20
Carlton Street, Suite 1032, Toronto, ON
M5B 2H5
(416)
677-5883
langfieldent@rogers.com
www.langfieldentertainment.com
LE NEWSLETTER
June 14, 2007
Summer may not be officially here but I don't care - I'm
absolutely loving this weather! Happy Father's Day to all
those great men out there that are raising and/or mentoring the youth of today
and the decision-makers of tomorrow.
Russell Peters and friends rocked Diesel
Playhouse
for a free myspace.com standup comedy special. Pics are in my PHOTO GALLERY.
As well, Kayte
Burgess' CD release was hit and you can now take
a peek at pictures in my PHOTO GALLERY.
How about a dose of the sounds of smooth jazz and steelband? Eddie
Bullen, Afropan, David Rudder and Demo Cates serve it up at Ivory N' Steel on June 24th. Check out the sultry
details for Girls Night Out on Saturday, June 16th. Mark your
calendars now and check all details below!
::HOT EVENTS::
Girls Night Out – Saturday, June
16, 2007
Source: Ajahmae Live Entertainment
Ajahmae and Up
From The Roots bring you the hot
and sexy Girls Night Out! Finally – a night that activates a
woman’s mind, body and soul. Ladies are looking for a night out that
stimulates their obsessions – be it erotic poetry, laughter, good food and/or
sexy men. What more can a women ask for? This show provides the
comedic stylings of Jay
Martin, the erotic poetry of Dwayne Morgan, the sexy vocal sounds of new
R&B group Untitled - TRIXX is at the turntables.
A full dinner and after party joined by the men. Food, erotic poetry,
comedy and good music – and let’s not forget some rock hard eye candy for
dessert. Girls Night Out will provide all a women wants
for one night for the low price of only $35 dollars (advance tickets
only).
You don’t want to miss this!
SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2007
GIRLS NIGHT OUT
Club Paradise
220 Atwell Dr. (private event)
Doors open at 7pm for dinner and show to follow
VIP advance: $35 $40; $40 at the door
$10 afterparty tickets - open to men
Tickets order line: 416-949-2766
Tickets on sale now at all Nappy locations*
www.Jaymartin.tv
OR www.comedyclash.com
Ivory N’ Steel – Sunday, June 24, 2007
Source: www.eddiebullen.com
This exciting collaboration of Smooth Jazz
and Steelband music returns
to The Toronto Centre for the Arts this summer with another great line-up. Eddie Bullen & friends and the 25-member Afropan, present
an evening of hot jazz and soca entitled Ivory N’ Steel with special guests David Rudder and Demo
Cates in the George Weston Recital Hall at the Toronto
Centre for the Arts, one show only, Sunday June 24, 2007 at 3:00 PM.
Last year Ivory N’ Steel rocked the Toronto Centre For The Arts and had
hundreds of music lovers begging for more. This year’s show will be even
hotter, with David Rudder … “The Bob Marley of Soca”, and the seductive Demo Cates,
lending their power to the island sounds of Afropan and the titillating tones
of Eddie Bullen and his contemporary jazz flavoured with Caribbean and Latin
rhythms. Add to the mix surprise guests including young Quincy Bullen –
recently described by Pride Magazine as ‘a Quintessential star in the making”,
the best concert hall in Toronto, and this is one concert that you do not want
to miss!
Eddie Bullen: Performer, songwriter, arranger and producer Eddie
Bullen is, in every way, a standout amongst the latest generation of
multi-talented artists. Eddie's lengthy career has yielded an abundance of
awards and recognition for his outstanding talents. From his first album, 'Nocturnal
Affair' to his most recent 'Desert Rain', Eddie gives
his audience a taste of contemporary jazz, flavoured with Caribbean and Latin
rhythms." Eddie Bullen keeps audiences in Canada and throughout the
Caribbean on their feet and begging for more with his distinctive style. ‘His
compositions are audacious and sexy, titillating the senses’ ( New York
Daily News). Since his move to Toronto in 1980 from Grenada , Bullen
has worked with major Canadian artists like jazz singer Liberty Silver and pop
star Dan Hill. He also composes and arranges for City TV, YTV, CBC, and TMN*
the Movie Network. A three time nominee for Canadian Smooth Jazz awards, Eddie
creates is in constant demand. Visit Eddie at www.eddiebullen.com.
The Afropan Steelband (Afropan) is Toronto 's oldest community steelband
and by far the most successful. In 2003 they celebrated their 30th anniversary.
From 1973 to 2006 Afropan, under the leadership of Earl La Pierre Sr., has won
the best playing calypso competition at the Caribana Festival 26 out of the 34
occasions this competition has been held and has placed second on the
7other occasions. Afropan is a musical orchestra of which
the primary instrument is the steelpan. The steelpan (the pan) is a percussion
musical instrument made from a steel drum. The steelband is an ensemble of
steelpan instruments accompanied solely by an untuned percussion section. The
family of steelpan instruments can generally be divided into four sections;
soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
David Rudder: David was born in Belmont , Trinidad on May 6, 1953, and
began his musical career at age 11, when he joined a group called The
Solutions. In 1977, he joined the brass band Charlie's Roots.
Rudder has been musically influenced by the Shango and Pan yard that he grew up
in as a young boy, although his musical tastes have often leaned towards jazz,
and African drum beats. His first big break came when he was asked to fill in
for Christopher "Tambu" Herbert, lead singer with Charlie's Roots,
while on the band’s tour. Rudder stayed on as a co-lead singer, and built a
reputation for his scintillating performances. He established himself as
one of the few band singers who wrote all his own songs. David has been
featured in Rolling Stone Magazine, New York Times, The Village Voice, The LA
Times, Newsweek Magazine, Billboard, The London Observer, The Jamaica Gleaner ,
Now, and Miami Herald. He has won several awards for his popular and often
controversial songs, including Album of the Year at both the Caribbean Music
Awards, as well as the Nafeita Awards.
Demo Cates: Cates
has earned the respect of Jazz musicians at home and abroad with his visionary
method and superlative talents. Grown and developed in Detroit Michigan but
exposed and revered in Toronto , Cates is a mature Musician and Vocalist from
Detroit who in his words, 'plays on emotions and allows the sax to translate
inspiration in smooth and sensuous sounds.' The “7 Mile”, Latin and R&B
Music inspired Detroit native, credits the Motown era as his constant source of
motivation for his first band, The Fabulous Counts, a 4-piece band that opened
for greats like Al Green and Stevie Wonder.
SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2007
IVORY N’ STEEL
Toronto Centre for the Arts - George
Weston Recital Hall
5040 Yonge Street
3:00 pm
Tickets: $40.00 and $35 orchestra and balcony; $30
To purchase tickets: call Ticketmaster at 416-872-1111
Visit www.ticketmaster.ca
(keyword IVORY N STEEL)
Or visit The Toronto Centre For the Arts Box Office, 5040 Yonge Street
::TOP STORIES::
The Peters Principle
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Raju
Mudhar, Entertainment Reporter
(June 13, 2007) Russell Peters is enjoying one of those
moments where it seems like he is suddenly an overnight success. The
Brampton-born, L.A.-based comedian is about to embark on the Canadian leg of
his tour, which includes two near sell-out shows at the Air Canada Centre on
Monday and Tuesday (the shows were sold out, but seats were added). He's also
headlining Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival and the inaugural Toronto version
of the comedy fest. We sat down for a Q&A.
Q: I talked to you right before your last DVD came out and you were
complaining a bit about all you had to do.
A: That was around August, right? I was in the whirlwind at the time. I was
worried about burning out. But now the thing is, I'm ready. Like, my mindset is
so much better this year. After Outsourced (his recent DVD) became a
success, the tour and travelling around the world, I sort of accepted my role
and said, "Fine, I get it." So now I'm happy with all of it.
Q: Now you're playing the Air Canada Centre for like, what, 27,000 people
over two nights?
A: Hey, it's 29,000, let's not gyp. I never look at it like it's happened
overnight because it's been 18 years in the making. It's all happened in levels,
stages and steps. I mean, sure, I may have skipped one or two at one point, but
to end up at the ACC over two nights, let alone one, I would never, ever, not
on my wildest day think I could do that .... So the day of the ACC shows, like
next Monday, I'm going to get there in the early afternoon and sit on the stage
for at least a half hour and just absorb it all, so when I walk out it's not a
big shock to me.
Q: Racial comedy is your thing. When you're making up jokes, do you ever
say, `Oh, I can't say that, that's pushing the line too far'?
A: I do push the line. I think people understand what my motivation is. It's
not to hurt your feelings; it really is to make you laugh, to make people think
about how absurd some things are. I say things onstage that if you said it to
somebody on the street, they'd probably want to fight you .... Like, I'll say
to an Arab guy, "Are you having a good time? Then clack your rocks
together." You couldn't say that to a guy on the street, but they
understand when I'm saying it. It really is like I'm your friend and I'm
breaking your balls.
Q: I hear you're about to sign a new TV deal. Does it bug you that you
haven't had a big TV show or movie?
A: I guess if I was a pessimist, it would bug me. I would look at it like,
"What do I got to do?" But at the same time, I'm grateful for as far
as I've gotten. I never think it's not going to happen, so it doesn't bother
me. Because it's not like I'm starving on the way to it. I'm fine.
Q: A lot of your success comes from the Web, with a lot of your stand-up
being forwarded around. What do you think about that?
