“Whispers around the sport are Mick Jagger has been courted by series broadcaster Channel 9 to make a cameo appearance at at least one of the five Test matches between Australia and England,” reports the Daily Telegraph’s Sydney Confidential.

On a day for big name dropping, Shane Warne reveals his friendship with Coldplay’s Chris Martin during the Australian launch of his latest book. Alex Brown becomes the Sydney Morning Herald’s music reporter for a minute.

“We bumped into each other in a lift in England during the 2001 Ashes series and became very good friends,” Warne said. “I went over to his house for dinner in London, we spoke all the time on the phone and hung out a few times. He’s a really good guy.”

In cricket news Warne speaks about England being a better team in the Daily Telegraph.

Andrew Ramsey, writing in The Australian, reports Kevin Pietersen was surprised by his first look at Mitchell Johnson and Ben Dorries takes a similar shock theme in The Courier-Mail in a story on Sajid Mahmood.

Source: http://blogs.cricinfo.com/

Young creative people from all over the world have the opportunity of a lifetime with the launch of a global new media competition in support of Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign.

‘Make a Big Noise for Make Trade Fair’, calls for anyone under the age of 30 to dream up a non-traditional campaign idea for Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair cause. The winning idea will then be brought to life on a global scale across non-traditional media channels with the support of some of the world’s greatest creative talent. It’s a chance for young people to make their mark and have their greatest ideas realised.

” We’re really excited by the launch of ‘Make a Big Noise for Make Trade Fair’ to the world “, said Bernice Romero, Advocacy and Campaigns Director for Oxfam International recently.

Make Trade Fair is a campaign by Oxfam International and its 13 affiliates, calling on governments, institutions, and multinational companies to change the rules so that trade can become part of the solution to poverty, not part of the problem. Make Trade Fair campaigns to change the rules of world trade so they work for everyone - north and south, rich and poor.

The competition and resulting campaign aims to generate large-scale awareness by embracing the fast changing communications landscape for a good cause.’Make a Big Noise for Make Trade Fair’ was inspired by international production company, The Sweet Shop’s new creative collective, ‘The Rumpus Room’, and is being hosted in partnership with YoungGuns - the only international award show in the world for creatives and students under the age of 30.

” We’re really looking for the kind of idea that can spark a phenomenon “, says The Sweet Shop’s Managing Director, Paul Prince. ” That’s what it’s about: bringing a great idea to life for a worthy and relevant cause in the biggest way we can. It should attract attention, invite participation and engage young people through new media everywhere “.

Entries will be judged by over 60 of the world’s leading creative heavyweights in communication advertising, and new media today. This elite jury - with members from South America, South Africa, the UK and Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and North America - will bring a truly international perspective to the judging process.

The initiative has also gained the support of leading creative, production, new media and communication companies around the world, including: NakedCommunications (US) Tomato (UK), Psyop (US),onedotzero (UK), Schematic (US), Unit 9 (UK) and Contagious Magazine (UK), to name a few.

To enquire about adding your entry, ideas or support to the competition and campaign, just visit the competition site at: www.makeabignoise.org

Source: Coldplay.com

Through Landmark Agreement With SNOCAP - Pioneering Technology Firm to Facilitate Digital Storefront Solution for Orchard-Distributed Labels and Artists

NEW YORK, NY — (MARKET WIRE) — October 31, 2006 — The Orchard, the world’s leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, and SNOCAP, the first end-to-end provider of digital licensing, copyright management, and artist distribution for the digital music marketplace, today announced a groundbreaking agreement to deliver e-commerce technology to Orchard-distributed labels and artists though their MySpace profiles or web sites.

Under the agreement, Orchard customers will be able to use their MySpace pages as digital storefronts, with SNOCAP providing a secure commerce environment through its Digital Registry and The Orchard providing royalty administration, accounting, and payment services.

“This new and revolutionary offering adds to the already comprehensive menu of services we provide to our labels and artists by allowing them to manage their own digital retail storefront within their MySpace page,” said Greg Scholl, chief executive of The Orchard. “SNOCAP’s e-commerce solution on MySpace represents a powerful new sales and promotion platform — one that further transforms how artists and their fans interact.”

“SNOCAP’s Digital Registry allows artists and labels to sell their music online while retaining full control over its distribution,” said Rusty Rueff, chief executive officer for SNOCAP. “By adding The Orchard’s extensive catalog of independent music to our Registry, our two companies are dramatically expanding the digital music marketplace for independent artists and fans alike.”

About SNOCAP

SNOCAP’s easy-to-use service for registering digital content and managing online distribution will enable a more vibrant digital music marketplace, bringing more music to more people through more outlets. SNOCAP’s Digital Registry empowers artists and labels to easily promote and sell their music through digital retailers or through their own unique artist store. In turn, these retailers have a growing inventory, offering more music to more fans. SNOCAP’s products include the P2P Plug-in (allowing P2P to be used in a copyright respecting manner) and SNOCAP Linx (to seamlessly integrate content sales into a web site).

SNOCAP provides digital music technology and services to leaders in the global marketplace for digital music, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, EMI, TVT Records, Artemis Records/Sheridan Square Entertainment, Beggars Group, Nettwerk Records, Matador Records, One Little Indian Records, Ryko Group and an extensive roster of other leading independent labels. Founded by Shawn Fanning, Jordan Mendelson and Ron Conway in 2003, the company is based in San Francisco.

