Avant-garde German choreographer Pina Bausch dies

(GERMAN, CHOREOGRAPHER, BAUSCH, DANCE, DIRECTOR, COMPANY)

By Sarah Marsh
BERLIN (Reuters) - German choreographer Pina Bausch, whose work is credited with revolutionizing the language of modern dance, died on Tuesday after being diagnosed with cancer only days earlier. She was 68 years old.
Bausch, artistic director of the Wuppertal Dance Theater, earned world renown for her avant-garde performances and choreographies mixing dance, sound and fragmented narrative.
"Just the Sunday before last, she was standing on stage with her company in the Wuppertal Opera house," the dance-theater company, which she had led since 1973, said on its website.
It said Pausch had been diagnosed with cancer only five days before her death.
"Unlike almost no other, she broke out of traditional structures in dance, modernized classical ballet and coined her own, idiosyncratic style," German Vice-Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement.
Bausch choreographed and staged her own pieces, such as Cafe Mueller and Viktor, and performed in films by iconic film directors Federico Fellini and Pedro Almodovar.
The German choreographer had been preparing to work together with director Wim Wenders on what was being called the first 3-D dance feature, a project named "Pina."
From Paris, where Bausch often performed, the city`s Mayor Bertrand Delanoe and France`s Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand issued statements of condolence.
"The world of dance is in mourning today after the loss of one of its most brilliant representatives," Mitterrand said.
Pina Bausch began her dance studies at the age of 14 at the Folkwang School in Essen, where she studied with several teachers, including the German expressionist choreographer Kurt Jooss.
Bausch went to New York in 1960 to study at The Juilliard School, later becoming a member of the Metropolitan Opera`s ballet company.
In 1962, Bausch returned to Germany where she became a soloist in the newly-formed Folkwang Ballett. In 1973 she became artistic director and choreographer at the newly founded Wuppertal dance-theater company.
"Pina Bausch continually pushed the boundaries of what we call dance," said John Neumeier, the director of the Hamburg ballet company. "I simply cannot imagine a successor to Pina Bausch." (Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Additional Reporting by James Mackenzie in Paris; Editing by Noah Barkin)
Original article

Koons, with eye for pop, brings Popeye show to UK

(KOONS, SERIES, POPEYE, SYMBOL, INFLATABLE, THROUGH)

By Mike Collett-White
LONDON (Reuters) - Artist Jeff Koons has presented a series of Popeye paintings in London, saying the cartoon hero born of the 1929 Depression was a symbol of self confidence, before adding enigmatically: "May be art is the spinach."
The 54-year-old American, one of the world`s most successful artists dubbed the "king of kitsch" for his shiny, balloon-like creations and references to pop culture, is marking the first major survey of his work to be held in a public English gallery.
"Jeff Koons: Popeye Series" opens at the Serpentine Gallery in London on July 2 and runs until September 13.
As well as the Popeye canvases, it features a series of Koons`s trademark casts of inflatable toys in the shape of lobsters, walruses, turtles and monkeys.
Some of them appear to be pushing through wire fencing or garden chairs in what some critics see as a symbol of people determined to get through the recession.
"I always see a little bit of my father in Popeye," Koons told reporters at a preview of the show.
"But something that`s not so personal is that it`s `I yam what I yam`, and it`s this self-acceptance.
"And for art to function ... you first have to trust in yourself and when you trust in yourself you can follow your interests and follow them on a profound level."
Speaking of his fascination for inflatable animals, which he reproduces in minute detail using aluminum and paint, he added:
"In our own life we`re inflatables. We take a breath as a symbol of optimism, we exhale and it`s a symbol of death. We`re in a permanent state of being optimistic."
"FEEL-GOOD ART"
Koons said he wanted his art to make the viewer feel good about life.
"Art`s this vehicle that connects you with human history and that`s what these works are about. I want the viewer to come into contact with the work and to feel that everything about their life to that moment is perfect, absolutely perfect."
Another recurring theme in the show is the inflatable lobster, a reference to surrealist Salvador Dali`s use of the animal in his art as well as his elongated mustache.
In the 2003 canvas "Elvis," the creature is painted over two images of a semi-naked woman staring voluptuously at the viewer, a sexual reference that also runs through Koons` art.  Continued...
Original article

U2 launch world tour in Barcelona on giant stage

(BARCELONA, MILLION, WHICH, SHARPLY, UNITED, STATES)

By Ben Harding
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Irish rock group U2 kick off their first tour in three years on Tuesday, playing to 90,000 fans in Barcelona on one of the biggest concert stages ever built.
Over the next four months U2 will perform to an estimated three million fans in 31 cities across Europe and North America, with more dates expected to be announced next year.
The " U2 360 Tour" lives up to its name with a round stage which fans will surround inside FC Barcelona`s Nou Camp stadium.
Around 500 ticket holders slept outside the venue on Monday night hoping to grab a spot right by the stage when the doors open, local media reported.
That will be easier this time around, organizers say, with the new stage concept giving more fans a clearer view as well as allowing for more people, meaning lower ticket prices during the recession.
The U2 360 Tour is reported to be the group`s most expensive to date, costing an estimated $100 million, but industry experts suggest it could be money well spent.
Live performance is becoming an increasingly important source of revenue for major acts like U2 as sales of physical CDs declines sharply and online piracy remains rampant.
Billboard, an authoritative music industry publication, believes the U2 360 Tour could become one of the highest grossing ever, possibly eclipsing its 2005-6 Vertigo tour which earned the band $389 million.
GRAND STATEMENT
The stage, which takes 120 trucks to transport, is another grand statement from the four rockers who have won more Grammy awards than any other band.
On the Zoo TV tour, huge video screens overloaded fans with flashing images of pop culture. On the PopMart tour lead singer Bono appeared from inside a 12 meter glitterball shaped like a lemon.
The abiding visual memory on this tour is sure to be the "Claw," a four-legged "monster" that towers 50 meters over the band`s heads and on which the sound system is mounted.
Bono, plus guitarists The Edge and Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr on drums will be showcasing their 12th studio album, "No Line on the Horizon."
Reviews of the record, which mixes trademark atmospheric guitars with more eclectic sounds from Morocco where it was partly recorded, were generally good, and it went straight to No. 1 in 30 countries including the United States and Britain.
Early sales in the United States, however, were sharply down on those for U2`s previous album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," released in 2004.
(Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paul Casciato)
Original article

First $1 million find for U.S. Antiques Roadshow

(MILLION, APPRAISAL, ANTIQUES, ROADSHOW, RECORD, STATEMENT)

By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A woman who inherited some Chinese carved jade from her father has scored the first $1 million appraisal from experts on the U.S. television program "Antiques Roadshow," the producers said on Monday.
In a record for the show, four pieces of Chinese carved jade and celadon from the Chien Lung Dynasty (1736-1795), including a large bowl crafted for the Emperor, were given a conservative auction estimate of up to $1.07 million.
"For 13 years, we`ve been hoping to feature a million-dollar appraisal on `Antiques Roadshow;` it`s been our `Great White Whale,`" executive producer Marsha Bemko said.
"We`re thrilled that, despite this year`s slow economy, `Roadshow` finally captured this elusive trophy," she said in a statement released by Boston-based production company WGBH, which licensed the format from the British show of the same name produced by the BBC.
On both shows, members of the public bring in items to be appraised by professionals in the hope of discovering that junk from the attic is actually a valuable treasure.
A spokeswoman said the appraisal was a record for the U.S. show, which is not affiliated with the BBC original. According to British media, the BBC`s version had its first million pound appraisal ($1.655 million) last November -- a scale model of Anthony Gormley`s artwork, "The Angel of the North."
The statement said the owner of the jade inherited the collection from her father, who bought the objects in the 1930s and 1940s, while stationed in China as a military liaison.
She brought them to an "Antiques Roadshow" event in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday.
Asian arts appraiser James Callahan said the fine quality of the pieces indicated they were not made for tourists.
"He was rewarded by finding a mark on the bottom of the jade bowl that translates as `by Imperial order,`" the statement said.
The previous highest appraisal on the show was a 1937 painting by American Abstract Expressionist artist Clyfford Still, found in Palm Springs, California, in 2008. The painting had been given a retail estimate of $500,000.
The appraisal of the jade items will be shown in the next series of "Antiques Roadshow" starting January 4 on PBS, the producers said.
Original article

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First $1 million find for U.S. Antiques Roadshow
First $1 million find for U.S. Antiques Roadshow

"No Clothes" brings together comics, politicos

(COMEDY, FORMER, SECRETARY, PRODUCERS, USCAF, ASPEN)

