You Thought So!

Sir Elton John has won a court case against a Parisian art dealer who he accused of selling him fake sculptures. The star has fought a long legal battle with Jean Renoncourt over the marble statues, which he bought in 1996. Sir Elton, well known for his extravagant spending habits, paid $360,000 (£180,350) for the four statues of Greek gods, which bore the signature of 18th Century Italian sculptor Luigi Grossi. The appeal court awarded Sir Elton more than 250,000 Pounds in damages and legal costs. Mr Renoncourt was also ordered to pay to ship the fakes back to Paris. Good Elton John that he on the case after a Paris court overturned his claim in 2003, saying he had not offered enough evidence to suggest he had been duped. Just Last week an American court told media that sprint runner Marion Jones had gone almost bankrupt and had just $2000 in her bank account, Elton be careful, if these 250,000 Pounds would have gone the other way the his bank could have been near zero as well.

Its official: The Spice Girls really, really are getting back together. Fans holding out hope for a girl-powered pop reunion can breathe a zig-a-zig-ah sigh of relief. The group will release a greatest-hits album and kick off an 11-show world tour in December; it was announced in London Thursday. The two-month tour will begin Dec. 7 in L.A. and include concerts in Las Vegas, New York City, London, Cologne, Madrid, Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney, Capetown and Buenos Aires. Might they wanted to meet again and discover their friendship all over again, it will be the first time the five will combine together to perform as a unit. It should be fun for the fans and the five members as they shall be touring together after such a long time. Going to Vegas, Hong Kong, Down Under in Sydney and then Africa and South America, it’s looking more like a touring vacation, Go gals, have fun and set the world on fire.

A number of music legends – Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Carlos Santana, just to name a few – will come together and perform on the same stage on a September concert to raise funds for a memorial to be built on the National Mall in Washington DC for Martin Luther King Jr.

The concert will be held on September 18 at the Radio City Music Hall in NYC and will also feature performances by Robin Thicke and Bebe and Cece Winans. Russel Simmons, Tommy Hilfiger and Quincy Jones are co-chairs of the committee that are organizing the concert.

Muhammad Ali, Angela Bassett, Jamie Foxx, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Kerry Washington are only a few of the celebrities involved in the event. The rest of the line-up for the concert is yet to be announced. But the concert is sure to bring together musicians that don’t often perform on the same stage.

Breaking up and making up isn’t something new in the showbiz industry and it runs anywhere from Hollywood hook ups to bands. Broken up and reformed bands Smashing Pumpkins and Rage Against the Machine were announced as co-headliners of the 2007 Voodoo Music Experience on October 26-28 in New Orleans. This comes just months since performing together for the first time in years.

The Black Crowes, who were also shook up by the break up to make up bug, are also on the bill for the fall concert. Looks like the three groups had some voodoo going on too.

Others confirmed for the festival include Fall Out Boy, Wilco, Sinead O’Connor, Kings of Leon, Plain White T’s, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, MIA, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Spoon.

Stardoll, the world’s largest online entertainment destination for girls aged 10-17 focused on fun, fashion and friends, today announced that pop icon Hilary Duff, has officially joined its virtual community. By debuting a “Real Celebrity” page with her label, Hollywood Records, Hilary and Stardoll have launched a unique promotional platform from which she can interact with Stardoll’s more than 8 million members of aspiring fashionistas and pop culture enthusiasts. These guys have no intention to connecting people like Finnish communication major NOKIA does, all they wanna achieve is making more girls to behave like these celebrity star and create a few more of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. Girls aged 10 and 11 would be better off playing in the suburbs and hanging out with boys rather than following Hilary Duff. Aspiring to be a Paris or Hilary Duff would make them go wild on things in life and then succumb to fashion that is really not for them.

Amerie joined Rihanna and many others at Entertainment Weekly’s Annual Must-List Party at Gotham Hall in New York on Thursday. The 29-year old half-Korean, half-African American singer has an album coming out later this summer. The album is entitled ‘Because I Love It’.

And love it we shall. The release of the album made Blender magazine’s list of 25 Reasons to Love ’07. It ranked in at number 19.

