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Kristin Chenoweth on her anthem performance: I just wanted to make Oklahoma proud

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Y’all had a lot of thoughts about Kristin Chenoweth’s rendition of the National Anthem the other day, and I loved it! Quick replay: the NBA Finals came down to the Indiana Pacers vs the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the game held Sunday on the Thunder’s home turf. Kristin, who hails from Broken Arrow, OK, got the ball rolling by singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of the proceedings, clad in her own Thunder t-shirt and bedazzled knee-high boots. I think for many people tuning in for the basketball, this was an introduction to Tony Award-winning Kristin and her classically-trained voice. This is the good witch who originated the role of Galinda on Broadway — she’s got soprano pipes and she knows how to use them! Fresh off the triumphant night, Kristin spoke with The Oklahoman about the preparation she put into singing the anthem, her pride in the team, and a few Wicked thoughts:

How was it seeing the Thunder’s championship scene play out at Paycom Center?


I was so happy. We had great seats, and people asked if I was nervous about the anthem. No, I was nervous about the team. I wanted us to win.

Did it go through your mind before you sang that you wanted to set the tone or get the team off to a smashing start?


You know, sometimes when I get asked to do the anthem, it’s by either the NFL or the network or something. But this one was the Thunder, and I took it very seriously.

And I always take singing that song very seriously, because of the beautiful words, the lyrics of the song. So, I just wanted to make Oklahoma proud.

And, yeah, I guess I did want to set the tone (and) just get everybody ready to really cheer their brains out to, hopefully, win. (chuckles)

Was that an extra fancy version of the anthem for the Thunder?


Yeah, I went up to the High C. It’s the night to do it, you know? I’m an Okie. The Thunder is my favorite team. It’s the very final game; we’re at home; we want this championship. We’ve never been there. It’s our turn. All of those things are going through my mind. So, that’s the time to really sing it.

What are your thoughts on how many more people have embraced ‘Wicked’ since the first movie came out and with the second one coming?


Oh, I love it. But I knew when we opened in San Francisco, before we hit Broadway, that we were going to be a hit. I just didn’t know (how big).

What, 23 years later, ‘Wicked’ is still relevant. So, it’s been a good year. It’s just been a good year.

And now you’re getting ready to debut ‘The Queen of Versailles’ on Broadway?


Yeah, we start (rehearsals) in August, and we open in November. But I’m an athlete, too. I’ve got to get my mind, body and spirit ready. … I’ve got to get focused on my own game. That’s what I’ve got to do. (laughs)

[From The Oklahoman]

“And I always take singing that song very seriously, because of the beautiful words, the lyrics of the song.” That’s why I wanted to cover this little interview, because so many of you noted in the comments the other day about how well, and distinctively, Kristin told the story of the song through her performance. And then heck yeah she hit that High C! Some people may just not like opera, but I think the NBA and the Thunder knew what they were getting when they asked Kristin to perform, and in the end, the pride went both ways.

True story: growing up in San Francisco, my mother and I got season tickets to a “Best of Broadway” series, to see touring productions and shows in previews. And yes, that package included the pre-NYC debut of Wicked, in the short period before Robert Morse was replaced by Joel Grey as the Wizard (Bob booked Mad Men not long after, don’t worry). But guess who’s the munchkin-headed idiot who gave up her seat at the last minute? Me, that’s who! My reason for backing out was vague (though in my defense, I was a teenager at the time). Anyway, my mother and her friend thoroughly enjoyed it and saw the hit it was destined to be. For my part, I picked up the book and was instantly under its spell. We got the first Wicked: For Good trailer recently, and everyone was excited about hearing parts of the titular song. Personally, I can’t wait to see and hear Part II’s opening number, “Thank Goodness.” I never saw Kristin perform it live (again, because I’m a boob), but her command of that song, the subtleties and character arcs she conveys through her voice alone, even just listening to the cast album she always gave me chills.

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Photos credit: Jennifer Graylock/INSTARimages

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Kristin Chenoweth’s rendition of the National Anthem at the NBA finals was polarizing

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The American National Anthem takes no prisoners, musically speaking. Sure, we all get by when singing in a crowd. But belting it out solo, with the spotlight that entails, requires tuning the pipes and rehearsing the sh-t out of it before hitting the stage. When you hear a singer really in command of the melody, it’s sublime. When it’s less than that, our ears pick up on the struggle. So when I heard that THE Kristin Chenoweth was stepping out on court to deliver “The Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of Sunday’s NBA Finals, I breathed a sigh of relief straight from the diaphragm. Because Ms. Chenoweth is in charge of any song she sings, never the other way around, thankyouverymuch. Sadly, not all were appreciative of Kristin’s powerful voice. While I thought the performance was a slam dunk (sportsball pun!), others found her rendition polarizing, as they noted vociferously online:

Kristin Chenoweth may be Broadway royalty, but NBA fans were less than enchanted by her national anthem performance.

