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Simon Cowell is reportedly adamant on landing Cheryl Cole as a judge on the US version of X Factor and is offering the British pop singer a $2.2 million deal to make sure she’s his first priority. A source said “Getting the right combination for the panel is imperative and Cheryl ticks all the boxes. She is sassy, sexy, confident and knows her stuff musically. Her profile may not be large Stateside yet, but Simon thinks that will work to his advantage as there’s an element of mystery about Cheryl which is lacking from so many US stars. The money on offer is huge, but he knows it has to be a lot to persuade her to uproot, albeit temporarily.”

The late Michael Jackson’s sister, Rebbie, has spoken of her grief over losing her famous brother.

Rebbie, who was not as vocal as her sisters La Toya and Janet in the immediate aftermath of Michael’s sudden death last year, said her pain welled up when she saw snippets of Michael appear in the Oscars visual In Memoriam tribute.

“When I saw his picture – that was hard, it brought tears,” she told People Magazine after the March 7 tribute at the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony.

Rebbie, 59, and her brother Randy, 48, accepted a 2010 Angel Award at the Children Uniting Nations fundraiser in honour of Michael’s support of children’s causes. “We miss him so much and we know you do too,” she said.

She later told the magazine backstage: “I got very emotional afterward. But I was very pleased and happy to be a part of this – Michael was very passionate about children and supporting their causes. Boy he would have loved this. I’m grateful and thankful to all these people.”

Rebbie underlined the welfare of Michael’s three surviving children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II. She revealed her mother and the children’s guardian, Katherine, was “hanging in there”.

Rebbie said: “Her favourite thing as a grandma is for everyone to come over and play games, especially Pictionary. All the time. Everyone gets involved and we all act silly. She’s a mother every day and she always supports the kids.”

Source: Splash News

Canadian actor Alan Thicke has said he is a big fan of his singer-son Robin’s music.

The 63-year-old star said he is one of his son Robin Thicke’s biggest fans but added that he didn’t get his musical talent from him.

He said to the Today show: “I couldn’t teach him about music, so I encouraged his hobbies.

“I’m a TV dad. I thought it was Sax Therapy and I thought this was duets with Kenny G, but no, everybody’s naked in the video.”

He added: “Robin Thicke is a great artist. Ordinarily when you’re getting your cuddle on, you wouldn’t want to hear your son’s voice.

“That’s usually the enemy of love. But in this case, it is romantic. It’s not like he’s singing: ‘Go, daddy, go!’ It’s a mood setter.”

Source: Splash News

Former Pussycat Dolls member Kimberly Wyatt, who left the band in February, is bitching about her time as a doll in her new solo single ‘Not Just a Doll’. The lyrics go “Just be this way and act this way. So talk this way, I won’t do all that you tell me. Sit and stay, no right to say, so walk this way…Ain’t no strings attached, now I’m feeling free at last. I just want to sing and dance, so I had to take a chance.” Yeah, just bit the hand that fed you. I think it’s stupid to burn bridges that blatantly. If you want to really distance yourself, sing something that wouldn’t make them think of your past and make much better music.

Meat Loaf is set to release ‘Hang Cool Teddy Bear’ this May and the album is about “a mysterious military man”. The singer says “It’s the story of a soldier. He’s been in battle and he’s lying face down on the ground. He can’t move, but he turns his head and starts to see blood run across the ground, and so he thinks he’s going to die. They always say you see your life flash backward when you’re about to die. But his life flashes forward – into what possibly could happen. He sees what his life could be: the good and the bad. The songs are the different scenarios he finds himself in. It’s not always the same time or the same place, but it’s always the same woman. But I don’t want to give too much away. I want people to work it out for themselves.” Meat Loaf collaborated with Justin Hawkins, Kara DioGuardi, Jack Black and even Hugh Laurie!

Linkin Park endures the same pain as millions of others cope with daily, namely a bad back. However, the band will not be taking the pain lying down especially when millions of dollars are on the line. The band’s lead singer Chester Bennington injured his back in 2008 while putting a toy together for his son which caused the band to back out of 6 concerts. They filed a claim with Lloyds London insurance company for lost profits from the shows but the company refused to pay, claiming that the injury was preexisting at the time that the policy was issued. Linkin Park has since filed a lawsuit against Lloyds asking for the money.

