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Justin Bieber's voice is breaking, leaving him unable to sing signature hit 'Baby' in its original key.

 

Justin Bieber's voice is breaking, leaving him unable to sing signature hit 'Baby' properly.

The teen sensation has admitted his voice is dropping as he goes through puberty, and he can't hit the same high notes as he used to when he recorded his present album, 'My World 2.0'.

He said: ""It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I'm dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world.

"Some of the notes I hit on 'Baby' I can't hit anymore. We have to lower the key when I sing live."

The singer was forced to cancel an appearance in Australia yesterday morning (26.04.10) amid a huge crush as thousands of female fans waited to watch him perform. Police called off the concert amidst "mass scenes of hysteria" after 10 girls fainted.

Canadian singer Justin, 16 - who was discovered on video website Youtube - was devastated by the cancellation and apologised to his devoted fans.

He tweeted: "I love my fans and I am just as disappointed as everyone else with the news from this morning. I want to sing for my fans. I want to make this clear... I don't cancel... I woke up this morning to the police cancelling the show for safety reasons.

"I'm very happy about the welcome and the love from around the world, but I want everyone to still remember my fans' safety comes first (sic)."

- Contactmusic 

The Killers' Brandon Flowers has confirmed he is set to release his debut solo album and it will be called 'Flamingo'.

The news comes after a mystery countdown clock appeared on their website - TheKillersMusic.com, which had left fans speculating since earlier in the week.

As previously reported, Flowers had denied he was leaving the group to go solo, but the Las Vegas band have confirmed they are now on 'hiatus'.

More information on Flowers' debut solo album is expected to be announced shortly.

Meanwhile, The Killers' drummer Ronnie Vannucci is set to release an album with members of Mumford and Sons, Keane and Noah And The Whale, under the name Mt Desolation

Eminem announced the lead song title to his upcoming "Recovery" album, due June 22nd on Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records, via Twitter today (April 27). "Not Afraid" will be the first single, and the rapper's manager, Paul Rosenberg, says its "an uplifting song."

"It's not a dark song, it's an uplifting song," Rosenberg tells Billboard.com about the Boi-1da-produced track, which is scheduled to be released this week.

About the album's new direction -- reflected in the album's recent title change -- Rosenberg says the set will be "more accessible to more fans. He [Eminem] had pretty much completed a whole second album worth of material but at some point he took a step back, looked at it and said, 'I think I want to record some more,'" he says. "But in recording, the album started to sound so different and was going in such a different direction that he decided to keep it going and turn it into a whole new album. The last album was really for the core Eminem fans. I think this record will open that up a bit."

Producers confirmed on the album include Dr. Dre, Just Blaze, Jim Jonsin and Mr. Porter.

Miley Cyrus will release her new album "Can't Be Tamed" on June 22.

The title track will be released as a download on May 18. MySpace Music will host the global premier on April 30 at 12 noon EST, and the track goes to radio May 3.

A deluxe version of the album will include a DVD with tour footage from 2009. The album is released as a day earlier in the U.K.

The single is described in a Hollywood Records statement as being about "self-empowerment where Miley asserts her need to stay true to herself in her relationships and it's sure to become an anthem among her legions of fans around the world."

Cyrus worked with producers including John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, Bon Jovi) and long-time song-writing collaborators Tim James and Antonina Armato on the set. James and Armato produced and co-wrote "Can't Be Tamed" with Cyrus, and the video was directed by Robert Hales (Justin Timberlake, Gnarls Barkley, Kings of Leon).

Concert appearances this summer include Rock in Rio festival dates in Lisbon (May 29) and Madrid (June 6), as well as the "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series in Central Park.

Cyrus will co-host and perform at the Much Music Video Awards June 20.

Instead of asking its cast to pound out "Hello" covers and tributes to Madonna, last night's episode of "Glee" directed its challenge outward: How many times can viewers get misty-eyed in an hour?

Between Mercedes' brief brush with an eating disorder, Finn and Kurt's shifting family dynamics and April Rhodes' (played by returning special guest Kristin Chenoweth) tender and completely platonic moments with Will, tears were pretty much inevitable this week.

Kurt kicked off the waterworks by singing the Burt Bacharach and Hal David-penned "A House Is Not a Home," which was basically his way of telling Finn he wants to start a family.