The Oklahoma-born singer and Tony Award winner performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, June 22. Dressed in an Oklahoma City Thunder graphic T-shirt and silver embellished boots, the “Wicked” star sang in her distinctive musical theater tone. Toward the end of the anthem, Chenoweth, 56, held a long, opera-style high note to applause before concluding her rendition.

Many viewers at home weren’t quite sold on the showtune flair:

“This is the worst National Anthem I ever heard,” one user wrote.

“They got a opera singer doing the national anthem I’m done,” another wrote.

“Listening to the national anthem at that part,” one user captioned a gif of NeNe Leakes seeming visibly taken aback.

“They shoulda invited that girl who sang the national anthem in Spanish to sing there,” one fan chimed in, referring to R&B singer Nezza’s recent performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Spanish at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game.

Though everyone didn’t share Chenoweth’s love for musical theater, her Oklahoma City Thunder still pulled off a win to take home the city’s first title, defeating the Indiana Pacers 103-91.

One user in their criticism called back to one infamous rendition of the national anthem, adding, “this national anthem up there with fergie.”

Fergie’s 2018 performance at the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles drew much criticism at the time, leading the singer to explain to TMZ at the time, “I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best.”

[From USA Today]

No! No no no no no no. You don’t do this to Emmy and Tony Award winner and classically-trained songstress Kristin Chenoweth! In June, no less, the month of Pride and the Tonys!! Honestly, I thought she killed it. There’s one moment towards the end, which I guess is tripping up these naysayers, where she does trill out on a super soprano high note. You know why? Because she CAN. I thought it was baller flex (more basketball lingo!) and, frankly, resent the anti-opera, anti-musical theater rhetoric running afoul in people’s comments. And to liken Kristin’s rendition to that of Fergie’s 2018 fiasco? For shame. They’re not even close. Fergie approached the National Anthem like a breathy nightclub act; Kristin marched her whole 4’11” frame up there and went, “I’m gonna do the thing AND show off a bit too AND my hometown team is gonna win to boot,” with all the energy of an over-excited theater kid who knows they have the talent to back up the bravado. And she did all that without even getting up before 11am! That takes some big (basket)balls.

KRISTIN CHENOWETH SINGS THE NATIONAL ANTHEM ????

PERFECT WAY TO TIP OFF GAME 7 ON ABC! pic.twitter.com/BVUEcNmD8L

— NBA (@NBA) June 23, 2025

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Lamar Odom: Intervention Staged By Family! NBA Star Peaces Out in a Hurry!

Desperate to help any way that they can, Lamar Odom’s family staged an intervention in New York City Friday night, according to reports.

Suffice it to say, this did not go over well.

Lamar Odom in a Daze

In response to the former NBA star’s recent troubling behavior, his family decided to step in and try to get him the help he badly needs.

A source quoted by Us Weekly confirms that the mediation took place on Friday night with several of Odom’s close family members.

Lamar’s longtime partner Liza Morales, the two children she has with Lamar, his aunt JaNean Mercer, and several cousins were involved.

Good for them for stepping up, but … it didn’t take.

“Lamar was doing really bad and his family was going to stage an intervention on Friday,” the insider tells the celebrity news magazine.

According to a separate report from Extra, the retired L.A. Lakers baller “was extremely surprised” by this and quickly “left the location.”

Continue reading “Lamar Odom: Intervention Staged By Family! NBA Star Peaces Out in a Hurry!”
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Roman Polanski wants his rape case dismissed so he can film a movie

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This must be the month in which rich, entitled celebrity dudes seek to delete their criminal pasts with a quick swipe of an eraser. We’ve only just spoken of how Mark Wahlberg seeks a pardon for his racially motivated assaults of yesteryear. Now Roman Polanski’s getting in on the act, which is convenient in a year that’s seen the Bill Cosby and Woody Allen scandals take on new life.

Polanski feels he deserves special treatment for a crime that happened decades ago. To recap, Polanski was charged in 1978 for raping Samantha Geimer. He knew she was underage. He drugged her. He did terrible things to her. Then he was surprised to be convicted. He struck a plea deal to accept guilt (for one of five charges). Before sentencing, Polanski hopped on a plane to France. In 2010, the US almost pulled him back to the States, but the Swiss refused to extradite him.

Polanski’s been living the high life, but he’s very downtrodden. Poor thing. His life won’t be complete until he films a movie in Poland, and he wants the US to close his case so he can do so without fear of extradition:

Alan M. Dershowitz is seeking to lead what could be the final effort to end the legal case against the film director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States before final sentencing on a statutory rape charge in 1978. In connection with a Los Angeles County Superior Court filing on Monday, Mr. Dershowitz is asking permission to represent Mr. Polanski in California.

