Latest news with #BoogieWoogie
Winnipeg Free Press
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Setting the direction, pointing the way
Opinion Fresh green beans have a taste like the smell of freshly-mown grass. Hold that thought. Hold that thought and think of Blues legend Clarence 'Pinetop' Smith, and Pinetop's Boogie Woogie. RUSSELL WANGERSKY / FREE PRESS Evening comes. The walkers and bike-riders thin. Think about Pinetop's lyrics: 'Now listen here all of you, this is my own Pinetop boogie-woogie / I want everybody to dance 'em just like I tell you / And when I say 'Hold yourself,' everybody get ready to stop / And when I've said 'Stop,' don't move a peg / And when I say 'Get it,' everybody do a boogie woogie / Hold yourself now … Stop / Boogie woogie / Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout.' When Pinetop wrote and recorded Pinetop's Boogie Woogie in 1928, he was considered by some to have written the first rock 'n' roll song, just one year after my father was born. Pinetop was shot and killed in 1929. Bluesman pianist Joe Willie 'Pinetop' Perkins recorded the same boogie woogie as well — with his nickname, how could he not? The second Pinetop would still be performing a couple of times a week in Austin, Texas, until just before his death at age 97 in 2011. It's the Pinetop Perkins version I know best, though it is close to a mirror of the original, which winds out from a thick 78-r.p.m. vinyl if you can find it anywhere. Both depend on, both centre on, the piano — and both require you let yourself go from your own order of things and let someone else's deliberate direction take you to where you should go, what you should do, what you can hear and what you can see. That is what I like about writing. Writing is just collecting small orders of things and parcelling them up for delivery. About the way the arrival of spring is often the turn of a sharp corner you don't recognize until it has already happened; about the particular combination hiss of car tires on wet pavement; about the curious choir of five teens who pick up a discarded giveaway vacuum cleaner on a quiet Winnipeg neighbourhood boulevard, and then use their smartphones to shoot video of themselves taking turns pretending to vacuum the grass. Laughing as if they had been there at the invention of humour itself. About shouldering out into the early morning breaking dark to head for the bus, and finding, instead of cold, that you've been enveloped in a curling morning breeze as warm and welcome as the bed you've just left. Rolling into that comfort as if you've actually somehow earned it. There is a kind of poetry, known as erasure poetry, where you take an already-written poem by someone else, and black out parts of their work until you're left with your own brand-new poem, made out of fragments of the original author's work. It's the ultimate in seizing control of the handlebars of creation, blindly ignoring the path already laid out to just go ahead and impose your own. Now, just this time of year, is the time of blackout conversation, when every set of people who walk by your door contribute a new line or two to the overall discussion, even though they have no idea of the whole that they are a part of. Safe inside the screen porch, you hear: 'He didn't say anything about it…' 'No. No, Sasha (Sasha, for clarity here, is a dog). Sasha. Leave it. LEAVE it.' 'Can you just walk for a while, Daddy?' 'You said you could keep up.' 'But my legs hurt…' 'Did you call him back?' 'No.' When I say 'Stop,' don't you move a thing. A family of four, all speaking French, have the most greenway of Sunday collisions; they're all riding bikes in loose formation when it happens. Husband, wife, small boy, newer baby belted in and riding prone in a wheeled cart behind the father's bike. In the other direction, a man on a mountain bike shoots by, a speaker hanging from his neck, classic rock booming out. (It seems to me that must be like travelling inside of a bubble of your own chosen sound, a bubble that drags along at the same speed you're moving, swimming over those you pass and then pulling back away from them like a falling tide.) The father stopped his bike suddenly: the four-year-old, craning his head around to see where the sound was coming from, piled into the trailer. Crashes. Falls. Bleeds from both knees. Baby in cart is both fine and oblivious. There are remonstrations in all directions, and in both official languages. Blame is spread on thick, accepted by none. The party splits in two: Dad and baby head west. Mom and injured, righteously hard-done-by boy head east, walking their bikes. The high tones of small-boy hard-done-by indignation sound piccolo for far longer than he remains in sight. The afternoon continues in bits and pieces. Evening comes. The walkers thin. I can see a sliver of sunset from the screened porch. Have a fresh green bean. Taste the newly-cut grass. