Time to pull out Keith

The above photo does not have anything to do with the following blog. We at UM just wanted to scare the crap out of you on Halloween!!!!

I guess you could view that title a number of ways, couldn't you? What we are talking about today is more and more of the onslaught of Kidman in the media. Funny, isn't it, that while she talks about the epic, which she does, she, as usual in the last three years, shifts the interview to a review of her personal life. In Parade magazine she goes off the board in talking about how she had to dig deep inside to deal with Keith and his rehab.

Of course we all know (yes, I am assuming something that you know) that she really knows very little about addiction and Keith's in particular. But that doesn't stop Nicole, nope there she goes talking about his struggle as their struggle. In one interview she talks about Keith's desire for privacy and there she is talking about the most life threatening thing for him, his addictions. Leave that alone, Nicole, because that just stirs up a whole mess of ugly and I wonder if that is the motivating factor? She claims how much she loves him, yet she violates his privacy to shill her film.

Talking about Keith does serve a purpose, however, and that is so she is not asked about her career. Keep the talk on having a baby at 41, something that Lucille Ball also did but didn't run to the media about it, and the questions about what has happened to her career don't come up. Nicole Kidman has to have this film be a hit. No question about it, this must be successful or her leading lady days are over. So Kidman is doing anything to avoid that reality - talking about her presentable marriage. Her lack of a relationship with her other children is dismissed by her joy in birthing Sunday Rose. Hey, Nicole, how about a question about why you make poor movie choices? Why haven't any of the films that you have made in the last five years been successful? Those are questions that should be asked; not about Keith's rehab that was two years ago.

Another little article passed our desk this week. In an Italian magazine Kidman says that she will probably never live in Australia again. That when she and Keith and the little girl were there in August she decided that they couldn't have the privacy that she has in the United States. How many of you are like me and knew that when they went over there in April 2007, and all that talk about being home was the usual Kidman BS? Bought the cattle ranch for what? Nice for the tourist buck when the lead actress would rather live in the US than in the lovely Aussie outback. How long will it be until she says the same about Nashville? Kidman and Sunday will be L.A. bound and Keith will probably figure into the explanation of why. Keith Urban the man - best used as an excuse.

...Did you hear what I heard?

As an artist, I can’t imagine any greater pat on the back than winning the Entertainer of the Year award. While hoards of loyal fans watch on the television, all of the industry gathers to witness this top honor. How exciting it must be for the performer(s) that achieve this feather in their cap. The list of nominations for this award is rather impressive- Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Sugarland and Keith Urban. Each artist brings so much to the table with them that it must be rather difficult for the voting members to decide. The ACM website lists what is taken into account for this category and I would think that the CMA criterion is very close to this as well.

1. Success at radio
2. Sales of prerecorded music
3. Success of music videos
4. Live concert ticket sales
5. Artistic merit
6. Appearances on television
7. Appearances in films
8. Songwriting
9. Writing
10. Contributions to the country music industry

That’s a lot of information to consider when voting for the nominees. I wondered who I would vote for based on the above items, so I did a bit of research to see who did what in 2007-2008. It took me a while to get to some of the statistics but you gotta love the internet!

Album sales: depending on the site, the top album sales will very a little but overall they seem to have Carrie Underwood as the top seller. I realize that Carrie was not nominated for this award, but it is worth mentioning that, in fact, she had 2 albums in the top 10 by the end of last year. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Keith toured with her. Rascal Flatts had 2 in the top 10 as well by the end of the year. Rounding out the top 5 were Taylor Swift, troubled crooner Keith, and then Sugarland.

Concert ticket sales: Kenny, Tim & Faith, Martina, Rascal Flatts and Toby certainly did their part to make sure country music took a chunk of those dollars. Our spray-on-tan guitarist was not on this list NOR was he on the top touring acts list NOR the top earners list according to Forbes.

Sales of prerecorded music: look for some of the same top guns to pop out here. Again, minus the new baby daddy.

