• Bruce Springsteen propped himself on top of Billy Joel's piano to sing a duet with The Piano Man, who celebrated his 100th concert at New York's Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. Joel told the energetic crowd he had a guest coming onstage who had won a Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Springsteen emerged, surprising the feverish and fanatic audience, who loudly cheered "Bruce." "Congratulations Billy on your 100th show," Springsteen yelled. "Ready, Billy?" he asked, as Joel began to play while sitting at the piano. Springsteen encouraged the crowd to cheer louder and then sang "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." He jumped onto Joel's piano -- making it on his second try -- and sat on it while Joel played and the piano slowly spun. Springsteen then rocked his guitar for "Born to Run." Joel, 69, and Springsteen, 68, hugged after their two-song performance, and The Boss kissed Joel on his head as he walked offstage. A banner celebrating Joel's 100th performance at MSG rose to the ceiling near the top of the two-hour-plus concert. Joel started performing a monthly residency at the arena in 2014. No artist has performed at the famed venue more than Joel.
• Michelle Obama is lending her star power to a new nationwide effort to register voters for the November midterm elections. The former first lady says she's excited to join When We All Vote to help "inspire and empower" eligible voters to "make their voices heard." The organization launched Thursday and will work online and in person to help register anyone who wants to vote in the fall, when Democrats hope to ride a wave of anti-Trump sentiment to take back control of the House and Senate. Obama said voting was a "sacred responsibility" that her Chicago-based family never took for granted. Other notable names joining the effort include actor Tom Hanks, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, singers Janelle Monae, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, and NBA player Chris Paul.
• Londoners and tourists alike have been bemused to find a giant statue of a bare-chested Jeff Goldblum next to the city's iconic Tower Bridge. The 25-foot statue, depicting the actor in the reclining pose he made famous in Jurassic Park, is meant to mark that film's 25th anniversary. Sky's subscription service Now TV installed the temporary "Jurassic Jeff" statue on the south bank of the Thames on Wednesday. The outlandish stunt prompted many selfies and social media posts -- though some Twitter users called it "far-fetched," pointing out that the movie wasn't filmed in London and nor is Goldblum a London native. Goldblum played the scientist Ian Malcolm in Steven Spielberg's dinosaur thriller and returned to the role this year for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
A Section on 07/20/2018