Janet Jackson will appear on the double cover of Vibe Magazine’s April 2008 issue. It’s the magazine’s ‘first-ever’ photo issue. The cover was shot back in January by fashion photographer Michelangelo di Battista at New York City’s Milk Studios. Janet looks hot in both cover shots. I say grab both copies when they drop on March 4. It will be worth it.
In the accompanying article to her cover feature, Janet talks about growing up in her household – meeting the likes of Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson, being a responsible child in the entertainment business and her relationship with music producer Jermaine Dupri.
Here’s another chapter in the war saga of Elton John and Madonna. Sir Elton was reportedly livid that Madonna decided to throw a last minute Oscar party. With Vanity Fair canceling their annual soiree, usually the most attended, Elton’s party was poised to be the party of the Academy Awards this year. However, Madonna decided to throw a party which was attended by A-list stars like Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes, Cameron Diaz, Demi & Ashton, Drew Barrymore, Owen Wilson and Penelope Cruz. Sir Elton’s attendees were B and C-list like JC Chasez, Lionel Richie, Simon Cowell, Larry King and Sean Penn.
Stop the presses! Ashlee Simpson actually stopped leeching on her boyfriend’s fame and left her karaoke machine at home this week when she performed at LAX Nightclub at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. She finally unleashed her stellar vocals on a live audience which is more than we can say for Paula Abdul. Her father and manager Joe Simpson and boyfriend Pete Wentz were there to support the gal as she traveled through the undiscovered realm of not faking it. She’s never going to be able to drop that lip synching reputation. Too bad. Change managers now if you want to save what’s left of your career!
It seems that trouble follows Akon wherever he goes. The singer’s free concert at a shopping mall in Copenhagen, Denmark on Wednesday erupted into a riot. His Danish fans got all violent when police tried to evacuate the venue due to a fire alarm alert just three songs into Akon’s set. Violence escalated outside when concertgoers started throwing rocks and bottles at the cops. Fortunately, no serious injuries were reported.
Add to that, trouble was already brewing even before the riot. The capacity at the venue was only 1,000. However, 3,000 people showed up. Good thing a stampede didn’t occur.
Ashlee Simpson’s single ‘Outta My Head’ which was produced by Timbaland failed to catch on at radio. It just goes to show that not everything Timbaland touches turns to gold. So what does her record do? They turned around and try another route.
The singer’s label is rush-releasing a new single ‘Lil’ Miss Obsessive’. This time, it’s produced by boyfriend Pete Wentz and it’s loads better. It’s a power pop/rock anthem that features Tom from Plain White Ts singing beautiful harmonies with Ashlee. And it feels so much more organic. I think this will get more radio airplay than her first one.
Hong Kong singer/actor Edison Chen made his first public appearance since his sex scandal broke only to announce that he’s stepping away from the entertainment industry to heal himself as well as apologizing saying “I would like now to apologize to all the people for all the suffering that has been caused and the problems that have arisen from this. I would like to apologize to all the ladies and to all their families for any harm or hurt that they have been feeling.†1,300 explicit photos of Edison with a string of Hong Kong starlets and pop stars flooded the internet over the past couple of weeks. The pictures were allegedly copied by the staff of a computer repair shop from a faulty laptop belonging to Edison. Ten arrests in relation to the scandal have already been made by the Hong Kong police.
Amy Winehouse almost gave organizers of the Brit Awards a heart attack due to worrying after she missed her rehearsals on Monday. Fortunatly, Wino showed up on Tuesday and ran through her performance with Mark Ronson on their duet ‘Valerie’ which was originally sung by the Zutons. Later on in the evening, the 5-time Grammy winner and her producer hit up London’s Jazz After Dark.
It’s nice to see that she’s keeping up with her work. That only means that she’s finally got her priorities straight. Now if she could just split with her incarcerated husband then all will be good in the world.
Puff Diddy is claiming that the man who sued him over a fight outside of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood is at fault.
A source has obtained a declaration by Combs filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, explaining the incident (in Diddy’s classic words), alleging that Gerald Rechnitzer “continued moving toward me and, without warning, lunged at me. Instinctively, I outstretched one of my hands, which hand was not closed-fisted, to shield myself… any contact between Mr.Rechnitzer and myself was caused by his forward motion against my stationary open hand.”
A defence that will stand up in court? “He ran into my hand your honour†Hmm…
Jessica Simpson is really trying hard to be Carrie Underwood. She went back to being blonde, she’s dating Carrie’s ex Tony Romo and she’s in the process of going country. With country music being one of the few thriving genres in America, Jessica Simpson is really trying to make something out of her almost nothing self.
