Videos After The JumpThe Holiday season is upon us, which means spending time with those you love the most, sharing gifts and listening to heart warming songs. On Monday (December 30) Oprah Winfrey hosted a very special Holiday music extravaganza which featured duets from six of the world's biggest music stars who had never performed together before. Alicia Keys with Tim McGraw, Andrea Bocelli with Mary J Blige & Jennifer Hudson with Sugarland.Read more…
London Times Online Reports
A former Miss Argentina has died after undergoing cosmetic surgery to get firmer buttocks.
Solange Magnano, 38, died of pulmonary embolism after undergoing a gluteoplasty in Buenos Aires, a normally routine procedure which involves placing implants in the buttocks to give them a firmer outline.
The mother of eight-year-old twins who won the beauty crown in 1994 died on Sunday after three days in critical condition. Roberto Piazza, a close friend, claimed that the procedure also involved injections and the liquid "went to her lungs and brain."
"This woman who had everything is dead because she wanted to have a slightly firmer behind," said Mr Piazza, a fashion designer.
Gluteoplasty has rocketed in popularity recently as women attempt to replicate the curvy shapes of stars such as Jennifer Lopez and Sandra Bullock. According to a survey by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, J-Lo's rear is rated number one by plastic surgeons’ patients seeking to remake their buttocks.
The organisation said the singer was favoured “by a huge percentage.”
Ms Magnano underwent the procedure at a plastic surgery clinic on Thursday. The following day she was rushed to hospital with an acute respiratory deficiency. Her condition deteriorated until she suffered the embolism and died on Sunday.
"She only underwent the procedure because she thought it was no big deal," said Guillermo Azar, another close friend of Ms Magnano's.
Juan Carlos Seiler, former president of the Buenos Aires Association of plastic surgeons, suggested the doctor who performed the procedure might not have been "a real professional from an approved" cosmetic surgery centre.
There were about 50,000 plastic surgery procedures performed in Argentina in 2008, a 60 per cent increase over 2003, with a growing number of foreigners seeking inexpensive cosmetic enhancements accounting for much of the increase.
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NY Daily News Reports
Get ready for the frump to trump the competition.
Unglamorous singer Susan Boyle stands poised to not only seize the No. 1 slot on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart this week, but to do so with the biggest opening sales of the year.
Though final tallies won't be released until Wednesday, sources say the Cinderella singer's debut, "I Dreamed a Dream," will enjoy sales of between 625,000 and 700,000 albums in its first week.
Those numbers would handily beat the tally of the year's previous opening champ: Emimen, whose most recent CD, "Relapse," sold 609,000 in its first blush back in late May.
Both Billboard and HitsDailyDouble.com predict roughly the same numbers for Boyle, based on early reports from the nation's big-box retailers as well as figures from QVC, which has played a key part in hawking this TV-created star.
A QVC source told The News the network had 83,650 preorders units for "Dream," making it that outlet's top-performing music title in a decade. Amazon doesn't reveal precise numbers, but sources told Billboard that its U.S. pre-orders likewise topped 80,000.
Boyle's CD, like all others released last week, enjoyed one advantage over most other albums issued in 2009. They jumped the common release date (Tuesday) by one day, instead coming out on a Monday (Nov. 23).
Boyle's juggernaut says a lot about new ways of marketing music in the modern age, according to Billboard's Keith Caulfield. While the star has gotten a bit of conventional radio play - mainly on Adult Contemporary stations which picked up on her version of "Silent Night" - Caulfield credits her main success in the States to YouTube. "She became a star there, and the album cover says ‘as seen on YouTube," he says. "When people went to the store last week, I'm not sure they even needed her Today Show performance or NBC Thanksgiving Night special. They already knew her."
Boyle's success isn't the only news on the charts this week.
Despite - or maybe because of - his antics on the AMAs last week, Adam Lambert's album, "For Your Entertainment," will debut at No. 2, with stronger than expected sales of roughly 225,000 units, according to both Billboard and HitsDailyDouble.com. That's nearly triple the sales of Kris Allen, the guy who beat him for this year's "American Idol" crown. Allen's self-titled debut sold just 80,000 copies in its first seven day sales period, which preceded Lambert's by one week. That's the worst opening sales record ever for an A.I. winner.
Still Caulfield sees a silver lining. "Kris sells a lot of individual tracks, rather than full albums," he explains. "Maybe his fans are younger and only have allowances to buy 3 or 4 tracks. They could buy more later."
