Melody Plant

Enrique Iglesias has finally confirmed what we have all been speculating for a long time. The Latino singer has revealed to the British media that he was secretly married to former tennis star Anna Kournikova but that they are now divorced. He said “Oh I’m not married, no. I mean I was married. I was married, seriously. I was married a year ago to Anna and I don’t know what happened. We’re not married anymore but we are kind of still in contact.” It’s not really earth-shattering news but it should at least give some minds the peace they’ve all been looking for.

Mariah Carey was set to perform in Dubai on May 15th but for all those who have tickets, might as well get a refund as the diva has just cancelled the show. Unfortunately, Fergie, who was set to follow Mariah the next day, cancelled as well. According to the official press release “Midas Promotions along with Blue Giraffe Entertainment and On Golden Pond Pictures regret to announce the ‘Divas in Dubai’ concert event is being rescheduled to a later date in the Fall 2008. Mariah and Fergie are disappointed that they won’t be able to perform. They had scheduled this one special event in their calendars and were looking forward to performing for the Dubai fans.” The official reason for the postponement is “the extremely compressed time frame along with unforeseen logistical complications compelled us to move the event later in the year to ensure a show commensurate with the level of success of these world class artists and the people of Dubai.”

A bomb threat forced a three-hour evacuation of a Bon Jovi concert at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise [Florida] as authorities swept the massive arena for explosives.

The threat turned out to be a hoax, courtesy of someone calling from a cell phone with only 911 capabilities, authorities said. It was unclear if Sunrise police had any suspects. Police did not return numerous messages and pages seeking information Saturday evening.

Sunrise police received the threat sometime around 6 p.m. from a caller saying they would blow up the arena with two bombs at 7:57 p.m., said Sunrise Commissioner Sheila Alu. She said the police had several bomb-sniffing dogs sweeping the arena. “We are taking this very seriously to ensure the safety of all concertgoers,” Alu said.

Kylie Minogue joins a long list of celebrity bloggers as she takes to her official blog to update us on her upcoming tour. She says “The countdown has begun!! Not long now before opening night for KylieX2008!!!! My cast, crew and I have been working hard to really make this show a ‘Spectacular’ for you. Full production rehearsals are coming up and we are very excited to merge all the various elements of the show. If you have seen some of the behind the scene footage you will have noticed both new and familiar faces. I will update you with one more peek behind the scenes before we open in Paris, so keep a look out!” Her tour kicks off on May 6.

The Jonas Brothers were spotted in Los Angeles just as they got finished running a couple of errands on Tuesday. Mark your calendars now as the band of brothers consisting of 20-year old Kevin, 18-year old Joe and 15-year old Nick will be releasing their new album called ‘A Little Bit Longer’ on August 12. They recently talked to Popstar about their upcoming ‘Burnin’ Up’ tour where Nick said “We’re definitely talking about having some fire and maybe some explosions.” He even jokingly added “We’re going to [swallow swords of fire]!” Are we going to see a concert or a circus act?

We may have a reason as to what triggered the medical emergency with David Cook earlier this week. David was taken to the hospital after his heart began palpitating and his blood pressure rose. He has high blood pressure to begin with but was then put under tremendous stress because his brother has been ill. It’s being said that David’s brother, who has cancer, suffered a setback last week and it has really put David on the ropes. It’s also being said that this is not the first time this happened. David has been stressed during the entire season and even broke down once saying he couldn’t perform but changed his mind at the last minute.

Even though she was rumored to be present at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards which was held in Los Angeles this past Saturday, Britney Spears was no where to be found. Another pop star was there though in the form of the lovely Miss Janet Jackson. She even brought out the old ‘All for You’ hair. Yay! No poodle hair. Janet presented the award for Favorite Movie Actress. Sadly, it was given to the very undeserving Jessica Alba. Why? It’s not like she did any good movies this past year. Oh well, it’s not so good to hear but it holds true anyway – the kids get the blame!

A 12-year old boy was arrested in Bloomington, Illinois last week for throwing a rock at Soulja Boy’s tour bus the day after one of his performances. The incident took place right by Hampton Inn West in Bloomington. When the kid was questioned by the cops about why he threw a rock at the tour bus windshield, he replied with “I hate Soulja Boy!” No one was hurt by the 12-year old rock thrower. Too bad. I was kind of hoping that the rock broke through the windshield and hit Soulja Boy right on the head. You know it’s bad when your music leads people to violence.

Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz has confessed that he was once so depressed that he tried to commit suicide. In an effort to encourage students suffering from mental illness to get help, Pete, Mary J. Blige and Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan front the Jed Foundation’s ‘Half of Us’ campaign which is aimed to cut student suicide rates. The 3 musicians sat down for interviews detailing their darkest hours which appear on MTV’s college channel mtvU. Pete confessed to being so messed up and taking a bunch of prescription drugs in a parking lot. Suicide is never the answer. Get help if you’re feeling depressed.

Amy Winehouse is nominated for 6 Grammy Awards and is even slated to perform on the show which will go down live on Sunday in Los Angeles. However, don’t look for her there because Wino’s visa application to enter the US was just rejected by the American Embassy in London.

Amy’s UK-based publicist has released a statement regarding the matter saying “Amy has been progressing well since entering a rehabilitation clinic two weeks ago and although disappointed with the decision has accepted the ruling and will be concentrating on her recovery. There will of course be other opportunities and she very much looks forward to visiting America in the near future.”

According to a report from CNN, a suicide plot to attack Miley Cyrus has been uncovered. Reports say that a teenager on board a Southwest Airline flight planned to take over the plane and fly it into a Lafayette, Louisiana building where a ‘Hannah Montana’ concert was to be performed. It’s unclear why he targeted Miley.

The teenager was caught with some handcuffs, duct tape and rope in the plane. The kid has since been placed under arrest and is being held and will face numerous charges. It’s unclear how authorities uncovered the plot but a spokesperson for Southwest airlines says that at no time was the flight ever in any danger.

Just another celebrity baby to add to the masses that seem to be populating 2008 – but it’s still nice news.

Singer Lemar is celebrating after his long-term partner gave birth to a baby girl. Charmaine Powell gave birth to Nyiema Obika at London’s private Portland hospital on Saturday night, weighing 7lbs.

A spokeswoman for the 29-year-old singer said: “Lemar is overwhelmed on the birth of his beautiful daughter. Mother and little baby girl are both doing fine.”

Lemar, whose full name is Lemar Obika, first came to fame on BBC talent show Fame Academy in 2002. After finishing in third place, he launched a successful music career, winning two Brit awards and three Mobos for his blend of soul and R&B.

If you think of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, you’d think of leather pants, eyeliner and maybe even gold paint. But did you ever think of seeing one in Crocs? I sure didn’t. But that was exactly what the band’s front man, Anthony Kiedis, wore when he hung out with his biggest little fan – his 3-month old son Everly Bear.

The rocker dad was seen making the rounds in Malibu on Wednesday with his personal band – baby mama Heather Christie and their little chili pepper. He is so cute and precious. I just want to steal him and take him home.

Mom-to-be Lily Allen and her Chemical Brothers boyfriend Ed Simons were spotted doing some last minute Christmas shopping in Notting Hill in London on Wednesday. The Sun was first to report that the British singer was pregnant and she recently just announced that she IS pregnant with her first child.

Lily’s rep released a statement on Wednesday saying “I am pleased to confirm that Lily Allen and her boyfriend, Ed Simons, are expecting their first child. However, as the pregnancy is at a very, very early stage, the couple ask that you respect their privacy, as the health of Lily and their child is their paramount concern.”

The Jonas Brothers have really hit the big time. The musical trio of brothers Kevin, Nick and Joe were seen attending the 2007 Jingle Ball pre-event at The Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday in New York City.

Another mark of their success is that they were recently announced to be performers during ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Even 2008’ along with Carrie Underwood and Miley Cyrus. They will have live performances from Times Square with the show airing on Monday, December 31 on ABC. What a hot way to rock in the New Year – an American Idol and two big names from Disney.

Parents everywhere are breathing a collective sigh of relief. Maybe Christmas isn’t ruined after all.

It has been announced that Miley Cyrus, a.k.a. Hannah Montana, is extending her extremely popular tour and adding 14 more shows. The shows begin January 11 in Detroit and go until January 31 in Miami.

Disney says it was an overwhelming response from fans that made them decide to add the additional shows. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that it’s a huge revenue maker.

