tell me about it. what was said?

anything good? juicy stories? what?

i heard there were a few stories about janet and renee.

tell me please?

Correction: it should've been dubbed "E! & National Enquirer presents... Janet Jackson:Our Hollywood Story"

What was so corny about the special was that they were constructing rumors and gossip into fact.

A few things made me gag during this interview...

1. The fact that journalists and OP/ED columnists gave their "OPINIONS" on sales figures and public reactions. One journalist said that the Michael/Janet single Scream "bombed" because of lack of public interest. Hello..."Scream" was one of the biggest singles of the 90s and was the highest first-week debuting single for its time. Plus, it was played on the radio constantly. The video is still played on specials and featured in "Greats" lists. It was far from a flop. The journalist that E! interviewed would have you to believe that it was a commercial failure -- he's just culling from his own rememberances.

2. The special was so hell-bent upon pitting Janet AGAINST Michael. Janet and Michael are siblings, the love is there and will always be there. E! constructed their relationship as one of jealousy and competition. What was stupid about the closing of the special was that they summed up Janet's career as "the little Jackson girl surpassing her bigger, more famous brother." Sweetheart, Michael Jackson is STILL the biggest selling entertainer ... ever. <--period. There is NOOO WAYY any artist can achieve what MJ did in 30 years. MJ still has the biggest selling album of all time. There is no way my girl Janet eclipsed MJ sales wise. But the E! special would lead you to believe otherwise.

3. A random Janet biographer left his opinions about Janet and Rene's marriage. He said that "Rene did everything for Janet and was always there for her." Hmmm...excuse me, homeboy, did you live with Janet & Rene? Was he in the bedroom late nights getting the actual play by play? NO. Homedude relied on magazine clippings, allegiations made in court documents that never went to trial, etc. He failed to mention anything about Rene's infidelity, controlling nature or his "honey,lemme-manage-your-money" syndrome.

4. Why was the bulk of the special based around allegations lifted from ancient/outdated/skewed court documents. Rene eventually dropped the case and it never went to trial.

5. What's even more goofy is that they were trying to devulge the themes of Janet's music and the inner workings of her art and they didn't even have a clue as to what she was really singing about. Some random entertainment columnist said that All For You was basically "All For Rene." WRONG. Janet wasn't even operating on that frequency. It's a happy, optimistic record. It was funny how Jimmy Jam had to constantly keep correcting the interviewers and naysayers. "Son Of A Gun" does not mention Rene's name. The only song remotely implicating Rene was "Truth."

6. The special made it seem like Rene played an integral role in the shaping of Janet's music and career and was instrumental for her success: False. Did Rene snag Janet the $80 mil contract? Did Rene teach Janet how to dance? Was Rene's a** in the booth singing, doing background work, engineering, heavily songwriting, mixing...NO! Flyte Tyme did all that. Rene was only included when Janet asked for

Ok, so the dude wrote a few lines in a song or two, directed one video (at Janet's request) and shot some mediocre publicity photos (at Janet's request). It was JANET that made Rene. Janet was the one who gave the homeboy some work, and a name, in the first place. Why aren't the photography calls ringing for Rene if he was so important? Shouldn't he rival Jam & Lewis by now if he was such a studio whiz?

A lot of these celebrity bios and features recently have been very sloppy. Whatever happened to "objectionable journalism." Journalism used to be a medium striving for the truth, but it seems in the entertainment game, they're just stuck on sensationalism.

Unless it's on CNN or from the lips of the A.P., I don't believe anything.



Damn, I had a lot to say. LOL.
[This message was edited Mon Oct 20 14:48:41 PDT 2003 by JANFAN4L]

What was stupid about the closing of the special was that they summed up Janet's career as "the little Jackson girl surpassing her bigger, more famous brother." Sweetheart, Michael Jackson is STILL the biggest selling entertainer ... ever. <--period. There is NOOO WAYY any artist can achieve what MJ did in 30 years. MJ still has the biggest selling album of all time. There is no way my girl Janet eclipsed MJ sales wise. But the E! special would lead you to believe otherwise.

Oh, Janet DID beat Michael in one category. "Thriller" featured a record 7 top 10 singles, but Janet topped it with "Rhythm Nation," which features 7 top FIVE singles.

7 Top 5 US singles but zero Top 10 UK singles And Invincible actually sold the same as All For You worldwide, without multiple singles or a tour.

Janet's done so well for herself, but she's kind of a "local" artist with a couple of select big markets that she's conquered. Outside the US and Japan her status is a different story.
[This message was edited Tue Oct 21 0:58:49 PDT 2003 by Ellie]

Did they mention the "baby rumor" from the 80s?