A: It's funny, I still get emails from people quoting my stuff from so long
ago, and I'm like, `C'mon dude, there's new stuff on the Internet that you can
download.' But honestly, I'm still not computer savvy. That's pretty funny,
considering I'm an Indian guy. But I honestly don't know how to upload. I
barely know how to download, I know how to go to myfriendshotmom.com and press
"save as," and that's about it. Save to desktop. Good, got it.
Q: Do you ever get any crazy fans moments here?
A: When I went to India and Dubai, people were like, `Omigawd, Russell Peters!'
and I understood it, because I'm not from here, and you are actually a fan of
what you've seen on the Net, so I get that. But in Canada, when I walk around
... I get people who are genuinely happy I made it .... They feel like they've
come to this place with me, they've watched me grow, they have a sense they
nurtured this.
Joe’s ‘Nothin’ Certainly Something
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
-
June 11, 2007) *Soul
balladeer Joe has returned to the
Rhythm & Blues ranks with his latest album “Ain’t Nothin’ Like Me.” He says
this one is slightly different from his previous releases. With “Ain’t
Nothin’ Like Me,” the singer – whose biggest hits include slow chivalric jams
such as “All The Things Your Man Won’t Do” and “I Wanna Know” – is taking a
slightly more up-tempo attitude. “I’ve done a lot of ballads in the past and
I’m pretty much known for doing that,” the singer said of his forte. “So the
purpose of doing more up-tempo is to show a different side. I’ve had certain
[fast] records like ‘Stutter,’ ‘Ride Wit U,’ ‘I Don’t Wanna Be A Player,’ but
as an album, I wanted one that had more up-tempo beats to it. I think people
prefer up-tempo songs better ... so, I took this album a little more up-tempo.”
The disc, described as “a collection of songs that are snapshots from his own
life,” still has the authentic love and loyalty jams that his fans have grown
to love, but while the words have the same standard of gallantry, the rhythms
are a bit livelier. For instance, the first single “If I was Your Man” centered on the
premise of a woman who can’t decide between two men. “Though being a
ballad, it still has an up-tempo beat to it. It feels like it’s moving as
opposed to a normal ballad,” Joe said of the track.
Joe said that he took his time and was rather careful in crafting this disc.
“For the past year and a half I’ve been working on the album. I’ve really taken
my time. We had a few release dates before and we ended up pushing them back
only for the purpose of making sure that everything that I felt that this album
needed was on there. I’m not mad about taking a year and half to make a record
as long as it comes out great.” He explained that there is always a good amount
of pressure to get back on the charts, but that those pressures didn’t get in
the way of him putting out the best album he felt was possible. “There’s a lot
of pressure that comes from inside the camp – from the label and management.
And when you’re in the streets, people are always saying, ‘When is the next
album coming out?’ So, those are a lot of things that keep you motivated and
pushing the project forward.” The singer said that he’d pounded out the right
rhythms and lyrics and fine tuning the disc that he considers a shift in gears,
but his last album, “And Then” hit in 2003. So what has the singer been up to
in the interim? Let’s just say this PK (preacher’s kid) has been into the
spirit and then some. “I’ve been behind the scenes doing a lot of work outside
of the music business. I’ve been designing a clothing line and also I’ve got a
deal with a tequila called Sojo (pronounced so-ho) and also I’ve got a couple
of wines – a sauvignon blanc and a pinot grigio.”
While some might considers the worlds of music and liquor and fashion worlds
apart, the singer told EUR’s Lee Bailey that the triple threat combination
makes perfect sense. “I love fashion. That’s always been a part of me,” he said
of his designs on fashion design, “and alcohol, that just made sense with all
the parties that we go to and all the parties that I host. It just made sense
to be celebrating your own brand in the clubs.” Joe continued that what brought
him into the liquor industry was both a friend of his in Italy and his manager
who owns a vineyard in France. And though Joe is an owner in these ventures, he
said that he doesn’t plan on using his name as a way to advertise the brands.
He believes that the concepts, particularly flavoured Sojo, will make the
product a hit even, keeping a balance between his singing career and other
business careers. “I use each one as a vehicle for the other,” he
explained about tying and promoting his products. “When I talk about the
alcohol, I mention my record in the same sentence. It’s always for me, the
music first, but when I talk about the music, I get the chance to talk about
other things that I’m doing as well. Whether [or not] this takes off, I’m
always focused on music.” Joe just completed a spring US tour with Brian
McKnight, which started in Oakland and capped off last week in Oklahoma.
However, the singer isn’t slowing down in promoting the new disc. In July he’ll
be in South America, then Japan in August. After that he heads down under to
Australia and then South Africa. But don’t worry if you missed him while he was
stateside; at the end of the year, he’ll be back to do his own tour. In the
meantime, “Ain’t Nothin' Like Me” is currently in stores and available online.
“It’s definitely good R&B mix of music,” Joe said. For more, go to www.joescrib.com
or www.myspace.com/officialjoemusic
Waiting Tables Pays Off Big Time For Singer
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Kerry Gold, Special To The Star
(June 11, 2007) VANCOUVER–If Andrea Greenway had
won a reality TV show, her whirlwind week might have made sense. As it
is, the 26-year-old Vancouver waitress and student had a week straight out of
weirdsville, courtesy of 14-time Grammy-winning producer David Foster. She was squired from city to
city, staying at luxury hotels, all expenses paid, occasionally performing. It
began when the classically trained singer sang for Foster, whose table she
served at a Vancouver restaurant. Even before she'd sung for the L.A.-based
mega-producer – seated with American Idol alumnus Clay Aiken – she'd
caught his attention. "He looked at me and said, `I get a really
good vibe from you. Whatever you do after this, I get a feeling you're going to
be really great,'" says Greenway. Foster has helped shape the
careers of singers Josh Groban and Canadian Michael Bublé. "I
thought, `Maybe this will be the day my life took a different turn.'"
Bublé, who was discovered by Foster at the wedding of Brian Mulroney's
daughter, can relate. "I have been in her shoes, and just to be on
David Foster's radar is extraordinary," he said. "It's probably the
biggest shot you can get." Greenway is a part-time server who'd abandoned
her singing dream when she didn't get into the University of B.C.'s opera
program three years ago. She was studying to become an interior designer,
working one day a week at Umberto Menghi's Il Giardino restaurant.
A proud Menghi often insisted that she sing for his patrons, especially those
with music industry connections. About a week ago, Menghi seized the
opportunity to unite producer with potential protégé. A bedazzled Greenway
happily complied with an aria. "How fast can you be on a plane?"
asked the producer. The next day, Greenway was in Calgary to perform at a
private benefit for the David Foster Foundation. Aiken also performed.
"There was real pressure not to suck," recalls Greenway. The response
was positive. "Right after, David asks me if I'd like to continue
with the weekend and we could go into the studio at some point. I started
crying." Within minutes, she was on a private jet with Foster and Aiken to
Toronto for the opening ceremony of the Royal Ontario Museum's addition.
"We hung out with Jann Arden all day. It was so cool." Greenway was
in Las Vegas the next morning, where she watched Foster in the studio with
Chinese classical pianist Lang Lang and opera star Andrea Bocelli. On Sunday,
they flew to Foster's Malibu studio to work. Greenway is slated to meet with a
songwriter in Nashville this month to work on songs. But it's not so
simple as meeting Foster and her career now exploding, says Bublé. "I
definitely don't think David alone can do it," says Bublé. "It's got
to be an artist with great drive and a great sense of personal style."
Peter Simpson, 64: Canadian Film Legend
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Martin Knelman
(June 08, 2007) Peter Simpson, the
veteran movie
producer who died Tuesday at age 64, loomed large not only in the Canadian film
industry, but also in the advertising world and in the backrooms of Ottawa. But
what made the founder of Norstar Filmed Entertainment a legend was the slashing
wit he used to cut through sham and hypocrisy in the world of showbiz. One of
his favourite targets: pretentious writers and directors who made movies no one
would pay money to see as a substitute for getting therapy. Simpson, who
reigned for years as the king of B movies, always presented himself as the
hard-nosed guy who knew what would sell. That included Prom Night (1980),
which spawned three sequels, No Contest and Cold Sweat. In all,
he made 35 movies and kept a lot of people employed, earning a Genie for
lifetime achievement. After forming a partnership with Allan Scott, the British
writer and producer, in 1997, Simpson concentrated on more prestigious movies.
He was especially proud of The Fourth Angel (starring Jeremy Irons and
Forest Whitaker) and Regeneration (a war story that became an art-house
hit). According to Scott, "While he often ended up making the films
he could get financed over the ones he admired, his understanding of the script
and the talent involved was distinct and passionate." Ted Kotcheff, the
movie director and TV producer, says: "Peter had a robust sense of humour,
and took delight in skewering the worst side of the business."
Simpson's roots were humble, and unlike many of the poseurs in the movie world,
he never made the mistake of forgetting where he came from. Born just outside
Glasgow, he arrived in Canada at age 10. His father, who had been a grocer in
Scotland, went to work for Eaton's. According to Simpson's older brother,
David, their mother did not want her sons to end up working in a shipyard.
