Michael Jackson's Family Upset With James Durbin Over 'American Idol' Pepsi Quip
'We were shocked to see this,' read the Jacksons' message; Durbin tweeted an apology on Thursday.
By Gil Kaufman
James Durbin performs on "American Idol" on Wednesday
Photo: Michael Becker/ Fox
Some people might argue that it's patently unfair to take rank amateurs, put them on the biggest show on TV and then expose them to potential worldwide ridicule every week. Because it's one thing to tune in to "American Idol" from your living room or play shows at the local wings joint, it's another thing entirely when you get up on that stage and open your mouth with tens of millions watching and listening.
James Durbin learned this lesson the hard way this week when he made what he thought was an innocent crack about not setting himself on fire during his pyro-tastic cover of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" on Wednesday night.
Asked by host Ryan Seacrest if he was worried about dancing around among the flames shooting up from the piano onstage, Durbin joked, "I have a lot of hairspray in my hair to keep it from jumping around — so much so, the one thing I was worried about was having a 'Pepsi moment.' "
The seemingly innocent crack was a reference to the 1984 on-set accident in which late pop icon Michael Jackson was badly burned during the shooting of a Pepsi commercial by some wayward pyro effects. The serious burns he suffered in the incident allegedly led to his longtime addiction to pain medication and prescription drugs.
The Jackson family was not amused by the quip and sent a statement to TMZ on Thursday.
"We were shocked to see this. It's nothing to make light of and everybody should be focusing on who was responsible for Michael's death," read the statement. Family patriarch Joseph Jackson also was reportedly miffed that "Idol" producers did not cut the comment from the West Coast feed of the show.
Durbin defended his slip-up in a tweet, which has since been scrubbed from the singer's official "Idol" Twitter feed, that explained, "For anyone talkin ... I said pepsi NOT MJ! I have no disrespect for Michael. I grew up singing his art. I guess youll take it how you want it." He later added, "Talkin about MJs passing is too soon. Making a reference to an incident 25 years ago..not too soon. The stab was at pepsi people."
It's worth noting that Pepsi's bitter rival, Coca-Cola, is the main "Idol" sponsor, a fact that Seacrest reminded Durbin of in an awkward moment after the comment on the show.
What did you think of James Durbin's "Pepsi" quip? Tell us in the comments.
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Pet Tags
Man, I'm so irritated.
I just received four pets tags that I ordered for Bev and Mary Margaret (two for Brooklyn and two for LA) and they're all messed up. Not only did they leave off the "Margaret" on Mary Margaret's tags, but the text isn't centered correctly and runs off the right side on all four of them. (The last letter of the address is cut in half.) The tags themselves are also ugly. The edges aren't smoothed out... they look like someone just cut them from a piece of sheet metal and called it a day.
So anyway, I got them this morning on my way to Starbucks (yesterday's mail), so while I was there, I started drafting a strongly-worded letter in my head, like what I was going to say to these people when I sent them back.
And then I saw it.
In tiny print on the bottom of the invoice it said, "Our handicapped employees appreciate your order."
So now I can't send them back. If I did I'd be a total asshole.
I'm just going to order new ones from someplace else. Any recommendations?
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Lady Gaga Crashes Billboard With 1.1 Million
Born This Way is the first record since 2005 to sell more than 1.1 million in a week.
By Gil Kaufman
Lady Gaga
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
We knew Lady Gaga's Born This Way was going to crush it on the Billboard 200 charts, the only question was how hard. The answer, it turns out, is very.
Gaga's relentlessly hyped second full-length studio album easily takes the pole position on next week's chart with sales of more than 1.1 million in its first week, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan, marking the first album since 50 Cent's 2005 effort, The Massacre, to cross the 1.1 million plateau in a week. Along the way, Born This Way became only the 17th album in the SoundScan era (which began in 1991) to sell 1 million copies in its first week. And though she's sold more than 15 million albums across the globe to date, BTW marks the first #1 debut for the international pop diva. People weren't just looking for Gaga's new one, either. Sales of her debut, The Fame, are up more than 50 percent to 19,000, sending the disc up 20 spots on the chart.
Coming in way back at #2 is the chart debut of Brad Paisley's This Is Country Music (153,000), followed by the year-to-date chart queen, Adele, whose 21 drops to #3 (only the second time it's fallen this low in its nearly three and a half months of release), while moving another 126,000 copies to edge toward the 2 million mark.
The fourth spot is the debut of the latest "Glee" soundtrack, Glee: The Music, Vol. 6 (80,000), followed by the Maybach Music compilation, MMG Presents: Self Made, Volume 1 (59,000). The joint boy band album NKOTBSB shows up at #7 (40,000) and the debut from Foster the People, Torches, hits #8 (33,000) thanks, no doubt, to the hit "Pumped Up Kicks."
The rest of the top 10 includes NOW 38 (#6, 45,000), Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party (#9, 33,000) and Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More (#10, 25,000).
"American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery had a promising week, as the digital compilation of his performances, American Idol Season 10: Scotty McCreery, debuts at #12 on sales of 23,000, while runner-up Lauren Alaina's comp has to settle for a #42 landing (11,000).
Gaga knocked Adele down a notch on the iTunes album charts, taking the lead position and pushing the British soul singer to #2, just ahead of Paisley, McCreery, Foster the People, "Glee," the MMG Presents compilation, Alaina, Mumford and Blacklight by Christian hip-hopper Tedashii. Adele could not be shaken, however, on the iTunes singles tally, where her smash single, "Rolling in the Deep," keeps the top position, followed by Pitbull's "Give Me Everything," McCreery's "I Love You This Big," Gaga's "The Edge of Glory," DJ Khaled's "I'm the One," LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," Bruno Mars' "The Lazy Song," Alaina's "Like My Mother Does," Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" and Jennifer Lopez's "On the Floor."
Gaga seems pretty safe for another round, as the week's new faces include Death Cab for Cutie's Codes and Keys, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder's solo effort, Ukulele Songs, and My Morning Jacket's Circuital.
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