About The Orchard

The Orchard is the world’s leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, with a catalogue of more than one million tracks representing 73 countries, thousands of labels, and every music genre. This catalogue includes titles from multi-platinum acts such as Green Day, Coldplay, Ray Charles, and Ice T, as well as from breaking bands like The Hold Steady, Bedouin Soundclash, and Immortal Technique. The Orchard supplies all the leading legal digital music stores and mobile operators throughout the world and markets its labels’ catalogues for sync song placements in films, commercials, and television shows. The company is owned by Dimensional Associates, the private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc., whose portfolio companies also include eMusic and Dimensional Music Publishing. The Orchard is headquartered in New York and London, with offices in 23 countries and six continents. For more information, please visit: www.theorchard.com.

Source: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=178641

UK production group DCD Media (fka Digital Classics) has seen its turnover quadruple and profits treble following the acquisition of Box TV, Done and Dusted [Coldplay Live 2003] and NBD Television in the past year.

For the year ending June 30 2006 turnover increased to £13.3m (US$25.3m), compared with £3.1m in 2005, with gross profits of £3.1m, against £1.6m in 2005.

Chairman David Elstein said that each division was now benefiting from being part of the enlarged production and distribution entity. "We look forward to strengthening our position as the sector consolidates," he said.DCD said the largest contributor to group turnover being higher than anticipated was Box TV. The drama producer concluded Sweeney Todd and began work on BBC1 Christmas drama The Wind in the Willows (starring Matt Lucas and Bob Hoskins) during the period, as well as being commissioned by ITV1 to make the miniseries Bon Voyage, which aired in October. In each case sales were made to UK and foreign markets.

Box has also hired Adrian Bate, former head of drama at Zenith Entertainment.

Since joining the group at the end of February, music production company Done and Dusted has filmed a number of pop and rock concerts, by bands including Coldplay, Scissor Sisters and The Rolling Stones. DCD said that commissions directly for television and growth in the US were the next priorities for the group. It rose from a market capitalisation of £6.3m in November 2005 to £33.1m in June 2006

However, the group's original production unit, Iambic, suffered from changes in ITV's commissioning structure and personnel, seeing two major projects delayed until 2007. However, Iambic's Michael Jackson documentary brought in significant sales revenue, and the group expects more in 2007.

Distributor NBD Television, which absorbed Digital Classics Distribution when it acquired the company in December 2005, has begun to distribute programmes produced by the group's production divisions, such as Done and Dusted's T4 on the Beach and Box TV's The Wind in the Willows. The focus for the group next year is to increase sales to new media.

Finally, the group's own DVD label, DC DVD, released 15 titles into the UK in its first year, 10 of these also being released into the US.

Elstein indicated that further acquisitions could be on the horizon for the group. "The broader base of production and distribution both spreads risks and creates business opportunities," he said. "We expect our internal growth to attract other companies keen to join the group and we carefully evaluate such options so as to maximise shareholder value."

Source: http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=1&article=32983

BRUSSELS, Belgium — EU regulators on Monday set a Dec. 8 deadline to rule on Univeral Music Group's plans to buy BMG Music Publishing for euro1.63 billion (US$2.09 billion).

BMG _ owned by German media company Bertelsmann AG - has the rights to more than a million songs by recording artists such as Nelly, Maroon 5 and Coldplay, as well as classic hits by the Beach Boys, Barry Manilow and other entertainers.

Vivendi SA's Universal is the world's largest music company. Its purchase of BMG must be cleared by both EU and U.S. regulators. It is likely to face careful scrutiny in Europe after an EU court in July overturned the European Commission's go-ahead from a merger between the music units of Sony and Bertelsmann AG.

That deal - reducing the number of music majors from five to four - must be re-examined and analysts warned that it could raise the stakes for similar mergers. The Commission has already said that it had to watch the music sector closely to check that antitrust rules are not being broken.

EMI suspended US$4.6 billion (euro3.6 billion) takeover talks with U.S. rival Warner Music Group after the court ruling since it cast doubt on whether an EMI-Warner deal would receive regulatory approval.

The Court of First Instance - the EU's second-highest court - said regulators had not properly shown that there was a monopoly in the recording industry before the deal or that there would not be one afterward.

It also said the Commission did not explain why it dropped earlier charges that the deal could exacerbate "tacit collusion" in the industry, leading to higher CD prices and less choice for consumers in a market where there is already too little competition.

Source: Various

British do-gooder Chris Martin of Coldplay might have been surprised to find himself lined up alongside Richard Branson and Terry Leahy (Tesco CEO) on George Monbiot's www.turnuptheheat.org.

Despite naming his children after fruit, his flight habit isn't that green. He was given a severe mauling when it transpired that, on tour, he flies home between gigs. Monbiot works out Martin's Learjet flights probably exceed his equitable quota of carbon by 250 times (this is a conservative estimate) every year.

Only Thom Yorke has had the guts to stand up and say he feels flying and world tours are untenable with his ethical beliefs.

There was an oversight in Sir Nicholas Stern's headline-grasping report on global warming last week. Nowhere, in all its 600 pages on the economic imperatives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions did it mention celebrities and what they can do to decrease their (regrettably) humongous personal impact on the planet while spreading the green message.

In fact, if he'd really been with the climate change zeitgeist, Stern would have handed over the launch to a celebrity. We are, after all, living in times when Arnold Schwarzenegger has ditched his fleet of Hummers to become the emissions terminator. Anybody who's anybody in Hollywood has done their own Gore-esque climate change film recently, from Leonardo diCaprio's pair of short films on his own eco website (leonardodicaprio.org), to The Great Warming, featuring Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves, out in the US next week.