Jess’ dad/manager Joe says that she’s close to completing her first country album and is looking to do a reality show on CMT. Some big names work with Jess on her country album including duets with Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson and producers in John Shanks and Brett James.
Pop star Lily Allen has been left $7,000 out of pocket after a stripper stole her account details for a local taxi company and used the service on the singer’s expense.
The Smile hitmaker, 22, only realised the fraud was taking place after she was sent the huge bill through the post.
She says, “One of my biggest luxuries in life is taking cabs. Then I found out a stripper had stolen my details and run up a $7,000 bill. She was using my taxi firm to drop her off for work at her strip club every night - and charging me.”
All has been quiet on the baby boom front recently. January saw numerous announcements of pregnancies throughout the celebrity world but it has been all quiet since we hit February.
However reports say that Nelly Furtado is expecting her second child. The ‘Maneater’ singer is said to be thrilled after learning she is expecting a baby with her sound engineer fiancé Demacio Castellon, but is trying to keep it a secret.
A source close to the singer said: “She’s not very far along yet, so she’s trying to keep the pregnancy under wraps.” However, a representative for Nelly, who already has a four-year-old daughter with ex-partner DJ Jasper Gahunia, insisted: “She is not pregnant.”
Nelly recently revealed she once turned down a $500,000 offer to pose nude in Playboy. The star admitted she was flattered when Playboy’s boss Hugh Hefner asked her, but decided to keep her clothes on so her future lovers would have something to look forward to.
She said: “It was tempting. It almost plays on your vanity. But I like to save a little bit for the bedroom. It’s something to be preserved, a little bit for yourself. But that’s not to say that I would never do it. As a pop star, people would love to see you naked every day.”
Mariah Carey’s new single has dropped this week and not just that. The singer has also revealed the name of her new album as well as other new details about its release. Her new album is called “E=MC²â€, it will be out in stores on April 15th. The first single off of the album is ‘Touch My Body’ which was written and produced by Mariah, C. ‘Tricky’ Stewart and The Dream. It hit radios on February 12th. A video for the song, which is directed by Brett Ratner, will premiere soon.
Other guest producers on her album include Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, will.i.am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate ‘Danjahandz’ Hills and James Poyser.
Karen O. has never looked better! The Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer showed off her sexy new haircut when she performed with her band at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam over the weekend. Wait, did I just say sexy? Uh, I take that back.
To be quite honest, I wasn’t even sure whether this was a female when I first saw the picture. Heck, I thought it was Jared Leto! And you can’t tell me that there’s no facial hair on this so-called woman. Suffice to say, I am very confused with this one. How do you go about describing this really?
The Top 24 contestants for the seventh season of American Idol have been revealed… sort of. The contestants all held up Simon Cowell face masks for their first photo shoot. Randy, Paula and Simon will reveal to their identities to the rest of the world this Wednesday.
The Top 12 Guys are Chikezie Eze, Colton Berry, Danny Noriega, David Archuleta, David Cook, David Hernandez, Garrett Haley, Jason Castro, Jason Yeager, Luke Menard, Michael Lee Johns and Robbie Carrico. While the Top 12 Girls are Alaina Whitaker, Alexandrea “Alex†Lushington, Amanda L. Overmyer, Amy Davis, Asiah Epperson, Brooke White, Carly Smithson, Joanne Borgella, Kady Malloy, Kristy Lee Cook, Ramiele Malubay and Syesha Mercado.
Dolly Parton’s world-famous breasts have forced her to postpone her upcoming tour.
The ‘9 to 5′ singer, who was due to begin her North American tour at the end of this month, has been told by doctors to rest because of the damage her huge DD chest was doing to her back.
The surgically-enhanced star said: “Hey, you try wagging these puppies around a while and see if you don’t have back problems.”
Dolly, whose latest album ‘Backwoods Barbie’ is her first mainstream country LP in 17 years, will now have to take it easy for up to eight weeks but is hoping to be back on the road by April.
In 2004, Dolly revealed she was considering having a breast reduction to relieve the pressure on her back. The ‘Jolene’ singer said: “My boobs are killing me - and I don’t know if I can stand the pain any longer. They have been a trademark for me, but I’ve paid one hell of a price.”
Adam Levine was in such a mad dash to avoid the paparazzi outside of Katsuya that the Maroon 5 front man actually left his friends marooned on a sidewalk. He led his friends on a chase across Hollywood Boulevard but his friends only ended up standing along in a crosswalk forcing them to run down the street to catch their fleeting ride.
One on Adam’s friends was almost actually run over as he tried to board the blacked-out SUV when their driver floored the gas to take their precious little falsetto cargo to safety and away from the photographers. Some friend he is.