But apart from music, Amerie is a geek at heart. She reveals that she is addicted to The Sims video game and that she thinks it’s seriously cool to live a virtual life. It may be dorky but she’s got Kelly Rowland into it. She tried to reel in Beyonce too but she didn’t bite.

Oh well. We still love her.

Let’s hear it for the female rappers of the world. But move over new babes, because one of the originals is reuniting. And they’re showing everyone how every step of the way.

VH1 announced that they have picked up ‘The Salt ‘n’ Pepa Show’, a ten-part series that would premiere later in the year.

In a press release by VH1 that served as a teaser for the show, it’s obvious that it would be interesting… for what fans of Salt ‘n’ Pepa exist.

“On ‘The Salt ‘n’ Pepa Show,’ VH1 will follow the ladies as they attempt to reunite on and off the stage in this funny, often touching reality series. They soon discover however, that achieving this is easier said than done since most of their past issues are still unresolved. Salt is angry about being unappreciated when they were together and Pepa blames Salt for breaking up the group. Their lifestyles are also polar opposites: Salt has indeed found God and is living a quiet life in Long Island with her husband while Pepa is still the party girl and up for anything. Can they overcome their differences long enough to heal their friendship and perform again?”

Josh Duhamel and Fergie are one of the hottest couples in Hollywood and their hot careers even match. But Fergie, who’s been heating up the pop charts, is the flashier one.
“She’s a real total star”, Duhamel says in the July issue of Best Life magazine, on newsstands June 26. “I’m more subdued than that. I’d rather sneak up on people. But that’s what makes us work. We have similar fundamental values. We both grew up in similar families.

She’s just got a great soul.”
Duhamel 35, and Fergie 32-year-old (real name Stacy Ferguson), who performs with her band Black Eyed Peas and have a solo career alongside, are a couple for three years now. They don’t think of getting married soon according to Best Life. Despite this they bought a house together recently. A big one.
“A girl like Fergie comes with stuff - a lot of stuff”, Duhamel says in an interview. “And there just wasn’t enough room for the stuff.”
Duhamel got his start on ABC’s “All My Children” before graduating to prime time (NBC’s “Las Vegas”) and film (“Turistas”, “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!”). He co-stars with Shia LaBeouf and Jon Voight in the Paramount Pictures action movie “Transformers”, directed by Michael Bay, which opens July 3.
“There’s still so much more I want to do”, he says. “Before it was about gaining confidence. Now it’s about gaining some respect for what I do. Get that, and everything you want will come along with it because people will want to work with you.”
Duhamel says he admires the work of Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio.
“There are actors my age who are just incredible”, says Duhamel, who studies the work of Matt Damon and Ryan Gosling. “They set the bar, and that’s where I want to be. It always feels like I have to prove myself to be more than what people think they see. That’s part of what I’m fighting right now. People don’t know what you’re capable of until you actually do it.”

A large outdoor concert in Glastonbury this weekend is witnessing some wicked fun. A line up of great musical acts including The Killers are set to perform in the field belong to farmer and concert organizer, Michael Eavis. Recent down pours of rain have turned the field into a mess of mud but that hasn’t stopped anyone from donning their rubber boots and embracing the elements. The annual event was actually flooded out one year. You’d think that would stop production but it just inspired him to improve it. The music festival has been going since the 70s and anyone who can make it out to this kind of concert cannot afford to miss out on the experience. There is nothing quite like camping out with your friends and thousands of strangers while partying in the mud and seeing some amazing bands. Outdoor concerts have an added element of fun and is the closest most of us will ever get to our own modern day Woodstock. Bands like The Killers are already a great time but in the right setting can be even better.

Hugh Grant threw a Tupperware of baked beans and a couple of kicks but Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler went after a photographer yesterday in Paris with an umbrella. I guess we should call him lead swinger now.

Tyler was walking the boulevards with a lady friend while on vacation. I’m not sure if his ‘cover’ of a leopard-print hat that could have been owned by Diane Keaton works. If anything, he sticks out even more. And I think that paparazzi agree.

