Cyndi Lauper, Still So Unusual

Have to admit I wasn't expecting much, but this is the best reality show in years. Shows the unglamorous behind the scenes of show biz. The kid is hilarious. Loved it.

• You might be interested in the thread about her book, OP.

  http://www.datalounge.com/cgi-bin/iowa/ajax.html%3Ft%3D12137870%23page:showThread%2C12137870

• Liked it too, much more than I thought I would.

• You can watch the first episode here. She's such an antidote to Madonna.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DXzH6rH5jTO0

• I really think she's one of the likable celebrities of all time.

• Honestly, you could tell this was scripted almost immediately. The most laughable part was when her voice was "gone" and then it just miraculously came back when it was time for her performance. I do like her though.

  Yeah, right

• Her performance on The Voice

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Da5Oxqu1YK5c

• *most* likable

  R4

• R3 desperatley wants to turn this into a Madonna thread. Don't humor her.

• Cyndi ranks with Dolly Parton in my heart. I have cared about her from the first time I saw her in San Francisco in 1983.

• [quote]Honestly, you could tell this was scripted almost immediately. The most laughable part was when her voice was "gone" and then it just miraculously came back when it was time for her performance. You're not a singer. It wasn't literal. Not gone as in laryngitis, or no voice at all, she couldn't hit all the notes she wanted to. She's been a pro for forty years and she knows how to compensate but she didn't sing it as well as should could or wanted to. The earpiece not working in rehearsals and then performance didn't help either. You have to hear yourself over the music or you can hit wrong notes too. That's what I loved about it, you saw the warts of show biz too. "The Voice" performance wasn't a disaster but it wasn't a triumph either.

• [quote]You're not a singer. And you don't know how "reality" shows work my dear. Every episode of a "reality" show has to have a drama added to it for excitement.

• Why did she say she got in a lot of trouble for She Bop?

• Because allegedly 'She Bop' was a song about woman masturbation!!!!

  Lana%20Kane

• She's no Barrie Youngfellow.

  Barrie%20Youngfellow

• [quote]And you don't know how "reality" shows work my dear. Every episode of a "reality" show has to have a drama added to it for excitement. And you don't Cyndi Lauper, who would never sing off in front of fourteen million people on purpose.

• [quote]She's no Barrie Youngfellow. Barrie Youngfellow is NO Barry Manilow.

• I can't believe her husband is the sleazy lawyer from Law & Order: SVU!

• Okay, I ADORE Cyndi, I do. But this show is leading me to fade on her. She can seem downright awful. Awful to her manager, the people around her and even her husband. Yeah I realize she's a rich and famous rock star; but some of the scene really seem to catch her in unguarded moments of being a genuine nasty, spoiled person. Ans am I the only one who thinks her kid is a nasty, vile little monster?

• Nobody else watches this show?

• [quote]And you don't Cyndi Lauper, who would never sing off in front of fourteen million people on purpose. I'll assume you were never fourteen or have ever met a fourteen year old. He's a wise ass, yes, but he's very funny.

• Her kid is a nasty little prick but it's because Cyndi and her husband, who seems sort of sweet but moronic, allow him to be. Everything the kid does is chuckle-worthy to both parents. Kids will be kids, but he's especially spoiled and bratty and nasty. He also seems like a classist little smart ass in some of the scenes when he's talking to his little friend, the kid of his mother's manager. I LOVE Cyndi Lauper, I do. But this show is exposing her to be a nasty, self entitled bitch to the people around her. That realization happens to coincide with the same impression I'm getting from reading her book. I suppose she's just been able to hide it well over the years.

• Does anyone have any idea if Cyndi is like mega loaded, or just adequately rich? Seems like she'd be nearly a billionaire when you take into account all her music and the fact 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' is licensed to everything from Hallmark cards to ring tones to television bumper music. Seems like that one song alone would net her millions every year but I get the impression she really needs to work. Also, both her house and her apartment seem like pigsties. The husband stays home but apparently doesn't clean. Wouldn't she have cleaning people at both residences???

• [quote]Seems like she'd be nearly a billionaire when you take into account all her music and the fact 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' is licensed to everything from Hallmark cards to ring tones to television bumper music. She didn't write "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

  The Voice of the Night

• Cyndi said she in her book she is NOT loaded. She turned down many opportunities for clothing lines, endorsements, hair products, etc because she felt it would cheapen her as an artist. She focused on her music and not the merchandising. She says she got ripped off by her record company. (doesn't everyone in the music business). Yes she toured, but after paying the band and all the costs, she didn't have much left. Consider this. The members of NSync made all their money from the merchandising and not from the music. As such each one is millionaires ten times over. Cyndi never did any merchandising of her image.

• [quote]She turned down many opportunities....because she felt it would cheapen her as an artist. Clothing lines would "cheapen" her but 'WrestleMania' is highbrow?? That's very odd, especially since now it seems like she'll show up to do most anything. Not that I blame her but shit, why wouldn't she at least do some sort of funky line of shirts or pants? I think her apartment building is here in the Village where I am. They only show one static exterior shot of her CT house. It doesn't look like any mega mansion, or even mansion'esque really. I wonder if she has homes in other places. From the TV show, the husband seems like little more than a babysitter to that monstrous offspring of theirs. I wonder if he has any career to speak of.

