From Coldplay and Pulp to The Who and Pink Floyd, much of modern music flourished in the capital's seats of higher learning.

A new straw poll, conducted by the Times Higher Education Supplement, reveals where the musicians chose to study.

Heading the pack are London's King's College and University College, which between them spawned members of Bloc Party, Queen, The Communards, Art Of Noise, Coldplay, Keane, Suede, Elastica and Basement Jaxx.

London Metropolitan University was home to Alison Moyet, David McAlmont and Neil Tennant, while Ealing College of Art, now part of Thames Valley University, enjoyed a Sixties heyday with students Pete Townshend of The Who and Ronnie Wood, once of The Faces and now of the Rolling Stones. Leeds University, meanwhile, has alumni including Corinne Bailey Rae, Kaiser Chiefs' bassist Simon Rix and members of The Wedding Present and Sisters of Mercy.

Gerry Smyth, cultural history lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, said: "There is a tradition of what might be called 'gownie rock' - middle- class boys who have the money to invest in familiarising themselves with various new trends in popular music and the leisure time to begin developing them in new directions."

Mr Smyth added: "It's not very 'street', however - rock's rebel persona doesn't ring very true when it's seen to emerge from a privileged background."

WHO READ POP

King's College

Kele Okereke (Bloc Party); John Deacon (Queen); Richard Coles (Communards); Anne Dudley (Art Of Noise); John Evan (Jethro Tull)

University College

Chris Martin, Will Champion, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman (Coldplay); Brett Anderson (Suede); Justine Frischmann (Elastica); Simon Ratcliffe (Basement Jaxx); Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane)

London Met

Sonya Madden (Echobelly); Alison Moyet; David McAlmont (McAlmont & Butler); Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys)

Thames Valley

Pete Townshend; Freddie Mercury (Queen); Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones); Matt Tong (Bloc Party)

Goldsmiths

Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James (Blur); Brian Molko (Placebo); Malcolm McLaren

Queen Mary

Pete Doherty; Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden); Bernard Butler (Suede)

Reading

Jamie Cullum; Scott Wilkinson and Martin Noble (British Sea Power); Go! Team

University of the Arts

Jarvis Cocker (Pulp); Sade; Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd)

Essex

Tony Banks (Genesis)

LSE

Sir Mick Jagger; Judge Jules

Middlesex

Ray Davies; Alison Goldfrapp

Westminster

David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Nick Mason (Pink Floyd)

Best of the rest:

Royal Holloway: KT Tunstall; Birkbeck: Dido; Greenwich: Natasha Bedingfield; Imperial: Brian May; Kingston: Eric Clapton

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

Orlando Bloom brands his Pirates Of The Caribbean co-star Johnny Depp a "freak" in the new series of Extras.

In the first episode of Ricky Gervais's [pictured] award-winning comedy, he plays a vain actor who can't believe an extra doesn't fancy him. Orlando tells the extra, played by Scots actress Ashley Jensen, that the ladies were all over him on the set of Pirates Of The Caribbean and they completely ignored Johnny. The British actor, 27, says: "It's my looks that all the girls fawn over. Nobody was bothered about Johnny on set. Johnny 'Freak, I make art-house movies and have stupid scissors for hands'? Willy Wonka - more like Johnny W***er."

The second series of Extras begins on BBC2 on September 14 at 9pm.

Gervais said yesterday: "I worked with megastars, such as David Bowie, Chris Martin of Coldplay and Sir Ian McKellen, but for me the performance of the series comes from a little fat scouser called Keith Chegwin."

Details are beginning to surface about Jay-Z's long-rumored comeback album, which will be his first since announcing his retirement three years ago and becoming president of Def Jam. The new disc is reportedly titled "Kingdom Come" and due in November via Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam. It is expected to feature production from Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Kanye West and Coldplay's Chris Martin.

In July, Pharrell Williams told Billboard.com the Neptunes are also producing tracks for the album. As previously reported, Hype Williams will direct the music video for the first single, which is said to be "Show Me What You Got."

Although Jay-Z's last studio effort was 2003's "The Black Album," which has sold 3.2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the rapper has since appeared on songs by Beyonce, Kanye West, Young Jeezy and Rick Ross, among others."You all are hearing things from me -- you just haven't heard an album," he told Billboard.com last September. "Who knows? I'm still going in the studio, getting on remixes and things like that. But it's the people. When people want something bad enough, it happens. And they want it bad (laughs). I'm trying to hold out, but I don't know how long I can."

The artist is in the midst of an international tour to raise awareness about the world's water crisis, which will be chronicled in an MTV special debuting Nov. 24. The trek hits Amsterdam on Friday (Sept. 15).

Source: http://www.billboard.com

The Pet Shop Boys, Lily Allen and the Scissor Sisters are the latest celebrities to pledge their support for a campaign set up in memory of tragic Brit Lucie Blackman, who was murdered in Japan.

The stars have recorded messages for the Lucie Blackman Trust website, started by Blackman's father Tim after the 21-year-old vanished while working as a hostess in a Tokyo nightclub in July 2000. Her dismembered body was found in a cave in the remote fishing village Miura in February 2001, after a seven-month search. Japanese businessman Joji Obara was charged with murder and is currently on trial. The hitmakers recorded their messages for the Trust's latest campaign, 'Student Safe', between their sets at British music festival Bestival on the Isle of Wight off the South coast of England, last weekend (9th/10th September).

Coldplay previously dedicated their song 'Talk' to the late Lucie Blackman at their appearance at the Isle of Wight festival in June, and supermodel Kate Moss has also recorded a message for the site.