Tyler then went all granny-like, and swung on the photog with his umbrella. Witnesses say that it wasn’t really violent. And hey, both Tyler and the photog are smiling.

The actress from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer film is apparently pressing charges against the former wife of figure skater Lloyd Eisler. Kristy Swanson recently starred with Eisler in the reality show “Skating with Celebrities”. It seems that Eisler’s ex had a random bout of jealousy and attacked Kristy. She had visible bruises on her body and will be pressing assault charges. It’s beginning to get insane in Hollywood with the things people seem to think they can do to others.

Of course the entire thing gets sticky with Lloyd Eisler’s ex-wife, Marcia O’Brien, stating she was the first to be assaulted. Considering Swanson and Eisler are now a couple I find that hard to believe. My only question here is: does she really think the guy is worth this much trouble? I mean, they are divorced and I can’t help but think there must be a very good reason for that. It’s better to just walk away and get on with your life already. Petty catfights don’t do much for your career these days.

Celebrities just need a small reason to find a way to throw a bash. Well everything and even the slightest of trumpets should be shared and enjoyed and when the party is for a singing star like Kylie Minogue celebrating 20 stupendous years in the music industry then there’s nothing else to do but to celebrate it with a bang. Pop diva kylie will be celebrating her 20 years in the industry with a star studded party in London this summer. The 39 year old singer, who launched her pop career with a cover of Little Eva’s 1962 hit The Loco-motion in her native Australia on August 198, has even requested her two grandmothers to fly in London from Melbourne to attend the party. And when it is Kylie throwing the party he cost could well be in tune of a million dollars and that should be a surprise at all. They really know who to celebrate and we can see the who’s who the music and entertainment world at the party for sure.

The problems and the troubles in the life of former king of Pop Michael Jackson just can’t come to an end. The singer whose albums were a craze in the 80’s and 90’s is now just a pale shadow of his former self. No doubt the music he produced and his dancing style was really a new rage before but today the man is so engulfed in cases of child abuse and legal battles that all the news that’s doin the rounds are related to the cases and hearings. Pop singer Michael Jackson  reached a settlement on Monday over a breach-of-contract claim by New Jersey-based finance house Prescient Capital. Prescient sued Jackson and his MJ Publishing Trust in July 2005 for $48 million alleging breach of contract after providing financial advice to Jackson and his various companies. Prescient said it helped Jackson secure a commitment for a total of $537.5 million in financing to enable him pay off his debts. Hey man just get out of this hole and try leading more dignified life where atleast fans could say they like you and like your music.

Jon Bon Jovi revealed that he is embarrassed to show his kids his 80s hairstyle.
The star who has sold 120 million albums after the group appeared in the 80s says that he doesn’t want to show his children DVDs of his old concerts because he fears what they might think.
In an interview for the Times Culture Magazine: “I’ve heard Richie and Dave say they played their kids a DVD of our old concerts from 20 years ago, and they were really laughing. But I’ve never done that. They would probably laugh at my 80s hair. Sure they would. I laugh at it – it’s part of growing up in public. I sometimes corner them in the car on the way to school and ask them what they think about the mix of a new song, but I never make them listen to a whole record.”
The signer also reveals that he is a very strict parent and doesn’t spoil Stephanie, 14, Jesse, 12, Jacob, five, and three-year-old Romeo with lavish gifts.
Jon said that he is not of the parents who give their children credit cards and he only recently agreed to buy them mobile phones. This is very weird considering the fact that many of the other stars spoil their kids as much as they can.
In an interview the singer reveals: “If they see my work ethic maybe that will instill it in them. I work hard at whatever I do, whether it’s the football team, the philanthropic work or making records.”
From everything we said for the singer we can say that he might be given the title for best dad.

Amidst news that her first single ‘Never Again’ isn’t doing so well on the radio or the charts, her upcoming album ‘My December’ getting negative press and a summer tour that isn’t selling, Kelly Clarkson has fired her manager.

