Christmas in November

Glad tidings in the world of entertainment and the arts make our day this year, more than a month before “official” Christmas Day!  Thanks to Santa and his unusually industrious elves for these brightly packaged and precocious partridges in our Yuletide pear tree:

It’s Crystal-clear

It’s Crystal-clear, Billy Crystal is going to host the Oscar awards rites again next February! After the intended master of ceremonies begged  off, Crystal was tapped to do the honors—and that’s fine by us—great, even—because in our view, he’s one of the best hosts ever.

We can still remember Billy’s brilliant Oscar-night capers in the past, like his witty musical monologues and comic patter, which made the generally predictable and tradition-encrusted rites fresh, puckish and fun! Crystal making his antic entrance on a white horse, Godiva-like (but with his tux on) is another fond   and indelible Oscar memory that has remained a yummy nostalgic fillip through the years—!

After those scintillating gems, we wonder why the US film academy has experimented so haphazardly these past years, fielding less antic and creative hosts like last year’s relatively dim-watted comperes, James Franco and Anne Hathaway. Franco ended up with egg on his face, while Crystal’s memorable stints as the rites’ truly masterful master of ceremonies continue to dazzle and delight in deft and daft recollection. It’s really time to bring the true master back!

Duet with Bennett

Another delightful gift is the music video featuring octogenarian crooner, Tony Bennett, doing a duet version of a pop classic with—Lady Gaga! Bennett just does his signature act, but it’s La Gaga who surprises and even amazes with her soignee period-chanteuse look, contradicted only by her bright-blue hair!

Most surprising of all is our belated discovery that the gimmick “queen” has a good singing voice buried under all those kooky and kinky costumes that she loves to wear. We thought that she was resorting to all of those alarming looks to distract from her lack of musical talent, but we were clearly barking up the wrong aardvark!

In addition to her “retro” duet with Bennett, Lady Gaga also delighted viewers recently when she was featured in an unusual pictorial on TV that had her wearing all sorts of unusual “creations” that affirmed her unique penchant for far-out “fashions.”

The most attention-calling creation she wore was a gown made entirely out of different sizes of—Miss Kitty dolls! On any other celebrity, the gown would have looked ridiculous, but on Lady Gaga, it rocked!