Monthly Archives: May 2002

Darius Danesh Inks Record Deal Finally

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Darius Danesh has signed a recording contract with Mercury Records.

Mercury’s managing director and former U2 producer, Steve Lillywhite, signed the singer, whom just about everybody think is brilliant and I must say that he is, to the label.

Steve says he is honoured to be mixing around with, quoting him, “such an exciting young talent such as Darius.”

Speaking to an online music webpage, Darius said “I’m thrilled to have signed with Mercury, really and am just glad to have taken the time to find the freshest major label to work with.”

“Having Steve Lillywhite at the helm of the album is a dream come true and I am very very very excited about pursuing the future with the whole team at that label.”

Apparently, Darius’s debut single is due for release in the summer and no word was given as to what the title of his first cut would be, at the moment.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Reveals All

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Once having posed for delicious-looking pictures for leading men’s magazine, FHM, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, says that she’ll be more than happy to show off a bit of cleavage, all in a bid to boost her image.

She said in her latest interview to the press “You’ve got to use every available tool to set the context for your music. If you want to get saucy, I’m singing with a microphone in front of my open mouth – it’s all fairly phallic.”

Accountable for brill hits like ‘Take Me Home’ and the infectious dance floor number ‘Murder On The Dance Floor’, the model-turned-singer is back in the tabloids with lots of rife gossips that seem to imply that the stunning crooner could very well be pregnant after she was spotted possessing a “noticeable bump” at her sell-out concert in Edinburgh.

Emma Bunton Patches Things Up With Jade Jones

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Reports are indicating that just six weeks ago since they split, the ‘What Took You So Long’ crooner, Emma Bunton, is apparently back in the arms of her ex-boyfriend, Jade Jones of R&B band Damage

The couple enjoyed a smooth dinner date during the weekend at stylish London club, Elysium. Onlookers at the club all say that they saw the couple snogging even! One observer told The Sun “They were dancing together and just couldn’t keep their hands off each other.”

They had gone their separate ways earlier on, after all those constant fights about her working together with Simon Fuller, who by the way used to be her ex-flame, in the hopes of reviving her solo pop career again.

It was later reported that Simon of Blue fame, took an obvious interest in Emma upon hearing about the split that is, at a party and looked really happy when she turned up. Whether things heated up or not, we don’t really know but now that she’s back with Jade again, looks like things didn’t really work out between she and Simon in the way Simon would’ve liked it to go.

H Denies Relationship With Manager & Claire Worries For S Club Juniors

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H has denied the entire buzz that suggests he’s dating his manager who goes by the name of Tim Byrne. Speaking to Heat magazine, the past-Steps star laughed the rumours off with a dismissive “Oh, please!”

H claimed that he doesn’t care about the constant gay rumours and explained that being involved in one of the most successful pop bands of all time means he hasn’t had time to meet anyone he can settle down with.

However, while he’s adamant that he’s not interested in men, H, whose real name’s Ian Watkins, also took the chance to express his concerns about Will Young’s decision to come out. “As long as Will was ready to come out himself, that’s fair enough” he said. “I hope that was the way. I just hope he wasn’t forced to do it.”

Other publications that have questioned, time after time, H’s sexual orientation would include the Gay Times and Boyz magazine.

Meanwhile, Claire has made public her fears for S Club Juniors, saying that they should be at school instead of prancing around singing pop croons at such early ages.Claire told a web-zine today, “I think there’s always a danger of messing kids up when they become famous at such an early age. Throughout history, the people who start too young always end up a bit mad. Look at Michael Jackson”.

The eight-strong S Club Juniors range from ages 11 to 13. The band, with their first ever offering ‘One Step Closer’, entered the UK Top 40 at No 2.

Concerned that the whole music business may be too pressurizing for them, Claire said “It just worries me that people won’t look after their interests and that they’ll be more interested in making a quick buck. At the end of the day, they’re just kids, people, and they should be at school, mingling with other kids their own age.”

As part of their jobs being presenters on SM:tv, she, together with H, revealed that they had interviewed the S Club Juniors and found them all to be real sweet kids.

Claire commented further “I don’t think people realise how difficult it is being a pop star. I just hope they’ve got a good team to look after them and keep them grounded.”

Their single, DJ, is already out in shops.

