picture.

Barbie as Barbra Streisand. Oy Vey.

Though she did not attend college, I believe Barbra holds some honorary doctoral degree from somewhere. I guess this earned an invite to the program The Doctors to discuss heart illness. What wasn’t clear was that she would be there on the phone, not in person. The Doctor was, again, hoarse. The hoarseness came through loud and clear. Instead of donating $5 million to heart research, maybe she should have started The Barbra Streisand Vocal Chord Institute. Nonetheless, heart research is important.

Listening to her, I kept thinking about what her next album would be like and who she should duet with. Based on her current voice, I really think she should do a duet with Julie Andrews or Harvey Fierstein. If they are not available, then maybe Bob Dylan. Or maybe they could all join together as the new California Raisins.