One downfall - the Jonas Brothers, who are touring with Miley, will not be on the added shows. Instead, Aly & AJ will join Miley from January 11 to January 24, with another “special guest” appearing for the remainder of the shows.

Tickets go on sale this Saturday!!!

Another celebrity baby has been born. A fat and healthy baby boy just entered Usher’s life, as his fresh wife gave birth.

The couple is thriving with joy, and Usher is content with his new found fatherhood. His wife, Tameka Foster, has already 3 children, this is her fourth. A late child for Tameka as she is already 37 years old, in contrast with the young singer who is only 29.

Their whole marriage is wrapped in mystery and no one really know if they got married just because he was pregnant or if the couple really intend of spending their lives tighter. That is for us to see and maybe comment on in the future, for now let’s all welcome usher’s new baby boy.

Kanye West issued a statement on Monday night regard the tragic passing of his mother Donda West. Kanye and the rest of his family were thankful for the outpouring of support and kind words that have come from all over the country.

The rapper also asks that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in the name of his mother to the Kanye West Foundation/Loop Dreams Teacher Training Institute. Both of which were handled by Donda who previously worked in higher education for 31 years.

I’m pretty sure I haven’t said it before, but better late than never. I’d like to extend my condolences to Kanye and the rest of the West family for their loss.

Jive Records is officially giving up on trying to get Britney Spears to promote her new album. They’re not even planning a tour despite her single “Gimme More” topping the charts. The label realizes that Britney doesn’t care and is apparently becoming fed up with her antics. Her label should understand that she is basically in turmoil right now and she is clearly unfit to be on tour right now. What if she goes on a tour promoting the album and during an interview she starts crying because there is some bad news that coming from her custody trail. Then the media and her record would be at logger heads, her record label would have to defend her because she is in a way representing them when on tour and that paparazzi as usual needless to say would be out there in their full numbers trying to blow up the story by saying she is mentally ill. Best that she doesn’t tour right now.

Roisin Murphy suffered a horrible accident when she was performing at a concert in Moscow on Saturday night. During one of the songs, the singer was rocking really hard and ended up hitting her forehead on a chair that was meant to be a stage prop.

Roisin was rushed to the hospital to get the injury examined. Doctors revealed that she broke her supercilliary bone, which is right above the eye socket.

Get well soon Roisin! Maybe next time you shouldn’t head-bang too hard. I guess we all learned that too much head-banging can literally have you bang your head.

Gwen Stefani was seen leaving her New York City hotel early Friday morning with her 17-month old son Kingston. This was the day after she attended the Black Ball 2007 which was held to honor the work of Bono for the AIDS movement.

Gwen performed at the event and did a duet with Alicia Keys. Rolling Stone reports that their performance was “an elegiac version of ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday” which was originally done by Bono’s band U2. The magazine also says the Alicia’s vocals lingered in the air and was long, haunting and elegant.

The song was haunting by itself, now I’m curious how Alicia made it even more so.

Mary J. Blige has just released a new video for her new single called ‘Just Fine’. The video is awesome and the song is a great jam. Mary J’s new single is a bit of a departure for the R&B diva. It’s up-tempo and is a feel-good anthem. She most definitely left the gut-wrenching and tortured emotions outside of the recording booth.

Different as the sound may be for all you die-hard fans of Mary J, she’s still the same diva. Except, instead of wanting to wallow in your tears while listening to her sing all her anguish out, she’ll make you want to sing that today is going to be a better day, today is going to be just fine.

Carrie Underwood released her sophomore album on Tuesday of this week. And based on the first day sales and projections, she is headed for the top spot of the charts and could sell up to 450,000 copies in the first week of release.

If you compare those numbers to the numbers of Kelly Clarkson’s latest CD ‘My December’, Carrie clearly wins because Kelly only sold 291,000 copies in its first week and then took a nosedive. Carrie’s radio-friendly disc is expected to ‘have legs’ as music industry people say for albums with longevity.

Congratulations goes out to Carrie and a better luck next time goes to Kelly.

Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter is confident he has learned from his past mistakes - and is keen to rid himself of his bad boy image. The singer hit the headlines after being charged with two counts of DUI in California in 2005 and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation program. Yeah that’s what they want us to believe, he wants us to believe that he is refined and no longer a ‘bad boy’ but they are all a fry cry from what they claim to be. Nick just because someone stops taking drugs or smashing cars on the highways and is low on alcohol consumption doesn’t mean you have become sacred in anyways ok, so stop bullying other about your image. Have you ever been polite to some hungry dog or shaken hands with an AIDS suffering person, no never you can never, you’ve just grown up in the age terms and found newer ways to do all the bad things you previously did only it may be that you make sure no one finds about it.

