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50 CENT DENIES ANY INVOLVEMENT IN FIRE AT EX'S HOME
50 Cent's lawyer has hit out at those who have been speculating that the hip hop star had something to do with a fire that badly damaged a property he owns and where his ex-girlfriend and their ten year old son live. To be fair to the gossipers, while accusing Fiddy of ordering the house where his son lives to be burned down may seem pretty far fetched, the allegations stemmed from the ex, Shaniqua Tompkins, who held an impromptu press conference shortly after the fire where she told reporters: "He [Fiddy] said that he's gonna have someone come kill me and watch what he does, and this is what he did".
Fiddy and Tompkins have had what is best described as an acrimonious relationship since their split. They were in court this time last year with the latter pushing for the former to pay higher maintenance fees, and more recently there has been a dispute over the house where Tompkins and the couple's son lives, with allegations the rapper was trying to evict them. After she implied that her ex had some role in burning down the house, his rep quickly issued a statement telling everyone that it was "outrageous and offensive" to suggest his client had any involvement in the blaze, adding that the rapper is busy "filming a new motion picture on location in Louisiana" and that he "expressed deep concern over this fire at his property. He is extremely thankful that everyone including his son, Marquise, escaped the burning house safely".
Police have confirmed that they are treating the fire at the New York property as suspicious.
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JOURNALIST WHO ACQUIRED THE VID MUST TESTIFY: R KELLY TRIAL UPDATE
Not a huge amount of new news on the ongoing R Kelly trial this morning, except that the judge hearing the case – Judge Vincent Gaughan – has ruled that the journalist who first handed the sex tape at the heart of the case over to the police, Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis, must testify. Kelly's defence want to question DeRogatis, who says an anonymous tipster left a copy of the video in his mail box. The paper's attorney said that the journalist was protected by the Illinois reporter's privilege and the First Amendment, and shouldn't have to take to the witness stand. But Gaughan said that while the law protected the journalist was having to reveal the identity of his sources – not that he seemingly knows who his source is anyway – it didn't mean he could refuse to testify at all. The paper argued anything DeRogatis could offer would be "irrelevant" to Kelly's defence, but the R&B star's lawyers will be able to question him nevertheless. The case continues this week.
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TYLER NOT ON DRUGS, OKAY?
Aerosmith's Stephen Tyler has responded to those recent rumours that he's been in rehab for substance abuse. His people have released a statement that notes that he "checked himself into a rehab facility earlier this month after a series of surgeries and post-operative physical therapy (to correct long-time foot injuries resulting from his trademark athletic performance onstage)."
Tyler himself is quoted as saying: "The doctors told me the pain in my feet could be corrected but it would require a few surgeries over time. The 'foot repair' pain was intense, greater than I'd anticipated. The months of rehabilitative care and the painful strain of physical therapy were traumatic. I really needed a safe environment to recuperate where I could shut off my phone and get back on my feet. Make no mistake, Aerosmith has no plans to stop rocking. There's a new album to record, then another tour".
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YORKE ON PRINCE'S LATEST COPYRIGHT POLICING EFFORTS
Radiohead have been chatting about Prince's latest OTT attempt to stop the kids from posting footage of his live gigs on the old internet. Prince performed a cover of Radiohead's 'Creep' at the recent Coachella festival, and fans posted footage of it on YouTube et al. But Prince – who has proved to be very tetchy when it comes to fans being fans online – has had his legal people on the case and had the files removed over claims of copyright infringement. Except that the copyright on the song belongs to Radiohead, and the copyright on the film to whoever shot it – so technically Prince doesn't have a copyright claim.
Told about Prince's latest net policing in a recent interview, web friendly Yorke said: "Really? He's blocked it? Surely we should block it. Hang on a moment. Well, tell him to unblock it. It's our ... song."
Prince, of course, was something of an early innovator when it came to using the net to connect with fans, but he has become tetchy of late whenever he sees others posting footage of his gigs, or photos, or what not, on video sharing sites or message boards. As previously reported, he last year took moves to stop an online fan group from operating over copyright infringement claims.
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KURT COBAIN'S ASHES STOLEN, SAYS NOTW
According to a tabloid report, Kurt Cobain's ashes have been stolen from widow Courtney Love's LA home. The News Of The World claims that a thief took the remains, apparently kept alongside a lock of the Nirvana man's hair in a pink teddy-bear shaped bag, as well as a significant amount of clothes and jewellery. The tabloid quotes Love as saying: "I can't believe anyone would take Kurt's ashes from me. I find it disgusting and right now I'm suicidal. If I don't get them back I don't know what I'll do".
