Shania name-droppings... [Archive] - Page 12

Brit_girlAmanda

10-24-2008, 4:40pm

Checking in with Steve Sullivan and Chris Chelios

I've had a few readers ask me to update the condition of Steve Sullivan, so I will do just that. After all, Sullivan is a fellow northern Ontario native, so how can I not? (He's from a place called Timmins, which is also the hometown of country music star Shania Twain. "Canadian trivia for $500, Alex!")

The Timmins Tornado has been grounded since injuring his back in a game against the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 22, 2007. A year and a half is a long time to be away from the game, but there finally might be some positive developments.

"It's coming along," the 34-year-old Sullivan told ESPN.com Friday. "The workouts we have designed now are working better than the rehab I had before, so I'm optimistic."

Steve Sullivan has been out of the Predators' lineup since Feb. 22, 2007.

It's been a long road, and it's not over. Sullivan has had two separate back surgeries and several setbacks in rehab. And although he's had a recent stretch with no major setbacks, there's still no way of knowing for sure just yet.

"That's the thing, the unknown," Sullivan said. "We still haven't really loaded the back yet for any kind of exercises for any extended periods of time."

He's done lots of riding on the stationary bike and some core weight training that has minimal impact on his back. Lately, however, he has begun to test the back more in his workouts -- with success.

"I think that's why everyone is starting to get more optimistic, because the more we're testing it, we haven't had any setbacks," Sullivan said. "I'm hoping to continue that, hopefully get back into pretty close to game shape as possible and try to hit the ice.

"Anybody who is out 18 months, you're not going to be in the best physical shape than you've been. So if we can get back close to game shape as possible and back on the ice at some point … it's going to be a long process, but at least now there's some glimmer of hope."

Hope. That's a feeling Sullivan has been trying to cling to.

"It's been difficult," he said. "We've had some dark times. It's been a roller coaster, if you ask my wife, where I go into some stretches where I'm probably best not to be around. But I think overall I've kept a pretty good attitude about it, and I've just tried to stay optimistic. I really believe that there's not one time I really thought, deep, deep down inside, that I wouldn't play again. And I still don't believe that."

He says his family has been a huge support for him.

"I've got a lot of support from my family. I've made the best of a bad situation. I've spent a lot more time with my kids. A lot of players don't have that time. They're at a young age right now, and they're getting into sports and hockey, and I've been able to support them in that and watch them grow as little hockey players. So, they're benefiting from this."

Sullivan went down at a time when he had never been more prolific in the NHL. He was a solid 60- to 70-point player for most of his career, but in Nashville, he put up 158 points (62-96) in 150 games before the injury.

"In my career, I had never been a point-a-game player, but as the new NHL rules came in [after the lockout] and with the opportunity I got here in Nashville, I was just coming into my own, and I think I was playing the best hockey I had ever played," Sullivan said.

"Everything was coming together, and then this happens. Right after we had traded for Peter Forsberg and we were making our run for the Cup, I get injured. The timing wasn't very good.

"I thought I had my best years ahead of me still," he added after a pause. "So, I'm hoping this is just a slight setback. Looking at it positively, maybe I gave my body some time to rest, and I can heal up and still have a few years ahead of me."

We're definitely hoping, Sully.

And what about Chelly?
A fractured right tibia has delayed Chris Chelios from officially beginning his 25th NHL season. Mr. Quarter Century got hurt blocking a shot in a preseason game Sept. 30 and was told he'd be out three to six weeks.

"I guess a broken bone is a broken bone," Chelios told ESPN.com Thursday night. "It was wishful thinking to think it would be healed in three weeks, and the CAT scan showed it wasn't. I got another week before I get another CAT scan, and hopefully, two weeks from now, I can resume skating and try and get back in this lineup.

"It's just a nagging injury, nothing that's going to last forever like a ligament. There's nothing I can do; the bone's got to heal, and I don't want to take a chance cracking it and having to put a post in there. So that's where I stand right now."

Problem is, getting back into the starting lineup with the Stanley Cup champions isn't exactly an automatic thing. We asked him whether he made sure to run into Wings coach Mike Babcock a few times this week.

"I think he's seen me once or twice," Chelios said. "But he's got a pretty good machine going on here right now. My problem is, I'm a 46-year-old guy on a great team. Nothing you can do about it. I have to work my way back into shape and earn a spot again. That's my goal."

Chelios enters the season sixth on the all-time games-played list with 1,616. And counting.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3661921&name=lebrun_pierre

tonyme

10-24-2008, 4:48pm

Thanks!

Troll

10-24-2008, 6:13pm

Thanks for the article.

Brit_girlAmanda

10-28-2008, 12:43pm

Famous entertainers have roots here

MURRAY FRANKLIN 'BUDDY' CANNON
Born in Henderson County, Murray Franklin ('Buddy') Cannon, 61, played electric bass guitar in Grand Ole Opry star Bob Luman's band in the early '70s. He also played bass guitar in Tillis' band and wrote for Tillis.

Two years ago Cannon was named Producer of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards show. Cannon has helped launch the careers of stars such as Shania Twain, Sammy Kershaw and Billy Ray Cyrus.

Cannon has received gold album awards for several songs, produced an album on Willie Nelson, and he wrote a song for George Strait called Give It Away, which was named the Song of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards show in Las Vegas last year. It was also voted the Song of the Year at the Country Music Awards show in Nashville last November. Recently Cannon completed a Kenny Chesney album, and he is producing an album on Ash Bowers from Henderson, Tennessee, which will be released in early 2008.

http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20081028/COMMUNITIES02/81027047

dreamer

10-28-2008, 12:45pm

thanks Amanda

tonyme

10-28-2008, 12:49pm

Thanks for this name-dropping :)

Troll

10-28-2008, 1:02pm

Thanks Amanda

dreamer

10-28-2008, 4:14pm

Lovely first one I hadn't noticed

Brit_girlAmanda

10-28-2008, 5:36pm

Kellie Pickler Gets Help Eating Her Veggies from Carrie Underwood

Not long ago Kellie Pickler was a red-meat-eating country girl. Now, the country star tells PEOPLE, "I can't do it!"

About five months ago, she joined pal Carrie Underwood, a long-time vegetarian, in giving up eating meat.

"Most country girls do like their meat!" she laughs. "I used to eat steak rare all the time. I'd just throw it on the grill for two seconds, flip it over and it was done and everyone was like, 'That's so gross – that thing is still moving!' "

So when she made her big decision, she got some moral support quickly. "I texted Carrie and was like, 'You're never going to believe this!' And she was like, 'No way! I'll give you three days!' "

Two weeks later, Pickler text messaged Underwood again to tell her she's still on the veggie wagon. "She was like, 'Wow, I'm so proud of you! You're doing better than I thought!' So we have this little vegetarian thing going on. I'll text her and be like, 'Is fish considered a meat?' And she'll be like, 'Well, different people look at it differently.' "

Pickler says she first decided to go veggie for health reasons, but a TV ad that vegetarian Pam Anderson did for animal rights group PETA piqued her curiosity. "One night I couldn't sleep and I was up and just Googling random stuff and I'm like, 'Hmmm, PETA.' I saw all the videos and I just thought it was horrible. It's animal cruelty. A lot of it has to do with knowing what happens to the animals and it really bothered me and so I will not eat meat."

As one of only a small group of vegetarians in the country genre (Shania Twain is another), Pickler tries not to be militant about her conversion, but says she just feels better meat-free. "It's not like I'm not going to go to dinner with someone if they're going to order a chicken," she says. "It's just a personal thing to me and I'm not preaching about it to anyone. But I feel more healthy."

http://www.people.com/people/articl...0236190,00.html

dreamer

10-28-2008, 5:51pm

thanks

tonyme

10-28-2008, 5:53pm

Thank you Amanda for all these great articles!

greek fanatic

10-29-2008, 8:38am

Jason Feinberg
FOX5 News Anchor
Jason is an Emmy award winning journalist approaching his 17th year in television news.

Before he started at FOX5, he worked as a correspondent for E! News in Los Angeles. He has interviewed just about every star in Hollywood and worked the red carpets, premieres, movie junkets, set visits and awards shows. His favorite celebrities include John Travolta, Shania Twain and Billy Bob Thornton.

Hockeystick

10-29-2008, 12:11pm

Nice.

tonyme

10-29-2008, 12:14pm

Thanks for that, Chrissie :)

Troll

10-29-2008, 1:08pm

That is cool

dreamer

10-29-2008, 2:33pm

thanks

Brit_girlAmanda

10-30-2008, 11:10am

From the delivery truck to delivering Grey Cups

QUARTERBACK RICKY RAY TOOK THE LONG ROAD TO THE CFL AND CAME OUT A STAR

From 1986 to 2000, Henry 'Gizmo' Williams was the face of the franchise, though good times and bad, for the Edmonton Eskimos.

