Real Music People

When Paula Abdul gets going when judging the contestants on American Idol, there’s absolutely no stopping her. The petite judge had a lot to say about the two songs that Jason Castro sung on the talent show on Tuesday night. It’s just too bad that he hadn’t gotten to perform his second song before Paula started judging him on it. Paula was in rare form that night as she blabbed on about Jason’s second song after only performing once. Simon, Randy and Ryan all tried to help Paula along but to no avail. She already dug her grave on that one.

Fans at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida were evacuated from Bon Jovi’s concert this past Saturday night due to a bomb threat. Don’t worry – everyone and their mothers are completely fine. Several bomb-sniffing dogs were sent in to inspect the area after police received a phone call that threatened to blow up the arena with two bombs was received. After police determined that it was all a hoax, fans were let back into the arena at 9:30 to enjoy the show. And if it just happened that any concert-goers were from Fort Lauderdale, they might have been able to catch Richie Sambora play at a condominium too.

Metallica drummer Lars Ullrich has hinted that they’re thinking of doing what Radiohead popularized by giving away their material online for free. The famed drummer told Rolling Stone magazine that “We’re looking at how we can embrace everything. We want to be as free players as possible. We’ve been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) and in 27 years or however long it takes for the next record, we’ll be looking forward to everything in terms of possibilities with the internet.” Considering their highly public with Napster, this is one shocking move. I’m sure those Napster people are having a really good laugh at this.

Get a taste of HARD CANDY during Myspace’s online listening party from 4/25-4/29! Head over to Madonna’s MySpace page to check it out and remember to add her as a friend to learn about more HARD CANDY goodies to com
Hard Cand will be available everywhere on 4/29

Naughty by Nature member, Treach, was given a ticket for driving with a suspended license after he was pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. The rapper was busted on Tuesday after police were called to the area because of a report that shots were fired. What’s the connection? Treach was wearing a bullet proof vest when he got popped. While he was pulled over in “the immediate area of the shooting incident” Newark PD isn’t pointing any fingers on him as they think that Treach is only “a potential witness at this time”. Here’s a tidbit – it’s not a crime to wear a bullet proof vest in New Jersey unless it’s worn during illegal activity.

Snoop Dogg may soon be allowed to head into the UK. The British government’s decision to ban the legally troubled rapper has just been overturned by an immigration appeals judge. How much trouble does a guy doing soap operas these days pose anyway? The overturning of the decision was due to the fact that it may not be Snoop who’s to blame for the trouble that led to his ban from the country. After reviewing tapes of the brawl that Snoop allegedly sparked at Heathrow airport, the judge ruled that the brawl was “precipitated by decisions made by British Airways staff and police.” The footage even shows that Snoop was pushed twice by an officer but never retaliated. The government agency trying to keep Snoop out of the country has until Wednesday to decide whether to appeal.

50 Cent is on the warpath yet again, but this time, he’s not after the likes of Ja Rule or Kanye West. The rapper is blasting Alicia Keys for her comments in Blender magazine that “Gangsta rap was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other.” 50 responds to that comment by saying “I don’t like people who don’t like me… that statement changes my perception of Alicia Keys totally. It’s just not really a bright comment.” For her part, Alicia has said that her comments to the magazine were taken out of context. I think she just got scared of all the rappers that may come after her.

Kanye West recently kicked off his new ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour and the first review is in! He not only took it to another level, he took it all the way to outer space. Actually, the Seattle Times reviewer says that “He not only took the concert experience to a new level, he took it to a new planet.” Okay. I’m officially jealous of whoever has caught the show and of whoever is holding tickets to see a show. I want to see it too! Is anyone holding on to an extra ticket and looking for a date? I’m free!

We have been duped by marketing once again kiddies! The Smoking Gun has unearthed police, court and corrections records that prove that multi-platinum selling musician Akon has been blowing a lot of smoke up our butts. There has been no conviction and he wasn’t locked up between 1999 and 2002. They say that Akon “’created a fictionalized back story that serves as the narrative anchor for his recorded tales of isolation, violence, woe, and regret. Akon has overdubbed his biography with the kind of grit and menace that he apparently believes music consumers desire from their hip-hop stars.” The Smoking Gun also expresses shock that the media failed to look into Akon’s claim before he got huge.

Madonna is to sign the most lucrative contracts of her career – playing two gigs in Dubai for $25MILLION.

The Queen Of Pop is finalising negotiations on a deal to finish her forthcoming world tour in the oil-rich Arab state in November. By my calculations, if one of the gigs – for which she will get $15million – runs to 90 minutes she will pocket a staggering $170.000 a minute.

That’s a pretty impressive pay day by any standards.

And if that wasn’t enough, she is also in talks to perform at a private party for a mystery punter while she is out there which will earn her another $10million.

Sources claim: “Madonna is about to break another record by playing the most lucrative concert of her whole career – or anyone’s career for that matter. The negotiations for the tour to stop in Dubai in November are being finalised and she will get $15million for the one show only. The figure is so big because of her new contract with Live Nation and the huge funds available from private promoters in Dubai.”

