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Pop Culture Potpourri: Streisand Rip-Off, “Dateline” Dumped, and Three Times Is Not The Charm

STREISAND RIP-OFF

Rosie O’Donnell may be thrilled about her idol Barbra Streisand’s upcoming concert in Rome, but Italian consumer groups want authorities to cancel the singer’s gig because they think people are getting ripped off.

According to European news reports, the consumer group maintains Streisand’s concert tickets cost way too much money. The Adusbef and Codacons groups urged the city of Rome and the Italian Olympic Committee to deny permission for Streisand to perform at the Stadio Flaminio on June 15th. Never mind that the venue is where the singer plans to perform her first-ever concert in Italy and the date when she officially kicks off her European tour.

So how much is too much? The ticket prices range from just under $200 to more than $1,200. Prices that the groups say are “absurd and shameful.”

Oh, but it gets better: the groups went on to say that the 24,000-seat stadium, owned by the city “is public property and cannot be used for immoral deals that are shameful to a civilized country.”

Do you think the ticket prices are unreasonable? (We won’t ask Rosie to answer that one.)

“DATELINE” DUMPED

I recently blogged about NBC “Nightly News” weekend anchor John Seigenthaler getting the boot by the network, now it seems his colleague Stone Phillips will be joining him on the unemployment line. According to network officials, the “Dateline NBC” anchor is being cut due to a cost-cutting move.

“It’s been a wonderful 15 years,” Phillips said in a statement issued by NBC. “I’m profoundly appreciative of the many friends and colleagues, past and present, who have been a part of the ‘Dateline’ family. This is a great news division with a bright future. I wish the people of NBC News all the best.”

In what’s being called the “most-effective move financially” Phillips won’t formally be replaced; rather, his co-anchor, Ann Curry, who also works on NBC’s “Today” show will continue hosting the show. The network also said that other “Dateline NBC” reporters would serve as on-air hosts on the days their stories air. I don’t know about you, but I enjoyed watching Phillips on “Dateline” (though his voice would throw me from time to time), but given that the newsmagazine has only one permanent time slot–on Saturday night—-come the fall, I doubt Phillips’ presence will be missed much.

THREE TIMES IS NOT THE CHARM

The person who coined the phrase: “Three times is a charm,” obviously never met actor Tom Arnold.

According to news reports, after 5-years of marriage, Arnold has decided to file for divorce from his third wife. The couple married in 2002, but in August 2006 Arnold filed a petition for legal separation. Six months later, the actor asked a judge to dismiss that request while he and his wife attempted to reconcile.

Apparently, that didn’t work so now Arnold who was previously married to actress Roseanne Barr and Julie Lynne Champnella is back to living life as a bachelor.

This entry was posted in Television and tagged , , , , by Michele Cheplic. Bookmark the permalink.

About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.