|
Wood Craft Ben Wood |
Velasco’s backers should
support Trias on ‘Idol’ showIt's sad that we lost Camile Velasco in the "American Idol" competition this week. But having just one Hawaii singer in the voting should boost Jasmine Trias' chances. I can't understand why Camile and Jasmine sang the Elton John songs they did on Tuesday's show. Neither tune was fit for their respective styles and voices. Jasmine's dress-pants outfit on Wednesday's show was atrocious. Hopefully, she will improve on that. And it's unbelievable that John Stevens, the red-headed kid, is still on the show. He's billed as at Rat Pack type singer, as in Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis. Hey, I'm of the Rat Pack era. I've seen Frank, Dean and Sammy in person, I've listened to their records, I've watched their movies and TV shows -- John Stevens, you are not a Rat Pack singer! ...
I expected a much better remake of "Ladykillers" from Tom Hanks and the Coen Brothers. Hanks showed he can play a highly educated con man with a deep Southern accent who oozes charm, but there was so much of this that he became boring. There were a few good laughs, and Irma P. Hall's performance and the swinging gospel choir were excellent. But most of the time the picture trudges along a disjointed path ...
'E.T.' catches Bethany on the baseball field
Bethany Hamilton, the courageous 14-year-old surfer who lost an arm in a shark attack here, received nice play on "Entertainment Tonight" on NBC-TV Tuesday as she threw out the ceremonial first ball at the Oakland A's home opener against the Texas Rangers ...Robert Hsu's popular Maple Garden Restaurant that has been closed since a Feb. 12 fire, reopened April 2. Among the Sunday guests were Tom and Lois Gill, their son, Gary, and Gary's wife, Susan Essoyan, and their children, Lorin and Darian. The children were impressed by the huge John Young paintings that were not harmed by the fire ... Tomorrow, singer Marlene Sai and hula dancer Beverly Noa join the Hiram Olsen Trio and dancer Kanoe Miller at the Halekulani's House Without a Key. Kimo Kahoano emcees ...
Paul Ogata won't be performing with Andy Bumatai in their Palace Showroom weekend show following Frank DeLima tonight because Ogata's in L.A. meeting with producers of CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn." Ogata will be on Kilborn's program June 15. Paul, Andy and Frank will do a Secretary's Day luncheon show April 21, the first time all three will perform together on stage ...
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Ben Wood, who sold the Star-Bulletin in the streets of downtown Honolulu during World War II, writes of people, places and things every Wednesday and Saturday. E-mail him at bwood@starbulletin.com