The indomitable Eartha Kitt has passed away

There is some irony that she died on Christmas Day, when her sultry Yuletide ballad "Santa Baby" always enjoys tremendous airplay...

Singer, dancer, actress, writer... and the greatest Catwoman ever. Orson Welles once called her "the most exciting woman in the world". Not a bad way to have spent 81 years of life. And a mighty far road to have come from the cotton fields of North, South Carolina.

This was the woman who, in my mind, defined what it truly meant to be sexy. And it had nothing to do with her ravishing good looks. It was Kitt's unrelenting spirit that enchanted her many admirers. All her life, she was her own person and she never backed down. Eartha Kitt told it like she saw it. It cost her years of a career in the United States following a now-legendary argument at the White House with a wrathful Ladybird Johnson. But Kitt came back. As she said in 1992, "I'm still here!", while everyone who had tried to stop her had already gone.

I think my favorite memory of Eartha Kitt was when she appeared on Politically Incorrect at the height of President Clinton's scandal with Monica Lewinski. Kitt said something that the sorry lot of elected officials in this land would do well to remember: "He's in our house!", talking about the White House... and how it did not belong to Bill Clinton at all, but to "the people". If that didn't scream out that she was smart sharp and sexy, I don't know what would.

The sensual, seductive, vivacious Eartha Kitt passed away today after a battle with colon cancer. She was 81.

And I must grieve that there does not seem to be any performer of my own generation who can even come close to the class and style that this fine lady had.

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AHHHH... my eyes!!!

Older women, I have long thought, are potentially much more beautiful than younger women. As proof, I offer this recent photograph of Eartha Kitt (who for many years I have harbored a very deep admiration for):

What an amazing performer. She was the best girl to ever play Catwoman in any medium. And Miss Kitt is not only beautiful and a talented singer and actress, she's smart, too. I'll never forget hearing her give the most articulate reason that anyone made for why Bill Clinton should have been impeached: because the White House belongs to the American people, not to the President who's temporarily living there.

So now you know one of my more peculiar secrets: I think Eartha Kitt, now 81 years young, ranks high among the hottest and loveliest women in recorded history.

Now look at this photo that was taken over the weekend of Madonna, who turned 50 last week and just kicked-off her new "Sticky and Sweet" concert tour...

That is not hot. That is not beautiful. That is not sexy. Not at any age, for what it's worth.

That is just... what the Hell was Madonna thinking?!?

You know, getting older isn't a bad thing at all, even for a performance artist. The ones who have enjoyed consistently successful careers over time, they've learned how to grow and re-define themselves. David Bowie readily comes to mind. So does Bob Dylan. And Jon Bon Jovi. Trying to stay in one place in an attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle doesn't work. And it's not really fair to the fans either, who should expect new and fresh material from a talented artist, whenever that artist produces something.

Madonna has had a great career for well over twenty years now. But she needs to learn to adapt and grow, and move away from whatever it is that she was in the Eighties. She can do it. She has to do it, if she expects to sell her music to a new generation of fans.

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