ARTS www.michigandaity.com MONDAY JULY 14, 2003 HOMECOMING KING EMINEM DELIGHTS HOMETOWN CROWD A woman who likes to talk about male genitalia?! (GASP!) Book Reporter Guy interviews Wildly Successful Authoress! By Ricky Lax Daily Arts Writer Wildly Successful Authoress (Candace Bushnell, "Sex and the City") entered the downtown Bor- ders in white Prada heels and a good mood to match to match. Hours before, she learned that her new book "Trading Up" made The New York Times bestseller list and had a good review coming from the same paper later that week. Book Reporter Guy was in a good mood, too. He had an interview with one of today's most popular writers, who arrived right on time. "Trading Up," the new book, con- tinues the story of model Janey Wilcox, a character from Wildly Suc- cessful Authoress' last book, "4 Blondes." In "Trading Up" Wilcox "works" her way to social success, money, and a modeling contract with Victoria's Secret - but won't rest until, what else, she finds true love. In person, Wildly Successful Authoress shies away from saying exactly how Wilcox got to the top, "When she's with the rich guy, she sort of... whatever ... she's not being the most perfectly behaved person." Of course Wilcox slept with the rich guy for money, but Wildly Suc- cessful Authoress acted like she knew nothing about Janey Wilcox's rise to the top, as if she hadn't written the story from direct personal experience. "See? I'm very different from Janey," said WSA. "I don't approve of everything she does." While Wildly Successful Authoress separated herself from her characters (She just got married, you know), she said she understands the type of people readers want to spend their time with. "Who doesn't want to read about badly-behaved, rich, attractive peo- ple? They're people who we secretly might want to be. If you're going to college, you're not going because you want to sit at home. A lot of people go to college because they want to be successful, and New York is one of the centers of success." But even success, Book Reporter Guy learned, won't guarantee you a girl like Janey Wilcox. "It's sort of a universal fantasy, being with a supermodel, so then you See BUSHNELL, Page 10 By Joel Hoard Daily Arts Editor CONCERT REVIEW Midway through his 90-minute set on Saturday night, Eminem apologized for some "motherfucking technical difficul- ties" after battling malfunctioning sound and video equipment for much of the night. The motherfucking technical dif- ficulties were just one of many problems to plague Em's homecoming show at Detroit's Ford Field, on a night that saw lackluster performances by openers Missy Elliott and 50 Cent, shoddy stadi- um sound and the occasional rowdy fan. But the sold-out crowd of 45,000, loaded with suhurhanites and noticeahly lacking teenage fans, couldn't have cared less about faulty equipment, bad sound or disorderly neighbors. They were there for Eminem, and just to be in the same building as the Real Slim Shady was enough. The show began punctually at 7:30 with sunlight still pouring in from beneath the Ford Field roof. With the red curtain still drawn, cries of "Aw shit!" boomed from the loudspeaker, announcing Missy Elliott's arrival to the half-empty stadium. During Missy's 30-minute performance, there wasn't much performance to speak of. Between abbreviated, half-hearted attempts at "Work It" and "Get Ur Freak On" and a pointless surprise appearance by R&B singer Monica, who performed her own "So Gone," Elliott spent the bulk of her time awk- wardly bribing the crowd with auto- graphed sneakers and kind words for the city of Detroit. After a bizarre, half- hearted tribute to late Detroiter Aaliyah, Elliott concluded her set with, "Detroit is the hottest place on the god- damn planet." Not quite, but hip-hop Rookie of the Year 50 Cent did his damnedest to make it so. The curtains parted to a mock-up of the New York City skyline as a Frank Sinatra look-alike introduced 50 to the Courtesy oInterscopeRecods Portrait of the artist as a young dork. crowd on the video monitors flanking the stage. Sinatra's own "New York, New York" was accompanied by video of an idealized New York until Old Blue Eyes got capped and was left for dead. Images of Sinatra's New York were replaced by scenes of violence, drug use and police brutality as 50 and his posse emerged from backstage. The now-full stadium erupted as 50 and his G-Unit lackeys, decked out in Joey Harrington jerseys, charged their way through a 45- minute set full of hits like "In Da Club" and "Wanksta," each punctuated by a gunshot, as 50 slowly peeled off layers of clothing and tossed them into the Y on F,.y----- crowd until he was down to his bare chest. 50 and G-Unit's three-way attack and shouted vocals made every song into a flat banger, from the ordinarily quiet love song "21 Questions" to the Caribbean-infused "PI.M.P" After a 45-minute intermission, the lights went down and the video monk- tors flickered to life with an introduc- tion featuring Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Kid Rock as Em's whiskey-drink- ing, white trash chauffeur. At the con- clusion of the video, a customized Shady Records Hummer slowly made its way through the general admission See EMINEM, Page 10 SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS (PG)...............1:15, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15 LEGALLY BLONDE 2: RED, WHITE AND BLONDE (PG-13).......1:05, 3:10, 5:15, 7:20, 9:30 28 DAYS LATER (R)............................................1:10, 3:30, 7:10, 9:30 THE ITALIAN JOB (PG-13).....................1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:45 N - UNDER THE SKIN OF THE CITY (NR)...1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00. THE HULK (PG-13) 3......................................................................1:00, 9:45 ©EFI THE GUYS (PG)............................................................... 3:35, 5:35, 7:35 EXCLUSIVE ONE WEEK ENAGEMENT A MIGHTY WIND (PG-13). ......1:25, 3:25, 5:25, 7:25, 9:25 STARTS FRIDAY. JULY 18 1:00, 3:10, 5:20, ):30, 9:40 (734) 994 1000 www.madstonetheatrs.com . &uam~e:a/uts&A40A& 6psm 0e.d $5,501