Melody Plant

Britney Spears has decided to pick up what Kelly Clarkson dropped. Jeff Kwatinetz, boss of The Firm and ex-boyfriend of actress Brittany Murphy is an industry bigwig. He was formerly working with singer Kelly Clarkson when she had issues with Clive Davis and in turn dumped Kwatinetz as her management. Britney Spears has now reportedly hired him on to her team. She just recently hired back her cousin Alli Sims who had worked for her previously as an assistant and is now standing in until the position can be permanently filled. I’m not sure if the best manager in the world could get Britney’s career back on track. I guess he’s willing to give it a shot if the dollar signs are big enough. I can’t say that I’d be as bold. Choosing to work for the wrong star could in effect harm a manager’s career. Working for Britney has got to be right up on that level of crazy that working for Michael Jackson would be.

Natalie Imbruglia has got to be one of the luckiest women on the planet. And that’s not just because she’s a successful singer but more because she’s married to the likes of Daniel Johns. When the heck did he get this hot?!

For those not in the know, Daniel Johns is the lead singer of the band Silverchair. He gave concertgoers one heck of a treat when he ripped off his shirt at Lollapalooza in Chicago this past Saturday and showed off the buff bod, sexy chest hair, tattoos and pierced nipples that Natalie sleeps next to.

Last I remember Daniel he was a pretty skinny dude with hair that resembled that of the younger Hansons. Not so hot.

Madonna has been making amazing and timeless music for 25 years now and it is about damn time that MTV marks the milestone with a very special celebration. Sure, they did that during one of their awards shows having drag queens dress up as her but still.

The music network is said to be working on a two hour special in honor of the Queen of Pop. Details are still being ironed out but it’s believed that Madonna herself will be performing as well as some other artists who will cover her famous tunes.

Basically, it’s MTV Icon.

Just because you were voted out early doesn’t mean American Idol contestants don’t stand a chance in the music scene. We all have William Hung to prove that. But it seems that more cast offs are finding their way into the music scene. Sabrina Sloan and Sundance Head have been signed by Universal Records Motown. The two are set to record a whole album of cover songs.

Prepare yourselves for some yummy yet cheesy renditions of duets of way back when. But either way, at least they can actually sing. I would have easily traded these two, and ten thousand of their clones, back into the show just so one Sanjaya can be booted off.

Usher and his fiancé may have canceled their weekend wedding at the very last minute, but they are still getting married, so says Usher to Us Weekly. He tells the magazine that it’s only a matter or time until they get married but that they don’t have a date set as of yet.

The magazine reports that the cancellation was due to a pregnancy scare and not because of Usher’s mother or any other reason. Usher says that Tameka and the baby are fine though.

Here’s to hoping that the pre-nup is air tight. Tameka is 10 years Usher’s senior and is hated by his mother. Gold digger anyone?

Madonna works hard and will no doubt get to play harder. She’s been making a new record with some of the best producers out there like Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams and her new album is said to be great but she is leaving her long-time home at Warner Bros. Records.

Don’t be sad for the pop icon though. The Queen of Pop is said to be negotiation with the music executives at Live Nation to sign a deal that would cover her touring, recording, merchandising and other stuff. The said deal is for something between $160 to $180 million.

The wait is over. For those of you who were actually excited at the prospect of a Spice Girls reunion should be anxious to know what cities the girls have chosen. Only fourteen locations will be selected to participate in the tour. Some countries were questioning if they would even receive a concert date but the girls have done well in diversifying their choices.

A few listed locations are Vancouver, Madrid and Sydney. The USA seems to score the most with at least four of the fourteen performances. It still fails to become obvious to me why they decided a world tour like this would be beneficial. Considering that more fans are shut out than included, I doubt it’s anything more than a quick injection for their bank accounts. I mean really, who reunites just long enough to make some money and then quit again? It’s so obviously just about the money. It’s incredibly rude to expect people who have worked hard for their money to hand it over. Unfortunately that won’t stop them from doing so.