The paper also said that she used to carry the ashes around with her everywhere, so that she could feel as though he was still with her. She added: "Now it feels like I have lost him all over again".
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MAIL DEFEND EMO COVERAGE – THEY'RE BALANCED
The Daily Mail has said that its coverage of emo is "balanced" and "restrained". I'm not sure the Daily Mail's coverage of anything is "balanced" and "restrained", but whatever. The tabloid was responding to the march organised by fans of My Chemical Romance which took place in London this weekend in protest at the paper's coverage of the suicide of teenager Hannah Bond, and the suggestion that her passion for emo, and MCR in particular, were in part behind her suicidal state of mind. Despite running one feature that said "no child was safe from the sinister cult of emo", the paper said that it had "run two prominent page lead letters from an emo music fan and from a fan of My Chemical Romance defending their point of view", and added that "our music critic admires the music of the band and publicised the band's UK tour last year". The tabloid ended by suggesting that the march – which ended at the Mail's West London offices – will have more of a commercial than political impact, saying that it "provides wonderful publicity for Warners and their impending release of My Chemical Romance's latest album".
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FUTUREHEADS ON OWN LABEL SUCCESS
The Futureheads have said that they've been more successful as a band since they set up a record label of their own. The band, dropped by 679 in 2006, released their third album, 'This Is Not The World' this year via their own company, Nul Records.
The band's Ross Millard explained: "We set up our own label because we got dropped off our last one! But more importantly than that I think it's because we thought instead of signing a deal with some other label and having the same kind of troubles, we'd just thought well we'll set-up our own. Tours have been great since the start of the year so at the minute The Futureheads can't complain about nowt".
Bandmate Dave Hyde added: "We've set-up our own and I think we've done a better job at it, we've never had so much radio play since we've just started this so things are far better than they've ever been".
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JACKSON PULLS OUT OF COMEBACK
Michael Jackson pulled out of his live TV comeback last week, with just 24 hours notice. Jackson was due to sing on the live final of 'American Idol' on 21 May, but according to The Sun, cancelled the previous day saying: "I can't do it. Everyone will hate me". A source added: "This was his big chance but he got stage fright".
In related news, prior to that cancellation a leading Las Vegas promoter told the National Enquirer that the much reported rumours of a Jacko comeback in the form of a Vegas residency are unlikely to ever come true because he isn't fit enough for such a commitment. He told the mag: "Sadly, Michael's incapable of keeping promises, because he hasn't got the will to even show up anywhere, much less get himself into shape for a world-class performance. He might drop by to wave at guests, or do a dance on top of a limo, but a longterm show? That dream will never come true, I'm afraid".
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NO VEGAS RESIDENCY FOR BRITNEY
Also unlikely to do a Vegas residency is Britney, or so says her former manager Larry Rudolph. Responding to rumours that Spears was planning a comeback via Vegas, Rudolph, who has been advising Spears again recently, told the Las Vegas Review Journal, "She's not here [in Las Vegas] and she's not coming in. I wouldn't lie to you".
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BARAT TALKS NEW LIBERTINES ALBUM
Dirty Pretty Things frontman Carl Barat has said he would only consider reforming The Libertines in order to record a new album. So, there will be no lucrative one-off gigs.
Barat told The Independent: "Once I've done what I'm doing now, it won't be hard at all. It may detract in the short term from what I'm trying to achieve. It's certainly a friendship I cherish. But I want to let it be for a while. A lot of my friends say you should only do a reunion if you're going to write a new album. I agree. Otherwise it's just a cash-cow, a glory-milker". Presumably showing he still had some commitment to his old band, he concluded: "I've still got a 'Libertine' tattoo on my arm". Which is nice to know.
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MOGWAI COLLABORATE WITH 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS MAN
Mogwai have teamed up with legendary ex-13th Floor Elevators frontman Roky Erickson for a track on the band's new EP, 'Batcat'. Erickson lends his vocals to the song 'Devil Rides'. The EP is released on 8 Sep, followed by Mogwai's new album 'The Hawk Is Howling' on 22 Sep.
