Guess who’ll be closing this year’s MTV Video Music Awards? If you guessed Kanye West, you are absolutely correct. One year after West vowed never to perform on or for the video network again, he will happily eat his words and prance across the stage when the show airs on Sunday night. While I’m certainly not shocked by Kanye seemingly putting his foot in his mouth, and might watch the show specifically for his performance (and the rumors of Michael and Janet Jackson appearing together on the broadcast), you have to figure that one day ‘Ye will learn to keep his trap shut just a little bit, eh?? (MTV.com)
Sheryl Crow (pictured here in concert this summer) continued lending star power to causes when she serenaded Senator Barack Obama with Strong Enough.   Crow previously had run afoul of Republican henchman Karl Rove and has spents campaigning for the Democratic candidate while using her summer concert tour to bash Bush supporters.   We appreciate the cancer survivor’s emotions, but wonder if that particular tune is just a little skeevy.
BNL Singer Crash Lands Plane Like A Stunt Man!
Meanwhile the BNL Train may have left the station early. Lead singer Ed Robertson and three other people survived a small plane crash according to CNN.  Robertson reportedly was piloting the plane in Ontario with his wife and another couple when Robertson (the tall, dark haired one) put his Cessna down without anyone getting a scratch. Fellow Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page (the blonde, pudgy one) is currently on bail awaiting trial for an arrest for cocaine possession earlier this summer.   Page’s issue is one for the courts, but landing that plane sounds scary-amazing.
American Idol Adds Talent To Judge’s Talent, America Looks For New Catchphrase
Industry bible Variety may have tried the hardest to draw a line between American Idol adding songwriter and music company exec Kara DioGuardi to its panel and the departure of executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, but even the venerable entertainment site couldn’t pull off the connection.  There are still no details about the AI move, but we know our Movie/TV Help Web partner Ailsa is going to have to update her cast list to make room for Kara. What will a coherent female judge mean for everyone’s favorite karaoke show? My own internal poll shows indifference. George is excited whenever anyone behind the scenes makes it big, but GG thinks having someone else around will kill the Ryno-Simon banter.  Last year was a chore to watch for me, so I don’t know if I care.
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Either Way Things Work Out, JoJo Had A Bad Night
Did anyone see Jo-Jo (our bud from ’90s group Jodeci and K-Ci make the YouTube rounds? JoJo hits the ground, K-Ci says it was a “seizure” and nearly one thousand YouTube commenters say JoJo may not need anti-seizure medicine just yet.
K-Ci says it was a “seizure”…most sane folks think it was…um, something else.
Biggie Still Dead, Still Making Money For Other People
Faith Evans’ biggest claim to fame is most likely being Biggie’s lady, but props to Njai Joszor over at Singers Room for a great review of Evans’ tell-all book. Seems Biggie and Lil (Kim, not Wayne) stories were true, if you believe in Faith.
Never thought you’d hear the words “Barenaked Ladies” and “drug bust” in the same sentence? Well…
BNL lead singer Steven Page
Steven Page, lead singer of Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies was busted last Friday for possession of a controlled substance in Syracuse, NY (Syracuse? Really?). Cops, suspicions aroused by a car with one door open (?), found married dad Page (whose band just released a children’s album, for crying out loud!) along with two women (??) in a nearby apartment with cocaine and pot. I wonder if the ladies were barenaked??? BWAHAHHAHHAHHA…
(For those who aren’t really up on their BNL, they are the guys who sing “One Week”, and “If I Had $1,000,000”. Of the group’s two main singers, Steven Page is the fairer, sort of chunky one with the big voice, while Ed Robertson is the darker, more nerdy-sounding one)
But anyway, I won’t say anything bad about Steven Page. I’m actually extremely fond of BNL..well at least I was until that “Barenaked Ladies are Men” crap. They’re one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen (and the only rock band I know who could get away with a cover of Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious”, as they performed the night I saw them). But seriously…who’d have thought that the singer of songs like “Be My Yoko Ono” and “Brian Wilson” was capable of Winehousity??