By Georg Szalai
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - "The News Has No Clothes," a stage show mixing politics and comedy and featuring comedian Lewis Black and former White House press secretary Dana Perino, might be the next late-night television format.
Veteran comedy producers and masterminds of the defunct U.S. Comedy Arts Festival (USCAF) in Aspen, Colorado, are returning to the mountain resort as part of this week`s Aspen Ideas Festival to try out their idea. If the stage show works, its producers hope to pitch the concept -- described as "The View" and "Politically Incorrect" meet the vintage BBC show "That Was the Week That Was" -- to TV networks for a possible late-night slot.
The first trial Thursday will feature co-hosts Perino (press secretary for President George W. Bush), Black, comedian D.L. Hughley, public radio host Kurt Andersen and "Daily Show" correspondent Larry Wilmore. It will include video packages by the Onion. Among the issues to be debated are the role of the news media, the economy, President Obama`s performance and the culture wars. Guests for specific topics will include former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. The show also will feature stand-up performances.
The team behind the idea includes Joe Lang, director of festival producer Jazz Aspen Snowmass and former local producer for USCAF; Craig Minassian, assistant press secretary and director of TV news in the Clinton White House and USCAF director; Robert Morton, former executive producer of "Late Show With David Letterman" and Comedy Central`s "Chocolate News"; and Stu Smiley, executive producer of "Flight of the Conchords" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" and a USCAF founder.
"So many late-night shows are single-person and host-driven," Morton said. "But you can plug various talent into this format."
The Aspen experiment also is a sign of the times. Facing cutbacks in the television development and pilot process, the producers decided to take matters into their own hands by taping the show, with the goal of showing it to networks themselves.
(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)
Original article

Jackson`s mother wins temporary control of estate

(ANGELES, JACKSON, KATHERINE, CHILDREN, ESTATE, COURT)

By Jill Serjeant
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson`s mother Katherine on Monday won temporary guardianship of the late singer`s children and control of his estate as a legal battle over his kids, money and belongings began to take shape.
Katherine Jackson won the first round in what could become a protracted fight over an estate that could be valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. It is unclear if Jackson drew up a will before he died.
Questions about the singer`s health prior to his death resurfaced Monday when Celebrity Website TMZ.com reported that Los Angeles County coroner officials returned to Jackson`s rented home looking for more medication.
Four days after the singer`s death from cardiac arrest, his father, Joe Jackson said the family was awaiting results of a second, private autopsy, and he expected to get details "real soon." He said funeral arrangements had not been made.
"We don`t have a timeframe for that (the funeral) because I want to see how this autopsy is coming out," Jackson said after a family meeting at his home in suburban Los Angeles.
Two autopsies have been carried out on Jackson`s body, one by the coroner`s office and a second by a private pathologist. Speculation about what caused Jackson`s heart to stop has centered on his prescription drug use, but toxicology tests are expected to take several more weeks.
The pop star died on Thursday at his rented Los Angeles home, days before kicking off a string of concerts in London that were designed to revive a career grounded by his 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.
On Monday, promoters AEG Live released pictures from a dress rehearsal two days before Jackson`s death. Jackson looks thin, but much like his typical singing and dancing self. AEG Live declined to comment on reports it had video footage of the rehearsals that could be released on DVD.
JACKSON`S MOM WINS TEMPORARY CONTROL
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Monday approved the appointment of Katherine Jackson as temporary guardian of Prince Michael, 12, Paris Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7, pending a hearing next week.
Katherine Jackson was also named "special administrator" of her son`s estate until a July 6 hearing, but the court order stipulated that she was not to take possession of money or property, except as permitted by the court.
In her court filing, Katherine Jackson said she was seeking control of funds "for the exclusive use of the decedent`s children" and was concerned about bank accounts controlled by unnamed "third parties."
Jackson was reported to be as much as $500 million in debt when he died, but his estate has been estimated at $1 billion or more and is likely to rise following his death. Court papers list the value of the estate as "unknown."
His two eldest children were from his marriage to Debbie Rowe and the third is from an unidentified surrogate mother. In court papers, Katherine Jackson said the children had "no relationship with their biological mother," and it was unclear whether Rowe would also seek custody of the kids.
"Whoever has ultimate custody of these children, who are probably going to be the beneficiaries of his estate, will get control of his money to care for the children. So to that extent, whoever the permanent guardian will be will have tremendous sums of money to take care of the children," entertainment attorney Jerry Reisman told Reuters.  Continued...
Original article

Hip-hop stars looking for love on VH1 shows

(SERIES, DENTON, CHILLI, LIVING, SEASON, PROJECT)

By James Hibberd
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - VH1 is giving two female hip-hop artists their own reality series -- Sandra "Pepa" Denton of Salt-N-Pepa and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas from TLC.
The as-yet-untitled series are scheduled to premiere in 2010. Eight half-hour episodes have been ordered for each.
The "Pepa" series follows Denton as she begins her to search for love after living a celibate life for years.
"Chilli" from R&B group TLC is also searching for romance and has enlisted the help of Brooklyn relationships expert Tionna Smalls.
The network has also renewed "Celebrity Fit Club" for a seventh season and "Sober House with Dr. Drew" for a second season.
Recently VH1 also announced new primetime series including Jessica Simpson`s "The Price Of Beauty;" a series about the family and career of "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino; "The OCD Project," about obsessive-compulsive patients living together; and "The Aspen Project," a docusoap set in one of the wealthiest communities in the world.
(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)
Original article

Comic-Con boasts heavy TV lineup

(COMIC, EVENT, PROGRAM, FIRST, PANEL, MIDSEASON)

By James Hibberd
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - TV studios plan a strong presence at Comic-Con, the annual fan convention that seems to feature a greater number of series each summer.
Next month`s lineup at the San Diego confab includes a few titles beyond the usual sci-fi and fantasy genres. Procedurals such as Fox`s "Bones" and USA`s "Burn Notice," Fox`s musical "Glee" and Discovery`s "MythBusters" are in the mix.
Warner Bros. TV is bringing 11 shows to the event, the most the studio has featured.
"Comic-Con is the one place where Warner Bros. cross-divisionally presents a face to the consumer," said Lisa Gregorian, the studio`s executive vp marketing.
One returning WBTV program is CBS` "The Big Bang Theory," which the studio brought to the event for the first time last year. Most sitcoms would not be a good fit for the Comic-Con crowd, but the geek-friendly "Big Bang" drew an enthusiastic response. The studio hopes to make a panel for the show a regular event, particularly after its ratings surged last fall.
When selecting programs for Comic-Con, Gregorian said any show with a mythology automatically belongs, and even genre series not premiering until midseason should screen.
"Our philosophy is that if it`s ready, and it`s great, and you`re not making a lot of changes to it, you should show it to the fans," said Gregorian, whose midseason program "Human Target" will be shown.
ABC Studios is hosting at least seven panels, including one for the final season of ABC`s "Lost," credited as the first TV show to launch at Comic-Con.
ABC takes a different approach to its "Lost" panel. Instead of simply screening footage and answering questions, the event is a carefully planned production that typically includes specifically shot footage and surprise guests.
"We`ve been working on the `Lost` panel for literally months," said Mike Benson, executive vp marketing at ABC Entertainment. "We want the audience to experience `Lost` in a fully entertaining way."
This year, ABC is extending that approach to panels for its new dramas "V" and "Flash Forward."
"We don`t like to just stick people on a panel and have them answer questions," Benson said. "We feel like we have to do more for the audience than just promote the show. By having that experience, it gets them talking about the panel more."
20th TV is offering about nine panels, including those for Fox`s new animated comedy "The Cleveland Show" and the newly revived "Futurama."
NBC Universal has at least eight programs, but most are for Sci Fi Channel and USA, with the studio planning only a "Heroes" panel for NBC. ("Chuck," produced by WBTV, also will have a panel.) The studio`s apocalyptic midseason drama "Day One" will not be shown -- an NBC Universal spokesperson said it is "too early" -- but there will be some buzz-building marketing.
In one network`s case, Comic-Con itself will be used as programing. G4 will broadcast what is billed as the first televised panel in the event`s history. Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira will host the two-hour "Star Wars Spectacular," including a table read of a new "Clone Wars" script.
(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)
Original article

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Comic-Con boasts heavy TV lineup

Michael Jackson fans hold candlelit vigil in Moscow

(JACKSON, MICHAEL, DEATH, WHILE, SEVERAL, FAILED, AFTER)

Michael Jackson, the King of pop
Michael Jackson - pop music legend
Russia had special romance with Michael Jackson - expert
Fans sing Michael Jackson’s songs on Los Angeles streets
MOSCOW, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - A crowd of Michael Jackson fans held a candlelit vigil outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow overnight, placing flowers and pictures by the wall.
A steady stream of fans has been visiting the site to pay respects since Friday morning, when news of the King of Pop`s death broke.
Among the many messages placed among the flowers and candles is one in colored chalk that reads: "Michael Jackson, we will love you forever! Rest in peace, King."
About 100 cards have been stuck to the wall with images of Jackson, while portraits tied with black ribbons line the pavement. One of the cards carries the message: "Michael lives, and will live forever."
Jackson`s death of a heart attack at the age of 50 has dominated the global media over the past three days, and social networking and video sites have been flooded with tributes. While grieving fans have been celebrating Jackson`s musical legacy, several questions have arisen over the circumstances of his death.
Los Angeles police have held an "extensive interview" with the cardiologist who tried to resuscitate Michael Jackson before his death.
Dr Conrad Murray reportedly disappeared several hours after Jackson`s death on Thursday, and failed to sign a death certificate.
The Rev Jesse Jackson, a long-serving politician who has been maintaining close contact with Michael Jackson`s family, told reporters that the doctor had failed to speak to relatives after the death, and that many questions remained unanswered.
 