The band have also announced three UK shows for October:
21 Oct: Edinburgh, Corn Exchange
23 Oct: Manchester, Academy
24 Oct: London, Hammersmith Apollo
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CROWD ENJOY MCCARTNEY SHOW
Paul McCartney appeared at that previously reported concert in Liverpool this weekend as part of the city's European Capital Of Culture celebrations. 36,000 fans attended the event at the Anfield stadium, and sang along with almost two hours worth of highlights from across the former Beatle's career as well as one of John Lennon's – 'Give Peace A Chance'. McCartney, who was joined on stage by Dave Grohl for a couple of songs, and was supported by The Zutons and Kaiser Chiefs told the crowd: "Thank you for coming here in the City of Culture, at the centre of the universe".
Among the c'lebs attending the event were Yoko Ono and Wayne Rooney. McCartney was introduced by comedian Peter Kay, who described him as "a local lad who's done very well for himself in the music game".
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TONI BRAXTON CANCELS VEGAS SHOWS
The Flamingo Las Vegas hotel has announced that remaining Toni Braxton's 'Revealed' shows have been cancelled so that the singer can concentrate on her health. The singer's two year run, scheduled to end in August, was put on hold when Braxton was admitted to hospital on 7 Apr, after complaining of chest pains. The plan was to resume on 6 Jun, but that will no longer happen. It's not clear what exactly is wrong with her, although she has, in the past, been treated for pericarditis, a viral inflammation of the heart.
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ASHLEE SIMPSON POSTPONES TOUR
Ashlee Simpson has postponed her summer concert tour because she is pregnant. Don't know why, she should be over the morning sickness by now. Only kidding, it's understandable. Her publicist says this: "After careful consideration, Ashlee Simpson has decided to postpone her summer tour. She is committed to giving her fans the best show possible, and will be back better than ever and ready to rock in the future".
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WINEHOUSE ADDED TO MANDELA BILL
Amy Winehouse is the latest act added to the bill for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert taking place this month. She joins the likes of Simple Minds, Razorlight, Leona Lewis, Queen and Shirley Bassey in appearing at the event, which will raise funds for Mandela's 46664 Aids charity. The charity's Tim Massey said "We are delighted Amy will be appearing at Hyde Park".
Hmmm. He might not be quite so delighted if he's read reports about her appearance in Lisbon at the weekend. The singer performed a set at the Rock In Rio event on Saturday, but told the crowd that she "should have cancelled" this, her first live appearance of 2008. The singer, who was sucking throat sweets throughout, added: "my voice is not singing right and I can't even hold the microphone. But I wanted to be here so much".
She also turned up late, and wrapped up on time, meaning that she only played about two thirds of her expected set. Well, at least she didn't vomit, or pass out, or anything.
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THE CORAL TO HEADLINE LOUNGE ON THE FARM
Lounge On The Farm's organisers have announced that this year's festival will be headlined by The Coral, who will play an acoustic set.
The Coral join an already impressive line-up, including Lightspeed Champion, Black Kids, Mystery Jets, Holy Fuck, We Smoke Fags, Jon Carter, Dub Pistols Sound System, Terry Hall (DJ set), DJ Format, Sonny J, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, Holly Golightly & The Broke Offs, The Shortwave Set, Esser, Bonobo, Midfield General, Los Campesinos, Cadence Weapon, Johnny Foreigner, Those Dancing Days, and Subliminal Girls.
The event takes place on 11, 12 and 13 Jul at Merton Farm in Kent. More info from www.loungeonthefarm.co.uk
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ALBUM REVIEW: Plump DJs – Headthrash (Finger Lickin' Records) |
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ANTI-PIRACY AGENCY REPORTED TO THE FEDS
LA based anti-piracy firm MediaDefender, which works for content owners – including several major labels - and employs various tactics to tackle illegal file sharing, including swamping P2P networks with fake files so that the file sharing system collapses, has been reported to the FBI after they accidentally brought a legit content distribution network to a halt.
US based niche-programme web-TV service Revision3, which uses the 'BitTorrent protocol' to distribute some of its programming, say that their system collapsed recently after MediaDefender flooded their network with fake files. Revision3 boss Jim Louderback explains: "A torrential flood of SYN packets rained down on Revision3's network over Memorial Day weekend. Those packets – up to 8,000 a second – came primarily from computers controlled by MediaDefender, who is in the business of shutting down illegal torrent sites". I'm not sure I understood much of that. I mean, what's Memorial Day?
