Janet Jackson officially announced on The Ellen DeGeneres show on Monday that she will be returning to the stage for her ‘Rock with U’ concert tour after having a 7-year hiatus off of the road. Janet said “I’m here to kick off my ‘Rock With U’ tour. Our first show is September 10. And I’ve set up a number for fans to call in and to leave what old/new songs you’d like to hear [at the concert]. The number’s 323-622-8139. Give me a call and let me know!” Ellen’s audience got two tickets each to catch Janet’s show. Ellen also asked if there’s a possibility of a Jackson 5 reunion to which Janet replied optimistically saying “I hope so. I’ve been really pushing my brothers and having conference calls and working on it.”
An ex-maintenance man for Latin music star Alejandro Sanz has come forward and admitted that he tried to blackmail the singer into paying him $500,000 and just took a plea deal to avoid having to go to trial. Carlos Gonzalez and his wife Sylvia Alzate admitted to making extortion threats of releasing unspecified info to the Spanish language media about Alejandro unless he pays the half million. Shortly after the threat, the singer admitted to having a 3-year old son from a previous relationship. The couple agreed to two years’ probation just before jury selection was to begin in their Florida trial. They were facing up to 50 years in prison if they got convicted.
American Idol really played into the battle theme by laying a boxing theme for their final performance show featuring David Cook and David Archuleta. Each contestant sang 3 songs – first was the choice of record producer Clive Davis, second were songs from the songwriters contest and third were songs the Idols chose, whether a reprise or a new song. David Cook sang U2’s ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’, Emily Shackelton’s ‘Dream Big’ and Collective Soul’s ‘The World I Know’. David Archuleta sang Elton John’s ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’, Ryan Gillmor’s ‘In This Moment’ and a reprise of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’. Which David did you vote for?