Madge signed to the company for $120million last autumn. The source added: “She is also close to agreeing to play at a private party in Dubai, the first in her career.”

If Madge sticks to her confession in a recent interview, she won’t be settling for a bottle of champers and a bunch of flowers in her dressing room as payment. She said she wouldn’t perform at a private bash for less than$10million. All in all it looks like Madge is on a nice little earner.

The deal will have top music figures queuing up for a piece of the action. How long before Sir Elton John is doing a residency?

Madge’s new bosses at Live Nation are keen for this not to be a one-off and are already in the process of brokering similar deals with other massive bands.

Millions of Pounds on offer for just one gig – shouldn’t be too hard to get them signed up.

Carrie Underwood performed her hit single ‘All-American Girl’ on stage during the 2008 CMT Music Awards at the Curb Events Center at Belmont University on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee. The 26-year old American Idol champ closed the entire show in a cute baby blue baby doll dress. Single, dating or in a pretty serious relationship, Carrie looks really good and sings really well. Earlier that night on the red carpet, Carrie rocked a purple one strap mini. It looks like she’s still playing on the cute side of her image. But it’s Carrie Underwood – she always going to be cute!

Well those are two names that you never thought you’d hear together in the same sentence. But it seems that it’s not at all impossible. Retired rapper Eminem has reportedly been approached to play Nelson Mandela’s upcoming 90th birthday party. I never knew Nelson was a hip hop fan. Reports are also saying that it’s a done deal but the rapper’s camp is saying they haven’t accepted the invite just yet. Let’s hope that there won’t be any talk about street cred. Em’s been arrested. Nelson spent 27 years in jail. Em clearly loses. But then again, he can issue a rap battle challenge and then all hell will break loose!

Rapper 50 Cent is reportedly in talks to star in an upcoming indie movie called ‘Spectacular Regret’. The movie’s plot interconnects the lives of four Los Angeles natives who are struggling to overcome past events. Gee, sounds a lot like ‘Crash’ doesn’t it? Anyway, the rapper is in negotiations to play a death row inmate who becomes a media sensation while facing imminent execution. What is with all these rappers wanting to become actors? Just because a couple of them found success because they actually have talent doesn’t mean everyone should have a go at it! Stick to your day jobs!

Times are getting tough for some of the music industry’s once hottest rappers. DMX has hit the college campus tour. The rapper performed at Indiana University last Wednesday night. Tickets were purchased for $25 through Lambda Chi Alpha. The concert was supposed to begin at 8:30PM but didn’t start until an hour later because DMX arrived late. Unfortunately for concertgoers, the concert shut down after just 3 songs because the organization told the University that the noise would be over by 9:30PM. When music was heard past that, police arrived to shut down the scene. That’s when things got bad. Profanities were yelled, students got maced – it just got really rowdy.

Stacy Ferguson, more famously known as Fergie, attends the ASCAP’s 25th Annual Pop Music Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Wednesday. The singer’s hit ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ ended up in a tie with Gwen Stefani’s ‘The Sweet Escape’ for song of the year. Of that honor, Fergie said “To get any honor in that room is something very special. Songwriting is an expression of your soul, so to be honored as a writer feels like an approval of your soul.” Aww, how humble of her. Congratulations go out to both Fergie and Gwen for getting the honor.

You can find some of the craziest stuff going up on auction and not even the property of James Brown is exempt from that list. Tons of the music legend’s stuff will be sold by Christie’s in August. The auctioning off of the items has already drawn the ire of Brown’s kids and the supposed fourth wife Tomi Rae Hynie Brown but it still has to take place as a judge has ordered back in February that some of the gear be auctioned to pay legal bills and overdue estate taxes. According to reports, the late singer’s estate is in financial trouble and needs $1.6 million to pay just this year’s bills.

Sources have revealed that Madonna’s next single off of her upcoming album ‘Hard Candy’ will be ‘Give It to Me’. The song is a banger which was produced by Pharell. It is also being said that the Queen of Pop has already gone to work on the video already. Shooting apparently went down last Thursday in London. I wonder what the song sounds like and what the video will look like. Will she still look as glamorous as she did in the video for ‘4 Minutes (To Save the World) with Justin Timberlake? I wonder if Pharell will make a cameo appearance.

The Cuyahoga County Coroner reveals that the body of Sean Levert remains unclaimed. According to the coroner, the body is still a so-called guest at the Coroner’s office while Levert’s wife tries to decide whether to hold a private or public service. The 39-year old former singer died late last Sunday after being restrained in a Cleveland jail. Since his older brother, fellow singer Gerald, died last year, Sean had been trying to get the band back together – most likely for a tribute to Gerald. Now that Sean has passed, maybe the rest of the band can pay tribute to both fallen brothers.