When he left, Ricky Ray arrived to take the team into the next era. The Eskimos, through The Gizmo Williams Era, won their 10th and 11th Grey Cups and played in their 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Grey Cup games. So far in The Ricky Ray Era the Eskimos have won their 12th and 13th Cups and played in their 22nd, 23rd and 24th Grey Cup games.

Ray arrived in 2002 and few have made a name for themselves as fast as Ricky Ray, or Frito Ray, as he was being called that season. One day the 22-year-old was driving a potato chip truck, the next he was driving the Eskimos down the field.

GAME OVER

"I thought I'd never play football again. I thought I was going to be working at Frito Lay for a while. My route was Safeway, Albertsons and Wal-Mart. We'd leave at 5 a.m. from the warehouse."

The 6-foot-3 native of Redding, Calif. who played college football for Sacramento State, went to training camp with the San Francisco 49ers and played a year of arena football with the Fresno Frenzy for head coach Rick Worman, an old CFL quarterback who had briefly been an Edmonton Eskimo.

Ray received $200 a game with a bonus of $50 for a win and wasn't quitting his day job delivering potato chips.

Worman tipped off then Eskimo head coach Tom Higgins that Ricky Ray was a quarterback invented to play Canadian football and Ray was soon headed north after signing up for less than the $41,500 he would have made delivering potato chips.

It's a bit of an adjustment going from arena football to the Canadian game.

"Obviously, it's a lot different," said Ray.

"In arena football, you've got that little dinky field. Here it's humongous. Throwing an out pass could be 50 yards. That's a heck of an adjustment."

ON THE BENCH

Ray made the team as a backup and found himself starting halfway through his first season when Jason Maas was injured.

"I expected to be carrying a clipboard for a year or two. I came here believing it would happen but not that soon."

He made it a happening. In his first game he completed 21 of 28 passes for 277 yards. He threw four touchdown passes with no interceptions.

"Obviously there's a little doubt in there because you've never started a game. But what you want to do in that situation is take advantage of your opportunity," he said.

Ray certainly did that.

He completed 227 of 359 passes for a 63.2% record, 2,991 yards and 24 touchdowns versus nine interceptions.

In his rookie year he took the Eskimos to first place, won the West Final and became the only quarterback in Eskimo history to start a Grey Cup game for the team in Commonwealth Stadium.

Unfortunately, Ray and the Eskimos didn't write the perfect ending.

It was a Grey Cup of missed opportunities for the Eskimos who lost the Canadian classic to the Montreal Alouettes.

Because the game was at home, and there wouldn't be another Grey Cup in Edmonton until 2011, there was no wait 'til next year on that.

"It's going to be a hard thing to look back on that," said Ray when it was over.

"It wasn't like we went out and played our best game and lost. It could have been so much different."

This was not, to most observers, a Grey Cup game the Alouettes won but a game the Eskimos lost.

Edmonton had a 25-7 edge in first downs, a 417-300 edge in total offence and 35:15 time of possession to 24:45 by the Als.

How do you manage all that and lose 25-16?

That's what the Eskimos would be asking themselves all winter.

"Just one play here and one play there. They were able to make big plays for touchdowns, we weren't. When we had a chance, we didn't do it.

"I'd overthrow somebody or somebody would drop a pass. I've got to be able to hit those guys when they're open and when I do, they've got to come up with the catch for the touchdown."

Most Edmonton fans spent the winter blaming Higgins for a questionable coaching call as well.

It was, however, a wonderful week and another spectacular hosting job right up to game time with 62,531 fans in the stands, Shania Twain starring at half time and rave reviews once again as the Grey Cup host with the most.

But this time Edmontonians weren't strutting with the same pride as after the first two hostings because of the way the Eskimos played in the game.

There wasn't much Ray and the Eskimos could do but commit to each other and try to get back and win it the next year, even if it was being held in Regina instead of in Edmonton.

In 2003 Ray led the Eskimos to a 13-5 record which included 10 wins in an 11-game span from July 31 through Oct. 17 and a 30-23 win over Saskatchewan in the West Final.

The Eskimos went to Regina and won their 12th Grey Cup by 12 points. Ricky Ray out-quarterbacked the guy who two days earlier had been named the CFL's most outstanding player and the Eskimos did what they hadn't done for a decade, their most recent Grey Cup victory having been in 1993.

The 34-22 win featured Ray going to work, first with Ed Hervey and then with Jason Tucker, exposing cornerback D.J. Johnson.

Tucker ended up as the player of the game catching seven passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

But it was Ray who, to most observers, put his name on the game, completing 22 of 32 passes for 301 yards.

"It's weird," said Ray as he held the Cup up for photographers.

"Last year was the dream season for me. It was awesome. I came up here just hoping to be the third-string quarterback. I went all the way to the Grey Cup as starter and we almost won it. The whole year was like a dream.

"This year it was so much different because I had to prove I could do it again, that last year wasn't a fluke. I'm just so happy I was able to play my part to do what this team was able to do."

It was a Grey Cup which was about Leo Groenewegen who, after a long career, finally got to drink out of the Grey Cup.

And it was about Chris Morris and Sean Fleming, the only two Eskimos left from the last time they won it back in 1993.

Ricky Ray wasn't there in 2004, spending the year in the NFL with the New York Jets. The Eskimos lost their first three games, finished up with a 9-9 season and lost the Semi-Final. Tom Higgins lost his job, Danny Maciocia took over and Ray came back to Edmonton to play for his old offensive coordinator.

The Eskimos won five of their first six and three of their last four but finished third. Ray struggled in the Semi-Final in Calgary only to have Maas come off the bench to beat the Stampeders 33-26. It was Maas in relief again in the Final in Vancouver to get the Eskimos back to the Grey Cup with a 28-23 win.

The Grey Cup was back in Vancouver and it was an all-timer.

Ricky Ray started. Ricky Ray finished. And it was the greatest finish in the 93-year history of the event.

"I couldn't have written this any better. What a way to end the season. And what a season to end it this way."

It was overtime, the first one since the 1961 Grey Cup. And Ray, who hadn't thrown a touchdown pass in eight games, threw one early to Hervey and one late to Tucker with another one to Tucker for the two-point convert to get the Eskimos to overtime and a 38-35 win over the Montreal Alouettes.

Ray was playing in his third Grey Cup in three years in the league and had won the last two and was named the MVP in this one.

"It seemed getting to the first two Grey Cups was so much smoother than this one," he said.

"We owe so much to Jason Maas. He got us to this game. We finished third and became the first Eskimo team to do that and win the Grey Cup. And we just won it in overtime. This is unbelievable." Maas, who had the headlines the previous two Monday mornings, said Ray deserved to be the hero this day.

"He's 27 years old and he's been to the Grey Cup all three years he's played and won the last two," said Maas.

"Ricky Ray is going to go down in history as one of the great quarterbacks ever to play the game up here. I know it."

Maas was gone to Hamilton the next year, there were mass retirements on the offensive line and Ray was on his back most of the next year. He didn't get back to the Grey Cup. In fact he became part of Eskimo history in an entirely new direction as the fabled football franchise North American pro sports record of 34 consecutive seasons in the playoffs came to an end.

Injured for the final third of last season, the Eskimos lost every game without him in a total rebuilding year.

Edmonton fans will debate if they're back or not, but they're back in the playoffs and The Ricky Ray Era is far from being over.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Columnists/Jones/2008/10/30/7250796-sun.html

dreamer

10-30-2008, 12:19pm

thanks

Troll

10-30-2008, 1:17pm

Thanks for the article.

faithfully

10-30-2008, 2:30pm

More Shania please:D

ravshania

10-31-2008, 1:59am

:kiss:SHANIA:kiss:

:) luvshania :) ravshania :)

Brit_girlAmanda

10-31-2008, 6:41pm

11/7: Carrie Underwood

by Larry Rodgers - Oct. 31, 2008
The Arizona Republic

Singer Carrie Underwood tries to be modest about her success since winning American Idol in 2005, but there is no denying that she has the total package of talent, looks, attitude and songs needed to become a crossover superstar like Shania Twain.

Despite selling nearly 11 million albums in her short post-Idol career, Underwood makes a believable case that she is not obsessed with entering the orbit of Twain, who used sexy looks, sassy attitude and a slick country-pop sound to go global in the mid-'90s.

Underwood also has drawn comparisons to Faith Hill, Martina McBride and Reba McEntire, who, too, have used big talent and savvy marketing to cross over to pop and adult-contemporary radio and become household names far beyond Nashville's orbit.
"No, I don't have goals like that," Underwood says. "I just do what I do, and hope that I can keep doing it. If stuff like that happens, then it's awesome. But if not, then that's fine, too."