Original article

Michael Jackson autopsy `permissible` says top Russian Muslim

(JACKSON, MICHAEL, THEIR, 50, DEATH, GIZATULLIN, WORLD)

Pop icon Michael Jackson dies at 50
Michael Jackson sets London concerts
Talk Of TheTown: Jackson on top
Michael Jackson turns 50
MOSCOW, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - Performing autopsies on famous Muslims such as Michael Jackson is acceptable in order to establish their cause of death, a senior Russian mufti told RIA Novosti on Friday.
"He was a great world figure who worked for the sake of love and peace. His work belongs to the entire world community. And now doctors and specialists must have their say," said Damir Gizatullin, the deputy head of the Council of Russian Muftis.
Jackson, who died in Los Angeles on Thursday of a heart attack at the age of 50, is believed to have accepted Islam in 2007.
Gizatullin added that Jackson`s millions of fans had to be sure of the cause of death, so as to avoid "rumors and worry."
While Islamic tradition dictates that a believer must be buried before sundown on the day of his or her death, Gizatullin said that, "In today`s global world, Muslims live in different parts of the planet, and it is very difficult to bury a person on the same day. This is very tough and this requirement is not always fulfilled."
Jackson, born near Chicago in Gary, Indiana, spent almost his entire life in the public eye, shooting to stardom in the 1970s with the Jackson 5, a pre-teen Michael and brothers stunning the U.S. with their vocals and synchronized dance routines. The group, who recorded for Motown, was the first to see their four debut singles reach the top of the U.S. charts.
As an adult, his Thriller album sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling album of all time. However, his later career was hit by allegations of child abuse and financial difficulties.
 
Original article

`King of pop` Michael Jackson dies at 50

(JACKSON, MICHAEL, 50, US, THEIR, BROTHER, ALBUM)

Pop icon Michael Jackson dies at 50
Michael Jackson sets London concerts
Talk Of TheTown: Jackson on top
Michael Jackson turns 50
MOSCOW, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - Michael Jackson, the U.S. pop star whose career spanned five decades, has died of a heart attack in Los Angeles. He was 50.
Emergency services were called to his Beverly Hills home at 12.21 p.m. on Thursday (19.21 GMT), the TMZ.com website said. He was pronounced dead some three hours later at the UCLA medical centre.
His death came shortly before he was about to take part in series of comeback concerts in London.
His brother, Jermaine, told journalists that doctors had attempted to revive the singer for more than an hour.
"The family request that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time," he added.
Jackson, born in Gary, Indiana, near Chicago spent almost his entire life in the public eye, shooting to stardom in the 1970s with the Jackson 5, a pre-teen Michael and brothers stunning the U.S. with their vocals and synchronized dance routines. The group, who recorded for Motown, was the first to see their four debut singles reach the top of the U.S. charts.
As an adult, his Thriller album sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling album of all time.
His later career was hit by allegations of child abuse and financial difficulties.
"Today, the world has lost one of the most influential and iconic figures in the music industry. From his performances with the Jackson 5, to the premiere of the `moonwalk` and `Thriller,` Michael was a pop phenomenon who never stopped pushing the envelope of creativity," California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
 
Original article

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Stone Age bone flute could be world`s oldest musical instrument

(FLUTE, FOUND, IVORY, HOHLE, CONARD, CAVERN, FIGURE)

MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) - A 35,000 year-old bone flute found by archeologists in southwest Germany is the world`s oldest known musical instrument, the Nature Journal said.
The flute, made from a vulture wing bone, is about 21 cm long and 8 mm wide, and has five holes and a notched end. It was found by a team of scientists led by University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard in the Hohle Fels cavern to the west of the city of Ulm last year. Along with the flute, scientists also found fragments of two other flutes made of ivory, presumably from a mammoth tusk.
An ivory flute fragment was also found during excavations at another site, some 25 km northwest of Ulm.
"The modern humans that came into our area already had a whole range of symbolic artifacts, figurative art, depictions of mythological creatures, many kinds of personal ornaments and also a well-developed musical tradition," Professor Conard was quoted as saying.
The Hohle Fels cavern made headlines in May after the same team discovered a female ivory figure, possibly the world`s oldest human figure. Other discoveries included animal carvings and a stone object that archeologists say could be a prehistoric "sex toy."
 
Original article

Bon Jovi makes "Stand" with Iranian protest video

(VIDEO, IRANIAN, MADADIAN, SESSION, FARSI, SAMBORA, RECORD)

By Gary Graff
DETROIT (Billboard) - A new version of Ben E. King`s "Stand By Me" featuring Jon Bon Jovi dueting in Farsi with exiled Iranian singer Andy Madadian, is making the rounds as an online video.
The track`s co-producer, Don Was, says the video is meant to send "a musical message of worldwide solidarity" to the Iranian people in the aftermath of the country`s recent disputed election.
Was tells Billboard.com that the session, which took place last Wednesday in Los Angeles, was spurred by a conversation he had with Madadian about "whether there was something we could do just to send out a little message of solidarity, remembering the `60s, believing music can change things."
When they arrived to record the song, they found Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora and John Shanks, who`s producing their next album, sitting outside and having lunch.
"They asked what we were doing, I told them, and Jon said, `Look, man, if you do it right now we`ll do it with you,`" Was recalls. "So we did."
Madadian -- who`s lived in the U.S. since the Iranian revolution of 1979 -- and Bon Jovi duet on the song, with both men singing the first verse in Farsi. Sambora plays a guitar solo, with Was on bass, Patrick Leonard on keyboards and Jeff Rothchild on drums.
"We just cut it," Was says, "and the video is the session. It took about four hours and just fell into place nicely." The video, which features footage and still photos from the session, went up on Was` portion of My Damn Channel (www.mydamnchannel.com) on Saturday and was quickly disseminated via MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and other sites. At the end of the video Madadian and Bon Jovi stand next to each other, with the latter holding a sign saying "We are one" in Farsi.
"It is not for sale," Was says. "It wasn`t intended to be on the Billboard charts, wasn`t meant to be a hit record or even pressed on a CD. It`s intended to be downloaded and shared by the Iranian people. The whole idea was to get it into Iran and tell them...to carry on, that the world is watching and we`re with you."
(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)
Original article

TV "pitchman" Mays had heart disease, no trauma

(HEART, TAMPA, DISEASE, TV, TELEVISION, AFTER, FLORIDA)

By Robert Green
TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Billy Mays, well known for pitching a variety of products in U.S. television commercials, had heart disease but did not appear to have suffered head trauma in a rough airplane landing prior to dying in his sleep on Sunday, a medical examiner in Florida said on Monday.
The bearded, black-haired Mays, 50, who gained fame as an enthusiastic TV "pitchman" advertising an array of commercial products, was found dead by his wife at their home in Tampa, Florida.
On Saturday, Mays was among the passengers aboard a U.S. Airways flight from Philadelphia that landed roughly at Tampa International Airport after apparently blowing a tire.
Mays told local TV shortly afterward that objects had dropped from the ceiling of the plane upon impact and he had received a blow on the head, although he said at the time he felt fine.
In a preliminary statement on Monday after an initial autopsy, Hillsborough County medical examiner Vernard Adams said his examination found that Mays had "hypertensive heart disease," which refers to heart disease caused by high blood pressure, but "there was no evidence of any head trauma."
Adams said this heart ailment "was certainly capable of causing the sudden death." He said Mays had died in his sleep.
"It`s not unusual for persons with heart disease to die this young," Adams said, adding that a formal report on the cause of death would be issued only after the results of toxicology tests were considered.
Toxicology tests can show the presence of drugs in the body.
Tampa police said no foul play was suspected.
Executives from the television home-shopping industry praised Mays` role in promoting TV salesmanship.
"DRTV (the direct-response television industry) has grown to be a $300 billion business during the last 20 years, and Billy Mays played a key role in making this possible," Julie Coons, president and CEO of the Electronic Retailing Association, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Robert Green; Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Will Dunham)
Original article

First $1 million find for U.S. Antiques Roadshow

(APPRAISAL, MILLION, ROADSHOW, ANTIQUES, STATEMENT, BBC, WHICH)

By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A woman who inherited some Chinese carved jade from her father has scored the first $1 million appraisal from experts on the U.S. television program "Antiques Roadshow," the producers said on Monday.
In a record for the show, four pieces of Chinese carved jade and celadon from the Chien Lung Dynasty (1736-1795), including a large bowl crafted for the Emperor, were given a conservative auction estimate of up to $1.07 million.
"For 13 years, we`ve been hoping to feature a million-dollar appraisal on `Antiques Roadshow;` it`s been our `Great White Whale,`" executive producer Marsha Bemko said.
"We`re thrilled that, despite this year`s slow economy, `Roadshow` finally captured this elusive trophy," she said in a statement released by Boston-based production company WGBH, which licensed the format from the British show of the same name produced by the BBC.
On both shows, members of the public bring in items to be appraised by professionals in the hope of discovering that junk from the attic is actually a valuable treasure.
A spokeswoman said the appraisal was a record for the U.S. show, which is not affiliated with the BBC original. According to British media, the BBC`s version had its first million pound appraisal ($1.655 million) last November -- a scale model of Anthony Gormley`s artwork, "The Angel of the North."
The statement said the owner of the jade inherited the collection from her father, who bought the objects in the 1930s and 1940s, while stationed in China as a military liaison.
She brought them to an "Antiques Roadshow" event in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday.
Asian arts appraiser James Callahan said the fine quality of the pieces indicated they were not made for tourists.
"He was rewarded by finding a mark on the bottom of the jade bowl that translates as `by Imperial order,`" the statement said.
The previous highest appraisal on the show was a 1937 painting by American Abstract Expressionist artist Clyfford Still, found in Palm Springs, California, in 2008. The painting had been given a retail estimate of $500,000.
The appraisal of the jade items will be shown in the next series of "Antiques Roadshow" starting January 4 on PBS, the producers said.
Original article