I do not know who Erlend Oye thinks he is, but I am by far the whitest boy alive.

This does not mean that I do not pretend otherwise. I wear bright red shoes to fit in with the urban subculture and listen to Dr. Dre and Eminem - though I don't know if the latter helps my cause. But I listen to rap in my car with the windows up and doors locked, often turning down the bass so I can understand the lyrics. My black friends would be ashamed.

Every now and then, I switch out my gangster rap for Radiohead, The Dismemberment Plan, Coldplay or Bright Eyes - four of the whitest bands ever to walk on stage. And that could be the reason many people have not heard them. To counteract their invisibility, white musicians are imitating black musicians to reach the charts.

Read the full article here

There were more signs that Rockstar: Supernova is becoming as cheesy as American Idol. First, fans voted and brought back kicked off rocker Ryan Star to sing his original -- and very romantic -- song "Back of Your Car." For his trouble, Ryan won a new, fully loaded Honda CRV. Hostess Brooke Burke then had to channel her inner Bob Barker to explain all the car's features since it was just sitting there in the midde of the crowd.

Secondly, Paula Abdul was seen in the studio audience sucking up someone else's 15 minutes of fame.

Lukas turned down his guttural wail for Coldplay's "Fix You" and we liked it a lot. He sang his orginal tune "Headspin" as a solo acoustic performance -- and that one we didn't. For two reasons. First, Lukas showed the world that he's not a guitar virtuoso. Secondly, his performance also showed that "Headspin" needs to be fully amped to be fully appreciated.

Read the latest articles here

Open to the public September 22nd, 2006 to October 28th, 2006 at The Blink Gallery, 11 Poland Street, London, W1.

Eponymous photographer Kevin Westenberg is famed for his creation of provocative, electrifying images of world-class musicians and actors. Obsessed by his wish to create the ‘definitive portrait’ of each of his subjects, each image is an intense feast of light, colour and composition.

This September will see the launch of his first exhibition, IDYLL WORSHIP, celebrating an illustrious career spanning over 20 years to date. Resident in the UK since his love affair with British Punk in the 1980’s, it is only fitting that London should host this exhibition and continue to support this self-taught photographer as it has done since his first published work in NME in 1984.

40 iconic images defining key moments from his career will be displayed as large scale prints, offering mesmerising larger than life glimpses into the private and public lives of the world’s most famous faces – musicians, actors, writers and artists. Over the years Kevin has been granted unprecedented access to bands and international celebrities from Happy Mondays to Rolling Stones, Coldplay, BB King, Marilyn Manson, U2, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, Sean Penn and Billy Bob Thornton. His portraits of Bjork, Richard Ashcroft, Radiohead and The White Stripes among others have become widely recognised classics.

Kevin’s images range from stunning to rebellious, but most critically they capture the romance and beauty of our collective human adventure. This is one exhibition that is not to be missed.

In recognition of his luck and success over the past 20 years, Kevin will be donating the proceeds from the first 3 prints sold at the exhibition to charity – the money from each print will go to the charity chosen by the subject of the shot, whether Bono, Thom Yorke, Chris Martin, Tom Stoppard or any of the many other celebrities featured.

All Images on the website are now available for purchase.

The photographs are available only in these 4 sizes and 5 different styles only.

prices are subject to change without notice.

Size 1 is 12″x16″ is an unlimited edition and costs £500.00 +vat

Size 2 is 20″x24″ is an edition of 25. cost upon application.

Size 3 is 24″x30″ is an edition of 25. cost upon application.

Size 4 is 30″x40″ is an edition of 25. cost upon application.

Size 5 is 20″x24″ Platinum Edition. Edition of 5. cost upon application.

Sizes 2,3,4 and 5 are in these limited edition sizes only.

Once sold out they will not be available again.

For UK or European buyers custom Framing can be arranged if you would prefer. Prices vary depending on style, size and weight. Shipping and handling is additional

For further information, interviews or images please contact Rachel Sinclair at 9PR

Tel: 0207 833 9303

E: Rachel@9pr.co.uk

http://www.blinkgallery.com/ 11 Poland St, London, W1

http://www.kevinwestenberg.com/

There was never any doubt that Lukas Rossi would strut his way to the final four on Rockstar: Supernova.

From the very beginning last June, the Toronto singer has had the look, voice and especially the ‘tude. Except for stumbling into the bottom three last week — when showy Storm Large was eliminated — he’s always looked like the frontrunner.

Now he has a great shot at succeeding another Canuck — INXS’s J.D. Fortune — as Rock Star champion.

In Wednesday night's finale, he’ll have to beat Australian Toby Rand, Iceland-native Magni Asgeirsson, and South African-born, Houston-based Dilana Robichaux, all trying to become the lead singer of the new group Supernova. Drummer Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), guitarist Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses) and bassist Jason Newsted (Metallica) will make their choice.

Rossi told The Toronto Sun Monday night that he is confident going into the final. “I think we have to be at this point, man,” he said on the phone from the stage of the show in Los Angeles. “We’ve come so far that to not feel confident at this point would be a pretty detrimental thing.”

He described a bold plan to make one last statement on the final performance hour: To sing Coldplay’s Don’t Panic — a cappella. “I just want to try something new,” he says. “The boys in Supernova, they’re looking for a singer, right? They know I can perform. I just gotta showcase my true voice, not be covered up by the band.”

Win or lose, Rossi says he’ll look back on this summer as the best one that “I’ve ever had or ever will have.” After 13 weeks cooped up in the Rock Star mansion, he’s anxious to get out, “although I’ll miss the keg,” he says.

