Johansson eyes music festival debut

Scarlett Johansson would love to display her vocal talents at a music festival - if only she could combat her stage fright. The actress released her debut album Anywhere I Lay My Head this week - and is so pleased with the disc of Tom Waits covers, she wants the chance to play them live. But she'd have to conquer her stage fear first.

She says: "It would be sad to not get everybody (band members) together. Whether it's at a festival or somewhere that's kind of fun. "(But) I have horrible stage fright, so it would have to be overcome. People approach me (about playing live) and my usual answer is, 'Ah, I'll think about that'. "When I do think about it, I start to get really sweaty and uncomfortable and itchy around the neck."

news source : http://breakingnews.iol.ie/

Scarlett Johansson acts pricey, misses Cannes premiere

New York, May 19 (IANS) Actress Scarlett Johansson, who is co-starring with Penelope Cruz in the new Woody Allen movie “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, did not attend the premiere at Cannes because she demanded too high an appearance fee. Johansson was supposedly demanding more than the studio was willing to spend. She didn’t want to stay at the same hotel as Cruz or share the same makeup artist. She insisted on her own makeup and hair people but that would have cost an extra $5,000 a day for her four-day stay, perezhilton.com reports.

Also, her decision to stay at a hotel some half-an-hour away would have created many delays in the film’s promotional schedule. An executive connected with the film said: “While Woody’s terribly fond of Scarlett, he was a little upset that she wasn’t being a team player.”

news source : http://www.thaindian.com/

Scarlett Johansson Covers Tom Waits And Alanis Morissette's Ex

If you've seen Lost In Translation, you might remember the scene in a karaoke bar where Scarlett Johansson croons The Pretenders' "Brass In Pocket." You'll soon be able to catch her singing someone else's songs again when she releases Anywhere I Lay My Head, an album featuring Tom Waits covers, on May 20 through Atco/Rhino Records.

The album contains 10 Waits covers and one Johansson original ("Song For Jo"). It was produced by TV On The Radio guitarist David Andrew Sitek (Foals, Liars). David Bowie makes guest appearances on "Falling Down" and "Fannin' Street." The disc also features Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and members of Baltimore, Md. indie rockers Celebration. Johansson originally intended to cover standards from different artists, but later decided to only record songs by Waits. "His melodies are so beautiful and his voice is so distinct," she told Billboard.com. "I sent him some of the early, early recordings, and he said, 'Go ahead.'… I've heard he's very pleased."

Another young actress, Zooey Deschanel, recently cut a disc with indie folk star M. Ward as She & Him. The microphone stand-wielding Jared Leto is another recent actor/rock star example. Keanu Reeves and Russell Crowe also tried to make forays into the rock world with their respective bands, Dogstar and Thirty Odd Foot Of Grunts. Going the other way, Johansson is rumoured to have just become engaged to actor Ryan Reynolds. He was previously engaged to Alanis Morissette — a singer, songwriter and musician who's tried her hand at acting.

news source : http://www.chartattack.com/

Salman Rushdie kisses Scarlett Johansson in new music video

Sir Salman Rushdie has made a bizarre cameo appearance in a music video as the romantic interest of Scarlett Johansson, the Hollywood actress. The author of The Satanic Verses is seen nuzzling Miss Johansson’s neck and whispering in her ear, to her evident delight. Quite how the 60-year-old Sir Salman came to be involved in the musical career of movie starlet Miss Johansson, 23, remains a mystery. The four-minute video is for Falling Down, the new single from Miss Johansson’s forthcoming debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head.

The star of Lost In Translation and The Other Boleyn Girl has turned her hand to singing, and the album features covers of tracks by Tom Waits. David Bowie performs backing vocals. Reaction has been mixed, with some critics suggesting she stick to the day job. The video is conceived as a day in the life of the star, showing her in the make-up studio, in front of the cameras and meeting fans, before returning home. The brief scenes featuring Sir Salman carry no explanation.

Miss Johansson is currently dating young actor Ryan Reynolds, but in the past has expressed a preference for the older man, which could provide a clue to Sir Salman’s appearance. “I’ve always mixed with people older than me. I’m often told I appeal to older men more than guys my own age. I think that’s pretty cool. Older men understand women more. They usually have better taste. I take it as a compliment,” she has said. Sir Salman, meanwhile, appears to have little trouble attracting beautiful women.

His most recent wife was Padma Lakshmi, a statuesque model turned TV presenter 23 years his junior. She left him last year and they are currently divorcing.Miss Lakshmi was wife number four, but Sir Salman claimed this week that he does not believe in marriage.

“It’s strange, given that I’ve been married four times, but I actually don’t think marriage is necessary,” he tells next month’s Elle magazine. “Girls like it, especially if they’ve never been married before - it’s the dress. Girls want a wedding, they don’t want a marriage. If only you could have weddings without marriages.” The Booker Prize-winning author, knighted last year for services to literature, went into hiding in 1989 when the Ayatollah Khomeini issue a fatwa calling for his execution.

He returned to public life a decade later and is now a regular on the social scene. This is not his first unlikely cameo - he has appeared on stage with Bono, the singer from U2, and played himself in the 2001 film Bridget Jones’s Diary.

news source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/