Sinead O’Connor documentary will still air despite singer’s death – to ‘tell her side of story’
Nothing Compares, a documentary about Sinead O’Connor, will still air on Saturday to provide viewers the opportunity to “hear her tell her side of the story”, according to the filmmaker.
Belfast-born director Kathryn Ferguson confirmed the original plan to release the programme on Sky Documentaries and Now from 29 July will proceed despite the recent passing of the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter at the age of 56.
The decision to move forward with the broadcast was made after careful consideration following the musician’s death.
The 2022 documentary delves into the late Irish star’s journey to international stardom, particularly after releasing her rendition of Nothing Compares 2 U, and the controversies she faced due to her outspoken protests.
The Irish singer in her music video for Nothing Compares 2 U
“We had been scheduled to release Nothing Compares today on Sky / Now for a very long time and after lots of thought we are going to go ahead with that plan,” Ferguson tweeted on Saturday.
“The reaction to the film and love for Sinead has been palpable and we feel screening it this weekend is the right thing to do, so that people can see her in all her glory and hear her tell her side of the story.”
She added: “An option she was rarely granted by some facets of the media who spent so much of their time being reductive of all she had to say.
“Nothing Compares is a love letter to Sinead. She meant the absolute world to me and I know she did to many of you.
“Watch the film, feel the rage, have a good cry and let’s remember the woman for her radical, magical ways and all she has done for us. I’ve never been prouder to be an Irish woman.”
The documentary examines pivotal moments in O’Connor’s late 80s and early 90s career through a “contemporary feminist lens”.
The singer gained fame with highly acclaimed albums, including her 1987 debut The Lion And The Cobra and Grammy-winning follow-up I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.
The documentary examines pivotal moments in O’Connor’s late 80s and early 90s career
Throughout the decades, she released eight more albums, with her last, I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss, launched in 2014.
The Irish musician was renowned for her strong positions on social and political matters, notably when she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on US sketch show Saturday Night Live in 1992, protesting against the Catholic Church, which led to a vehement backlash.
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‘It isn’t good’: Sinead O’Connor’s final video
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The documentary showcases snippets from her music videos and live performances, along with previously unreleased footage and a more recent interview.
Ferguson previously expressed her desire for the documentary to “serve as a reminder of her greatness,” as she described O’Connor as “a special, funny and magnificent human being”.
She added: “Her fire lit a torch for so many of us, particularly those who grew up in the 1990s, and those who really needed her light.”
The filmmaker also expressed her gratitude for the “tremendous privilege” of creating the programme with the singer’s approval.
The documentary initially premiered at the Sundance World Cinema Documentary Competition in 2022 and later had a cinema release in October of the same year.
It received multiple award nominations and won the title of Best Feature Documentary at the Irish Film & Television Awards.
Nothing Compares will air on Sky Documentaries at 9pm and will be available on the subscription service Now. It will also be shown on Sky Showcase and Sky Arts.
Lily Tomlin, Morgan Fairchild and Ben Stiller have led tributes to “one-of-a-kind” actor Dabney Coleman following his death aged 92.
Coleman made his career playing comedic villains, mean-spirited bosses and villains in films including 9 to 5 and Tootsie, as well as playing Commodore Louis Kaestner in Boardwalk Empire.
Lily Tomlin, who starred alongside him in 9 To 5 with Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton, said: “We just loved him.”
In her post to X, the actress shared a photo of her character Violet Newstead dressed in a Snow White costume beside a tense-looking Coleman as her egotistical boss Franklin Hart Jr.
Morgan Fairchild, who starred in Falcon Crest and Friends, described Coleman as a “great one”.
“So very sorry to hear of the death of the wonderful #DabneyColeman”, she wrote on X alongside a black and white photo of them together.
“We went out for a bit in the ’80s and I adored him. This town has lost one of a kind!”
Coleman “took his last earthly breath peacefully and exquisitely” in his Santa Monica home on Thursday, his daughter said in a statement on Friday on behalf of the family.
“My father crafted his time here on Earth with a curious mind, a generous heart and a soul on fire with passion, desire and humour that tickled the funny bone of humanity”, she said.
“As he lived, he moved through this final act of his life with elegance, excellence and mastery.”
Coleman in 1989. Pic: AP
Ben Stiller, Zoolander and Meet The Parents actor, praised Coleman for paving the way for character actors.
“The great Dabney Coleman literally created, or defined, really – in a uniquely singular way – an archetype as a character actor.
“He was so good at what he did it’s hard to imagine movies and television of the last 40 years without him.”
