MTV’S HOPE FOR HAITI NOW DREW 83 MILLION VIEWERS
MTV’s Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief, drew a cumulative audience of more than 83 million viewers and a gross average audience of more than 24 million viewers in the United States, according to Nielsen Media Research. The telethon has now raised more than 61 million dollars in donations from the general public to date. Hope for Haiti Now aired on Friday on most networks including MTV, Vh1, CMT, NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN, HBO and Showtime.
BRITNEY SPEARS TO AUCTION DRESS FOR HAITI
Britney Spears is lending a hand to the people of Haiti. According to the Associated Press, a court commissioner approved a request allowing the singer to donate the dress she wore to the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards so it can be auctioned, with the proceeds going to help Haitian earthquake victims. The court’s permission was needed because the pop singer remains under a court-ordered conservatorship. Her father, Jamie, who will oversee the donation, controls his 28-year-old daughter’s personal and financial affairs. The 2008 MTV VMAs kicked off Spears’ comeback; she won three awards at the show, including Video of the Year for “Piece of Me.”
MILEY & MARIAH JOIN COWELL’S HAITI BENEFIT SONG
Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey and Jon Bon Jovi have joined the list of stars pitching in on American Idol judge Simon Cowell’s charity single, which will benefit the Haitian relief efforts. According to England’s The Sun, the singers will appear on the cover of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts,” which will also feature Susan Boyle, Leona Lewis and Rod Stewart. The recording of the song kicked off in London over the weekend. All proceeds will be split between the Sun’s Helping Haiti fund and the official Disasters Emergency Committee appeal. No word yet when the single will be released. Meanwhile, MTV’s Hope For Haiti Now event set a record for funds raised by a telethon with over 58-million dollars and counting. The iTunes album of the music from the show has already hit number one, notching the biggest one-day album pre-order in iTunes history.
Learn more about what you can do to help at HopeForHaitiNow.org or call (877) 99-HAITI to make a donation now.
KE$HA & DRAKE ADDED TO BAMBOOZLE
Ke$ha and Drake have been added to the Bamboozle Festival, which will take place at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey on May 1st and 2nd. They join Motion City Soundtrack, Bullet For My Valentine and Minus The Bear, as well as the previously announced Mute Math, Girl Talk, Paramore, Angels & Airwaves, MGMT and Weezer. Drake will perform right before Paramore on Saturday, May 1st and Ke$ha will grace the stage both nights of the festival. For more, head to TheBamboozle.com.
REDONE TALKS MICHAEL JACKSON COLLABORATION
GRAMMY-nominated producer RedOne, who helped Lady Gaga top charts around the world, believes that music he worked on with the late Michael Jackson could be released. The 37-year-old Moroccan-born producer recorded with the “King of Pop” in Las Vegas in 2008 and 2009 and in Los Angeles in 2009. While the results are far from the finished product, RedOne believes he has enough material to work on for a record, although any release would have to involve an agreement with Jackson’s record label and estate. RedOne is nominated for four GRAMMYs including Album of the Year for Lady Gaga’s The Fame and Record of the Year for Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” The 52nd annual GRAMMY Awards will be handing out on Sunday at 8 PM Eastern on CBS.
KINGS OF LEON CHANGE LABELS? NO.
According to several Internet reports this weekend, it was rumored that the Kings of Leon might have left their label, Columbia Records, and signed with Warner Bros. The band released a statement to deny the reports saying, “Consider the source. Kings of Leon have always had and continue to have a great relationship with their label.” Learn more at KillYourStereo.com.
JOHN MAYER AND TAYLOR SWIFT HAVE DINNER
What’s going between John Mayer and Taylor Swift? Sources tell PerezHilton.com that the singer-songwriters were seen seated next to each other at dinner over the weekend in Nashville, where Mayer is in town to take part of Keith Urban’s CMT Crossroads special. The gossip site reports that this is just the latest in a series of times the duo has been seen dining together. Learn more at PerezHilton.com.
TRINA & LADY GAGA COLLABORATION?
According to Rap-up.com, Lady Gaga penned a song for Trina’s new album called “Let Them Hoes Fight.” The track was produced by Jim Jonsin, who brought the song to Trina. Before Gaga was a household name, Jonsin was in a writing session, working on tracks in a studio, while the singer happened to be writing for another artist. The two hit it off and banged out two songs; one called “Freezer Burn” and another “Kaboom.” After playing the tracks back, Jonsin said, “As far as the labels are concerned, just let them hoes fight over who gets the song.” Everyone in the room immediately told Jonsin that is a great song title. Trina later heard the song and loved it. Jonsin said the song will appear on Trina’s next album, Amazin’, but he said he is not sure whether Gaga will be featured on the track.
