MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014

l if e st yleM U S I C & M O V I E S

It’ll be hard for Taylor Swift top this as abirthday gift: A birthday serenade fromnone other than the Queen of Soul. Aretha

Franklin arguably had the best performance ofthe afternoon as the legend gave an

impromptu performance of “Happy Birthday”to Taylor Swift, Billboard’s new “Woman of theYear,” at their annual Women in Music event onFriday. Swift swooned as Franklin sang and thepair embraced afterward and she was given abirthday cake.

Technically Swift doesn’t turn 25 untilSaturday but she was able to celebrate earlywith the honor; she was one of several womencelebrated at the event, which featured some

of the biggest names in music, including a sur-prise appearance by Beyonce. Billboard’sWomen in Music awards honors the topwomen in the industry, from executives toartists like Franklin, who received the appro-priately named “Icon” award. Swift was namedthe top woman in music after her record-breaking year, in which her “1989” albumdebuted at No. 1 and sold more than 1 millioncopies - her third straight album to accomplishsuch a feat, setting a record. She also hadchart-toppers with “Shake It Off” and “BlankSpace” and recently saw the former song getnominated for record of the year at theGrammys.

Swift used her acceptance speech to under-score her decision this fall to remove all hermusic from the streaming site Spotify on thegrounds that it doesn’t equitably reimburseartists for the use of its material.” I reallybelieve we in the music industry can worktogether to find a way to bond technologywith integrity and just really hope we canteach the younger generation the value ofinvestment in music rather than the ephemer-al consumption of it,” Swift said.

Most of the other honorees spoke about

the honor in a more personal nature. IdinaMenzel, whose voice powered the “Frozen”soundtrack into the top-selling album of theyear, spoke about reaching the apex of hercareer after some lean years, despite early suc-cess on Broadway.”I’m 43 and I’m a break-through artist,” she said of getting the“Breakthrough Artist of the Year” award.

Ariana Grande’s brother, “Big Brother” con-testant Frankie, gave his sister the “Rising Star”award in an emotional tribute.”This is com-pletely crazy and I’m going to try not to cry,”she said as she accepted it. Iggy Azalea didchoke up when she received the “ChartTopper” award; the “Fancy” rapper thanked thewomen executives who pushed her career for-ward when she thought it was dead.Charli XCXreceived the “Hitmaker” award; Jessie J wasnamed “Powerhouse”; and Hayley Williams ofParamore was crowned “Trailblazer.”

The event was star-studded; Beyonce sat inthe audience to honor her general manager,one of 50 industry executives also honored;Sharon Osbourne gave a typically profanespeech to honor Universal exec MicheleAnthony; and Civil Wars singer Joy Williams,Colbie Caillat and Ingrid Michaelson were

Taylor Swift attends the 2014 BillboardWomen in Music luncheon at CiprianiWall Street on Friday. — AP photos

Aretha serenades Swift as Billboard honors both

Idina Menzel, from left, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Meghan Trainor attend the 2014Billboard Women in Music luncheon.

Aretha Franklin attends the 2014 BillboardWomen in Music luncheon.

Beyonce attends the 2014 Billboard Womenin Music luncheon.

among those who performed. Matt Lauerpresided over a panel discussion at the endfeaturing all eight honorees, but by then,the event had approached three hours andmore than half the audience had bolted.But those who stayed got a treat with theFranklin performance - perhaps the high-light of the event. — AP

“Exodus: Gods and Kings” is ruler of the box office despiteits less-than-inspirational ticket sales. Ridley Scott’s biblicalepic launched to $8.6 million on Friday at the US box officeas it marches toward an estimated $25 million weekenddebut. The Fox action-drama, starring Christian Bale asMoses, has taken over the No. 1 spot from reigning champ“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 1.”

The movie is far behind the film that topped the boxoffice this time last year; “The Hobbit: The Desolation ofSmaug” opened to $73.6 million in 2013. The final film ofthe trilogy, “The Battle of the Five Armies,” hits US theatersnext Friday. It also trails fellow biblical epic “Noah,” whichkicked off with $43.7 million earlier this year. Like “Noah,”“Exodus” has been shrouded in controversy. The pic hasbeen attacked by critics and fans for its all-white cast. 21stCentury Fox CEO and media mogul Rupert Murdoch recent-ly defended the Anglo-led cast, tweeting: “Since when areEgyptians not white? All I know are.”

“Exodus,” which also stars Joel Edgerton as Ramses, car-ries a hefty $140 million production budget. The film pickedup $23.1 million when it debuted last weekend in 10 for-eign markets, including South Korea and Mexico. It had sur-passed $32 million by Wednesday, when it moved intoanother 38 territories. Early reviews have been mixed, earn-ing it 28% on Rotten Tomatoes. Meanwhile, another newrelease, “Top Five,” has received rave reviews (89% on RottenTomatoes). Paramount’s comedy debuted to $2.5 millionand will laugh its way to $7 million this weekend.

