Britney’s father still has control

(Thursday July 31, 2008 07:11 PM)

Britney Spears‘ father will retain control of the troubled pop singer’s finances and personal affairs for the rest of the year.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz extended James Spears’ conservatorship over his daughter until the end of 2008.
The star’s father assumed control over her personal life and finances earlier this year after a series of high-profile incidents of erratic behaviour that twice led to her being admitted to hospital.
Spears has since shown signs of improvement, settling a custody dispute with Kevin Federline over the couple’s two young sons, making successful TV cameos and working on an album this summer.

Burial Mercury favourites

(Thursday July 31, 2008 05:47 PM)
Burial are the new favourites to win this year’s Nationwide Mercury Prize, according to reports.The anonymous dubstep producer was amongst the 12 albums nominated for the coveted award earlier this month, for his second record “Untrue”.Bookmakers William Hill have now revealed that he is leading the field amongst bets placed on the ultimate winner, with Radiohead just behind.A spokesman said: “The two people we’ve seen real money for is Radiohead at 9/2 but Burial is very much the favourite at the moment at 3/1.”

The acts in the running for the prize are as follows:

Adele “19″
British Sea Power “Do You Like Rock Music?”
Burial “Untrue”
Elbow “The Seldom Seen Kid”
Estelle “Shine”
The Last Shadow Puppets “The Age Of The Understatement”
Laura Marling “Alas, I Cannot Swim”
Neon Neon “Stainless Style”
Portico Quartet “Knee-Deep In The North Sea”
Robert Plant And Alison Krauss “Raising Sand”
Radiohead “In Rainbows”
Rachel Unthank And The Winterset “The Bairns”

Jeweller sues Wyclef

(Thursday July 31, 2008 05:21 PM)

A New York jeweller is demanding $300,000 from WyclefJean in a lawsuit filed against the star.The former Fugee is alleged to owe Jacob & Co the sum for numerous unpaid items, according to the legal challenge.The company was founded by a famed jeweller who has been name-dropped by a host of key pop culture figures, including Kanye West, The Game and Beyonce.Jacob Arabov, aka “The King Of Bling”, is currently in prison after being jailed last month for lying to police in a druginvestigation, reports the BBC.Wyclef has not made any comment on the allegations or lawsuit.

Spears wants no contact with Lutfi

(Thursday July 31, 2008 12:47 AM)
Britney Spears has dropped plans to seek a restraining order against a former friend accused by her mother of drugging her and holding her hostage, but said she did not want Osama “Sam” Lutfi back in her life.
A lawyer for the star said she did not want any contact with Lutfi, whose closeness to Spears with coincided some of the strangest episodes in her downward spiral of erratic behaviour.
“Britney has made clear to everyone that she does not want to be further harassed or contacted in any way by Osama ‘Sam’ Lutfi, now or at anytime in the future,” the singer’s lawyer Samuel Ingham said.
Lawyers for Spears and her father James, are expected to appear in a Los Angeles court to give an update on a legal ruling giving him control of the star’s affairs.
A hearing on a temporary restraining order barring Lutfi from having contact with the pop singer had also been listed.
The order issued earlier this year required Lutfi to stay 250 yards away from Spears or her homes.

Winehouse ‘gutted’ by Bond theme snub

(Thursday July 31, 2008 12:35 AM)
Amy Winehouse is “gutted” to have missed out on the chance to sing the theme tune to the new James Bond movie, according to superproducer Mark Ronson.
The pair teamed up to record a possible song for forthcoming 007 film Quantum of Solace, but their effort was rejected in favour of a duet between Alicia Keys and Jack White.
And Ronson admits that they are both extremely disappointed their entry was not chosen for the movie soundtrack – putting the decision down to Winehouse’s troubled personal life.
He says, “It’s really disappointing, of course it is. But at the time Amy was going through some s**t, and now she’s doing great, so who cares if we missed the Bond boat.
“It’s fantastic to see her back on track again. We’re both gutted we missed out on 007, but there will be other great opportunities for us.”

Obama vs Ludacris

(Thursday July 31, 2008 12:26 AM)
Barack Obama has moved to distance himself from a new song attacking his rivals by Ludacris.The US Presidential candidate has denounced “Politics As Usual”, which criticises Hilary Clinton, George W Bush and John McCain, as “outrageously offensive”.The rapper’s attempt to align himself with the Democrat party’s rising star looks to have completely back-fired, after Obama’s spokesman issued a statement.In it, he expressed shock at the content of the track, which calls Bush “mentally handicapped” and says McCain “doesn’t belong in any chair unless he’s paralysed”.Bill Burton commented: “Ludacris is a talented individual but he should be ashamed of these lyrics.”As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he doesn’t want his daughters or any children exposed to”.Ludacris is yet to respond to the comments from Obama, who is looking to become America’s first black President.

Beatles tape discovered

(Thursday July 31, 2008 12:07 AM)
A 1964 tape of previously unreleased Beatles songs has been unearthed in a Liverpool attic, according to reports.The reel-to-reel recordings, which have a running time of 30 minutes, are not thought to have been listened to for almost 50 years.They were discovered in The Fab Four’s hometown by a man clearing out his father’s loft and will now be auctioned.The tape, thought to capture the band on an episode of “Top Gear”, features them playing a host of their mid-’60s classics.Cameo Auctioneers are hoping to raise at least £10,000 from the sale, according to the NME.

Kiwis love Phil Collins

(Thursday July 31, 2008 10:56 AM)
Phil Collins has scored an unlikely Number One in New Zealand with “In The Air Tonight”, more than 25 years after it was first released.The retired pop icon and former Genesis frontman is reaping the success from fronting the current advertising campaign for Cadburys.The singer has now topped the Kiwi charts, having also apparently been paid $1 million for the use of the song in the global advert.”In The Air Tonight” was originally released in 1981 and is also remembered for a cameo appearance in US cop drama “Miami Vice”.In April, Collins announced plans to retire from the music business, telling reporters at the Ivor Novello awards “the timing was appropriate” for him to quit.

Oasis leak single

(Thursday July 31, 2008 10:39 AM)
Oasis have posted a clip of their new single, “Shock Of The Lightning”, online.The brief extract of the band’s first new material since last year’s “Lord Don’t Slow Me Down” can be seen on YouTube now.The 20-second snatch is part of a promo video for the Gallagher brothers’ new album, “Dig Out Your Soul”.The trailer concludes with the clip, following highlights of the band’s music career, such as “Supersonic”, “Go Let It Out” and “Lyla”.”Dig Out Your Soul” is due for release on October 6 and will be preceded by “Shock Of The Lightning” on September 29.

Aniston proves a hit on Mayer tour

(Thursday July 31, 2008 09:35 AM)
Jennifer Aniston has gone down a storm on singer boyfriend John Mayer’s latest US tour – with one pal claiming “she fits right in”.
The former Friends actress has been accompanying her musician beau as he tours America, and has proved a hit with Mayer’s road crew and bandmembers.
A pal of Mayer tells People.com, “John has such an amazing crew of musicians and friends with him. Everyone gets along and is drama free and Jen fits right in – perfectly. Everyone really loves her.”
And the star has even gone down well with Mayer’s female fans, who have been texting the on-stage screen demanding Aniston makes an appearance at Mayer’s concerts.
One reveller at a recent show in California sent a message saying: “We want Jennifer Aniston to come out now!!!”
The pair became romantically linked earlier this year (08), with Aniston claiming she was happier than ever with her new beau, saying, “Being in love makes you happy.”