Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Ne-Yo and Queen Latifah to Sing...Barbra Streisand?

by Marc Malkin

You might not think Ne-Yo and Barbra Streisand have many fans in common.

But just wait until next month when Streisand is honored at the Kennedy Center Honors gala.

I've just got word that Ne-Yo will be one of the performers paying tribute to the legendary diva. Yes, the 26-year-old R&B crooner will be singing a Streisand tune, according to a source.

He's not the only performer I'm hearing about...

Queen Latifah is thisclose to also singing for Babs, another source tells me.

Beyonce' Knowles recently confirmed she's on the Streisand bill. She'll be belting out "The Way We Were."

Knowles and Latifah performed at the Kennedy Centers Honors three years ago for honoree Tina Turner.

Streisand, Morgan Freeman, choreographer Twyla Tharp and Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey of the Who will be honored at the 31st annual gala in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 7. The star-studded affair, hosted by Caroline Kennedy, airs on CBS on Dec. 30.

Reps for Ne-Yo and Latifah did not comment.
Source: eonline.com

Whose Idea Was Beyoncé's Shiny Robot Glove?

by Leslie Gornstein

What is that new hand that Beyoncé has? Is it a robot hand? Is it superstrong?
—B Fan, Yonkers

See? I told you. The Cylons. They look like us now.

The handpiece you mention—alternately known among fashion reporters as the roboglove, the gling or Anti-Rihanna Death Grip—actually was handcrafted by Beyoncé's longtime jeweler, New York-based Lorraine Schwartz. Despite Internet rumors that the piece was fashioned of pure gold—possibly in the legendary Elven forges at Rivendell—it's actually made of...

...titanium!

And, according to sources close to the gling, it's also one of a kind and therefore close to priceless.

More details on the roboglove? Sure.

Schwartz had her artisans working day and night on the piece, laboring 24 hours a day until it was complete.

It fits literally like a glove. Beyoncé's entire upper arm was cast in wax so that the titanium piece would wrap perfectly.

It's actually several pieces, including a ring, a glove and a separate component that covers the upper arm. It can be worn all together or separately.

It looks heavier than it is. Titanium is about 45 percent lighter than steel.

Beyoncé really, really doesn't want to take it off. She wore it on Saturday Night Live. She wore it in her "Single Ladies" video. She wore it in her cover spread for Gotham magazine. She wore it on the red carpet at the MTV Europe Awards.

The glove was Beyoncé's concept all the way, I am told—a "superpower" hand to complement the singer's new Sasha Fierce ego.

Speaking of fierce, the white-hot flame of truth doesn't stop for a turkey. Look for more answers to your burningest Q's later this week.

Source: eonline.com

Monday, November 24, 2008

No Doubt set to reform for live shows

No Doubt have announced plans for a comeback tour next year.

The Los Angeles band revealed their plans through an instant-message transcript on their official website, but gave no specific dates.

The four-piece are also currently working on a new record, their first since 2001's Rock Steady.

"I have cabin fever. Maybe we should play some shows or something?" guitarist Tom Dumont wrote before singer Gwen Stefani replied: "I think we should go out now. I don't think we should wait. Pack up the babies and get a bunch of nannies. So fun! Would be so inspiring to get out there and play all those songs again. I think that if we go out on tour it will inspire us to write. I need to see the fans out there."

The band hasn't performed live since 2004. Since then Stefani has released two solo albums, while the other members have pursued solo projects and session work.

For more on No Doubt, check out their NME.com page.

Britney Gets Muzzled by Daddy Spears

by EOL Staff
Maybe Britney Spears' impersonation of her dad, Jamie, was a little too spot-on?

A week after video surfaced of Brit poking fun at her pop, Papa Spears wasn't about to let his little girl take another crack—literally putting his hand over her mouth as the two made their way through LAX airport.

(Britney's on her way to Europe, where she'll promote Circus in Frankfurt and then perform on France's Star Academy Friday and English show The X Factor on Saturday.)

There's also a report that the pop star and her conservator dad have been fighting over her wanting to see Adnan, go clubbing and take the kids out in public.

Unfortunately, it looks like if Jamie gets his heavy-handed way, we're never gonna get to find out what the family beef is really all about.
Source: eonline.com

Sheik Happens: Michael Jackson Lawsuit a Done Deal

by Gina Serpe
Michael Jackson's latest courtship is kaput.

Fresh off yesterday's news that the entertainer reached a tentative settlement in the ultimately short-lived $7 million breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by a Bahrain royal comes word that a formal resolution has been finalized.