Before getting into the film business, Simpson earned a reputation in the
advertising business. He made a boutique business out of media buying, starting
his own company. Veteran political strategist Allan Gregg recalls:
"He was the first to recognize the competitive advantage you could have
over other agencies by focusing on that one aspect of the business." In those
days, Simpson smoked and drank with abandon but more recently he gave up both
and became a fitness fanatic. A devout Conservative, Simpson worked both as a
media buyer and a film consultant when Tories were in power in Ottawa. "He
always lightened up the meetings with his hilariously vulgar humour, which made
it hard for others to take themselves seriously," says Gregg. Simpson was
famous for his short temper, but there was an up side. "The more furious
Peter got, the funnier he became," says Scott. On one occasion they had a
conference call with a third party, and decided in advance to play good cop,
bad cop. Simpson was so brilliantly ferocious that when the call was finished,
he burst out laughing and told Scott: "I think we were more like good cop,
psycho cop." I had a glimpse of that side when Simpson and his wife, Ilana
Frank, optioned my biography of John Candy for a TV movie bio. At one point, he
suggested that a deal point I had requested made no sense and was totally
idiotic. "Peter didn't think he was dying," says actor Jason
Priestley, who made four films with him and was set to play SCTV boss
Andrew Alexander in the Candy film. "He kept his focus on his next
movie." A drink with Peter Simpson was never just business. He put on an
entertaining show, making comments on well-known figures that were outrageous,
hilarious and probably true. I'll miss him.
Through The Storm: Robin Givens
Excerpt from www.essence.com - By Patrik
Henry Bass
You can say this for Robin Simone Givens: It's
impossible not to have an opinion about her. Her defenders think that the New
York–born actress was unfairly vilified by the press as a gold digger who married
heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson in 1988 solely for his millions. Her
detractors feel she deserved the distinction as America's Most Hated Woman that
same year, just eight months after the controversial couple were wed. Now,
nearly 20 years after she said "I do" to Tyson, Givens, who has
consistently delivered stellar performances on-screen and onstage, is ready to
set the record straight about who she is, and more important, who she isn't in
real life. With the exception of her appearances on Broadway in Chicago,
in which she was the first Black woman to play murderous schemer Roxie Hart,
and her roles in urban theatre productions like Men, Money & Gold
Diggers, we've seen very little of Givens. All that will change this summer
when she releases Grace Will Lead Me Home (June 5, Miramax, $23.95), her eagerly anticipated memoir that
sheds light on a lot of dark moments in her life, especially her tumultuous
union with Tyson. In person, Givens is tinier—both in height and size—than
you'd think of someone with such a larger-than-life persona. At 42, she can
easily pass for a coed, and at times during this two-hour interview, she has
the energy of a freshman cheerleader. Gone is the icy armour that she admits
she used as protection from the slings and arrows of a two-decade-plus show
business career that has seen its share of up and downs. This is the softer
side of Givens, a working mother who is most proud of her sons, Buddy, 13, and
Billy, 7, and that today she is a "survivor."
"Gold Digger? It's a word I hate!"
Givens concedes that she sees how people could have confused her with her
starring role in the 1986–1991 brainiac ABC sitcom, Head of the Class,
that cemented her aloof and not-one-of-us reputation—but she's still hurt by
the perception that she's less than Black. "I'm a Black woman," she
says, leaning forward. "I am a sister through and through. To have your
people not embrace you, hurts." Still, there was suspicion when Givens
began dating "Iron" Mike Tyson in early 1987. What, many wondered,
could this sophisticated young girl see in Mike Tyson besides his $40 million
net worth? The differences were beyond stark. Givens enrolled at tony Sarah
Lawrence College at 15, graduated at 19, and quickly landed a guest spot on The
Cosby Show that put her on another career track. She and her younger
sister, Stephanie, were raised by their single mother, Ruth Roper, an
entrepreneur who designed portfolio management systems for brokerage houses in
New York. Tyson grew up in Brownsville, a section of Brooklyn where life could
be hard. In 1987, at age 21, the former juvenile delinquent became the
“undisputed heavyweight champion of the world” by defeating Tony Tucker. It had
been a long time since we had a champ we could root for. We liked Mike. We
wanted to protect him. Givens spelled trouble to many. She had already dated
two of our wealthiest and most eligible bachelors. First, Eddie Murphy, whom
she'd met while in college, and then Michael Jordan, when he was gearing up to
set records as a member of the Chicago Bulls basketball team, both before the
public really knew who she was. In early February 1988, after a whirlwind
courtship, Mike Tyson and Robin Givens were married in Chicago and later in New
York. He was 21, she was 23.
There was no prenuptial agreement. Tongues wagged. Givens bristles at the
thought that she didn’t marry Mike Tyson for love. "Gold digger? I
wish," says Givens. "It’s a word that I hate. I can support myself
incredibly well. We can go through a lot of women who are married to men and
they don't make as much as the men do. Eddie (Murphy) is a dear friend of mine.
Look at his ex-wife. They were allowed to just be in love. Why not me?"
"I Didn't Receive One Dime"
In an ill-fated move in the fall of 1988, the couple decided to talk about
their relationship with Barbara Walters on the ABC prime-time news program 20/20.
That one hour sit-down is now one of the most infamous celebrity interviews
ever. The cameras were there in the couple's 30-room Revival mansion built in
1897 in Bernardsville, New Jersey, as Givens described her life as "pure
hell." With Walters prodding her, the actress told a rapt audience of
millions: "He shakes, he pushes, he swings. He—sometimes, I think he's
trying to scare me. And just recently I’ve become afraid." Givens said
Tyson was "manic depressive." Questions abounded. If he was sick, why
wasn’t she standing by him? Givens says being in an abusive relationship is
complicated, without easy answers. “When you love someone who can also do you harm,
it’s confusing.” In retrospect, she says she would have changed some things
about the interview, but she still doesn’t regret that she did it. "Do I
wish I could take some things back? Absolutely," she says. "But I was
trying to hold on to my sanity." What she didn’t tell us that night, but
details in the book, was how he once punched her in the left temple and knocked
her to the floor, held a knife at her throat, and choked her while she was
filming ABC's television movie adaptation of The Women of Brewster Place.
Two days after the interview with Walters, police were summoned to their home,
where an explosive Tyson began throwing furniture out the window, while Givens,
her mother, her sister and a family friend cowered in the laundry room. Givens
says she had had enough: "I saw what I'd put my sister and family through
and I couldn't allow it." And though she first retained a high-powered
divorce attorney to represent her in their divorce, today she says, "I
didn’t receive one dime."
"I Was 'Hot' But I Was Hurting"
By the time she left Tyson, Givens was damaged goods to the public. She was
labelled The Most Hated Woman in America in the fall of 1988 by several outlets
after a CNN NewsNight viewer poll reported that 93 percent of
respondents said the couple’s divorce was her fault. The venom in the air
against Givens was palpable. Once a woman walked up to her on the street and
yelled, "He should have kicked your ass. I wish he would have killed
you." And yet Givens tried to put her career and life back on track.
"I was a woman not wanting to be defeated," she says. "I didn’t
want somebody to have gotten the best of me." In 1990, director Bill Duke
cast her in the decidedly grown-up role of Imabelle, a charming minx, in his
indie film A Rage in Harlem, an adaptation of the Chester Himes novel
set in 1950's Harlem. Starring opposite Forest Whitaker and Danny Glover,
Givens threw herself into the role. She followed up Rage with perhaps
her best-known role as sexy cosmetics executive Jacqueline Broyer in Boomerang,
former boyfriend Murphy’s glossy corporate love story. Givens arguably walked
away with the movie, no small feat with a cast that included Halle Berry,
Martin Lawrence and Grace Jones. Givens has never seen Boomerang,
perhaps her greatest film triumph, in its entirety. She doesn't remember much
of those days except that her agents were telling her she was "hot,"
while she was feeling "sad, confused and disconnected." She adds:
"I was 'hot' but I was hurting. I chose to deal with my hurt."
Two years after Boomerang’s release, Givens moved to a small town just
outside Hilton Head, South Carolina. There was much that was new in Givens’s
life, including a son, Buddy, whom she adopted at the beginning of 1994. But
old demons haunted her. Although she took on the occasional television or film
role, Givens withdrew from public life. Instead of front-page headlines, her
short-lived 1997 marriage to tennis instructor Svetozar Marinkovic (they
separated after one day) was relegated to the tabloid news briefs. After the birth
in 1999 of her second son, Billy, with White tennis player Murphy Jensen, whom
she never married, she returned to television to host the talk show Forgive
or Forget. Again, Givens made headlines, but insists that she had nothing
to do with the ouster of TV personality Mother Love, the older Black woman who
had created the show. Love didn't take the firing well. Petitions circulated to
restore Love as host. Though Givens's ratings were decent, after a few months
the show was cancelled.
Givens, who returned briefly to New York where Forgive was taped, moved
again, this time near Tampa. She wanted her son Buddy to enrol in the area's
competitive tennis camps. She was 36 with two sons, and her phone wasn't
ringing off the hook. Instead of allowing fear to overtake her, she started to
lean on her faith in God. The lapsed Catholic began attending church services
again and started to feel a sense of calm that she'd never felt. "I'd been
in such survival mode for so long that I hadn’t given myself time to heal,"
she says. Her renewed faith was integral to her sense of feeling whole.
"I needed to be quiet enough and still enough to hear God," she says.
"He taught me how to live in a peaceful way. I learned how to pray
unselfishly. I learned to stop trying to control everything and allow God to do
His will. When I take things in my own hands, I mess them up. But not God. He
made me appreciate everything.” Givens started to jot her feelings down in a
composition book. She began to realize several neglected truths, the most
important among them being that she had lived in denial for much of her life.
"Denial was my friend. That was the only way I was able to walk into a
room and audition for A Rage in Harlem or Boomerang, because I
wanted to pretend everything was okay," she says. It wasn’t. Not only was
she forced to deal with the hurt with Tyson, but also the pain that her father,
Reuben Givens, caused when he left the family. Givens still feels betrayed by
her father, which is something that she says she prays about “every day."