Kelly was clearly upset with how things were going which resulted in the firing of Jeff Kwatinez on Monday. The conflicts between her record company and Kelly regarding her songwriting and the album most likely played a role with their separation.

Sources say that instead of steering her in the right direction, Kwatinez tried to control Kelly. Another adding that Kelly merely needs to get the right advice and counsel to come above the negative press.

Kwatinez holds no harsh feelings though saying that he was pleased to have served as her manager and continues to believe in her.

I think he’s just happy that he wouldn’t have to be associated with a disaster.

No Doubt have plenty of songs ready for their next album, they’re just missing one thing: Gwen Stefani.
When their frontwoman hit the snooze button on the band’s would-be sixth LP last year to prolong her solo career, the rest of No Doubt continued to amass music for their long-awaited follow-up to 2001’s “Rock Steady”. Guitarist Tom Dumont said plans are in motion for the project, though he warns that fans shouldn’t expect to see the finished work until at least the Fall of 2008.
“Tony, Adrian and I have been busy preparing material for the album since this time last year”, he wrote in an e-mail to MTV News. “So we have a lot of instrumentals looking for words.”
The guitarist denied recent gossip that bassist Tony Kanal had joined Stefani on tour to work on new material but said he and Kanal may meet up with her on the road later. Stefan’’s tour in support of The Sweet Escape has dates scheduled through October 20 in the Czech Republic.
“Gwen has a busy world tour all year, so obviously most of our writing this year would happen either separately or during a few off days here and there”, Dumont said.
Stefani’s original plan was to do one side project that she initially hesitated to term a solo album. That turned out to be 2004’s massively successful “Love, Angel, Music, Baby”. Following a tour and the birth of her first child, Kingston, with Gavin Rossdale, Stefani released “The Sweet Escape” in December.
Dumont, Kanal and drummer Adrian Young also kept busy with various musical endeavors. Dumont collaborated with his friend Ted Matson on an instrumental project called Invincible Overlord and produced two albums for singer Matt Costa, the second of which is due this fall.

Taste of Chaos is incredible. It summed up to 130 shows in the past two years in 18 countries that included Canada, USA, Germany, Australia, France, Italy and many others. For those that do not know, the Rockstar Taste of Chaos is the only worldwide lifestyle festival tour and is filled with many young and aggressive bands.

The 2007 tour will be sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink and will also include free samples of their products and different surprises announced. It has been guaranteed that gig goers will have fun in many interactive activities. The lead vocalist of The Used declared that:

“The Rockstar Taste of Chaos is so much f###ing fun for the bands and the fans alike. Fans can see a big production and enjoy all sorts of interactive concourse activities for the price of going to the movies and eating some popcorn. We really support giving our fans a s### load of entertainment for a fair price and this tour accomplishes that… and we are gonna rock some of our new songs on the tour, which we are really excited about.”

So far these are the dates announced with tickets ranging from 22.50 to 23.50 pounds:

21st November - Birmingham Academy
22nd November - Cardiff CIA
23rd November - Newcastle Academy
25th November - Leeds University
27th November - Manchester Apollo
28th November - Brixton Academy

38-year old rocker Marilyn Manson walked through the streets of Paris this past weekend with teenaged girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood.

In an interview featured in the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Manson reveals that he has sat down with his girlfriend’s father and talked about certain issues. The most prominent of which is his use of drugs.

Manson said to Evan’s father that while he may be a drug user, it doesn’t mean that Evan is engaging in any illegal activity with him.

Yeah right.

Mr. Wood?  I think now would be the appropriate time to lock your daughter in a basement.

Pal Recording Sudios’ Archives containing previously unreleased and unheard early Frank Zappa Recordings are soon to be available. Crossfire Publications is in the process of releasing some of them. They are dated from the post and pre Mothers of Invention era. For those that do not know, Pal Recording Studios is where Frank Zappa recorded his first studio tracks and his time spent here influenced all his work.
Zappa and Paul Buff pioneered many recording techniques and styles of music that keep on living today. They are based on using the studio as a music instrument that is dynamic rather than static when capturing environment. There was no classic divide between a singer/band and the sound engineer. If the project succeeds it will surely generate a lot of sales.