2008 Juno Award Winners:
. Juno Fan Choice Award — Michael Buble
. Single of the Year — 1234, Feist
. Album of the Year — The Reminder, Feist
. New Group of the Year — Wintersleep
. Group of the Year –Blue Rodeo
. Country Recording of the Year — Risk, Paul Brandt
. Pop Album of the Year — The Reminder, Feist
. International Album of the Year - Rihanna
. Artist of the Year — Feist
. New Artist of the Year — Serena Ryder
. Songwriter of the Year — Feist
. Adult Alternative Album of the Year - Blue Rodeo
. Alternative Album of the Year - Arcade Fired
. Rock Album of the Year — Them Vs You Vs Me — Finger Eleven
. Vocal Jazz Album of the Year - Sophie Milman
. Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year - The Chris Tarry Group
. Traditional Jazz Album of the Year — Debut - Brandi Disterheft
. Instrumental Album of the Year — The Utmost — Jayme Stone
. Francophone Album of the Year — L’echec du material — Daniel Belanger
. Children’s Album of the Year — Music Soup — Jen Gould
. Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble — Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano — Marc-Andre Hamelin
. Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) With Large Ensemble Accompaniment — Korngold, Barber Walton Violin Concertos — James Ehnes, Bramwell Tovey, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
. Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance -
. Classical Composition of the Year — Constantinople — Christos Hatzis
. Rap Recording of the Year — The Revolution — Belly
. Dance Recording of the Year — All U Ever Want — Billy Newton-Davis Vs. Deadmau5 . R&B/Soul Recording of the Year — Revival — Jully Black
. Reggae Recording of the Year — Don’t Go Pretending - Mikey Dangerous
. Aboriginal Recording of the Year — The Dirty Looks - Derek Miller
. Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Solo — Right of Passage — David Francey
. Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Group — Key Principles — Nathan
. Blues Album of the Year — Building Full of Blues — FATHEAD
. Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year — Holy God — Brian Doerksen
. World Music Album of the Year — Agua Del Pozo — Alex Cuba
. Jack Richardson Producer of the Year — Joni Mitchell — Hana/Bad Dreams - Shine
. Recording Engineer of the Year — Kevin Churko — I Don’t Wanna Stop/God Bless The Almighty Dollar — Black Rain - Ozzy Osbourne
. CD/DVD Artwork Design of the Year — Tracy Maurice (Director/Designer) and Francois Miron Neon Bible — Arcade Fire
. Video of the Year — C’mon — Christopher Mills (Director) - Blue Rodeo
. Music DVD of the Year — 666 Live — Pierre & Francois Lamoureux, Billy Talent, Pierre Tremblay, Steve Blair — Billy Talent

Yoko Ono knows what it’s like to be “the woman who was with the Beatle”. Now she’s speaking out to help Heathere Mills make it through her split from Paul McCartney.

Yoko says, “All I can say is, it’s not very easy for a woman to be associated with The Beatles. I think all the wives did suffer, and I think quietly suffer. Suffer but endured, I would actually say.” She goes on to say that Heather should, “do her very best and try to survive.”

Tragedy is never easy to take, but how much is too much? Another Levert has died and the sad part is, this one died in jail. Sean Levert, son of O’Jays singer Eddie Levert and brother of late R&B legend Gerald Levert died last weekend while in a Cleveland jail. Levert had been in jail serving time for failing to pay child support when he collapsed late in the night. He was rushed to the hospital where he passed away. Police were said to be unaware of any condition he was suffering from and they are now investigating the cause of death.

Sean was a member of the 80s group Levert. He was also featured in a few movies, including ‘New Jack City’.

Tuesday night’s American Idol episode was graced by none other than country legend Dolly Parton. The icon was there to mentor the idol wannabes who were set to sing her songs. Brooke White sang “Jolene”, David Cook sang “Little Sparrow”, Ramiele Malubay sang “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind”, Jason Castro sang “Travelin’ Thru”, Carly Smithson sang “Here You Come Again”, David Archuleta sang “Smoky Mountain Memories”, Kristy Lee Cook sang “Coat of Many Colors”, Syesha Mercado sang “I Will Always Love You” and Michael Johns sang “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right”. Most of the top nine did well that night and got praises from Paula and Randy. None from Simon though – which really isn’t a surprise.

If you happen to be a bar owner and you want to get taken for a ride before getting someone to perform at your bar then look no further than rapper Tone Loc. 2 small Michigan bars were scammed out of a total $1,400 last summer after a man posing as the rapper’s manager promised that Tone Loc would play their establishments. One year later, the real manager of Tone Loc hears about the misfortune, agreed that the rapper would play at both bars – for Tone’s regular fee. And here I thought it was out of the goodness of his heart. I’m still left wondering why that con man chose Tone Loc instead of some more famous rapper.

YouTube blogger Chris Crocker isn’t the only person in the world who wants the media to leave Britney Spears alone. The Queen of Pop Madonna is also getting protective of the recovering pop star as she says to paparazzi that they need to step off from the troubled star. Even Madonna’s 11-year old daughter Lourdes wants the paps to give Britney some space. According to Us, Madonna even told ‘Yo on E’ satellite radio show that we need to save Britney. Well that’s what Poppa Spears is there for. But as we all know, things with Brit can go terribly wrong overnight. Here’s to hoping right?