Songwriting and artistic merit: very interesting category, in my opinion. This area should include music that satisfies the artist and excites the fan base. The real fan base, not the “here today, gone tomorrow” types that vanish when the newest thing hits the airwaves. When an artist is interviewed saying that he’s not sure if the music on his new CD is exactly what he wanted to convey, but was talked into releasing it, one has to wonder who the CD is being released for - media outlets or the fans? I don’t mean an artist that wants to push the envelope and challenge themselves musically. Rather, the artist who was talked into releasing music that he knew was not his best effort. Yes, I’m referring to the “Pain” CD here.

Success at radio: according to Country Aircheck, Mr. Kidman was not in the top ten for the year, but Kenny, Carrie, Taylor, Brad and George were. Hey, and so was Gary Allan…imagine that.

Has the globe trotter shown the most overall success in the country music industry during the preceding calendar year? This is the bottom line question of the big night.

In this bloggers opinion, Keith doesn’t deserve the EOTY award this time around. Maybe that will give him time to remember that his fans, not his wife, make his career. He can’t behave like a “big star” and then expect anything from the “little people.” Has the man moved so far away from the musician that he has forgotten the lessons of the early days?

There is a quote that goes something like this (I am paraphrasing here)…if you forget the past, it is bound to be repeated…

Oh well, I digress, but I’ll be popping my popcorn and watching on November 12th.

How about you?

Happy Birthday, Keith Urban!

What a year it has been!

The # 1 whipped man in the world.

A number one hit for a song that is almost seven years old.

Producing a PR child so that your wife can appear to be popular and relevant.

A DVD of the tour that finally was laid to rest.

A tour with Carrie Underwood where it was more than obvious that you were more than stimulated...to play with her.

An interview with your wife where she talks about how private you are, yet violates that privacy all through the interview; then ties herself to any success you may have without her.

And now some sneak shots of you working in the studio on You Tube quelling all those rumors that might be out there.

Now, all we can hope for is not to see those “candid” pictures of you and the missus having a grand old time for your special day.

Have a great one, Keith!

A mention in the Sydney Morning Herald...

URBAN MYTHS

Beware the power of a blogger scorned - or scornful, at least.

Jeff Apter, the author of an unauthorised biography of Keith Urban, has incited the wrath of fans for his take on the "suburban loner, gifted guitarist, drug addict, platinum-plated superstar" entitled Fortunate Son: The Unlikely Rise of Keith Urban, which is due out in January. The site umyths.blogspot.com, run by a 40-year-old in the US unidentified only by their star sign (Scorpio for the record), blasts the book, which looks at Urban's rise to fame, as either a "snow job" or "sourced by someone with an axe to grind who got crapped on by Keith, and, yes, there are many that can fall into that category".

Apter, 46, a Scorpio from the South Coast, has written biographies on Michael Slater and The Cure. He defended the book, citing extensive interviews with people around Urban, plus a career working in music journalism. Considering Urban's fan base is around 70 per cent female, most of the blog's vitriol soon moves from Apter and back to another target: Nicole Kidman.

UM, scorned? Non! Scornful? Yep, that's more like it!!!

"My concert is our concert"?

The Nicole Kidman PR tour for the epic continues with Kidman on the cover of the Aussie version of In Style magazine. Nothing new really except giving birth changed her in such a profound way; and she insinuates that because she was older she experienced something that a younger woman couldn't. Beyond the hired help both to give birth and for the after birth care, I doubt Kidman knew at all what she was talking about. She is doing her ‘we are all female and thus one in the same’ spiel again, and quite frankly I am bemused more than angered by it. She has no clue how everyday women struggle and cope with what they have to do in terms of motherhood, even though she does have TWO adopted children. Many women, myself included, could care less about her struggles and thoughts. Sorry Nic, I can't relate to you never being able to wear skin tight dresses again.

One other thing that she said in this interview, in fact the only time she mentioned Keith Urban, was about how he would journey to the set (or was that when he was summoned?). That's because they are ‘each others half’ and so that ‘her movies are our movies and his concerts are our concerts’. Oh no, they aren't Yoko. I choose not to go to your movies because you aren't a good actress; I do choose to go to his concerts because he is a great performer. Do not lie to the public, Nicole, you are not wanted on the road nor does any success he may have be on account of you. Sweetheart, he did that on his own and you wouldn't have been sniffing around him if he hadn't been a success on his own. Think about the other side of that coin, too. Does that mean the cloak of failure that she covers all she encounters with falls on him? Well, isn't that true by looking at his career since they met.

