May 27, 2008

Live shows are not only giving extra money for musicians, but can also bring an incident for them. It's just what happened to Kelly Rowland who was almost got hit by a hat thrown by a fan, while she was performing at the Great American Gay Day 2008 concert on May 23.

Kelly was still on the midway of her concert when a white hat suddenly flew to the stage and almost hit her on the face. After that incident happened, her band stopped the music and gave the singer a chance to call out the crowd asking them who threw the hat at her.

What came across people minds, when the name of Quentin Tarantino is brought out. Some may say "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction", others may relate it to "Kill Bill". Indeed, those movies have the golden touch of the Palme d'Or recipient. Now, the 45-year-old filmmaker is going to attempt on attaching another film to his name.

In an interview at the 61st Cannes Film Festival, the director who is known for his using of nonlinear storylines and stylized violence in his feature films announced that he will be tackling a World War II period film entitled "Inglourious Basterds". Adding to the excitement about the movie that has been rumored to be made for about five years, he confessed that he is planning on previewing the movie at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival.

Hot new couple alert, Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton. The twosome are reported to be dating despite their persistent denial of romance rumors.

The Pussycat Dolls hottie, according to the Mirror, flew in to Monte Carlo to attend the Monaco Grand Prix after she was invited by Lewis to watch him raced. He, moreover, has even introduced her to father Anthony Hamilton and brother Nicolas Hamilton.

Recent news claiming that Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has written an open letter for Metallica saying that they should not release their new album unless it is really good turns out to be a false one. That fact occurs after Dave's himself denied that he has written the letter and insisted that the whole thing was just a media blow up.

The drummer turned singer stated his denial on his band's official website, writing, "Just wanted to write a quick note to clear up this whole 'Open letter to Metallica' fiasco... For the record, I never 'wrote' anything to Metallica." Dave also explained that his word was exaggerated by a journalist that recently interviewed him, "I was asked by a journalist, at the end of a long interview (abut the Foo Fighters) to give a quick message to Metallica in the studio. So, I rattled that quote off the top of my head. No biggie, right? Somehow it became my 'open letter' to the band."

Already being known as a legendary rock band doesn't make Bon Jovi disrespect new musicians. It can be seen on the band's recent gig in Munich on May 24, where their vocalist Jon Bon Jovi admitted to the crowd that he likes the song from new Welsh singer Duffy.

Proving his word, Jon even sang a few lines from the pop singer's hit single "Mercy". After finish singing it the rocker told the crowd his admiration of the song saying, "I love that song."

He is an established rapper with lines of awards listed under his name. He has become one of the most successful hip hop moguls who has launched many successful musicians under his Bad Boy Records. He has an acclaimed clothing line of his own as well as a movie production company. Thus, what else Sean "P. Diddy" Combs has in store for himself. The 38-year-old apparently is going to explore his writing talent.

Latest report concerning Diddy claimed that the former lover of singer Jennifer Lopez is going to bring his multi-talents to the next level by becoming a screenwriter. The musician who has tried his luck in acting through movies like Jon Favreau's "Made" and Marc Forster's "Monster's Ball" confessed that he is developing a script for a comedy movie stating, "I'm writing a film, a comedy."

Denied the marriage crisis reports addressed to him recently, Usher has just been reported to have filed for divorce from Tameka Foster. Rumor has it that the R&B artist has filed for divorce papers three weeks ago, but is still unsure whether to make a public announcement or simply let the news "leak" out.

Gossip website theyoungblackandfabulous.com was the first to make public the report. It claimed, "Extremely reliable sources close to Mr Raymond himself have confirmed to us that Usher has indeed filed for separation from his wife of only nine months Tameka Raymond. I'm told he actually filed three weeks ago. And Usher is torn on whether he will be making an official announcement or not as he wants to save face and just let it 'leak'".

Getting close to his new album "Tha Carter III"'s release date, the songs from Lil Wayne's new set have been leaking. After the track "Got Money" featuring T-Pain streamed on the net, now the rapper's fans can hear snippets for 11 songs from the new LP.