The legal battles between Beatle Paul McCartney and his estranged wife Heather Mills have not come to a conclusion. Their long legal dispute is still ongoing. The report is that Paul offered Heather forty million dollars to settle and she refused by saying she’d take no less than one hundred million. Paul McCartney is estimated to be worth 1.65 billion dollars. The lawyer working on the case is expecting it to go to trial because both parties are just too stubborn. The couple has a three year old daughter as well. It’s funny because I haven’t heard any custody fights between this couple so far. It’s all about money. I do find it to be outrageous that Mills thinks she is entitled to more money. That money has nothing to do with her and she was offered more than enough to live comfortably. Anything more and she’s being totally selfish.

If you had to think about Australia’s hottest stars and how much they’re worth I don’t think these guys would cross your mind. The Wiggles are popular children’s entertainers. They are known worldwide among kids everywhere. For the second year now they have beaten out other celebs from down under to be named the highest paid Aussie stars. For 2006 the group has made 43 million dollars. Nicole Kidman came in second with 30 million. She was followed by Hugh Jackman and Kylie Minogue. That’s a pretty good year of work for four guys who get paid to act like total morons to make kids laugh. I guess at the end of the day it makes making a fool out of yourself to be a very good living.

It’s only been days since Patrick Wolf opened a concert for Mika but it seems that the red headed singer has some bitterness to get off his chest. He’s been slamming and criticizing Mika since then.

Patrick says that “Mika is a twat. Please let’s put an end to over marketed, expensive, heartless, tacky, rubbish, autotune airbrush.” Meow! The kitty has claws.

Who are you placing your bets on? I say Mika. Looking at the grand scheme of things, wasn’t it Patrick that opened a concert while Mika took the headliner spot? It’s jealousy. And bitterness because Mika was a smarter business man.

With the way things are going with Amy Winehouse, those who purchased tickets for any of her shows should just get a refund while they still have time. Why? Because the British songbird has cancelled yet another show. This time, it was for the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland this past Sunday.

What’s worse about this case is that Amy was actually at the airport already before deciding to cancel the show. She even went as far as checking in for the flight and already cleared security. She then decided that she was too tired and announced that the show was cancelled due to exhaustion.

I say it was another hangover.

Kelly Rowland, one of the founding members of Destiny’s Child, has gone and done a Mariah. Well, not really. She actually ended up passing out during her concert this past weekend.

Her representatives cited the good old excuse of ‘dehydration’ as the cause of the little incident. Kelly is said to be doing fine after her fainting spell. Right.

Are we sure that it’s ‘dehydration’? It could be drugs or it could be because she’s anorexic or it could be because of Beyonce. Why Beyonce? I don’t know. I just wanted to blame her.

Hey, it works. People don’t see you when you blame her. Eh.

I’m over Joss Stone, you’re over Joss Stone and apparently, even Joss Stone’s homeland UK is over her too. Surprisingly, Joss doesn’t seem to care.

Her latest album, ‘Introducing Joss Stone’ has received a lackluster response from consumers and critics alike. Joss told the press that “I was told not to do anything in the UK, because everybody hates you. I’m not allowed to speak, but I’m totally not shutting up any time soon. I never have and never will. I would like to be successful and liked in the UK, because it’s my home but on the other hand, if I don’t have success I can come home and not get followed around.”

Her success in America is enough to keep money coming in for a while. So it may be better to pay no mind to whatever’s across the pond.

Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton is about to have some dinner with Maroon 5’s playboy front man Adam Levine. Apparently, she was very thankful for Adam’s accommodating nature.

Both were scheduled to call in to ‘Mark and Mercedes in the Morning’ on KMXB in Las Vegas. But being a pres candidate, Hilary’s schedule got backed up and she ended up needing to take Adam’s interview time. Adam and his people had no problem with it. Hilary’s thank you was in the form of a dinner offer.

Adam says that he loves the offer and he will be there for dinner. He even goes as far as saying that he will dress and act all classy for the classy senator. Pfft. Like he knows classy.