"We are very pleased to announce an amicable settlement has been reached on confidential terms," Sheik Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa's attorney, Bankim Thanki, told London's High Court this morning.

After the announcement, both legal teams briefly conferred in private before releasing a joint statement: "They wish each other well in their own respective endeavors."

The rep for Al-Khalifa, who considered Jackson a "brother," albeit one he had no problem suing, said the terms of their settlement would remain on the down-low.

"They have settled amicably and that's all we have to say."

Al-Khalifa was seeking more than $7 million in repayment from the erstwhile King of Pop for advance payments made toward an unfulfilled recording contract and various living and legal expenses.
Source: eonline.com

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Take That 'write a song about Amy Winehouse'

Take That have written a new song, :How Did It Come To This," which fans are speculating is about the plight of Amy Winehouse.

The song, set to feature on the band's new album The Circus, features lyrics that seem to allude to the life of the troubles singer, described as "a girl in Camden Town."

According to Britain's The Sun the lyrics include the line: "Slightly schizophrenic…slightly OCD."

Other lyrics include: "All this noise and all these lights, all this talking through the night, all this expectation now it's making me neurotic, tell me have I seen your face before? How did it come to this?"

The Circus is set to be released on December 1.

For more on Take That, check out their NME.com page.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

The Top Ten Reasons Why Kanye West Is a Douche

Kanye West is a douche for many, many reasons, but it is easy to falter and find yourself thinking "Man, that Kanye's a pretty wicked dude". It happens to the best of us, we falter at times, but it shouldn't have to happen. I have narrowed the proofs of his douchiness down to a ten-point emergency checklist that folds easily into your pocket or wallet for those times when his blinding douchebaggery eludes you.

1. He douched out at the Grammy's when he took the stage to accept his award, refused to leave the stage when his time was up, and then actually told them to stop playing the get-off-the-stage music so that he could keep talking. Me Kanye. I bes vewy, vewy important.

2. His new album, due out on November 24th, is a departure from his usual style, as he sings more than he raps. That is all good and well, because he is a talented musician, but then he had to go and douche it up by saying that this change in style is an attempt to challenge the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney, who he describes as "those artists in black and white photos", because taking a crap on music legends serves to make Kanye's genius obvious to all and sundry.

3. In a recent interview, Kanye said, and I am not kidding: "I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice. It's me settling into that position of just really accepting that it's one thing to say you want to do it and it's another thing to really end up being like Michael Jordan."

4. In that same interview, he showcased his inveterate respect for other performers by slamming Justin Timberlake: "There were people who had the potential to do it but they went on vacation, so when Justin went on vacation I made albums, and it just came out to be that."

5. Kanye pulled the race card when it was announced that Britney Spears would be hosting the 2007 Video Music Awards. "I can’t believe she would perform. She hasn’t had a hit record in years. Maybe my money’s not right. Maybe my skin’s not right." Riiiiight, that's it.

6. In an interview with Tim Westwood, Kanye said "I'm doing pretty good as far as geniuses go... I'm like a machine. I'm a robot. You cannot offend a robot... I'm going down as a legend, whether or not you like me or not. I am the new Jim Morrison. I am the new Kurt Cobain... They feel like, yo, you know 'he's got a God complex, because he said if they wrote the Bible again that he would be in it'. Duh, yeah, I would be in it. I feel like I'm one of the more important people in pop culture right now... The Bible had 20, 30, 40, 50 characters in it. You don't think that I would be one of the characters of today's modern Bible? And people have their own forms of bibles now. It's a new day and age..."

Watch the interview here.

Somehow, I just don't think Kanye's going to be my new personal Jesus.

7. In a display of extremely douchey poor sportsmanship, he now claims that the MTV awards shows are fixed, because how could the "voice of this generation" lose otherwise?

8. There are ten Facebook groups that come up when you use the search terms "Kanye West douche".

9. Kanye West blogs up a storm. Mostly he's fairly boring, but he drops these gems once in a while that turn being a douche into a spectator sport.

10. When his video for "Touch the Sky" did not win at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Kanye publicly expressed his incredulity. "It took a month to film; I stood on a mountain; I flew a helicopter over Vegas. I did it to be the king of all videos and I wanted to walk home with that award," he complained. Kanye? Whining about how you are not the most popular will not work to make you more popular, but it will get you a "Top Ten Reasons Why Kanye West Is a Douche" checklist. Congratulations. Source: mamapop.com