Leonardo remains my green king. He is the baby faced Al Gore whose ecological convictions arguably predate Gore's, which, remember, didn't emerge during his Presidential bid. Leo's bottom has been welded to the seat of a Toyota Prius virtually since he could drive, he has already established his eponymous environmental foundation and is about to start filming E-topia, the first ever eco reality TV series, where he hangs out with builders on a post-Katrina reconstruction encouraging them to think green. His eco leanings were evident back when he filmed The Beach in Thailand which admittedly destroyed a rather ecologically important beach (and a return flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok creates 4.11 tonnes of CO2), but still.

You will notice how above I helpfully estimated the carbon tonnage of Leo's flights. I am merely conforming to a new, fun trend: picking holes in an A-lister's green aspirations by pointing out the glaringly obvious problem that they spend their lives jetting around the world, thus spewing out more CO2 than all the trainer factories in China put together.

British do-gooder Chris Martin of Coldplay might have been surprised to find himself lined up alongside Richard Branson and Terry Leahy (Tesco CEO) on George Monbiot's www.turnuptheheat.org. Despite naming his children after fruit, his flight habit isn't that green. He was given a severe mauling when it transpired that, on tour, he flies home between gigs. Monbiot works out Martin's Learjet flights probably exceed his equitable quota of carbon by 250 times (this is a conservative estimate) every year. Only Thom Yorke has had the guts to stand up and say he feels flying and world tours are untenable with his ethical beliefs.

Meanwhile green campaigner George Clooney continues to drive an electric, emissions-busting Tango, but recently flew from LA to Tokyo in a private jet, as revealed by a number of entertainment websites. According to the same helpful chart of eco transgressions, Julia Roberts, presumably basking in the greenie points gained from putting her twins in eco nappies (or does the nanny do this?), recently flew in a private jet from LA to Chicago.

In fact it's probably Roberts who irks me most. Who knew about her raging greenness until she donned that Midsummer Night's Dream-meets-Midsomer Murders frock for the front cover of Vanity Fair's green issue? Julia, green taffeta does not make you green

But exercise some quality control and I think eco celebrities can be useful. There are those that shop for babies in Malawi, and those with strongly held environmental convictions who are pretty knowledgeable, such as Woody Harrelson. And I'll say this for celebrities: they keep environmentalism interesting, a lot more interesting than the bearded men in woolly jumpers ever did. Ecorazzi.com is the green version of OK!, and it's compelling in a way that Resurgence magazine just isn't. Sorry.

Celebrities also bring different voices to the debate. So you can have David Milliband floating the ideas of carbon rationing (bit dry) or Ana Matronic at the end of last week's Scissor Sisters gig sponsored by global-cool.com shrieking: 'All it takes is for you guys to shut your shit off at night and we can reduce the amount of electricity we use and possibly save this mother-fuckin' planet.' Quite.

Source: http://observer.guardian.co.uk

The BBC’s Electric Proms are only one of the massive live music showcases taking place across Britain

ITC has never disguised its industry roots, though. As for the Electric Proms, just how did the BBC persuade so many outstanding artists (yes, the Automatic are appearing), many with new records to promote, to take part in an unproven event, promising only massive nationwide media coverage? Acts include The Who, the Fratellis, Will Young and Damon Albarn’s latest project, the Good, the Bad and the Queen, a name that is witty at first but less funny each time you hear it. There are few real surprises, though.

The programme isn’t so different from an average week in the capital, if perhaps a bit worse: why is Kasabian with a 50-strong orchestra a good idea? All three bashes are impressively organised however, and undeniable bargains. Many Prom tickets go for a fiver. In Manchester you might see the next big thing gratis. Coldplay remain the best-known graduates, but talent has always been uncovered — last year it was, ahem, Orson.

Source: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk

Angelina Jolie has been rumored to be concerned that Brad Pitt might spark up again with Jen-ex. But now Angelina Jolie is reportedly more concerned with another Brad Pitt former lover that is not Jennifer Aniston.

In Touch Weekly claims that Angelina may be worried about Brad working with ex-love Gwyneth Paltrow. Yep, the same Gwyn that used to be engaged to Brad and the same girl that is pictured nude with Brad in those decade old photographs online that caused such a legal ruckus with Brad and Playgirl.

***

Gwyn, who was just touting Brad Pitt for an Oscar for his performance in ‘Babel’ has signed on to Brad’s new project titled ‘Dirty Tricks’ which is dubbed as yet another ‘Watergate’ movie. “Angelina isn’t happy about this,” says a friend according to the article.

The chatty insider tells ITW that Jolie is not so concerned with Jennifer, but she is intimidated by Gwyn. “She’s secretly intimidated by Gwyneth,” the friend tells the weekly magazine.

“The end of their relationship was painful for both Brad and Gwyneth and Angie feels that he has never gotten over splitting with her.”

Of course Gwyn is happily married with children - to Coldplay singer Chris Martin - so this certainly seems like any kind of a relationship past their working relationship or their friendship would be ridiculous.

***

Nevertheless - the insider says one reason Angie is concerned is that Brad personally selected Gwyneth for the role and they reportedly will be working close together on the project.

Source: http://www.nationalledger.com

Southampton university has been named alongside Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge as one of the top 200 universities in the world.

The Times Higher Educational Supplement ranked Southampton 141st based on a survey of academics from all over the world who were asked to rate institutions on their research, graduate opportunities and ability to attract foreign students and internationally renowned lecturers.

Twenty-nine British universities appear on the list, with six, including Southampton, making their debut.

Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Bill Wakeham, said: “I am delighted that Southampton’s global reputation for excellence has been recognised in this table.” The University is one of the UK’s top ten research universities.

Southampton’s continued commitment to academic excellence is evidenced through a new £2m archaeology building at Avenue Campus, and its hosting of the new Further Mathematics Centre for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight region.

