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    Working the Stage

    Dancing with the Stars hunk crashes Fifth Harmony's RodeoHouston homecoming debut

    Brittaney Wilmore
    Brittaney Wilmore
    Mar 18, 2017 | 5:59 am

    More than 64,000 fans showed up to see Fifth Harmony make their RodeoHouston debut Friday night at NRG Stadium, and the group told their “Harmonizers” early and often just how much it meant to see them there.

    “I want to thank you guys so much for your continuous love and support from the beginning,” member Normani Kordei said. “I mean, there were five girls with a dream.”

    Kordei was referencing the number of people in the group before former member Camila Cabello exited last December, making Fifth Harmony a quartet. But Kordei’s current bandmates, Ally Brooke Hernandez, Dinah Jane Hansen, and Lauren Jauregui, didn’t let her linger on that long as they surrounded her on stage to make an announcement that their fans probably already knew: Kordei is competing on the 24th season of Dancing with the Stars.

    What “Harmonizers” likely didn’t expect to see was Kordei’s DWTS partner, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, join them on the stage. He won the Mirrorball trophy with gymnast Laurie Hernandez last season, so we’ll see if he can make it two in a row with Kordei when the new season premieres Monday night (March 20) on ABC 13.

    Chmerkovskiy posted a video on Twitter twerking with Kordei's grandmother backstage at the Rodeo and it appears the Fifth Harmony member learned some of her dance skills from granny.

    she got from her grams for sure 😍😂 @NormaniKordei #DWTS pic.twitter.com/q7VeA18ooI

    — Valentin (@iamValC) March 18, 2017

    But before going to the ballroom, Kordei had some unfinished business at the Rodeo, even as her bandmates wished her well on the competition.

    “We knew from the day that we met you how phenomenal a talent you are, especially an incredible dancer,” Alley Brooke Hernandez gushed. “We can’t wait to see you on that stage doing outstanding and killing it just like you do out here with us.”

    Memories of Selena

    To kick things off, Fifth Harmony seemed to throw it back to the legends. Queen’s “We Will Rock You” blared through the stadium as soon as the lights went down and after close to a minute of hearing Freddie Mercury, Fifth Harmony rolled in on a horse-drawn carriage. It reminded me of Selena’s entrance to her RodeoHouston concert at the Astrodome in 1995.

    But after that, Fifth Harmony kept the hour-long show focused on their music, performing songs including “That’s My Girl,” “Miss Movin’ On,” “Sledgehammer,” “Boss,” and “All In My Head (Flex).”

    Backed up by an all-female band, Fifth Harmony took a timeout from dancing to get personal on “Brave, Honest, Beautiful," written by Meghan Trainor, who is also featured on the song. “I want you to always feel loved, to always feel important because you are, and right now I want you to repeat after me: I am brave, I am honest, I am so beautiful,” member Dinah Jane Hansen said.

    Fifth Harmony saved their biggest hits for last, cueing “Worth It” and then dropping an obvious hint about what was coming next. “Our Harmonizers have been ‘working with us.’ We actually have 9 awards because of them,” Hansen said with a smile.

    “Work From Home” was the closing song, and no pun intended, but it has worked for the group well. It’s been certified quadruple platinum. It also got the crowd on their feet.

    Homecoming for two members

    Fifth Harmony’s first performance at the Rodeo was a homecoming of sorts for two members of the group. Hernandez is a Texas native, hailing from San Antonio, and Kordei lives in Houston.

    Fifth Harmony wrapped up on the same message they began on: gratitude to be in front of fans, especially in the Lone Star State.

    “I’m so blessed to be here. It’s because of you guys we get to go up here on this stage and do exactly what we love to do,” Kordei said. “I’m so grateful and I wouldn’t choose any other place to represent.”

    And “Harmonizers” will likely be watching to see how far Kordei makes it on DWTS.

    How soon Fifth Harmony will be back in H-town remains to be seen. Their 7/27 tour starts March 25 in Asia.

    -----------------------------------------------------------

    Set List:
    That’s My Girl
    Miss Movin’ On
    Sledgehammer
    Reflection
    This Is How We Roll
    Scared of Happy
    Write On Me
    No Way
    Big Bad Wolf
    Boss
    Not That Kinda Girl
    All In My Head (Flex)
    Brave Honest Beautiful
    Gonna Get Better
    Worth It
    Work from Home

    Fifth Harmony kept the hour-long show focused on their music, performing songs including “That’s My Girl,” “Miss Movin’ On,” “Sledgehammer,” “Boss,” and “All In My Head (Flex).”

    Fifth Harmony at Rodeo Houston 2017
    Photo by Michelle Watson/CatchLight Group
    Fifth Harmony kept the hour-long show focused on their music, performing songs including “That’s My Girl,” “Miss Movin’ On,” “Sledgehammer,” “Boss,” and “All In My Head (Flex).”
    concertsrodeoreviewshouston-rodeomusictexas
    news/entertainment

    Movie Review

    Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

    Alex Bentley
    Dec 12, 2025 | 2:30 pm
    Emma Mackey in Ella McCay
    Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
    Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

    The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

    The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

    Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

    Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

    Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

    What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

    Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

    Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

    ---

    Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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