Monthly Archives: April 2002

All The Girlies From Bellefire Want Is You

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Bellefire have exclusively revealed recently that their forthcoming release, a cover of a U2 song, was never intended as a single.

Bellefire’s new single ‘All I Want Is You’ sees a 29 April release, but was never originally intended for release.

Cathy Newell told us how the cover came about. She said, ‘We’re all big U2 fans and two years ago when we got together, we went into the studio for the first time and wanted to pick a song we all loved and could put harmonies to.’

‘We did a rough demo and got great feedback from our record company but also from the U2 lads themselves,’ added 19-year-old Cathy.

U2 have praised the version of the song, originally a hit for the Irish supergroup in 1989. ‘We were at an award ceremony three weeks ago and U2 came over and congratulated us. That was amazing,’ said bandmate Tara Lee.

It was only that praise that convinced both the band and their label Virgin to release the cover as a single.

It was never meant to be a single but when Bono said it was good enough for him it was good enough for us,’ revealed Cathy. ‘Yeah. They said they loved hearing women sing their songs,’ added Kelly Kilfeather.

Bellefire’s sensationalised authorized cybersite can be viewed at: www.bellefire.co.uk

Eminem Versus Piracy

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An unprecedented level of security has been placed around Eminem’s new album in an attempt to beat bootleggers. According to reports, only a handful of people at the rapper’s label, Shady Records, have been allowed to hear The Eminem Show.

Also, no advance copies of the album have been made available to Em’s UK label, Universal Music. The operation represents the highest ever level of security for a new release.

Em’s label is keen not to suffer the mass bootlegging that damaged the sales of Jay Z & R Kelly’s The Best Of Both Worlds. The collaborative album was available on the streets of New York a month before its official release date.

In other related news, the video for Em’s new single Without Me reportedly sees the rapper dress up as Osama Bin Laden. The track features guest appearances from Dr Dre, D12 and new Shady Records’ signing, Obie Trice.

The Eminem Show will be released in the UK on the 3rd of June 2002.

Pay a visit to Em’s authorized site @ www.eminem.com

A Whole Number Of Firsts For Ashanti

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Dazzling R&B singer Ashanti has become the first female artist to feature on both the No 1 and No 2 single on the US charts.

Ashanti’s new single ‘Foolish’ currently resides at No 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Ashanti also features on ‘What’s Luv’ by Fat Joe, which is the No 2 single in the US this week.

Ashanti is the first female singer to capture the No 1 and No 2 position in the same week, but she can also boast to yet more chart success. Her collaboration with Ja Rule, entitled ‘Always On Time’ is still in the US Top 20.

Ashanti is the first artist to have two consecutive singles enter the chart at No 1 since Christina Aguilera. (Foolish and Ja Rule’s Always On Time)

Furthermore, Ashanti’s debut self titled album has also retained the No 1 spot on the US album charts, making it the first album to make two weeks at US No 1 since Alicia Keys’ ‘Songs In A Minor’ last year.

Ashanti’s album sales have also marked her out as a record breaker, the album became the biggest selling album within one week of sales since Lauryn Hill’s ‘The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill’, selling a phenomenal 503,000 units. Ashanti’s self titled album is out now.

So y’all know what to do right? You don’t, I hear you say? Well, be sure to request her like crazy of course. Be sure to also check out her latest single ‘Happy’, as previously mentioned on Pop-music.com. Very cool number that one.

For more Ashanti info, get to her sizzling website pronto ok: www.ashantionline.com

Breaking to the US Music Scene Hard For UK Sensations

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British sensations have failed to break the U.S. Top 100 singles chart, despite an increase number in America.

According to a publication, since Craig David’s ‘Seven Days’ dropped, the chart has been totally devoid of UK artists.

UK acts like Coldplay, Gorillaz, Radiohead and Dido have all made successful breakthroughs into the tough US market.

Surprisingly Robbie Williams who is arguably the biggest star in the UK has time after time struggled to make a major impact in the US of A. Jeremy Marsh from Telstar Records told the publication that breaking the U.S. is a “quantum leap” for UK sensations and cited the example of British boy band BBMak.

He said, “BBMak took 12 consecutive months to promote there. Craig David has spent the whole of the back end of 2001 and all of 2002 so far breaking the US and establishing himself.”

The first UK act to enter the American charts was the Caravelles “You Don’t Have To Be A Baby To Cry” in October 1963. The Beatles held all of the top five positions in 1964 and exactly 20 years later there were 40 U.K. singles in the top 100.

Just why is it so tough for UK dazzlers to fight for a slot in the US charts? Why must they slog their guts out? American acts can find spots on the UK charts easily, ain’t it?

It’s prang and hang as Kian has a bad day!

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It was a double whammy for Westlife’s Kian Egan after his prize Porsche was pranged at the weekend, it emerged today.

The black Boxster mean machine was hit outside the Odyssey Arena on Friday, while the boys were busy with a photo-shoot for a pop magazine.

No-one was in the top- of-the-range car at the time.

The accident came just hours before a technical hitch left Kian suspended in mid-air during the opening number of Westlife’s first Belfast concert.

The 21-year-old Sligo man dangled 50 feet above the heads of the 9,500 fans who packed into the Arena, after his elevation cord jammed.

The other four band members Nicky, Shane, Mark and Bryan, continued on with the show as security staff tried to free the blonde star.

Throughout his ordeal, Kian continued to sing.

A well-placed source who was with Kian at the time of the car bump, said he was annoyed at first, but then laughed it off.

“I think someone from his crew hit the car. He did seem a bit annoyed but then said, ‘ah well, I’ll just buy another one’,” he said.