Related articles:
First $1 million find for U.S. Antiques Roadshow

First $1 million find for U.S. Antiques Roadshow

(APPRAISAL, MILLION, ROADSHOW, ANTIQUES, STATEMENT, BBC, WHICH)

By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A woman who inherited some Chinese carved jade from her father has scored the first $1 million appraisal from experts on the U.S. television program "Antiques Roadshow," the producers said on Monday.
In a record for the show, four pieces of Chinese carved jade and celadon from the Chien Lung Dynasty (1736-1795), including a large bowl crafted for the Emperor, were given a conservative auction estimate of up to $1.07 million.
"For 13 years, we`ve been hoping to feature a million-dollar appraisal on `Antiques Roadshow;` it`s been our `Great White Whale,`" executive producer Marsha Bemko said.
"We`re thrilled that, despite this year`s slow economy, `Roadshow` finally captured this elusive trophy," she said in a statement released by Boston-based production company WGBH, which licensed the format from the British show of the same name produced by the BBC.
On both shows, members of the public bring in items to be appraised by professionals in the hope of discovering that junk from the attic is actually a valuable treasure.
A spokeswoman said the appraisal was a record for the U.S. show, which is not affiliated with the BBC original. According to British media, the BBC`s version had its first million pound appraisal ($1.655 million) last November -- a scale model of Anthony Gormley`s artwork, "The Angel of the North."
The statement said the owner of the jade inherited the collection from her father, who bought the objects in the 1930s and 1940s, while stationed in China as a military liaison.
She brought them to an "Antiques Roadshow" event in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday.
Asian arts appraiser James Callahan said the fine quality of the pieces indicated they were not made for tourists.
"He was rewarded by finding a mark on the bottom of the jade bowl that translates as `by Imperial order,`" the statement said.
The previous highest appraisal on the show was a 1937 painting by American Abstract Expressionist artist Clyfford Still, found in Palm Springs, California, in 2008. The painting had been given a retail estimate of $500,000.
The appraisal of the jade items will be shown in the next series of "Antiques Roadshow" starting January 4 on PBS, the producers said.
Original article

Rock legends form new band, call it Chickenfoot

(CHICKENFOOT, HAGAR, SMITH, CHART, WE`RE, CHILI, PEPPERS)

By Mike Collett-White
LONDON (Reuters) - Some of the biggest names in rock have banded together to form a new supergroup. They call it Chickenfoot, a name they readily admit is "silly."
While the name may not be to everyone`s taste, Van Halen veterans Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and virtuoso guitarist Joe Satriani rose high in the U.S. charts with their eponymous debut album this month.
"We called ourselves Chickenfoot as a kind of a joke, and people started digging it, and so Chad`s going, `Let`s start a real band`," Hagar said during a boisterous interview with the band in London, where they performed during a European tour.
"Joe had a band called the Squares -- all of a sudden Chickenfoot sounded like a really good name," Hagar joked.
Hagar and Anthony used to jam together at Hagar`s club in Mexico, and when Smith joined them, they gelled. Smith, who still plays for the Chili Peppers, suggested forming a group, and Satriani was invited as the final piece in the jigsaw.
The four members of Chickenfoot have sold tens of millions of records and played thousands of gigs between them over the years, but the childlike enthusiasm for their latest venture comes from starting all over again.
"We`re a new band, even though we`ve got names, we`ve all been in other bands," Hagar told Reuters. "So we have to kind of let the world know who Chickenfoot is, I think."
Bass player Anthony added that he took exception to the term "supergroup."
"For me, when I hear the name supergroup I think of some pre-fab type of thing ... If the chemistry is not there you can be the best musicians, best players there are, it`s not going to come out the way I think this came out.
"This was born out of friendship, it was more organic in that sense."
The band has played a series of small gigs in the United States before flying to Europe for a tour, and returns to North America winding up its travels at the end of September.
"We`re a new band and when you`re a new band you start and play clubs and you play to your fans," said Smith. "We`re not playing stuff from Van Halen, or Joe, or Chili Peppers, we`re just playing Chickenfoot."
CHART SUCCESS
Chickenfoot`s debut album, released earlier in June, opened at No. 4 in the U.S. pop chart and No. 1 in the independent music chart. It maintained its position in the main chart the following week before slipping to No. 7 in the latest list.
"It`s the first time I`ve ever been up in that territory, above the clouds," said Satriani, who is embroiled in a copyright infringement suit with British band Coldplay over its hit single "Viva La Vida."  Continued...
Original article

Young, Springsteen give Hyde Park rock masterclass

(YOUNG, SPRINGSTEEN, STAGE, LONDON, PLAYED, VERSION, SONGS)

By Angus MacSwan
LONDON (Reuters) - If Mount Rushmore featured rock `n` rollers instead of U.S. presidents, the faces of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen would surely be carved there.
The two elder statesmen showed just why they are venerated by fans of all ages at the Hard Rock Calling festival in central London`s Hyde Park this weekend in performances brimming with passion, energy and timeless songs.
To cap it all, Sir Paul McCartney joined Young on stage for his encore, literally bowing at his feet as the Canadian played a feedback-drenched version of the Beatles "A Day in the Life."
Now aged 63 and 59, neither Young nor Springsteen has let up the pace in recent years. Both have released new albums in the past several months which had their moments even if they did not reach the heights of past classics.
They each took prominent positions against former U.S. President George W. Bush and the Iraq War. Springsteen campaigned hard for Barack Obama and played at his presidential inauguration.
Politics was largely absent from the Hyde Park shows though as they focused on entertaining the summer crowds in London, after headlining the Glastonbury Festival earlier in the week.
Young took to the stage on Saturday night looking like an old mountain man seeking shelter from a storm, with his bedraggled, thinning hair, craggy features and muttonchop sideburns. Not known for indulging his audiences, he played a crowd-pleasing set which drew heavily on "Harvest," his best-known album, and the guitar-heavy "Everybody Knows this is Nowhere."
He kicked off in his "Godfather of Grunge" persona with a crunching version of "Hey, Hey, My, My" and its refrain "it`s better to burn out than to fade away." He then stormed though a number of hard rockers, delighting rapturous fans, before switching to a mellow mood with a run of country-flavored numbers including "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man," as night fell on the park.
Young finished with a blazing version of "Rockin` in the Free World," uncharacteristically leading the crowd in a bout of arm-waving and leaving his black guitar wailing feedback, its strings shredded.
McCartney, an old friend, bounded on stage to join Young for the encore of "A Day in the Life," hugging Young and dancing around him. The two were clearly having fun.
Among the crowd was Beth Harley, a 26-year-old archaeologist, who had just arrived from Turkey on Saturday morning to see Young. She said she had grown up listening to his music as her parents played it all the time.
"It`s got a lot of edge. The songs don`t seem to age. It still seems relevant to what`s going on now," she said.
If Young is a willful eccentric, Springsteen is the great showman who delivers every time.
Taking the stage with the mighty, black-clad E. Street band, he launched into The Clash song "London Calling," bellowing its refrain "we live by the river" loud enough to be heard just down the road at Buckingham Palace. He then moved into more familiar territory with "Badlands" and the pace didn`t let up for the next three hours.
Springsteen ran around the stage, danced, and strutted along a special platform to get close to the fans and collect signs with song requests. He sang plenty of old favorites, switching from songs on the dreams and struggles of the working man to joyful sing-alongs.  Continued...
Original article

Comic-Con boasts heavy TV lineup

(PANEL, STUDIO, COMIC-CON, ABC, EVENT, TV, PROGRAM)

