IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Fame different for Miley Cyrus, dad Billy Ray
Miley Cyrus gets emotional and nostalgic in a retrospective Tiktok series.
The 10-part series is inspired by her new song, “Used to Be Young,” and reflects on her 30 years of life. It touches on the relationship with fame fostered by her country-crooner dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, her step back from arena touring and her audition process for her hit Disney Channel series “Hannah Montana.”
She used to be young, for sure. And — in case you missed her unavoidable ascent and maturing — she’s got the video footage to prove it to you.
“When I was born (in 1992), my dad had the No. 1 country song (‘Achy Break Heart),” the “Flowers” singer said Sunday in one Tiktok. “When I see the numbers, I just see the humans behind it enjoying the music. And I just see people in numbers.
“My dad grew up the opposite of me, so I think that’s where me and my dad’s relationship to fame and success is wildly different,” she explained. “Him feeling loved by a big audience impacted him emotionally more than it ever could me. When he feels special or important, it’s like healing a childhood wound. And I’ve always been made to feel like a star.
“I think that’s the difference,” she said, wiping away tears.
Several of the video clips she showcased in the series featured Billy Ray Cyrus. One of them showed the country crooner playing guitar and singing to her as a child. Cyrus said she had “a lot of great memories singing music with my dad, like, learning and absorbing.
‘Opus’ premiere is at Venice Film Festival
Sitting alone before a grand piano in a stark studio, Ryuichi Sakamoto takes the listener on a journey of his life, playing
20 of his compositions.
Shot entirely in black and white, on three 4K cameras, the film “Opus,” directed by Neo Sora, is the Japanese composer’s farewell, poetic yet bold, and deeply heartfelt.
Its world premiere is set for the Venice International Film Festival next month. The filming took place over several days, just a half year before his death on March 28 at 71.
Sakamoto had been battling cancer since 2014, and could no longer do concert performances, and so he turned to film.
He plays pieces he had never performed on solo piano. He delivers a striking, new slow-tempo arrangement of “Tong Poo,” a composition from his early days with techno-pop Yellow Magic Orchestra that catapulted him to stardom in the late 1970s when Asian musicians still tended to be marginal in the West.
“I felt utterly hollow afterward, and my condition worsened for about a month,” Sakamoto says in a statement.
He speaks only a few lines in the film.
“I need a break. This is tough. I’m pushing myself,” he says barely audibly in Japanese, about midway through the film.
Jean Dawson introducing 3 new characters
Jean Dawson is an open book. Onstage, the eccentric performer takes control as he bounces around, full of energy with vulnerable lyricism and experimental sound. In person, he’s charming and introspective, sitting across with a tight sweatshirt hoodie pulled over his head and his hair falling over his eyes as he speaks in metaphors and long anecdotes about his latest projects, fame, cultural identity and more.
Since the release of his 2019 mixtape, “Bad Sports,” Dawson has created music that seamlessly ebbs and flows from one genre to the next, ranging from rap to punk to folk and abstract hip-hop, with relatable lyrics that take on topics like mental health and hypermasculinity.
This year, he's unveiling a new body of
work that allow fans to see three different, “hyper-aestheticized” parts of himself.
Dawson’s musical trilogy is divided into three chapters, each with its own unique character. The first, ”‘XCAPE,’ PT. 1 JEAN DAWSON AS PHOENIX’” was released in May and features two upbeat singles that reel in listeners with an emergent sound that still has a touch of early emo punk nostalgia.
“I am nothing but a myth/i fool everyone, burn everything I ever touch/i live life on the fringe/ Dreads cover a golden smile/gold turns Styrofoam for style,” he sings
on “youth+.”
“Phoenix is a character very, very close to what I am already,” Dawson tells The Associated Press. “I’m going to talk too much. I’m going to say too much. I’m going to be overtly vulnerable for no reason because it makes me comfortable, and it makes other people uncomfortable for me to be so vulnerable.”