Pages tagged “stephen colbert”

When Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak dropped last week, so did Stephen Colbert's Christmas spirit (as well as his album's place on the iTunes chart). As West sits at #1, the Colbert Christmas soundtrack hangs tentatively at #16. But the Comedy Central pundit has a master plan to change the fate of his disc.

[Above: Feist and Stephen Colbert]

Stephen Colbert’s new Christmas special, The Greatest Gift of All!, is set up Andy Williams-style. Our host, in his eccentric, self-aggrandizing Colbert Nation character, wears the classic red turtle-neck/ivory cable-nit sweater combo. He’s trapped in a cabin by the threat of a grizzly bear lurking outside the door, yet somehow a slew of famous musicians manage to drop by his abode unscathed. Toby Keith, Willie Nelson, John Legend, Feist, Elvis Costello and Jon Stewart sing-a-long in a series of mostly uninspired Yuletide tunes.

Christmas will come early for Stephen Colbert fans this year (before Thanksgiving, even). The funnyman will host A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All, a one-hour music special to air Nov. 23 on Comedy Central. And he's accumulated an impressive array of musicians, like John Legend, Elvis Costello, Feist, Toby Keith and Willie Nelson, to help him belt his Yuletide tunes.

At this point in his career, it's become pretty apparent that Stephen Colbert is a baller. The man already has an airplane, an ice cream flavor, a hockey mascot and a bald freaking eagle bearing his name. As if that wasn't enough, he can now add a spider to the list.

Rush: great progressive synth-rock sci-fi band or the greatest progressive synth-rock sci-fi band of all time?

The Apples In Stereo, after recently releasing their album of b-sides and rarities, Electronic Projects for Musicians, decided that they wanted to get out of the stereo and onto the stage...and the screen. In the next few months, they'll be appearing in venues, movie theatres and living rooms near you.

I Am Legend recently broke the record for biggest December film opening weekend, raking in $76.5 million. Which screen personality would you confidently shoulder with the responsibility of humanity's survival? [9279 votes total] Vin Diesel (279): 3% Chuck Norris (2035): 22% Angelina Jolie (1695): 18% Sylvester Stallone (106): 1% Arnold Schwarzenegger (218): 2% Will Smith (1255): 14% Steven Seagal (168): 2% Harrison Ford (1033): 11% Stephen Colbert (2323): 25% Other (167): 2% Full Results Comments

When this story was initially being written, Stephen Colbert had announced that though he had declined entrance in the South Carolina GOP primary, he had sent in the money necessary for the Democrats and was well on his way to the White House. What a difference six hours makes in the world of politics. Or entertainment. Or some weird mix of the two that doesn't quite have a word yet. Politainment?

In any case, since then, the Colbert campaign has taken some serious body blows. State party chairwoman Caren Fowler said that the executive committee voted to keep Colbert off the ballot: "I think this committee that votes took their responsibilities seriously. Our rules are pretty specific about what makes a legitimate candidate." Those rules being that that each candidate be acknowledged or recognized by the media as a viable nationwide candidate and that the candidate is actively campaigning in the state."I think they thought maybe that you're not quite ready to be president," Fowler said to Colbert. This has struck the talk-show pundit out of the running for the state's primaries as he'd announced on Wednesday that he wouldn't be spending $35,000 to enter to race for the GOP. "Thirty-five thousand, guys? I understand you have to keep a club exclusive, but I paid less for my black market liver," he quipped on his show.

Ever since Colbert announced his candidacy, he has seen a wellspring of support back his campaign. The facebook group "1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T. Colbert" currently has 1,354,707 members. Unfortunately, this doesn't translate over to votes on the Democratic committee, though. As a council, it voted 13-3 not to certify Colbert. This past weekend Colbert even headed out to South Carolina in order to convert voters from the local constituency, saying, "I believe in South Carolina, I believe in the people of the state, I'm gonna tell it. Strong, bold, bam I put it out there. Deal with me or get out of the way." Personally, this reporter believes that Colbert fulfills both requirements at least as well as Bill Richardson does, but that's not for the people to decide...silly two-party system.

Colbert's money is being returned to him, and since nothing's stopping him from running in South Carolina as an independent, perhaps the campaign will keep marching on.

Related links:
The Colbert Show website
500 or so other articles about this on Google News
Stephen Colbert on IMDB

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The Cold, bert facts

Stephen Colbert, the hilariously self-righteous, egomaniacal and deadpan host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report has published this sidesplitting debut because, “It takes more than thirty minutes a night to fix everything that’s destroying America.” Colbert satirically skewers “the greatest threats facing America today.” These include, of course, Hollywood (“Lights! Camera! Treason!”), higher education (“left-wing elitist brainwashing”), immigration (“No Way, José”), and the media (he describes NPR as “39% sedition” and “15% glowing descriptions of fundraising mugs”).

Colbert’s comedy is fueled by taking his “opinions” to their extremes. After expressing his loathing for French yogurt, a swaggering Colbert warns, “Either accept it without hesitation, or get out of the way, because somebody might get hurt.” Even when Colbert’s comedic alter-ego wants to be seen as open-minded, he fails spectacularly: “I’m perfectly fine with someone choosing to be gay, as long as he keeps it to himself and marries a woman and has kids like the rest of us.” Hail to the king of political parody.