Source: http://jam.canoe.ca

iTunes rival, ranked second among digital music services in latest market share data, offers downloads in DRM-free MP3 format

eMusic hopes Europe is ready to go indie.

The digital download service, second only to iTunes in the latest market share data from NPD Group, launched its service across Europe today, hoping to lure customers with an indie-only music catalog and the promise that once they buy a song through the service, they can do whatever they want with it.

The subscription-based service debuted today in all 25 European Union member nations, making it the first legal service launch across the EU at once. The European sites will charge a monthly subscription fee that ranges from 8.99 pounds ($16.79), or 12.99 euros, for 40 downloads to 14.99 pounds, or 20.99 euros, for 90 downloads. "The monopoly of iTunes in Europe is over," eMusic CEO David Pakman said. "European consumers, fed up with homogeneous music and services focused only on mainstream pop, can now discover a wealth of music created to transcend rules, boundaries, and commercialism."

eMusic's download store is based on the premise that customers will be attracted to a service that sells music in the MP3 format, despite that its catalog doesn't include any content from the major record labels. eMusic doesn't sell music with digital rights management technology, which restricts what a user can do with a song, such as a certain amount of burning to a CD or transferring to a portable device. DRM also dictates that subscribers to services like Napster or Rhapsody risk losing the music they downloaded if they do not maintain their subscription, as the DRM can render the music unplayable once a subscription lapses.

But because its music comes without restrictions, eMusic is the only other legal download service whose music can play on an iPod. Apple's proprietary FairPlay DRM is not compatible with any non-iPod player. Most of the other services use Microsoft's PlaysForSure DRM, which is not compatible with the iPod.

That fact also means that the major labels--Universal Music Group (U2, Killers), Sony BMG (Shakira, Dixie Chicks), Warner Music (Madonna, Green Day), and EMI (Coldplay, Rolling Stones)--won't play ball with eMusic.

Despite being limited to indie labels only, eMusic carries 1.7 million songs from 8,500 independent record labels, including tracks from White Stripes, Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, Miles Davis, Basement Jaxx, Franz Ferdinand, and Bjork.

Source: http://www.mp3.com

The Crazy Frog has a new home.

News Corporation, the owners of The Sun, has bought a stake in Jamba, the company which produces the character, for over £100million. News Corp now owns a 51 per cent stake of the ringtone company to boost the use of mobile TV-clips known as ‘mobisodes’.

The character that wears a white motorcycle helmet, leather jacket and goggles became a national icon when Swede Daniel Malmedhal recorded his impression of a moped engine in 1997. By 2004 Jamba launched what became the most successful mobile ringtone of all time earning the company millions. Last year Crazy Frog hopped to the top of the pops with Axel F beating off Coldplay’s, Speed of Sound and becoming the first mobile ringtone to make the charts. It became a worldwide hit with Indian, reggae and Australian rock versions.

Francisco Martin had a craving for new tunes. During postdoctorate study at Oregon State University in 2003, the Spanish native was looking to broaden his musical horizons, so he invented a way for the Internet community to help. The Web site and company he started, originally called MusicStrands, taps into the power of social networking to help users discover new songs, artists, or even whole genres.

The concept is deceptively simple. MusicStrands -- now renamed MyStrands -- installs software on the PCs of its members that keeps track of the music they buy and listen to via iTunes or Windows Media Player. Then, that data is compared to the playlists of other members, and when patterns emerge, MyStrands recommends songs members might like. A lover of Coldplay, Keane, and Travis might also like Snow Patrol. Black Eyed Peas aficionados might not. More than just a clever Web site, MyStrands has proved to be a pioneer in "recommender systems," or algorithms designed to help people find what they want in the vast universe of the Internet. By matching peoples' digital footprints with a database of other users' patterns, it goes well beyond the cruder recommendation technology used on sites such as Amazon.com.

The company, based in Corvallis, Ore., and Barcelona, now holds 16 patents in Europe and the U.S. on its collaborative filtering technology. Martin thinks his next big opportunities lie in helping users cut through all kinds of Internet clutter -- not just music -- and bringing MyStrands technology to the "wireless Web" via mobile phones.

IMPOSING RIVALS.

The intrepid Spaniard started the project with $1 million raised from friends, family, and the company's management team, including his own money. Now, MyStrands is backed with an additional $6 million in funding from two investment firms, Debaeque Venture Capital of Barcelona and GCR Venture Capital of Bilbao.

The privately held company doesn't release sales or profit figures, but it makes money via referral fees from music download services that profit from MyStrands links. It's also hoping to announce licensing agreements soon with one or more mobile phone carriers that aim to offer a mobile version of MyStrands. Bundled with mobile service, it would let users more easily find personalized content -- at first, mostly digital music.

MyStrands won't say how many members it has signed up but allows that about half are in the U.S. and half in Europe. Unfortunately for Martin, he wasnt the only person with a similar idea: MyStrands faces stiff competition from rival sites such as the music recommendations found on Pandora.com and the user-voted news content on Digg.com.

CLUB LIFE.

To stay in the race, MyStrands is widening its focus -- one reason it changed its name. The company discovered that its members were using the site for more than just music recommendations; in effect, they were using it as a social networking site where common taste in music was the link. Now the site plays up its social networking features and encourages formation of music communities.

The next step: MyStrands has created a service for bars and nightclubs, called PartyStrands, that allows patrons to "influence" what music is played via text messages they send to a screen from their cell phones. The service also feeds the information to a Web site that shows what's happening in real time at the club. Martin has dubbed this technology -- which is currently available at clubs in New York, Corvallis, and Gandia, Spain -- "social programming."