Anyone who has heard Underwood belt out her in-your-face crossover hit Before He Cheats or turn bittersweet and vulnerable on the ballad Jesus Take the Wheel, also played on both pop and country radio, would probably bet on the "awesome" stuff happening.

Music-industry insiders say she's playing all her cards right as she embarks on her first concert tour as a headliner. She performs in Glendale on Friday.

Fast success

"I think she's absolutely unstoppable," says Beville Darden, editor of AOL Music's country site, TheBoot.com.

"I see her surpassing Shania's popularity eventually. She's already sold 11 million albums (in three years). That's a feat that not many people can boast in any genre. And Carrie's only 25 years old and on her second album."

Darden came away from a 2007 Underwood concert a believer.

"Her vocals are absolutely amazing, she's very energetic onstage for such an admittedly shy person, she's very charismatic," he says.

Also impressed is Don Tanner, a Detroit-based radio veteran and author of No Static At All: A Behind-the-Scenes Journey Through Radio and Pop Music.

"Carrie Underwood has it all - beautiful looks, great voice and talent, squeaky-clean reputation . . . . The sky is the limit for her."

Surpassing Twain is a tall order. The Canadian-born star recorded the largest-selling album ever by a female singer (1997's Come On Over), and she is the only female musician in any genre to have three albums top 10 million in sales.

Add to that challenge the simple fact that the music business has seen scores of artists who had talent, good looks and strong songs but failed to find that magic chemistry that turns on both country and pop listeners. Such artists as Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood, Deana Carter and Alison Krauss all have released material that has flirted with pop, but they haven't tasted the crossover success that Underwood has so soon.

'Idol' advantage

Winning American Idol gave Underwood's career a huge initial boost. It also gave her exposure to both the pop and country crowds before her debut album, 2005's Some Hearts, even hit store shelves.

"I was lucky, because I got to reach a lot of different types of music listeners through American Idol and was lucky enough to get a fan base of people who didn't necessarily listen to country music at all," says Underwood, who was an Oklahoma college student when she auditioned for the show.

The opportunity to sing country and pop tunes for tens of millions of Idol viewers allowed her to dip into both styles when she started recording albums, says David Reeder, vice president of GreenLight, a global consulting firm that links corporations and ad agencies with celebrities and music and film content.

"The American consumer has seen her perform successfully in those different genres of music, so they're not going to be shocked when she comes out and does something that's a little more pop or country . . . and they're also kind of invested in her success."

Of course, several performers who did well on American Idol failed to build success on the level that Underwood has achieved. Fellow winners Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Jordin Sparks have struggled to translate Idol crowns into huge album sales and concert crowds.

Reeder says post-Idol success as a first step toward superstar status depends on moving out of the show's shadow in a way that seems natural to potential fans.

"You have to overcome the perception that you are a manufactured star, and that ultimately lies in the performers themselves," he says.

"Carrie and someone like (Chris) Daughtry, who has been very successful as well, you saw a genuineness and truthfulness in what they were doing. They were able to take the music that was given them in different genres (on Idol) and reinterpret it to put it more in their comfort zone."

Building success

Daughtry, an Idol finalist a year after Underwood's 2005 victory, parlayed his rock background into a self-titled band that had the largest-selling album in the nation in 2007.

After hitting No. 1 on Billboard's mainstream pop chart with her American Idol single, Inside Your Heaven, Underwood put her debut album in the hands of top Nashville songwriters who were attuned to modern country, which mixes liberal doses of pop and rock with traditional twang.

The Some Hearts album debuted at No. 1 on the country charts and spawned a string of singles that performed well on the pop, adult contemporary, country and contemporary Christian charts.

The CD's title track, Jesus Take the Wheel, Wasted, Don't Forget to Remember Me and the monster crossover hit Before He Cheats left no doubt that Underwood had the goods needed for longstanding superstar success.

Underwood beat out Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Nickelback, Shakira and Mary J. Blige to score the largest-selling album of 2006 with Some Hearts, which has sold more than 7 million.

Underwood and Daughtry were also the biggest winners at last year's American Music Awards, which are voted on by fans of all types of music across the nation.

Holding her ground

Underwood maintains that she's a country artist first and won't compromise her sound for the sake of crossing over.

"We've never really pushed anything as far as things crossing over," says the singer, who grew up on her parents' farm in Checotah, Okla.

"Before He Cheats is our biggest crossover song to date (spending more than a year on Billboard's Hot 100 chart), and we were told up front that it was too country and that we needed to change the music on it . . . so it sounded more poppy. I'm not willing to do that.

"I remember growing up and listening to these (country) songs that I loved, and they were such great songs. Then it always seemed like people - and I don't want to use this word in the wrong way - but they dumbed-down the song and put some stupid synthesizer, drums . . . (prerecorded) loops on it that I really thought cheapened the song to make it fit into another format."

That approach has inspired singer Miranda Lambert, who has scored six Top 40 country hits after being a finalist on Nashville Star, country's version of American Idol, in 2003.

"I really respect Carrie because she's an amazing vocalist, and she doesn't change her music," Lambert says.

"She puts out records, and she puts out the music she wants, and if it goes onto a pop chart or some other kind of chart, she's like, 'Great.' But she doesn't change the track . . . she just keeps it country. She's making country music look great; she's bringing in fans from all different genres."

AOL Music's Darden points out that Twain went so far as to record two versions of her 2002 album, Up!, packaging the pop and country discs together in North America. Twain even released a third version of the disc with an "international mix" overseas in a bid to extend her worldwide reach.

"Shania worked hard to get that pop appeal," Darden says. "Carrie just happens to have it coincidentally."

The next step

Darden says Underwood's onstage fashion choices as well as the contrasting cover photos for her two albums - clean-cut country girl for the first, a more modern look amid flowing drapes for 2007's Carnival Ride - reveal a performer who has the complexity to keep appealing to all kinds of listeners.

"As far as her image, she's somewhat of a chameleon . . . . I think she's trying not to put herself into a mold," Darden says.

Her latest batch of singles run the musical gamut from soaring ballad (So Small) to rowdy country-rock (Last Name) to diva-worthy country-pop (All-American Girl) to patriotic tear-jerker (Just a Dream).

Even the honors she is earning blur the boundaries: A wax figure of Underwood was just unveiled at Madame Tussauds New York, but she also was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in May. She has appeared twice on Saturday Night Live and she will co-host country music's biggest awards show, the CMAs, on Nov. 12.

Author and radio vet Tanner thinks Underwood is mixing things up just enough to evolve into an even bigger crossover star. He's impressed that she hasn't jumped at every commercial endorsement offered and has stayed out of the National Enquirer.

Tanner and Darden both use variations of "keep up the good work" as they look ahead to how Underwood might surpass Twain or Faith Hill or Reba McEntire as a wide-ranging superstar.

"It's continuing to keep putting out great music, not overexposing yourself and conducting yourself in the right way," Tanner says.

Adds Darden, "She's doing everything right."

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/2008/10/31/20081031underwood.html

tonyme

10-31-2008, 6:42pm

I SO disagree with these people! Carrie will NEVER surpass Shania's popularity

Hockeystick

10-31-2008, 7:08pm

Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

Brit_girlAmanda

10-31-2008, 7:22pm

Taylor is doing remarkably well for herself, and the fact she did not have the same exposure Carrie had from by appearing on a reality TV show.