The archaeology building boasts state-of-the-art teaching laboratories over three storeys. It was opened recently by Coldplay drummer Will Champion, whose late mother, Dr Sara Champion, worked for the department for almost three decades before losing her battle with cancer in 2000. His father is also currently a professor there. A crowd of over a hundred watched the emotional opening ceremony of the Crawford Building, in which a seminar room has been named in honour of Dr Champion.

Elsewhere Southampton’s students have also helped contribute to the city, as Southampton made the final of the Sexy in the City competition. The city won its regional heats over Portsmouth, Winchester and Brighton by being the most appealing to the nation’s 18-26 year olds. Apparently Southampton offers great nightlife, culture and local talent, partly being down to its status as a lively student city.

The competition, run by Young Persons Railcard, was eventually won by Oxford over last year’s winner Leeds.

Source: http://www.wessexscene.co.uk

Cleopatra Records is proud to unveil the long awaited solo project by Switchblade Symphony vocalist Tina Root and her solo project Tre Lux. This 12-track collection reflects Tina’s eclectic musical interests featuring inspired covers of Ministry, Coldplay, Duran Duran and Soundgarden among others.

With Tre Lux, Tina showcases her new musical venture which is an extension of the dark sounds Switchblade fans are accustomed to. “Switchblade Symphony was a beautiful catastrophe of ideas and melody. At times it was a bit overwhelming and since Tre Lux is just me, I’m all about breaking down internal barriers with the freedom to act on impulse without worrying what other’s will think,” states Root.

She also adds, “Because Tre Lux is a reflection of me, the end result will be ever changing…”

During the 90s, Switchblade Symphony was at the forefront of the gothic music movement. Hailing from San Francisco, the band was founded by Tina Root and Susan Wallace. Switchblade signed to indie label Cleopatra Records in 1995 and through constant touring and word of mouth, the band became underground club favorites. Their debut record, Serpentine Gallery was a college radio and club favorite charting on CMJ’s RPM charts. With combined sales of over 140,000 records sold and features in such mags as CMJ and Alternative Press, the band’s fan-base grew at an alarming rate. They toured all over North America performing with notables Sisters Of Mercy and Christian Death as well as with the godfather of electro Gary Numan, even venturing over to Japan. After three full-length albums, numerous tours and at the height of their popularity, the band went their separate ways.

With A Strange Gathering, Tina has fun exploring some of her earlier influences while preparing to unleash a new Tre Lux record of all original material. “A Strange Gathering really motivated me to get back in the studio. I had so much fun recording it and it made me realize how much I miss making music. I’m currently working on the next Tre Lux record so prepare to be surprised,” gushes Tina.

Source: http://www.starpulse.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32mr0IoygIY

All Good Things (Come To An End) is our favorite song of Nelly Furtado’s new album, Loose.

While Maneater is nicely hovering near the top of the charts in America, the Canadian crackerjack has chosen to release Good Things as the third single in Europe. And, the video for the song is easily our favorite off the new record.

Not trying as hard as the others - no dance moves - the video (with its water motif and sepia tinted cinematography) reminds us of Nelstar’s clip for Turn Off The Light. Though we’re sad that due to bullshit label politics, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who co-wrote All Good Things with Furtado, is not on the recorded or filmed version, the song and the vid are totally rad.

Source: http://perezhilton.com/

Gwyneth Paltrow plays a little role in the upcoming movie "Running with Scissors" (directed by the master himself, Clint Eastwood) about real-life writer Augusten Burroughs (played by newcomer Joseph Cross) who was dumped by his nutty mother (Annette Bening) to live with her even nuttier shrink Dr. Finch and his crazy family.

However, 19-year-old Joseph Cross felt honoured to participate in the movie and to hang out with Gwyneth Paltrow on the set.

He claims that Gwyneth hung out with him in her trailer and during night shoots, playing tracks from Coldplay album X&Y, which wasn't even released at that time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full article:

NEW YORK — Playing hooky certainly paid off for Joseph Cross. Then a freshman at Connecticut's Trinity College, Cross skipped an economics test to take the train into Manhattan and audition for the lead in Running With Scissors.

"I told my agent 'I can't go in because my econ teacher is going to fail me,' " says Cross, who'd been dabbling in acting for years. "I came in, met with (director) Ryan (Murphy). And I didn't fail econ, luckily."

Even more fortunately, he earned his film breakthrough in Scissors, playing real-life writer Augusten Burroughs, who was dumped by his nutty mother (Annette Bening) to live with her even nuttier shrink Dr. Finch and his crazy family. And in a one-two punch, he's a soldier in Clint Eastwood's World War II drama Flags of Our Fathers. For the Oscar-winning director, Eastwood says Cross "typifies the guys of that age, of that era. He was 18 years old, and I think he turned 19 on the picture. He was just a terrific actor and has a great future ahead of him."

Scissors director Murphy couldn't agree more. He met with some of Tinseltown's top young actors before chancing upon Cross, who has a lengthy list of TV guest roles but of whom Murphy had never heard. "He was the only kid in the whole process who made me cry. He's very empathetic and emotional and reactive. I offered him the part there and then," says Murphy. "There's something about Joe as a person that you care about him and want him to do well."

Cross, the oldest of five, was raised in Westchester and hails from a tight-knit family. His parents have been married for 28 years. So getting into Burroughs' head took work. "I'd just gotten to college, and I'd just broken up with the girl I dated for two years in high school," he says. "Everything was sort of a mess. It was a really lonely, isolating feeling to go from being in a house to a cement shoe box. I felt a loneliness amid chaos, which is what the Finch house was like."

