Of the usual suspects, only Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Adele, and Rihanna are absentthe first because of injury, and perhaps some softening in fan interest; the last because shes off in Europe, having just completed a U.S. tour built around her massively popular new album. This is also shaping up to be the summer of Yeesus, as Kanye West, a.k.a. Yeezy, a.k.a. Kim Kardashians deliciously controversial baby daddy, is calling his new album, an act of impertinence that only a pop star would hazard.
How did this happen? Hollywood has notably failed to produce a major new movie star in a generation. As Scott Mendelson pointed out in Forbes last month, only Will Smith, Denzel Washington, and Kristen Stewart appear able to open films, while a handful of other stars, notably Dwayne the Rock Johnson and Mila Kunis, are able to add value to strong film concepts. Star power of the sort that Sandra Bullock possessed in the nineties, where her name alone was able to launch any number of subpar tentpoles, no longer exists. That is what movie stardom is in 2013, Mendelson writes.