Hockeystick

10-31-2008, 7:43pm

Taylor might surpass Carrie, so Carrie will not pass Shania.

dreamer

10-31-2008, 10:24pm

I SO disagree with these people! Carrie will NEVER surpass Shania's popularity

:nod:

Troll

10-31-2008, 10:49pm

Thanks for the article.

ravshania

11-01-2008, 7:12am

its nt dat esy 4 carrie...:smirk:

:) luvshania :) ravshania :)

Troll

11-01-2008, 12:54pm

Tucson Region
As balloons ascend skyward, hopes for cancer cure do, too

I miss you. I hope we can find a cure so no one else has to go through this."
That was what 17-year-old Josh Miller would have liked to have said to his aunt, who died of breast cancer four years ago in California. The best he could do now was scrawl the message on a pink balloon.
And at the end of Cienega High School's lunch period Friday, it joined 99 other pink, biodegradable balloons carrying messages to the heavens, both for those who were taken early and for those who survived.
"I have mixed emotions," said Miller, who was close to his aunt. "I'm happy to be helping, but it's also kind of a sad and somber moment."
The event, to mark the close of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, was organized by the Link Crew, a group of upperclassmen who mentor freshmen and try to help their transition to high school. For its first big project of the school year, the group decided to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
Adviser and sophomore English teacher Jenny Meeker said she was amazed at the outpouring of support from the school. She ordered 500 pink bracelets and thought they'd end up having leftovers for next year. Instead, they sold out in about a week. The group was able to donate $500 for cancer research.
Lindsey Herriges, a 17-year-old senior and a member of the Link Crew, lost a grandfather to cancer when she was in the seventh grade.
"It's something that affects a lot of students and it was something we thought we could easily help with," she said.
The students didn't have to look farther than the administrative office for motivation.
Tracey Bell, the school's substitute coordinator, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 46. Following a double mastectomy and chemotherapy, her blond hair is growing back and she was clear at her six-month checkup. Students and staff leave her little gifts on her desk — this week it was an apple pie and a small bag of tomatoes — to let her know they're wishing her well.
She's a practical woman.
"Cancer doesn't define me," she said, adding she continues to both work and go to school full time and be an involved wife and mother. Still, watching the balloons ascend, she said, was "a little release, like it's gone."
"But more than anything, I am just grateful for the support of this school," said Bell, who led the countdown.
For a brief moment, hundreds of students simultaneously squinted into the sun to watch the cluster ascend.
And then, because they are kids, they flung the parachute that held the balloons into the air and rushed underneath, their playful squeals mingling with the strains of Shania Twain's "She's Not Just a Pretty Face."
The balloons were gone. And life continued.

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/265145

Brit_girlAmanda

11-01-2008, 1:10pm

Ashby plays Timmins tonight

SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT
Posted By CHELSEY ROMAIN, THE DAILY PRESS

Sean Ashby has appeared on the Grammy Awards twice, "Saturday Night Live" and David Letterman three times and "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno five times.

But tonight, Ashby will be live and in concert in Timmins.

Ashby is taking himself out of the background and putting himself centre stage as he releases his newest solo album.

Long known as the guitarist for Canadian recording artist Sarah McLaughlin, Ashby's newest album "Brass and Gold" is his third solo CD, but the first under his own name.

Kicking off his promotional tour for the album in Northern Ontario, Ashby will be in Timmins tonight for a performance at Micky J's Big House Bar and Grill to introduce his fans to a different sound.

"It's much more rock than what I do with Sarah," Ashby toldThe Daily Press."There are some acoustic songs, even some with strings on the album, but live we're a rock band trio."

Performing with artists like McLaughlin, Swollen Members, Lee Aaron and Holly McNarland to name a few, Ashby also found success with former band Jack Tripper, going up for awards against heavy hitters Nickelback.

But now, Ashby is looking to do things his way, working with different types of music and musicians.

"It just seemed to make more sense," said Ashby, who moved to Vancouver to start the band.

"I wanted to have a band and I tried to do that, but I had to make the move to Toronto and the band is still in Vancouver."

His career in music began many moons ago, playing in cover bands across Ontario, including Timmins.

He even admits to a crush on Timmins superstar Shania Twain, never forgetting seeing her on a television show wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater.

Trying to describe the sound of his solo work, Ashby calls it a cross between the Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson and Coldplay, but marks his influences as everyone from The Beatles and The Beach Boys to AC/DC.

"I love a rock band that can groove even though they are a rock band," Ashby said.

Refusing to limit himself to one genre, Ashby described his shows as "all over the map".

"As music fans, I hope they like something I do," said Ashby, adding he even does some country tunes.

"But as much as I like something thoughtful and introspective, I'm still a rocker at heart."

While performing his new songs gives Ashby a better idea of how an audience will react, it's also a chance to show another side of the man on the guitar behind McLaughlin.

"Sarah is my biggest client, and I've played with a lot of people, done a lot of session work," Ashby said. "Some may think I've been imprinted by her style, which is not true, even though I am honoured to play with such a great artist."

Stepping into the spotlight has been an interesting challenge, one Ashby compares to an artist having to paint portraits of people and then going out to paint, simply to create art.

While Ashby said his music comes from his heart, he is a crowd pleaser when it comes to creating music.

"A lot of thought goes into my songs, but I'm learning what the Canadian audience likes, what I can do and what they would appreciate," Ashby said. "Every audience has a different personality. When backing someone up you're not as exposed to that. I'm learning how to feel out an audience."

As he continues to learn both on stage and behind the scenes, Ashby vows to stay as real as possible, refusing to fake any kind of the music experience for his fans and himself. He's not trying to portray the poor tortured artist, but trying to create a sound that will not be defined.

"This has been the best experience of my career so far," he said. "I feel like the luckiest guy in the world."

More information on Ashby, along with a selection of his songs can be found at www.myspace.com/seanashbymusic.

http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1277167

Troll

11-01-2008, 1:12pm

Thanks for the article

dreamer

11-01-2008, 3:00pm

thanks

Brit_girlAmanda

11-02-2008, 4:01am

'Flyover rock' rocks the heartland

IN THE ZONE: Hinder’s ability to blend hedonistic lyrics with emotional themes is a “flyover” hallmark. Here the group gathers after playing MTV’s “A Night for Vets” show Oct. 23.

While the coasts are busy chasing after the Next Big Thing, Middle America's fans have latched onto 'real' bands that can make a Sarah Palin smile.

By Ann Powers, Pop music critic
November 2, 2008

Brian Howes gets a little hot under the black-leather collar when asked who listens to his kind of rock music. Speaking on a BMI-sponsored songwriter's panel before last year's Grammy Awards, the Vancouver-based producer, who has co-written hits for Hinder, Chris Daughtry, David Cook and Puddle of Mudd, sent an emotional shout-out to the common fan. * "I call it the hosers in Canada, the rednecks," he said. "The flyover zones. The people in Middle America seem to still buy records . . . You can sit on the back of your flatbed Ford, have a six-pack, crank some AC/DC and throw on some Daughtry or Hinder."

"Flyover rock" (like its more politically minded sister term, "red-state rock") is the kind of insult critics apply to what they find bland or derivative. Yet for Howes and his peers, identifying with music's middle ground is a point of pride and commitment.

"This is no slam against the media -- I used to be that elitist punk guy," said Howes, who played in a successful ska-punk band in the 1990s, by phone recently. "But the media are looking for the next cool thing, whereas Middle Americans just want good music that makes 'em feel good."

Since the days when former art-school kids the Rolling Stones declared themselves exiled on Main Street, populism has served as a normalizing counterpoint to rock's freaky bohemian tendencies. The idea of the "average Joe" keeps rock stars grounded and helps fans relate. But for artists like Hinder, Nickelback and "American Idol" winner Cook -- all of whom release albums nearly guaranteed to top the charts this month -- ordinariness has become a source of distinction.

***

Their music's phenomenal success says a lot about what rock signifies in the 21st century and how much the mythical "rock 'n' roll lifestyle" has influenced the way so-called ordinary people live.

"Sarah Palin likes the music that Tipper Gore hated! I find it kind of perplexing," said Chuck Eddy, author of books including "Stairway to Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe."

In the mid-1980s, moderate "Washington wife" Gore helped organize Senate hearings to examine the content of songs by Poison and Mötley Crüe (as well as Prince and Madonna). Now, partly because of hard rock's legacy, a little excess seems like fun, and the uber-conservative Palin shows her hard-rock roots by giving her son Trig the middle name "Van," after Van Halen.

Flyover's turf

Flyover rock thrives in an expanded heartland that also encompasses parts of the South and Western Canada (and maybe the L.A. neighborhood where Buckcherry lives). But it also exists in an imaginary zone only tangentially connected to current political concerns, moral judgments or fashion trends. The flyover fantasy world is a place where mothers bring their daughters to arena shows, where hearty partying is seen as a healthy release after a hard week's work and where rockers view themselves as traditionalists, just like sports fans, churchgoers and patriots.

The most wholesome flyover rocker yet might be Cook, whose first major-label album comes out Nov. 18. Growing up in Missouri, Cook wanted to be a baseball player before turning to rock. He sees the sports analogy as particularly apt.

"Let's say tomorrow I do two things," he said at his management company's West Hollywood offices. "I go see Game 1 of the World Series, and it's 15 innings, no score, until the very end. And that same night I go see one of the greatest Paul McCartney concerts ever. They're both things I'm gonna talk about for the rest of my life."

Austin Winkler also wanted to play pro ball before becoming the singer for Hinder. Speaking by phone from a stop on tour, he described his band's desire to uphold the legacy of Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses as "basically the whole big fun part of rock 'n' roll. It went through a very dark period whenever Kurt Cobain and Nirvana and those bands came out," he said. "Rock was getting a little too cheesy, and those bands called out the earlier guys. But at one point, before that, it was real."