The rise in alternative social networking sites doesn't faze MyStrands. "We see it as a benefit that will help the market evolve," says Gabriel Aldamiz-Echevarria, vice-president of communications. The more user-generated content and digital media, the better, he says. "With all that content, we're going to need more recommendations from the online community." And that's exactly where MyStrands comes in.

Source: Various

In Zach Braff's 2004 film Garden State, spirited heroine Sam (Natalie Portman) jams her headphones over the ears of morose hero Andrew (Braff). They make a connection through one of her favorite songs.

The tune, "New Slang," is by The Shins. It's a scene that is "out-of-nowhere moving," writes critic Ed Park in The Village Voice. It cements the movie's chemistry and transports the audience, and Andrew, inside Sam's head.

And if you'd have took to me like

A gull takes to the wind.

Braff selected that song. He picked all the tunes on the soundtrack to that film, which he wrote and directed. He won a Grammy for that soundtrack.

He selects a lot of the songs used on his TV show, Scrubs. Polyphonic Spree and Colin Hay (Men at Work) have even made appearances on NBC's comedy.

And if the character and the story in his new film, The Last Kiss, were to feel real to Braff, it had to have his personal soundtrack -- songs from his life, more important, from his personal iPod stash.

"I was talking to a dancer recently, and she said when she hears a great song, she immediately starts choreographing it in her head," Braff says. "For me, when I hear a great song, I can't help but try to fit it to images. So I keep a tally of those songs that grab me, songs that there's something about them that feels very cinematic to me."

So even though he wouldn't be directing Tony Goldwyn's adaptation of an Italian romance, The Last Kiss, it would still sound like Zach Braff, the sensitive young man into singer-songwriters, wistful pop and mix tapes. Your songs say a lot about you, he says, so he has to choose carefully.

Braff is bankable enough to build The Last Kiss around. His name is being mentioned with bigger projects. And he is ready to graduate from the TV show where he got his start.

When he was cast for Scrubs, series creator Bill Lawrence noted that Braff was an insecure 25-year-old actor playing an insecure 25-year-old doctor, which made him "perfect."

In Garden State, made after that first blush of Scrubs success, he was an actor who got famous playing a retarded quarterback for a TV movie but a young man closer to failure than success as he comes home to bury his mother. In The Last Kiss, he has found success. Michael is an architect hitting 30, living with Miss Right (Jacinda Barrett), maybe ready to settle down.

"He's 30, I'm 31. I've got a lot of friends that I'm buying baby carriages for. I can relate to those feelings of wanting to have a family and have kids, but not really feeling ready for that quite yet. And society saying 'This is the time when that's supposed to happen, pal.' "

So he agreed to play the role. And he hunted up tunes that he sent to director Tony Goldwyn, songs by Coldplay, Snow Patrol and Aimee Mann. Songs that capture what the movie's about, such as Mann's "Today's the Day."

Better pack your bags and run

Or stay until the job is done.

Gossips had Braff and then-girlfriend Mandy Moore picking out rings and registering earlier this year. But that didn't work out, leading to speculation that the younger woman (she's 22) wasn't as ready to settle down as Mr. Just-Passed-30. He's a gentleman and won't discuss that.

The Last Kiss is about a guy who gets cold feet when he sees the rest of his life laid out before him. Maybe the subject hits close to home for Braff. He can certainly relate to its message, that what used to be called "growing up" is the new midlife crisis.

"All those things that happen in your 30s now, used to happen younger," Braff says. "My parents got married in their early 20s. So maybe it's not that we're having our midlife crises earlier, we're having our growing-up crises later.

"I had the best party ever for my 30th birthday. But everybody, guys and girls, can relate to being 30 and not being positive that they're ready to settle down.

"Michael's just a little freaked out by the realization that he may not be ready to kiss the last girl he's ever gonna kiss. I think that's a real thing that crosses people's minds."

What's crossing Braff's mind at 31 is that he has probably outgrown "the best grad school a boy could have," Scrubs. He'll be leaving "the show that I owe everything to, the place I got my big break," at the end of this, its sixth season; it starts showing up in syndicated reruns next week (on Orlando's WRDQ-Channel 27, 8 p.m. weekdays, beginning Monday).

By the end of his Scrubs run, he'll have decided if he wants to do a prequel to those Chevy Chase Fletch movies (based on Gregory Mcdonald's novels), a movie set up by Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence.

And he'll be able to direct an adaptation of a Danish drama titled Open Heart, about a car crash and its aftershocks.

By the time the Scrubs season ends, Braff says, he'll be ready for that. And he'll already have a soundtrack in mind.

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com

Record company EMI Music has joined up with mobile operator T-Mobile to trial ad-supported mobile videos covering news, entertainment and sports content.

The new offering has started trials on T-Mobile's network and will give customers access to free video content with television-style advertising.

As part of the deal, T-Mobile customers will be presented with an electronic programme guide on their handset, which will offer a range of content choices from news, entertainment and sports. Music videos from EMI UK artists, such as Coldplay, Lilly Allen, Gorillaz, The Kooks and Robbie Williams, will be packaged and streamed with specifically targeted ad.

Advertisers already signed up to take part in the trial include Coca-Cola Zero, General Motors, Gillette, Land Rover, Microsoft, Nike and Toyota.

Tony Kypreos, European vice-president for business development and innovation at EMI, said: "Consumers want to be able to enjoy music in many forms across a variety of different platforms. The advertising-supported model is currently generating a lot of interest, and we think we'll learn more about what fans want from mobile music in this trial."