A man posted a very disturbing and hateful video on YouTube where he rallies for Elton John’s death. The crazy guy has since been arrested for making terrorist threats. Neal Horsley of Georgia apparently read the singer’s interview in Parade magazine where Elton alleges that Jesus was a gay man. Neal lost it and decided to post his video where he rambles on about the bible and carries around a sign that says “Elton John Must Die”. He was booked last week by the Atlanta Police Department and while it hasn’t been confirmed, Neal’s son Nathan believes that the arrest is because of his threats against the music man.

Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan has some fighting words for John Mayer. Billy was asked to comment on the soft rock artist and his most recent bout of verbal diarrhea. Billy said “He’s trying to destroy his career. Rather than take a year off or change his musical direction, some part of it is irritating his soul to the point where he’s trying to blow it up. Certainly a talented guy, but empathetically, standing on the sidelines, it’s hard to watch someone literally burn their career to the ground speaking as somebody who’s done it…I think for any person who has celebrity to sort of drop rocks at somebody else’s feet like that, there’s things you should really just keep your mouths shut on. There’s things that should just be left alone.”

Now this is how you keep a marriage going: just say your wife is the funniest person you’ve ever known. And it’s not like Mariah Carey’s ego is so small that she doesn’t need to hear it as often as possible. Apparently her husband, Nick Cannon, would like to use her superior acting skills in a movie: “I’d love to do a film with Mariah. But it would have to be a comedy. She’s the funniest woman in the world, she just cracks me up all the time.” That’s it, just keep feeding Mariah Carey’s ego, make her a bigger and bigger diva… when the time comes to chain her down, it will be Nick Cannon’s hand she’ll be biting off.

And it’s that she’s missing out of all of the things the Sugababes singer leaves behind when she is on tour. It looks like Heidi Range is truly British through and through: she believes that they don’t make tea anywhere in the world like they do in Britain. This is what she tweeted on the matter: “Home sweet home with a nice cup of tea, it’s the simple things you miss when you’ve been away.” How come Heidi Range doesn’t have some flown from Heathrow over to where she might be that particular day? It couldn’t possibly be too expensive or take too long… it would probably get there still warm.

It looks like Alex Lambert is one more of those unlucky guys that didn’t make it into the top twelve and it’s a dang shame since he had such a good name to start with. This is what Alex Lambert said about getting voted off: “I wish I had not been so nervous on stage, because there are a lot of things America hasn’t seen me do yet. I wish I had broken out of my shell.” Ellen DeGeneres offers him some words of encouragement as he goes off on the solo road. Still there is probably hope for Alex Lambert too… he should seek out the legendary Danny Gokey and learn the ways of stardom without American Idol. Perhaps that will be a better path for him.

Due to financial difficulties, the EMI record label may be sold to Warner Music Group within the year. Analyst Michael Nathanson was asked about the possible scenarios for the company and said “I would auction off the music publishing business and dump the recorded music business to Warner.” According to another analyst at Standard & Poor’s Equity Research, Tuba Amobi, a deal is a possibility because the parent company of EMI, Terra Firma, is apparently in much more dire situations than it has been in the past. I had no idea that it was this bad! This could very well be the reason for that rumor that Abbey Road was for sale.

Evanescence will finally be releasing a new record after four years. However, don’t expect the same band that you once knew. Only one person remains from the Grammy wining band – singer Amy Lee. The original guys parted ways with her some time ago to form a new group called Fallen with new lead singer, American Idol alum Carly Smithson. Amy recently spoke about the new sound of her band saying “It’s not an organic record. Our idea is to take synthetic and atmospheric sounds and find a way to blur the line between organic and synthetic… There is something really cool happening in music right now. There are bands that sound like they’re from another time — it’s like ’80s throwback music with analogue synthesizers and Moogs. I love it. I’ve been listening to a lot of La Roux.” That’s nice and all but I wonder how fans of the band’s old style would react to the new music.

