Guilty Pleasures
By Associated Press
Taylor Swift ‘Eras’ tie-in book is a smash, selling more than 800,000 copies in first weekend
NEW YORK | Just one retail chain was enough for Taylor Swift to have the top-selling book last week and the biggest publishing launch of 2024.
According to Circana, Swift’s “Eras Tour Book” sold 814,000 copies over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Circana tracks around 85% of the print market, but the “Eras” numbers are more precise: Swift sold the book exclusively through Target, which launched the “Eras” tie-in on Black Friday.
Sales soared even as Swift skipped Amazon.com and other retailers and as some fans complained online that the $39.99 book included typos and other errors. Representatives for Target and Swift did not immediately respond to requests Wednesday for comment.
The sales put Swift in rare company. The only bigger nonfiction launch was the first volume of Barack Obama’s presidential memoirs, “A Promised Land,” which sold 816,000 copies its first week on shelves in 2020, according to Circana, which does not include audio and e-book sales. But Obama’s memoir was available through all major outlets and Circana’s tracking for “Eras Tour Book” accounts only for its first weekend sales.
Swift has arranged exclusive, non-traditional releases before. For her “Eras” concert film, which came out in 2023, she bypassed Hollywood studios and worked directly with AMC Theatres and Cinemark Theatres. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” has made more than $200 million at the box office and stands as the highest grossing concert movie in history.
Even before the “Eras” book, Swift has been a mini-genre in the publishing industry, the inspiration for biographies, romance fiction, fashion, coloring books and a cocktail recipe collection, “Shake It Up.” Another top seller of 2024, according to Circana, is Wendy Loggia’s “Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography,” designed in the tradition of such Little Golden favorites as “The Three Bears” and “The Whispering Rabbit.”
Venezuelan pop band that embraced Maduro’s opponent cancels tour after his criticism of
its lyrics
MIAMI | One of Venezuela’s most popular bands canceled its homecoming tour after President Nicolas Maduro criticized the group for what he said were sexist lyrics — a lashing out that many said was an attack by the leftist leader over the band’s embrace of his political opponents.
Rawayana, a 2025 Grammy nominee, was to play across the country to sold-out shows, starting this week but the concerts were abruptly cancelled on Tuesday night.
On Sunday, Maduro laid into the group for its hit song “Veneka” — a term long used by Latin Americans to refer to Venezuelans but which has become pejorative over the past years as millions of Venezuelans fanned across the continent, fleeing poverty and Maduro’s increasingly authoritarian rule.
“The group that made that song didn’t just mess things up, they stepped in it, they stepped in it,” an angry Maduro said at a rally in Caracas, the country’s capital. “The women of Venezuela are called Venezuelans with respect and dignity. They are Venezuelans, not venekas!”
Rawayana took the term for the name of its catchy tune, which mixes salsa and an electronic dub groove with misogynistic lyrics. Still, the band claims the song celebrates Venezuelan women’s beauty and strength.
The tour was to be something of a homecoming for Rawayana, which was formed in Caracas in 2007.
Some of its members, like millions of Venezuelans, have abandoned their homeland in recent years as the economy nosedived and Maduro tightened his grip on power. While the group has mostly steered clear of politics, it leveraged its powerful voice among Venezuelan youth to protest Maduro’s reelection this summer amid widespread allegations of fraud.
“This is how we say goodbye to our country until further notice,” the group said in a post on social media post announcing the cancelled tour. “Our music is not meant to divide….Peace.”
Cusica, a two-day music festival in Caracas that was also to begin this week, was also cancelled. The festival’s organizers were also the producers of Rawayana’s Venezuelan tour.
Many Venezuelans took to social media to denounce what they consider an unfair attack on the group by Maduro.
“I’ve never gone to a concert in my 23 years and with great effort I managed to gather my money,” said one upset fan on Instagram. “We can’t even be happy any more.”
