Justin Timberlake salutes Prince in Super Bowl halftime dance party

Justin Timberlake danced his way through a club-inspired Super Bowl halftime show Sunday as he paid tribute to Prince in the late singer’s hometown with a towering yet tasteful projection.

After fevered speculation on whether or how Timberlake would salute the icon as the Super Bowl came to Minneapolis, the pop star obliged midway through his performance.

“Minneapolis, this is for you,” Timberlake told the crowd as he sat down to a piano, the field bathed in purple light.

As Timberlake slowed down the tempo for a soulful cover of “I Would Die 4 U,” footage of “Purple Rain”-era Prince shot up toward the roof of the new US Bank Stadium in a smoky haze, closing with a silhouette of The Purple One with his guitar.

But Prince, who died in April 2016 of an accidental overdose, did not “perform” in a hologram — as some fans had feared — and the segment, while memorable, amounted to a fleeting moment of the up-tempo show.

There was also no naked “wardrobe malfunction” of the type that marred Timberlake’s last appearance 14 years ago, when he joined Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl — by far the most watched US television event of the year.

While many Super Bowl performers go heavy on pyrotechnics, Timberlake instead showed off his dancing skills, opening the show in a nightclub-like maze of lasers as he sang his recent single “Filthy.”

Timberlake then strutted into the stadium with his mic in hand, leading a squad of dancers — and matching them step for step — as he sang a medley of his best-known songs including “SexyBack.”

He rose to center stage and sang “Suit and Tie” with back-up from the appropriately attired University of Minnesota marching band, who moved to the music with their instruments doubling as props.

How to honor Prince?  

Timberlake has described Prince as a “huge influence” on him, but his Super Bowl tribute had generated controversy even before it happened.

The celebrity gossip site TMZ earlier said that Timberlake was considering a Prince hologram, horrifying many fans.

Sheila E., one of Prince’s closest collaborators, said late Saturday that she had spoken to Timberlake who voiced “heartfelt words of respect” for The Purple One — and assured no hologram.

Prince had a famously complicated relationship with technology, with the artist among the first stars to embrace the possibilities of online music but eventually becoming disgruntled over the internet’s cultural effects.

In a 1998 interview with Guitar World, Prince said he would never want to “perform” with a dead artist such as Duke Ellington through digital effects, calling such lack of artistic control for a late musician “the most demonic thing imaginable.”

In Timberlake’s last Super Bowl appearance in 2004, he entered as the surprise guest of headliner Jackson and swiped his hand across her chest — exposing one of her breasts.

A scandalized TV-watching nation saw Jackson’s nipple — well, covered with a metal nipple shield — and broadcaster CBS was fined $550,000 for indecency.

Jackson took to social media ahead of the latest Super Bowl to make clear she was not coming back for a do-over.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Prince’s own words describe mixed feelings about the web

LOS ANGELES — Prince had a fraught relationship with the Internet, and mourning fans searching YouTube to remember his greatest years might be disappointed to find out that much of it isn’t there. For good reason: he was adamant about protecting his copyrights, owned the song publishing rights to his music, and vigorously pursued online outlets that used it without permission.

In the wake of his death on Thursday, here’s a quick recap of five things Prince said over the years that describe his view of the role of artists in an era of high technology.


    1.“The Internet’s completely over.”

In a July 2010 interview with Daily Mirror reporter Peter Willis, Prince says he’s releasing his album “20TEN” to Daily Mirror readers as a CD for free. In the interview, he complains that outlets like iTunes don’t pay advances for music and compares the Internet to a passing fad like MTV.

    2. Ringtones? Uh uh.

If you have a Prince song as a ringtone on your phone, you should know his Royal Badness did not approve. In a June 2011 interview with The Guardian’s Dorian Lynskey, Prince says he can’t stand digital music, nor the cacophony of ringtones it enables. “Have you ever been in a room where there’s 17 ringtones going off at once?”