Either way, says Caulfield, "When it comes to artists like Adam and Susan Boyle, people want the whole package."
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Video After The Jump50 Cent recently spoke with Vibe.com about the future plans of his new film company Cheetah Vision Films. The G-Unit General says he will release 3-5 films a year, the 1st being "The Gun" starring Val Kilmer. He also has a mixtape coming up soon which he says will be his last.
Read more…
Cash Money's Birdman and Slim showed niggas how to stunt at the album release party for their newest artist, UK pop sensation Jay Sean. Rihanna showed up looking sexier than ever as did Ice-T's main squeeze Coco. Jay Sean's new album "All Or Nothing" is in stores now.
AllHipHop Reports
Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill will appear on the same stage for separate performances during the Raggamuffin Music Festival, which will take place in Rotorua, New Zealand.
Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill will be co-headliners of the festival, which takes place at Rotorua International Stadium and also features headliners Shaggy, Julian Marley, Sly & Robbie, Sean Kingston and others.
The pair's performance together comes amidst new reports that Wyclef Jean was hoping for a Fugee’s reunion.
"Some how, The Fugees is the soundtrack to everyone's house,” Wyclef told DJBooth.net. "What I'm hoping is that this group really gets inspired by the new movement that I'm on right now.
“I'm hoping they'll get inspired and be like, 'Yo, let's find Clef and let's get this thing cracking.' And it would be an honor to go in and make it a super album,” Clef said of reuniting with Hill and group member Pras Michele.
The announcement of Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill's involvement in the Raggamuffin Festival is the singer’s first major outing since cancelling a string of high profile dates in June of 2009.
Hill had been scheduled to headline the Stockholm Jazz Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.
Wyclef filled in for Hill on a number of the cancelled dates, which she canceled due to health reasons.
As members of The Fugees, Wyclef, Lauryn Hill and Pras Michele released two albums including 1996’s The Score, which has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill will perform during the Raggamuffin Music Festival in Rotorua, New Zealand on January 23rd, 2010.
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Video After The JumpThe Dominion Post Reports
A distraught father had to make the hardest decision of his life – choosing to save the life of his drowning wife over his son, who was trapped in a submerged car.Silva Natana Horton, 13, drowned in the Whanganui River on Saturday night after the car in which he was a front-seat passenger went off Somme Pde and cartwheeled down a steep 10-metre bank into the water about 9.45pm.
His mother, Vanessa Horton, who was driving, Silva's best friend, Robert Palmer, 14, and the family dog escaped with minor injuries.
Silva's father, Stacy Horton, arrived from their home in nearby Stewart St less than two minutes after the crash to hear his wife screaming in the darkness and to see Robert and the dog scrambling up the bank.
He clambered down and saw his wife in the water. He tried to dive down to their Mazda MPV stationwagon, which was nose down, more than a metre beneath the surface.
Silva Horton"I tried to get down and get him but I couldn't, it was just too deep. And Vanessa was going under," Mr Horton said.
"I made a call to pull my wife to safety. I looked back and I could see the tail-lights but it was too far and I couldn't get him.
"I just had to accept the fact that he had gone.
"Instead of going down and risking my life as well as my wife and son's, I chose to take V back and sat on the shore praying. It was all I could do."
When emergency services arrived minutes later, police also dived in, with two firefighters using breathing apparatus – a full face-mask with oxygen tank backpacks normally used in smoke-filled buildings – to try to reach Silva.
Wanganui senior station officer Gary Wilson said the water was dark and murky and the firefighters struggled to reach the car.
"We tried everything but to no avail. It was a longshot but it was worth the risk to try and save him."
Mr Horton said the family had been at home when a group of kids was heard wrecking their letterbox.
The group ran off and his wife, Silva and Robert quickly followed them in the car.
As Mrs Horton slowly pulled over to talk to the group by the riverbank, the car "kept going" on the grass.
"I do know my son was unconscious when he drowned [after hitting his head on the dash]. It's just a freak accident. We can't blame anyone.
"I've forgiven the kids who were wrecking our letterbox," Mr Horton said.
"My wife is emotionally distraught and drained, like I am."
Divers recovered Silva's body early yesterday. His funeral will be held in Taihape.
Mr Horton said Silva was an outgoing boy, who liked to spin a yarn, and was a budding moto-cross rider who won his age grade competition in Wanganui this year.