If you want to see how different it all became I would recommend viewing his concert film, Living Right Now. It was Keith as he was coming into being a star and it’s a good concert. If you want to see where he is now, go to WalMart and buy Love Pain and the Whole Crazy World Tour. You will see the changes. Look particularly at the 11 songs that are featured in both films and spot the differences. I won't be buying the DVD because I really don't need to keep an artifact of the Kidman era in Keith Urban's career. It makes me too depressed for what might have been.

Isn't it sleazy?

You have probably heard by now that there is going to be a book published on January 1, 2009 in Oz. The title is Fortunate Son: The Unlikely Rise of Keith Urban, by Jeff Apter. We got the first tease yesterday when the blurb started out, "Suburban loner, gifted guitarist, drug addict, platinum-plated superstar: Keith Urban has squeezed a lot into his 40 years." Yep, a biography published in his homeland. I don't know about you but I am getting a wee bit tired of reading both the sleaze and the made-up stories about Mr. Urban.

I really didn't want to know about all the women. It's not my business to know about the depth of his addictions. And while we did get that period of time where his image was that of the barefoot poet lover who will rescue you from your hum-drum existence, most people were bright enough to realize that was not the reality. The crafted single guy who was your fantasy was actually living with women the entire time and has never been without a relationship. The man who confessed to sobriety and his walk with God, was struggling daily with those demons. Did I need to know any of this? No.

I reached a point where I literally threw my hands in the air and said enough when the Amanda stories were published in December of 2006. Were you, like me, really getting disgusted - not by the behavior, not even by Amanda selling her story, but by the fact we wouldn't have know about this had he not chosen to marry Nicole Kidman? Would there have been the need for a book to be written about him? Most major country stars don't have books written about them. He could have kept his privacy and I would have been happy just to attend his shows. But you don't get that dipping into Nicole do you?

As for this book, at 253 pages, and it being a paperback is either going to be a snow job based on cut and pasted excerpts from his interviews over the years; or it could be sourced by someone with an ax to grind who got crapped on by Keith, and, yes, there are many that can fall into that category. But what I think it just might be is something that will walk the fine line of truth and fiction and will be out there for people to make their own judgments. Being that it is being published in Australia and the liable and slander laws are what they are, don't expect anything that we haven't already seen. God knows there already is so much out there.

Congrats to Keith Urban on his new #1!!!!!

Well, folks, we today have a new Number One to celebrate for Keith Urban. He is the most whipped husband on the planet, according to some pals in Oz... http://fhm.com.au/the-whipped-list.htm

The Whipped List

This month’s FHM reveals the 20 most henpecked, emasculated, under-the-thumb men in the world.

Keith Urban

Who: One-time coke-hoovering country music god.

Why so whipped: Keith used to be cool. Sure, he plays country music, but he was living hard, partying his way across the globe. Then, he married witchy succubus Nicole Kidman, quit the gear, sprogged her up and lost his mojo. Now, he’s a boring twit with a pre-nuptial agreement that earns him $600,000 for every year he sticks with the pallid Autobot. Provided, of course, he doesn’t fall off the wagon.

This and that, and a request for our readers

Nicole Kidman talked about Keith Urban being very private. Of course, if you have been following Keith for a number of years you know this is true. But, it seems that even back then he seemed more accessible, if that is the proper word, than he is today. Of course we blame this on Kidman as she controls most of what is said about herself and those around her, but is this a good or bad thing? Have we learned more than we really needed to know because of the beacon drawn to Kidman that caught Keith?

Recently someone in the comments section asked if this was a Nicole Kidman site or a Keith Urban site? This blog was started because so many of Keith Urban's fans got fed up with the crap that came out about his personal life. You remember the "loved up" couple and how it took that little trip to rehab to show the world that what we suspected was far closer to reality than what Kidman would have them believe. But, it's about both of them.

Sharon Osbourne is a lot of things - cancer survivor, mother, rock star wife and one hell of a great business woman. She is also honest. Living with the reality that is Ozzy and having a real nasty piece of work for a father. Sharon has lived quite a life. Bravo for calling out Nicole Kidman for the liar she is!

