Celebrity Thumbprints

Cooper Owen’s Celebrity Thumbprints auction on the 9th December includes original ink thumbprints from the likes of Westlife, Atomic Kitten, Blue, Shakira, Avril Lavigne and Justin Timberlake.

Check out the full online catalogue at www.cooperowen.com where commission bids can be placed until 5.00pm on the 9th December. The auction will then be completed at www.ebayliveauctions.com

Victoria Beckham And Her Promotion Of Her New Songs

The Sun reports that the very exclusive Victoria Beckham will let Top Of The Pops viewers decide which song from her double A-side featuring pop tune ‘Let Your Head Go’ and hip-hop track ‘This Groove’, produced by New York guru, Damon Dash, get the heaviest promotion.

“For Victoria to be involved with the new Top Of The Pops is amazing and it’s sure to give her solo comeback a boost,” a source said.

“It’s a good way for Victoria to gauge what her fans like.”

The songs will debut on the 5th of December while the voting will be revealed on the following Friday on the program.

Playing for real

Arctic Talent Management (ATM) is organising The Global Battle of the Bands, the first-ever worldwide talent competition for pop and rock bands.

Forget about artificial Pop Idol-style competitions, this is the real deal with real bands playing real music – live. Encompassing all musical genres, The Global Battle of the Bands will strive to bring the best un-manufactured new talent in the world to a wider audience. Throughout each year, beginning in 2004, local qualifying heats and national finals will be organised in countries around the world, with the eventual winners of these going forward to The Global Battle of the Bands, which will be held in a different major city each year.To kick off the competition, we are organising a ‘soft launch’ of the concept with the European Global Battle of the Bands on January 20 2004 at London’s Mean Fiddler (formerly Astoria II). This will feature 16 invited bands from around Europe chosen on the strength of their music and live performances by our network of scouts and industry experts. The winning band on the night will win the BOB Awards’ Best New Band in Europe title and $10,000. The best bands on the night will be also eligible to go on to The Global Battle of the Bands World Final, to be held in a major world city as yet to be decided in November 2004 and which carries a first prize of $100,000 and the BOB Awards’ Best New Band in the World title.

We already have hundreds of entries but we still want more. We are seeking as many exciting new signed or unsigned bands as we can find for consideration. Any band entering the competition has to be able to perform live on stage at the European Global Battle of the Bands at London’s Mean Fiddler on January 20 2004. A band can have up to eight members and there is no age limit.

For any band to be considered we will need to receive a music CD (or MP3) with two or three songs, band information and a photograph (or hi-res jpg). From this initial introduction we will make further enquiries about suitable candidates locally through our agents. Further details can be found at www.bobawards.com All material should be sent to: Arctic Talent Management, 7 Willow Road, London NW3 1TH, United Kingdom or by email to: music@arctictm.com

Meanwhile, Arctic Talent Management is currently recruiting promoters around the world to help organise local and national The Global Battle of the Bands events in their country/territory. For further details contact: info@arctictm.com

Track-By-Track Review of US Edition of Britney Spears’s “In The Zone”