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Have a listen to Pinetop's Boogie Woogie. Listen to the running joy of hands streaming up and down the piano keys. The uphill, downhill incredulity of it. Let a little deep, rich joy seep in. Allow the whole world to be a flavour, a tasting menu. The wonder of juxtaposition, especially fine when pieces fire bright because they are set off against themselves. Russell Wangersky is the Comment Editor at the Free Press. He can be reached at Russell WangerskyPerspectives editor Russell Wangersky is Perspectives Editor for the Winnipeg Free Press, and also writes editorials and columns. He worked at newspapers in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Saskatchewan before joining the Free Press in 2023. A seven-time National Newspaper Award finalist for opinion writing, he's also penned eight books. Read more about Russell. Russell oversees the team that publishes editorials, opinions and analysis — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Gretchen Wilson reveals why she 'felt bad' about winning The Masked Singer
Fox's The Masked Singer brought its 13th season to a close in epic fashion on Wednesday with a two-hour finale that revealed Gretchen Wilson as the winner. The 51-year-old singer shot into the stratosphere with her first single Redneck Woman in 2004, with her debut album certified 5x platinum. More than two decades later, Wilson stunned fans week after week under the Pearl costume on The Masked Singer, ultimately taking home The Golden Mask trophy over Boogie Woogie, who was revealed as singer Andy Grammer. After her big win, Wilson, whose last album was 2017's Ready To Get Rowdy, revealed that she was quite surprised to win in a new interview with People. She revealed that in the weeks leading up to the finale, she was so positive that Boogie Woogie would win that she actually 'felt bad' for winning. The singer and mother to 24-year-old Gracie revealed, 'I was absolutely positive that Boogie won. I thought he was just the most amazing singer.' 'In my head, he had won it weeks before. I was so stunned because I had myself ready to hear that I was second place. I was so ready for it, I had already decided that that's what it should be in my head,' Wilson admitted. There were four singers left heading into the finale - Pearl, Boogie Woogie, Coral (Meg Donnelly) and Mad Scientist Monster (Florida Georgia Line's Brian Kelley). After she was announced as the winner, Wilson admitted, 'But being a mom, I felt bad. It was like, "No, no, no, no, no, no, I'm happy with second! He won!"' she said. Wilson added, 'I think that's probably how he would've felt, too. He's just such an incredibly, incredibly likable person. I wished I could have shared it with him.' She admitted after being unmasked, 'I've had a rough couple of years. I was injured. I was in a wheelchair. And there was a moment where I didn't think I'd ever get back to this place. And I worked really hard, I prayed really hard, and I got so far. But this opportunity has really proven to me that there's nothing I can't do.' The singer also added in the new interview that, despite 'feeling bad' about the win, she still views it as, 'a career comeback.' 'I feel like it's sort of a comeback moment. I'm ready to take on anything,' Wilson said, adding she wanted to do the show to prove that she's more than a 'redneck woman.' 'I've had to spend a lot of time being that rough and tumble, girl next door, no dresses, no makeup, just be kind of plain Jane kind of girl. So, when I saw that costume, I was like, this is an opportunity for me to be a girly girl,' she admitted. She admitted after being unmasked, 'I've had a rough couple of years. I was injured. I was in a wheelchair. And there was a moment where I didn't think I'd ever get back to this place. And I worked really hard, I prayed really hard, and I got so far. But this opportunity has really proven to me that there's nothing I can't do' 'This is an opportunity for me to be a side of me that I don't often get to show because it's not what people are expecting from me,' Wilson admitted. When asked if winning the show helped show another side to her, Wilson said, 'I feel like that there are a lot of people out there who had me summed up as this one thing, that are now going to be able to go, 'Oh, wow, she's multidimensional.'' 'There was a big part of me that was just like, I want people to see that I'm not just that one thing that they have decided that I am. That was important to me,' she said. When asked if dressing up as Pearl unleashed more of her 'girly' side, she admitted, 'it did rub off a little bit.' 'I did buy a dress for an award show. I'm not going to wear it, but I bought it. That's a step in the right direction,' she joked.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The Masked Singer' winner revealed: See who was under Pearl's costume
