ALL TIME GREATEST ENTERTAINERS AND SINGERS

WHO’S WHO OF THE BEST AMERICAN FEMALE SINGERS-ENTERTAINERS: THE BEST AMERICAN FEMALE SINGERS ENTERTAINERS FROM THE COTTON FIELDS ERA TO PRESENT, by MAXIMILLIEN de LAFAYETTE . Read the full article

 

Bono the utlimate 'ubersexual' man

Stand aside oily womanizers and clueless wimps and make way for the passionate ubersexual man of the future.

An ubersexual?

"Ubersexuals are the most attractive (not just physically), most dynamic, and most compelling men of their generations," says New York advertising executive Marian Salzman, who invented the word. "They are confident, masculine, stylish, and committed to uncompromising quality in all areas of life." And who is ubersexual numero uno? U2 front man Bono, says Salzman because "he's global, socially aware, confident, and compassionate, and he commands a huge base of followers who are fans of his music and his humanitarianism." But you don't have to be a rock star or otherwise rich and famous to be an ubersexual. Salzman, author of a new book titled The Future of Men, has drawn up a Top-10 list of famous ubersexuals, but says any man who wants to reconnect with his masculinity -- or M-ness, as she likes to call it -- can also be one. Legions already have and are enjoying the benefits. Or so she says. "Ubersexuals," she adds, "are tired of taking their behavioural and fashion cues from their female counterparts and from men's magazines that boil men down to their basest, most simplistic. These are men who embrace the positive aspects of their masculinity -- confidence, leadership, passion, compassion -- without giving in to the stereotypes that give guys a bad name -- disrespect toward women, emotional emptiness, complete ignorance of anything cultural outside of sports, beer, burgers, and athletic shoes." Salzman has serious intent and says ubersexuals are a significant segment of the male demographic that is being overlooked by advertisers and markets. (Uber means superior in German). She says the media is so preoccupied portraying men as womanizers or clueless oafs who constantly look to women for direction that they're missing an important shift in the real world. Trendspotter Salzman coined the word "metrosexual" two years ago to describe a swath of modern males who are self-absorbed, led by women and too concerned with what others think. There are similarities between the ubers and the metros, she says, but lots of important differences. Both are passionate, but the uber is passionate about causes and principles, while the metro is mostly passionate about himself. The uber also spends more time grooming his mind than his hair. Both treat and respect women as equals, but the uber considers other men, not women, his best friends. The uber is more sensual and not at all self-conscious. He doesn't need other people to tell him he's sexy -- nor does he plan his errands around which shop windows offer the best reflection. The uber knows the difference between right and wrong and will make the right decision regardless of what others around him may think. The metro knows the difference between toner and exfoliant and worries that he's using yesterday's brand.

Here is Salzman's top 10 most famous ubersexuals, in descending order. The comments are hers.

10. Daily Show host Jon Stewart: Outspoken without regard to what others think. Supportive of women and pokes fun at himself. 9. Guy (Mr. Madonna) Ritchie: Masculinity is unquestioned even though he's married to one of the world's top music icons. Gravitating toward strong women tends to be an uber trait. 8. Actor Pierce Brosnan: His James Bond strength was never compromised when we watched him publicly mourn his first wife (and raise her children). Remington Steele's classic elegance and savoir faire. 7. Actor Ewan McGregor: Handsome, fashionable family man, McGregor is versatile enough to go from riding his Harley Davidson around the world to walking the red carpet. Comfortable in his own sexuality. 6. Barack Obama: U.S. senator who marries sentimental love of family with a new face of patriotism. Looks sharp in a suit. 5. Arnold Schwarzenegger: From body builder to mega movie star to politician, all the while keeping his shoes buffed and hair in place. He has succeeded in every challenge he's faced, and he has a Kennedy for a wife. 4. Donald Trump: Love him or hate him, The Donald is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money. 3. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton: Born charmer with Southern roots who is not afraid to cry. He is a supremely confident, decisive leader. Supremely sexy hands. 2. Actor George Clooney: Appreciates the finer things in life (including his villa on the shores of Lake Como), and he is strongly bonded with and loyal to a cadre of male friends. 1. Bono: Is it any wonder rumours were swirling about a Nobel Peace Prize?

