DMX’s scheduled gospel rap extravaganza this past weekend at an Arizona high school got cancelled after the school finally got it through their heads that the often arrested rapper was involved. The pastor of the church that was supposed to benefit from the event said that the school pulled the plug once word got out that DMX was involved. The church will now have to give refunds to the people who bought tickets and the pastor says that they’re going to reschedule the event to take place at the church. Poor DMX – even when he’s trying to do some good, he can’t seem to catch a break.
MTV is going to be reviving its famous ‘Unplugged’ series in collaboration with Starburst candies. The revival will be seen across the board of MTV networks, meaning there will be an edition on MTV, VH1, CMT and streaming over their respective websites. The first round of acoustic performances will be Adam Lambert on VH1, Phoenix on MTV and Reba McEntire on CMT this Wednesday. The tie-in with Starburst comes in as the shows will feature an addition of an unexpected performance of a cover song or a contradictory musical moment, which syncs up with the candy’s new tagline “It’s a juicy contradiction”.
Shakira was recently presented with a medal by the United Nations commemorating her charity work for children at a special ceremony in Geneva. The Colombian pop singer founded the Barefoot Foundation which provides nutrition and education in Colombia, is a founding member of the ALAS Foundation which promote public policies for children in Latin America and the Caribbean, and is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Shakira said “It’s not too late to keep our promise to our children, but we must act now. Together, we can make education and decent work for all a reality. [Witnessing sub par conditions] shaped my dream and my vision of social justice: to see a world where every child can live a dignified life with the opportunity to reap the benefits of a good education and a chance to pursue their dreams.”
The singer of No 1 song in the US, Tik Tok, said wearing the tissue left behind by a baby after birth was a way to tap into the energy of past lives.
Ke$ha said: “I’m into energy. I recently went to see a past-life regressionist, who is also a psychic. I wear my placenta around my neck every day, because it’s supposed to give you second sight. I feel like I’ve had many lifetimes before.”
Ke$ha did not mention how she got hold of that much placenta, which must be costly at a guess. The star also took the opportunity of a Sunday Times interview to say she was serious. “So many people say, ‘So, what, are you a party girl?’ And I say, ‘I’m a walking good time.’ Do I sometimes go out and drink? Hell, yes. But could I have a number one song if I wasn’t also working hard? Maybe that needs a little more respect.
“Also, the phrase ‘party girl’ implies someone who is out at a club, maybe doing some guy in the back who you’ve just met. Then you get in your car and you flash your vagina at the paparazzi. And I’m none of the above. I have been working on realising this dream, my path, my mission, for years. I’ve really invested a lot of thought, time and effort into it. I think it’s a bummer when people don’t represent that properly, when they portray me as purely one-dimensional.”
Due to American Idol contestant Crystal Bowersox’s illness that got her a 24 hour visit to the hospital last Monday, the boys and girls performance dates were switched so she could have some time to recoup for Wednesday’s show. And as usual, the aspiring singer rocked the judges. Crystal took to the AI Twitter page to give insight to what happened to her saying “Don’t worry, my ‘beetus (diabetes) is under control. Thanks for all your well wishes, thanks to the boys, and the producers!!” She should really take care of herself more. Elliot Yamin was able to keep himself together for a whole season with his diabetes so I’m hoping the same for Crystal.
Wyclef Jean is in deep trouble as the singer’s wife Marie Claudinette found nude pictures of his manager Lisa Ellis on his phone. An insider said “Claudinette flew into a jealous rage. She jumped to the conclusion that something may be up between Wyclef and Lisa. She told Lisa to stay away from her husband. To embarrass Lisa, she also e-mailed the nude picture to a number of people in the music business.” To defend herself, Lisa said “Photographer Mark Baptiste took a portrait of me in December 2008 for an art book. It was tastefully done. Someone leaked the photo. I don’t know who did it, but the photo had nothing to do with my resignation as Wyclef Jean’s manager.” Whatever! She and Wyclef should have known better.