Anyway, MediaDefender claim Revision3 had been inadvertently tracking illegal content sources and that that had led to their fake-file-attack being launched. But Louderback says that, given he runs a legitimate online content provider, MediaDefender should have alerted him if they thought there was anything awry with his system, rather than just attacking it. To that end he says he has reported the anti-piracy agency to the FBI, claiming MediaDefender acted illegally under the Economic Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud And Abuse Act, among others.
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RIAA SPEND $1.5 MILLION ON A QUARTER'S LOBBYING
More on US copyright type shenanigans, and the Recording Industry Association Of America spent over $1.5 million on lobbying in the first quarter of the year, much of that on piracy issues, although their reps were also chatting to political types about internet radio royalties, and proposed higher education and data legislation. I'm not sure that will please EMI boss Guy Hands, he already being critical about the high costs run up by the industry associations (the RIAA and IFPI in particular) to which major labels like his have to make a substantial contribution. Though when asked about the lobbying costs revealed in a recent disclosure report, the trade body was keen to stress that it reckons the record industry loses $12.5 billion annually to piracy, so $1.5 million is a small price to pay. I'm not sure Hands would agree though – trade bodies do have a habit of rounding things up when it comes to calculating the real costs of piracy.
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BRONFMAN JR CHATS TO FT
Warner top man Edgar Bronfman Jr has given a video interview for FT.com in which he says he is optimistic about the future for the big music firms, bigging up the potential of new revenue streams like mobile services, advertising and tour promotion (he's right to see the potential of those revenue streams, though Bronfman-dissers like Hits Daily Double are sure to point out that the Warner's chief's previous attempt to move his company into live entertainment, by acquiring Bulldog Entertainment, ended in disaster – the new venture closed down almost immediately at the cost of $18 million – oh look, a quick check of the HDD Rumour Mill, and they just did).
Among the topics discussed in the interview are EMI, the rival it was long thought Warner would merge with in order to create another major of similar size to Universal and SonyBMG. The merger has been off the agenda since Guy Hands' Terra Firma acquired EMI last year, though some see an eventual joining of the two companies as something that could still happen in the future. On Hands' somewhat revolutionary attitude towards EMI, he said: "I do think having someone as insightful as Guy Hands can only be a good thing for the music industry and for recorded music particularly, because I'm sure he will have insights. He will make decisions. He will go in certain directions that perhaps none of us may have thought of before and if he's successful, that's great", while on the possibility of a EMI/Warner merger long term he concluded: "Anything is possible, but possible is not probable".
Bronfman was less keen to comment on negotiations between the major and Metallica, who only have one album left to go with the label. The metallers, once the luddites of rock, have got rather excited about the potential of the internet of late, leading some to speculate they will go it alone after their current deal is through, or perhaps they are the next candidates for a multi-million 360 degree deal with Live Nation. Either way, Warner could do without losing another high profile bankable act.
Anyway, you can see what he does comment on here.
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BAUER GET TO EXPAND MAGIC ON DIGITAL
OfCom has given the go ahead for Bauer Radio to further expand the Magic brand on digital, by dropping its Kiss digital station off 12 local digital radio multiplexes and its Smash Hits service off a further 9 multiplexes, allowing Magic to go on air, via DAB, in 21 new areas. Which is great news. For Kiss hating, Smash Hits dissing, Tragic FM fans.
OfCom have also given the go ahead for Bauer to change the format of Smash Hits radio on the digital multiplex in Central Scotland. I've no idea what to, though some reckon that once Global have finalised their takeover of GCap they will relaunch Xfm Scotland as a new Galaxy station, so it might be an attempt to pre-empt that youth station relaunch by refreshing their own youth proposition in the region (though the Kiss format would presumably compete better with Galaxy).
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XFM WALES SOLD
Talking of Xfm stations rebranding, we know for certain that Xfm South Wales will be losing the X name, because GCap have sold it to Town & Country Broadcasting who have already announced it will relaunch the alternative station as Nation Radio. Xfm only launched its Welsh outpost late last year, of course, but parent company GCap announced they would sell it right at the start of the year. Some had thought that a bid led by former Xfm execs Nick Davidson and Ande Macpherson – who were involved in winning the Cardiff/Swansea licence – would get control of the station, but that was seemingly not to be. Town & Country Broadcasting's Jason Bryant has said Nation Radio will be a "younger Virgin Radio", leading to speculation that they will move the station down a more mainstream youth route than the Xfm format would ever aim to go.