Finally, a request to all of you who read this blog. Is there something we are missing in our messages? Is there a subject we aren't talking about that you want to know more about? Is there something that has been said in the comments section that you want us to look into? We are here to inform but, also to certain commentors' disdain, enlighten. What would you like us to write about? Do you have information to share with the class?

Trouble in Paradise?

Get ready for the onslaught of Nicole Kidman doing interviews about the great epic. From the first few interviews she has conducted one can gather the following from her words. Either the movie is going to be one big flop and everyone knows it, OR her marriage is in trouble and she is doing all she can to set herself up as a victim again.

Both Kidman and Jackman are doing all they can to promote the big movie. Jackman is doing photo shoots and interviews and while this adventure would be a big boom to his career if it is a hit, if it isn't, he will survive.

Kidman does not have that luxury. She must have this film be a hit or her days as a major star in Hollywood are over. Considering what she has been saying in these interviews, this writer believes that she is preparing for another failure and setting up her future as a character actress. She has related most of this film to her pregnancy. Why not talk about the character? Why not talk about the history in the epic? Nope, Kidman is relating it to her personal life. Go figure?

As for the second suggestion, well, Halle Berry brought her baby daddy to the big party on October 6. Kidman did not look very put together and those pictures that were taken in Nashville last weekend? It was in the seventies and she was wearing a spring-like wardrobe? Just saying. Also, for someone who claims in one breath her husband is very private, she has done all but talk about their sex life. Yes, you critics of this blog, we did want Kidman to acknowledge Keith, but this isn't really talking about him or them at all. She is spinning myths about him, their marriage and their family. All the myths are just that and will blow up in time. Of course, Kidman will be left being the sad, lonely one - but that is the plan isn't it? Something seems a tad bit off with our favorite couple. Let’s sit back and see what will happen.

From the Mailbag...

Dear Keith Urban,

Instead of coming up with the lame prizes your management team is promoting, why not give us an album full of music worth listening to? We know you know how to do that. How about giving us a tour we can be excited about, a tour where Keith Urban brings it more nights than not? From what I've heard, lately you have been bringing it, but we need some consistency. This every two weeks taking a break and flying wherever the famewhore is has to stop on the next tour. You never really get into the groove, or when you do, then it's time for a break. Keith, I don't want gifts from you, you can't buy me back with Wii games or T-shirts. I want what I came to the party for in the beginning. I want the performer who was excited about performing, I want the performer who put out a quality product, and until that performer returns, I'll be spending my money on other acts.

Yours truly,

A Former Fanclub Member, Taking A Break....

Who is this woman?... Part Two

Not only do we get the phony pictures but now we get the phony talk… after years of not really saying anything at all about Keith Urban we get the following from ELLE magazine - November 2008.

On husband Keith Urban:“He’s the greatest man besides my dad I’ve ever met. He’s loyal and he’s a soul searcher. He’ll kill me for…he’s very private”.

Well, now, that is a compliment right? Isn't it? Not really. Greatest how?

C'mon Nicole you can do better. Putting him up there with your first idol, Daddy, that's kind of lofty isn't it? Making him someone who is bound to fail perhaps? He is loyal; well this isn't hard to believe with her providing the lifestyle and the mega fame, I would be loyal too. Soul searcher? Before you were in his life I would believe this; he did seem a tad bit introspective in interviews. Now that we know that was a crafted image you have to doubt the sincerity, but compared to Kidman he is a mega pool of deep. A can of tuna is deeper than Kidman. He'll kill you for talking about him? Really? Why would he need to kill anyone? You call the paps. You arrange the interviews. He just has to have you grab on to his hand as you are 'oh so scared'? Spare me; if you could exploit him you would. Your bodyguard has done a lot more harm, hasn't he Nic? He's very, very private; well from seeing all that was exposed when you met him I can see why he may be. Who knows what else would be exposed if he didn't keep a number of things to himself. The rest of the interview is the usual Nicole crap speak. You can't really take it seriously, can you?

But wait! Think about this, what man can live up to what Kidman has described him as? He can't. Keith Urban is as flawed as a human can be. He is neither a saint nor an idol. Kidman knows that and painting him like this will just make his failures so much more predominant when she chooses to dump his butt.