I just got my hand on the US version of Britney’s new album “In
The Zone”. I though I might give you a track-by-track review of
it.
(1) Me Against The Music – This floor stompin’ hip hop number opens
the album and declares Britney’s newly crafted ability to finally
master a genuine hip hop song. The album version is the same as what
you hear on the radio now.
(2) I Got That Boom Boom – It opens with the Ying Yang Twins
declaring “Shout it, we fixin to go to the club to get krunk
with Britney”. Suddenly, you are hit with a sexy barage of beats
as the Ying Yang Twins openly say what we’ve been thinking: “The
Ying Yang Twins and WHO??”. It is similar to Boys except that
she has finally gotten comfortable in this sound.Would be an
excellent single.(3)Showdown – Opens with some bass and funky sounds as Britney
breathily says something. She begins a sing/rap verse in a Janet
Jackson manner. Then a verse starts. It sounds really in the left
field of her usual stuff. Most of the lyrics are breathy. Not much
singing. It almost has a jamaican feel. It is a good driving song.
(4) Breathe On Me – My second favourite on the album. It opens with
some intresting electrical beats and Britney begins to sing very
sexily. The lyrics are bordering on dirty. Definately a really new
and very good direction for her. Her voice sounds like heaven. You
can totally get lost in this song. Definate single material
(5) Early Mornin’ – Opens with a bass line and drum beats as britney
breathily talks about the night before. She begins to sing/rap about
what happened. The sound and all definately sound like what she’s
aiming for. Its like the music from the previous night echoes in her
head as she recalls what happens. She’s also groaning as if she has a
headache. Really cool song, quite catchy. Would be a good club
release, but is kind of repetitive.
(6) Toxic – opens with a sound very similar to Linkin Parks
“Numb”. Then it bursts into music that sounds like Rachel
Stevens “Sweet Dreams my LA Ex”, only faster. Then the two
sounds cross. Then the chorus kicks in. Its wild, funky, and almost
“beach babe-ish”. It sounds very mysterious and its a good
song to shake it to.
(7) Outrageous – the BEST hip hop song on the album. Obviously
produced by R Kelly. Should ABSOLUTELY be a single. Has great hip-hop
beats, some whistles, and middle eastern influence.
(8) Touch Of My Hand – GO BRITNEY. This is my favourite song on the
album. This song is about, as she puts it, “Indulging in
yourself”. It opens with a middle eastern sitar type sound and
then a heavy electronic base line joins in. She begins to sing and
then a great drum loop beat breaks in. This song is absolutely
hypnotic. It starts and you can’t turn it off, its so good. This song
has absolutely got to be a single. The production on it is amazing.
Her voice is really great. The two blend together to create a
passionate and yet beautiful declaration of Britney’s love for
‘self-appreciation’. “another day without a lover…the more i
come to understand the touch of my hand” ;). I wouldn’t think
she could turn this subject into such a beautiful hypnotic song.
(9) The Hook Up – Starts with some jaimaican man shouting something.
Britney begins to sing something hip-hopish and another great beat
breaks out. This is a great dancehall song. Would be a great summer
single and is definately fun in the sun.
(10) Shadow – Starts with a string into as Britney declares regrets
about ‘someone’. Then a great rock/trance chorus breaks out.
“its only a shadow, leaving too soon”. Well we can all
guess who this is about. Its a lovely song. The beats sway and
Britney shows her artistic side with this one. Really good to sing
along to!
(11) Brave New Girl – starts out with that sample from some cowgirl
song and then the beat kicks in and britney begins to rap and her
voice starts to be electrically synthesized. Great song for driving
and getting ready for fun. The lightest and most fun song on the
album. You can’t hate this song! It’s just too good.
(12) Everytime – Begins with a quite and beautiful harp and piano
intro. She begins to sing this sad number in a vulnerable delicate
way. Her voice is absolutely haunting. Sounds identical to her
performance on SNL until the middle of the second verse when some
snapping and soft beats come into play. During the breakdown, some
nice guitar riffs are in the background. Then “this song’s my
sorry” is sung and the song almost stops and you can literally
feel the power of those words. Poor Britney. She may be heartbroken
but she created her most amazing song to date because of it. If she
releases this as a single, i see it going straight to the top of the
charts. Congratulations to Britney on such an excellent song.

Overall, you can definately expect to be surprised with this album.
If i didn’t know better i would say it wasn’t even her. This album is
so fresh, creative, and innovative that everyone can only applaud
Britney on her new found self. With this album we finally see all of
the Britney that was before only peeking through. It’s a wonderful
journey of her self discovery that leaves you begging for more.
ENJOY!

Unfortunately that’s the end of the US version. The tracklisting is
not only in a different order than i expected, but its also a lot
shorter. The UK version has 3 extra songs: “MATM” Remix,
“The Answer”, and “DOn’t Hang Up”. Such a shame
because i would love to hear “Don’t Hang Up” and the rest
of “The Answer”. I prefer the MATM remix to the original
though.