"I Thought I Failed Michael"
Nearly three years ago Givens broke her silence about her stormy relationship
with Tyson on Oprah. She says the appearance was about her own
"healing." Though Givens took meetings with New York publishers in
2000 to tell her story, none were as interested as they became after listening
to her riveting one-hour sit-down with Winfrey. More than a decade ago, her
agents had told her she was hot. Now the heat was on her again. Several
publishers wanted Givens's story, which ultimately went to Miramax for an
undisclosed sum, although insiders suggest that it had to be significant based
upon its 150,000 first printing. The title, Grace Will Lead Me Home, is
not just about her renewed faith, but is an homage to her grandmother Grace
Turner, a fearless matriarch who walked away from an abusive marriage and
headed to New York to make a new life for her daughters Peggy and Givens's
mother, Ruth. Givens is generous and sensitive in detailing both her
grandmother's and her mother's lives. It's a finely crafted memoir. And though
her publisher has high hopes for the book’s success, Givens believes that Grace
is by no means a slam dunk and the book’s fate is in the hands of the public.
"I think the fact that she was once vilified actually works in her
favour," says Karen Holt, deputy editor of Publishers Weekly.
"Americans love a comeback." Givens doesn’t feel as if she's making a
comeback. She feels as if she's had a breakthrough after completing the book.
"My big job now is being a mother," she says. "That’s the only
thing important, after God. If I never acted again, I'd be fine."
And she's made her peace with Tyson, who declared bankruptcy in 2003
after a string of unfortunate personal and professional choices. While writing the
book, Givens ran into her ex at the premiere of Get Rich or Die Tryin’
at the famous Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. "He hugged me and
said, 'I'm sorry and I wish you only the best.' And I thought, Wow," she
says. Hindsight is 20/20 for Givens; she now admits she and Tyson should never
have gotten married. But then she adds, "I love him. We’re still bonded in
ways. I thought I failed Michael. That's really the issue that I still struggle
with. My sense of failing him. I wasn't the person I wanted to be. I was a
little girl. I wasn't ready to marry anybody."
And what about today? Givens, who once dated Brad Pitt shortly after her
divorce from Tyson, and shock jock Howard Stern in 2000, says don't believe
that she hooked up with R&B singer Tank: "There's absolutely no truth
to those rumours." She does admit that she’s just started seeing a
"friend," an older man who she says is "very smart." She
confesses, however, whether he is The One or not, she is ready to settle down
again. "I want my children to have a father. I want a husband," she
admits. But she wouldn't sacrifice anything for the peace of mind she has found
through her faith.
"I know the power of miracles and God's grace," Givens says.
"That's why in so many ways my life is spiralling upward."
::MUSIC NEWS::
Celebrating A Living Jazz Legend, Without Him
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Simon Houpt
(June 11, 2007) NEW YORK — The main auditorium of
Carnegie Hall was all but sold out Friday night, but one seat remained
unoccupied: that reserved for Oscar Peterson. On an evening dedicated to celebrating the Canadian jazz giant's
career, one which organizers had privately hoped would provide him with one
last opportunity to take the stage where he first snagged the world's attention
with a surprise 1949 appearance, Peterson, 81, was at the last minute declared
too ill to make the trip. Instead a large photo of him, seated at the piano and
smiling broadly, sat on an easel at stage right, as 22 of his contemporaries
and younger admirers streamed past and paid tribute. But if many wondered why
Peterson hadn't shown up - curious chatter filled the hall's various bars
during the interval - the audience still got more than enough opportunities to
leap to their feet and pay tribute to his generation. Clark Terry, 86,
took more than a minute to shuffle to centre stage. But his scatting proved as
energetic as ever with his signature piece Mumbles, which he'd recorded
with Peterson more than 40 years ago. Pianist Marian McPartland, who recalled
her nervousness when she met Peterson in Toronto in the 1940s, also walked
slowly, but turned in a gorgeously modulated The Nearness of You. The
Cuban clarinettist Paquito D'Rivera, who was the subject of a similar tribute
in the same hall two years ago, , joked that the real reason his friend
Peterson wasn't in the house was because he'd developed a Cuban accent after
eating black beans and rice cooked by D'Rivera, and had been detained at the
border. Under musical director Roger Kellaway, the evening played out as a
series of trios and quartets, backed by bassist Christian McBride and drummer
Lewis Nash, occasionally taking a rewarding risk, as when cellist Borislav
Strulev came on for Sweet Lorraine. Jazz violinist Florin Niculescu,
flown over for the event from Paris, served as a musical reminder of Peterson's
work with Stephane Grappelli.
The radiant vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater sounds nothing like Ella Fitzgerald.
But she scatted her way energetically through How High the Moon and then
offered a sensuous, sculpted rendition of Midnight Sun, which Fitzgerald
and Peterson had recorded on their 1974 disc. On her way off the stage, she
curtsied in front of the photo of Peterson, then kissed it on his cheek.
Vocalist Roberta Gambarini briefly transformed the cavernous hall into a smoky
jazz club with Raymond Hubbell's Poor Butterfly, though her voice may be
too sweet for a number made famous by Sarah Vaughan. Pianist Renee Rosnes,
originally from Saskatchewan, ably represented Peterson's homeland with Ballad
of the East, from Canadiana Suite. The youngest player to take the stage,
the 20-year-old piano phenom known only as Eldar, grew up in his native
Kyrgyzstan listening to Peterson. "Oscar Peterson was the very first piano
player in my life," he told the audience, before tearing through a
breakneck Place St. Henri, also from Canadiana Suite. But the
night belonged to his elders including Freddy Cole, the younger brother of
Peterson's occasional set-mate Nat King Cole, who performed Blame it on My
Youth. And Wynton Marsalis demonstrated his notoriously clean tone on Just
Friends. If the night proved an embarrassment of riches - at almost three
hours, it might have been edited - Peterson's wife Kelly and daughter Celine,
who watched over proceedings from the first tier, seemed genuinely touched by
the affection . At the evening's conclusion, a recording of Peterson's
own Back Home Again in Indiana echoed through the hall as the performers
gathered on the lip of the stage. It would have been nice to hear it live.
North By Northeast Finds A Fresh Direction
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Ben Rayner, Pop Music Critic
(June 11, 2007) A favourite pastime of Toronto music fans is
bitching about how Canadian Music Week and North
by Northeast are always kind of scattershot,
disappointing non-events, but there was a marked emergence of positive
sentiment during the past weekend's NXNE festivities. The encouragingly decent
and diverse array of acts on offer for North by Northeast 2007 was a common
topic of conversation amongst the jaded musicians, industry folk, writers and
scenesters thronging downtown clubs from Thursday to Saturday, but the
contented vibes were always tempered with an undercurrent of incredulity. Let
it be said nevertheless that this year's NXNE program was its most solid in
years, with few gaps in the nightly schedules and a welcome smattering of
moments where there was simply too much cool stuff going on at once to choose
from, not to mention three separate performances in three separate venues by Swedish
live legends Soundtrack of Our Lives. The daytime saw an increased number of
South by Southwest-styled barbecues hosted not just by the veteran merrymakers
at EMI Publishing but also folks like Ottawa indie label Kelp Records and the
organizers of the Pop Montreal festival.
Here's a brief, incomplete rundown of some of the NXNE performances that stood
out this year.
The show to beat: Handsome Furs, Comfort Zone, Friday: This busman's
holiday for Wolf Parade co-front man Dan Boeckner and his fiancée, Alexei
Perry, is seriously in danger of overshadowing the man's main gig. The stark,
gloomy tunes from the pair's debut disc, Plague Park, were even more
riveting from the stage, brought to life with naught but raw guitar noise,
Perry's dime-store drum programming and Boeckner's earthy yelp. Some of it came
off like Neil Young or Bruce Springsteen with beats, while the more up-tempo
excursions betrayed the New Order/Joy Division influence laid plain by
Boeckner's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" T-shirt.
The kids to watch: The Miles, Silver Dollar, Thursday: They don't come
much tighter or more appealingly frantic than this trio of 17-year-old Toronto
lads, who could very well dethrone Tokyo Police Club as the city's hottest
high-school-spawned ingénues. They could do with a nudge away from their Franz
Ferdinand-esque, post-punk gallop, but the tunes are there and they're already
an impossibly disciplined guitar/drums/keyboards attack squad. Cute as hell,
too. Lock up your daughters.
The mild disappointment: Brant Bjork and the Bros, El Mocambo, Thursday: Admittedly,
the former Kyuss and Fu Manchu drummer's history leads one to expect a certain
amount of standard, downtuned stoner-rockisms, but the hirsute Bjork – now a
rather uncomfortable, guitar-toting front man – stuck a little too tightly to
one straightforward, riff-driven template to generate much excitement in a room
of obvious devotees. Perhaps peyote would have helped.
The talk of the town: Sebastien Grainger, Horseshoe Tavern, Saturday: Everyone's
waiting for the former Death From Above 1979 drummer and vocalist to kick
MSTRKRFT's butt with his forthcoming solo album, but the disc's status as a
work in progress was confirmed before a jam-packed 'Shoe by Grainger's slightly
directionless and distracted set. The heavyset, but melodic tunes have oodles
of promise, however.
