ASCAP Honors Gwen Stefani, Timbaland

April 20th, 2008 admin

Gwen Stefani, Timbaland and Fergie picked up top honors at the 25th Annual ASCAP Pop Awards held last week in Hollywood, California, according to a report on Rolling Stone.com.

Timbaland nabbed the organization’s top pop award, Songwriter of the Year, while Gwen Stefani’s “The Sweet Escape” and Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” tied for Song of the Year. Despite all the commotion since their takeover, EMI Music Publishing managed to take home Publisher of the Year.

Other artists winning assorted awards were Justin Timberlake, Akon, The-Dream, Ludacris and Nelly Furtado. Additionally, Steve Miller and Lionel Richie were given Golden Note Awards for lifetime achievement. Quincy Jones was on hand to honor Richie, while Les Paul honored Miller via video. Finally, Sara Bareilles took home the Vanguard Award for “helping shape the future of American music.”

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Cameron Diaz tells-all on JT, love, lions

April 15th, 2008 admin

CAMERON Diaz has revealed what her life’s been like since breaking up with Justin Timberlake, why she’s not perfect and what she would do if she wasn’t an actor.

In an interview with W magazine, Popsugar.com reports that Diaz wanted to be a zoologist before she became a Hollywood actress.

“I wanted to be a zoologist, to study the sociology of animals. But that’s pretty much what I do now anyway.

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POPinion: Spice Girls reunited after world tour

April 9th, 2008 admin

Is it me or are the 2000s becoming a repeat of the 1990s? It seems more and more like a comeback of the ’90s pop generation of music artists-something completely unexpected to me.

When the various pop groups and singers dazzled the airwaves with their catchy tunes in the late ’90s to early 2000s, I never expected them to return.

The music business retreated from the fan-friendly sugary songs and artists that broke records with their album sales.

By 2001, it seemed pop music had reached its heyday with the rise of more catchy beats and songs about “My Humps” and “Gold Digger(s)” in the music industry.

Even the big names of those moneymaking groups broke out into their solo careers, distancing themselves from their early bubbly sounding tunes (See: Justin Timberlake and Beyonce). As more rap and R&B songs abounded from the airwaves, it seemed pop music was of a bygone era.

Yet in June 2007, the 1994-2000 girl band, the Spice Girls, announced their reunion-seven years after officially disbanding-exciting their dormant fans. They initially planned to have only 11 shows across the world to compliment their greatest hits CD. However, in December, they kicked off their world tour with an additional 36 shows as a result of ticket demand.

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Madonna had “psychoanalytic” sessions

April 8th, 2008 admin

Madonna has claimed that she had “psychoanalytic” writing sessions with Justin Timberlake over her new album.

The singer said that she and Timberlake spoke openly about past relationships and became “intimate” friends while working on her 11th studio album.

She told Interview magazine: “I really enjoy writing with Justin, he’s a fun person to write with.

“We kind of had psychoanalytic sessions whenever we wrote songs. We’d start talking about relationships with people.

“That was the only way because, you know, writing together with somebody is intimate.

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Christina Aguilera is “dead to me”, whines Perez Hilton’s sorry, Sony-sued arse

April 5th, 2008 admin

Perez Hilton has announced that all of Sony/BMG’s artists are “dead to him” in reaction to the label’s lawsuit against the celeb blogger.

The site will now be boycotting Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, The Gossip, Adele, Justin Timberlake, and Whitney Houston among others.

“These are some of our favorite musicians, it really, truly pains us not to talk about them,” it said on PerezHilton.com. “Why should we help the company suing us make money?”

The lawsuit was brought by the label’s subsidiary, Zomba, back in October after the site streamed Britney Spears songs without permission. To be fair to PerezHilton.com, they did remove them as soon as they were warned but the company lawyers have been reluctant to let go.

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KATHERINE JENKINS: I’M NO BRITNEY

April 2nd, 2008 admin

Singing star Katherine Jenkins has said she will not turn into pop stars like Britney Spears, despite her classic albums having more of a pop flavour than in the past.