Beto Monte, the group’s vocalist and guitarist, declined an interview request, citing security risks. “What can be seen a mile away doesn’t require much explanation,” he said in a statement provided to The Associated Press.
Rawayana was last month nominated for best Latin Rock album at the Grammys taking place in February in Los Angeles
Bayreuth trims 150th anniversary festival, citing budget cuts
The Bayreuth Festival dropped four productions from its 150th anniversary season in 2026 because of budget cuts, the festival said Thursday.
The German festival devoted to composer Richard Wagner attributed the decision to its employees’ public-service sector labor contracts and an inability to increase revenue. The festival said it is 55% self-financed.
Bayreuth, built to the composer’s specifications and run by his great-granddaughter Katharina Wagner, had planned to present all 10 of his mature works plus the festival debut of “Rienzi,” Wagner’s rarely performed third opera.
Citing labor costs, the festival said it will limit its 2026 schedule to “Rienzi” along with the four-opera “Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung),” which inaugurated the festival in 1876; Wagner’s final opera, “Parsifal,” which premiered at the house in 1882; and “Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman),” Wagner’s fourth opera and what is considered the first of his mature works.
Bayreuth dropped planned 2026 revivals of “Tannhäuser,” “Lohengrin,” “Tristan und Isolde” and “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.”
The 2026 Ring Cycle will be a special production and not the Valentin Schwarz staging that debuted in 2022 and is to be staged for the final time in 2025. Bayreuth said it will announce the “Rienzi” director next summer and that 2026 will be the only time it presents “Rienzi.”
The 2026 season will open as planned with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which was conducted by Wagner following the foundation stone ceremony in 1872 and was later played at the 1951 postwar reopening of Bayreuth.
‘Wicked’ named best film, Daniel Craig best actor by National Board of Review
NEW YORK | The National Board of Review put its full support behind Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked,” naming the lavish musical the best film of the year, Chu best director and awarding its stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, a prize for their collaboration, in awards announced Wednesday.
Already a box-office force, “Wicked” is also embarking on an awards campaign expected to make it a major Academy Awards contender. The National Board of Review, a long-running New York-based organization comprised of film enthusiasts and academics founded in 1909, has no correlation with the film academy. But the win hands “Wicked” some early momentum ahead of Monday’s Golden Globe nominations, where it should perform well.
“Wicked represents the pure magic that movies can bring to audiences,” said Annie Schulhof, NBR president. “Every detail is beautifully crafted and designed, the actors are all exceptional and the music is second-to-none — together it adds up to a transporting experience like no other.”
Best actor went to Daniel Craig for his performance in Luca Guadagnino’s William S. Burroughs’ adaptation, “Queer.” Nicole Kidman took best actress for Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl,” in which she plays a high-ranking executive who has a romance with an intern (Harris Dickinson).
The supporting acting winners were Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain,” and Elle Fanning for “A Complete Unknown.”
The NBRs add to the recent run of prizes dished out this week, including the Gotham Awards on Monday, the New York Film Critics Circle on Tuesday and the Spirit Awards nominations announced Wednesday. The NBR Awards will be handed out in an untelevised gala Jan. 7 in New York hosted by Willie Geist.
Full list of 2024 National Board of Review winners
Best Film: “Wicked”
Best Director: Jon M. Chu, “Wicked”
Best Actor: Daniel Craig, “Queer”
Best Actress: Nicole Kidman, “Babygirl”
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
Best Supporting Actress: Elle Fanning, “A Complete Unknown”
Best Ensemble: “Conclave”
Breakthrough Performance: Mikey Madison, “Anora”
Best Directorial Debut: India Donaldson, “Good One”
Best Original Screenplay: Mike Leigh, “Hard Truths”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar, “Sing Sing”
NBR Spotlight Award: Creative Collaboration of Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “No Other Land”
Best Animated Feature: “Flow”
Best International Film: “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
Best Documentary: “Sugarcane”
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke, “Nosferatu”
Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
—From AP reports