By James Hibberd
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - TV studios plan a strong presence at Comic-Con, the annual fan convention that seems to feature a greater number of series each summer.
Next month`s lineup at the San Diego confab includes a few titles beyond the usual sci-fi and fantasy genres. Procedurals such as Fox`s "Bones" and USA`s "Burn Notice," Fox`s musical "Glee" and Discovery`s "MythBusters" are in the mix.
Warner Bros. TV is bringing 11 shows to the event, the most the studio has featured.
"Comic-Con is the one place where Warner Bros. cross-divisionally presents a face to the consumer," said Lisa Gregorian, the studio`s executive vp marketing.
One returning WBTV program is CBS` "The Big Bang Theory," which the studio brought to the event for the first time last year. Most sitcoms would not be a good fit for the Comic-Con crowd, but the geek-friendly "Big Bang" drew an enthusiastic response. The studio hopes to make a panel for the show a regular event, particularly after its ratings surged last fall.
When selecting programs for Comic-Con, Gregorian said any show with a mythology automatically belongs, and even genre series not premiering until midseason should screen.
"Our philosophy is that if it`s ready, and it`s great, and you`re not making a lot of changes to it, you should show it to the fans," said Gregorian, whose midseason program "Human Target" will be shown.
ABC Studios is hosting at least seven panels, including one for the final season of ABC`s "Lost," credited as the first TV show to launch at Comic-Con.
ABC takes a different approach to its "Lost" panel. Instead of simply screening footage and answering questions, the event is a carefully planned production that typically includes specifically shot footage and surprise guests.
"We`ve been working on the `Lost` panel for literally months," said Mike Benson, executive vp marketing at ABC Entertainment. "We want the audience to experience `Lost` in a fully entertaining way."
This year, ABC Studios is extending that approach to panels for its new ABC dramas "V" and "Flash Forward."
"We don`t like to just stick people on a panel and have them answer questions," Benson said. "We feel like we have to do more for the audience than just promote the show. By having that experience, it gets them talking about the panel more."
20th TV is offering about nine panels, including those for Fox`s new animated comedy "The Cleveland Show" and the newly revived "Futurama."
NBC Universal has at least eight programs, but most are for Sci Fi Channel and USA, with the studio planning only a "Heroes" panel for NBC. ("Chuck," produced by WBTV, also will have a panel.) The studio`s apocalyptic midseason drama "Day One" will not be shown -- an NBC Universal spokesperson said it is "too early" -- but there will be some buzz-building marketing.
In one network`s case, Comic-Con itself will be used as programing. G4 will broadcast what is billed as the first televised panel in the event`s history. Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira will host the two-hour "Star Wars Spectacular," including a table read of a new "Clone Wars" script.
(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)
Original article

A tale of two L.A. festivals

(FESTIVAL, FILMS, LAFF, AFI, YELDHAM, SCREENINGS, WHICH)

By Kirk Honeycutt
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hollywood might be the heart of English-language moviemaking, but when it comes to film festivals, the city lacks a major-league franchise.
Not that Los Angeles has no film festivals. One of its two big ones, the Los Angeles Film Festival, successfully wrapped its 2009 edition Sunday. But the casual movie fan couldn`t be blamed for puzzling over the identities of the two festivals, LAFF and AFI Fest. However, recent leadership changes at both fests and economic realities of the recession might more forcefully define those identities.
LAFF, which has settled into the cozy confines of Westwood Village and nearby venues for several editions, is produced by parent organization Film Independent (FIND). Rebecca Yeldham, producer of such films as "The Motorcycle Diaries" and "The Kite Runner," came on board as festival director only three months before the current edition began, following the resignation of Rich Raddon.
Although she did inherit a significant support network in FIND exec director Dawn Hudson and LAFF director of programing Rachel Rosen, the wrapped fest was a learning experience for her. Where things go from here is, as she put it, "to be determined."
At the moment, the festival is a bit of this and a bit of that. But like AFI Fest, you won`t find many acquisition execs at its screenings. Neither festival tends to premiere must-see indie films. In its recent edition, LAFF showed several Sundance hits, and even in its narrative competition -- a place where one would expect new films -- "Turistas" played at Venice last year. The fest also included splashy premieres of such studio films as "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Public Enemies" to bring crowds to Westwood.
Yeldham did open the festival for the first time with a world premiere of a film without a distributor. "Paper Man" did the trick: It attracted an audience filled with film scouts, studio execs and heads of independent companies.
Yeldham pronounced herself pleased with the results -- "It was a magical night for the audience and the filmmakers," she said -- but reviews of the film were tepid, and few of the execs at opening night were seen during the remainder of the festival.
Because major premieres of new works are unlikely only a few weeks after Cannes has wrapped, LAFF seeks to create "events." These range from a screening of a restored print of the 1971 cult film "Billy Jack" to "Poolside Chats" at the W Hotel and "Festival Conversations" at various venues where festivalgoers interact with filmmakers, writers and others.
Yeldham promises to increase such events. The way of the future, she said, can be seen in the new Artist in Residence component, where "The Kite Runner" novelist Khaled Hosseini and Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne curated favorite films and participated in discussions related to those selections.
Yeldham insisted that despite being a production of FIND, "we want the Los Angeles Film Festival to be a celebration of cinema from wherever the films may come, not just American independent filmmaking."
Across town, AFI Fest plays the role of the city`s long-established festival. For more than 23 years, the festival has been presented by the American Film Institute. Its declared ambition has been to survey cinema from around the globe. Coming near year`s end, AFI Fest tends to be a roundup of the most significant films of the year. But, again, few new films.
Rose Kuo came aboard as artistic director last year following the departure of Christian Gaines. AFI Fest, which runs October 30-November 7, will undergo significant changes, some, Kuo said, dictated by "new economic realities."
The festival is moving its main venue from the ArcLight Cinemas to Grauman`s Chinese. The festival will shrink from 11 days to nine and offer free tickets to all screenings.
"We are asking the public who can be part of our philanthropy to be a patron and contribute to the festival," Kuo said. "Those who can will get a pass, which gives priority entry at the door. All individual tickets to general screenings will be complimentary for all screenings, including a limited number of individual gala tickets."
If all major L.A.-based film curators -- which would include LAFF, AFI and the city`s two cinematheques, the American Cinematheque and UCLA Film & Television Archive -- came together with studio support to create a single festival, it might rival such attention-grabbers as Austin`s South by Southwest or even Sundance. But organizational egos and branding needs always have prevented the formation a superfestival in L.A.  Continued...
Original article

"Reaper" actress corners "Copper"

(PEREGRYM, WHICH, ABC, COPPER, REAPER, DRAMA)

By Nellie Andreeva
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Reaper" co-star Missy Peregrym landed the lead role on the Canadian cop drama "Copper," which will air on ABC.
Billed as "Grey`s Anatomy" set in the world of rookie cops, "Copper" centers on Andy McNally (Peregrym), a newly minted cop fresh from the academy and the daughter of a homicide detective. She is anxious about her first day on the job, which doesn`t go as well as she had wished.
Montreal-born Peregrym most recently played the female lead Andi on the CW`s supernatural dramedy "Reaper." She also co-starred on the ABC drama "Life as We Know It" and had recurring roles on "Heroes" and "Smallville."
(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)
Original article

"Bruno" is Borat-lite, and a little tedious

(BRUNO, BORAT, BARON, COHEN, COHEN`S, FUNNY, AUSTRIAN)

By Kirk Honeycutt
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - We all knew Borat. Borat was a friend of ours. Bruno, you`re no Borat.
Unfair to be sure, but because everyone is going to compare Sacha Baron Cohen`s "Bruno" to his insanely funny "Borat," let`s be honest: While pushing the PC envelope in new and imaginative ways as well as the MPAA`s R rating, especially insofar as the male member is concerned, "Bruno" is only intermittently funny and all too often the "ambushes" of celebrities and civilians look staged. The movie is even a tad -- dare we say it? -- tedious.
Admirers of the British comic`s gifts for caricature and improvisation and nearly everyone who found themselves laughing uncontrollably at Baron Cohen`s unrepentant anti-Semitic Kazakhstani in "Borat" probably will turn out for Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles` latest mockumentary. So boxoffice should be solid for Universal`s July 10 release. It`s unclear though whether Baron Cohen can continue to bring his TV characters into the real world, or something approximating it, without diminishing results. Based on the evidence here, such results seem inevitable.
For one thing, where the focus was laser-sharp in "Borat," it`s fuzzy in "Bruno." Bruno, for those really out of step with modern culture, is Baron Cohen`s gay Austrian fashion expert with his own TV show, "Funkyzeit." Early in the movie, Bruno makes such a disastrous spectacle of himself at a designer`s show during Milan Fashion Week, he is schwarz-listed.
He abruptly decides to go to Los Angeles, accompanied by his lovelorn assistant, Lutz (Gustaf Hammarsten), to become a celebrity. One`s heart sinks right there. "Borat" zeroed in on bigotry and Western hypocrisy for its satire. The target of Hollywood and vacuous celebrityhood has so many quivers in its bull`s-eye, there is nothing left to hit.
Perhaps a victim of his own success, Baron Cohen probably is too well know to get away with so many sneak attacks on unsuspecting people no matter how he transforms himself physically. A few times in "Bruno," one senses a real victim. More often, especially with such demi-celebrities as Paula Abdul or LaToya Jackson but even with a determined dominatrix, one senses a more than willing victim.
In a recording session that ends the film, where everyone from Elton John to Snoop Dogg to Sting to Bono shows up, the film drops any pretense that these are not invited guests.
Baron Cohen has better luck outside of L.A. In the Middle East, Bruno does get chased by angry Hasidic Jews. And in trying to mediate a panel featuring an Israeli and Palestinian leader, his mixing up of Hamas and hummus is genuinely funny.
Bruno`s adopted African baby paraded before a black audience is not funny. It`s embarrassing, as is any joke that bombs, yet the comic keeps going back to it nevertheless. This is one of several instances where an audience might experience both exasperation and tedium with the comic`s relentless act of running a joke into the ground.
Bruno`s attempt to go hetero, assisted by two Christian ministers who specialize in such conversions, yields better results. Even here, though, Bill Maher beat him to the punch with "Religulous."
Borat was, despite his cheerful bigotry, somehow a lovable character. His questions sprang from the sweet innocence of a third-world bumpkin wallowing in isolated ignorance. With Bruno, you mostly feel annoyed. A gay Austrian fashionista would be no ignorant rube. He would be sophisticated, savvy and certainly aware of prejudices against gays. Would he really prance semi-naked through Middle Eastern holy sights?
The calculations behind Baron Cohen`s ambushes too often are mean-spirited. We sense, as we never did with Borat, the comic behind the character. Especially when his accent keeps changing -- from an unconvincing Austrian to his own British and even to a whisper of Borat himself.
Consequently, the character`s gayness reads false. Baron Cohen needs to spend more time in certain gay bars if he wants to learn how to do "flamboyant" and "fabulous." It`s a ghost of the real thing.
Tech credits are just fine for what essentially is an un-reality show.
(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)
(please visit our entertainment blog via www.reuters.com or on blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)
Original article