Read more…
Posted by Mr.I Get It on November 30, 2009 at 11:33am
Photography by Clay Patrick McBride50 Cent has just discovered his next big thing.The multimillionaire MC/mogul is commanding attention inside Manhattan’s Drive-In studio, where he’s shooting cover images for XXL’s double issue, gearing up for the release of his fourth album, Before I Self Destruct. At the moment, though, he’s more interested in the laptop on the table than any flashing lights. He’s just been put on to tinychat.com, a social-networking site composed of webcam-compatible chat rooms, and he’s enthralled. The computer screen resembles a modern-day spin on The Brady Bunch’s tic-tac-toe-box opening credits—but instead of Marcia, Peter, Cindy, et al., the heads of folks like Flipmode hype man Spliff Starr, former NFL heavyweight Warren Sapp and VH1 reality star “It” (of I Love New York 2 and I Love Money 2) talk back and forth in real time.You can practically see the little lightbulb pop up over 50’s head. His own social-networking Web site, thisis50.com, needs to adopt TinyChat. “[What] if you could have several different rooms?” he says. “You could have a bunch of different rooms with 18 people, and the user could then switch rooms.”Curtis Jackson, 2009: computer whiz. From the corner to the monitor. And who can blame him? The record industry that was once strong enough to push his 2003 debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, to seven million in nation-wide sales has succumbed to the Internet. Numbers like that simply don’t exist anymore. Ever the survivalist, Fif has made ThisIs50, which he launched two years ago, a major priority. The site has become the one-stop shop for all new G-Unit music, including mixtapes from the now Interscope-free Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, and, more notably, Fif’s own free, Web-only mixtapes Forever King and War Angel, which has been downloaded more than 400,000 times since its June release. It also provides a handy platform for multimedia mockery of enemies like Rick Ross, Fat Joe and former G-Unit cronies Game and Young Buck. The most memorable example—a series of viral videos featuring a wig-wearing, activator-spraying 50 in character as the flamboyant Pimpin’ Curly. The vids climaxed on ThisIs50’s sister site boobootv.com, with Curly narrating a sex tape starring the mother of Rick Ross’s daughter. (Sun Tzu himself would have been left shaking his head in astonishment.) 50 says the site receives around 30 million unique views per month. (Official numbers for ThisIs50 are not available.) Even in this dismal economic climate, 50 is planning to expand the site’s current 10-person staff and increase original content, with the support of what he calls an “artificial economy—my pocket.”The new direction makes sense. Along with the rest of the industry, 50’s brand has taken some big hits over the past two years. First there was the hugely hyped release-date sales-showdown defeat, when 50’s third album, Curtis, debuted behind Kanye’s Graduation on the Billboard charts. (Pushing 700,000 first-week units, of course, would be cause for major celebration for just about any other artist, but for a market-dominating bully like 50, it was a loss of face.) G-Unit soldiers Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks split ways with Interscope, and Young Buck was kicked out of the camp. Then came this past year’s worth of Before I Self Destruct delays. It was way back last October when Fif released the album’s first single, “Get Up,” along with a high-concept post-apocalyptic video. “In Da Club” it was not, unfortunately, peaking at No. 44 on the Billboard charts, before a quick disappearance. A follow-up, the Dr. Dre–produced “I Get It In,” didn’t fare much better. And when Interscope set a May street date for Eminem’s Relapse, 50 took a place on the back burner—a voluntary move, to his credit, but still one that kept fans waiting.Most recently, 50 has learned that just as the Internet giveth, it taketh away. In late October (soon after the photo shoot with XXL), Before I Self Destruct surfaced online, a full month before its intended release. Reached by phone after the leak, 50 shrugs it off. “I’m fine with it, ’cause it leaked in its entirety, in sequence, and mixed and mastered. If they would’ve heard my record in pieces, I would’ve been disappointed.” He’s so sanguine, like it’s all par for the course. Gauging from his demeanor these days, his new album title seems about as over-the-top as another edition of Pimpin’ Curly—less an actual warning sign than a carefully thought-out strategy. In other words, even as the business changes, it’s business, big business as usual.You’re keeping a prominent presence with ThisIs50 these days. In your eyes, how big of a priority is the Internet?I think it’s cool. That’s where we’re headed. Instead of fighting it, I’m just embracing it.Were you resistant at first?Yeah. As far as the Internet is concerned, it’s so new that the younger kids can take better advantage. Soulja Boy is one of the guys that is more open-minded to the Web, and he’ll go there immediately. But it’s more natural for him, because he worked his way from there… I watched and learned from people like him.What was the first thing that made you realize you had to get more in touch with the Internet?From my perspective, what the