Some of the new tracks from the 11 joints that can be previewed on the net are, "Shoot Me Down" (featuring D.Smih), "Tie My Hands" (featuring Robin Thicke), "Playin' with Fire" (featuring Betty Wright) and "Mrs. Officer" (featuring Bobby Valentino). The complete list can be viewed below. Those songs are still only some from his new album which will consist in total of 17 tracks.

Back in February 2008, a disturbing news broke out. At the time, it was reported that the fate of the two J.R.R. Tolkien's adaptation movies, "The Hobbit" and its sequel, are seriously questioned due to the fact that a lawsuit against New Line Cinema has been filed by the Tolkien's estate. Time goes by and it seems that the fantasy film will continue on its schedule. However, recent report hints that there might be a problem on the production after all.

On May 25, Times Online reported that the development of this Tolkien's adaptation novel may be put on hold or even worse may not be done after Christopher Tolkien, the son of "Hobbit" author, exposed that he will try to stop the making of the film as the continuance of the long-running court battle with the producers of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy who owed his family more than $80 million from the blockbuster film series. Reportedly, on June 6, the 83-year-old will go in front of a Californian judge to claim a rights in terminating "The Hobbit" filming rights.

The car crash karma, apparently, keeps haunting the Hogans. Following Nick Hogan's August 2007 fatal car accident, another Hogan was involved in another car accident Sunday, May 25.

Pop star wannabe Brooke Hogan was coasting with a female friend Sunday afternoon on Florida's Bayside Bridge when the driver of a 1997 Toyota lost control, hit her 2008 white Mercedes head-on and pushed it into a concrete wall. According to the crash report from the Florida Highway Patrol, a witness said the other driver was speeding. No injuries were reported and no charges have been filed at this point.

Breaking news comes from the country music singing competition "Nashville Star", as new reports said that the show will not only air on NBC but also on CMT. That decision happens after the county music cable channel signed a deal with its current owner NBC and the show creator Reveille that allows the channel to rebroadcast episodes from the upcoming music competition which will be premiered on June 9.

This year will also be the singing competition's sixth season since it was first started in 2003. This season will also mark the first time the show aired on NBC after previously airing on USA Network for five consecutive seasons.

A while back, reports about the transforming of Bethlehem's old steel site into part of a Chinese city for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" have surfaced on the interwebs following the Asian casting calls outed in early May. Now, a series of pictures showing the Betlehem's set has come out online and along with it, more information about the sequel film can be gathered.

Reportedly, the filming at the Bethlehem's set in Pennsylvania will take place on the west side of the site. The shooting of the Paramount Pictures' action tidbit will be using two Blackhawk helicopters and will be guarded by the site security as well as the Bethlehem City Police. The interesting part coming from the pre-production stated that a new concept car which can possibly be a transformer will be used. The report read, "A new concept car (possible Transformer?) not used in the first movie will be used there."

Is she or isn't she? Leona Lewis has sparked rumors of an engagement after she's been spotted flashing a ring on her engagement finger. The chart-topping singer was making her way out of London nightclub Crystal with former "X Factor" contestant Ashley McKenzie when she was seen wearing a diamond ring on her finger, only to fuel speculation that she's engaged to marry longtime boyfriend Lou Al-Chamaa.

This isn't the first time that Lewis has been hit with engagement rumor. She previously was reported to have engaged to Lou, an electrician, November last year. She denied the report though, saying "Me and Lou are good friends and I think that's the important thing, that we're friends and that we have a laugh together."

What he needs to do is simple, escorting a woman from Russia to China. But, things get complicated when the woman he is protecting is a host of an organism to produce Messiah. That's the essence of the forthcoming sci-fi movie starring Vin Diesel, but one wouldn't find that in the second international teaser trailer of "Babylon A.D.". Instead, one can see the film's great visual effects.

Though relatively shorter than the first online posted international teaser, this one gives out more exciting footages from the movie. One of the cool clips picks up a slow motion scene of a missile flying straight past Michelle Yeoh and Melanie Thierry's characters. Another one delivers a scene in which Thierry's character walking past the flashing rain of bullets. All and all, this French language teaser gives out a better look into the Mathieu Kassovitz's action flick.

Alanis Morissette is at it again. The Canadian rocker reportedly has decided to revamp her canceled-tome following a number of personal problems.