The "it" girl: Jade McNelis, Rivoli, Thursday: The industry
was out in droves to catch this 20-year-old Montreal singer/songwriter's
Toronto debut. Unfortunately, the many "faces" in the room also
chattered away enough to drown out much of the gifted McNelis's short set, a
faithful tour through the captivating art-pop tunes on her new All the
Fables EP. Not quite there yet, but she'll hit her stride.
The mosh-makers: No Dynamics, Silver Dollar, Saturday: This arch Toronto
splatter-punk outfit is such a galvanizing force that even several rock critics
and label types were lured into a small but impressively roiling pit conjured
in front of the stage by local indie booker Trevor Coleman. Vanessa Fischer
might be the city's most underrated front woman. She could definitely kick your
ass.
The most improved players: Cities in Dust, Silver Dollar, Thursday: These
Hamilton ne'er-do-wells have always been a volatile little unit, but there's a
newly sharpened edge to the band's confrontational punk-rock battery. Singer
Zach Frank has become nicely unhinged, too, knocking over monitors and
conducting much shirtless writhing on the floor in front of the stage. Good
times.
Rihanna’s Doing ‘Good’: Singer Releases Third Disc
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
- By Kenya M Yarbrough
(June 8, 2007) *Def Jam diva Rihanna had one of the hottest hits of
2005 with her single “ Pon De Replay ” from her debut disc. The anthem, along
with her rippling voice and stunning looks, made her a household name. And then
came the DJ banger “S.O.S.” off her sophomore set, reconfirming that the Barbados
beauty was a pop star on the rise. Just three years after grabbing radio
waves, the R&B starlet has released her third disc, which has fans
anxiously awaiting the next big thing from the singer. The disc, titled
“Good Girl Gone Bad,” is already doing quite a bit of good. The first single, a
hip- hop track called “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z, rocketed to the top of
Billboard’s Top 100. To add to the fact that she has a new album, she
just signed on as the new face of CoverGirl and is the hot cover and revealing
article for Giant and Complex magazine’s June issue. Yes, it seems the singer
really does have it all covered. At a party celebrating the Giant issue,
Rihanna came out with a new look and a new attitude. Slender and sleek, the
singer said that creating her new image was all her idea. “Usually, the process
involves a lot of people,” she said of putting together her image for the new
album. “But this time, like why I called the album ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ ... I
didn’t care what anyone else wanted me to look like. I didn’t even talk to
anybody about it. I just did me. I didn’t care if they liked it; I was
sticking with it.” It is definitely a style that’s working for her. After all,
it is the new face of CoverGirl cosmetics; a fact that Rihanna revels in.
“It’s a blessing. It’s another dream come true for me,” she said of the
contract. “And I get a lot of free makeup, so it all works out.” When asked
about handling her look with CoverGirl and at the same time keeping in mind the
responsibility in her image for young girls, Rihanna commercially replied,
“Every woman has several personalities. Every woman has that bad girl and every
woman has the little girlie feminine side. CoverGirl brings that out in me.”
Well, not much to be said about all that. After all, she is a spokesmodel for
the brand. However, Rihanna did bare her soul in Giant mag’s latest issue,
though. The article reveals the singer’s rough childhood watching her father
battle a crack addiction. She told reporters that she had no intention to share
that part of her life, but sometimes in being comfortable talking with people,
certain things come up in the conversation. “I think that my private life
should be in private, but it depends on the person – I get comfortable. I don’t
regret it at all,” she said of the article. “Everybody has something that makes
them stronger in their life. [My childhood experiences] helped to make me a
stronger person and a stronger woman. That is very necessary in this industry
and in this career. I need to be strong and I need to be very responsible. My
childhood helped me to do that.” Rihanna has grown as an artist and as a person
with the new project and said that she feels more comfortable now being
herself. “I don’t have to think about, ‘Should I have done that?’ I don’t
really care. The fans, they relate to people that are real and true to
themselves.” “Good Girl Gone Bad” is available in stores now. For more on
Rihanna, check out her artist page at www.defjam.com.
Robin Thicke Is What’s Hot This Summer
Source: Ava DuVernay | Ellene Miles, The
DuVernay Agency, ellene@dvapr.com
June 8, 2007) New York, NY -
Proclaimed by Oprah Winfrey
as her "new favourite singer," platinum crooner Robin Thicke graces his first national
magazine cover with the June/July 2007 issue of GIANT Magazine. In the
highly-anticipated edition, available on newsstands now, the blue eyed soul
singer speaks freely about his once waning self-esteem, issues in his marriage
to actress Paula Patton, and his fourteen year ride to overnight stardom.
Outlined below are select passages from GIANT Associate Editor Celia San
Miguel's exclusive conversation with Thicke entitled: "Soul Brother #
1."
ON HIS PERSONAL DEMONS
"I understand struggle because I've struggled with my own demons, my
own ability to love myself. I might have grown up in an aesthetically
larger building, but that doesn't mean I haven't felt pain. That's what
the whole (expletive) album is about. It's about a dude who needed to
believe in himself when the world said, 'We don't love you.'"
ON STRAINS IN HIS MARRIAGE TO PAULA PATTON
"She was having sex scenes with the guy who won Album of the Year
(Andre 3000), and I pretty much had no record deal. She didn't come home
during the three months of filming (Idlewild) because she was so focused.
I started believing she didn't need me anymore, and when she came home, I
started projecting that onto her and pushing her away. That's what
'Complicated' (a song from his album) is about - me saying, 'I wish I could
stop thinking I'm not good enough because, otherwise, I won't be able to get
this girl back."
ON BEING JEALOUS OF JESUS
"I was seven years old hearing about how wonderful Jesus is, and I was
like, 'I'm special. I'm able to be righteous. How come Jesus gets
to be the Son of God and not me? Why don't I get to be as loved by God as
Jesus was? I believe we should all get to be the sons of God."
ON THE VIRGINIA TECH MASSACRE
"I started writing this song last night about the guy who did the
shooting. I figured if anybody needed love, it was him. He was
reaching out, but nobody listened. And, you know, everyone said he
was quiet. I started writing about feeling like you're a shadow.
And even though I'm not him, I know what that feels like. There is so
much hurt and struggle, so many people who need hope."
ABOUT GIANT MAGAZINE
Since 2006, GIANT Magazine has published covers featuring Beyonce Knowles,
Janet Jackson, Pharrell Williams, The Killers, Diddy, Ciara, Jennifer Hudson
and Eve. GIANT magazine is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Radio One, Inc. (www.radio-one.com)
(NASDAQ: ROIAK and ROIA), the nation's seventh largest radio broadcasting
company (based on 2005 net broadcast revenue) and the largest radio
broadcasting company that primarily targets African-American and urban
listeners. Radio One owns and/or operates 70 radio stations located in 22 urban
markets in the United States and reaches approximately 14 million listeners
every week. Additionally, Radio One owns interests in TV One, LLC (www.tvoneonline.com),
a cable/satellite network programming primarily to African-Americans and Reach
Media, Inc. (www.blackamericaweb.com),
owner of the Tom Joyner Morning Show and other businesses associated with Tom
Joyner. Radio One also operates the only nationwide African-American news/talk
network on free radio and programs "XM 169 The POWER," an
African-American news/talk channel, on XM Satellite Radio.
Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest Marks 15 Years
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com -
(June 7, 2007) *Bob Marley was once quoted as saying
‘The Words of the
songs, not the person, is what attracts people’ and how these sentiments ring
true today. Who would have thought that the mere idea, some 15 years ago, of
hosting a reggae festival could have grown into an event of such tremendous magnitude
attracting over 30,000 patrons last year alone. Today Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest holds
a dominant place on the reggae entertainment calendar and is viewed, across the
world, as the marquee reggae event of the Summer. To celebrate reaching this
pivotal point of 15 years, the organizers of Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest,
Summerfest Productions have promised a star studded line up of Jamaican and
international talent. Of course every attention will be paid to organization,
security and production, to ensure that all goes well for the festival
scheduled for Sunday July 15th to Saturday July 21st , 2007 in Montego Bay
Jamaica. Johnny Gourzong, Executive Director of Summerfest Productions, says
that this year marks an important milestone for the festival and he gave his
assurance that the event would be a first class one that will feature a
plethora of talent, both new and ‘well seasoned’. The weeklong event will begin
with a beach party featuring the Fab 5 band. Dancehall night ‘dubbed’ the
‘Xplosion’ will kick off the signature three nights on Thursday July 19th with
stars such as Bounty Killer, Elephant Man, Baby Cham, Beenie Man, Ninjaman,
Vegas, Lady Saw, Macka Diamond and Anthony B. Hot and relatively new
dancehall acts including Mavado, Aidonia, Munga Honourable and Busy Signal are
also on the line up. As the name suggests ‘Xplosion’ will see explosive talent
and a convergence of different styles with Vybz Kartel, Chuck Fenda, Wayne
Marshall, Voice Mail, Little Hero, Gyptian, Lutan Fyah, Erup, Shane O, Teflon
and Kip Rich rounding out the set for the night.
The Evolution is up next representing the first of two international nights on
Friday July 20th. LL Cool J will perform on that night; so too will Grammy
award winner, Shaggy, performing alongside some of Jamaica’s other greats –
Buju Banton and Morgan Heritage. Richie Spice, Etana, Daville, the
scorching vocalist Cherine Anderson and the ever-rising star Christopher Martin
are also included on this line up. Things will climax on Saturday night July
21st at the ‘Zenith’ where the sultry soulful diva Mary J. Blige will entice
the audience with her powerful lyrics. She will share the stage with another
powerhouse Tanya Stephens while Allison Hinds will add a soca element fresh
from the Carnival season. The leading man of soul, Beres Hammond, will combine
his potent lyrics and heart stopping performance to the event as well.