mixtape circuit was is now a viral video… When I make material and I see it be viewed a million times, I know that I pleased a small demographic that watched it so often that there’s a million views. Or a broad demographic of people are drawn to it. I feel good either way… As [the Internet] changes and there’s new applications and new things involved with the site, I learn that right away. That makes me comfortable. I’m in a comfortable space.I think the majority of us, well, the demographic that’s conditioned to go and do things the old-fashioned way. Like, I’m conditioned to go buy a record out the store. Even if it’s an option to buy it off the computer, I still buy it out the store, in the actual case. The kids, the new age group, the new kids are more perceptive of computers. They don’t have to have the experience of going to purchase your CD or going to see your movie.CD sales figures certainly reflect that. What’s your barometer for success today?I mean, it’s different. I won’t even gauge it like that. I’ll pay attention to the response of the public, how they feel about the actual record. You’ll know generally how they feel. I wanna hear it bumping out of the cars when they ride by. The magic of music is that everything feels right when it feels right, and you can tell that you’re in pocket when that happens. They were giving me resistance—they didn’t want me to win during the Curtis project, because of the success I had prior to that. But it’s interesting, because they made me successful. And when I say “they,” I mean the general public. It’s a cycle where you can’t control it. There’ll be a point when they decide that they don’t want you to be the center of attention anymore and they want somebody else to be there, even without you losing the ability to do what it is you’ve done to get there.How do you see things moving in hip-hop musically? Do you sense a shift back toward the streets, with an artist like Gucci Mane breaking through?We’re gonna get people from different walks of life, and that’s because the art form is expanding. Like, you got a Gucci Mane at the same time you’re getting a Drake. And he’s obviously a rich kid who ain’t been exposed to…what? That’s Drake’s part. And then you got Gucci Mane, who’s from the South, and he’s been exposed to it all. We have Little Jeezy… It’s cool to see people actually have their own identity. The same thing that they would be upset with me for is what they accept from Drake. The Kid Cudis, too. Wale. These people are necessary. They were there when I fell in love with hip-hop, but they were Q-Tip, they were Andre 3000.You’ve been working on Before I Self Destruct for a long time. How has the tone of the album changed over the last year?Well, the album is darker. It began darker, because I wrote the prequel to Get Rich or Die Tryin’. This album is the things that I missed that happened before. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is really me writing my environment and my experiences in a nutshell, and it was a shorter time period. On this one, I went further back. To give you an example: When I did “Hate It or Love It,” I said, “Coming up, I was confused, my mama kissin’ a girl/Confusion and cursed, coming up in the cold world.” And my mom passed when I was eight. So that’s me reflecting on myself when I was maybe seven years old. So, for that fact, to write those pieces of my actual life and the things that wouldn’t be the coolest thing to say from a rapper’s perspective… Rappers kind of create these superheroes. They create these guys who have all the finances and the beautiful women, the nicest cars, the best jewelry. And when the director says “cut,” they go home. You know? And that’s just the reality of it. But for me, I wrote imperfections on this album, because I’m in a secure enough space to do that.Was that hard to do?Well, you gotta make it to a certain point in your career. Some artists never choose to do it. They stay in the safe space because they feel like another artist may use it to be competitive at some point, try to use the personal things they put out. Mine’s will only give people reasoning for my behavior. They’ll listen to this record and start to understand more. —Interview Matt BaroneTo read the rest of this 50 Cent article, make sure to pick up XXL’s December/January double issue on newsstands now.
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on November 30, 2009 at 10:00am
Video After The Jump
KTLA Reports
NEW YORK -- Serena Williams was fined a record $82,500 for her U.S. Open tirade and could be suspended from that tournament if she has another "major offense" at any Grand Slam in the next two years.
Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock's ruling was released Monday, and he said Williams faces a "probationary period" at tennis' four major championships in 2010 and 2011. If she has another "major offense" at a Grand Slam tournament in that time, the fine would increase to $175,000 and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open.
"But if she does not have another offense in the next two years, the suspension is lifted," Babcock said in a telephone interview from London.
He said Williams is handing over $82,500 right now, already nearly double the previous highest fine for a Grand Slam offense - about $48,000 Jeff Tarango was docked in the 1990s.