The deal follows on from a similar trial that EMI and Rhythm NewMedia kicked off in April in North America, when EMI experimented with ad-supported, on-demand and pre-programmed mobile video content.

In addition, last week SpiralFrog, the company that is looking to revolutionise legal music downloading by offering tracks for free, also signed a deal with EMI, which could mean that artists such as Coldplay and Robbie Williams are added to its service.

Source: Various

Let's pretend we're at Hollywood High, circa 2023 -- and pity the poor teacher who's taking attendance.

Apple? Banjo? Coco? Shiloh Nouvel? Suri? Pilot Inspektor? Kal-el? Moxie CrimeFighter?

Wait a minute. Is this a classroom or a superhero convention? As you've no doubt noticed, for the rich and famous these days, naming babies has become an exercise in creativity. Or is it a competitive sport -- a great, big "Can you top this" contest?

Once upon a time, most stars gave their kids nice, down-to-earth names. Bing Crosby christened his children Gary, Phillip, Lindsay, Dennis, Harry, Nathaniel and Mary. Princess Grace (Kelly) had Albert, Caroline and Stephanie. Even eight-time bride Elizabeth Taylor, who had no problem flaunting convention, named her kids Michael, Christopher, Liza and Maria.

Nowadays, there's not a John or Mary in the (Malibu beach) house.

What's the harm, some ask? Even Shakespeare famously asked, "What's in a name?"

Others focus on the larger challenges a celebrity kid will face.

If, for example, millions of people saw your dad declare his love for your mom while jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey's couch, it's a safe bet that the name on your birth certificate will not be your biggest problem in life.

In fact, little Suri Cruise -- infant daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes -- actually has one of the more normal-sounding of the celebrity-baby names.

Consider the other members of that aforementioned class: Moxie CrimeFighter (daughter of Penn Jillette); Apple Blythe Alison (daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay's Chris Martin); Banjo Taylor (Rachel Griffith's son), Coco (daughter of Courteney Cox and David Arquette); Pilot Inspektor (Jason Lee's son), Shiloh Nouvel (daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt), and most bizarre of all, Nicolas Cage's not-quite-1-year-old son, Kal-el.

Now, where have we heard that name before? Oh, that's right. Kal-el was the Kryptonian birth name of Superman.

Why do it?

Many ordinary mortals get incensed about such outlandish names. After the birth of little Kal-el Cage last October, fans posted their reactions on the Web site hellblazer.com.

"It shouldn't be allowed. Your children are not an extension of your own damaged personality!" wrote someone with a good-old-fashioned name -- James.

Another huffed: "Nic Cage needs to have his head examined."

Why do celebrities do it? Why make it even harder than it already is for their kids to feel normal?

"I don't think they're topping each other per se, but I think it's an exercise in creativity," says Danielle Friedland, publisher of the popular Celebrity-babies.com. "Someone who grew up as a non-celebrity may not have loved their name. If your name is Rachel, you may want to give your kid a jazzier name. You think they're special, and you want the world to know that -- and that you're really special."

To be fair, it's not just celebs who do this to their kids. Actors Rainn Wilson ("The Office") and Poppy Montgomery ("Without a Trace") were born to non-celebrity parents.

"My mom, who's British, had this flower fairy book from the 1800s, and she loved it," explains Montgomery, who has four sisters that also have flower names. "I think she just sort of picked them out of that."

Nor is the weird celebrity baby names trend brand new. Tatum O'Neal was born almost 43 years ago. Sonny and Cher's Chastity is now 37. Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's girls (Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah Belle) are now teenagers.

And rock stars have always gravitated to unusual names. Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa are the poster children for the weird-name trend. There's also Zowie Bowie. And Peaches Honeyblossom, Pixie and Fifi Trixibelle Geldof, daughters of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates (who named the daughter she had with Michael Hutchence Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily).

When you live in such a surrealistic world, though, would you even have to worry about things like taunting schoolmates? That may depend on exactly where you live.

"In Hollywood, these kids are going to school with other celebrities' kids with unusual names, so, they may be in a classroom filled with Apples and Oranges," Friedland says. "Cupcake could be the girl sitting next to you -- or the boy. Even if they're not the children of celebrities, most of the people in Hollywood are kind of zany and creative people as well.

"(But) children of celebrities who do not live in Hollywood or New York are going to get more attention in a classroom full of Jennas and Jasons. Moxie CrimeFighter might get picked on, because she's going to school in Las Vegas."

David Narter, author of "The Worst Baby Name Book Ever," thinks their names are the least of their worries.

"It's not the names that are going to screw up these kids' lives. Their lives are screwed up already. They're celebrity kids," he says.

Citing, for example, Dandelion Richards, daughter of rocker Keith Richards and his longtime girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, Narter says her big issue "is that her dad has no teeth and looks like he's been dead since he was 25."

No argument on that. Then again, Dandelion does now call herself Angela.

And remember Free Carradine, the son of Barbara Hershey (who went by Barbara Seagull for a time) and David Carradine? He changed his name -- to Tom.

And then there's the advice -- plea, really -- that Peaches Geldof issued in an interview with Australia's The Advertiser in January. Stop giving your kids strange names.

"I hate ridiculous names," she says. "My weird name has haunted me all my life."

Not everyone with an unusual name would agree.

Montgomery -- whose full name was Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue -- has mixed memories of living with her moniker.

"You sort of pay your dues, because growing up with it is awful. You get teased, and you're sort of not the norm," says the actress, who took her mom's maiden name professionally. "But then when you're an adult, it's kind of cool. You love it. You like that your name is different and unusual."