Chantal Kreviazuk, the fellow Canadian singer-songwriter who dismissed collaborator Avril Lavigne’s writing skills in an interview in the June issue of Performing Songwriter magazine, has retracted her comments.

Kreviazuk’s comments have been in the media of late in the wake of a copyright infringement suit filed against Lavigne by the 1970s band the Rubinoos. That group claims Lavigne’s hit “Girlfriend” infringes on their earlier song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.”

“I would like to apologize for any misconceptions concerning Avril Lavigne, which may have resulted from statements I made in my interview with Performing Songwriter Magazine,” said Kreviazuk in a statement released Tuesday . “It was not my intention to call Avril’s songwriting ability or ethics into question.

“My statements and any inference from my statements, which call into question Avril’s ethics or ability as a respected and acclaimed songwriter, should be disregarded and are retracted. Avril is an accomplished songwriter and it has been my privilege to work with her.”

In a July 6 post on her Web site, Lavigne had hit back, “Chantal’s comments are damaging to my reputation and a clear defamation of my character and I am considering taking legal action.”

A musical version of Madonna’s 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan is set for London’s West End. The stage show will incorporate several hits by New York new wave act Blondie, as well as an original song penned by the band’s lead singer, Debbie Harry. Kelly Price, who recently appeared in the West End production of Guys and Dolls, will play Roberta Glass - played by Rosanna Arquette in the film. The story revolves around Glass, a bored suburban housewife who becomes fascinated with Susan after reading about her in the personal ads of a New York newspaper. The movie was released in 1985 and some 22 years later only a few people would be interested in seeing a stage show of that movie. Williams, who is 24, admitted she had not seen the film before rehearsals because she was “too young” to have caught it in cinemas.

A monument dedicated to The Beatles is to be erected in the German city of Hamburg, where the band launched their international career. Radio station Oldie 95 said work on the £310,000 monument will begin this year. The steel structure will represent John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and early Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe, who died in Hamburg in 1962. It will be built on a corner of the St Pauli district near clubs where the band played. The beatles are among the worls’s all time best music selling act and even today there is a music album or song that has not been released and is there in the market is selling for millions of dollars. They were truly the people’s choice and we love them till date. I am sure in time to come the place shall become one the epicenters for other musicians to perform and a platform for upcoming talent.

They have no creativity in them and half the time there are busy seeking publicity so how could she ever have the time to create something ‘different and original’. Avril Lavigne faces a law suit by the members of a 1970s rock band who claim her hit song Girlfriend rips off one of their tunes. Songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer alleged in a law suit filed in US district court that Lavigne and her co-writers lifted their 1979 song I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, which was originally performed by new wave band The Rubinoos. “We are not so naive as to chalk it up to some sort of cosmic coincidence,” Dunbar said in a statement Thursday. “The lyric, the meter, the rhythm _ they’re identical.” Hey, if this is really true as it sounds to be then the singer better be prepared to pay a heavy penalty and share revenues for the sales of the album that has the song. What ugly piece of song writing she and the co-writer has done – just picked up the song and added some tunes and there u have a finished product.

The Live Earth concert in London may be headlined by Madonna but she isn’t exactly the biggest advocate for a green earth. She’s actually got money going into some of the worst environmental offenders in the world.

FOX news reports that Madonna’s Ray of Light foundation owns shares in companies like Alcoa, BP, Schlumberger and Ford. Companies that have Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio praying for rehabilitation.

There’s no way to know if Madonna had any input in her investments or how much input she has within the foundation but FOX also reports that the foundation has $4.2 million invested in corporate stuck.

Oooh, trouble.

A Brazilian judge has canceled Saturday’s Live Earth concert in Rio because police said they do not have enough officers to guarantee crowd safety.

Organizers of the free show on Rio’s Copacabana Beach said Wednesday they were trying to overturn the order to prevent Latin America from being left out of the worldwide music fest aimed at stopping global warming.