Beyonce has opened a make-up school for recovering drug addicts.
The chart star made a surprise appearance at a New York substance abuse clinic with her mother, Tina, where she cut the ribbon on the Beyonce Cosmetology Center.
It was set up at Brooklyn’s Phoenix House after the star spent time there researching her role in movie drama Cadillac Records. She was so moved by the experience that she donated her salary from the film to the centre.
The seven-month programme will help recovering addicts rebuild their lives and embark on careers in the cosmetics industry.
Beyonce, 28, and her mother have pledged to donate $100,000 annually.
She said at the launch: “I felt like they needed something that was geared towards women – something that would teach them skills that would give them hope even after the Phoenix House.”
Janet Jackson is going to appear alongside Tyler Perry on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the singer is rumored to be performing her new single called ‘Nothing’ from the soundtrack of Tyler’s upcoming movie ‘Why Did I Get Married Too’. The episode is expected to air at the end of March, shortly before the movie hits theaters. Janet deserves another hit or two so I hope that the song and the movie are good. I wonder if she will be doing an interview with Oprah too. We haven’t really heard much from Janet ever since the death of the King of Pop Michael Jackson.
Or at least as far as her future husband, David Otunga, is concerned. It looks like he’s insisting that Jennifer Hudson be the one to perform at their upcoming wedding. This is what David Otunga said about the matter: “It would be great if any of the former American Idols sang at the wedding. And it would be wonderful to have Jennifer sing – I’d love that. But I won’t be because I don’t sing!” Well, maybe he should actually give it a shot… after all, it’s his wedding day. What are the guests going to do, boo him off the stage? Surely Jennifer Hudson can train him for a duet of sorts. If there’s anything an American Idol winner can do it’s spread the disease of pop singing in order to produce more and more stars.
Rihanna’s incredible body is the subject of a nasty legal battle and it’s all because the singer allegedly didn’t pay her personal trainer for a few days worth of work. The trainer filed the lawsuit against Rihanna in LA County Superior Court last week, claiming that she’s owed $26,144.14 in unpaid wages from 2009. The trainer claims that she was hired to perform exclusive personal training services for Rihanna for $1500 per day but never got a check for a couple of weeks of work between September and October. She’s also asking for $2,644.14 in travel expense because she claims she had to travel all over Europe to meet up with Rihanna.
Even though all of the show’s contestants had their own twitter and facebook accounts established so that they could tell all of their friends about the wondrous adventures they were having with the candy king, Simon Cowell, and his pack of dirty little helpers, it looks like Fox Entertainment doesn’t want them spoiling any surprises the show might hold and thus making the network miss any ratings points. So it looks like all of the American Idol contestants are going to have to share one facebook and one twitter account from now on… which will probably be an immense bore as nobody will be likely to be saying anything. And this happens just when things were starting to get interesting…
Are Avril Lavigne and Deryck Whibley giving their relationship another go? The 25-year old Canadian pop rock singer and her Sum 41 front man of an ex were spotted together at the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ premiere after party in London. Avril and Deryck even left together in a waiting car but kept their distance once inside. The former couple announced their separation in September of 2009 with Avril posting a blog on her MySpace after the announcement which read “I am grateful for our time together, and I am grateful and blessed for our remaining friendship.” While it looks like they were getting more than friendly again, Avril’s rep tells ET Canada that she and Deryck are just friends.
Kimberly Wyatt is officially leaving the Pussycat Dolls. Never missing an opportunity to trash lead singer Nicole Scherzinger, Kim says that she’s leaving the all girl band due to the variables off stage. Apart from the slight dig, Kim also said that she’s leaving the group because money and fame can’t buy happiness. She said “Ultimately I think that happiness is the most important thing in life and I think that once I started to get to know myself more and more I was like, ‘You know, I don’t think that happiness is within this group right now.” While she’s thankful for what PCD has done for her, she says she now has to push on with her own life. It sounds like a soon-to-be failed solo career to me.