Montgomery says she would "absolutely" recommend calling a child something different. "Look, I think, at the end of the day, it's just a name and people change them and people keep them. ... If I had a kid, I would probably pick an unusual name, 'cause that's my taste."

Of course, if you're a high-profile celebrity baby, it probably helps if everyone's on the same page about the meaning of your name.

Little Suri Cruise is not so lucky in this regard.

According to her parents' publicist, the name means "princess" in Hebrew and "red rose" in Persian. But online gossip maven Perez Hilton has speculated that "Suri" actually has an underlying meaning, derived from Surrey, England, the region where the late L. Ron Hubbard's home (now the U.K. headquarters of Scientology) is located.

The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, pointed out that Suri means "pickpocket" in Japanese. And Narter's research revealed yet another possible interpretation.

"Apparently, Suri doesn't mean princess, it means 'Go away,'" he says.

Destined as she is for a life eluding the paparazzi, Suri may be aptly named.

Source: http://www.belleville.com

The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world.

The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at an unprecedented rate. Industry experts talk of a 'backlash' and of the iPod 'wilting away before our eyes'. Most disastrously, Apple's signature pocket device with white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool.

On Tuesday the eyes of iPod-lovers the world over will be on Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, when he seeks to allay fears that it could follow Sony's tape-playing Walkman into the recycling bin of history.

Read the full article here

I wasn't sure where Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant would take their hilarious TV follow-up to The Office, Extras, after the first season ended on an unusually upward note.

The six-episode, star-heavy season about hapless extras (sorry, "background artists") Andy Millman and his doughey, inappropriate mate, Maggie, is nearing its end on Wednesday nights on the ABC but in Britain, they're gearing up for the second round.

"It's not like we are just trying to get points for celebrity chums," says Gervais of the series. "There has to be something we can deconstruct."Ready to take the mick out of themselves this time are Orlando Bloom, Sir Ian McKellen, David Bowie, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe.

Avoid this link if you don't want to spoil the first season's finale for yourself but the path Gervais and Merchant take Andy down is so genial you'll forgive them for their introspection. Needless to say, there's plenty more of their trademark PC-bashing to come.

And if you haven't yet seen them, don't miss the Microsoft training videos made by the Office team - in which, among other things, David Brent applauds the South African prison system for helping Nelson Mandela "go straight" - before the company convinces Google Videos to pull them.

Source: http://www.abc.net.au

2005 - U2, Alicia Keys, Garth Brooks, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart and the Dixie Chicks are among the artists that perform during a live telethon, 'Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast.'

2003 - Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel announce their first tour since 1994.

2003 - Dizzee Rascal is awarded the U.K.`s 2003 Mercury Music Prize at a ceremony in London. The 18-year-old MC/producer`s debut, 'Boy In Da Corner,' was released in July by XL Recordings in the U.K.

2003 - Coldplay frontman Chris Martin brings a surprise element of glitz to an otherwise staid gathering of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Cancun, Mexico, when he delivers the so-called 'Big Noise' petition calling for fairer trade policies. 2002 - Carolyn Dawn Johnson is again the big winner at the Canadian Country Music Awards, held in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to top female, Johnson takes home trophies for top single and top video for her hit 'I Don`t Want You to Go.'

1999 - Nine Inch Nails makes their first-ever appearance at a televised honors show when they perform at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards.

1999 - Continuing her awards streak, multiplatinum recording artist Lauryn Hill nabs four trophies at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards - one short of her output at the Grammys earlier in the year.

1998 - Lucio Battisti, considered Italy`s greatest contemporary singer/songwriter, dies in Milan. He is 55. A recluse since 1976, he is thought to have had a liver ailment.

1998 - German rapper/producer Moses Pelham apologizes for his alleged broadcast incitement to assault Viva TV host Stefan Raab. 'I regret the consequences that this joke has had,' says Pelham.

1998 - Pioneer synth-pop band Depeche Mode begins its first concert outing in five years in Helsinki. The week prior, the band plays several warm-up gigs in Estonia, Latvia, and Russia including a Sept. 5 show in Moscow`s Red Square.

1998 - Bushwick Bill (Richard Shaw), a former member of Rap-A-Lot Records rap act the Geto Boys, sues the label, a division of Virgin Records` Noo Trybe, for an alleged assault by three employees. The suit alleges that Shaw was attacked August 28 after attending a performance at a Houston comedy cafe by label employees who told the rapper that he would not be allowed to break his recording contract, then pulled a gun and punched, hit, and kicked him. Shaw is a 3-foot, 8-inch dwarf.

1997 - Bluesman Junior Wells slips into a coma after suffering a heart attack four days earlier. The harmonica player and singer, 62, had been undergoing treatment in a Chicago Hospital for lymphoma.

1996 - After a career that spanned 56 years on the Grand Ole Opry and a tireless reputation for touring and guarding his bluegrass progeny all the way to New England and beyond, Bill Monroe, the 'Father of Bluegrass,' dies at the age of 84 in a nursing home in Springfield, Tenn., where he was being treated following a stroke earlier in the year.

1995 - Singer Chynna Phillips, the daughter of Mamas and Papas stars Michelle and John Phillips, marries actor William Baldwin. Phillips` former Wilson Phillips partners, Beach Boys` offspring Carnie and Wendy Wilson, are also there.

1982 - Al Green and Patti LaBelle open on Broadway in the gospel musical ``Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.``

1979 - Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens) marries Fouzia Ali at Kensington Mosque in London.