The filing charged prosecutors with providing false information to support a recent attempt to have Mr. Polanski extradited from Poland. It also demanded a hearing aimed at closing his case, based partly on fresh testimony that a Superior Court judge, in 2009, had unethically prejudged issues related to Mr. Polanski’s prosecution, and had a secret plan to jail him at least briefly, even while limiting his actual sentence to time served.

In October, the authorities in Poland questioned Mr. Polanski, who had been living in France, but declined to detain him following a request from the United States for his extradition when he was photographed at the opening of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. In 2010, Swiss officials ultimately ruled against extradition after detaining Mr. Polanski for more than nine months on a similar request.

The request by Mr. Dershowitz to represent Mr. Polanski opened what promises to be a broad legal and public-relations effort to lift the threat of extradition and jail time from Mr. Polanski, now 81. He was first charged with raping a 13-year-old girl, who has since identified herself as Samantha Geimer, in 1977.

Mr. Polanski was imprisoned for psychiatric evaluation under a plea agreement, but he fled before sentencing when he learned that Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, now dead, intended to impose additional jail time. He and his lawyers have since argued that Los Angeles prosecutors and judges repeatedly violated his rights, and that his sentence has been fully served. But officials have insisted that he must return before those claims can be heard.

Mr. Polanski, a Holocaust survivor who was born in Poland, has said he would return there to shoot a film about an Alsatian Jew, Alfred Dreyfus, who in the late 19th century was accused of passing military secrets to Germany. The Dreyfus case, which ended in his exoneration, raised debate about anti-Semitism and prosecutorial misconduct.

But to shoot in Poland, Mr. Polanski and his backers have said, would require assurance by the Polish authorities that he would not be subject to extradition.

[From Hollywood Reporter]

There’s a bunch of blah-blah legal talk in the filing, which implies how the original judge was considering reducing Polanski’s sentence to “time served,” but that didn’t happen. Why? Because Polanski skipped out on his punishment. So the original penalty and sentence still applies.

Dershowitz argues that Polanski was “falsely characterized” as a “continuing flight risk,” which … I don’t see what’s so false about that characterization. Polanski got on a plane and left the country. It’s really that simple. He didn’t feel like serving whatever sentence the judge handed out. He thought he did nothing wrong. He thought he was above the law. But he wants to make a little movie, so we should stop bringing the man down? Bitch, please.

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‘At this point, Jennifer Aniston does not want children,’ Us Weekly’s source claims

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Jennifer Aniston went dark after the news of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s wedding broke yesterday morning. Whatever interviews you see with her today were done BEFORE the news broke. Just FYI. “Going dark” isn’t a bad strategy at this point, but it sucks that she has to do that when she was in the middle of promoting Life of Crime. And yes, while I’m no Aniston-loonie, it’s unfair that many people are going “Aw, poor Jen” in the wake of Brangelina’s announcement. To be fair though… she set it up that way. She actively participated in it for years. And it probably helps that she’s with Justin Theroux now. Us Weekly has a story about JustJen’s bliss these days. Some highlights:

*Jennifer planned their recent trip to Bora Bora. They stayed at the Four Seasons. And “that’s all she wants to organize at the moment.”

*Justin and Jennifer are “no closer to tying the knot than they were the day he slipped a 10-carat diamond on her finger two years ago.” A source says: “The vibe is that the wedding can wait… they are loving the engagement.”

*Their lack of wedding plans is “even an inside joke for the couple.” Justin’s unnamed friend says that if the wedding plans come up in conversation, “they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, we should get to that.’”

*Us Weekly’s sources claim Justin “recently gave up his NYC pad” to live in Bel Air with Jennifer full-time and he’s looking to move the production of The Leftovers to LA because “Justin would like to be closer to Jen.”

*If they do have a wedding, “Jen and Justin want something casual.” And they might elope – “Jen’s mentioned bringing friends to Hawaii and doing a small ceremony.” And whenever Jennifer throws a party, her guests get dressed up because they think she might be throwing a surprise wedding.

*As for kids, a source tells Us Weekly: “At this point, Jen does not want children… Jen loves where she is in her life right now.”

[From Us Weekly, print edition]

Not to start a flame-war (JK), but I don’t think there’s a “at this point” about it. She doesn’t want kids. She never did. But she could never say it because of her fanbase. Speaking of, when Jennifer was on the red carpet for Life of Crime on Wednesday, she spoke to People Mag about how she always gets questions about babies. She said:

“It’s not something that’s in our everyday life, quite honestly. It’s more questions that arise in a red carpet line or in an interview…I just find it to be energy that is unnecessary and not really fair for those who may or may not [have children]. Who knows what the reason is, why people aren’t having kids. There’s a lot of reasons that could be, and maybe it’s something that no one wants to discuss. It’s everyone’s personal prerogative, that’s all.”