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NME CONFIRM MORE DJS FOR NEW RADIO STATION
Talking of Xfm, IPC have recruited two former Xfm presenters for the launch line up for their new competing digital station, NME Radio, which, as previously reported, is being headed up by one of Xfm's founders Sammy Jacob. Both Claire Sturgess and Nick Luscombe are among the presenters lined up to present on the new station. Also on the roster are Neil Cole and Chris Martin (no, not that one, a Yorkshire based DJ), plus former CMU reviewer Edward Adoo and Ben Osborne, Sarah Kerr and Nick New.
Confirming all the new appointments, Jacob told CMU: "What makes NME Radio presenters special is their genuine passion for the music, the station and all it represents – not to mention being truly wonderful people as well. I'm delighted they have chosen to join and share their passion with us".
NME Radio will be available via Sky, Virgin, the net, and in the near future on some DAB networks and, from time to time, on FM with regular city-wide RSL broadcasts.
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MORE SPECULATION REGARDING ORIGINAL FUTURE
Lots of radio news today. And more speculation that CanWest, who were very keen to get into the UK radio industry a couple of years back, may back out of the sector altogether by selling its three FM stations, which operate under the Original brand. There has been speculation that CanWest was considering getting out of UK radio for a while, speculation that rose when MD John Evington stepped down earlier in the year. CanWest's European Operations chief Rick Hetherington has told the Telegraph: "We have been approached about the stations, and anything is for sale at any time at the right price", which doesn't really say anything, but has added to the speculating. However, Hetherington said the company did not intend to give up its slot on Channel 4's national digital radio multiplex, should that ever launch.
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RADIO 1 MATERNITY COVER NEWS
Last bit of radio news, and Radio 1 have announced who will fill in for Edith Bowman, who is about to go on maternity leave. Nihal will do the station's afternoon show for June, then Fearne Cotton and Vernon Kay will fill in during July and August. Must remember not to accidentally stray onto Radio 1 in the afternoon after June then. Meanwhile Sara Cox will cover while Jo Whiley is on maternity. Couldn't Chris Moyles get pregnant, give us all a rest?
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SINGLE REVIEW: Gotye – Heart's A Mess (Lucky Number) |
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CHART UPDATE
So, no change atop the singles chart this week, with Rihanna still at number one with 'Take A Bow' and those Ting Tings still at number two with 'That's Not My Name'. Duffy moves up to three to complete the top three.
For new entries you need to scoot on down to 17, where you'll find Chris Brown with 'Forever', and then there's Paul Weller with 'Have You Made Up Your Mind?' at 19, Go:Audio with 'Made Up Stories' at 33, and Vampire Weekend with 'Oxford Comma' at 38, which I preceded with an Oxford comma, because I thought that might brighten up your Monday. Mint Royale's reworking on 'Singin In The Rain', originally released in 2005, also re-enters the chart at 28, I'm assuming because of 'Britain's Got Talent', more on which below.
Onto the albums chart, and Usher goes straight in at the top with 'Here I Stand', with The Pigeon Detectives in at 5 with 'Emergency', Spiritualized in at 15 with 'Songs In A&E', Futureheads in at 17 with 'This Is Not The World', Russell Watson in at 19 with a best of, Sandi Thom in at 25 with 'The Pink & The Lily' and Kids In Glass Houses in at 29 with 'Smart Casual'.
The charts, of course, are compiled by the The Official UK Charts Company - www.theofficialcharts.com
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TOTAL ROCK WORLD ALBUM CHART
It's the Total Rock World Album Chart, as counted down on Total Rock over the weekend - www.totalrock.com. New entries and re-entries marked with a *.