"Real," for bands such as Hinder, means both blatantly hedonistic and openly emotional. There's no contradiction between the impulse to "be up all night/doing things your dad won't like" -- a lyric from Hinder's new album "Take It to the Limit," out Tuesday -- and the desire to avoid such temptations, which was the subject of "Lips of an Angel," the power ballad that put the band on the map.

"There's a duality," said Howes, whose band will also play an election night concert Tuesday at the Wiltern. "Like 'Lips of an Angel.' It's not about cheating, it's about thinking about cheating. Everybody can relate to that."

A country connection

Thinking about cheating -- that sounds like a country song. The connection between flyover rock and country is often played up in the media and embraced by artists in both genres. "Dark Horse," Nickelback's sixth album (also out Nov. 18), was co-produced by Mutt Lange, famous for catapulting both Def Leppard and his ex-wife Shania Twain to stardom. It closes with "This Afternoon," a drinking song that would fit right in on a Kenny Chesney set.

"I actually grew up listening to country," said Cook. "My mom would drive my brother and I to Little League football games and we'd listen to country radio; I remember always going to this doughnut shop and grabbing doughnuts and listening to George Strait."

Winkler admires country's simple lyrical content. "Country's got some of the best lyrics in the world. They're very easy and simple to understand, they paint a picture for you. It doesn't make you have to think a lot."

For all of the mutual admiration between flyover rockers and country stars, the core connection between country and flyover rock isn't a musical one. It's philosophical. Both genres explore the idea of hedonism as a necessary part of a healthy life -- the eternal wild Saturday night that contrasts with the penitent Sunday morning.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-ca-flyover2-2008nov02,0,204871.story

Troll

11-02-2008, 8:05am

Thanks.

tonyme

11-02-2008, 11:25am

It's so weird seeing ex-wife everywhere :uhh::cry:

Rami

11-02-2008, 4:26pm

Yeah it's not even confirmed yet :rolleyes:

dreamer

11-02-2008, 4:49pm

It's so weird seeing ex-wife everywhere :uhh::cry:

it makes me sick and sad:cry:

Troll

11-02-2008, 4:54pm

It's so weird seeing ex-wife everywhere :uhh::cry:

I guess they just assume it.

Brit_girlAmanda

11-03-2008, 6:49pm

Hot singer Underwood's appeal easily crosses musical genres
by Larry Rodgers - Nov. 2, 2008
The Arizona Republic

Singer Carrie Underwood tries to be modest about her success since winning American Idol in 2005, but there's no denying that she has the total package of talent, looks, attitude and songs needed to become a crossover superstar like Shania Twain.

Despite selling nearly 11 million albums in her short post-Idol career, Underwood makes a believable case that she isn't obsessed with entering the realm of Twain, who used sexy looks, sassy attitude and a slick country-pop sound to go global in the mid-'90s.

Underwood also has drawn comparisons to Faith Hill, Martina McBride and Reba McEntire, who, too, have used big talent and savvy marketing to cross over to pop and adult-contemporary radio and become household names far beyond Nashville's orbit.

"No, I don't have goals like that," Underwood says. "I just do what I do and hope that I can keep doing it. If stuff like that happens, then it's awesome. But if not, then that's fine, too."

Anyone who has heard Underwood belt out her in-your-face crossover hit Before He Cheats or turn bittersweet and vulnerable on the ballad Jesus Take the Wheel, also played on both pop and country radio, would probably bet on the "awesome" stuff happening.

Music-industry insiders say she's playing all her cards right as she embarks on her first concert tour as a headliner. She performs Friday in Glendale.

"I think she's absolutely unstoppable," says Beville Darden, editor of AOL Music's country site, TheBoot.com. "I see her surpassing Shania's popularity eventually. She's already sold 11 million albums (in three years). That's a feat that not many people can boast in any genre. And Carrie's only 25 years old and on her second album."

Darden came away from a 2007 Underwood concert a believer.

"Her vocals are absolutely amazing, she's very energetic onstage for such an admittedly shy person, she's very charismatic," she says.

Also impressed is Don Tanner, a Detroit-based radio veteran and author of No Static at All: A Behind-the-Scenes Journey Through Radio and Pop Music.

"Carrie Underwood has it all - beautiful looks, great voice and talent, squeaky-clean reputation. . . . The sky is the limit for her."

Surpassing Twain is a tall order. The Canadian-born star recorded the largest-selling album ever by a female singer (1997's Come on Over), and is the only female performer in any genre to have three albums top 10 million in sales.

Add to that challenge that the music business has seen scores of artists who had talent, good looks and strong songs but failed to find that chemistry that turns on country and pop listeners alike. Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood, Deana Carter, Alison Krauss and similar artists have released material that flirted with pop, but they haven't tasted the crossover success that Underwood has so quickly.

'Idol' advantage

Winning American Idol gave Underwood's career a huge initial boost. It also gave her exposure to both the pop and country crowds before her debut album, 2005's Some Hearts,even hit the shelves.

"I was lucky, because I got to reach a lot of different types of music listeners through American Idol and was lucky enough to get a fan base of people who didn't necessarily listen to country music at all," says Underwood, an Oklahoma college student when she auditioned for the show.

The opportunity to sing country and pop tunes for tens of millions of Idol viewers allowed her to dip into both styles when she started recording albums, says David Reeder, vice president of GreenLight, a global consulting firm that links corporations and ad agencies with celebrities and music and film content.

"The American consumer has seen her perform successfully in those different genres of music, so they're not going to be shocked when she comes out and does something that's a little more pop or country . . . and they're also kind of invested in her success."

Of course, several performers who did well on American Idol failed to build similar success. Fellow winners Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Jordin Sparks have struggled to translate Idol crowns into huge album sales and concert crowds.

Reeder says post-Idol success as a first step toward superstar status depends on moving out of the show's shadow in a way that seems natural to potential fans.

"You have to overcome the perception that you are a manufactured star, and that ultimately lies in the performers themselves," he says.

"Carrie and someone like (Chris) Daughtry, who has been very successful as well, you saw a genuineness and truthfulness in what they were doing. They were able to take the music that was given them in different genres (on Idol) and reinterpret it to put it more in their comfort zone."

Building success

Daughtry, an Idol finalist in 2006, parlayed his rock background into a self-titled band that had the largest-selling album in the nation in 2007.

Underwood, after hitting No. 1 on Billboard's mainstream-pop chart with her American Idol single, Inside Your Heaven, put her debut album in the hands of top Nashville songwriters attuned to modern country, which mixes liberal doses of pop and rock with traditional twang.

The Some Hearts CD debuted at No. 1 on the country charts and spawned a string of singles that performed well on the pop, adult-contemporary, country and contemporary-Christian charts.

The CD's title track, along with Jesus Take the Wheel, Wasted, Don't Forget to Remember Me and the monster crossover hit Before He Cheats, left no doubt that Underwood had the goods needed for longstanding superstar success.

She beat out Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Nickelback, Shakira and Mary J. Blige to score the largest-selling album of 2006 with Some Hearts, which has sold more than 7 million.

Underwood and Daughtry were also the biggest winners at last year's American Music Awards, which are voted on by fans of all types of music across the nation.

Underwood maintains that she's a country artist first and won't compromise her sound for the sake of crossing over.

"We've never really pushed anything as far as things crossing over," says the singer, who grew up on her parents' farm in Checotah, Okla.

"Before He Cheats is our biggest crossover song to date (spending more than a year on Billboard's Hot 100 chart), and we were told upfront that it was too country and that we needed to change the music on it . . . so it sounded more poppy. I'm not willing to do that.

"I remember growing up and listening to these (country) songs that I loved, and they were such great songs. Then it always seemed like people - and I don't want to use this word in the wrong way - but they dumbed-down the song and put some stupid synthesizer, drums . . . (prerecorded) loops on it that I really thought cheapened the song to make it fit into another format."

That approach has inspired singer Miranda Lambert, who has scored six Top 40 country hits after being a finalist on Nashville Star, country's version of American Idol, in 2003.

"I really respect Carrie because she's an amazing vocalist, and she doesn't change her music," Lambert says. "She puts out records, and she puts out the music she wants, and if it goes onto a pop chart or some other kind of chart, she's like, 'Great.' But she doesn't change the track . . . she just keeps it country. She's making country music look great; she's bringing in fans from all different genres."

Darden at AOL Music points out that Twain went so far as to record two versions of her 2002 album, Up!, packaging the pop and country discs together in North America. Twain also released a third version of the disc with an "international mix" overseas in a bid to extend her worldwide reach.

"Shania worked hard to get that pop appeal," Darden says. "Carrie just happens to have it coincidentally."