1956 - Elvis Presley appears on CBS-TV`s ``Toast of the Town.`` The show is watched by about one-third of the U.S. public. Host Ed Sullivan is ill and Charles Laughton fills in.

1946 - Doug Ingle of Iron Butterfly is born in Omaha, Neb.

1946 - Keyboardist Billy Preston (``Will It Go Round in Circles``) is born in Houston.

1941 - Otis Redding is born in Dawson, Ga. His biggest hit, the No. 1 song ``(Sitting on) The Dock of the Bay,`` is recorded three days before he is killed in a 1967 plane crash.

1922 - Pipe Major MacKenzie John is born.

Source: http://music.monstersandcritics.com

The nominees for the fifth Digital Music Awards are announced today.

Up for the best pop artist gong are Lily Allen, Sandi Thom, The Kooks, Girls Aloud and Will Young. And moshing it out for best rock artist are Editors, Hard-Fi, Kasabian, Muse and the Mystery Jets. Those in the best electronic artist category are Pete Tong, Coldcut, Rob da Bank, Lorraine and John B.

Meanwhile, Lemar, Nate James, Plan B, Sway and The Streets are fighting for the best urban artist award. In the Best Music Site (fansite) award, Coldplaying.com is up for nomination. To vote for THIS site, click here. For more info on other categories click here

Winners for the only awards dedicated to digital music entertainment are voted for by the public. However, five of the categories – including best innovation, best use of mobile and best artist promotion – will be chosen by judges. New categories include best music blog and best unsigned artist site in the 'people's choice' section.

The BT Digital Music Awards wlll be held on October 3 in Camden and broadcast on Channel Four. Last year's awards, voted for by more than 500,000 people, were dominated by Gorillaz and Coldplay.

For the time being, Ron Sexsmith is satisfied with his career.

The Toronto-based, St. Catharines-born-and-raised songwriter, whose high profile champions include Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Coldplay's Chris Martin, has been thankful for a run that has lasted 10 albums, including his latest, Time Being.

The Juno Award winner is especially cognizant of the fact that, despite modest record sales, he's been able to survive in an industry notorious for its bean-counter mentality.

The only thing missing from his resumé: a hit song -- and Sexsmith it wouldn't have to be recorded by him in order to appreciate it.

After a lifetime of struggle, he'd love to receive a sizable songwriting royalty cheque.

"I just want to take care of everyone in my life," says Sexsmith, who is about to embark on a world tour that will take him to Japan, New Zealand, Australia and England over the next three months.

"As I get into my 40s, it would be nice to write a song that Faith Hill covered," he chuckles.

"There's a song on the new album called Reason For Our Love that I always thought someone like Michael Bublé could do a nice job on. And that's the sort of the thing where you could have sort of a nice nest egg if it goes, you know?"

Sexsmith admits that now that he's entering his 40s, he's getting tired of the travel and would love to spend more time with his girlfriend and two children from a previous marriage.

"I'm kind of dreading it," says Sexsmith, who will be taking the stage with guitarist Tim Bovaconti, bass player Jason Mercer and drummer Don Kerr at the Ovation Music Festival in Stratford late Sunday afternoon.

"Not the shows, the traveling. If I ever made some money, I'd love to sit at home, play piano and drink coffee and appear every now and then. That's been my dream."

But Sexsmith says his desire to avoid travel is more about safety concerns than anything else.

"I'm getting to the point of being afraid of flying," he explains. "It's getting dangerous out there."

He also admits that Time Being's topical matter also has him spooked.

"This record is a lot more moody," says Sexsmith. "Most of the songs, with a few exceptions, are about death and mortality. I lost a couple of high school buddies in the past few years and it's odd going to funerals for people that are the same age as you. That's where I got some of the tunes like Hands Of Time and And Now The Day Is Done and the general mood of the record."

At least Stratford is within driving distance.

CONCERT:

What: Ovation Music Festival

Where: Stratford, corner of Lorne Ave. and Romeo St.

Day: Today through Sunday

Time: 4 p.m. start today

Cost: $45 per day

$108 weekend pass

Phone: 1-888-388-1928

Web: www.standingovation.ca/06/

Blythe Danner, who stars in The Last Kiss, says she catches Coldplay in concert whenever she can. Really.

After all, her daughter Gwyneth Paltrow is married to Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin. “I go to every (Coldplay concert) that comes along, if we’re in the same place, wherever, New York, L.A., I’ve been all of those. When I’m in town I go.

“I adore him,” Danner said of Martin. “And I think it’s great, great stuff. It’s deep. He’s extraordinarly talented and funny and he writes great poems.”

Just don’t expect to see Danner in the front row. "I’m usually in back with my daughter, screaming just as loud as everybody else,” she says.

Otherwise, Danner — who is an incredibly young looking 63- year-old — says her fountain of youth comes from being a grandmother. Paltrow and Martin had son Moses this year after having daughter Apple in 2004. "Being a grandmother has probably done the most for my heart and soul and happiness,” said Danner.

“I used to glaze over when my friends would go on about it. I’d say, ‘Oh, please don’t tell me how incredible it is.’ But then here I am. It’s really profound. It’s just very, very deep. It’s very primal.”

Danner, who has has starred in two Meet The Parents films opposite Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller and Teri Polo, says another one is coming. “I heard there was, I said to Bob, ‘Next we’ll be on canes, then walkers, then wheelchairs, but keep them coming.’

“Oh, it’s fun. I just go and laugh. Sit in the corner and basically laugh at everybody.”