The evening’s entertainment will be completed by Tarrus Riley, Tessanne Chin
and the band Rootz Underground. Carlo Redwood, Group Marketing Manager for Red
Stripe, the title sponsors of the event admits that he is elated to be a part
of the event for yet another year and expressed great confidence in the
Summerfest team to put on another record breaking show. “Summerfest
Productions has demonstrated time and time again that they can certainly
deliver a world class event, we expect nothing less this year and will be
working closely with the team to ensure that all goes as planned,” Mr. Redwood
said.
Disco Diva Thelma Houston Is Back!
Source: Jolyn Matsumuro, The Brookes
Company, Jolyn@brookescompany.com;
Lauren Gaffney, Shout! Factory, lgaffney@shoutfactory.com
(June 7, 2007) Los Angeles, CA - Thelma Houston, the dynamic voice
behind the disco anthem "Don't Leave Me This Way," is back with her
first album in over 17 years. In a clever twist, Houston uses A Woman's
Touch (in stores August 14th via Shout! Factory) to transform songs made famous
by some of the biggest singers - male singers, that is - in R&B and
pop. Conceived by Thelma Houston, A Woman's Touch is filled with
songs she has long been a fan of. "They are songs I always wished I
had recorded," she explains, "and I loved doing them from a woman's
standpoint." But Houston doesn't just put a female spin on the
lyrics, she takes over and completely reworks the songs through soul, R&B,
blues and dancefloor filters. "Ain't That Peculiar" and Sting's
"Brand New Day" get bluesy, sassy makeovers, while "Disco
Heat/Mighty Real" (a nod to Houston's disco past and tribute to her old
friend Sylvester) starts out a poignant gospel song and closes with Studio
54-era exuberance.
Houston revisits another friend from her early career, covering Jimmy Webb's
"By The Time I Get To Phoenix" (Webb wrote and produced Houston's
1969 debut album), rebuilding it with incredible old school R&B
flair. And then there's Thelma triumphant return to her dancefloor roots
with a fierce version of Luther Vandross' "Never Too Much." A Grammy®
Award-winning artist who has released more than a dozen albums, Houston is
currently headlining the Summer 2007 Solid Gold Dance Party Tour which includes
a concert at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles on June 16th. "I feel
blessed because I've never stopped working and I love what I do. I can truly
say that I appreciate my career and sometimes it really feels like I'm just
getting started," says Houston. In the years since "Don't
Leave Me This Way" topped the pop and dance charts, Houston has toured
incessantly, performing over 200 shows each year, including an opening slot on
Cher's Farewell tour. She was recently inducted into the Dance Music Hall
of Fame and honoured on the television show Showtime at the Apollo as an Apollo
Legend. Most recently she was cast in the role of Madam ZinZanni in the highly
popular play, Teatro ZinZanni, performed internationally in the touring cast of
Fame, starred in the musical Big Otis' Jump Up Blues Revue (by Tony Award
winning director Otis Sallid) and appeared in OprahWinfrey's Beloved. A
tireless supporter of AIDS related charities, Houston was honoured by the City
of West Hollywood (CA) in 2003, when it declared January 29th "Thelma
Houston Day."
Born in Leland, MS, Houston moved to Long Beach, CA as a child and continues to
reside in Los Angeles today. She signed with Motown Records in 1971 and in 1977,
won the Grammy® Award for "Best R&B Female Vocal Performance" for
"Don't Leave Me This Way." Her other hits include "If It's the
Last Thing I Do," "Lean On Me," "I'm Here Again,"
"Saturday Night, Sunday Morning," "If You Feel It," and a
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced Top 20 R&B dance track "You Used to
Hold Me So Tight."
www.MySpace.com/ThelmaHouston
www.ThelmaHouston.com
About Shout! Factory: Shout! Factory is a diversified entertainment company
devoted to producing, uncovering and revitalizing the very best of pop culture
- The Stuff You Grew Up On But Never Outgrew. Founders Richard Foos, Bob
Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their careers sharing their music, television
and film faves with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory's
DVD offerings serve up classic, contemporary and cult TV series, riveting
sports programs, live music, animation and documentaries in lavish packages crammed
with extras. The company's audio catalogue boasts Grammy®-nominated boxed
sets, new releases from storied artists and lovingly assembled album
reissues. These riches are the result of a creative acquisitions mandate
that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and
commercial reinvention. For more on Shout! Factory, visit www.shoutfactory.com.
T-Pain Releases New CD
Source: Jive Records
(June 6, 2007) NEW YORK, NY. - Konvict/Jive Records
recording artist
T-Pain, who is on top of the
Billboard music and ringtone charts with his breakout smash single "Buy U
A Drank (Shawty Snappin')," released his sophomore album Epiphany June
5th. "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')" recently beat out
artists such as Maroon 5, Avril Lavigne, Timbaland, and Ne-Yo to the top of the
Billboard Hot 100 chart as the No 1 single in the country. On four
separate Billboard charts the single has been firmly entrenched at the No 1
position for several weeks: No 1 Hot 100 Airplay; No 1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop
Songs; No 1 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay; No 1 Rhythmic Top 40, and for seven
consecutive weeks T-Pain was the No 1 selling ringtone on the Billboard Hot
Ringmasters chart. Early rave reviews have already started pouring in. Rolling
Stone magazine gives Epiphany three stars and exclaims that " ... The
hooks come fast and loose ... Epiphany should be lighting up both bedrooms and
the clubs." The Washington Post raves, noting that " ... T-Pain's
best cuts evoke the dripping grooves of Zapp, the breakneck beats of Baltimore
club music, even the punk- funk of Fishbone."
One of music's rapidly rising and omnipresent stars, T-Pain's sophomore album
Epiphany expresses his growth as an artist and the definition of the album
title as a "sudden moment of insight or revelation" truly
encapsulates his efforts on this release. On Epiphany, T-Pain takes over the
reins as producer, writer and arranger and enlists artists such as Akon - who
discovered and signed him to his Konvict Muzic label, and Yung Joc to hone and
master the unique sound that he introduced on his gold-selling debut album
Rappa Ternt Sanga. Recently T-Pain has been crisscrossing the country producing
and collaborating for a wide and varied list of mega-artists that include
Usher, Britney Spears, R. Kelly, Chris Brown and Busta Rhymes. His follow-up
single "Bartender" featuring Akon is rapidly moving up the charts and
is following in the footsteps of his chart-topping first single "Buy U A
Drank (Shawty Snappin)." Fans can catch T-Pain perform live on BET's 106
and Park on June 6th and on the Jimmy Kimmel show June 14th.
Teddy Pendergrass: Idol, Legend Or Icon
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
-
(June 12, 2007) You’ll hear many things about singer Teddy
Pendergrass on this 25th anniversary of the tragic
automobile accident that caused his severe spinal injury on March 18,
1982. I have read many words from respected journalists about not only
the accident but also about the enchanted life story of this R&B legend. We
all know by now that the late night auto accident left many questioning his
association with the transvestite exotic dancer, Mr. Tenika Watson, who was his
passenger. We know there was a cloud of doubt as well as speculation about the
cause of the brake failure on the Rolls Royce he drove that night. There was
however, no speculation about the fact that Mr. Pendergrass is a history
maker. He is credited as being the first African American musician to
score five consecutive one million selling albums. It’s worth noting that in
today’s music market, five back-to-back platinum CD’s is still a major
accomplishment. There is no doubt, though it may be difficult to provide
reliable statistics, that Teddy’s sultry ballads and provocative baritone was
responsible for many a birth “back in the day.” Ask your mom and dad--you may
very well be a product of the Teddy Pendergrass era. Just mention the words
“Close the Door” and see if a smile emerges on mom's face as she tries to
dampen what is unmistakably a blush. See if dad allows a grin to sneak through
at the mention of “Turn Off the Lights.” He might even offer, “Those were the
days” then ask you: “What do you know about the Bear? That was before your
time.” There is something timeless about Teddy Bear’s music. To this day there
are those who would remind us of his classic “For Ladies Only” concerts where
Pendergrass systematically collected undergarments from his orgasmic female
fans.
What that account fails to note is the fact that TP was a man’s man at a time
when there was little question about our notion of what it meant to be a man.
This was the quintessential tall, dark and handsome image, with a voice that
only God himself could take credit for. He was a specimen for every other
man to model. Remember, if you will, that this was a time of Muhammad Ali, Jim
Brown, Fred Williamson, Clyde Frazier, Dr. J, Bill Cosby, and a host of other
Black men who showed up to the party with charm, charisma, and more than their
share of machismo and Teddy still made a reputation for himself as a man among
men. Men of that day possessed an intriguing combination of strong, yet smooth;
powerful, yet vulnerable – and Ted was a bad motha – “shut yo mouth” - “I’m
talkin’ bout Ted.” Yes, I called him Ted – not TP or Bear – just Ted… always
did. See, I’m a few years younger so I missed a lot of the hype of that era. By
the time I was ready to enjoy the romanticism that the music invoked it was
more of an Earth, Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder era. It was time for
consciousness and social action. Marvin was asking “What’s Going On?” and Teddy
had gone from “Turn Off the Lights” to “Wake Up Everybody.” The next true
romantic was Luther Vandross and by then the whole vibe had shifted from strong
to sensitive. Men would weep publicly at the sound of “A House Is Not A Home.”