Season 13 of "The Masked Singer" came to a climactic end May 7. The reality singing competition, which spices up a well-worn format by putting its contestants in elaborate disguises, entered its final episode of the year with just four candidates left. Pearl, Boogie Woogie, Mad Scientist and Coral, all nicknames for the costumes the celebrities don for their performances, duked it out in one final showdown − the winner nabbing the Golden Mask trophy and being forced to reveal themselves. 'The Masked Singer' winner Vanessa Hudgens reveals if she plans on returning to music Pearl ultimately reigned triumphant, impressing judges with a rendition of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." Judges and viewers alike are kept in the dark on the identities of the masked singers, given clues on what (usually mid-profile) name they might be and tasked with recognizing their voice sight unseen. Pear turned out to be country star Gretchen Wilson, an early-2000s staple, whose song "Redneck Woman" became an anthem. Wilson, who stumped almost all the judges (aside from Robin Thicke), said after her win that she had done the show to build confidence after a difficult couple of years. "I've had a rough couple of years," she said. "I was injured, I was in a wheelchair and there was a moment where I didn't think I'd ever get back to this place. I worked really hard, I prayed really hard, and I got so far." "This opportunity has really proven to me that there's nothing I can't do," she continued. After Wilson's win, the other finalists also demasked. Boogie Woogie was singer Andy Grammer, Coral was "Zombies" actress Meg Donnelly and Mad Scientist was former Florida Georgia Line member Brian Kelley. Other masked stars this season included Flavor Flav, James Van Der Beek and Candace Cameron Bure. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Pearl on 'The Masked Singer?' See the winner reveal
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Who Won ‘The Masked Singer' 2025? See The Stars Unmasked In The Finale
Pearl on 'The Masked Singer' season 13. In The Masked Singer 2025 finale, only four contestants made it to the final episode with hopes of being crowned the winner: Pearl, Boogie Woogie, Mad Scientist, and Coral. The final episode of Season 13, which aired on May 7, began with judge Rita Ora performing a cover of Chappell Roan's anthem 'Pink Pony Club," with finalists Boogie Woogie, Coral, Mad Scientist Monster and Pearl also joining in. After each finalist sang, the studio audience and juding panel (consisting of Ora, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy and Robin Thicke) voted for their favorite performance. The two contestants with the fewest votes were unmasked, while the remaining two performed once more before a winner was announced. Keep reading to find out who won The Masked Singer 2025 and the identities of the three other finalists. NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 07: Gretchen Wilson performs onstage during the 2024 CMA Music festival ... More at Nissan Stadium on June 07, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/WireImage) Pearl was crowned the winner of The Masked Singer Season 13 and was revealed to be country singer Gretchen Wilson in the finale. One major clue to the singer's identity came when she showed off a pair of sparkly pants gifted to her by Dolly Parton. 'It's a pair of pants for the record books,' Pearl said. 'Not only did my idol Dolly Parton give them to me, but I also got to perform with her while I was wearing them.' While names like Faith Hill, Kacey Musgraves, Madonna and Shaina Twain were floated around as possible identities for Pearl, ultimately, only Thicke guessed correctly. "I am floored," the country singer said finding out she'd won. 'I almost hit the floor.' Before her her identity was unmasked, Pearl spoke in her clue package about her laid-back, unapologetic personality and the challenges she faced at the start of her career. "Every time I've put on this Pearl costume I think it's so strange that I pulled off being this bejeweled princess," she explained. "It's so unlike me. I'd say the hoodie and sweatpants is more in line with who I am. What can I say? I'm gritty, raw, unapologetic. I've always been that way. And a lot of times, especially when I was first starting out, it stood in the way of my success." Wilson also recalled one moment early in her career when, during a performane for a record exec, she thought he wrote down 'no,' when he'd actually written down 'now' – and wanted to sign her then and there. 'After all these years, I think people still don't know what I'm capable of until now,' Pearl added. In the finale, Pearl sang 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' by KT Tunstall, earning praise from Jeong, who called the contestant 'the Meryl Streep of Masked Singer.' Her second cover was 'I'll Stand by You' by The Pretenders. During the show, host Nick Cannon announced that each finalist would receive a phone call from a loved one after their performance. Pearl's call came from her daughter, who told her 'how unbelievably proud I am of you," bringing Pearl to tears. Boogie Woogie on 'The Masked Singer' season 13. Mad Scientist Monster chose to sing a cover Sugarland's 'Stay,' which Thicke called the 'best vocal of the season.' He also received a heartfelt ring from his parents, who expressed their support. 