Bon Jovi may have gotten unplugged but Richie Sambora may have gotten unhinged. The day after reports of him being completely out of it for the taping of MTV’s re-launching of ‘Unplugged’, Richie Sambora has entered a treatment facility in Los Angeles.

There goes another one. With the many people heading into rehab, you have to question how they would actually get to do their jobs now. Bon Jovi would release their latest album ‘Lost Highway’ on June 19. But promotions for it will most probably not involve Richie given the amount of time that you need to devote for a successful treatment.

Here’s to hoping he doesn’t end up like Lindsay Lohan.

Fans just don’t mind creating havoc in the city when their favorite music band come partying to town. The kickoff of the Rolling Stones’ European Tour opened to rave reviews, a big crowd and a massive traffic jam. Some 33,000 screaming fans showed up for the show in the town of Werchter, but when Mick Jagger started off with Strt Me Up, some fans were still shuffling for position on the grounds after being stuck for hours in a 50Km traffic jam. The reason being – it seemed that the whole town was headed in just one direction – Rolling Stones’. The ‘A Bigger Bang’ tour will feature 30 shows across Europe including performance in major cities like Belgrade, Serbia and in St. Petersburg, Russia which the band has never visited. Events and shows by such leading bands are not just events but a time of celebration for fans who love hearing their favorite bands in action. But the other cities should take a lesson to avoid accidents and traffic jams or else some fans could end paying hefty car repairs charges than for the tickets of the concert.

The return of MTV’s ‘Unplugged’ was supposed to be jump started by Bon Jovi but the taping of the show on Tuesday turned out to be a big disaster. MTV will have fun editing this one.

The recorded episode of ‘Unplugged’, which will air on MTV, VH1 and CMT, was done with an audience of about 400 fans. What’s sad about that? The fact that Richie Sambora was blitzed the whole time.

A witness claims that a lot of musicians were put on stage to cover his mistakes on guitar and at one point had his mic turned off so he wouldn’t be heard singing off key.

Another reveals that as ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ started to signify the final performance of the night, Richie couldn’t even play along. Jon Bon Jovi had to stop and make Richie start again. After that, Jon had the whole band come back on stage and do a third take of the song so Richie couldn’t mess up. It was clear that Jon was upset but he handled it like a pro.

So much for the band that pretty much started ‘Unplugged’.

Musician Akon may face police questioning after he tossed an audience member from the stage into the crowd, in an incident caught on video and posted on the Web. Detective Lt. John Berlingieri of the Fishkill Police said officers were looking for the young man at the Sunday concert who was plucked from the audience by a security guard, directed to the sage, and then thrown back to the crowd. This is just another incident of Music stars behaving badly with fans and crowds. Ok, most of the fans that visit stage shows are highly drunk and more like out of control and they might pick up weird things and throw at the artist which may really hurt them. This was the latest controversy involving the singer, whose Konvicted album has sold more than 1 million copies. He lost his concert sponsor Verizon after video reached the Internet showing Akon simulating a sex act with a 14-year-old girl onstage at a Trinidad concert.

R&B singer Rihanna has remained at the top of the UK singles chart for the third week with her song Umbrella. The Barbadian-born star saw off the challenge of former Sugababe Mutya Buena, whose debut solo single Real Girl climbed seven to number two. Sometimes, sunny places tend to produce a sunny person — which is certainly the case with Rihanna. Like her native Barbados, she’s warm, colorful and full of life, with just the right amount of spice. R&B has its own followers and when you can have stars that personify that kind of music it is easy to associate the two together. Rihanna’s sudden and meteoric rise made American Idol hopefuls look like seasoned crooners who had spent a decade on the road before hitting the big time. A native of the island of Barbados, Rihanna lived an average life and barely even dreamed of show business before she was discovered in late 2003.