    3. Does he have an iPhone? “Hell, no.”

Prince not only disdains the Internet, he forgoes the tools to access it. Asked in a July 2013 story by V Magazine’s Vanessa Grigoriadis if he owns an iPhone, Prince responds : “Are you serious? Hell, no.” He then mimics a high-voiced woman who has lost hers. He also touts the pleasures of listening to Joni Mitchell on vinyl.


    4. Qualifications. “We were saying it was dead to us — dead energy.”

Prince explains his Internet comment to AP’s Nekesa Mumbi Moody in an exclusive interview at his Paisley Park compound in September 2014, even as he queues up songs on YouTube from artists such as James Brown and FKA Twigs. At the time, his music is on both iTunes and Spotify. Today, major artists from Taylor Swift to Adele to Kanye West are picking and choosing where their music is released, just as Prince did.

    5. “Spotify wasn’t paying, so you gotta shut it down.”

In an interview with Ebony’s Miles Marshall Lewis published in December, Prince explains why he’s removing his music from most streaming services and putting it all on Tidal. But the interview is removed at Prince’s request, according to Billboard and all that remains on Ebony’s website now is Prince’s insistence that artist ownership of the means of distribution is important. “Where we finally get into a position to run things — we all should help.”

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Prince cancels European tour after terror attacks in Paris

Prince has become the latest act to cancel his European concert tour following the Paris attacks, his French production company confirmed on Monday.

The tour—entitled "Prince Spotlight: Piano and a Microphone"—would have begun on November 24 in Vienna, Austria, and would have included dates in Britain and Sweden.

The 57-year-old American was expected to be in Paris on December 11 to play two shows at the historic Palais Garnier opera house.

"In light of the tragic events in Paris, the organisers decided to cancel the European tour," said Interconcerts, a ticket company.

A similar message was posted on the site of Vienna's concert hall.

The tour was believed to be the first since Prince's rise to stardom in which he would have performed with such stripped-down instrumentation.

A number of rock bands have also cancelled tour dates in France since the attacks, including U2, who cancelled some of their concerts.

Bono and the rest of the band members paid their respects in person at a makeshift memorial set up near the 1,500-seat Bataclan concert hall where 89 people were killed.

The California rock group Eagles of Death Metal was performing at the venue when gunmen burst in. Members of the band escaped unharmed and have returned to the United States.

Other acts who have cancelled tour dates in Paris are the American rock band Foo Fighters, who were due to perform in Paris today at the 20,000-capacity AccorHotels Arena.

Veteran English rock band Motorhead were also scheduled to perform in Paris on Sunday and have cancelled. -Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Prince to play solo piano tour of Europe —reports

NEW YORK - Prince is planning a European tour featuring just his voice and piano, with the 57-year-old pop virtuoso saying he wanted a new challenge, reports said Monday.

Prince—who rarely makes traditional, straightforward announcements on touring—apparently broke the news by inviting a small group of music writers from European newspapers to his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota.

The Purple One posted a picture on Instagram showing him playing a keyboard for a small group with the caption, "European press," as well as videos of him practicing, although a representative did not immediately return a request for comment.

Spain's El Pais, in an article Monday datelined Minnesota, said Prince would play in 12 countries starting on November 21 in Vienna and finishing on December 22 in Brussels.

Explaining why he wanted to do the tour, Prince was quoted in Spanish as saying: "For starters, it's a challenge."

"I don't want to get bad reviews, but at the same time I don't want to go back to what I feel safe doing because I've done it for 30 years," he was quoted as saying.

"With the piano it's more naked, more pure. You see exactly what you get."

The tour—entitled "Prince Spotlight: Piano and a Microphone"—will include four dates each in Britain and Sweden, El Pais said.

He will also perform in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland, it said.

The tour is believed to be the first since Prince's rise to stardom in which he is performing with such stripped-down instrumentation.

Prince is best known for his skill on the guitar and his falsetto voice, along with his dance moves. He has played recent tours with a backup band that includes the all-female group 3rdEyeGirl.

Prince in recent years has preferred to announce concerts with only a few hours advance notice and has sometimes played two shows in one night. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com