Initially worked on the book when she was still dating her then fiance Ryan Reynolds, Alanis was forced to cancel it after they mutually broke their engagement in February 2007. "I put that (book) away for a while," so she told Venice magazine, explaining further "This whole deadline thing didn't quite work and there were lots of changes going on in my life then; not a good time to have a big book deadline."

Appreciation for new British sensation Leona Lewis keeps on coming, the latest one to acknowledge her musical quality is the Olympics' committee which taps her to perform at the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Leona is being set to sing at the closing ceremony of the annual mega sports event, which will also be the official handover ceremony from Beijing to London as the next host in 2012.

Beside Leona, another England superstar that will also play a part on the ceremony is soccer player David Beckham. Confirming the two celebrities involvements on the event, a source from the London 2012 Olympics said, "Leona and Beckham have accepted the invitation to sprinkle some stardust on the show."

As if the David O. Russell's comedy movie "Nailed" wasn't already filled with drama before, it is now reported that the film's production has been shut down for the third time. Leaving two of its stars, Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal in an uncertainty and possibly causing the production to be two weeks behind schedule, the grounding down of the production is claimed to be caused by another financial problem faced by the independent movie.

Reportedly, the production has been stalled this time after numerous film crew failed to show up for work at the South Carolina set on Thursday, May 22. It is said that union leaders at the International Alliance of Theatrical + Stage Employees (IATSE) called for a boycott after learning that the below-the-line crews were not being paid. However, it seems that the boycott will be ended soon. An insider claimed that the production is expected to be resumed on Thursday, May 29.

Rock band Velvet Revolver revealed a good news to their die hard fans, confirming that the band will hit the stage again with a new vocalist soon. The news was said by the band's drummer Matt Sorum in a recent interview with Artisan News Service.

Revealing about Velvet's future plan, Matt told the news service, "We're coming out with something in a couple of weeks and I think it's going to surprise everybody. It's exciting." Moreover, the ex- Guns N' Roses member also hinted about the band's new singer saying, "We're moving forward. We're going to keep going and play rock 'n' roll and get a new guy singing, so we did it before we'll do it again."

Though the 61st Cannes Film Festival has been officially closed on Sunday, May 25, the effect of the special event still exists. Following the screening of Chinese epic battle movie at the film fest, a Cannes promo reel for "Red Cliff" has leaked to the virtual world. The 9-minutes video exposes the great battle sequences of the two-part war film.

Though the video posted below was not in a high definition format, it still manages to show clearly what to expect from the John Woo-directed film. The clips compiled within focuses on the preparation of the grand-scale battle and the epic battle itself. Other than the battle scenes, the Chinese language footages that are accompanied with English subtitle also gives glimpses of the story behind the war.

Hip hop artist Xzibit has some bad news he wants to share with fans. In a post on his MySpace page Monday, May 26, he revealed that his newborn son has passed away after being born prematurely just over a week ago.

"I shared with you the announcment of my newborn son Xavier Kingston Joiner on may 15th and also informed you that he was born prematurly," so he began his post. He then went on adding, "well this week was extremly difficult for him because his lungs were not strong enough to handle regular oxygen on his own. Xavier passed away this morning at 3:30am."

As if being hailed as one of the most legendary and influential musicians in the world is not enough, Paul McCartney received another acknowledgment for his music career. After already been knighted by the Queen of England in 1996, Paul received another prestigious honor on Monday, May 26, this time it's from Yale University.

The famous institute awarded the title of honorary Doctor of Music degree to the legendary musician because they believe that the 65-year-old singer has given lots of contribution and influence on waking up a generation and creating new and fresh sound in rock and roll and rhythm and blues. Yale also believe that Paul deserves the title because no one could be compared to him.

Is turning 40 this coming Wednesday, May 28, Kylie Minogue wants to mark the special day in style. And when it is said "in style", as for Kylie it means "giving". The Aussie pop star according to news media is planning to celebrate her 40th birthday by splashing out on gifts for her close pals.

Hard at work to make her planned-big-day comes true, Kylie already took break in between her concert tour performances in Europe, hitting a number of shops to choose gifts for guests invited to celebrate her upcoming birthday. She, as a source said to The Sun newspaper Monday, May 19, "has been spending some of her rare rest time on the European tour looking through boutiques and antique stores for gifts to give to her guests."