Rihanna’s latest video for ‘Rude Boy’ looks an awful lot like MIA’s ‘Boyz’ music video. However, the Barbadian singer’s director Melina Matsoukas didn’t think about the obvious comparisons while shooting the video. She said “I mean, you know that the video lends from a lot of Rasta culture and ’80s Atari vibe and that’s what we went with too. And then afterward I was like, ‘Oh, this sucks. They tore down my video.’ And her video’s great too. It definitely wasn’t trying to rip anybody off at all — it was just our approach and the animation stuff, it had a similar vibe. We’ve seen that before with Grace Jones and Andy Warhol, so I don’t know if anybody can lay claim to anything. We’re all inspired by similar elements and it came together in that way.” That’s what everyone says when they’ve ripped someone off.
Or rather John Park is the one that didn’t quite do John Mayer’s song, “Gravity”, all its justice. It looks like he’s also one of the American Idol contestants that might have to go home early on. Even though Simon Cowell does seem to be a sweet judge when it comes to the really bad performances, he really did a number on John Park’s: “There’s nothing to get excited about that — it’s what I call a ’so what’ performance.” Wow… that must’ve stung. But maybe it’s not such a bad thing for John Park after all… and maybe he can even show Simon Cowell a thing or two when The X Factor comes to America.
Lady Gaga recently had an interview with Q magazine where the singer talked about the image that she puts out for everyone to see. The princess of pop said “The last thing a young woman needs is another picture of a sexy pop star writhing in sand, covered in grease, touching herself. My image was an issue at my record label. I fought for months and cried at meetings. I got criticized for being arrogant because if you’re sure of yourself as a woman they say you’re a bitch whereas if you’re a man and you’re strong-willed it’s normal.” Good for her for standing up for herself!
Last week was pretty tragic for gay men everywhere around the world as Beyonce has decided to put to rest her alter ego Sasha Fierce for good once she wraps up her tour. The R&B singer said “Sasha Fierce is done. I killed her.” If that wasn’t bad enough, Beyonce isn’t recording any more music until she learns to pain and cook, and to go to Broadway shows and museums. Basically, she wants to have a career hiatus to live a pretty normal life. I’m kind of on the fence on this. I was pretty annoyed with the whole Sasha Fierce deal but without her, I think Beyonce is just boring.
American Idol host Ryan Seacrest thinks Simon Cowell will be a “very generous” husband.
Cowell, 50, is rumoured to be engaged to his make-up artist girlfriend Mezhgan Hussainy, 36, after she stepped out with a large ring on her wedding finger.
Seacrest was asked how Cowell will be as a husband and he told UsMagazine.com: “Self-centred! But he is very generous.”
He added: “I hope that if they are building a life together, there aren’t too many mirrors around to distract him from his girlfriend!”
Seacrest added that he doesn’t know anything about the plans of a possible wedding.
He said: “I don’t know that there is a wedding. I have not seen an invitation!”
Rihanna was recently asked if she would ever do a collaboration with Lady Gaga and I am very happy to hear what the Barbadian R&B singer had to say. Rihanna said “A collaboration between GaGa and myself would be really cool because we do a similar type of music and we both really love fashion, so I’m sure it’ll be a hot video. I would love to collaborate with her.” Rihanna also said that she would like to do a duet with country singer Taylor Swift. I think that would be a safe route to take than if she did a song with Lady Gaga. But either way, I’d like to hear both collaborations.
Former Spice Girls star Mel B is reportedly the frontrunner in the bid to take over from Dannii Minogue on The X Factor.
The 34-year-old is allegedly being lined up by X Factor boss Simon Cowell to take over from Minogue, 38, who is expecting her baby in the middle of the series later this year.
A source told UK Star magazine: “Mel B is at the front of the list of possible contenders. She thinks it would be the job of her dreams and is in line to be offered it.”
However, Minogue recently said that she still hopes to be part of the hit talent TV show when it returns later this year.