Disney star Ashley Tisdale gets edgy on new album

(TISDALE, NEW, ALBUM, WANTED, WARNER, GUILTY, PLEASURE)

By Mikael Wood
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Ashley Tisdale knows it sounds silly, but her new album has a lot to do with the color of her hair.
"For the last few years everyone has thought of me as Sharpay," the 23-year-old singer/actor says, referring to her blonde-and-bubbly character in Disney`s smash "High School Musical" films.
"So after I`d finished all the promotion for `High School Musical 3` I dyed my hair back to its original color. I`d been a blonde for five years; Disney wanted us to be those characters. But the new songs I was working on felt edgier, sort of back to how I was before `High School Musical.` I wanted to show people a side of me they haven`t seen before."
Tisdale accomplishes that -- well, sort of -- on "Guilty Pleasure," due July 28 from Warner Bros. Like her 2007 debut, "Headstrong" (which, according to Nielsen SoundScan, has sold 471,000 copies in the United States), the new 14-track set offers plenty of catchy choruses and lyrics about boys.
But with songwriting and production credits from "American Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi, among others, "Guilty Pleasure" is a more mature, guitar-driven outing than the dance-pop "Headstrong." In the opener, "Acting Out," she promises to "break these chains" over driving bubble-punk drums, while the lead single, "It`s Alright, It`s OK," could be the younger sister of Pink`s "So What."
"A lot of the songs on the album are about survival and staying strong," says Tisdale, who co-wrote four cuts. "I really wanted it to be a statement and a reflection of what I`ve been through over the past year and how I`ve grown up."
Warner Bros. senior VP of marketing David Grant says the first component of the label`s album rollout was revealing Tisdale`s new look with a relaunch of her Web site in March and the cover of Cosmopolitan`s April issue. "We wanted to create a conversation and then follow quickly with the music," he says.
According to Grant, "High School Musical" fans have aged along with Tisdale, and they still constitute a significant portion of her audience. "But she`s taken it beyond that, too," he says. For "Headstrong" the label targeted tweens; this time, "we`re definitely looking to teenage girls."
Social-networking technology plays a central role in the label`s plans to reach that demographic. Tisdale is an especially avid Twitterer, with more than 750,000 followers.
"She`s very protective of it in terms of it sounding authentic," according to Warner Bros. senior VP of new media Jeremy Welt. "There have been a couple of times where we`ve said to her, `Hey, why don`t you mention so-and-so?` and she`s told us, `I wouldn`t say that.`" (What would she say? One recent Tweet read, "Happy fathers day!!! Goin to dinner with my family and the most amazing dad ever! I love you daddy!")
Facebook and MySpace also figure into Warner`s new-media campaign, the latter particularly as an "important streaming partner," Welt says. MySpace is streaming two tracks from "Guilty Pleasure," and Grant expects the site to feature the entire album before release date.
In the realm of retail, Grant says Target and Wal-Mart will sell exclusive editions of the album with bonus material, while a direct-to-consumer version will feature six posters and two extra songs.
Once "Guilty Pleasure" is out, Tisdale says she hopes to tour the United States and Europe (where the set was released earlier this month). "This album is so important to me," she says. "I really want to support it as much as I can. You put your heart and soul into something and it makes you a little bit vulnerable. It is who I am -- hopefully people will like that."
(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)
Original article

Canadian rockers Billy Talent eye foreign success

(TALENT, BILLY, CANADA, ALBUM, BAND`S, ACCORDING, III)

By Robert Thompson
TORONTO (Billboard) - Most guitarists would be perturbed to discover that their label was issuing their band`s latest album with a bonus CD of the songs stripped of the guitar.
But the guitarist with Canadian rock group Billy Talent looked at the bigger picture and realized the bonus disc -- complete with chord chart -- would allow bedroom dreamers raised on "Guitar Hero" to play along.
"I`m pretty sure no one has done it before," Ian D`Sa says. "When I was a kid I would have killed to be able to play along with the vocals, bass and drums on `Led Zeppelin IV.` I think this opens the boundaries between the band and our fans."
It shouldn`t surprise anyone that amateur guitarists are fans of the band`s mix of hard rock and punk. The act`s latest album, "Billy Talent III," produced by Brendan O`Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam), hits stores via Warner Music Canada July 14 in Canada, where the band is already an arena-size draw.
Billy Talent`s primary markets are Canada and Germany. The band`s two previous albums, "Billy Talent I" and "Billy Talent II," sold 330,000 and 280,000 copies in Canada, respectively, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In Germany -- where "III" will be released July 10 -- the band`s first two albums have shipped 460,000 copies, according to Warner.
Warner Music Canada president Steve Kane says the United Kingdom is a priority for the label, as part of an overall European strategy. There, sales stand at 48,000 for "I" and 61,000 for "II," according to the Official Charts Co.; "III" will be released July 13.
"We need to superserve a lot of markets in Europe, but we can`t take Canada and Germany for granted," he says. "In the U.K. I think we`re one radio song away (from mainstream success)."
The band has had limited success in the United States despite significant touring commitments for its first two albums, which have sold 120,000 and 59,000 U.S. copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band`s manager Pierre Tremblay, senior VP at Nettwerk Music Group, says Billy Talent`s reputation as a top live act should help it make inroads in the U.S. market, and then onward to Australia and New Zealand.
"This will take some patience," Tremblay adds. "Billy Talent isn`t just some pop act that you can throw a lot of money at and land on radio."
(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)
Original article

Related articles:
Canadian rockers Billy Talent eye foreign success

Canadian rockers Billy Talent eye foreign success

(TALENT, BILLY, CANADA, ALBUM, BAND`S, ACCORDING, III)

By Robert Thompson
TORONTO (Billboard) - Most guitarists would be perturbed to discover that their label was issuing their band`s latest album with a bonus CD of the songs stripped of the guitar.
But the guitarist with Canadian rock group Billy Talent looked at the bigger picture and realized the bonus disc -- complete with chord chart -- would allow bedroom dreamers raised on "Guitar Hero" to play along.
"I`m pretty sure no one has done it before," Ian D`Sa says. "When I was a kid I would have killed to be able to play along with the vocals, bass and drums on `Led Zeppelin IV.` I think this opens the boundaries between the band and our fans."
It shouldn`t surprise anyone that amateur guitarists are fans of the band`s mix of hard rock and punk. The act`s latest album, "Billy Talent III," produced by Brendan O`Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam), hits stores via Warner Music Canada July 14 in Canada, where the band is already an arena-size draw.
Billy Talent`s primary markets are Canada and Germany. The band`s two previous albums, "Billy Talent I" and "Billy Talent II," sold 330,000 and 280,000 copies in Canada, respectively, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In Germany -- where "III" will be released July 10 -- the band`s first two albums have shipped 460,000 copies, according to Warner.
Warner Music Canada president Steve Kane says the United Kingdom is a priority for the label, as part of an overall European strategy. There, sales stand at 48,000 for "I" and 61,000 for "II," according to the Official Charts Co.; "III" will be released July 13.
"We need to superserve a lot of markets in Europe, but we can`t take Canada and Germany for granted," he says. "In the U.K. I think we`re one radio song away (from mainstream success)."
The band has had limited success in the United States despite significant touring commitments for its first two albums, which have sold 120,000 and 59,000 U.S. copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band`s manager Pierre Tremblay, senior VP at Nettwerk Music Group, says Billy Talent`s reputation as a top live act should help it make inroads in the U.S. market, and then onward to Australia and New Zealand.
"This will take some patience," Tremblay adds. "Billy Talent isn`t just some pop act that you can throw a lot of money at and land on radio."
(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)
Original article