Despite all of the bad things he said, despite all of the hardship he’s caused her and even despite making her father hate him, it seems that Jessica Simpson still has a soft spot for John Mayer. This is what she said about the matter: : “I will always care about him. I think he’s a great person, a great musician, but I was very disappointed by the article.” So there is still talk about John Mayer’s infamous article, but it looks like Jessica Simpson is willing to overlook that for now. This is probably because her make-believe relationship with Billy Corgan isn’t going so well… better John Mayer than a fragment of her imagination.

Last November, it was reported that Sting had lashed out at Simon Cowell and his shows American Idol and X Factor, calling them televised karaoke and preposterous. The famed judge and music mogul must have let those comments sit for a while because he just bit back at the singer. Simon said “First of all, anybody who at the age of 60 calls himself Sting is an idiot. I find those kind of people… who come from quite humble beginnings and they’re (now) living in these stately homes, professing to know everything about everything in the world, and what the contestants may or may not feel… They can say that because they’ve got everything they want in their lives, but what they’re really saying is anybody else who needs a shot shouldn’t be allowed to do it.” I’m on Team Simon on this one. If the shows are just what Sting calls they are, we wouldn’t have the likes of Carrie Underwood and Leona Lewis around.

Even though the two don’t yet refer to themselves as an item, it sure does seem that way. Rihanna apparently took a little trip to a charity for autism organized by Matt Kemp where she got the chance to spend a bit of time with his friends and family. This is what a source related about the event: “Matt was happy she came. It was an awesome show of support. Rihanna fit right in as if they all knew each other. It was comfortable.” Matt Kemp is always happy when Rihanna shows up… after all, she’s such a good friend. It looks like a perfect match for the two… especially since Justin Timberlake has yet to be seen around Rihanna lately.

Goldfrapp is coming out with a new album this year and from the songs that I’ve heard so far, her music is definitely the most anticipated to come out from its genre. Her latest song is called ‘Believer’ and it is rumored that it’s all about Alison Goldfrapp’s new relationship. The singer recently came out as a lesbian. She must have gotten a lot of inspiration from her new love because the new music is absolutely amazing. I can’t wait until it finally gets released. I’m just about ready to get everyone hooked on Goldfrapp. I honestly believe she’s one of the best out there.

Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz has said her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake will be fantastic in their new movie.

Timberlake, 29, recently signed up to star opposite Diaz, 37, in new comedy Bad Teacher.

Diaz said to Access Hollywood: “We’re thrilled to have him. He’s the best person for the job. He’s going to be hilarious. He’s clearly a very talented comedian, look at his Saturday Night Live [skits]. He’s fantastic, he’s going to be so great.”

The pair dated for just under four years after meeting at the Kids’ Choice Awards in 2003. They announced their split in a statement in January 2007.

Diaz added that she is looking forward to seeing the movie once it is finished. She said: “We just had our first day of shooting yesterday with Jason. And we just laughed all day. It’s so wonderful, I’m so excited.”

Source: Splash News

Cheryl Cole has apparently agreed to meet with her cheating douche bag of a husband Ashley Cole in the south of France where he is recuperating after an ankle injury to hear what he has to say for himself. A source said “Cheryl wants to be tough with Ashley and believes that it will be easier on neutral territory. She’ll listen — but not for very long.” It’s even being said that he is sending the Girls Aloud singer text messages with lyrics from her own songs. Cheryl is so much better off without him. I wish she would just file for divorce.

Simon Cowell might be the star of the hottest musical entertainment vehicle,The American Idol and The X-Factor, but he can’t operate the hottest musical accessory on the planet.

Cowell in his tell-all to Piers Morgan admitted he is flustered by the i-Pod. He suggested the i-Pod was too much of an isolating tool – and that there was no shortage of i-Pods crossing his path.

He said: “I keep getting given them and I don’t know how to use them. I can’t bear somebody who sits with an iPod on and you can kind of half hear it. That’s boring. I like to listen to music in a more social type of thing. I’m not somebody who would put a record on on my own and get into the lyrics. I’m an old soul so I like anything from Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, kind of classic R’n'B, or I love the whole big band era.”

Source: Splash News