Source: calgarysun.com

The Orchard, the world's leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, and QTRAX, the world's first ad-supported peer-to-peer (P2P) music network and a division of Brilliant Technologies Inc. (OTCBB: BLLN), today announced a licensing agreement that will make The Orchard's full catalogue available through QTRAX. The deal extends the presence of The Orchard into the P2P space and significantly expands the scope of QTRAX by adding the world's largest catalogue of independent music to its service.

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 Barenaked Ladies, 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."QTRAX has developed an innovative P2P music service combining the power of viral marketing with an ad-supported revenue model that fairly compensates rights owners," said Greg Scholl, chief executive of The Orchard. "By licensing our catalogue to QTRAX, we help our labels and artists build audiences and sell music."

Allan Klepfisz, President and CEO of QTRAX, said, "The independent music sector continues to grow its market share exponentially and The Orchard, with its rich and constantly growing catalogue, is better positioned than any other company to represent this segment of the industry. We regard our association with The Orchard as a critical component of the success of the QTRAX business model, and we look forward to working together to market independent music in new and creative ways."

Source: marketwire.com

Ever since Coldplay burst their way onto the scene just over six years ago, steadily transforming into global superstars, whenever the latest sound-alike has come along they’ve been thrown into the same ‘spin-off’ league as the likes of Keane, Athlete and Embrace.

This is bound to happen with Touriste.

But when, in a rather crowded Purple Turtle in Camden, set opener ‘Your Move’ is filled with keys and a stomping rhythm very much reminiscent to that of ‘The Scientist’, it’s hard not to see why Touriste should head this league.

Nevertheless, the line between inspiration and plagiarism hasn’t been crossed by any means. One case in point is that lead singer/pianist/guitarist Sam Harris is sporting a pair of Adidas sweatpants, rather than denims that you might find on, well, every other front man of a band in the country as well his three band mates. Matched by his noble, fragile vocals on ‘It’s Not Safe’; “I’m alone in thinking I’m right, I’ll run and I’ll run until I drop”: there is a slight sense of poise he delivers that the famous paranoia of Chris Martin would envy.

Forthcoming single ‘Battle On’ sets off with an array of stormy guitars Doves would be proud of, assisted by trampling drums and a mid-section of sweet finger-picking-goodness, it’s clear that Touriste have made an engaging melody of their own. There are still some visible aspects of ‘borrowing’ though, such as the opening chords of ‘What Are We’, where we half expected Harris to sing out the line “Look at the stars, look how they shine…”

Tonight these four Isle of Sheppy-ans have staged a pretty, charming sound of melodious guitars and keys capable of becoming more than just a Coldplay spin-off. These songs deserve a bigger place to be played in, and we’re certain they will be.

Source: http://www.gigwise.com

It's yet another measure of their success. Franz Ferdinand's huge hit Take Me Out has been covered by American satirist Weird Al Yankovic on his new album.

Best known for his Eighties parodies of hits such as Michael Jackson's Beat It, Weird Al has covered the Franz track on Straight Outta Lynwood.

The track, Polkarama, sits alongside parodies of songs by the Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Gorillaz, Snoop Dogg and The Pussycat Dolls, among others.

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

Vivendi SA, the owner of Universal Music Group, agreed Wednesday to pay $2.09 billion to acquire BMG Music Publishing Group from media company Bertelsmann in a deal that will give the French company the world's largest music publishing catalog and songs by artists such as Coldplay and Robbie Williams.

Vivendi beat out a group of other bidders that reportedly included Warner Music Group Corp., Viacom Inc. and EMI Group PLC. Its Universal division was thought to have the nod from the beginning, because due to its smaller music publishing arm it was likely to face fewer regulatory constraints than EMI or Warner.

Universal Music is already the biggest recorded music company in the world, and the BMG unit is expected to be absorbed by the Universal publishing group.BMG Music Publishing owns the rights to more than 1 million songs by recording artists such as Nelly, Maroon 5, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey, as well as classic hits by the Beach Boys, Barry Manilow and other entertainers.

Some analysts said Vivendi paid too much for the deal and questioned its strategic rationale. Under the former leadership of Jean-Marie Messier, Vivendi embarked on a huge expansion that transformed it from a water utility to a global media conglomerate. But the company was left with a mountain of debt and was forced to sell some assets.

The deal must be approved by U.S. and EU regulators, and they are likely to scrutinize it particularly closely, analysts warned

In Brussels, the independent record label group IMPALA expressed concern the proposed sale would further damage competition in recorded music, but said it had not yet decided whether to make a formal complaint to EU regulators.

IMPALA's legal challenge to the Sony-BMG merger led to an EU court ruling that EU regulatory clearance for the deal was illegal, forcing regulators to screen the tie-up again.

BMG Music Publishing's revenue totaled $475 million (371 million euros) in 2005.

Gwyneth Paltrow is the latest celebrity to offer her advice on how to get in shape after having a baby.

The wife of Coldplay main man Chris Martin and mother to Moses and Apple has given full backing to going to the gym as the way for new mums to shed any unwanted weight.

Gwyneth said that she found it hard to lose weight after first baby Apple was born in 2004 and only started making headway when she returned to working out regularly."It's all lovely when you are pregnant; but when you are not pregnant and you haven't been [to the gym] for a couple months and you are still carrying tons of extra weight and everything's all hanging and sagging, you think, 'How is this ever going to go back?' But it does if you do a lot of working out," the actress told Harper's Bazaar.

Gwyneth is now a firm believer in going to the gym to shed post-pregnancy pounds. She has worked out to regain her figure following the birth of the couple's second child, Moses, in April this year.

More on this story here