Promoted by former Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth concerts are scheduled for London; Tokyo; Johannesburg, South Africa; Shanghai, China; Sydney, Australia; and Hamburg, Germany; and East Rutherford, New Jersey. A band of scientists also will perform in Antarctica, to bring the festival to seven continents.

Brazilian prosecutor Denise Tarin requested a suspension of the concert, saying there were not enough officers to police a crowd that could top 700,000.

Rio police already are busy making sure Rio stays safe during the July 13-29 Pan American games.

Concert organizers confirmed the show was suspended but said they would contest the order and expected to overturn it.

Rio’s concert, the only free one for Live Earth, would include performances by Lenny Kravitz, Macy Gray and Pharrell Williams.

Since the news of their reunion concert, one million people have gone to the official Spice Girls website to register for tickets for their reunion tour with very limited dates. If that wasn’t enough for the rest of the world to see that there are still some die hard Spice Girls fans out there, there’s more.

A group of well-organized fans have opened a MySpace page with details about the movement ‘Stop to the Top’. It’s an internet movement which aims to get the only Spice Girls single that never made it to number 1 to the top stop via internet downloading. ‘Stop’ stalled at number 2 before dropping gradually.

The campaign seems to be working though. The song has already made it to the Top 100 in iTunes.

As if she’s lacking in awards, Carrie Underwood was just named as the world’s sexiest celebrity vegetarian by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Carrie hasn’t eaten any meat since she was 13. That’s 11 years!!! She was also honored because of her work to help rescue stray puppies and kittens.

On her work, Carrie says “I do it because I really love animals and it just makes me sad.”

Now that’s staying true to who you are… or at the very least, what she’s packaged to be. She’s a goody two shoes in front of cameras and a goody two shoes in real life.

Some tragic news regarding the Rolling Stones. No, none of the members of the group got killed or whatever but two workers for the group did.

Four people fell from a 33-foot structure that gave way as the team helped in taking the set down after the Thursday night concert in Madrid. Two of the workers, whose identities were not given, tragically died on Friday in Spain after part of the set from the Rolling Stones concert collapsed on top of them as they were taking it apart. A third man is said to be seriously injured.

I wish to extend my condolences to the families of those who died.

At the recent BET awards Jennifer Hudson was a success. She picked up two awards, one for best actress and the other for best new artist. Since her huge Oscar win the girl has been on her way up in the Hollywood world. Jennifer seems shocked to still be winning awards and high amounts of recognition. I say she deserves it. Give credit where credit is due. She has already proved that she has real talent which is more than most of the young divas in Hollywood can claim. Not only can she belt out a tune as good as the classics but she is also a healthy role model for younger women. She does not feel pressured by the ultra stick skinny look and has said before that she is going to represent the healthy chicks. It’s nice to see someone take a stand and not fold because of image issues. Having the courage to stand up and be proud of yourself sure beats getting wasted and thrown into jail because you really have nothing to offer and too much money to stay home. That may be slightly off topic but the point is that we need more women like Hudson to rekindle what Hollywood used to be about.

Dreamworks studio boss Jeffrey Katzenberg cast Justin Timberlake in Shrek The Third because he had a crush on the pop heartthrob, according to star Cameron Diaz. Diaz was still dating Timberlake when they provided the voices of Princess Fiona and Artie respectively in the animated sequel, but they split in January before the film was released. The actress tells British radio station Heart FM, “I did not get him the gig, no. Jeffrey Katzenberg has had a crush on him for a very long time… it was his idea… ask him.” See the music industry and every other form of entertainment is under the cloud of a casting couch. You have to be somebody to get recognized by producers so as to have the big opportunities. Justin’s role was not needed in this Shrek movie and I was disappointed with Shrek 3 anyway…. The characters donkey and puss in boots were seemingly overshadowed by Justin’s character, which was flat and lacked humour or interest! I think Justin should stick to singing rather than animated roles…..

Surprise!