The next step

Darden says Underwood's onstage fashion choices, as well as the contrasting cover photos for her two albums - clean-cut country girl for the first, a more modern look amid flowing drapes for 2007's Carnival Ride - reveal a performer who has the complexity to keep appealing to all kinds of listeners.

"As far as her image, she's somewhat of a chameleon. . . . I think she's trying not to put herself into a mold," Darden says.

Underwood's latest batch of singles runs the musical gamut from soaring ballad (So Small) to rowdy country-rock (Last Name) to diva-worthy country-pop (All-American Girl) to patriotic tear-jerker (Just a Dream).

Even the honors she's earning blur the boundaries: A wax figure of Underwood was just unveiled at Madame Tussauds New York, but she also was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in May. She has appeared twice on Saturday Night Live and will co-host country music's biggest awards show, the CMAs, on Nov. 12.

Author and radio vet Tanner thinks Underwood is mixing things up just enough to evolve into an even bigger crossover star. He's impressed that she hasn't jumped at every commercial endorsement that has come her way and has stayed out of National Enquirer.

Tanner and Darden both use variations of "keep up the good work" as they look ahead to how Underwood might surpass Twain or Hill or McEntire as a wide-ranging superstar.

"It's continuing to keep putting out great music, not overexposing yourself and conducting yourself in the right way," Tanner says.

Adds Darden, "She's doing everything right."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ae/articles/2008/11/02/20081102underwood1102.html

uniquestar

11-03-2008, 7:47pm

Surpassing Twain is a tall order. The Canadian-born star recorded the largest-selling album ever by a female singer (1997's Come on Over), and is the only female performer in any genre to have three albums top 10 million in sales.

:great: ;)

Troll

11-03-2008, 9:22pm

Thanks for the article

dreamer

11-04-2008, 12:17pm

thanks

Brit_girlAmanda

11-05-2008, 5:41pm

Hitting all the right notes

Joanna Lobo
Thursday, November 06, 2008

Keshia Braganza's voice won the day at Glory 2008. But, though brimming with talent, this youngster’s head is firmly on her shoulders

Over the weekend St Andrew's Auditorium played host to Gospel singing competition, Glory 2008. And as the curtain fell, on a show choc-full of talent, one star shone: Keshia Maryanne Braganza. The 18-year-old wowed the judges and audience alike with her rendition of Alabaster Box (a song about the life of Mary Magdalene). Keshia beat 75 other contestants over three elimination rounds, to walk away with the Rs6,000 prize for Best Gospel Solo Singer (Non-Classical Segment).

Keshia found out about the Gospel 2008 competition through her friend, Rayland D'Souza, who also provided the accompaniment during the competition. After a rigorous seven months of practice, success was sought, but not ensured. "I also sang Amazing Grace for the Classical Segment, but did not make it to the finals," she says.

Keshia musical journey began with Cliff Richard standard Summer Holiday, which she sang when she was in the third standard.

She then began participating in school, college, inter-collegiate and church events, winning many of them. But she credits her musical education to her family: "My entire family is musical, in some way or the other. My dad is a jazz lover and my brother plays the drums. We have one evening where we all gather around the piano, and we sing." Her mother, who accompanies her to all competitions and shows, is her "biggest critic and biggest fan".

Although a big jazz fan, Keshia counts Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, and Shania Twain among her musical idols. "My all time favourite song is Whitney's I Will Always Love You, from the movie Bodyguard."

When it comes to Gospel, Keshia likes My Redeemer and Power of Your Love.
Keshia does plan on adding a musical instrument to her repertoire, and admits to having attempted the keyboard when she was young.

The affair was short-lived, however, and she regards the break-up as "the biggest mistake of my life".

But the keyboard has once again found itself tugging at her heartstrings and she plans to start taking lessons again. Over the past three months Keshia has been undergoing voice training, which she feels, has improved her singing.

But although she has been successful with her music, Keshia has no plans of pursuing it as a profession…just yet. "Right now, I want to finish off my studies, preferably do Psychology or English Literature," she says. "My ultimate aim is to become an airhostess [sic]."

For now, however, she is content with singing in her church choir and with the prayer and worship group, Living Waters. She has also recently joined the Gospel band G-Sus, headed by Rupert Fernandes.
l_joanna@dnaindia.net

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1203812

Troll

11-05-2008, 8:30pm

Thanks

dreamer

11-05-2008, 11:19pm

cool

Brit_girlAmanda

11-06-2008, 2:24am

Release date: Thu 6 November 2008

Last updated: Thu 6 November 2008

The Victoria Police Band has a new member. Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon was on stage and belting out the tunes at the recent Blue Ribbon Foundation’s Chief Commissioner’s Ball.

Ms Nixon sang ‘It’s raining men’ and the Shania Twain hit, ‘Man! I feel like I woman’ to the crowds’ delight.

The gala event, held at the Crown Palladium ballroom, was hosted by Noni Hazlehurst, also known as Superintendent Bernice Waverley from City Homicide.

Ms Hazelhurst surprised the crowd when asking the entire room to stand up and perform ‘I’m a little teapot’ – reminiscent of her days on Play School.

The ball is an annual event which aims to raise funds for the Blue Ribbon Foundation.

This year marks the foundation’s 10th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of Blue Ribbon Day.

The Blue Ribbon Foundation honours fallen police members by building hospital units throughout the state.

This year’s ball raised $40,000.

http://www.policeblueribbon.com.au/

By Anna Erbrederis
anna.erbrederis@police.vic.gov.au

http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=17746

tonyme

11-06-2008, 5:07am

Thanks for those!

Troll

11-06-2008, 7:34am

Thanks.

Troll

11-06-2008, 7:36am

Shania melts the ice

What celebrity melts the ice for you? (i.e. who do you think is extremely attractive?)

Shania Twain. She's alright. She's a big hockey fan and she's Canadian. She meets the criteria.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/parkland/sfl-flcspfpanthers1106cspfnov06,0,7649647.story

tonyme

11-06-2008, 7:38am

Oh, yes she does melt the ice :D

dreamer

11-06-2008, 12:19pm

and our hearts

Brit_girlAmanda

11-07-2008, 4:10am

Schoolgirl from Winsford on road to fame

A 14-YEAR-OLD schoolgirl has a foot on the ladder to stardom after beating thousands of other hopefuls in a nationwide talent competition.

Sophie Bond, a pupil at St Nicholas Catholic High School, Hartford, won £1000 cash, a holiday and a manager after winning the grand final of Search for a Star 2008, organised by The Daily Star.

Sophie, who lives on Pinewood Road, Winsford, wowed a panel of judges including Bobby Ball and TV critic Gary Bushell with a performance of the Shania Twain hit Honey, I’m Home to triumph over 25 other finalists at Blackpool Pier last month.

“When they announced the winner the place erupted - we couldn’t believe it!” said Sophie’s mum, Diane. “We are all so proud of her.

“She really didn’t think she’d win, she was shocked. It was like the X-Factor!”

Story continues

Sophie has won a 12-month contract with manager Tony Clayman, and is due to meet him in London in the coming weeks. And the family are praying she will win a record deal.

Diane said: “Sophie’s always wanted to be a singer, it’s what she loves. Bobby Ball approached her at one of the early auditions and said he thought she was absolutely brilliant, so we’re all hoping she’ll get a contract. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

http://iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_headline=schoolgirl-from-winsford-on-road-to-fame&method=full&objectid=22201114&siteid=50020-name_page.html

Troll

11-07-2008, 8:01am

:cool:

dreamer

11-07-2008, 1:33pm

thanks

Brit_girlAmanda

11-07-2008, 5:16pm

Musician Spotlight

Published: Friday, November 7, 2008 at 3:15 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 10:17 a.m.

Braud: I started playing music in the womb, according to my mom. I grew up listening to my uncle Donnie (Braud), fabulous local drummer, and his band Nightlife. When I moved to Baton Rouge, I was forced to take up piano lessons and then started in the school bands in ele-mentary school. There I was forced to play sax (sax is for losers like Mouton and Ryan though) and after much consternation I finally told the teacher I was getting some drums and forming my own school band. She reluctantly agreed and I have played drums ever since. I played in high school, college and with many big people including, but not limited to, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Wes “Warm Daddy” Anderson, Wynton Marsalis and many others.

http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20081107/BIGFUN/811042986/1030/OPINION02?Title=Musician_Spotlight

tonyme

11-07-2008, 5:18pm

Thanks!