'You've done a great job doing something totally different and wish you the best as you go forward and want you to go ahead and knock this thing out of the park and win it,' his dad said. Ahead of his big reveal, the contestant shared his love for the outdoors. 'I grew up on and near the waters and I love fishing with my dad still to this day.' While Billy Ray Cyrus and Sam Hunt came up as potential names, Mad Scientist Monster was revealed to be Florida Georgia Line's Brian Kelley. NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - NOVEMBER 07: Brian Kelley attends the 2023 BMI Country Awards at BMI ... More Nashville on November 07, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo byfor BMI) Coral delivered a rendition of Audrey Hepburn's classic 'Moon River' and received an supportive call from her dad. 'No matter what happens tonight, you really already won,' he told her. 'I'm just so incredibly proud of you. Watching you on stage, I cannot help but remember that young girl singing and dancing to Broadway songs in our living room thinking that maybe her big dreams are possible." While the judges guessed names like Hilary Duff, Selena Gomez, Hailee Steinfeld or Rachel Zegler, Coral turned out to be Disney Channel and Zombies star Meg Donnelly. INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 29: Meg Donnelly attends the 2025 Billboard Women in Music at YouTube ... More Theater on March 29, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) Boogie Woogie performed George Michael's 'Freedom! 90," with McCarthy telling him he 'brought the house down.' Meanwhile, his phone call was from one of his daughters. 'Daddy, you need to win! You're doing such a good job," she told him. Boogie Woogie said that he wanted to show his kids that 'positivity and sincerity can win.' As the second finalist, he returned to the stage to sing Lewis Capaldi's 'Love the Hell Out of You." While the panel tossed names like Darren Criss, Andy Samberg or Ryan Tedder, Boogie Woogie turned out to be none other than 'Honey, I'm Good' singer-songwriter Andy Grammer. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MAY 10: Andy Grammer attends the 27th Annual Power of Love Gala hosted by Keep ... More Memory Alive on May 10, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo byfor Keep Memory Alive) All episodes of The Masked Singer are streaming on Hulu.
USA Today
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'The Masked Singer' winner revealed: See who was under Pearl's costume
'The Masked Singer' winner revealed: See who was under Pearl's costume Show Caption Hide Caption Carrie Underwood dishes on her first date at 16: 'It did not go well' In an exclusive "Idol To Icon" clip, Underwood admits she never heard back from her first date. "American Idol" airs Sundays/Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC. ABC Season 13 of "The Masked Singer" came to a climactic end May 7. The reality singing competition, which spices up a well-worn format by putting its contestants in elaborate disguises, entered its final episode of the year with just four candidates left. Pearl, Boogie Woogie, Mad Scientist and Coral, all nicknames for the costumes the celebrities don for their performances, duked it out in one final showdown − the winner nabbing the Golden Mask trophy and being forced to reveal themselves. 'The Masked Singer' winner Vanessa Hudgens reveals if she plans on returning to music Pearl ultimately reigned triumphant, impressing judges with a rendition of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." Judges and viewers alike are kept in the dark on the identities of the masked singers, given clues on what (usually mid-profile) name they might be and tasked with recognizing their voice sight unseen. Pear turned out to be country star Gretchen Wilson, an early-2000s staple, whose song "Redneck Woman" became an anthem. Wilson, who stumped almost all the judges (aside from Robin Thicke), said after her win that she had done the show to build confidence after a difficult couple of years. "I've had a rough couple of years," she said. "I was injured, I was in a wheelchair and there was a moment where I didn't think I'd ever get back to this place. I worked really hard, I prayed really hard, and I got so far." "This opportunity has really proven to me that there's nothing I can't do," she continued. After Wilson's win, the other finalists also demasked. Boogie Woogie was singer Andy Grammer, Coral was "Zombies" actress Meg Donnelly and Mad Scientist was former Florida Georgia Line member Brian Kelley. Other masked stars this season included Flavor Flav, James Van Der Beek and Candace Cameron Bure.