Williams lashed out at a lineswoman after a foot-fault call at the end of her semifinal loss to eventual champion Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open in September.
Williams earned $350,000 by reaching the semifinals, part of her more than $6.5 million in prize money in 2009, a single-season record for women's tennis. Her career prize money tops $28 million.
The American is an 11-time Grand Slam singles champion and ended the 2009 season at No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
Williams' profanity-laced, finger-pointing outburst drew a $10,000 fine from the U.S. Tennis Association in September - the maximum onsite penalty a tennis player can face. But because it happened at a Grand Slam tournament, Babcock was charged with investigating whether further punishment was merited.
He concluded that Williams violated the "major offense" rule for "aggravated behavior." The Grand Slam committee - with one representative from each of the sport's four major championships - approved his decision Saturday.
Babcock said Williams has been informed of the ruling. She has been in Barbados for an exhibition tournament, and her agent did not immediately reply to a request for comment Monday.
The USTA said it would comment later Monday.
Babcock said a "major offense" under Grand Slam rules is "any conduct that is determined to be the 'major offense' of 'aggravated behavior' or 'conduct detrimental to the game."' There is no specific definition of what sort of actions constitute a "major offense."
He said the highest possible fine that Williams could face - $175,000, if she violates her Grand Slam probation - was chosen because it is the difference in winnings between reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals at the U.S. Open. The $10,000 Williams already was docked by the USTA will be counted toward that total; that's why she is paying half of $165,000 now.
During the Sept. 12 match at Flushing Meadows, the foot fault - a call rarely, if ever, made at that stage of such a significant match - resulted in a double-fault for Williams, moving Clijsters one point from victory.
Williams paused, retrieved a ball to serve again and then stopped. She stepped toward the official, screaming, cursing and shaking the ball at her. Williams was penalized a point for that display; because it happened to come on match point, it ended the semifinal with Clijsters ahead 6-4, 7-5.
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HipHopWired Reports
As Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson lets the gas tank leak and adds fuel to the fire with Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z, the rapper also has to fight his own battles as his issues with Rick Ross and Triple Cs are far from being a memory.
Recently Rick Ross spoke on the sales of 50 Cent's latest offering, Before I Self Destruct, which sold close to 160,000 copies in its first week. Hailed by man to be disappointing numbers for an artist with such a caliber as 50, Ross proclaimed that he was able to bury the G-Unit general.
Never willing to let any punch slip through, Jackson revealed news through an interview with DJ Whoo Kid about how Ross tried to take a play from his book when he contacted Tia and tried to find a means to get at 50's baby's mother.
“They actually, indirectly, tried to contact my son's mom. They would have only shown up somewhere for me to have them shot at that point.”
The rapper continued to flex his muscle by stating that the rap game doesn't take away from his past and the fact that he could quickly slip back into the mentality that raised him when he was without a deal and did not have the fame and fortune that he rests on now.
“Then we gonna stop rappin and start doing the sh*t. If they think that ain't real, then they should try it. That's just that. I tell them, constantly, don't expect me not to go where I come from. That's gonna be nice and comfy for me so you gonna have to figure out how to adjust your sh*t. My car is already bulletproof. Everything is already in order for that.”
He also added that with all of the heat coming his way, he finds it interesting how everyone is fully aware of where he rests his head at, but nobody bothers to come knock at the door and come in.
“While we getting ready to go through those circumstances, and I don't live in Connecticut, that's just the house, and that one got motion sensors and cameras all kind of sh*t, so go ahead. Why everybody got my address and ain't nobody stopping by? Get busy then. I done said everything that I can think of.”
Referring to himself as a Hip Hop president, Jackson stated that there are consequences for all actions and that every shot fired will be fired back.
“I'm like Obama. The president gotta kiss hands and shake babies. You can kill the president. It's hard to get away with it. So I use my resources. I ain't even worried about it, it's too late for that.”
As the page turns, the story only gets better between 50 Cent and all of his enemies in the rap world. Hopefully things can remain on wax and the chapters will only be told through a story and not spill out onto the streets.
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AllHipHop Reports
Rapper Jay-Z is among the top name artist who will perform during next years Isle of Wight Festival in June of 2010.
Jay-Z joins an eclectic group of artist that will perform at the festival, including Blondie, The Strokes, Pink, Blondie, Orbital and Squeeze.
Over 55,000 people are expected to attend the concert, which takes place from June 11th to June 13th. Jay Z will headline the event on Friday, June 11th.
