OMG, PRESIDENT BUSH must be stealing moves from Blair Waldorf’s playbook.
In a not so subtle dig against the liberal, culture-loving elite, he has appointed country singer LEE GREENWOOD — famous for penning “God, Bless the USA” — to a six-year term on the NATIONAL COUNCIL ON THE ARTS. From their Web site: “The Presidential appointments, by law, are selected for their widely recognized knowledge of the arts or their expertise or profound interest in the arts.”
Well played Dubya. We hope that Greenwood wears his his trademark Stars and Stripes windbreaker to meetings with NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS chairman DANA GIOIA.
After the jump, Flavorwire wagers guesses about who else was on Bush’s shortlist of candidates. Be sure to tell us who we’ve missed in the comments.
Read More »
Cambodia — a country where performing arts were once banned altogether — will debut their first rock opera next month. It’s called WHERE ELEPHANTS WEEP and tells the story of a Cambodian refugee who returns to his country after spending some time in America. [LAT]
THE DEVIL AND GEORGE BUSH, a direct-to-the-Web opera composed by ROGER RUDENSTEIN is being offered for free download before it’s available on iTunes. It’s the first opera ever written about a sitting president and Rudenstein claims that it’s funnier than ‘W’, which shouldn’t be hard since that is a drama. [Seacoast Online]
New York’s METROPOLITAN OPERA has received a technical Emmy for their THE MET: LIVE IN HD series which allows audiences to screen shows in movie theatres across the country — maybe they should sell it on eBay to help out their friends with budget issues. [NYT]
Thanks to an anonymous American donor WILLIAM CHRISTIE and JEAN-MARIE VILLEGIER are reviving Lully’s TRAGEDIE LYRIQUE — otherwise known as the French baroque opera that led to rampant ticket scalping back in 1987 — at Paris’s Opera-Comique. No word yet on whether it will come to the US. [qobuz]
MUSLIM MAGOMAEV, also known as the Russian Sinatra, died this week at the age of 66 following a prolonged illness. [UPI]