• No celeb is as rich as some people claim. A. J. McLean was on TMZ just last week when the press claimed he was worth 80 million. He said "could someone tell me where it is". All celebs worth is blown out of proportion. After taxes, then 10% for the manager, 10% for the agent,(and managers and agents don't get 10% of the after tax paycheck either) publicist, stylist, assistant, mortgage, property taxes...

• R25 Cyndi's hubby recurs on Law & Order SVU as sleazy defense lawyer Lionel Granger.

• Doesn't she live in a crazy-cheap rent-controlled apartment?

• I don't know if she's still there, but recently Cyndi lived in the historic Apthorp on the UWS. I agree that she seems like someone desperate to remain famous. Rerecording Girls Just Wanna Have Fun with a raggae beat? Recording a big band album? Donald Trump's Apprentice? Reality show on basic cable? DESPERATE. Oh well, she seems nice enough. And we know that she loves the gays.

• I knew he'd been on it R27 but have never seen L&O, didn't realize he was still on. Good for him. Between the two of them, they should be able to afford some good counseling for their messed up kid. Or at least tuition to one of those bad kids camps. That kid is going to get worse as he gets older. No doubt.

• She seems real on the show, but hubby indulges her spoiled rock star behavior. Though I am a big fan, she seems to be hard to work with.

• She always had a rep in the biz for being difficult. She's not as talented as she'd like to believe, never written a hit song. All her stuff was written for her.

• I'm reading her book and she comes across as having been extremely difficult. Though, what singing star isn't? I thought she wrote many of her hits but according to many people posting here, she doesn't write at all. On her show, they show her NYC apartment and it seems to be just one big living room and a tiny kitchen with a tiny stackable W/D next to the stove. Maybe there's a bedroom but when she had people over for lunch, they ate at a table in the living room. I'd figure she would have a larger place. I'm guessing she's either really, really tight with money, or she really doesn't have as much as she otherwise should or would. She's remarked in one episode something about how she had to work for her family. Maybe she lost a ton in the Madoff thing, or perhaps she just wasn't good with money early on.

• [quote]perhaps she just wasn't good with money early on. She filed for bankruptcy back in 1981 before she became famous, so that's saying something.

• Her biggest songwriting co-credit is for "Time After Time" which probably does make her money still. But it's true all her biggest hits weren't written by her so she gets no writing residuals. I've avoided the reality show because even the promos make her look unlikeable.

• I watched the first episode and that was enough for me. She comes off as bitter and very whiny. My opinion of her really went down when she resorted to doing that trashy Celebrity Apprentice show.

• Cyndi wrote... Time After Time She Bop Change Of Heart Witness I'll Kiss You The heartbreaking Sally's Pigeons and many more

• Why the wrestling phase? I never understood that

  A

• I can't stand the son either. So annoying and disrespectful.

• R37, I sometimes think I'm the only one who knows about Sally's Pigeons. It's beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I also admit I love her cover of La Vie En Rose. She really isn't helping her otherwise beloved reputation with this reality show. She's coming out really aggressively nasty; and not just in a put-on, reality show way. Most of it is very organic and genuine. I get the impression the asshole kid is going to live with mom and day well into his 30s, unless and until mommy puts him up in his own place. Either way, he comes across as the type of kid who'll eventually bleed his parents dry and bitch for them to hurry up and die so he can have the rest. Something about him is just scary and he doesn't seem well balanced. Then again, it could just be a phase.

• r37 - "Time After Time" was Jules Shear, "Change of Heart" Esra Mohawk, "She Bop" she may have co-written, and the others you mention weren't hits. According to many who have seen her upcoming Bway show, the songs suck. She's not a songwriter. She was a decent singer until her ego got in the way, now her concerts suck and she's lost me (and I suspect others) as a fan. She's a bitch.

• I can't think of a musical I find less interesting than "Kinky Boots." Flop.

• [quote]but according to many people posting here, she doesn't write at all. Well, that settles it, then.

• Cyndi doesn't hold the publishing rights to her songs as well. Time after Time has been covered by so many other artists. Yet she doesn't get a dime because the publishing rights are held by another company.

• I still can't believe how after 30 years onstage she is till so insecure and nervous before each show. A little anxiety, sure but she becomes a basket case.. [quote] can't think of a musical I find less interesting than "Kinky Boots." ... Flop. Written by queers about queers, of course Datalounge will rip it apart sight unseen. Soooooo glad I don't know you R42, you seem as friendly as Cancer.

• Wrongo, R41. "Time After Time" was written by Cyndi and Rob Hyman of The Hooters.

• Her son is so jealous of her fame. When her book arrived, he got all huffy and rolled his eyes and then ignored everyone, including the book. He's kind of a moody bitch.

• Not really understanding some of the animosity towards Cyndi and this show. I don't find her unnecessarily rude or demanding, and I see her family as quite charming and genuine. The son's gonna be a cutie when he gets older. I discovered the show because of this thread, having never been a fan of her work particularly. I'm old enough to remember the Madonna/Cyndi supposed rivalry and always chose Madonna (what of it?). She actually comes across as quite thoughtful and kind in the face of normal celeb demands. She looks quite good for her age from most angles, but her jawline looks decidedly odd for some reason.

• Cyndi got the title for the song by looking through the tv guide and seeing the 1979 movie "Time After Time" listed.

  Trivia