Mercedes, meanwhile, took on Christina Aguilera's self-empowerment ballad "Beautiful" after deciding that starving herself just to make Sue Sylvester happy wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

The last heartstring-tugging number came courtesy of April Rhodes (Chenoweth), who channeled her inner Broadway diva with a stirring rendition of Diana Ross' "Home." Can't wait for April to return and unveil that historic, all-white version of "The Wiz." 

Siobhan Magnus' "American Idol" journey ended Wednesday night (Apr. 28), leaving frontrunner Crystal Bowersox as the only female contestant remaning in the top five. 

"An independent spirit, laser focus, incredible work ethic," host Ryan Seacrest said of Magnus after announcing her elimination, as the studio audience in Hollywood's Kodak Theatre stood and saluted her "Idol" run. "I know you did this for your sisters…what impact do you think it's made on both you and your sisters being a part of this show?"

"Hopefully a big one," said the 19-year-old Massachusetts native. "I did my best and I hope that I was able to show them what we're all capable of."

Magnus was the last contestant to perform on Tuesday's Shania Twain-themed episode, making her elimination all the more suprising (contestants who sing last are typically perceived as the week's favorite). Known for her eccentric style and high-pitched notes, Magnus brought back her trademark "scream" on Tuesday while singing Twain's hit, "Any Man of Mine." Her spunky performance was mostly praised by the judges, with the exception of Simon Cowell, who compared her high note to the sound of "a woman giving birth." 

Magnus was joined in the bottom three on Wednesday by Casey James and Michael Lynche, who had also received mostly positive feedback for their Twain covers.

For her farewell number, Magnus revisited her memorable performance of Aretha Franklin's "Think" and then walked over to the judges table and hugged Cowell, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres. "I'm going to miss you," said Cowell, while DioGuardi said, "You did great tonight." "I'll see you tomorrow on my show," said DeGeneres. Randy Jackson offered his vote of confidence for Magnus' future as a recording artist. "Keep being yourself," he told her. "You learned how to be an artist on this show and face all the adversity and everything. I think that you've got an amazing career in front of you. Do it. Be about it."

Wednesday's results show also featured country stars Rascal Flattsperforming "Unstoppable," and later joining Latin star Shakira for a performance of her current single, "Gypsy." Lady Antebellum performed the title track from its chart-topping album, "Need You Now," while Carrie Underwood introduced Sons of Sylvia, who are opening for the former "Idol" winner on her current "Play On" tour.

The remaining five "Idol" contestants will tackle Frank Sinatra's catalog next Tuesday (May 4). 

 

Green Day are to release a re-recorded version of their 2004 "American Idiot" album, complete with the cast from the Broadway musical spin-off production.

The record, called "American Idiot Cast Album", is set to be released on May 10, and features similar tracklisting to the original album, although a number of songs from Green Day's last album "21st Century Breakdown", which also feature in the musical, have been included too.

The Green Day and the cast had previously re-recorded the track "21 Guns" together for a download release.

Sessions for the album took place at Electric Lady Studios in New York, and saw actors from the musical join the band to sing their own parts in songs.

Green Day have also reworked the album in terms of its sound, with help from "American Idiot: The Musical"'s musical director Tom Kitt.

"American Idiot" the musical first opened last year in the band's home town of Berkeley, California, while a fim version rumoured to be directed by Tom Hanks is in pre-production.

Thanks for the report to Nme.com. 

 

HI there,

Your Abang here, just back from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, where I have witnessed a Kelly Clarkson concert. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a big fan of hers. Sure, I know Since You’ve Been Gone,Breakaway, Because Of You – but that’s only because I work for a newspaper.

But anyway, the Kelly gig was the first gig at the Stadium that I’ve seen in a while, and I was ready to be disappointed. But lo and behold, I wasn’t. I’m not going to go into some long rambling speech about it, mostly because I’m quite tired, but also because there’s no need to.

The fans loved the show. Period. What was surprising was that I didn’t not like the show. Which is a good thing. The first thing that struck me was how much she’s grown. As a singer, lah. I mean, sure, she was tubbier than I remember her to be, but her voice was still as strong and powerful as the last time she was here, if not better.

The other thing that struck me was how easily she connected with the audience. As she said, this was her first big gig here, so there was a little nervousness I’ll bet. But Kelly came and Kelly got on like wildfire, conversing with the crowd, and at one point even pointing out her blooper as she halted momentarily during a song. “You’d think I’d know this – I wrote it!” she joked. 