Mel B Slams Geri Halliwell, Jimmy, Bosses, Plus Kylie Minogue As Well

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Speaking to Capital Radio a couple of days back, Mel blasted ex-Spice Girl Geri, saying the only reason why George Michael is not friends with Geri is because of her bizarre eating habits. “She fell out with George Michael because of food ok. He filled his fridge with loads of stuff from this really posh place. She stayed at his house and got rid of all his food” ranted Mel. “He obviously went ballastic and they haven’t talked since.”

Mel then added “She doesn’t eat food. She merely looks at it. She just drinks water. And that’s it.”

It’s pretty understandable she dissing Geri, since they were in the same smash pop group, Spice Girls, but have since gone their separate ways with Geri heading out on her own first. But why Kylie as well?

Apparently, Mel has accused Kylie of indulging in expensive plastic surgery. “She’s very sexy now, isn’t she… A real good plastic surgeon. She’s had everything done” claimed Mel. “I would know ok. We were there together.”

And of course, she had to say something about her ex, Jimmy Gulzar, who has filmed a BBC documentary about life with Mel and to put a stop to questions about his sexuality. When their short-lived marriage ended, Jimmy walked away with a lavish house and over GBP750,000. “My ex-husband is basically living off me, isn’t he?” fumed Mel. “How very sad.”

In addition, Mel also took the opportunity to lash out at bosses at Virgin Records for spoiling her career and then went on to insist that she actually dropped the label company. She insisted “I dumped them because I want to do my music in America”.

Mel is currently presenting Top Of The Pops and does not have a record deal at the moment.

Ooh Rhianna!

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You may have heard of a song that keeps getting played tons a lot on radio these days and it might just be the debut single from Rhianna. If it is, then chances are you might have also caught a glimpse of the video for her feel-good first single ‘Oh Baby’, presently on near-permanent rotation on MTV.

Hailing from Leeds, Rhianna whose full name’s, Rhianna Kenny, is a 19 year old singer/songwriter who mixes up R&B, funk and pure pop into a tasty new groove. The track is a portion of cool R&B/pop beats, written around an obscure funk loop from the ’70s by Tony Valor.

Rhianna, whose big, bold hair and wicked grin makes it pretty impossible to hate the lady, reckons her virgin cut is a rather positive song, saying “I’d had a few week’s hard time and I was feeling a bit down, so I wrote the song to cheer myself up.”

Watch out too for Rhianna’s debut album, due out in autumn 2002. The 10-track venture will include ‘Oh Baby’ of course and her next single ‘Word Love’, described by the star as “another feel-good song with a big dance-funk influence, a real summer single”. Also included is ‘Justify’ which, according to her, is “a slow song with plenty of atmosphere and live strings”.

Seemingly cooler than Macy Gray, she says that she can’t really be bothered by what people say of her. “Sticking two fingers up to fashion has always appealed. I’m like ‘take it or leave it’,” she says. “If you don’t like it, then just leave me alone.”

Her single’s out on the 20th of May so be sure you go get it. Visit the striking Rhianna at her authorized homepage, humbly located at: www.rhiannamusic.com

Jade Anderson’s High On Sugar

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Critics are saying that you just are going to be hearing a lot more from the likes of a certain Jade Anderson, who’s the latest overseas star to take a stab at achieving US success. And she looks like she’s well on her way to fulfilling that. She’s being constantly requested and is riding up high on the US charts, with that infectious hook of a single, ‘Sugar High’. I’ve got to add that I kind of dig what she has going with that number of hers, only ‘course, if you ask me, I think it sounds a tad like Madonna’s ‘La Isla Bonita’.

Anyway having launched her career in Japan, where she’s all the rage, UK native Jade, 21, will unleash her debut album, ‘Dive Deeper’, on America, sometime in June.

“Dive Deeper is just a way of saying ‘get deeper into life,'” says Jade. “I feel a lot of people are quick to stay in the shallow end.”She began writing poetry as a way to vent her frustrations when she was a teenager. And when melodies began popping into her head, she began writing songs, which she calls a “natural progression.” Jade inherited her songwriting skills from her dad, Jon Anderson, who is from the ’70s prog-rock superstar group Yes. No stranger to the studio, she even contributed backing vocals to some of her dad’s solo efforts.