I did say a few days ago that Jennifer Lopez’s new album ‘Brave’ was expected to bring in low numbers for its first week out. Apparently, even that was an understatement. To make cut it short, the album bombed big time.

JLo’s new album failed to make it to the Top Ten in the US and came in at #12 by selling just 53,000 units. All of the Latin pop star’s six previous studio albums, even her Spanish language one, broke into the Top 10 when they debuted.

LeAnn Rimes, Sara Evans, Kid Rock, Bruce Springsteen, Rascal Flatts and even Josh Groban who released a Christmas album in October beat her to the Top 10. Ouch!

Rocker Sheryl Crow is the latest singer to jump on the celebrity designer bandwagon. Crow is teaming up with Canadian clothing manufacturer Western Glove Works to launch a low budget denim line. Yeah that’s the only thing these failed rockers and artist are left to do, one they have nothing creative left in them they think that the only thing they can best do is create a flop fashion line with some fashion house and dump it in the market with their name on the tag. Since I truly do not believe that any celebrity actually designs their own clothes…I’m going to say designer. Because usually the celeb crap is well, crap. I can give up one example that comes to mind immediately is that of Victoria Beckham, she had a successful career with the Spice Girls, once the band broke up she needed to do something creative and what’s more creative than get herself a fashion line and since then she has been selling some rags with a high price tag, Sheryl think she can do the same.

“The paradigm in the music business has shifted and as an artist and a business woman, I have to move with that shift. For the first time in my career, the way that my music can reach my fans is unlimited. I’ve never wanted to think in a limited way and with this new partnership, the possibilities are endless.” These are the comments that Madonna had to make on her record $120 deal with Live Nation. Once upon a time, a very long time ago, Madonna told Dick Clark she wanted to “rule the world.” Well, I guess she thinks she still can. Madonna should have just retired from the business years ago; she gets more annoying as she gets older. Her real talent lies in the art of self promotion, and she is a master at it. What limit did her music have? It is all over the place, even the crappy music of the last 5 years…and she is using her money to pass on that false religion, Kaballah, especially on the poor, hapless people of Malawi. She bores me.

It seems that the Idols are getting it on with the rivalries as Clay Aiken has had a falling out with fellow American Idol alum Kimberly Locke. Kimberly is quite upset about it and she’s filling everyone in on the cat fight by writing on her official site’s blog.

It seems it all stemmed from the supposed reunion tour that Ruben, Clay and Kimberly were planning. Kimberly talked with Billboard about it but the wrong things got printed and Clay read into it wrong as well.

The gist of it is, Clay is pretty much calling Kimberly a liar and Kimberly thinks that Clay is way too full of himself.

Former Stone Roses star Ian Brown has criticized Kylie Minogue’s musical abilities, branding the pop star a “devil doll” The singer claims Minogue is not talented enough to have been awarded the gong for Q Idol at the Q Awards in London on Monday. Is he schizo? He says she’s a devil doll, that he doesn’t find her cute, and that she isn’t one of the great minds making music, then says he LOVES her…but then says he doesn’t think she should’ve gotten an award. If anyone has problems, it’s this guy. You off your zoloft, dude? And though Kylie doesn’t make intellectual music like sting, and U2, etc., she is a great entertainer in her own right. She’s beautiful, and she and her music are fun. Who are YOU, Mr. Johnny come lately, to think you have the right to criticize her? Ok, she just performs fluffy pop, but she’s lasted a long time…and this shows that people do enjoy her AND her music. Let’s see how long YOU will last.

The Black Eyed Peas had a concert in El Salvador last Friday. However, Fergie was noticeable absent for a good portion of the show. She did come out for a while wearing sweats, a cap and dark sunglasses and told the crowd that she got food poisoning and was not feeling well.

Fergie addressed the crowd and said “I’m not one of those singers that cancels a show due to exhaustion” and then proceeded to wreck her own song ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’. I just gained new respect for her though because she at least tried.

The band has already said they will make it up for it and will schedule another concert in El Salvador real soon.