 

When introducing Because Of You, she once again corrected: “Some people thought I wrote this about a guy. I did not!” During her “Twitter moment” – where she sang a string of songs that her fans had Tweeted her to sing – it was as if we were watching an intimate show, instead of being in the cavernous SIS.

What I liked the most was the way she just leapt into covers like it was the most natural thing to do. I mean, not everybody can do covers well. But it was her selection of songs that intrigued me. Perhaps drawing on the current penchant for mash-ups, she mixed Alanis Morissette’s That I Would Be Good with Kings Of Leon’s Use Somebody, then later slipped in a snatch of Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, and for the encore, burst into The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army.

It was also interesting to see these two ladies next to me – who had been sitting down, looking stoic the whole night – suddenly jump up and shake their booty during Since You’ve Been Gone.

Maybe they were just waiting for that song, but they remained on their feet for the encore. Which I guess, meant that the show really worked. Kelly promised to be back (”After all that, we’ve got to come back”) and then it was over. I didn’t expect much from the show, but I got a lot more than I bargained for. And that’s a good thing.



(Oh by the way, I have to say that the Circle Line is the best thing to happen to public transport – for me, anyway. Otherwise, I’d probably still be trying to get a cab or something at the SIS, instead of being at home, having already eaten my dinner and typing this before midnight.)

- Poparazzi 

 

DMX says he's been ripped off for years by a company hired to collect his song royalties, but he's been behind bars so much that he only recently realized the problem.

The platinum-selling but troubled hip-hop artist - who's currently in an Arizona jail - said in a lawsuit filed Monday (April 26) that Rich Kid Entertainment 1 and related companies paid him nothing while collecting royalties on some of his most popular work. The company also made deals letting record labels reproduce his work without telling him, the lawsuit claims.

No telephone number could be found for Englewood, N.J.-based Rich Kid. Its president didn't immediately respond to a fax sent to a possible number for him.
DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, scored such hits as "Get At Me Dog" and "Party Up" in the 1990s. He also appeared in films including 2000's "Romeo Must Die" and 2003's "Cradle 2 the Grave."

But the 39-year-old rapper has repeatedly been arrested and jailed during the last decade. He's currently serving a six-month term in a Phoenix jail for violating probation by failing a drug test, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

He was jailed there for nearly three months last year on animal cruelty, theft and drug-possession charges. Some stemmed from an August 2007 raid in which authorities found three dead dogs, guns, ammunition and drug paraphernalia at his suburban home.

His other run-ins with the law include pleading guilty in 2008 to attempted cocaine and marijuana possession in Miami, being arrested and released in London in 2006 after police said he refused to put on a seat belt and became abusive on an airplane, and pleading guilty in a 2004 incident in which he posed as an undercover federal agent and crashed his sport-utility vehicle through a security gate at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"From 2000 through 2008, [DMX] was in and out of jail and changed representatives numerous times. These were some of the factors contributing to any delay" in bringing the case, the lawsuit notes.

It says Rich Kid has stolen from him for nearly a decade, but he didn't know that until last year.

New Zealand is tightening security for a visit by Canadian pop star Justin Bieber after a live performance by the teen singer in Sydney had to be canceled when a 5,000-strong crowd of young girls ran out of control.

Thousands of mainly tween girls had camped out overnight to catch up a glimpse of their 16-year-old idol, who was due to sing three songs live at Sydney's Circular Quay on Monday morning for an Australian TV show.

But police were called in as the crowd got out of control before the singer arrived and several girls were injured in the crush and others fainted, sparking comparisons to the reaction of young fans when The Beatles went on tour in the 1960s.

"With everything that happened 2day i want u all 2 know that i care and U all rule and if i could thank every 1 of u individually i would," Bieber wrote on his Twitter account.

Bieber, who is in Sydney to promote his album "My World 2.0," is due in New Zealand later this year and officials from Auckland Airport told the New Zealand Herald newspaper that extra security would be arranged for the singer's arrival.

It's not the first time that Bieber has sparked such a reaction.

In March an appearance by Bieber at a U.S. shopping mall was canceled due to overcrowding. Bieber's manager was arrested for refusing to send a message out on Twitter warning fans not to come to the event.

Bieber shot to fame after being discovered on YouTube where his mother had posted videos of him singing at talent shows. He was signed up by rapper Usher's record label Island Def Jams Music Group at the age of 14.

His "My World 2.0" album hit the No.1 spot on the Billboard charts in the United States within a week of its release last month.