"Ever since I heard the first Strokes album, I've wanted them for the Isle of Wight. Jay-Z and Pink are two of the best live acts I have ever seen and the Blondie hits speak for themselves. I can't wait," Isle of With festival promoter John Giddings said.
Notable acts that have performed at the Isle of Wight Festival throughout the years include The Rolling Stones, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, The Police, Coldplay and others.
Tickets for the Isle of Wight Festival go on sale this Friday (December 4), the same date that Jay-Z turns 40 years old.Read more…
Video After The Jump
What in the hell is going on? All of a sudden recording artists can't seem to stay on their feet during live performances. Both Jennifer Lopez and Adam Lambert took tumbles at the American Music Awards. Not to be outdone, Lady Gaga slips and falls during a concert in Montreal. She wasn't hurt though, and got up to finish the song.
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BallerStatus Reports
The 10th edition of our own Digital Dynasty mixtape series is currently in the works. This time around, BallerStatus and Tha Advocate joined forces with DJ Whoo Kid for the anniversary edition of the series.
After nine volumes, the Digital Dynasty series has created a massive buzz around the web, boasting over 500,000 downloads among all titles, and linking up with some of the hottest artists from Chamillionaire and Stat Quo to Crooked I and Alchemist.
"Within a year we have had so many downloads," says The Advocate, who believed in the concept since day one. "I knew Digital Dynasty would be big, but this exceeded my expectations. Doing Volume 10 is a blessing. Having DJ Whoo Kid host it is just another testament to what we are about."
"Right now we are locked and loaded and I am teaming up with BallerStatus.com and Tha Advocate…damn - Digital Dynasty Pt. 10 ! This is crazy!?" Whoo Kid says about the mixtape.
As always, we're looking for those up-and-comers with heat to get on. For more info about how to acquire a slot, contact Tha Advocate at shadowfalinx@hotmail.com.
Digital Dynasty Pt. 10 will hit BallerStatus.com and the rest of the worldwide web later this month.
London Times Reports
There are many places you might expect to find an A-list star in Hollywood, but a scruffy dance studio at the wrong end of the Walk of Fame isn’t the first that springs to mind. The homeless and the addicted hustle the star-spotting tourists who wander wide-eyed into souvenir shops selling Michael Jackson memorabilia, utterly unaware that, two floors above them, his youngest sister is rehearsing the choreography for her new single, Make Me.
“I love the natural light,” says Janet Jackson, nodding towards the huge windows that look out onto the gritty streets below. She's devoid of make-up and dressed in black tracksuit bottoms and a grey cashmere top, a low-key look that matches the location. There is no big entourage in tow, either, just her personal assistant and a publicist. It’s surprising to find such a huge celebrity in such understated circumstances, particularly given the intense scrutiny the Jackson family is under following the loss of its most famous member in June this year.
“People don’t really know, they don’t look in,” she says, staring back to the boulevard once more. “Nobody notices.” Brief respite, perhaps — since she appeared on stage with the Jackson 5 at the age of seven, all people have done is peer portentously at Janet Damita Jo Jackson’s professional and private life. “Certain aspects [of fame] aren’t easy, but I’ve been fortunate,” the 43-year-old says of life in front of the lens. “There are always paparazzi, but there are restaurants or places that they don’t know you frequent. And the people there are loyal, so they stay quiet.”
Unlike some of her siblings, Jackson knows about discretion. Since Michael’s death, she has been the quietest of the clan. Generally, despite a celebrated singing career that has ranged from the provocative to the political, she has kept her private life just that. Nobody knew she had married the choreographer René Elizondo in 1991 until they divorced in 2003. Her relationship with the producer Jermaine Dupri, which ended earlier this year, was also kept relatively clear of tabloid tittle-tattle.
“I think, to this day, people view me as a very shy person,” she says. “I don’t think I’m shy. I’m just quiet until I get to know you. I sit back and I watch and I observe. Though I’m someone that loves life, loves to have fun — I love being around my family. And I’m ambitious.”
Driven she absolutely is. Over the three decades of her recording career, she has reinvented herself almost as many times as Madonna. She has done political, playful, sensual, charitable and, following that infamous Super Bowl boob, controversial. Initially, however, she was little more than a pop puppet. “I was never really into the earlier stuff,” she remarks of the trite teenage albums Dream Street and Janet Jackson. “At that point, my mind was set on going to college, but I did music because it was what my father wanted me to do.”