“I don’t think it was a great day for Kian at all.”

a1 To Act In Soap

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a1 have established the fact that they’ll be appearing in a forthcoming episode of America’s top daytime soap for over 10 years, ‘The Young & The Restless’.

Speaking to an online website about the boyband’s virgin appearance in a soap, Ben said “We’re going to LA to shoot for ‘The Young & The Restless’. In case you don’t know, it’s the American equivalent to ‘EastEnders’, really. They want us to go and perform on the show, which should be pretty interesting. It’ll feature us at a club doing two songs, ‘Caught In The Middle’ and our brand new track ‘Make It Good’.”

No date has yet been confirmed for the episode of ‘The Young & The Restless’ that will feature a1.

Ben also added that they’re up to their necks with all the demanding schedule lined up for them this month “We are doing massive amounts of TV and interviews. Pretty much anything and everything we possibly can. No sleep, no rest, no days off!”

a1’s new single, ‘Make It Good’, will be released on 13th of May and their latest LP drops on the 27th of May 2002.

Kian’s stunt horror

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WESTLIFE star Kian Egan was seconds from death when a daring stage stunt went horrifically wrong.

The millionaire star yesterday revealed he thought he was going to die in front of 10,000 fans as he dangled from a rope 50 feet in the air.

Kian, 21, right, said: ‘It was the most terrifying ordeal of my life.

‘I kept thinking to myself, ‘Oh God, this is the end’. I thought I was going to die.’

The terrifying scene unfolded as Kian made his spectacular entrance on Friday night from a giant pod suspended above the crowd.

But when the elevation cord jammed he was left stranded in mid-air holding on for his life.

Kian added: ‘All I could see was 10,000 fans creaming and my family were in the crowd too.’I had to hold on to the cord until they got me down but it began loosening and my strength was raining away by the second.’

As Kian continued to sing security officials were frantically working to pull him to safety.

He added: ‘The cord can only hold so much body weight for a couple of minutes. But normally we are only up there for 20 seconds.

‘After the show the stage crew told me that it could have snapped any second.

‘The longer I was up there the more chance there was of me falling to my death.

‘I would have fallen straight on to a metal stage frame, or worse still, into the crowd.’

Most fans thought the incident was part of the elaborate stage show at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena, where the Sligo and Dublin lads are performing a record 12 dates.

Kian was finally lowered to safety half way through the second song and he carried on with the show.

During a short interval a doctor rushed to check

Kian’s health after the ordeal and passed him fit for the rest of the show.

Recovering in his hotel, Kian added: ‘My arms are sore and I have a couple of bruises but other than that I am OK.

‘To be honest the worst thing was the shock. I am still getting flashbacks about it now.

‘The rest of the lads spoke to me and told me just to get on with the show and that would be the best way of getting over it.

‘I feel strong and ready to get on with the rest of our concerts but it was a close call.’

A Mis-Teeq(rious) Wedding

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UK garage ladies Mis-Teeq are planning to hold a triple wedding ceremony somewhere next year, in which they’d all marry their fiances.

The striking trio that make up Mis-Teeq made the announcement backstage at the Maxim Women Of The Year Awards, where they were presented with the Best Band award.

“Personally, we all feel like the three of us have been through loads and have shared so many experiences together. It just feels right to get married together as well. So we’re going to have a huge Mis-Teeq wedding, all three of us, when we’ve got the time, when we’ve got some money” said Alesha.

The news is hot on the heels of Alesha’s recent announcement of her engagement to boyfriend MC Harvey of So Solid Crew fame. Su-Elise is engaged to Charles Gordon and Sabrina to Ian Mitchell.

So how precisely will a Mis-Teeq wedding be like? Well, the joint wedding would see all of the girls being both brides and bridesmaids on that particular day.

Meanwhile, according to the forum on Mis-teeq’s authorized site which you can surf through at www.mis-teeq.com it states that Mis-Teeq’s brand new offering ‘This Is How We Do It/Roll On’ have been pushed back from sometime in May to the tentative date stated there as the 17th of June.

Will Young Hopes To Attain US Success As Well

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Talks are underway to launch Will, the ‘Pop Idol’ champion, in the United States, according to Simon Cowell who looks after the popstar’s profession.

Simon said he thinks Will may have to change his musical focus if he is to snap up the American audiences.

Speaking to the press, Simon said “He will definitely have longevity. I think he will move from the pop world to singing soul. It’s all about having the right songwriters for Will”.

Can’t wait for more pop idols? Well, Simon did not fail to mention that he’s also busy preparing for the next series of Pop Idol. “We’re going to tweak it slightly so that it will be as big a success as the first time round.”

Darius Danesh To Have His Own Albums

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Reportedly, Darius Danesh is on the verge of signing a GBP1 million record deal, in which it states that he’ll produce three LPs.

If you’re thinking Simon Cowell’s offering him the above-mentioned, then you’re wrong. The contract is with Mercury Records and not Simon’s BMG.

It had been thought Darius, who came in as the second runner-up in the hit ‘Pop Idol’, would follow Will Young and Gareth Gates in signing up with Simon too.

A spokesman for Darius’s management team told the press “Darius was flattered by all the offers and is hoping to make an announcement within the coming week or two.”

When Darius was a contestant on ‘Popstars’, Darius claimed he would have a number one single and a platinum album by the time he was 35. Well, looks like it may actually come true.

Hearing him sing on the ‘Pop Idol – The Big Band Album’, I think he has an awful load of potential to unleash. Coupled with his excellent singing abilities and strong vocals, I reckon that he’ll go far and not be an one-hit wonder.