Jackson`s final hours puzzle doctor, family

By Mary Milliken and Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The personal physician at Michael Jackson`s side when he died told police he did not inject the singer with painkillers that friends say might be behind the King of Pop`s death on the brink of a comeback bid.
A lawyer for Dr. Conrad Murray told Reuters on Sunday that the cardiologist found Jackson, 50, unconscious in his rented mansion on Thursday and tried to revive him.
"The doctor was surprised when this happened. He didn`t know why Jackson stopped breathing," said Edward Chernoff, the attorney who accompanied Murray during three hours of police questioning on Saturday.
Los Angeles police said after questioning Murray that they do not consider him a suspect, and law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times the meeting revealed "no red flag" of criminal activity.
As the case remains shrouded in mystery, the entertainment world geared up for its first big tribute to the pop star at the BET awards on Sunday. Top performers rushed to Los Angeles to appear at the show, modified at the last minute to honor Jackson.
The Jackson family holed up in their L.A. compound making plans for a funeral that could take place on Wednesday, possibly at the pop star`s famous Neverland estate in California, family friend Stacy Brown said.
Brown told Reuters that a family source said Jackson had received an injection of the narcotic painkiller Demerol shortly before paramedics were called to the mansion.
`FAMILY HAS QUESTIONS`
"They have been concerned about his addiction to medicines for years," said Brown, who co-wrote the book "Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask."
"It`s been no family secret that they`ve been trying to get him help for his addiction," she said.
Chernoff said Murray "never prescribed nor administered Demerol to Michael Jackson," adding that Murray was paid by concert promoter AEG Live in the lead-up to the singer`s long-awaited comeback concert series.
The family carried out its own autopsy on Saturday after the Los Angeles Coroner said it would need four to six more weeks to determine the exact cause of death.
Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader who was with the Jackson family last week, told People magazine that the family had questions.
"There is a concern about what happened the last 12 hours of Michael`s life," said Jackson, who is not related to the family. "The doctor has shown some bizarre behavior."
Chernoff said Murray was unaware of any underlying health problems that could have led to the singer`s death.  Continued...
Original article

BET Awards pay tribute to Michael Jackson

By Bob Tourtellotte
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The BET Awards kicked off on Sunday night with a musical tribute to Michael Jackson in which host Jamie Foxx did Jackson`s famous moonwalk and sung his hit song "Beat It" in a classic King of Pop costume -- red leather jacket and one white glove.
Oscar-winning actor and singer Foxx told the packed house in Los Angeles` Shrine Auditorium the awards program would honor Jackson, the music star who died suddenly last Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest at his rented Los Angeles home.
"We`re going to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us, and we shared him with everybody else," Foxx told the crowd.
"I`m going to moonwalk tonight -- going to moonwalk from here, all the way to there, for Michael Jackson," Foxx said, pointing across the stage.
He then performed the backwards shuffle dance step that Jackson made famous, but Foxx didn`t even come close to mastering the move. In fact, he tripped.
The awards given annually by the BET television network honor the best African American singers, actors, actresses and athletes. This year`s show was revamped at the last minute due to Jackson`s death, and many early performers and winners dedicated their awards to Jackson and his family.
A member of 1970s brother band the Jackson 5 and a global star, Jackson`s 1982 smash "Thriller" is the best-selling album of all time and the superstar was a major influence on R&B, hip hop and many other forms of music.
"He is one of our heroes. As African Americans, we are not going to let everybody beat him up," music mogul and rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs said of Jackson ahead of the show.
While the 50-year-old Jackson was loved by many, he lived a reclusive live in his final years, and in the 1990s he was twice accused of child molestation. One claim was settled out of court, and the second accusation resulted in a criminal trial. Jackson was acquitted of charges in the second case.
His death continues to be shrouded in questions of prescription drug use and, although an autopsy was performed, it will be four to six weeks before an official cause of death can be determined after toxicology tests are completed.
Family patriarch Joe Jackson told the CNN television network outside the show that there were still "a lot of concerns about what happened" in final hours of son`s life.
But inside the Shrine, the show focused on glorifying Jackson`s life. In fact, Foxx noted that as in New Orleans, where people celebrated a person`s life after his or her death, the BET Awards audience would be encouraged to party.
Early winners included Day 26 for best music group, basketball star LeBron James for best athlete, and Lil Wayne for best male hip hop artist.
(Reporting by Bob Tourtellott; editing by Todd Eastham)
Original article

Connery blasts BBC at Edinburgh film awards ceremony

By Ian MacKenzie
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Actor Sean Connery lashed out at the BBC for its coverage of the awards ceremony at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) on Sunday when he handed out the prizes.
The EIFF award for the best new British feature film went to Moon, a "creepy, poignant and funny" sci-fi film directed by Duncan Jones. The film, which received a prize of 20,000 pounds, stars Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey.
Connery, a festival patron who gained worldwide fame for his portrayal of British secret agent James Bond, told a packed audience on the final day of the EIFF that the BBC had 300 technicians at the current Glastonbury pop and folk festival in southwest England.
"Not one (technician) at the Edinburgh International Film Festival," he said.
"It affects us all, it certainly affects me, and I think we should do something about it."
The BBC said in response: "BBC news outlets covered the Edinburgh International Film Festival on radio, TV and online. Obviously Glastonbury is a huge live music, arts and performance event and cannot be compared as like for like."
It said the BBC would cover the Edinburgh international arts festival and T in the Park pop concert later this summer.
In Moon, Rockwell`s character has almost ended his three-year solitary posting mining fuel for earth on the moon with thoughts of returning to the planet and his family.
But as his return date approaches, life on his self-contained world takes a startling turn. The jury praised Moon for its "singular vision and remarkably assured direction"
The award for best performance in a British feature film went to Katie Jarvis for her role as 15-year-old Mia in Fish Tank, "an intense and surprising story of love, lust and family."
Jarvis turned 18 last week and said this was her best birthday gift.
Easier With Practice, directed by American Kyle Patrick Alvarez took the best new international feature award featuring sex, love and loneliness over the phone.
Best documentary award was taken by Aliona Van der Horst of The Netherlands with a lament for cult Russian poet Boris Ryzhy, who committed suicide in 2001 aged 26.
American director and writer Cary Jojo Fukunaga won the new director award for Sin Nombre centered on Honduran teenager Sayra and her involvement with a dangerous gang member on the run.
The Edinburgh film festival, which opened on June 17, has as one of its major aims discovering and promoting new talent in the industry.  Continued...
Original article

Michael Jackson set to make chart history, again

By Keith Caulfield
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Michael Jackson will once again make music history next week as many of his albums are poised to shake up the Billboard charts with incredible sales increases.
The impact of Jackson`s shock death on Thursday was felt immediately in the marketplace. Industry sources report that the demand for Jackson`s albums were so high, many stores simply ran out of his CDs.
The albums with the greatest sales increases -- at least on the physical side of things -- look to be his greatest hits packages "Number Ones" and "The Essential Michael Jackson" along with the expanded reissue of "Thriller." The sets, released between 2003 and 2008, were the three Jackson albums that perhaps had the most stock available in stores.
In the digital realm, where the supply problem doesn`t exist, Jackson`s songs and albums swarmed the top of the constantly-updating best sellers lists in both the iTunes` and Amazon`s online music stores. At one point on Friday in the iTunes Store, nine out of the top 10-selling albums and 40 of the top 100-selling songs were by Jackson.
The three aforementioned albums, along with Jackson`s classic studio sets "Off the Wall," "Bad" and "Dangerous" all will likely zoom into the upper region of Billboard`s Top Pop Catalog Albums chart next week. Initial reports of Jackson`s album sales from Thursday alone indicate that one of his albums -- possibly "Number Ones" -- will easily fly to No. 1 on the chart next week. Last week, the set -- which also was his top-selling album of the week -- was at No. 20 on the Catalog chart with 4,000 sold.
To compare, last week`s No. 1 on the Catalog chart was TobyMac`s "Portable Sounds" with 9,000 copies sold. Sources say that at least one of Jackson`s albums sold more than double that amount just on Thursday.
Nielsen SoundScan`s tracking week ends at the close of business on Sunday (28). Billboard and SoundScan`s new weekly charts will be released on Wednesday, July 1.
(Editing by Dean Gooodman)
Original article