Ted always felt like a long lost big brother to me - still does to this
day. There is an inexplicable connection where I know exactly where he’s coming
from. Then there’s the mystique. There is the public persona, then the
CIA, highly classified, private man that we may never know. It’s that man that
has captured my imagination.
This 25th anniversary of a tragedy that would have doused a less-formidable
spirit is the perfect time to ask what brand of magic is at work here. Ted
speaks of the spirit and how his mom instilled an awareness of and appreciation
for the spirit of God in him from the time he could first walk and talk. Is
that it? They say Ted was singing in church by age two and by age ten he was
ordained to the ministry. Could it be that the spirit of God alone is at work
in the life and testimony of this man or will the film, and of course there
will have to be a big screen depiction of this biography, tell otherwise? I
stood at his bedside as Ted offered advice to me--his reluctant protégé. I
recall what I think were his most simple but poignant words of advice: ”Miles,
just be yourself.” He knew there would be those who would try to encourage me
to emulate him. He must have also known that I wasn’t equipped for such a
daunting task. It’s more than just talent that makes a Teddy Pendergrass – it’s
a mindset. I watched him through the studio glass day after day as I produced
tracks for the Joy CD; wondering 'where it comes from - where does the strength
come from?' Every third or quarter hour his private nurse would have to
come and physically shift his dapper frame in his wheelchair – such a simple
adjustment he was unable to make on his own--but he was ready to sing. He was
ready to be Teddy! There were, however, times in the studio when I thought I
detected fatigue in his voice so I would press the “Talkback” button and tell
Ted I was tired. I would say, "I’ve had it for the day" and he would
concede on my behalf. He didn’t want to overwork me.
He might ask, “You sure?” Then he would offer, “O.K. we’ll start again
tomorrow.” Then I would see his shoulders relax and I would know I made the
right call. Then my shoulders would relax too. Yes, I was feeling the
pressure. I was new to the game and I was producing Teddy Pendergrass. Brother
or no brother, this man’s a legend and the expectations will always be sky
high. I’ve concluded that in a business full of insecurity-stricken “stars”
Teddy Pendergrass is one of the most secure, confident, self-assured
individuals I have ever met. Even as a quadriplegic he exudes more sexuality
than all of your American Idol winners combined – include the judges if you
like. Unlike some stars, the music doesn’t make him sexy, he makes the music
sexy. You try singing “close the door, let me give you what you’ve been waiting
for” in your most sensual, sultry tones. How’d it go? See what I mean? No way
was an automobile accident going to get the best of him. No way was paralysis
going to keep him down. I can imagine him thinking, “I’m Teddy Pendergrass dang
it!” He’s right! He is Teddy Pendergrass and that’s all there is to it. It’s a
level of confidence that is borderline arrogance – the likes of which you might
find in a world champion heavyweight prize fighter. They say that it’s not
uncommon for PK’s and PGK’s, (Preacher’s Kids and Preacher’s Grand-Kids), to
exhibit a precocious nature as youngsters and hyper-developed egos as adults.
I’m told it’s a result of the assumption that they are endowed with special
gifts.
True or not true, when it comes to whether Teddy Pendergrass is an idol, a
legend or an icon it all becomes crystal clear – he’s all of them. If you’re
wondering what that means, it’s very simple, an individual to whom those words
apply are endowed with a very unique quality; they decide in their hearts and
minds to pick up where God left off, strive for greatness and never tire.
Perhaps we can all learn a bit from Ted’s example. Perhaps that’s the secret
he’s known since he was just a child. Perhaps that’s the secret he now wants to
share with the world. Like the bestselling series “the Secret” by Rhonda Byrne
affirms, it’s only when we partner with God that the real magic begins. Congratulations
Big Bro. and Happy 25th Anniversary!
Niyoki: Her Praise Music Has a Secular Flavour
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
-
(June 12, 2007) *Niyoki looked like a lady on the road to
fame or at least someone who knows the direction she intends to go in
life. Her demeanour was tranquil and her large almond shaped eyes,
expressive. They are filled with confidence and an inner serenity that
seemed to suggest that this singer vibes to her own personal inner music.
She talked about both her DVD video disk and CD audio disk “Turn it Over”
and ‘Niyoki Live’ which contains worship songs like: “Praise Time,” “A Worship
Medley,” “Amazing Grace” and of course her “Turn It Over,” video as we
conducted our interview at the offices of the Double XXposure Public Relations
firm. Her lyrics on her CD audio disk “Turn It Over,” say “…When you open
up your eyes, you finally realize, that whatever you have been looking for…
will always be right there.” These lyrics seem to sum up Niyoki’s philosophy in
life. Listening to her words one can appreciate the richness in the
tone of her music and understand that Niyoki’s lyrics are reflective of her
unshakable faith in God. She knows with an absolute certainty that when
one asks something of God, an answer will be forthcoming. Her music is an
interesting blend of praise music set to an R&B beat. It uplifts, it
inspires, and it offers hope which is exactly what it’s intended to do.
“The message of gospel is the fundamental message of my life,” says Niyoki who
was raised as a preacher’s kid. “That’s right. I am a PK. A
preacher’s kid, so naturally I grew up with a Christian background and singing
in the Church. Both my parent’s come from singing families. I have
been singing since I was six. The family, who are from Fort Wayne,
Indiana, released 5 albums as the ‘White Family.’ White is my maiden
name,” explained the attractive singer. “My Mom, Dad, my brother, and 4
sisters comprise the musical group The White Family. Our family toured
when I was in elementary and middle school. We were professional
singers. We traveled on weekends and throughout my high school days,”
continued Niyoki. “My sisters and I eventually decided to take off on our
own. We took up our own management after having been under our parent’s
management for so long. You know how kids get rebellious and think they
want to strike out on their own and do something different? Well that was
us,” explained Niyoki of her early beginnings in gospel music.
“Our new manager told us to explore and try secular music. We started
doing a lot of harmonies. We branched out into R&B. We opened
for Boyz II Men and Art Kelly. But we became mostly known for being
Prince’s background singers. We changed our name from the White Family to
MILENIA right around the turn of the century in 2000. We thought the name had a
ring to it because it also spelled out a piece of all of the sister’s names:
Mikki, Leeka, Niyoki, and Tia. We did this around the same time that
Prince saw us in Minneapolis. He loved our harmony and he asked us to
perform as his background singers, do his vocals, and tour with him. We
did that for 2 1/2 years. That was an awesome experience. We had great
expectations but then nothing really happened,” claimed Niyoki who with her
sisters, did background for Prince’s “Rainbow Children” album. MILENIA
had many false starts. Although the sisters had expectations of being
signed, things never quite got off the ground. “Singing with Prince was
great and perhaps that is why our music has the nice undertone that it has.
It’s young and it speaks of my generation of music. However, I began to
feel it was time to step out on my own. When I was 12 years old, my dad and I
did a duet to the song “Amazing Grace,” I wanted to do something with that
song.” Niyoki took the plunge, moved out of her own way, and let God take
the lead. She was approached by Ralph Stacy who requested she do a song
with him. She told him she wanted to do something gospel and so the two
starting writing. This collaboration was the catalyst that set her on the
road toward her current path whereby she is now doing her first solo recording.
“As I said before, I sang “Amazing Grace” with my Dad at 12, so now I have
‘Amazing Grace’ on my own project. People love that song. Although, I do,
have traditional songs as well as urban gospel songs on the album. I have
fun with little beats and praise and worship music. There is everything
there. The Music is “My Everything.” It’s young, vibrant and it’s
versatile,” stated Niyoki whose name is an African word meaning “serious minded
and responsible.” “I co-wrote and co-produced “My Everything” which
has a neo-soul vibe. It’s laid back and jazzy. I would have to say
it is really my honour song to God. It says ‘God is My Lord, My King, and
My Everything!’ It’s my first solo project. Interestingly, while writing
the lyrics, I found they just came to me. It’s a gift I believe. I
was rather shocked I could write. My mother used to play, write, and
arrange a lot of the music for the White Family. I guess I have the gift
too. Creatively I have a hand in every part of my music. I usually write
out of a place of my need at the time. I think a lot of people relate to
my songs because people all over the world can relate to what I am
saying. I think everyone is looking for something, something that touches
the emotion. That offers comfort. We may not know God’s plan but I think God
has it all figured out. I just let my music speak and trust in God to
show me the way.”
To learn more about Niyoki visit www.niyoki.com
A Gloriously Over-The-Top Romp With Rufus
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Alan Niester
Rufus Wainwright
At the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto on Monday
(June 13, 2007) He is arguably the least likely pop-music
sensation on the planet. In an age of over-emoted throwback soul, insanely
simplistic two-chord bubble gum pop-punk and sadly generic rock, Rufus Wainwright turns heads by
channelling artists as diverse as Judy Garland, Kurt Weill and Neil Diamond.
When others look to the sixties and seventies for inspiration, Wainwright
wobbles happily through the past 150 years, mining Viennese opera, prewar
German cabaret and Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, and mixing them all together
in a sort of head-scratching musical bouillabaisse. But in a market where
the fastest-rising female singer is one who channels Billie Holliday (that
would be Amy Winehouse, for those not paying attention), it would seem that the
time is finally right for Wainwright's big breakthrough. And lo and behold,
guess whose just-released Release The Stars CD is currently brushing the
top of the pop charts in Britain, and also bothering the nether regions of the
North American Top 30 album charts. Yup, it's Rufus Wainwright, the 33-year-old
musical chameleon who until this point was considered just too baroque or
complex or gay or maybe just plain too weird for widespread success. On Monday
night, Wainwright returned to Toronto for the first of two sold-out shows at
the steamy Music Hall Theatre on the Danforth. He and his seven-piece band
(which included a three-piece horn section) performed in front of a huge
representation of an American flag, but instead of red and white, this flag
featured black and white stripes (representing "the two sides of the
American culture") and instead of stars in the upper left, there were a
series of elegant brooches. And though it took me a few songs to make the
connection (duh!), each player was decked out in stripes of varying hues and
elegant brooches also. This was the first clue that this was not going to be a
concert by, say, Slayer, or Cannibal Corpse.