“Top Five” came in third on Friday, but will land in fourthplace-behind “Penguins of Madagascar”-by today. The picstars Chris Rock as a comedian trying to reinvent himself (inboth his personal and professional life). Rock also wrote anddirected the pic, which has been dubbed a career come-back. “Mockingjay” came in a distant second behind“Exodus” with $3.8 million on Friday after wearing the boxoffice crown for three consecutive weekends. The penulti-mate installment of the Lionsgate franchise should take in$12.5 million in its fourth weekend, raising its cume to $276million-about $55 million shy of the year’s highest-grossingfilm, “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Fox’s “Madagascar” spinoff “Penguins of Madagascar” wasfourth on Friday, taking in $1.6 million. It’ll move to thirdplace come Sunday as it brings in just over $7 million in itsthird frame. The space epic “Interstellar” rounded out theFriday top five, but the animated hit “Big Hero” will swoop infor that slot later this weekend. The Disney toon reeled in$1.4 million on Friday on its way north of $6 million as itcrosses $185 million at the US box office. — Reuters

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‘Exodus’ toppling ‘Mockingjay’with $25 Million

This image released by 20th Century Fox shows GoldshiftehFarahani, left, as Nefertari, and Joel Edgerton as Rhamses, in ascene from the film, “Exodus: Gods and Kings.”— AP

If you wanted to make a time capsule of what happened inpop music this year, Friday night’s Jingle Ball - the annualextravaganza held in Madison Square Garden put on by

pop station Z100 - would most likely provide the most accu-rate account. There was Pharrell - with the hat- crooning hishit “Happy”; Iggy Azalea rapping and posturing as shebreezed through “Fancy”; Jessie J and Ariana Grande playfullyone-upping each other in the power-vocal showcase smash“Bang Bang”; and Meghan Trainor serving sass on what wasarguably the song of the year, “All About That Bass.”

But the king and queen of the night (and perhaps theyear) were Sam Smith and Taylor Swift. Their separate per-formances couldn’t have been less alike: Smith was all aboutstately R&B while Swift brought her perky pop. But they werethe emotional highlights, capturing the hearts of fans whoexpressed their approval with ear-piercing shrieks andscreams. “I am the only person who asks you to scream loudlytonight who is about to turn 25 in 10 minutes,” Swift told thecrowd shortly before she celebrated her birthday after thestroke of midnight.

Smith, the newcomer who last week was nominated forsix Grammys including record, song and album of the year,was the most unlikely pop star of the bunch; he sings tradi-tional, downtempo soul songs and doesn’t dance; his signa-ture look is a drab suit and his wide, doleful eyes.

But his searing, soulful voice has made him among themost acclaimed artists of the year, and fans at Jingle Ball, whorange all ages but skew heavily toward the tween and teenset, were captivated by it as he powered through songs like“I’m Not the Only One,” “Latch” and his signature hit, theGrammy-nominated “Stay With Me.”

Swift - the evening’s final performer - was the clear fanfavorite. The former country princess opened her newlyexclusive pop set with her love letter to her new hometown,“Welcome to New York,” then segued to her self-mocking“Blank Space.” She shined, engaging the audience with anenergetic set that showed her charm as a performer - danc-ing and grooving with her band through songs like “Shake itOff” as she playfully yet forcefully warbled the grooves.

Other acts got love too. Grande - wearing a saucy whiteoutfit that looked like a leftover from her recent Victoria’sSecret gig - was reminiscent of a young Christina Aguilera asshe ran through the hits that made her one of the year’s topacts, including “Problem;” while that song features Iggy Izalea,the Australian rapper didn’t join in for that one, preferring to

stick to her own set, which featured collaborations with CharliXCX and Rita Ora.

One Republic won the crowd early with songs like

“Apologize.” Dreamy teen boy acts like 5 Seconds of Summerand newcomers Shawn Mendes and Rixton whipped thecrowd into a frenzy, and even Nick Jonas - whom with hisbrothers nearly ruptured eardrums just a few years ago - hadthe crowd on its feet as he performed his comeback single“Jealous.”Other performers included Gwen Stefani (who per-formed with Pharrell), Maroon 5 and Calvin Harris. — AP

Sam Smith, Taylor Swift own the night at Jingle Ball

Taylor Swift performs at Z100 Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden, Friday in New York. — AP photos

Ariana Grande performs at Z100 Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden.

Rita Ora performs at Z100 Jingle Ball at MadisonSquare Garden.

Iggy Azalea performs at Z100 Jingle Ball at MadisonSquare Garden.

Jessie J performs at Z100 Jingle Ball at MadisonSquare Garden.