Because Scissors was Cross' first major film project, "we all adopted Joe," says Murphy. "He's really likable and kind of wicked. He's very sweet and very swoony over girls."

Actually, just one girl in particular. Cross' girlfriend attends Trinity, and although he's on hiatus right now and has three years of school left, he says he plans on finishing college. "It'll be a process," he admits.

To be closer to her and his college friends, he bought an apartment on the Upper East Side and has made Manhattan his home base. He plans to take some time off work, and perhaps take a few classes, instead of rushing into the next movie — "unless it's a project that's really astounding to me."

What's even more astounding is all the attention being lavished on him. On the Scissors set, Bening, a mom of four, made sure he was eating enough, while co-star Gwyneth Paltrow hung out with him in her trailer and during night shoots, playing tracks from husband Chris Martin's Coldplay album X&Y, which had yet to be released. "She'd always come up to me and ask me how I was doing," he says. "There was a moment where I stepped back and thought, 'Things have a changed a bit from the cement blocks of the dorm room.' "

Source: http://www.usatoday.com [thanks Flying Sparks]

Angelina Jolie is reportedly jealous that Brad Pitt is set to make a film with ex-fiancee Gwyneth Paltrow.

Gwyneth recently signed up to make Dirty Tricks with Brad next year, after Brad specifically suggested her for the role, and according to In Touch Weekly, Angelina is worried that working so closely together again might fan old flames between the pair. A source told the magazine: “Angelina isn’t happy about this. She’s secretly intimidated by Gwyneth. The end of their relationship was painful for both Brad and Gwyneth and Angie feels that he has never gotten over splitting with her.”

Brad and Gwyneth were together for three years in the mid-1990s and Gwyneth, who is now married to Chris Martin, later said she regretted breaking up with Brad.

Source: http://fametastic.co.uk

Glastonbury bosses have rubbished claims that Bruce Springsteen will headline in 2007, explaining that he was never seriously considered in the first place. Instead the Eavis family have booked their 'top three choices' to head the lineup...

NME 'revealed' it months ago... The Sun reiterated it this morning...

But Virtual Festivals can finally put the false rumours of Bruce Springsteen headlining Glastonbury to bed. The Boss will definitely NOT be performing at Glastonbury on the Saturday night - or any time during the 2007 event. Organisers say they have been spoilt for choice, after receiving more interest from artists keen to play than EVER before.

When asked about the report in this morning's Sun, Emily Eavis told VF: "I never told them or anyone Bruce Springsteen would be playing. It's totally made up."

According to the tabloid, Emily revealed that the US rock legend would be filling the prestigious Saturday night headline slot, which has been filled by Coldplay, Paul McCartney and Radiohead in recent years.

But she told us: "No, we've got our three headliners now and Bruce Springsteen is definitely not one of them. He wasn't even in the picture at any point really, despite what some people have written.

"I'm really happy with the three headliners we've got and so is my Dad. They are our top three choices. We couldn't have asked for better."

Emily also revealed that two of the headliners have never played Glastonbury, which suggests that Kylie will be topping the Sunday bill, having been due to close the festival in 2005 before she became ill.

Emily said: "Two of them are new to Glastonbury so we can't wait to welcome them to the farm."

The fact that one of the confirmed acts has played before still leaves the possibility of The Killers headlining the Friday. The band were offered a headlining slot in 2005 after Kylie dropped out. However they declined the offer after deciding they weren't ready.

With a second album of material to play and more experience on the world's biggest stages, you wouldn't bet against them being ready now - but that's not to say that there hasn't been stiff competition for the three Pyramid Stage headline slots.

Emily revealed: "I can’t remember there ever being as much interest from artists as there is at the moment. I suppose it’s partly down to the fact we had this year off, but there’s real excitement coming from all the bands we’re talking to."

Johnny Borrell was recently quoted saying he'd love Razorlight to headline the festival - and has been waiting on tenderhooks for the call. Michael Eavis has since confirmed that Razorlight will "definitely be there" although he made no mention of the band headlining.

Now that the three headliners have been booked, Emily says she's looking forward at working on her traditional brief of co-ordinating some of the smaller stages.

She said: "We've been totally focused on that (headliners) and now that we have them it’s a real relief because it means that everything else starts coming together. I still want to do more with leftfield and unsigned bands around the site.

"We’ve started our unsigned bands competition and are getting loads of entries so that's the next thing. It's all go from here in!"

Glastonbury 2007 takes place at Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset from 22-24 June. Tickets go on sale at the beginning of April with the confirmed lineup following shortly afterwards.

Loads of acts have been linked with the 2007 event, including Kylie, The Killers, Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight and, just this morning, Dolly Parton!

Source: http://www.virtualfestivals.com

Insider sources suggest iPod manufacturer paid for celeb baby's fruity eponym as 'ultimate product placement'

Showbiz Super-Scooper Larry Lieczelott dropped an A-bomb on the entertainment world today when he told a group of reporters that he possessed "reliable information from a very trusted source" that Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin were "'handsomely paid" to name their first child 'Apple' in order to promote the computer giant of the same name.

Apple's glamorous mom, the still slinky actress Gwyneth Paltrow, could not be reached for comment in Bahrain where she is busy filming a yet unnamed action flick, but a spokesperson for the Martin-Paltrow family called Lieczelott's allegations "utterly delusional."

Popstar pop Chris Martin, who has been working with his band Coldplay in an undisclosed L.A. area rehearsal space, could also not be reached for comment.

Read the full shocking article here

Due to stupid label politics, the fantastic duet of Nelly Furtado and Chris Martin, All Good Things (Come to an End), didn't make it on Nelly's album 'Loose'.