The great bulk of the evening centred on the new album, which is as it should
have been, the songs therein representing a significant leap forward in
Wainwright's songwriting and performance skills. Indeed, he opened with the
title cut, a verbose number that puts one in the mind of Randy Newman, if
Newman sang in a dusky, somewhat burred and lisping baritone. This was followed
in kind by the vaguely Billy Joel-ish Going To A Town, the unabashedly
fluffy Sanssouci, and the slightly Neil Diamond-ish Rules and
Regulations (for which Wainwright apparently borrowed Gene Pitney's old
Mexicali horn section). Then came the "did he or didn't he" tribute
to the Killers' singer, Brandon Flowers (Wainwright suggesting on stage that he
did indeed), in which Wainwright seemed only barely in control of the piano
keyboard. Tiergarten, a cabaret number that would have done Liza Minnelli
proud, the Leonard Cohen-ish Leaving For Paris No. 2 and the rocking Between
My Legs closed out the first half. When he returned for the second half,
Wainwright had abandoned the stripes-on-stripes ensemble for a nice
German-youth-in-the-thirties look, lederhosen and all. He revisited his recent
reprisal of the classic Judy Garland 1961 Carnegie Hall concert with a version
of Foggy London Town before returning to finish off the rest of the new
album. Over the top? Certainly, but you know that going in. With
Wainwright, it's a matter of expecting the unexpected, and letting it roll over
you. It all makes for a damn good time at the old concert hall, sharing a space
with one of the last of the total originals.
Meet Sean Kingston: 17-Year-Old Has Huge Hit With 'Beautiful
Girls'
Source: Tynicka Battle, ThinkTank Marketing, tynicka@thinktankmktg.com, www.thinktankmktg.com
(June 13, 2007) After producing an endless array of
hit
records for the likes of musical heavyweights such as 50 Cent, The Game,
Rihanna and Snoop Dogg, production savant J.R. Rotem has turned his attention
to one of the most innovative young talents in music, Sean Kingston, the first signing on his
Beluga Heights label. Kingston, a 17 year old native of Jamaica who now
lives in Miami brings his very unique triple threat of talent of rapping,
reggae chatting and soulful harmonization with the 2007 release of his debut
yet to be titled album. "As an artist, my whole goal is to make
powerful and classic music," Sean divulges. "I want everyone to feel
me and understand where I'm from and that's what this album will do. The music
is all about an authentic Sean Kingston vibe. JR is a talented dude and a dope
producer and he saw that I had something different than any other artist out
there. Together we're a powerful force. In addition to J.R., The Runners,
Cool and Dre, DJ Felli Fell, and DJ Khaled will be supplying beats. In just a
short time, Kingston has already done what few in his age bracket can
accomplish - solidify a following in the streets and get people excited about
music again.
AUDIO BEAUTIFUL GIRLS (produced by J.R. Rotem)
HERE
HERE
He has two certified thunder knockers on his hands with "Colors 2007"
and the Jamaican remix. The original version is a lyrical brouhaha with
Kingston showing he can hang with the acclaimed guest MCs. Miami Mayor Rick
Ross and the multi-platinum west coast superstar, The Game. The reggae remix of
Colors is a Caribbean hailstorm featuring the legendary Vybez Cartel and the
always profound Kardinal Offishall. Both records maintain the same theme of unity and
self-reflection. "That's the whole campaign," Kingston, whose
parents are from Jamaica, elaborated. "The song is about representing
every flag that you're loyal to - whether it is Jamaica, the States, your block
etc. It's a lifestyle record that can be a street anthem no matter where you
are. I couldn't ask for anybody better than The Game and Ross to join me on the
track. The Reggae version came up because I knew I had to do one special for
Jamaica. The first person I thought of was Vybez Cartel. His verse came out
crazy. Then Kardinal Offishall, that's my homie, he really attacked the track."
Kingston's album is shaping up to be as diverse as the colors are on the
different flags he talks about.
The melody of "Stand By Me," also acted a muse for the first official
single off the album "Beautiful Girls." It is way more than puppy
love when Sean lays his vocals on the record, singing about a shattering break
up. "You're way too beautiful girl," he sings about heartbreak.
"Girls will have you suicidal when they say it's over." "I
heard the track 'Stand By Me,' one night in the studio, the radio was on. I
asked J.R., did anybody ever flip that? He made the beat the beat right there
on the spot and I wrote the songs in a few minutes. It's hard when you're in
love and a girl tells you that it is time to end things. I know everyone can
relate to that, so that's why I had to write about it."
"Drummer Boy" finds Kingston sticking mainly to rapping over the
trouncing pounce of drums, while "I Can Feel" takes it to the party
and incorporates a sample of Phil Collins' timeless "In the Air
Tonight." Perhaps one of the most eye opening track however may the
song "Prosecutor," where Kingston vents about what he calls the
wrongful imprisonment of his sister and mother. "You're lying and there's
no way to prove it," he fumes.
Sean says he was inspired to write the record after he saw his family
incarcerated when he was just 14 years old. "I always had my sister
and my brother," he began to explain. "My brother was doing his own
thing, he was there but he was running around doing his own thing. When my
mother and sister went away, it took a lot out of me. My sister went away for
four months and my mom been away for over a year. When she went way, I was like
'nah man, this is too much.' I was only 14. I missed her like crazy but I
pulled through and used it as my motivation. "Prosecutor" is a
defining song on the album for me - nothing fake about it because it touches on
something very personal to me. The dope melody that's on there makes me feel
even closer to it." Kingston wants to make it clear that he is no
cookie cutter artist that has the songs laid out for him. He comes up with 100
percent of his lyrics. "Man, it feels good to get that creative
freedom," he says. "Not a lot of artists are put in that position. I
don't feel that just because I'm a young dude, somebody should write my songs
and say 'ok spit it this way.' I think music is better when it comes from the
person, when it comes from your heart. I feel comfortable writing my own music and
them letting me do it, is a great situation. Sean talks about J.R. more
like a big brother, rather than an Executive Producer of his album. Couple of
years ago, Kingston started randomly hitting music industry contacts on
MySpace. Although none of the A&R reps responded, Rotem emailed him back.
J.R. almost had no choice, "Sean would hit me up at least three times a
day!" J.R. says. "He just had a real distinct sound,"
Rotem remembers. "I worked with some of the best and I don't see why Sean
can't grow to be one of them. His potential is limitless."
Rotem invited Sean for a meeting in Los Angeles, coincidentally; the young
performer was already in the process of moving to California. Shortly after
their initial meeting, Rotem had a flagship artist for his Epic records joint
venture, Beluga Heights. For Sean, it was almost like a prophecy beginning to
be fulfilled. Not only is music his love, it is in his blood. Iconic Reggae
artist Buju Banton is his uncle and Jack Ruby, who produced records for Bob Marley
and Burning Spear in Jamaica, is his grandfather. Now Kingston says he's
looking forward to making music and living out his dream. "In the
future I want to have my own label and work on the business side," he
said. "I went to acting school when I was younger, so I want to get into
that. I want to get into every aspect of the business. It took me a little
while to develop and build my sound, to find out who the real Sean Kingston
was. I didn't know if I wanted to harmonize, or to rap. But I found out that I
can do it all." SIGN UP for Sean Kingston updates, and join the
mobile club for exclusives! http://www.seankingston.com/#join
MUSIC TIDBITS
Billboard Launches Canadian Chart
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Guy Dixon
(June 7, 2007) Billboard, the music trade weekly, is launching a
new singles chart known as the Canadian
Hot 100 today measuring the top songs in Canada.
The chart will be a compilation of the Canada Digital Songs chart, which
ranks the top-selling downloads in Canada as measured by Nielsen SoundScan, and
the Canada All-Format Airplay chart, ranking the songs most played on Canadian
radio as measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. The Canadian Hot 100
will be included in Billboard magazine, as well as on its billboard.com and
billboard.biz websites.
Justin Timberlake Signs Youtube
Sensation
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(June 7, 2007) *Last year, a Dutch teenager began
using her sister’s
webcam to film herself singing various pop and R&B songs, which she would
post onto YouTube for feedback. More than 21 million viewers are already hip to
Esmee Denters, who has captivated folks with her
renditions of such songs as Beyonce’s "Irreplaceable," Prince’s
“"How Come You Don’t Call Me," (as sung by Alicia Keys) and Luther
Vandross’ "Dance With My Father." Her incredible voice somehow
reached the ears of Justin
Timberlake, who has signed the now 18-year-old to
his new label Tenman Records and will include her on his upcoming tour, reports
WENN. "Esmee is the real deal and I cannot wait for the world to hear her,
but all of her fans on YouTube should not worry - we will keep you in the loop
every step of the way," Timberlake announced this week. Denters said:
"I have to thank YouTube and its viewers for giving me the opportunity to
show the world my voice. I also have to thank Justin, one of the biggest
artists in the world, for believing in me and making my dreams come true."
Her debut album, to be co
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
1.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