1. Def Leppard - Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (Universal/Mercury)
2. Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight (Warner Bros)
3. Nickelback - All The Right Reasons (Warner/Roadrunner)
4. Daughtry - Daughtry (SonyBMG)
5. Children Of Bodom - Blooddrunk (Spinefarm)
6. Rolling Stones - Shine A Light (Universal)
7. Buckcherry - 15 (Eleven Seven Music)
8. Kid Rock - Rock 'N' Roll Jesus (Warner/Atlantic)
9. Panic At The Disco - Pretty Odd (Warner/Atlantic)
10. Foo Fighters - Echoes Silence Patience & Grace (Roswell)
11. Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden (Universal)
12. In Flames - A Sense Of Purpose (Nuclear Blast)
13. Paramore - Riot! (Warner/Atlantic)
14. Iron Maiden - Somewhere Back In Time (EMI)*
15. Whitesnake - Good To Be Bad (SPV)
16. Story Of The Year - The Black Swan (Epitaph)
17. Testament - The Formation Of Damnation (Nuclear Blast)
18. Bon Jovi - Lost Highway (Universal/Mercury)*
19. Simple Plan - Simple Plan (Warner/Atlantic)
20. Led Zeppelin - Mothership (Warner/Atlantic)
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SUB.TV PLAYLIST
Here they are again, the videos being played on the Sub.tv video screen network in students' unions all over the UK. New entries marked with a *.
A-List
Alphabeat - 10,000 Nights (Charisma)
Does If Offend You, Yeah? - Epic Last Song (EMI/Virgin)
The Fratellis - Mistress Mabel (Universal/Island)
Go:Audio - Made Up Stories (SonyBMG/Epic)
Guillemots - Falling Out Of Reach (Universal/Polydor)
The Kooks - Shine On (EMI/Virgin)*
Laura Marling - Cross Your Fingers (EMI/Virgin)
Mystery Jets - Two Doors Down (Warner/sixsevennine)
The Pigeon Detectives - This Is An Emergency (Dance To The Radio)
Sonny J - Handsfree (If You Hold My Hand) (EMI/Positiva)
The Subways – Alright (Warner)
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name (SonyBMG/Columbia)
We Are Scientists - Chick Lit (EMI/Virgin)
Weezer - Pork and Beans (Universal/Polydor)*
Wiley - Wearing My Rolex (Warner/Atlantic)
The Zutons - Always Right Behind You (Deltasonic)
B-List
Annie - I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me (Universal/Island)
Black Kids - Hurricane Jane (Almost Gold)
The Brightlights – 3 (Distiller)*
The Duke Spirit - My Sunken Treasure (You Are Here)
Fear Of Music - First To Go (SonyBMG/Columbia)
Feeder - We Are The People (Echo)
Glasvegas – Geraldine (SonyBMG/Columbia)
Infadels - Free Things For Poor People (Wall Of Sound)
Jamie Lidell - Another Day (Warp)
The Metros - Last Of The Lookers (SonyBMG/1965)
The Potbelleez - Don't Hold Back (Frenetic)
The Rascals - Freakbeat Phantom (Deltasonic)
Toddla T - Sound Tape Killin (SonyBMG/1965)
Tokyo Police Club - In A Cave (Memphis Industries)*
Wild Beasts - The Devil's Crayon (Domino)*
Year Long Disaster - Leda Atomica (Volcom)*
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OYEZ, OYEZ, TALENT SHOWS LATEST
I suppose it's stretching it a bit to make it music news, but it's kind of related to music, as it's dancing. Plus, we reported on this before, and we like continuity here at CMU.
Anyway, this is the news that fourteen year old breakdancer George Sampson has won ITV's 'Britain's Got Talent' contest by breakdancing to Mint Royale's rework of 'Singin In The Rain'. He gets a £100,000 cash prize (he says he's going to pay off his mum's mortgage with it) and a set at the Royal Variety Show. Sampson, who auditioned for the first series but didn't make it through said: "I'm speechless - wow. Just thanks so much. You have changed my life". Simon Cowell told him: "You are the dancing version of Rocky, young man. You battled your way to the top. Congratulations". It was a good night for both dancing and teenagers. Dancing duo Signature came second, whilst opera singing thirteen year old Andrew Johnston took third place.
Elsewhere in the thrilling world of TV talent shows, one Jodie Prenger has triumphed over all the other Nancys to win the BBC's 'I'd Do Anything', and will take up the role of Bill Sikes's lady in Cameron Mackintosh's revival of 'Oliver!' Judge Andrew Lloyd Webber said: "She's the people's choice. I think people love her, they love her open personality. I think they relate to that personality and I think that's what makes her Nancy for the public. Her strengths are her personality and her very, very strong voice".