Etheridge says she used medicinal pot

Photo: Melissa Etheridge talks about her battle with cancer.

NEW YORK-Melissa Etheridge says she smoked medicinal marijuana to help with the side effects of chemotherapy during her treatment for breast cancer. The 44-year-old singer, who was diagnosed over a year ago, is now cancer-free. "Instead of taking five or six of the prescriptions, I decided to go a natural route and smoke marijuana," Etheridge says in an interview to air Sunday. (7 p.m. EDT). When asked how her doctors reacted, Etheridge says, "Every single one was, 'Oh, yeah. That's the best help for the effects of chemotherapy."' The singer said she smoked marijuana every day for her pain and symptoms and "the minute I didn't feel it, I stopped." The use of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation is legal in California and nine other states, but is against federal law. Asked if she was concerned about federal prosecution, Etheridge replied, "No, I didn't worry. But it was worth it." She recently released a new greatest hits album, The Road Less Traveled, including the new song I Run for Life, which is dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.

His merger of rock 'n' roll with theatre, as well as his send-up of rock 'n' roll as every conservative parent's worse nightmare, laid the foundation for Marilyn Manson -- who also took a girl name and went a step further by transforming himself into a gender-less, insect-like mutation. Both Cooper and Manson have, in their respective heydays, been blamed for everything from the Vietnam war to the Columbine high school massacre -- successfully upsetting the moral majority and providing a convenient scapegoat in difficult times. It was Manson who shone a light on the hypocrisy of blaming a rock 'n' roll star for driving people to violence. For Cooper's part, he was only trying to have fun. "Oh my God, I was the anti-Christ," he says. "I probably got banned in England, I got banned everywhere. I think that at the time I scared just about every organization in the world. I think it was because they were looking at the future of rock 'n' roll and I was making fun of it. "They were saying, 'I want to see something that I can relate to,' and I was giving them surrealism, you know," he says, laughing. Loud, too.

Unlike the 1960s folk fans, Cooper celebrated when Bob Dylan went famously electric. "We learned from The Who and The Yardbirds, there is nothing worse than wimpy rock." Legendary 1970s rock critic Lester Bangs once said of Cooper that he embodied the spirit of punk rock because the shock rocker could take a pie in the face. Cooper happily accepts the role of punk godfather. "If you look at anything the Sex Pistols did, the Sex Pistols looked at us as being their fathers. To this day, I am the only act that Johnny Lydon (Johnny Rotten) ever liked. "And after our first album came out, Lester reviewed it as 'a tragic waste of plastic.' I said, 'Wow. That's pretty harsh. That's great that he would say that.' Frank Zappa produced our first album and Lester didn't get that album. Lester picked up on us after we had a bunch of hit records. In fact, we went out of our way to be more obnoxious when we got hits. I think that's what he liked." That, and the fact that Cooper has always been more about trash and flash than pomp and circumstance. "I forget sometimes I'm Alice Cooper," he says. "I'll be at home and people will come up to me in a grocery store and say, 'I'd like your autograph,' and I go, 'Oh yeah yeah, I'm Alice Cooper.' I never have ever made it the most important thing in my life." But he is proud, too, of the influence he's had on popular culture, of his standing as a household name that will forever fall into the out-in-left-field category. "I think Alice has sort of been woven into Americana now, whereas before, I was on the outskirts, I was sort of the uncle that nobody talked about. Now I think when you say 'Alice Cooper' you're almost saying 'Vincent Price.' And I like that." As for his experience with Canadiana, it hasn't all been rosy. "I have a little history there, I fell off the stage there and broke all my ribs. That was back in the Welcome to My Nightmare days." By Gary  Gold

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Unplugged Alicia Keys AMG Rating: Label: J-Records Format: CD Release Date:10/11/2005

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