Jade’s debut, ‘Sugar High’, is a rolling Latin-flavored pop/R&B track about a revitalizing love affair. If you’ve got Real Player, then you can watch her video in all its entirety at:

http://www.jadeandersononline.com/Videos/SugarHighFullVid.ram.

If you don’t have it or if there’s some problems in watching her video, then fret not, just head on down to her official site at: www.jadeandersononline.com

in order to learn a whole lot more about the gorgeous girl and listen/watch her tracks using various media players.

Liberty X Band Member Fights With Pole… and loses!

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Kevin Simm of British Pop group Liberty X is recovering in hospital after hurting himself in a tug-of-war match. The poor lad was taking part in the tug-of-war for TV show Popworld when the accident happened.

A spokesman for the group said that when everyone let go of the rope, he managed to impale himself on a pole – causing nasty brusing to his kidney. Ouch!

Liberty X have a brand new single out on 13 May called “Just A Little” – which includes great remixes from Almighty and Bump & Flex. The band will then release their debut album “To Those That Wait” on 27th May – which will also include a limited-edition CD copy featuring a bonus CD containing mixes of all their previous singles.Here’s the details of the album:

Track Listing

1. Thinking It Over (Full Length Version)

2. Doin’ It

3. Wanting Me Tonight

4. No Clouds

5. Everyday

6. Saturday

7. Holding On For You

8. I Got What You Want

9. Feel The Rush

10. Greed

11. Right Here Right Now

12. Dream About It

13. Never Give Up

Limited Edition Bonus CD

1. Thinking It Over (Pete Devereux & The Wideboys Club Vocal Remix)

2. Wanting Me Tonight (Wookie Remix)

3. Doin’ It (The Wideboys Club Mix)

4. Doin’ It (Blacksmith Dub)

5. Thinking It Over (The Wideboys Featuring Fat Jack & Miss Shorty)

6. Bigger Badder Better (Kosheen Decoder & Substance)

Shaggy, Where Are You?

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The title track to be lifted from the new Scooby Doo motion picture looks set to be Shaggy’s take on the classic Scooby Doo theme to be titled ‘Shaggy, Where Are You?’.

According to the pop/reggae star and renowned ladies man, the track will also “be in favour of my women.” ‘Shaggy, Where Are You?’ will be featured in the movie soundtrack CD, of which you’d be able to find contributions from the likes of gorgeous elfin Kylie Minogue and the sparkling allSTARS. The film, which stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard and more, is due to hit UK screens, come 26th of July. The soundtrack is said to be dropping in all good music joints sometime in July.

So what else is Shaggy up to these days? Well, the Jamaican star, whose real name Orville Richard Burrill, is currently hard at work on his new LP, the follow-up to the hit 2000 release ‘Hot Shots’. Shaggy has confirmed that he’s hoping to duplicate the successful formula by sticking to the same team he worked with on his previous album.

He says “We’re a very tight family. Shaggy by no means is one person. It’s almost like a band. I tour with these people. That’s what makes this so fun. It’s a party and I’m hoping that it never ever ends.”

The new album, due for release in September, is described as “a lot more original” and “pretty deep”. “It’ll still have the same tongue-in-cheek flavour to it” claims Shaggy, “because that’s just my personality.”

Penelope Cruz To Establish Herself As A Pop Singer

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If you haven’t already heard, actress Penelope Cruz is said to be establishing herself as a pop star and may most likely be found collaborating with top acts like Sting.

Penelope, who right this moment, even as you read this, can be found in the tabloids that would carry write-ups on whether or not she and boyfriend Tom Cruise have decided to split, told the press a couple of days back that her pop album would help raise funds for the Sabera Foundation, a charity set up to aid homeless girls in Calcutta, India.

A lot of speculation is building that her album will be released later on this year. Insiders say that it may very well be possibly timed to catch the lucrative pre-Christmas market.

Penelope no doubt would have many celebrity friends and articles are pointing that rock star, Sting is one of the many possible sensations who’ve signed up for the project.

Meanwhile, Penelope is now confirmed to act opposite Bob Dylan in a film called ‘Masked & Anonymous’. Bob plays the part of a musician released from prison for a charity benefit concert. Shooting will begin in July.