The Neath-born mezzosoprano once claimed she could never see herself singing pop songs but her most recent album, Rejoice, has shown she is now willing to branch out.

Rejoice features tracks by writers who usually contribute to albums by pop mega-stars Celine Dion, Westlife, and Justin Timberlake, but now it seems that Jenkins is ready to overcome her inhibitions to set her own pop standard.

“My music is getting closer to pop but it’s still not there, it’s still me,” the star said.

“I’m happy to take pop songs and sing them in my style, adapt them to my genre, but you are never going to see me being Britney.”

She admits that her sound is very accessible, but says she will always remain a classical girl at heart.

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Cameron Diaz Claims Justin was really Just-In

March 25th, 2008 admin

Hollywood beauty, actress and former fashion model Cameron Diaz has spilled the beans about her relationship with Britney Spears’ ex beau Justin Timberlake.

Best known for her roles in popular blockbuster movies such as The Mask, There’s Something About Mary, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Charlie’s Angels, Shrek, and Gangs of New York Diaz is said to have adjusted well after Timberlake ditched her last year.

“He really was a Justin” said the star. “What I mean by that he was just-in. Tiny. Small. Miniscule, didn’t feel a thing. Nothing.”

Diaz who says she is not bitter and does not hold a grudge held up a peanut as she spoke “See that? That’s about the size of it. Don’t let those trailers fool you, well endowed the boy ‘aint!”

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Madonna To Debut New Song In Hair Commercial

March 15th, 2008 admin

Madonna is set to debut her new song, ‘4 Minutes’, in a commercial for a Sunsilk hair styling product, it was announced on Friday (March 14).

The new track is a duet with Justin Timberlake and produced by Timberland, both of whom worked extensively with Madonna on her new album, called ‘Hard Candy’.

According to a press release from the hair product’s manufacturers Unilever, the advertisement - called ‘Life Can’t Wait’ - “will include the music of Madonna’s new single.”

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Madonna, Justin Timberlake Look Sweet In Hard Candy Pics

March 15th, 2008 admin

When it came time to choose cover art for her upcoming album Hard Candy (due April 29), Madonna went for a literal interpretation. The newly revealed photo shows the Hall-of-Famer looking tough in over-the-knee boots and a wrestling belt, with a background of pink peppermint swirls.

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Pregnant pause for busy Jessica Alba

March 13th, 2008 admin

She has the horror movie The Eye about to hit Australian screens and, for a complete change of pace, will be seen opposite Mike Myers and Justin Timberlake in The Love Guru, scheduled for release this year.

“Regardless of being pregnant, I’ve been working for two years straight and I’d chosen to take this time off anyway,” Alba says.

“I just want to get my head straight and stop working and breathe and be a person for a little while.”

Alba is expecting her first child with her “fiance on the way to husband” Cash Warren, 29, the son of actor Michael Warren, who played Officer Bobby Hill on the TV series Hill Street Blues.

The couple have bought a bigger house in Los Angeles and are renovating.

“I’m trying to do as many eco-friendly and green renovations as possible, from the furniture we’re buying and the refurbishments we’re doing to getting systems that conserve water,” Alba says.

“I’ve been investigating solar panels and things like that and I drive a hybrid, so I’m doing the best I can.”

After tackling graphic novels (Sin City), the superhero genre (Fantastic Four) and comedy (Good Luck Chuck), Alba says she was on the lookout for a horror film in which to star.

“One of my first memories is when I was about five, watching A Nightmare on Elm Street,” she says. “I sneaked behind my parents’ couch and I watched the entire thing and I didn’t sleep in my bed peacefully, I don’t think, until I was 14 or 15.

“I think the visceral response you get when you’re watching horror movies is just so immediate. It really forces you to dive into that world and physically be there.

“But there are lots of ways you can go about making films in this genre.

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