The aforementioned Mackintosh added: "I'm thrilled for Jodie. She is obviously the public's view of what they want to see as Nancy. She'll give a terrific performance and I really look forward to putting her into training and getting her into rehearsals".
Jodie herself told viewers: "You have genuinely given me my dream, I can't actually put into words how I feel. I'm so grateful and so chuffed. I'm just Jodie from Blackpool and to be here is my dream".
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ANDY ABRAHAM RELAXED ABOUT EUROVISION THANG
Andy Abraham has said that he's not bitter about the fact that he came last in the Eurovision Song Contest, despite the fact that the song wasn't the most rubbish, even if it wasn't the best. The singer, who only garnered fourteen points for his track 'Even If', told the Press Association that he felt pleased with his performance, no matter what the outcome: "When I came off stage", he said "all the backroom staff were clapping and they loved it. It was great. [Even once the results were in], I felt exactly the same. I said: 'The song is a great song anyway, we had a great time'".
On Terry Wogan's threat to stand back from the Contest following yet another poor showing, he continued: "He was upset about the outcome just from a voting perspective and believed that our performance was one of the best ones in years. That's a great compliment from him. He's obviously been through so much of the voting situation and he's got tired of it".
He continued: "After watching the contest for as long as I can remember, I'm saddened that it is no longer a song contest. I'm not bitter, but I am sad that an institution may be coming to an end".
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MIA ENGAGED TO BRONFMAN JUNIOR JUNIOR
According to reports, MIA has got engaged to Benjamin Brewer, who is the son of your old friend, and Warner Music Group boss Edgar Bronfman Jr. Brewer is a guitarist in New York rock band The Exit. MIA, real name Mathangi Arulpragasam, is currently on tour in Canada, and apparently told Sun Media that she might have to get married to stay in the US after her work visa expires in June. How much that has to do with the engagement, I'm not sure.
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STANLEY ON ROBBIE WILLIAMS NAME CHECK
Kiss star Paul Stanley has said that he was not offended by Robbie Williams 1999 hit 'Strong' in which his band were referenced with the lyrics "every morning when I wake up, I look like Kiss, but without the make-up".
He is quoted as saying: "I liked it. When I ran into him in Los Angeles, I think he thought I was gonna deck him. But I liked it. But, as big as Robbie Williams is, he's not in one of our songs".
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DON'T CRY FOR ME ZUTON LEAVER
Zutons bassist Russell Pritchard has revealed that he cried when guitarist Boyan Chaudhury announced his departure from the band last year. Pritchard told The Daily Record: "When we lost Boyan last year it was like splitting up with someone. It set us back in a way and moved us forward, too. I had a little bit of a cry about it, I'm not ashamed to admit. It was hard confronting him about it".
Pritchard was also asked about Amy Winehouse's version of The Zutons' 'Valerie', which the band's frontman Dave McCabe recently said is now seen by fans "as Amy Winehouse's song". Pritchard said: "I don't mind her version but I think ours is better. We play it the way it was written. We wouldn't cover one of her songs because we're not heavily into doing covers and it's not like we need to return a favour. We've done alright off our own releases".
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CHRIS MARTIN PLAYS DOWN COLDPLAY SUCCESS
Chris Martin has echoed the views of millions of music fans (well, six CMU journalists) by saying that he doesn't think Coldplay are "that good". Speaking to Q, he said: "After the last record I felt like 'God, I can't believe we've got away with becoming this huge band'. And we still haven't done anything I think is that good yet. So it was almost like, 'We've got the job, now we've got to prove why we've got it'".
He continued: "The only thing that makes me remember that we're in a big band is when I remember that I'm married to someone famous. Everything else in the day is exactly the same as it was eleven years ago".
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WELLER ON THE JAM
Paul Weller has made some derisory comments about From The Jam, the touring outfit consisting of original Jam members Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. He refused to join the pair on a 25th anniversary tour last year, presumably because he's rich enough and doesn't need the money, whereas they possibly do. He told 6Music: "I'm not mad about the idea. It's a bit cabaret to me. I thought we were against all that, what we stood for".
Asked if he missed being in the band he added: "No, not particularly. I quite like what today is. It was a lot of pressure, being that kind of spokesman for a generation. Whether it was my own fault for setting myself up or not, I don't know, but it was a lot of pressure for a young man. I certainly didn't miss that".
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