Ex Bardot Member, Katie Underwood Makes Solo Debut

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Former Bardot singer Katie Underwood joined forces with the likes of Australian dance music outfit, Disco Montego and that collaboration marks her solo debut as a featured vocalist on ‘Beautiful’.

‘Beautiful’ is of course the singer’s first musical release since leaving Bardot in 2001 to pursue a solo career.

“This song isn’t about me,” she said, speaking to the press. “It’s about the music, and I just want people to enjoy it. It’s that simple! While we were doing the clip I was watching some of the extras dancing to it and thought, ‘this is what it’s all about. Creating music that people can enjoy and that makes people want to dance'”.

Collaborating with Disco Montego is also an opportunity for Katie to tentatively put herself back in the music business spotlight, without having to go at it alone.

“Without actually launching my solo career, I have been writing songs, as usual, but that isn’t to say I’m about to release an album, you see. ‘Beautiful’ is a one-off thing at the moment. It’s a great chance for me to do something that I really enjoy without necessarily being back in the music business full time.”Because it’s not all about me, I can still spend time doing my TV show (Channel 7’s upcoming reality series, Undercover Angels) and have time to do other things, like singing in jazz clubs and that sort of thing, from time to time.”

Disco Montego’s DJ Vega said “The great thing about ‘Beautiful’ is that it really shows off a different side to Katie that people wouldn’t have heard before. We’d already started writing ‘Beautiful’ with her voice in mind when we went to her and gave her the opportunity to write with us.”

“What we wanted was to really make use of the jazz training she’d had in the past, but that she had never had the opportunity to really use as part of Bardot. We knew there was a side to Katie’s voice that people hadn’t heard.”

“From the moment we got together she was great. She came back to us with these fantastic verses she’d written which totally fitted with what we’d already started for her. The end result is an amazing example of what Katie is really capable of as a solo artist.”

Katie agreed “I like the idea that people aren’t going to know it’s me straight away. It certainly doesn’t sound like Bardot, that’s for sure. This is my public return to my club-land roots. It’s where I was and the sort of music I was doing before I did Popstars. In fact, if I’d never been in Bardot, this is probably the sort of stuff I’d still be doing.”

Disco Montego’s debut album, featuring a variety of fresh and well-known guest vocalists and musical collaborators, is tentatively scheduled for release at the end of 2002.

Shania Twain’s Going Up

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Miss India-pretty Shania Twain is set to set free her first batch of new material in over five years this winter.

An album entitled ‘Up!’ is to be released in the US on the 12th of November.

It will feature 19 brand-spanking new songs, which have been co-written and produced by Shania’s husband, Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange.

Shania’s 1997 LP ‘Come On Over’ sold 19 million copies in her home country and 34 million units worldwide. Impressive.

Sharissa Steals Toni Braxton’s Man

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Sharissa, who made her acting debut in the VH1 original movie recently, entitled ‘Play’d – A Hip Hop Story’, said she was impressed with the final product of the film and Toni Braxton.

“The movie is fabulous. Seeing myself on screen is wild. I keep repeating the parts where I come on at home” Sharissa said. “Like, you have no idea while you’re filming what it’s going to look like because you don’t have that same vision that the director has. We do our part to the best of our ability. But when he puts that story together, it is beautiful. I’m sitting there watching this movie like I wasn’t even a part of it.”

In the show, Sharissa portrays Yanesha Kon, a singer turned actress who pursues a relationship with R&B rap producer Jaxx (Rashaan Nall) who is married to Shonda (Toni Braxton). It’s also the story of best friends Jaxx and rapper Mayhem (Merlin Santana) whose friendship and partnership goes awry when record label executives pit them against each other.

“Toni’s a fantastic girl. She was a professional. Everybody seem very impressed with what she turned out. No airs to her at all” said Sharissa, whose LP’s out in shops now.

Enter Morcheeba’s Student Film Makers Competition

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Morcheeba want you to submit your own music video/short film for their instrumental track ‘The Great London Traffic Warden Massacre’.

The song is taken from their brand new album ‘Charango’. The winning video will be chosen by a panel of industry judges including Morcheeba themselves and put online at the band’s official website to help mark the launch of ‘Charango’.

In addition the winning filmmaker, along with the runners-up, will be invited to bring their mates down to London for the day to see their video premiered on the big screen at a special Morcheeba night at the ICA in London on Sunday 6th of October.

The winner will receive a JVC GR-DV3000 Digital Camcorder and have the unique opportunity to attend a video shoot for an EastWest label act. This is a once in a lifetime chance to get a behind-the-scenes view of how a music video is put together by one of the world’s most successful record companies.

Runners-up prizes include exclusive Morcheeba goodie-bags containing limited edition screen prints, t-shirts, headphones and much more.

To enter, simply download ‘The Great London Traffic Warden Massacre’ track from their official site http://www.morcheeba.net and create a VHS video to accompany the track.

Send your finished video on VHS with you contact details to:

Morcheeba Video Competition,

WILD, 2B Westpoint, 39-40 Warple Way,

LONDON W3 0RG.

The closing date is 13th September 2002.

All entries MUST include your name, address and phone number. For more information and any other enquiries call 020-8746-0666 or email

morcheeba@wild-uk.com

Good luck!

Britney’s Nyla Gets Horrible Reviews

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Steve Cuozzo of the New York Post gave an awful review of the food at the Britney Spears’ partnered restaurant Nyla.

Steve said “Almost everything seems pre-prepped and slapped together.” He added, “Grilled salmon tasted more of grill marks than of fish, but you’ve had worse for $17.”

“This tastes awful” Steve’s companion remarked of diner-like red velvet layer cake. “And that’s their best dessert” said Steve.