AMY WINEHOUSE “BLEW UP” HER HOUSE
Amy Winehouse is having some problems with her North London home. According to British paper The Daily Star, the embattled singer “blew up” part of her house when she blew some fuses while playing loud music. She’s now holed up in a hotel while people work to repair her home.
OWL CITY GOES NUMBER ONE IN THE U-K
Owl City have taken the U-S by storm with their smash hit “Fireflies,” and it seems like the song is making an impact across the pond as well. According to NME.com, the tune has given City their first number one single in the U-K. The song has actually gone to the top of the charts in quite a few countries, including Australia and Ireland as well. Learn more at NME.com.
THE FRAY ON PBS
The Fray recently recorded an episode of Soundstage on PBS and now there is information on when it is going to air. According to the band’s official Web site, the special will be on PBS this Thursday at 10 PM Eastern. Learn more at TheFray.net.
LUDACRIS HOSTING NEW MTV2 SHOW SPRITE STEP OFF
Ludacris is hosting a new MTV2 docu-series called Sprite Step Off. The series, which premieres on Sunday, follows six step teams from fraternities and sororities across the country as they give their all in competing in the Sprite Step Off, the largest national step team competition in history with a combined prize pool of 1.5-million dollars in scholarships. The show is shot on location at college campuses around the country and is a six-part, half-hour docu-series that follows the passions, dreams, sweat and tears of student step performers. Sprite Step Off premieres Sunday at 3 PM Eastern.
JOHN MAYER TWEETS ON HAITI TELETHON
The Hope For Haiti Now telethon that took place on Friday night was an enormous success, already raising more than 57-million dollars for earthquake relief. John Mayer wasn’t able to be a part of the performances that took place, but he took to his Twitter account to write about the event. The “Daughters” singer said that he’s “proud to live in a country where even in one of the worst economic times, we pool together millions of dollars to help others.” Follow John at Twitter.com/JohnCMayer.
MGMT INFLUENCED BY GAGA AND KANYE
MGMT has revealed more about their upcoming album, Congratulations. Band member Andrew VanWyngarden told NME.com that their new effort was partially influenced by Lady Gaga and Kanye West. VanWyngarden also stated some of the new songs deal with the Brooklyn duo’s newfound success and fame. MGMT’s last disc was 2007’s Oracular Spectacular.
U2 BEGIN WORK ON NEW ALBUM
U2 have begun work on their next album. According to Entertainment Weekly, The Edge says the new disc will be something “really special.” The effort doesn’t have a title yet, but the guitarist explained that the band worked on the new material in between their world tour stops and some of new songs are “really, really happy.” For now, fans can head over to iTunes to buy the Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna tune called “Stranded” that the group performed on the Hope For Haiti Now telethon on Friday.
BO BICE HAS ANOTHER SON!
Bo Bice and his wife Caroline have given birth to their third son. According to People.com, the former American Idol contestant welcomed Jacob Bice into the world on Thursday morning. The baby weighed in at 8.5-pounds.
GET DVD WITH WE ARE ONE INAUGURATION CONCERT
It’s been a year since Barack Obama was inaugurated and soon, you can relive many of the festivities thanks to a new DVD. It’s called The Official Inaugural Celebration DVD and the special-edition two-disc collector’s set boasts the pre-inaugural We Are One concert that included performances by Bruce Springsteen, U2, John Mellencamp, Jon Bon Jovi, James Taylor and many others. Pick up the DVD when it comes out on April 13th.
HAYLEY WILLIAMS JOINS WEEZER
Last week, Paramore’s Hayley Williams joined Weezer onstage to perform the California band’s classic tune “Say It Ain’t So.” Rivers Cuomo and Hayley sang the song as a duet. This was the first show Cuomo has performed since suffering a punctured lung after his tour bus crashed last month. Hayley wasn’t the only special guest at the Florida concert; Jermaine Dupri joined Weezer onstage and helped sing “Can’t Stop Partying.”
TEDDY PENDERGRASS LAID TO REST
According to the Associated Press, thousands paid their respects to R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass at a memorial service in Philadelphia on Saturday. Pendergrass, who is best known as the singer of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and many other hits, died back on January 13th at age 59 after a battle with colon cancer. A 200-member gospel choir sang at Saturday’s service at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, which also featured singers Melba Moore and Tyrese Gibson paying tribute to the late singer. About four-thousand people attended the public memorial. Pendergrass was later laid to rest at a private burial service.