Troll

11-07-2008, 10:43pm

Very cool

Brit_girlAmanda

11-09-2008, 6:22am

The American harness drivers club series

In Division II, Hechkoffand Northern Cloud were lollygagging at the rear of the pack while Dave Yarock and Shania Twain were at the front of the bus, attempting to extend their AHDC winning streak.

http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=68280

Troll

11-09-2008, 8:10am

Interesting

faithfully

11-09-2008, 8:51am

What's that all about:funny:

dreamer

11-09-2008, 3:09pm

:dunno:

tonyme

11-09-2008, 3:11pm

:huh:

Troll

11-11-2008, 8:52pm

The new models will be featured in the Nashville Music Garden, a budding piece of land across from the Country Music Hall of Fame. Ground was broken on the garden last November, and the site will be formally dedicated in 2009. Among the roses that will be featured are flowers named after Lynn Anderson, Elvis Presley, LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain, Barbara Mandrell and Minnie Pearl.

http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,3034,GAC_26063_5939166_,00.html

Hockeystick

11-11-2008, 11:23pm

That's cool, thanks Troll.

tonyme

11-12-2008, 6:57am

That's great! :love: She is a flower

Brit_girlAmanda

11-12-2008, 8:31am

Rose is quite fitting for Shania, and they come in all different varities kinda like the music she writes and records.

Brit_girlAmanda

11-24-2008, 5:44pm

RBC says CNR still the rail to own

Posted by Niall McGee on November 24, 2008

Are you a Shania Twain fan? Her music is a bit mushy for my taste, although I just found out Shania and I share the same birthday.

One of Shania's greatest hits was Still the One, an ode to her long-term union with Mutt Lange. Today RBC Capital Markets says Canadian National Railway is "still the one." Still the rail stock to own, that is. RBC says CN's strong relative outperformance will result in more limited downside than CP.

RBC has an "outperform" rating on CN and a "sector perform" on CP. While a better bet than CP, RBC isn't exactly a raging bull on CN.

In fact, due to macroeconomic fears, the brokerage cut its 2009 profit forecast and stock targets on both companies.

RBC says its lower profit estimates “reflect a deeper, longer recession.”

If you have a comment on this or any other blog, please write to us at blogcomments@BNN.ca We may print your comment and reserve the right to edit.

http://www.bnn.ca/blog/5046.html

Troll

11-24-2008, 9:29pm

Thanks for that

dreamer

11-25-2008, 12:14am

really random

Brit_girlAmanda

12-01-2008, 2:54am

Why Country Music Is Losing Its Soul

At first blush, the success of modern country music ("Music: Why Country Not Only Survived but Thrived," Leisure & Arts, Nov. 19) seems a triumph for the musical taste of millions of middle-Americans. How unfortunate, then, that the popularity of today's country comes at the expense of authenticity.

Merle Haggard famously called the new country "bad rock and roll." In seeking ever-bigger market share, record label mavens have disregarded the maverick origins of a proud American music form. The result is popular, but also dull and homogenized; how can a station that plays no Johnny Cash, no Steve Earle and no Buck Owens be authentically country?

Millions of mainstream country fans probably care little for the hand-wringing of a few music critics and purists like myself. You need not know who Gram Parsons was in order to enjoy country radio, I suppose. Yet as an example of one more American art form made impure by commercial interests, country music's soul seems irretrievably lost, vanishing at roughly the same moment Shania Twain first shimmied her way onstage.

Jason Reeher
Grove City, Pa.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122809703245168237.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

FinnFreak

12-01-2008, 6:07am

San Antonio Express, TX - Nov 29, 2008

Q&A: Carroll spins tales about career

By John Goodspeed

In an industry where ratings rule and a DJ's career can be briefer than a one-hit wonder's, Randy Carroll is not just an exception — he's exceptional.
Not only has he been in the radio business for 30 years, but he's spent 25 as a DJ at the same station, KJ97.

To mark the milestone, a few of his friends — Tracy Lawrence, Lee Ann Womack, Jake Owen, Jessica Simpson, John Rich and Billy Currington — will celebrate with an acoustic song swap, Randy Carroll's Christmas Bash, on Thursday at Cowboy's Dance Hall. Tickets are free. For details, click on www.KJ97.com.

...

Q. Are you looking forward to the next 25 years?

A. Yeah, unless I end up at the St. Shania Twain Retirement Community.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/35274434.html

John - :p

Troll

12-01-2008, 7:21am

Thanks for the articles

tonyme

12-01-2008, 8:39am

Interesting

Hockeystick

12-01-2008, 8:47am

The purists are still bothered by Shania Twain. One woman ruined the whole genre, she held a gun to every modern artist's head and said this is how it has to be. :rolleyes: I guess I missed that part. :rolleyes:

But he's a Steve Earle fan so go figure. :funny:

dreamer

12-01-2008, 12:28pm

well said

Troll

12-01-2008, 1:03pm

Brit_girlAmanda

12-09-2008, 5:41pm

If You Can’t Get a Real Country Star, Get a Fake

Posted: December 9th, 2008 at 4:47 pm |
By: Alison Bonaguro

I’m having a huge Christmas party this Saturday, and I thought it would be cool to hire a country star to perform. Until I found out how much they cost. Let’s just say that if $10,000 gets you a has-been, then the going rate for the hottest stars would be somewhere around a second mortgage. But then I remembered hearing about a Garth Brooks impersonator, so I poked around and realized that these substitute stars are pretty damn close to the real thing. I mean, I personally wouldn’t want to make a living pretending to be someone else. But if it pays the bills for these folks, then I’m all for it. And these are not just people who stand around mingling and looking like Brooks or Shania Twain or George Strait or Tim McGraw or whoever. They can actually sing and play guitar and give you the overall feeling that they really are that alter ego. And after a few glasses of eggnog, even more so. Has anyone here ever used a country impersonator? And if so, can you tell us all about it?

http://blog.cmt.com/2008-12-09/if-you-cant-get-a-real-country-star-get-a-fake/

Essa

12-09-2008, 5:54pm

Troll

12-09-2008, 8:24pm

Thanks for the article

Troll

12-11-2008, 8:20pm

Men who ran Limelight scam ordered to repay money and banned from trading
December 11, 2008 - 1:58 pm

By: THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO - The men who ran a scam that cold-called investors and raised $2.75 million with high-pressure sales tactics and prospects of big gains on a company called Limelight Entertainment Inc. have been banned from trading securities and ordered to repay the money.

The Ontario Securities Commission permanently banned Limelight president Carlos Da Silva, vice-president David Campbell except for their registered retirement savings plans.

Salesman Joseph Daniels was banned for 10 years.

Da Silva, Campbell and Daniels were cited earlier this year for selling stock in an unregistered company and other offences and actions contrary to the public interest.

Limelight employed about six telemarketers at a time, moving 1.6 million shares at prices between 50 cents and $2.00 between April 2004 and May 2006.

The Ontario Securities Commission said 611 investors across Canada were affected.

Evidence about the purported business of Limelight was conflicting, the commission found. The company's sales staff made mention of a project said to involve singer Shania Twain, but it wasn't clear what this entailed, and nothing appears to have been produced.

In addition the trading bans, Limelight, Da Silva and Campbell were ordered to jointly disgorge $2.75 million.

Da Silva was also ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $200,000 and investigation costs of $15,000.

In addition to a $175,000 administrative penalty, Campbell was ordered jointly and severally with Limelight to pay the investigation costs totalling $114,979.79 plus $5,637.29 in disbursements.

Daniels was ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $50,000 and $25,000 in investigation costs.

http://www.660news.com/news/business/article.jsp?content=b1211133A

dreamer

12-11-2008, 9:04pm

I saw that thanks

ryannel2003

12-11-2008, 11:09pm

The damn country music oldies can't handle the power Shania has over the industry. The little Canadian with the knock out body being the most popular female country artist of all time? Oh no, that's impossible. She also irked many people when she started producing with Mutt, something that was never done.

I'm shocked people are still lingering on to these thoughts. Seriously, she came onto the scene with TWIM what, 13 years ago?

Get over it. She here. To stay. For quite awhile I might add.

Brit_girlAmanda

12-13-2008, 5:30am

Shania feelin' like a woman in the Keys
BY LESLEY ABRAVANEL
lank@aol.com

Shania Twain and her entourage, including a young male personal assistant, hairdresser and stylist, nestled up in oceanfront suites at Ocean Key in Key West last weekend. She sent her personal assistant out to pick up all organic food. The resort's chef cooked it all for her personally.

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/story/811221.html

Rami

12-13-2008, 5:46am

Thanks for the info Amanda :)

ravshania

12-13-2008, 6:13am

Thanks for the info Amanda :)

Amanda is our Nws Readr pal...:funny:

:) luvshania :) ravshania :)

Troll

12-13-2008, 7:55am

Thanks Amanda

dreamer

12-13-2008, 2:56pm

$10,000 NAADA Final slated for Saturday at Yonkers
Friday, December 12, 2008 - by John Manzi, for the NAADA

Port Washington, NY --- When the gate swings around the turn for the third race at Yonkers Raceway on Saturday night, Dec. 13, there will be a subtle difference that not everyone watching the race will notice. The regular catch-drivers like Stephane Bouchard and Jason Bartlett will be relaxing in the backstretch owners lounge while eight amateur reinsmen will have the public's wagering dollars riding on their driving skills.