When Gwen Stefani shouted that to her hometown crowd at the Verizon Ampitheather in Orange County on Friday, she definitely did not disappoint.

As an encore performance of her solo concert, the big screen flashed a huge ‘No Doubt’ sign as she was joined onstage by her band mates. The crowd predictably went wild.

The audience at Irvine may have been the luckiest out of everyone as they heard and saw the band perform for the first time since Gwen went solo. They performed three songs – Just A Girl, Spiderwebs and It’s My Life.

The band has been hitting the recording studio for a new record. Watch for that next year.

It’s official. The Spice Girls are reuniting to take over the world once again. The group’s management company, 19 Entertainment, released a statement about the issue.

“Following weeks of speculation, the Spice Girls are set to make an official announcement to the world regarding future plans on Thursday, June 28. Details regarding the announcement will be released in the coming days.”

The cultural icons banded together in 1994 and split in 2001. After 6 years of trying to make it out on their own, Posh, Sporty, Ginger, Baby and Scary are ready to unleash girl power once again. People of the world… get ready to zig-zig-ah!

Draw another notch under the column ‘comebacks’, because Miss Nasty herself Janet Jackson is planning her latest.

Plans of a tour that was reportedly in the works but never materialized due to her last album ‘20 Y.O’ didn’t even cause a ripple in the music world. But now she’s moved on and is working on her latest project.

Miss Jackson is currently in Miami working on a new album. She will be in South Beach with L.A. Reid for the next three months recording her new album at the Circle House Studios.

We can only assume that since she’s working with Reid that she has signed to the his label, where he is the chairman, Island Def Jam. That would mean that she has left her home of Virgin Records after over a decade.

All we can do now is wait, hope and pray that this album would be leagues better than the last.

At a recent festival in London Aerosmith handed out a list of crazy demands. One that stood out as especially nuts was the demand for three roast chickens for each band member. Apparently they insisted they had to have two for before the show and one for after. Who really eats that much chicken in a night? It certainly can’t be good for you. Another demand they had which was a bit outrageous was that they wanted Run DMC flown in from the United States just to sing on one song with them. Booking a flight from America to Europe for one five minute song seems more than extremely unnecessary to me. How many times before have they played the song Walk This Way without Run DMC? Plenty! When Mariah Carey wants people to pick certain M & M colors out of her candy dish it’s totally ridiculous. But when a handful of old men demand three chickens in a specified order it makes me ask myself why they would want to join her ranks and be known as selfish divas?

The 62-year-old rocker married his long-time girlfriend the 36-year-old model Penny Lancaster on Saturday in a small town just outside the Italian Riviera resort of Portofino.
The ceremony was held in a 17th century villa Durazzo and the town hall official Mariagrazia Benazzi revealed that on the wedding there were only the bride, the groom and two witnesses.
Rod is said to have given his bride a “huge white diamond ring”.
After half an hour when the ceremony ended, the rocker and his new wife went out into the villa’s landscaped gardens to pose for privately hired photographers.
The newlyweds and the two witnesses were then whisked away by private minivans to a motorboat docked in the port of Santa Margherita, which took them back to their yacht decorated with red balloons.
The couple had post-wedding party which included drinks and dinner at the monastery La Cervara.
This is Stewart’s third marriage. He divorced model Rachel Hunter in January. Rod and Lancaster have one child- Alastair born on November 28, 2005. The singer has another five kids from his previous relationships.
Some of the kids, including daughter Kimberley, joined the couple earlier in the week vacationing along the Mediterranean coasts of Italy and France. They were spotted off the coast Villefranche on the French Riviera on Wednesday before their yacht docked off the coast of Portofino.
Day before the wedding the couple were spotted having dinner on the yacht and then walking hand-in-hand through a market in nearby Rapallo, where Lancaster bought costume jewelry.
The couple also celebrated Stewart’s daughter Ruby 20s birthday. “Happy Birthday” streamers were spotted hanging up on the decks of the yacht Lady Ann Magee.