[From People]

She’s right. Nobody knows what people are going through and even innocent questions can be a dagger in the heart of someone with fertility issues. But for Aniston specifically and her history of baby-baiting her fans (“I’ve never in my life said I didn’t want to have children. I did and I do and I will!”), it just feels like she’s come to a place and time in her life where she can finally admit (at long last) that she’s just not into motherhood. I’m not into motherhood either and I’m fine with that. But how will her fans feel? You know, the fans who look at these photos and say “OMG, she’s finally pregnant, thank God, IN YOUR FACE BRAD”?

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Donald Sterling banned from NBA games for life, should he have to sell The Clippers?


LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling has been slapped with a $2.5 million fine and has been banned from NBA games for life following the weekend release of audio recordings in which he makes disgustingly racist remarks to his mistress. The billionaire octogenarian was heard telling his mistress to remove all black people from her instagram, including pictures of herself with famous sports stars like Magic Johnson, and stating that he supports African Americans on his team by giving “them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses.”

The new NBA commissioner David Silver imposed the fine and ban on Sterling, which is said to be the harshest penalty available, and gave a press conference in which he made the announcement. Over a handful of team sponsors, like Red Bull, Virgin America and Carmax, have already withdrawn their support of the team. Silver said:

“Sentiments of this kind are contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multicultural, and multiethnic league. I am personally distraught that the views expressed by Mr. Sterling came from within an institution that historically has taken such a leadership role in matters of race relations.” [via Boston Globe]

Now the Board of Governors of the NBA, made up of 23 team owners, has to vote on whether to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. It is widely expected that they will do so, despite some opposition. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (I know him from Shark Tank) has said that making Sterling sell the Clippers would be a “slippery slope.” From what I’ve read, the other owners support it though. Personally, I don’t see how anyone but another billionaire sports team owner could have an iota of sympathy for this racist a*hole. This guy has no business owning an NBA team.

Meanwhile the lawyer for the mistress heard on the tape with Sterling, V. Stiviano, has asserted that his client didn’t release the recording, that she taped Sterling with his knowledge, and that she wasn’t his mistress. It’s all pretty laughable. Stiviano’s lawyer said that his client worked as an “archivist” for Sterling and that she “had no association with any rich people before this… it’s nothing like it’s been portrayed.” He also claimed that Stiviano is “a hardworking young woman who supported herself working as a waitress and who volunteered to help crime victims.” She works as a waitress and “archivist” and yet carries a Birkin bag. If they wanted us to believe that she didn’t release the tape they shouldn’t have laid it on so thick. Stiviano is being sued for $1.8 million by Sterling’s estranged wife, who is attempting to recover some of the money her husband spent on her. For “archiving.”

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Dennis Rodman Thinks North Korea Is Just Dandy

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Dennis Rodman has been spending a bit of time in North Korea, where he’ll be heading up a basketball tournament TODAY against the country’s players. He spent a bit of time there last year, as well, and seems to have struck up a bit of a friendship with Kim Jong-un, which is hilarious and bizarre and kind of terrifying. This game is in celebration of the tyrant’s birthday and features ex-NBA players Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson, and Vin Baker as well as Craig Hodges, Doug Christie and Charles D Smith, among others. Something tells me North Korea will win…

A lot of people have been looking to Rodman to speak out against the detainment of American Kenneth Bae, who’s been imprisoned there for over a year, though the exact reasons aren’t clear. However, they must be clear to Dennis, as he thinks Bae deserves it and Kim Jong-un is a pretty sweet dude. When he was asked about this in an interview, here’s how Dennis replied:

“Kenneth Bae did one thing… If you understand what Kenneth Bae did. Do you understand what he did in this country? Why is he held captive here in this country, why?… I would love to speak on this.

“You know, you’ve got ten guys here, ten guys here, they’ve left their families, they’ve left their damn families, to help this country, as in a sports venture. That’s ten guys, all these guys here, does anyone understand that? Christmas, New Year’s. I don’t give a rat’s ass what the hell you think! I’m saying to you, look at these guys here, look at them… they dared to do one thing, they came here!”

LOL, okay, so basically Dennis Rodman has no idea what the hell he’s talking about and is probably getting paid a shit ton of money to be there and is shitting himself over the thought that if he makes one wrong move, he could end up in Bae’s situation, too. But surely he’s not broke yet, so why even bother to go there? I don’t know, maybe he is that much of a fucking idiot (or on that many drugs) that he truly believes he’s “friends” with Kim Jong-un.

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