Who is this woman?

Talk about photoshopping and airbrushing!!!! First pic I've seen without the rings since they've been married....

Thanks to Lainey for the tip. She also has links to more pics...

http://www.laineygossip.com/Nicole_Kidmans_frozen_face_Elle_Magazine_November_2008.aspx?IsMicro=0

Doesn't Sunday Rose have a father? That's not what Kidman wants you to think...

With the water of plenty and the only pictures of the baby being seen with mummy only, it makes you wonder about Sunday’s father. You remember that it is claimed that it is Keith Urban. Does this make you wonder just how much he really has input into the entire child issue? Do any of you think that just perhaps Keith was told when he was going to be a father around the time the rest of the world learned she was pregnant? That instead of being an active participant in the process, I can only remember one picture of them coming from a doctor’s appointment, Keith is an afterthought?

This week there was another statement from Ronnie Dunn about Keith texting him about how the baby is so aware of the paps around her. Dunn, if you don’t remember, hosted the party on the 4th of July where Kidman sat on the ground with contractions and got sprayed for chiggers. Dunn also talked to Keith about God shortly before he entered rehab. Dunn also had Keith perform with him at the 2006 CMA festival, the one where Keith blew off his fan club but needed to make an appearance. Remember, too, that Ronnie Dunn was the one that read the statement from Keith thanking everyone for his 2006 CMA male vocalist award, a statement that emphasized he loved his wife, yet Keith later said he didn't really know he had won as he was at Betty Ford and wasn't aware, so how could he know about that statement? Unless of course it was prepared in advance, or perhaps it was written by his life-saving wife? Dunn, like Ms. Rimes, has been very pro-Kidman in Nashville, so I think they are often used to promote the great big love story that just might not be very true.

Back to the baby - let's suppose that Kidman decided that the time was right for a baby. Keith really was not talking babies was he? He said they were waiting. Most believe that be it waters or a turkey baster this baby was conceived the non natural way. Meaning all it took was Keith, a magazine or video and a little plastic cup. Perhaps there was a procedure to enable Keith to drop the slop in cup but that is indeed a rumor. Whatever he had to do, Keith provided the needed swimmers. At that point what more was needed from him, and why should Nicole keep him informed? Perhaps Nicole did get pregnant. Perhaps Nicole was fitted with rubber bellies during a supposed fitting for the movie she "quit" in early 2008. These fittings supposedly took place in New York City last October when she was there promoting Margot at the Wedding. Why tell your husband? She did all that crap for him last fall. She went to the awards in the homeland. She went to the CMA’s with him. He can go along with this when the time is right.

The time was right in January 2008, when a woman known for early pregnancy problems tells the world she is pregnant minutes after the rabbit died. When did her husband know? We will go out on a limb here and say that Keith was informed there was going to be a baby not that long before the rest of the world knew. If this is true could you imagine if you were him? He hadn't had a whole year of sobriety. He told the world they weren't ready. She told the world in Vanity Fair that he said he wanted their marriage to be just about the two of them for a while. If it were this writer, I would be really pissed. If she was pregnant or there was a surrogate what was he to do? Leave her? Yeah, he runs all over and tells the world she saved him, even on the damn cover of People magazine. He dedicates that dumb song to her every night and then she may have been deceptive about a baby. What was he left to do? Even if he wanted to he couldn't leave. It would be just like Tom did when he divorced a supposedly pregnant Kidman. But we could tell from his reaction in January and his lack of detail about the birth that just like his engagement, he was not ready for this news. This is a guy that had no qualms about crying in front of America when he won an award and yet he doesn't talk about the birth? But Nicole talks about how little Sunday was very solicitous of her for the birth and pregnancy. Yet, Keith is very quiet. Maybe he is trying to be private; he did say that Sunday didn't pick a public life. If this is the case these two need to get on the same page or does it matter what he feels?

It is this writer’s opinion that when he dropped the load in the cup, Keith Urban was done. He fulfilled the alleged statement in the pre-nup that there would be a child. And Kidman is now fulfilling the other part of that where if there is a child born or acquired of the union Kidman would be the primary parent. The only difference is that no one has separated or divorced. I guess we will see what will happen in the future.