‘The Planets’ New Classical Pop Band

‘The Planets’ – the latest Pop Sensation in the UK?

The band which blend classical music with pop are signed to EMI Classics for a five album deal, and comprise eight members – (four boys, four girls aged between 19 and 24 ) all of whom come from top conservatoire training or contemporary performance backgrounds.

The first album will be released on February 18th, 2002 and the band will be on tour with Deep Purple throughout February.

For more info visit: http://www.theplanets.org.uk.

New Britney Spears Pepsi Ads!

As we revealed earlier on Pop-Music.com, Britney Spears is set to appear in brand new Pepsi commercials during the finale of the American Football Season, at this Sunday’s Superbowl in New Orleans.

Television airtime during the Superbowl is the most expensive in US, and Pepsi are believed to have paid GBP5.7m (GBP63,000 a second) to screen the commercials.

Want to view behind-the-scenes footage of the new ads already? Then simply click here.

Hear’Say search for Kym replacement

Hear’say have announced that they will hold auditions for a new band member to replace Kym Marsh.
It’s been only a few days since Kym officially left the British Pop Group, but the band are keen to carry on and have always felt as though there should be 5 members. So, do you fancy being a big pop star?
If so, auditions will be held this Sunday (3rd Feb) in Brixton, South London. Full details of auditions are as follows:Hearsay are looking for 18 – 25 year old male and female singers. You must bring with you a passport or birth certificate. First knockout will be a visual selection, so not everyone will have the chance to sing.

Auditions will take place over two days, so those that are good enough will come back for a 2nd day.

The auditions take place at 9am sharp at Brixton Rehearsal Studio Chester House, Kennington Park Business Estate, 1-3 Brixton Road, London SW9 6DJ
Hearsay have asked that you e-mail them if you are thinking of attending. You should write to AUDITIONS@HEARSAY.UK.COM.

Be sure to tell mention your name, age, address, any messages for the band, and say that you saw the news on Pop-Music.com!

More details on the event can be found here (taken from their Official Website).

Good luck to all those that take part!

Enrique Iglesias tops UK chart

Enrique Iglesias has knocked George Harrison from the top of UK Singles Chart.

Enrique, 26, stormed to the top of this week’s Chart with his hit new entry “Hero”. The track is taken from his album “Escape”, which has already been released in many countries (including the UK and the US). Enrique is the son of Spanish singer Julio – a pop star in his own right.

Other highlights from this week’s chart include; A1 – Caught In The Middle at number 2; and Britney Spears – Overprotected at number 5.

Britney on UK and US TV Saturday Nights!

Britney fans in the UK will be in store for a treat on Saturday night (26th). And US fans get a treat on the following Saturday (2nd Feb) as she appears on a TV screen near you!

In the UK, ITV1 has a special show in which Brummie commedian Frank Skinner interviews Britney and sings a duet with her. The show was recorded last week and promises to be a lot of fun! It all starts at 9:35PM! Leave comments or send us a review and let us know what you think!

For US fans, she’ll be appearing again on Saturday Night Live on 2nd Feb in a show which should be unmissable after her last appearance. The program airs at 11:30PM EST.

Britney on Saturday nights – popstastic!

Kym leaves Hear’Say

It’s offical. Kym Marsh has walked out on British Popstars band Hear’Say after being with them for nearly a year. Just under two weeks ago, Kym had indicated her unhappiness with the band amid rumours of disagreements with band member Myleene Klass.

Hear’Say have vowed to continue as a band, and are still making plans for an Arena tour of the UK in the Autumn. However, Kym’s departure has fueled speculation that the band may collapse before then. Only time will tell.

It’s likely that we’ll see Kym try to make it as a solo act in the near future. We’ll keep you posted!

Mariah Carey dropped by EMI

Mariah Carey was dropped by EMI records on Wednesday, after dissapointing music sales and a poorly received film, Glitter, last year.

Mariah was paid $28million to part company with EMI, which had previously agreed to pay her $70million for 5 albums. After she had suffered an emotional breakdown in the middle of 2001, her film Glittler then went on to flop, so the record company decided to cut it’s losses.

Mariah said it was “the right decision for me” – and for $28million – who wouldn’t be happy with that?!

Liberty ordered to change name

British pop group Liberty were ordered on Tuesday to change their name. The group, who are signed to the V2 record label, were taken to London’s High Court to hear that the name Liberty belonged to a little-known funk band and couldn’t be used by the newer pop stars.

The band have been given 6 weeks to change their name, so as not to cause further harm to the to the funk band’s reputation.

Most likely, we’ll see a variation on the name, like “Libertee” or “LiberT”.Liberty “the pop band” have already had a Top 5 hit single in the UK with “Thinking It Over” and had set their hearts on an April release for their debut album titled “To Those That Wait”.

Liberty “the funk group” started live gigs in the late 80s and have since played Wembley Arena twice, appeared live on the Continent, won Capital Radio/Coca-Cola Young Band of the Year, released albums and singles in the UK and the USA and have put well over 10 years of their lives behind their name Liberty. They are still going strong today.

More info on Liberty funk band: here.

Hear’Say split all Hear’Say?

A statement was expected Monday from British pop band Hear’Say, following from their meeting with managment on Friday. However, a decision has yet to be made about the band’s future – perhaps in part because of the legal implications should the band decide to go their separate ways.

An Arena tour had already be planned for the Autumn, and cancelling now would open the gates for action to be taken against the stars.

A statement about the band is expected towards the end of the week – we’ll let you know!

It’s Superbowl time!

February 3rd will see British Beatle Sir Paul McCartney join Mary J Blige, Marc Anthony and Mariah Carey in providing pre-game and half-time entertainment during American football’s Super Bowl 2002.

The event will be beamed live from the Louisina Superdrome, and will should have an audience of over 80 million.

Sir Paul will perform his track “Freedom” – a song written directly after the September 11 attacks in the US.

Irish rock band U2 will also be playing at half-time.

Last year saw Britney Spears perfom during the half-time interval in a stunning show alongside Aerosmith, Backstreet Boys and N’ Sync.