“A respectable loin pork chop for $17 seemed artificially fastened to the bone. Moist, tender braised beef short ribs that cost $20 can fill two.”

Steve asked about the fried chicken they serve there and the waiter murmured, “I wouldn’t, if I were you. It’s like Kentucky Fried but very dry.”

“To be frank, the place isn’t about food. It’s a pastel playpen for Britney’s teen fans to hang out, lap up the cheerful pink-and-orange color scheme and wiggle to the soundtrack in giant round booths. It’s both ridiculous and adorable, meaning ‘Go in with a sense of humor, and you’ll have a ball’.”

Atomic Kitten’s Jenny Frost And Her Love Story

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Sue Evison spoke the other day with Atomic Kitten slim babe, Jenny Frost whom some people believe is in reality a man, on how she became engaged to her 38 year old DJ boyfriend Dom.

“Davinia was always going on about a boy she knew who I had to meet and I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever,'” she explained of her pal Davinia Taylor.

“I had just come out of a really horrible relationship and I wanted to enjoy myself, so I wasn’t looking to get involved again but she just kept going on about this guy. She said, ‘If you meet him you’ll get married.’ I thought she was being over-dramatic. But one night I saw him in a club and I was a bit tiddly so I went over and introduced myself by saying, ‘Apparently, we’re getting married.’ He wasn’t sure how to react to that and before he could think I left the club because I was a bit too drunk.

“And you see, I’d been there with a friend so Dom went over and asked for my number from my best male friend. He called two days later and said, ‘Do you remember me from the other night?’ Davinia was with him and was screaming in the background, ‘Told you so, told you so!’ I met up with Dom when I got back to London and we’ve been together ever since.”

Geri Halliwell Prefers Using The Male Toilets

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What’s going on in the weird, weird world of Geri Halliwell? Her toilet habits have gained her some attention.

We can reveal that Geri, who is like the biggest yoga celebrity fan around, prefers to use the gents when she does her business. Can’t say for sure whether it’s all the time, but when nature calls on the set of Popstars 2, she heads for the gents straightaway.

“We’re all very confused as to why she doesn’t use the ladies” says our source. “It’s not as if she wants privacy as there are always blokes auditioning for the show busy practising their songs in the loo as the acoustics are better.”

“The boys have been really shocked and, to be honest, they aren’t that happy about it. They like to have their privacy, too, and the last thing they want to go through is hearing Geri Halliwell having a pee.”

Geri, whose American boyfriend, Damian Warner has jetted over to Manchester to keep the “singer” company, was criticized by fellow judge Louis Walsh for only picking men she fancied at the auditions.

The Westlife manager said “If she fancies the guys she says, ‘He’s cute’, and wants to put them through, then I automatically have to say, ‘Yeah, but he can’t sing’.”

The Osbournes Adopt A Baby

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TV’s favorite zany family The Osbournes have adopted a friend of their daughters’ Kelly and Aimee after his mother died of cancer.

According to the New York Post, Ozzy and Sharon “adopted” Robert Marcato and moved him into their LA home. They will pay for his college education and will even include him in the next season of The Osbournes as Baby Osbourne despite him being 18.

Robert’s mother died of the same cancer that Sharon is suffering from. She told the paper that she was feeling fine after three chemotherapy treatments to battle cancer of the colon. Her treatment will feature in the next series of The Osbournes which is due to screen in the US this autumn.

Drag Queens Will Love Mya’s New Album

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G-funk, drag queens, reggae and a little bit of pop-rock, Mya has the blueprint for making an album, all she had to do was take her time.

“I haven’t been really consistent with recording. I’ve been in and out of the studio, so shoot, I’m using some records I did maybe two years ago. Have been in the studio every chance I get for the fun of it, and I realized, ‘Hey, I need to start recording an album.’ After that I pretty much realized I had 20 songs in my pocket. But rest assured, I’m almost wrapping it up right now.”

The beautiful singer said “I asked people for tracks, I’d vibe on them, write to them. When they came out as great records and the record company liked them, we polished them. That’s what happened. Everything was up in the air, all over the place.”

“It’s well balanced” she proclaimed. “I’m not saying, ‘F— you, kiss my ass.’ I’m not cursing all over my album, but it’s real. I know lots of females that can appreciate where I’m coming from, and men too.”

By men, she means straight men, gay men and even men who dress up like women. “I have song called ‘Whatever Bitch.’ It’s strictly for the drag queens. I just like to sit and watch them. My dancers introduced me to that world a long time ago. I incorporated some of it in my show, the dancing and the voguing. It’s art, I tell you. And besides, they make wonderful friends.”

The singer, who’s in talks to appear on the next Santana album, said her first single will be out in September, followed by the album in November or December.

Jay-Z’s Beyonce Knowles Didn’t Initially Like Her Own Name

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The lead singer for Destiny’s Child, Beyonce Knowles doesn’t like inheriting her mother’s maiden name.

“I hated my name” she moaned. “I just wanted to blend in. I kept asking, ‘Mama, why is my name Beyonce?’ It was interesting to see how teachers would pronounce it on the first day of school – Bianca, Bee-yonk, Bee-yon-chee”.

“But once I tell people it rhymes with fiance, they get it. I then grew to like it when I realized that many people had the same kind of names and mine’s special.”

In other scorching celebrity date-scene news, looks like Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles of Destiny’s Child really are an item. The New York Post reports the pair have been publicly canoodling all over town the last few days.

Spies caught the two at a hot-and-heavy workout session at a Chelsea Piers Gym ealier last week, then having a romantic dinner at Nobu last Tuesday.

“They showed up in a limousine together, and there was definitely some canoodling over dinner” said a source.