A notorious disciplinarian, Joe Jackson was incredibly tough on his children. Janet has said in the past that the rigorous regimen was a double-edged sword: “Because of it, I’ve been able to achieve a lot of things that I wanted to. Granted, it took a lot of childhood away from me, but to have that focus has truly blessed me.” She wrote her first song at nine, appeared on the family variety show the same year and signed a recording deal at 14. She has never ridden the subway, and can’t go out for coffee, but she doesn’t seem regretful. “I can’t say I miss it, because I don’t experience it. And don’t get me wrong, I still get to enjoy it here and there.”
Jackson finally took charge of her career on her 1986 album Control, when she began writing, producing and playing keyboards. “My brothers took piano lessons when we were kids, so I wanted to take piano lessons. Then they quit because they went on tour, so I quit because I didn’t want to take them by myself. But that’s where it started from; I started playing by ear.”
If Control, with lyrics such as “When I was 17 I did what people told me/Did what my father said and let my mother mould me”, was about cutting the apron strings, 1989’s multiplatinum-seller Rhythm Nation 1814 saw Jackson develop a social conscience. “There was a major drug issue back then,” she recalls. “Crack cocaine was being introduced in the inner cities, and it was cheap. I remember seeing something on CNN about a little kid who was homeless, sleeping in the back of a car. And that was what it all sparked from.”
As well as politics, she has drawn inspiration from all manner of places: “I used to watch a lot of MGM movies, so Sammy Davis Jr.” She is also an unlikely fan of that mammary-mad British milkman Benny Hill. “I love [him]. When I was in school, I would watch it before going to sleep.” Later albums such as The Velvet Rope explored Jackson’s sexual side, a subject she continued to discuss as recently as her 2008 release, Discipline. Yet her new single, Make Me, recorded for her greatest-hits compilation, The Best, is simply about partying: “I think people want escapism right now, because there’s so much going on,” she says. “There’s so much heartache, there’s so much pain, there’s so much death. It’s a sad world right now.”
Although she might not be singing about it, Jackson is still in touch with her political side. “I think people are giving [Obama] really such a hard time. Everyone wants everything to turn around immediately. It took us how many years to get to this point? People say, ‘His first 100 days in office, what has he done?’ You can’t do that to the man. It’s not going to happen tomorrow. It's going to take us time to get out of it.”
Having sold more than 100m albums, Jackson has had an impact on popular culture that shouldn’t be underestimated. This was a young black woman who wrote, produced and played much of her music, and whose cutting-edge choreography continues to inspire the newer generation of acts. Cheryl Cole’s recent X Factor performance tipped a military-clad nod towards Jackson’s Rhythm Nation iconography, while Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera have cited her as an inspiration. “She was one of the first female pop icons that I could relate to,” says Rihanna. “She was so vibrant, she had so much energy. She still has power. I’ve seen her on stage, and she can stand there for 20 minutes and have the whole arena scream at her. You have to love Janet.”
Jackson is appreciative of, if not fawning about, the flattery bestowed on her by today’s pop princesses. “I think it’s great for someone to emulate you,” she says slowly. “It lets you know that they’ve watched your work and admired what it is you’ve done.” For her part, Jackson “enjoys” Lady Gaga and “loves” Alicia Keys, for both her music and her spirit. “She has such a beautiful soul. I love her for that. There’s not a lot of them.”
Preparing to put herself back among the Rihannas and Gagas, Jackson is promoting The Best while preparing a European tour for 2010 and writing a book, True You, which, she says, will look at her struggles with weight gain and self-esteem. Yet for all her insecurities — she was quoted recently as saying that she hated her smile — Jackson seems strong. There’s no high-pitched simpering, no glibness, just steady, if occasionally guarded, opinion. It does, however, take time for her to be drawn on Michael. She finally opens up when pressed about her tribute performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in September. “It hit me before I was about to do the performance, and it hit me when we were in rehearsal. There was a huge image of him on this screen, and I started to cry. I had to step away.” She saw her brother two days before his death, and for months after avoided watching television, but his image is impossible to escape. “You know, a day doesn’t go by where you don’t think about him,” she says. “It’s always there, in every sense. “But it will get better. It’s not easy, but I know with time it will get easier.” She stops. “But it will never be easy. It’s my brother.”