But she has now decided to release the album version as her third single - which raises hopes that the wonderful version with Chris might make it as a b-side on the CD Single!

You can see the video for the single here

More on this here [thanks Flying Sparks]

The Tragically Hip released their latest CD last Tuesday. When the sales charts came out this past Tuesday the collective music industry waited to see how many copies the new CD would sell as they undoubtedly would debut at #1.

The new CD sold a respectable 29,000 copies. Meaning it debuted at #2. The #1 selling CD this past week in Canada sold a staggering 109,000 copies. Fully 4,000 more CDs than the previous top selling CD in Canada this past year, which was Coldplay, selling 105,000 for X&Y [pictured]. The #1 album was I Think Of You by Gregory Charles.

This fellow Canadian artist, I am betting, has you scratching your head saying asking, "Who the heck is Gregory Charles?" I felt the same way, so please follow the bouncing ball.

Gregory Charles has won numerous national piano contests beginning at a very early age. By the time he was in college in Montreal he was acting on a popular Quebec TV show. He then began his career in radio hosting a popular daily talk show. From there it was on to hosting a TV game show and finally ending up hosting a late night talk show on television. Charles, in 1998, went to work playing piano for CELINE DION. In 2001 he returned to Montreal to host his own weekly show on Radio-Canada. Gregory Charles then launched his own variety television show and released his debut CD in 2004, which brings us up to where we are today. This amazing story truly is a clear indication of how insular and huge the music industry in Quebec is. Oh, those Montrealers, they have a different word for everything. The Hip have a series of sold out shows coming up at the Commodore Ballroom. The band will launch their real cross-Canada tour on Jan. 8 in Victoria. The tour then moves on to Kamloops on Jan. 10. All the towns that got the advance cool shows will not see the arena show, at least in the early stage, with the exception of the Air Canada Centre Of The Universe Show.

The Grey Cup this year will be held in Winnipeg on Sunday, Nov. 19. NELLY FURTADO will provide the half-time entertainment, EVA AVILA, the 2006 Canadian Idol, will start the proceedings by performing O Canada. Over the course of Grey Cup Weekend there will be no shortage of fine Canadian entertainers shaking it up. THE TREWS, THREE DAYS GRACE, THEORY OF A DEADMAN, SAM ROBERTS, 54-40 and TOM COCHRANE performing with the Winnipeg Symphony is a sampling of the talented line up. On the actual day of the game the schedule of activities lists "Party With The Pipe Band" (which is the Winnipeg Police Band) as starting at 1 p.m. and going to LATE!

The next couple of weeks see a number of amazing shows in and around our area. PAVLO, "The Lord of the Strings," is an incredible guitarist and vocalist who possesses an amazing sound he proudly refers to as "Mediterranean music." It would be short selling his sound and show to simply refer to it as a classical guitar concert. I urge you to check his website at www.pavlo.net to sample his vocal and musical stylings. Pavlo will appear with his band at the beautiful Bell Performing Arts Centre in Surrey. Tickets may be reserved by calling 604-507-6355.

JASON MITCHELL, the same night, will debut material from his next CD as well as a great cross section of the music he has dazzled local audiences with over the past number of years. Mitchell and his band of merry men perform at the newly re-opened White Rock Playhouse on Johnston Road. JORDAN CARRIER will open the concert. Tickets for this show may be purchased or reserved in advance by calling the Beecher Street Caf‚ at 604-538-1964.

The Beecher Street Caf‚ itself has an amazing artist named PETUNIA PETUNIA performing in the cozy confines on Wednesday, Nov. 8. Petunia Petunia stunned the sparse crowd at the restaurant when he performed there this past summer. A performer you simply don't want to miss.

JAMES HUNTER is the only reason I can think you would miss Petunia. Hunter is an artist I have been raving about for the past couple of months in this column and he is finally arriving in Vancouver at Richards on Richards on the same night as Petunia (Nov. 8). VAN MORRISON describes Hunter this way: "James is one of the best kept secrets in British R&B and soul - check him out!" We will indeed Van, tickets available through Ticketmaster. For you Van Morrison fans, circle Saturday, Nov. 18 on the calendar. Van The Man will be appearing that evening on Austin City Limits on KCPQ TV.

Tonight (Saturday) "A Little Night Music" is taking place at the Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Vancouver on Burrard Street. THE SURREY CHILDREN'S CHOIR, under the direction of STEPHEN HORNING, will perform with THE VANCOUVER CHILDREN'S CHOIR as they offer up a spooky Halloween concert for the whole family. Showtime is 7:30.

Canada Calling - Wood Buffalo National Park, which straddles the Alberta-Northwest Territories border, is home to the world's largest free-roaming herd of bison. The park is also the largest park in all of Canada. It is bigger than Switzerland.

Chesney's Chestnuts - Why is that people believe you when you say there are four billion stars in the galaxy, yet they have to touch something that says Wet Paint, to see if it's true?

Source: http://www.thenownewspaper.com

Bluejacking is the buzz word this week on the lips of PR people who have filled my inbox with news of the latest platform offerings and marketers who are using this new blue tooth enabled environmental advertising strategy.

What exactly is this new tactic?

According to wikipedia, “Bluejacking is the sending of unsolicited messages over Bluetooth to Bluetooth-enabled devices such as mobile phones, PDAs or laptop computers, sending a vCard which typically contains a message in the name field (i.e. for bluedating or bluechat) to another bluetooth enabled device via the OBEX protocol.”

It works like laser tag. For example, when you walk past a poster ad that is bluejack-enabled at a bus stop with your Blackberry, without warning you may receive a message from the poster. Beep beep. Literally the walls will start talking. Sound like a Philip K. Dick novel?