Paula Abdul says she didn’t figure out her purpose in life until she became a judge on Fox network’s “American Idol”. “I knew since I was a little girl that I had this profound way of touching people. My purpose is bringing out everybody’s best and being that cheerleader to other people’s success”, the 44-year-old singer-dancer tells OK! magazine in its latest issue.
“Being a judge on “American Idol” overshadows being a Grammy Award winner and selling millions of records”, she says.
It turns out that judging is really her purpose in life because she looks very happy now and more energetic.
Abdul has been diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), a chronic neurological disorder that causes severe pain.
“I have four titanium plates in my neck. I’ve had 14 surgeries over the years. I had an operation the same evening as the first season finale of ‘American Idol’”, she says. “It can come and go at any time, but I no longer have the intense nerve pain that is associated with RSD, thank God.”
Abdul - who says she was hit by a drunk driver in 1987 and injured in an emergency plane landing in the early ’90s - says she is treated with anti-inflammatory medications and has massage and acupuncture treatments for her pain. Despite her severe pains she does everything needed to take part in all parts of “American Idol” which is to show her strong character built up during all those surgeries and fights with the pain.
“If I appear exhausted on television, it’s because I am!” she says. “I have a lot of sleepless nights because I’m in so much pain. I was taking far more medication on earlier seasons (of `American Idol’), and nobody said anything. I try to say something and I stumble, and that’s what people have picked up on. I’m not polished.”
The choreographer and former Laker girl also says: “I’m a warrior. I’m not the best dancer, and I’m certainly not the best singer, but I am an entire package of a great performer.”

It’s not a rumor. In fact, it actually already happened. Courtney Love went back on stage for the first time in a long while last Friday night at the House of Blues on Sunset in Los Angeles.

Songwriter, producer and friend of Love, Linda Perry served as an opener for the night. Rock and roll chicks are taking over!

It’s nice to hear the Miss Love is back to what she does best. Oh wait, what she does best is getting high. Oops. Did I say that out loud?

Kidding aside, it’s obvious she’s cleaned up her act if she’s even sober enough to get back into shape and work on her craft. Kudos to her. Maybe she could teach Lindsay a lesson, eh?

However, not his own. The wacky Michael Jackson auction may not have done all good with very few items selling and a platinum record for Billie Jean selling for a measly 100 bucks but Jacko is looking to make even more of a pay off with the latest addition to his music catalog.

Reminiscent of him buying the Beatles catalog, Jacko has bought Famous Music LLC from Viacom making him now the owner of the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira, Beck and Bjork.

Eminem. I guess Jacko has the last laugh. Em made fun of him before, but now he owns rights to the song. Doi.

Lives go astray when stars fade out of the lime light and at times when they are not able to earn the same money they once did with utter ease, it leads them to indulging in some crimes. Former Australian Queen of Pop Allison Durbin has been jailed for 12 months for drug trafficking. Durbin, now known by her married name Allison Giles, was handed a 24-month jail term today but half of the sentence was suspended. The reclusive former pop star, who shot to fame in the 1960s and 70s, had pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to trafficking a drug of dependence, cultivating a narcotic plant and theft of electricity. The court heard Giles, 57, had a hydroponic set-up at a house in West Footscray and supplied cannabis to drug dealer and father of snatched baby Montana, Giuseppe Dom Barbaro, in 2003 and 2004. Life is not easy and therefore it tests even a former Queen of Pop, but she took the easy way out and is now paying for her deeds.

Last October George Michael literally fell asleep in the middle of the intersection. In his Mercedes police found what was referred to as a “Cocktail of drugs”. Andrew Torrington, prosecutor of the case, said that they found antidepressants, GHB (an illegal club drug known also as liquid ecstasy) and cannabis in George Michael’s system.
Now the trial is on and George’s lawyer stepped up and said that he did not fell asleep because of the drugs in Michael’s body but because of the prescribed sleeping pills. Ok, let us get this straight. The singer had all those in his system but he did fell asleep because of the sleeping pills. One has to wonder if this is the real question here or a visible “Driving Under the Influence” case. GHB was not ingested and this is why, according to the lawyer, it could not have cause Michael to fall asleep.
The judge assigned the case was not very impressed and neither am I. George Michael did admit he did something stupid. It is time for him to pay for these mistakes.