HOLLYWOOD—What a weekend of love. Besides being Mother’s Day weekend, “Big Bang Theory” star Jim Parsons married the man he calls “the best thing that ever happened” to him, after 14 years together. He and Todd Spiewak tied the knot at New York’s Rainbow Room restaurant on May 13, according to published reports. It comes as – spoiler alert- his character Sheldon Cooper’s slow-burn relationship with Amy also reached a major milestone on the hit sitcom.
Jim Parsons, 44, is one of the highest-paid TV stars in the US. He shares that title with “Big Bang” co-stars Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki, who all get paid an estimated $900,000 for each episode of the comedy, about a group of highly intelligent-but slightly socially inept-friends. You may recall last year, Parsons marked his anniversary with Spiewak by sharing a picture of them on Instagram singing karaoke.
It was undoubtedly a memorable weekend, as well for Portugal, when Pope Francis drew a vast crowd to the Fatima shrine on May 13, where he made saints of two Portuguese children. Their visions of the Virgin Mary in 1917 turned Fatima into a top Catholic pilgrimage site. The Portuguese people are also celebrating the fact that an intimate love ballad in their language conquered a Eurovision song contest for the very first time.
Salvador Sobral’s success with Amar Pelos Dois (Love for Both of Us) has made him a national hero. Wearing a plain black suit he delivered an emotionally charged song without the theatrics that often accompany other Eurovision acts, Portugal has never got above the sixth place. The song was crafted by his sister Luisa, an accomplished singer-songwriter and music college graduate, with several CDs to her name. The song speaks to all genders and orientations with its inclusive, unadorned message. Like many watching at home around the world, the Lisbon-born 27-year-old had been baffled by the complex voting system that the contest adopted last year. Eurovision success “coincided with a good mood in Portugal”-since the winning of the Euro 2016 football (soccer) championship.
Being a songwriter is never easy, if it was easy everyone would be writing. Songwriting is as much a business as it is an art. If you want hit songs on the radio, it’s not as if you fill out a job application and someone hires you to write songs. You have to work at it. It’s like developing a muscle, you need to keep working on your craft to get better at it. So if you know a songwriter, you now know it’s been a long journey. The best-selling song of 2016, Drake’s “One Dance,” required eight writers. That means that you have to share the royalties, when it’s purchased or played.The money doesn’t get shared equally, which means lesser-known writers who contribute a line or a lick to a hit song may only get 1 percent of the profits.
Rose’s Scoop: Stars from all over the world are heading to Cannes for the prestigious film festival. The festival begins May 17 and runs through May 28. The French Rivera is getting ready for an influx of celebrities, fans and photographers.