Well, get ready, because like other mobile technology trends, this is already big in Europe. Major marketers like Capitol Records are using it to promote the British pop band Coldplay in the UK.

When I lived in Spain five years ago mobile companies were, pushing for young people in bars to flirt with each other from across the room by sending text messages to still unknown coeds from across the room- I’m not sure it ever caught on. I always figured it would be the perfect plot for a romantic comedy, a “Three’s Company” for the tech age. Think of the mix up possibilites.

But it makes a lot more sense to use mobile as a playful game to meet people than to be targeted by advertisements while walking down the street. Aren’t we bombarded with enough advertising messages walking down the street, now we have to be bluejacked by them.

Does CAN-SPAM have to be updated for bluejacking? Sounds illegal to me.

I guess I better get to work to find out more.

Source: http://blog.dmnews.com

Gwyneth's Wild LocksWhen Gwyneth Paltrow lets her hair down, she really lets her hair down. The Oscar winner was caught leaving her North London gym recently, showing off her long legs and her even longer 'do.

The blonde stunner is obviously known for her fantastic acting, but it's now her hair is starting to become a little distracting. TMZ has put together some possible new hair do suggestions for the superstar.

Hopefully Mrs. Martin will do something soon, so we can all gaze upon her beautiful face -- without obstructions -- when she strolls the red carpet for "Running With Scissors" due to hit theaters next month.

Lotto punters will buy a million tickets an hour today in a £75million EuroMillions frenzy.

Camelot's figures have shown that tonight's draw is heading for record sales sparked by the giant jackpot. A spokesman predicted sales would be up 200 per cent, adding: "We've got the champagne on ice and are looking forward to the possibility of writing out our biggest-ever cheque."

Nobody has won the Euro- Millions draw since August when one person walked away with £39million. The jackpot has now rolled over eight times. This week's total is the biggest since February, when three people shared the £125million winnings. If a single ticket-holder hits the jackpot they will be worth more than Coldplay's Chris Martin (£25million), Rio Ferdinand (£22m) and Jamie Oliver (£25m) combined.

To the tunes of “How Long'’ from Coldplay [i think they mean ‘Speed of Sound’] Audi took the wraps of the second generation TT coupe. When it was released seven years ago the original TT helped revive both the sports coupe and convertible markets.

Company designers readily admit freshening an icon such as the TT was no easy task without straying from the design that several manufacturers have copied since.

When it goes on sale in Australia next month the TT coupe will be available with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine or a 3.2-litre V6 engine. The 2.0-litre model will start from $68,900 for the manual. The V6 (all-wheel-drive) automatic is $6900 cheaper than the current model as it has lost a few standard features to make it more competitive in the market.

Audi also released details of the new TT Roadster which will join the coupe around June or July next year. Like the coupe, the roadster models will be available in both a turbocharged 2.0-litre and a V6 all-wheel-drive version.

At the reveal Audi Australia Managing Director Joergg Hoffman expressed the aggressive market strategy the company has for the future.

“By 2015 we want to be selling 15,000 cars a year.

“We want to be number one in many ways. We want to be the number one selling premium brand, we want to be number one in image. We want to be number one in customer satisfaction and we want o be the number one attractive employer, we want the best staff..'’

Wearing the name of the five-time Le Mans winner the all-wheel-drive Audi R8 was revealed in the flesh today. The Porsche rival has a high-revving 4.2-litre V8 engine, aluminium body and the mid-engined sports car has been confirmed for limited sale here. It is expected to arrive in Australian showrooms in the second half of next year with a price tag between $280,000 and around $350,000.

Also on the stand is the wagon version of the high-performance RS4 sedan. An RS4 convertible will join the sedan and wagon (the wagon, priced from $168,100, goes on sale this month) and is priced from $187,500. It is the most powerful open-top car from Audi and just 25 will be available for Australia. The cars will arrive in January. The four-seater convertible is powered by a 4.2-litre (309kW) V8 engine and even the roof is fast-taking just 21 seconds to open.

Audi also has its Q7 soft-roader on display and the sporty S6 and S8 are due at the end of the year.

Source: http://www.drive.com.au

Astonishingly for a band only three years old, they join Coldplay as the only UK acts in the top 100 played bands on the hit internet site MySpace.

On being told that Bridgwater-based support band Aorta classes Bring Me The Horizon as an influence, Oli said: "It's great to hear that. When people say that sort of thing to us it is pretty crazy and overwhelming."

Their fan base is as strong in Bridgwater as it is anywhere and Oli is excited about the prospect of playing in front of dedicated fans. He added: "It should be good and it is always nice to play in new places. People can expect a crazy gig, they will probably get hurt a bit, but it will be alright."

The group's keenly awaited album, 'Count Your Blessings', is released next Monday (October 30). It follows on from their successful debut four-track mini-album, 'This Is What The Edge of Your Seat Was Made For', which was released in January.The winners of Kerrang's Best British Newcomer Award 2006, Bring Me The Horizon, are performing at the Palace in Bridgwater tonight (Thursday).

Mercury Entertainment's Andy Whelan spoke to singer Oli Sykes ahead of the show to get his views on the group's meteoric rise to stardom, touring and playing in Somerset.

The five-piece group was formed when childhood friends Oli and drummer Matt Nichols went to separate colleges in their hometown Sheffield and each met musicians interested in performing. The pair welcomed guitarists Curtis Ward and Lee Malia and bassist Matt Kean to the fold and formed Bring Me The Horizon in 2003.