Even though the US reversed their decision and agreed to give Amy Winehouse a visa late Friday for her to be able to fly out to LA and perform at this Sunday’s Grammy Awards, the troubled singer has opted to stay in London. Smart move. However, she will still be performing live via satellite.
Her publicists have released a statement regarding this saying “Unfortunately, due to the logistics involved and timing complications, Amy will not be traveling to the U.S. to perform at the Grammys in person. Amy would like to thank all of those people, in particular the staff involved at the U.S. Embassy in London, who have all worked so hard to expedite her application.â€
Madonna is going to turn 50 years old in August yet she looks just as flawless as ever. A wrinkle-free Queen of Pop looked absolutely breathtaking at the Gucci event in New York City on Wednesday – a Night to Benefit Raising Malawi and UNICEF at the United Nations. While everyone knows that she can’t be that flawless naturally, I applaud her for knowing when to get work done and how much to get done. At least she doesn’t look like wax.
Many stars came to the event in support of Madonna and her cause. Attendees include Rihanna, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, Gwyneth Paltrow and many others.
Amy Winehouse, along with a nurse from her rehab facility as well as her father Mitch, took a break from her program and stepped out of the Capio Nightingale Hospital in London on Wednesday. The recovering drug addict paid a visit to her incarcerated husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, at Pentonville prison where he’s been stuck in since November.
Wino is looking healthier than she was a few weeks ago. That’s a good sign that rehab is working for her. And that means that she needs to stay there if we are to have any hope that she’s going to be ok and around for a good long while.
Have you seen the video for Heidi Montag’s “Higher”? Well, reactions are mixed. Some say that the video is the worst they’ve ever seen. Others accuse Heidi of sounding like a chipmunk.
Heidi’s respose? She says she’s thrilled with comments of any kind. She said to PerezHilton, “I appreciate people taking time to write any kind of comment. Do you know how much effort it really takes to sit down and write a comment? I’ve never written a comment in my entire life…you really have to have a lot of passion and thought to write any comment so thank you.”
Umm, Heidi, I can think but I just don’t freakin’ care enough to write a comment.
American Idol alum Sanjaya Malakar may not have learned how to sing like a diva but he sure knows how to act like one. Sanjaya and his sister Shyamali were spotted getting some free stuff this past weekend at the Hanes Style Villa in Arizona. After picking up thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and spa treatments, Sanjaya reportedly wanted a photographer to pay his $20 for taking his picture. Not to be upstaged by her brother, Shyamali got in on the prima donna act by telling another photographer “We’re not taking a picture unless we know what we’re getting.†It looks like they picked up a bad rep along with the swag.
Females already have it in for the players but there’s something more that could push them over the edge. And that’s if the player also happens to be a liar. In the case of rapper The Game, he now has someone else to fear other than a judge – Vida Guerra.
Vida is the FHM model that the rapper has claimed to have hooked up with. However, when paparazzi caught up to the curvaceous hottie and asked about The Game, she became furious and wanted the teardrop-tatted rapper to come clean about his dirty claims. Maybe she can sue The Game for libel if he doesn’t do as she says.
Katharine McPhee, former American Idol contestant and now singer/actress, married her fiance Nick Cokas. He is a producer.
The two met when they worked together in an L.A. production of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Eventually, the friends became a couple around the time she auditioned for American Idol.
Katherine was engaged to Nick in 2007 and the two were married Saturday in Beverly Hills.
Proving that the business world is cold and cruel and all about the profits; Amy Winehouse’s callous record label have boasted about the troubled star’s sales figures and “amazing marketing opportunities”, while she languishes in rehab.
Universal Music made vast sums of money from the drug addict during 2007, during which time she tumbled deeper into a debilitating reliance on heroin and cocaine. Her 3.4 million albums sales worldwide boosted profits for the firm and they’re keen to trumpet their success, despite the tastelessness of their timing.
Universal Music International’s vice president Hassan Choudhry gleefully announced: “Everyone is extremely happy with the amount of records we’ve sold and a lot of it has been down to some amazing marketing opportunities in the market when the artist wasn’t available. There’s no getting away from the fact all the coverage has kept Amy Winehouse’s profile at the highest level.â€
It’s just cold.
‘Hannah Montana’ star Miley Cyrus wasn’t really known as Miley before her star became too bright to ignore. The 15-year old who was born Destiny Hope Cyrus has now legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus as reported by ETonline.
Miley has been the girl’s nickname because she was always smiling growing up, thus earning the nickname Smiley Miley, and then just Miley. She added the Ray as her middle name as a tribute to her dad, country music star Billy Ray Cyrus. Isn’t that sweet? But not too sweet that it would cause her to get another tummy ache and bail.