Almost as soon as the M-word is mentioned, the PR machine kicks in, and Jackson must return to rehearsals. What motivates her to keep going? Surely she could sit back, admire the awards, the accolades, the achievements? “I think it’s just passion. That’s all it is. Would you do it for free, that’s the question. And if you’re passionate enough, you will. That’s what I think the secret to success is. You don’t want to stop, so, as long as you can, you keep going.” She pauses. “I hadn’t listened to any of the old stuff until we put this compilation together. The body of work trips me out, but I almost forget it’s there. I don’t look back, I just try to keep going.”
The Best is out now
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Tiger Woods and wife Elin Nordegren refused to talk to police about the car accident again on Sunday.
NY Daily News Reports
Tiger Woods broke a three-day silence Sunday to admit his "obviously embarrassing" car crash was all his fault - even as he continued to stonewall investigators.
"I'm human and I'm not perfect," the golf champ wrote in a cryptic statement on TigerWoods.com.
"The only person responsible for the accident is me," Woods wrote. "My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false."
Woods divulged no details of what caused the bizarre crash outside of his suburban Orlando home early Friday, or the status of his relationship with his wife, Elin Nordegren.
He also did not address allegations of a relationship with Manhattan club hostess Rachel Uchitel.
For the third time, Woods canceled a sit-down with state troopers who want a word with the the embattled athlete about the smash-up.
The Highway Patrol had expected to interview Woods and his wife at 3 p.m. but were told by Woods' lawyer, Mark Nejame, that the meeting would not happen.
"It has not been rescheduled," said Sgt. Kim Montes, spokeswoman for the Florida Highway Patrol. "He's not required by law to give us a statement."
"The crash investigation is ongoing and charges are pending," she said. It was not clear if anyone actually would be charged.
Nejame did provide cops with Woods' driver's license, registration and proof of insurance, as required
Police have said Nordegren used a golf club to smash a window of Woods' Cadillac Escalade to free her husband after he rammed a fire hydrant and then a tree shortly after pulling out of their driveway.
TMZ.com has reported that Woods was running away from his Swedish supermodel wife after a fight over allegations he had an affair with Uchitel.
Alleged Tiger Woods mistress Rachel Uchitel with celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred after arriving in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Woods said in his statement he had "a single-car accident earlier this week, and sustained some injuries."
"I have some cuts, bruising and right now I'm pretty sore," he said, adding that the incident has been "stressful."
A recording of the 911 call in the moments after the crash offered few clues about what transpired. A neighbor called to report the crash and ask for an ambulance - but didn't mention who the famous victim was.
"[He's] laying on the ground now," the neighbor said. When asked if the driver appeared to be conscious, the neighbor replied "no."
Meanwhile, the party girl who reportedly has Tiger Woods in the rough with his wife fled her Manhattan apartment early Sunday for Kennedy Airport.
Beauty Rachel Uchitel emerged from her Meatpacking District pad at 5:45 a.m. to walk her two dogs before hopping in a black car bound for the airport. She had a large duffel bag in tow.
"You know I would love to speak to you, but you know that I can't," Uchitel said when approached by a Daily News reporter. "I really wish that I could say something, I really wish I could."
In an interview published this week, Uchitel's bar mate, Ashley Samson, told the National Enquirer that Woods was stepping out on his wife with the nightclub hostess.
Uchitel had denied an affair with Woods and told The News she never met Samson. The Enquirer countered Uchitel's dismissal with photos of the two girls partying together in Spain.
Rachel Uchitel And Ashley Sampson Partying In Spain
Uchitel arrived in Los Angeles in the afternoon and was met by her new attorney, celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred. The two ducked into a Town Car without speaking to the crowd of reporters at the airport.
Uchitel told Fox News on Sunday she "never crossed paths with Tiger in Melbourne" this month during the Australian Masters, contrary to the Enquirer's claim that the two had a tryst at the event.
Woods did not address the alleged affair in his statement, instead saying "the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible."
Woods, one of the world's most recognizable faces, is due in California on Tuesday for a tournament, but it was not clear that he would still attend.
TMZ.com reported Sunday that Woods talked about giving his wife a "Kobe Special" after the fight - referring to the $4 million purple diamond ring basketball star Kobe Bryant bought his wife, Vanessa, after he was acquitted of rape charges in 2003.
An unnamed source told TMZ he spoke to Woods over the phone on Friday, and that the golfer said he needed to visit Zales jewelry store to buy his wife "a house on a finger."
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