Coleman with Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda in 1980 Credit: Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch/IPX
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Coleman starred in a number of films and TV series in the 1960s, then made his breakthrough as a corrupt mayor in the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, in 1976.
His film credits include a computer scientist in WarGames, Tom Hanks’ father in You’ve Got Mail and a chief firefighter in The Towering Inferno.
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He won a best actor Golden Globe for The Slap Maxwell Story and an Emmy for best supporting actor in Peter Levin’s 1987 legal drama Sworn To Silence.
Coleman also won two Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the cast of crime drama Boardwalk Empire and received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his starring role in the NBC sitcom Buffalo Bill.
Entertainment
Yvette Fielding says she was assaulted by Rolf Harris on Blue Peter and left alone with Jimmy Savile
Blue Peter’s youngest ever presenter has claimed disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris sexually assaulted her when she was a teenage host of the children’s show.
Yvette Fielding, who joined the long-running BBC programme aged 18, told the Sun newspaper how the paedophile predator squeezed and patted her bottom after finding herself alone with him in a TV studio.
The now 55-year-old also recalled an uncomfortable experience with “grotesque” Jimmy Savile, who was later revealed to be one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders.
Fielding has questioned the role of the BBC in allowing their behaviour, arguing people in the industry “must have known”.
Fielding joined Blue Peter in 1987. Pic: John Gooch/Shutterstock
She became a Blue Peter presenter in 1987 and left five years later, going on to host a string of BBC programmes including The Heaven And Earth Show, The General and City Hospital.
Recounting the incident with Harris, she said: “It was very confusing and shocking – just bizarre to think Rolf Harris was squeezing and patting my bottom and I am standing there, thinking ‘I don’t know what to do’.
“Other people in the industry must have known what he was like and you left me alone in the studio with him.
“That shouldn’t have happened. I must have been 18 or 19.
“I think a lot of them did know.”
The presenter says the Harris incident ‘shouldn’t have happened’. Pic: PA
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Harris was a household favourite for decades before his dramatic downfall after being convicted of a string of indecent assaults against young girls.
Stripped of his honours, he died of neck cancer and old age in May last year, aged 93.
Jimmy Savile was ‘grotesque’. Pic: PA
He was also known to be associated with Savile, who managed to conceal his crimes until after his death in 2011.
On her meeting with the late depraved DJ, Fielding told the Sun: “He took my hand and started stroking it. ‘Look into my eyes’, he said, ‘And tell me what you’re thinking’.”
“He was grotesque,” she added.
“I just don’t understand why the BBC allowed him to get away with that for as long as he did.”
Savile worked for much of his career at the BBC presenting programmes including Top Of The Pops and Jim’ll Fix It.
The BBC has been contacted for comment.
Girls Aloud have taken to the stage for the first gig of their reunion tour with emotional tributes to their late bandmate Sarah Harding.
A 30-minute delay to the show blamed on “Dublin motorway closures”, did nothing to dim the delight of fans when Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh appeared on stage, standing on individual podiums singing their 2008 song Untouchable.
The comeback tour has been dedicated to Harding, who was diagnosed with cancer and died in September 2021 aged 39.
The group’s late bandmate took centre stage. Pic: Tom Dymond/Shutterstock
During the show, the group performed a duet with Harding, whose vocals to I’ll Stand By You played as they joined in live on-stage.
They later sang one of their biggest hits, The Promise, during which the singers stopped and turned their backs to the audience to watch footage of Harding performing the song on her own.
A post on the official Girls Aloud X account said: “Show 1 done. Dublin you were absolutely INCREDIBLE. What a start to the #TheGirlsAloudShow tour.”
The singers won Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 and formed Girls Aloud, going on to achieve four UK number one singles and a Brit award.
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They reunited with new music for their 10th anniversary in 2012, while a second reunion was planned for their 20th anniversary when Harding was diagnosed with cancer.
The tour has been dedicated to Harding. Pic: Tom Dymond/Shutterstock
Less than an hour before their expected arrival at the 3Arena in Dublin, the group issued an updated stage time on X.
It said due to “Dublin motorway closures”, the band would arrive 30 minutes later than expected at 9.15pm.
Ahead of the show, a post on the official Girls Aloud X account said: “Rehearsals? Done. Choreography? Ready. Outfits? Fitted. Girls? Aloud.
“…We’ve been working so hard to make this show special for all of you.”
After two back-to-back opening nights in Dublin’s 3Arena, Girls Aloud will play two concerts at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Monday and Tuesday, before heading to the Manchester AO Arena from Thursday to Saturday.
In November, the group had to add six extra dates to their UK and Ireland 2024 arena tour due to “unprecedented demand” following ticket pre-sales.
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