Avril’s World Is In Disjointedly Edited Vignettes

Malcolm X Abram of the Acron Beacon Journal reviewed Avril Lavigne’s new CD/DVD ‘My World’.

He writes, “The backstage featurette look at Avirl Lavigne reinforces her image as a typical boisterous teen-ager, albeit one surrounded by a supportive staff. There’s nothing revelatory shown about being an 18 year old pop star on the road for the first time in the disjointedly edited vignettes, but the converted will love every minute.”

Make what you will of it.

Liberty X Says Everybody Cries

Liberty X will be back in the new year with their next single called ‘Everybody Cries’.

This ace track has got everybody talking about it and it’s somewhat dark if you will. It’s a great song nonetheless.

Michelle said the other day to the papers “We all adore this song. It’s one of our favourites. We’re still deciding on the treatment for the video but then again, it shouldn’t really be that long before you see ‘Everybody Cries’ on telly.”

David Beckham, Pop Culture’s Greatest Icon

David Beckham has been named as the greatest pop culture icon in a new TV poll, beating Hollywood stars, Madonna and Elvis.The England captain, who’s the poster boy for metrosexuals, triumphed in the poll compiled from thousands of votes by music channel VH1.

Beckham was ranked 31 places ahead of his wife Victoria, who wins a place as member of the former Spice Girls.

He said: “I am really honoured that I have been voted number 1 in VH1’s 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons, especially when you look at the incredible list of people in this poll – many of whom I really admire.

“Thank you to everyone who voted.”

Madonna was runner-up in the list, while Elvis Presley was ranked third and the Beatles fourth.

Diana, Princess Of Wales came fifth, while Martin Luther King was placed 12th.

Only Fools And Horses star David Jason sees his character Del Boy ranked higher than Hollywood big shots.

Del Trotter is at number 46, while Robert De Niro managed just 50 and Brad Pitt 52.

Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher proved to be a greater icon for a generation than Tony Blair. She made it to number 65, while Mr Blair was down at 86.

Marilyn Monroe proved to have greater cultural appeal than many contemporary stars.

The late actress finished in 11th place, above Kylie Minogue (15), J-Lo (18) and Kate Moss (88).

A panel of celebrities and experts – including presenter June Sarpong, newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy and GQ editor Dylan Jones – drew up a shortlist for VH1 earlier this year.

Then viewers spent two months voting for who they thought were the greatest greatest figures in popular culture.

Truth Hurts Back With Truth

Truth Hurts is about to return to the urban music scene under the name Truth.

After one massive Bollywood-esque single, an excellent album and a court case, she has parted company with Dr Dre & his company to work with people like Raphael Saadiq.

There is one heavy new track called ‘No Regrets’ aparently floating around on the Net which those who’ve managed a listen all say it’s just damn ace.

R Kelly Loves Mis-Teeq

Mis-Teeq, the exquisite trio who’ll be giving you a totally brand new number later in the middle of November, something entitled ‘Style’, have garnered themselves a new fan.

The fan comes in the form of R Kelly who told all who’d listen that he would want to work with Mis-Teeq and come up with a delicious joint. Apparently, an insider said “He saw Mis-Teeq on television the other day and was totally bowled away. He went out to purchase ‘Eye Candy’ and let’s just say right now it keeps getting heavy rotation on his players.”

“He finds them really talented and would love to work with the girls.”

Mis-Teeq’s spokesperson was not available for comments at this point. Personally, it would be a great way for Mis-Teeq to break into the American market since that’s on their agenda these days.

Norah Jones On The Cover Of Vanity Fair

Norah Jones graces the cover of the November 2003 music issue of Vanity Fair.

Also shown on the cover are Willie Nelson, Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Anthony Kiedas, Lucinda Williams and others.

The issue, which Norahs’ fans are grabbing like hotcakes is available at newstands now so get a copy real quickly.

See the Vanity Fair cover at this this link

In the meantime, Norah contributes a verse to one song on the latest release from hip-hop group Outkast. The song is entitled ‘Take Off Your Cool’ from their album ‘Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.’