Oli said: "When we started out we were playing at least two shows a week. We used to do any show we could get but now we only do larger tours. The last couple of years have been mad. We initially thought it was cool that anybody could like our music because we were just kids, but since we got signed to Visible Noise last August our support has grown.I don't think we ever thought the music that we were playing could ever become so big. Our two highlights were playing at the Download Festival this year and winning the Best British Newcomer award."

The band have toured with the Red Chord and performed on stage with Aiden and Bleeding Through. Their following is reflected on the world's biggest hardcore download site, www.hxcmp3.com, where they have received over 400,000 plays.

Source: http://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk

The music publisher EMI Group revealed it had unearthed an accounting fraud in its Brazilian business yesterday that caused an overstatement of revenues and profits.

Initial investigations suggested that revenues at its EMI Music recorded music business were overstated to the tune of about £12m and operating profits by about £9m. The impact of correcting its figures will be felt in results for the six months to September this year, due to be released on 5 November.

A statement from the company, which is home to artists such as Coldplay, Corinne Bailey Rae and Robbie Williams, said: "EMI Group announces that it has identified, through its internal controls, a one-off accounting fraud affecting the reporting of results at EMI's recorded music business in Brazil." EMI launched a full inquiry and has suspended pending its outcome certain senior managers at its Brazilian business.

News of the fraud sent EMI shares 12p lower to 268.75p, valuing the group at a shade more than £2.1bn.

The company declined to say what proportion of sales are derived from Brazil. However, industry estimates suggest that Brazil accounted for about 1 per cent of global music sales last year.

Patrick Yau, an analyst at Bridgewell Securities, cut his forecast for EMI's full-year pre-tax profits by almost £10m to £164m. But he suggested that the fact that EMI itself discovered the fraud may help sentiment towards the shares.

Last week, EMI warned that it expected revenues for the first half of its year to fall by 5 per cent after allowing for currency fluctuations and underlying pre-tax profits to decline by 34 per cent to £27m.

The company is pinning its hopes on a bumper second half of the year with a rash of big name artists, including The Beatles, Robbie Williams, Norah Jones and Joss Stone due to release albums. The City had expected a more subdued first-half performance this year, when albums from the likes of Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and Gorillaz dominated the charts.

Earlier figures from the Figures showed that in the first half of this year physical sales of CDs fell 10 per cent, leading to a 4 per cent slide in global media sales. That was partially offset by the soaring numbers of listeners downloading music digitally.

Source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

With all of the speculation surrounding Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie about the splits, the marriage and Jennifer Aniston - there certainly has had to have been some tears flowing somewhere.

But now it has been confirmed that Brad Pitt made one Hollywood beauty cry, according to the New York Post. Ex-sweetie Gwyneth Paltrow admits Pitt's new film brought her to tears.

There are no hard feelings between Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt, judging by the raves Paltrow heaped on her former boyfriend after the Cinema Society screening of Pitt's new movie, "Babel." Paltrow said she was so moved she had to go home, cry and hug her children. She was apparently so moved that she skipped the party at the Soho Grand.

"It's the best performance Brad's ever given," the Oscar-winning actress told the New York Daily News, and predicted that Pitt would take home a statue himself.

The movie, which centers around a Moroccan boy's tragic mistake, "makes you want to take good care of your children," added Paltrow who has two children, Apple, 2, and Moses, 6 months, with husband and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

The Post gives a run down of the guest list that Gwyn missed out on (including a cleavage report) - though it is unclear who was crying there.

Page Six notes that is where the film's other stars, Gael Garcia Bernal and Rinko Kikuchi, held court with Regis Philbin, Liev Schreiber, Aidan Quinn, Famke Janssen, Drea de Matteo, Griffin Dunne, Debbie Harry, Helena Christensen, Rob Thomas, Moby, David Byrne, Ronald Perelman, Tory Burch, Ivanka Trump (who was sporting supernatural cleavage) and Jane Fonda.

"Babel," debuts in select U.S. theaters on Friday with a global tale of how languages and cultural traditions divide people more than distance or personal ideologies. It expands nationwide in coming weeks.

Source: http://www.nationalledger.com

Perth is poised to host a southern hemisphere version of the In The City international music festival — an event billed as the world’s premier new music convention which has helped unearth bands such as Oasis and Coldplay.

The West Australian understands that Tourism Minister Sheila McHale will announce on Saturday that Perth has won the right to host an annual southern hemisphere event, called In The City AAA, for three years. The first of the four-day events is scheduled for November next year.

It is understood that EventsCorp, a division of Tourism WA, has agreed to provide about $1.5 million over three years to secure the event, with the balance of the funding for the festival to come from sponsorship and conference registration fees.

The event could help put Perth on the international music map and provide a multi-million-dollar fillip for the Perth tourism and hospitality industries.

Saturday’s official announcement has been timed to coincide with the opening of the 2006 In The City convention in the British city of Manchester, where the festival started in 1992.

The Manchester events have attracted about 500 unsigned bands, 2000 industry professionals and 100,000 fans each year.

According to the In The City website, the event is “rightly regarded by the global music industry as the premier new music event in the world”.

During the day, In The City festivals feature international music industry leaders “debating the present and plotting the future”.

By night, city streets and hotels are packed as hundreds of new bands take part in what the website describes as “the biggest city-based music festival in Europe”.

Since 1992, acts who have played at the festivals have included Oasis, Coldplay, Radiohead, The Chemical Brothers, Foo Fighters, Elastica, The Darkness and Orson. The only cities outside Manchester to host In The City have been Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool, Salford and New York.

Perth’s success in winning the event is being attributed to local band manager Pete Carroll, who has close connections with In The City director Anthony Wilson. Rosco Stewart from Westlink Multimedia is also thought to have been instrumental.

Source: http://www.thewest.com.au