Michael Jackson`s family seeks second autopsy

By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson`s family gathered at his parents` suburban Los Angeles home on Saturday to make funeral arrangements for the troubled King of Pop amid reports that they are seeking a second, independent autopsy.
The entertainer`s father, Joseph, issued a statement calling his son`s death "one of the darkest moments of our lives" and urging fans not to despair.
Jackson`s body was returned to his family on Friday night after an examination by the Los Angeles County coroner`s office failed to determine what killed the 50-year-old entertainer, pending toxicology tests that were expected to take weeks.
Meanwhile a lawyer for Dr. Conrad Murray, who was at Jackson`s rented mansion in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles when he collapsed, said the physician had agreed to answer questions from police detectives.
"Dr. Murray intends to fully cooperate with investigators and law enforcement as they attempt to piece together what happened," attorney Bill Stradley told Reuters in an interview.
"Contrary to what has been out there, Dr. Murray has been cooperating with authorities from the outset and will continue to do so," Stradley said. "The impression that he has been hiding from authorities, that`s not correct."
Murray was desperately trying to revive Jackson when paramedics arrived and he rode with the singer in an ambulance to the hospital where the pop star was pronounced dead.
Police have said they wanted to further question Murray, a Houston-based cardiologist, about the circumstances of Jackson`s death but had not been able to arrange an interview.
Murray`s silver Mercedes was towed from the home where Jackson died so detectives could search it for evidence and medication.
MOVING VANS EMPTY HOME
The celebrity website TMZ.com reported that a second autopsy was underway at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon, on the orders of the Jackson family.
Speculation has centered on Jackson`s use of prescription drugs and reports that he was injected with the narcotic painkiller Demerol shortly before he went into cardiac arrest.
Coroner`s officials have said that with no outward signs of trauma to Jackson`s body or evidence of foul play, they would have to wait for the results of toxicology tests and other studies to establish a cause of death.
Few other details were released about the autopsy`s findings, but Fox News reported on its website that investigators had found his body to be healthier and stronger than they had expected, with some scarring on the face.
Moving van crews emptied the rental home of Jackson`s belongings, reportedly on the orders of his father, Joseph, who was concerned they would be stolen.  Continued...
Original article

"Transformers" sequel tramples on box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The "Transformers" sequel was well on its way to becoming the biggest hit of the year so far after selling a better-than-expected $126 million in tickets during its first three days at the North American box office, distributor Paramount Pictures said on Saturday.
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," a follow-up to the smash robot hit of 2007, is on course to challenge the seemingly impregnable five-day opening record of $203.8 million set last year by Batman sequel, "The Dark Knight."
The biggest movie of the year so far is "Star Trek," which has grossed $244 million in seven weeks of release across the United States and Canada.
A clearer picture of "Transformers"` trajectory will emerge on Sunday, when the Viacom Inc-owned studio issues sales estimates for the weekend. Earlier in the week, Paramount had conservatively forecast a five-day haul in the $130 million to $150 million range. But industry pundits countered that a tally of at least $175 million was more likely. The film reportedly cost about $200 million to make.
The $126 million figure covers sales for Wednesday through Friday. The film earned $60.6 million on its first day, breaking the old record for a Wednesday release of $44 million set by "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" in 2007. It fell just short of the all-time single-day record of $67 million, set last year on a Friday by "The Dark Knight."
The "Transformers" sequel earned $36.7 million on Friday. Nine movies have made more than that on a Friday, but that was their first day of release.
The film also opened worldwide on Wednesday, but got an early start last weekend with a No. 1 bow in Britain and No. 2 in Japan behind a local release.
The first "Transformers" was the third-biggest film of 2007 in North America, ending up with $319 million. It opened on the Monday before the July 4 holiday, so comparisons are difficult. They have plenty in common though: director Michael Bay reunites with young stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Robots rampage across the landscape, and things explode.
Critics were mildly favorable toward the first film, but mostly appalled by the sequel, according to Rotten Tomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com ), a Web site that analyzes reviews.
Original article

Hello Goodbye: Jackson`s Beatles rights at risk

By Gina Keating
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Beatles For Sale?
The Fab Four`s prized catalog -- specifically 267 songs mostly written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney -- is embarking on a long and winding road of ownership uncertainty following the death of Michael Jackson on Thursday.
The pop singer and Sony Corp`s Sony Music arm operated a lucrative joint venture that either owns or administers the copyrights to about 750,000 compositions written by the likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers.
Industry analysts estimate that Sony/ATV Music Publishing is worth at least $1 billion, making Jackson one savvy entertainer. His initial investment cost him $47.5 million in 1985. Music publishing is considered a license to print money. Not quite as exciting as the piracy-ravaged recorded-music side, it involves collecting royalties from such diverse avenues as downloads, radio airplay and videogames.
But mystery now surrounds the beneficial ownership of Jackson`s stake. According to a lawsuit filed in 2002 by a creditor, he secured bank loans totaling $270 million two years earlier using both his Sony/ATV stake and the copyrights to his own songs as collateral.
Jackson lived an extravagant lifestyle, even as his commercial appeal dwindled amid damaging child-abuse allegations and changing music tastes. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2005 that his cash reserves ran so low earlier that year that he worried about paying his electric bill. The paper reported earlier this month that he had racked up about $500 million of debt.
"VERY COMPLEX" VALUATIONS
A clearer picture of his finances will emerge during the administration period of his estate that usually lasts about 18 months, said Renee Gabbard of the law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in Costa Mesa, California.
Jackson`s executors will evaluate his assets, file the estate tax return and invite creditors to submit invoices, said Gabbard, who has a number of wealthy clients with entertainment-related estates.
The process of valuing estate assets, especially intellectual property like music copyrights, is "very complex" and often takes "quite a while," said Gabbard.
"When you have entertainers and musicians they usually have quite extensive royalty contracts. It`s very tough to put a value on a catalog of songs," she said.
Jackson and Sony formed their joint venture in 1995, with the singer contributing ATV Songs, whose 4,000 tunes included most of the Beatles catalog. He had bought ATV a decade earlier from Australian businessman Robert Holmes a Court, famously outbidding McCartney in the process.
Jackson was not involved in the day-to-day operations of Sony/ATV, but as a lover of the songwriting process was known to be "incredibly proud" of the company and its fast growth, according to a publishing industry source.
A spokesman for Sony/ATV declined to comment.
His stakes in both Sony/ATV and in Mijac, which holds his own copyrights, were owned by trusts. It was not clear if they were irrevocable or not. If they are revocable, then they could be dismantled to satisfy creditors, Gabbard said.  Continued...
Original article

Michael Jackson death still unsolved after autopsy

By Dan Whitcomb and Laura Isensee
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Doctors conducted an autopsy on the body of Michael Jackson on Friday but could not immediately determine what killed the "King of Pop," amid reports he had been injected with a narcotic painkiller shortly before collapsing.
Jackson was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived at his rented mansion in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, with his personal physician trying desperately to revive him.
The 50-year-old pop superstar was rushed to nearby UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead without regaining consciousness.
"The cause of death (determination) has been deferred, which means that the medical examiner has ordered additional testing such as toxicology and other studies," Los Angeles County Coroner`s spokesman Craig Harvey said. "Those tests we anticipate will take an additional four to six weeks."
Speaking to a throng of reporters outside the coroner`s office, Harvey said, "There was no indication of any external trauma or indication of foul play to the body of Mr. Jackson."
Police said they were seeking to question Jackson`s personal physician, identified by news media as Houston-based cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray.
Jackson`s body will be released to family members after they choose a mortuary for funeral arrangements, Harvey said. There was no immediate word on when he would be laid to rest.
Celebrity website TMZ.com, citing an interview with an unidentified "close member" of the Jackson family, reported the entertainer was injected with Demerol about half an hour before he went into cardiac arrest.
DAILY SHOT OF DEMEROL?
TMZ, citing family members, said Jackson received a daily shot of Demerol, a narcotic painkiller, and that the family believed his death was caused by an overdose of the drug.
Detectives searched Jackson`s home and impounded Murray`s Mercedes from the driveway, saying it might contain evidence.
An unidentified man called a 911 emergency phone line from the mansion at 12:21 p.m. local time, saying Jackson was unconscious and not breathing.
In excerpts from the call released by authorities, the caller said the physician was the only other person present and was frantically performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the unconscious Jackson without results.
"He`s pumping, he`s pumping his chest but he`s not responding to anything, sir, please," the man said.
A senior law enforcement official told ABC News that Jackson was "heavily addicted" to the painkiller Oxycontin and was injected daily with that medication, along with Demerol.  Continued...
Original article

Michael Jackson feared he`d "end up" like Elvis: Lisa Marie

By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson`s former wife Lisa Marie Presley said on Friday the pop star was a tortured soul who once predicted that he would "end up" like her father, the late rock icon Elvis Presley.
Writing on her MySpace blog, Presley also ripped into reports in the media that her relationship with Jackson was contrived, saying they split because she could not save him from self-destructive behavior.
"Our relationship was not a `a sham` as is being reported in the press," Presley, 41, wrote in the blog posting, which was verified by her spokesperson.
She called it an "unusual relationship" but added: "Nonetheless, I do believe he loved me as much as he could love anyone and I loved him very much."
Presley, the only daughter of the original "King of Rock `n` Roll" and a performer in her own right, describes having a conversation with Jackson about her father`s August 16, 1977 death. Elvis Presley died at age 42 of a heart attack after years of drug use.
"At some point he (Jackson) paused, he stared at me very intensely and he stated with an almost calm certainty: `I am afraid that I am going to end up like him, the way he did.`"
Presley wrote that she tried to deter Jackson from the idea, but he shook his head and nodded "as if he knew what he knew" and would not be dissuaded.
"As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play the exact scenario I saw happen on August 16, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (a sight I never wanted to see again), just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted," she said.
Presley wrote that she and Jackson`s family tried to save him from "the inevitable, which is what just happened" but she became overwhelmed and had to end their relationship.
"I became very ill and emotionally/ spiritually exhausted in my quest to save him from certain self-destructive behavior and from the awful vampires and leeches he would always manage to magnetize around him," she wrote.
(Editing by Will Dunham)
Original article