The North American Amateur Drivers Association final features eight of the top 10 point earners for a $10,000 purse. The contestants earn their points by competing in each of the five $3,500 preliminary legs contested over a ten week period beginning in the first week of October.

Unfortunately the top point-getter David Yarock is not competing in the final because his regular horse Shania Twain did not meet the time standard of 1:58 set forth by the track. The pair paced to a 1:58.1 mark at the Meadowlands on December 5.

"I get a call from the racing secretary (Tuesday) afternoon around 2:00 p.m. telling me that my horse couldn't race," said an upset Yarock. "I thought they were joking (about Shania Twain's ineligibility) and realized soon that they were not."

Though Yarock will be on the shelf, the show must go on.

Big John B (post seven) is listed as the early morning line favorite at 3-1. Driven by veteran amateur Robert Hechkoff, the gelding enters the race off a 1:57.2 win at Freehold in his last start.

Coming in as the 4-1 second choice is Robert Lovett's Yankee Shuttle (post one). The duo have combined for a win and a second in four series starts.

Harness Eye's Editor-in-Chief Derick Giwner, who drives his own Ludi Christy from post three, is listed at 5-1. Giwner has driven `Christy' three times in the event, with a second in the first leg his best finish (he did win with Winbak Bunny on November 29).

Others donning their colors for the final include Mario D'Abruzzo (Blue Time Frosty - post two), George Newell, Jr. (Ya Gotta Belief - post four), Carl Tirella (Paragon Of Virtue - post five), George Casale (Cam Bo Informal - post six) and Barry Farber (Paul's Laughing - post eight).

Post time for the NAADA final is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m.

Troll

12-13-2008, 3:46pm

Thanks

dreamer

12-13-2008, 4:43pm

my pleasure

Rami

12-13-2008, 5:29pm

Amanda is our Nws Readr pal...:funny:

:) luvshania :) ravshania :)

Yeah, she does a great job :great:

Thanks for the info Misty :)

dreamer

12-13-2008, 10:35pm

you're welcome Rami

dreamer

12-15-2008, 2:08pm

Faith Hill's New Fragrance
Monday, December 15th, 2008 by Esmerelda

Hubby Tim McGraw already has his own fragrance. Next year Faith Hill will join him and a few other celebs in the perfume industry. The scent will be made by Coty, the same company that manufactures Tim's. I'm assuming they'll be compatible to one another. There is no word on what the scent will be named.

Coty makes perfumes for other famous people too, like JLo, Gwen Stefani, and Shania Twain. Faith is comparing this experience to making a new album.

She says "you just hope everyone will enjoy it."

dreamer

12-18-2008, 4:33pm

st updated December 17, 2008 3:46 p.m. PT
Natalie MacMaster sets the holiday mood

By MIKEL TOOMBS
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

It's beginning to look, and sound, a lot like Christmas.

MUSIC REVIEW

NATALIE MACMASTER

WHAT: A Celtic Christmas concert

WHEN: Tuesday night

WHERE: Benaroya Hall

Tuesday night at Benaroya Hall, Natalie MacMaster rekindled memories of the yuletide "fiddle parties" she grew up enjoying on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. In the Celtic tradition -- Cape Breton is anything but Scot-free -- the fiddler and her world-class band combined jigs and reels into what she called "blasts of tunes."

One such package tied together instrumental versions of the holiday favorites "It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas," "Silver Bells," "Winter Wonderland" and "Sleigh Ride," while MacMaster broke out the perhaps-inevitable "Christmas in Kilarney" to give it a spirited rendition of its own. And although the tunes she played in her two one-hour sets were largely seasonless, not to mention timeless, the evening's clear highlight also was a Christmas classic.

On a simply stunning reading of the hymn "O Holy Night," the fiddler teamed beautifully with Nathaniel Smith, a 14-year-old cello prodigy, in a pairing that brought to mind Mark O'Connor and Yo-Yo Ma. (MacMaster lends her expertise to O'Connor's fiddle camps and performs on Ma's new holiday album, "Songs of Joy and Peace.")

Smith's classical rigor balanced nicely with the traditional approaches of pianist Mac Morin, who played a Gaelic air in a solo segment, and multi-instrumentalist Matt MacIsaac, who played bagpipes in his, and the more jazz-oriented approach of five-string bassist Shane Hendrickson and the versatility of J.D. Blair, once Shania Twain's drummer.

MacMaster, who has fiddled for 27 of her 36 years, made use of those talents in the more contemporary songs, but it was on the traditional material where her stellar playing really shone. The only disappointment was the absence of the high-energy performer's step-dancing, but there were mitigating circumstances: MacMaster is seven months pregnant with her third child. (The first two kids, ages 3 and 1 1/2, are on tour with their dad, fiddler Donnell Leahy.)

Only slightly daunted, MacMaster declared, "I've got to get something out" and, midway through her program, let loose with impressive clogging. "I always think," she said afterward, "that the baby's in there thinking, I hate this part of the night."

Troll

12-18-2008, 8:16pm

Thanks

dreamer

12-18-2008, 11:06pm

my pleasure

FinnFreak

12-19-2008, 9:53am

FemaleFirst.co.uk, UK - Thursday 18 December, 2008

The greatest music producers of all time

By Ruth Harrison

On February 12th, 2009, the Music Producers Guild (UK) will hold its inaugural Awards ceremony at the Cafe de Paris in London; Designed to recognise the enormous contribution recording professionals make to the success of the UK’s music industry, these awards are set to become an annual must-attend event on the music industry calendar.

To mark the occasion – and to draw attention to the wealth of skill, talent and creativity amongst recording professionals – the Music Producers Guild has identified its Top 50 producers of all time.

It is almost impossible to grade this list in terms of who should be at No. 1 and who should be at No. 50, but for the sake of argument the Music Producers Guild has identified its Top 5, based on creativity, the breadth of talent they have worked with, their impact on the charts and the distinctive sound they bring to an artist’s work.

So - do you agree with the judgement of the UK’s recording professionals? Or are there names missing that you think should be here? And what about our Top 5 - is this the order in which you would have placed them?

Regardless of personal taste and choice, what this list shows is that in order to create great music, talented artists need equally talented producers. Let’s celebrate them!

The Top 5:

Robert John “Mutt” Lange

Robert John Lange is undoubtedly, one of the most sought after producers in the business; as the co-writer on Bryan Adam’s (Everything I Do)I do It For You it’s obvious that this guy is a little bit special.

He has worked on numerous AC/DC albums, including Highway To Hell, and has produced for Def Leppard, Foreigner, The Corrs and The Cars and the latest album from American rockers Nickelback, Dark Horse.

Robert is also well-known for working with his ex wife, country singer Shania Twain. Her 1997 album, Come on Over, which he produced, is the best selling record by any female artist of all time - I know I have it in my record collection. And even better, he is working on her sixth album as we speak!

Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones needs no introduction (but I’m going to give him one anyway), as the producer behind Thriller, by musical icon Michael Jackson, you know that this guy is the real deal.

During his five decades in the entertainment industry, Jones has earned a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammy wins; including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991.

He also teamed up with old blue eyes, Frank Sinatra on his second album with Count Basie, It Might as Well Be Swing (1964). Jones conducted and arranged 1966's live album with the Basie Band, Sinatra at the Sands and Jones was also the arranger/conductor when Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, and Johnny Carson performed with the Basie orchestra in St. Louis in a benefit for Dismas House in June 1965.

Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas has to be the luckiest producer of the top five (in my eyes) with a CV boating the likes of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pulp and The Pretenders. He has also produced breakthrough albums for The Sex Pistols and INXS.

He produced his first album in 1968 – The Climax Chicago Blues Band by the Climax Blues Band; two years later he was working on Home, the fourth album by Procol Harum. He was subsequently invited by John Cale to produce his Paris 1919 album at the AIR Studios, where he met Bryan Ferry, who in turn asked Thomas to produce Roxy Music.

In 1973, as Thomas’ work continued to attract interest, he took on mixing duties with Pink Floyd for their historic Dark Side of the Moon album. Then in In 1976 he was asked by Malcolm McLaren to produce the debut single by the Sex Pistols, strangely; Thomas was producing this single at the same time as working with Paul McCartney - talk about juxtaposition!

In 1985 Thomas played a critical part in achieving a worldwide breakthrough for Australian band INXS. He has also had a large involvement in the success of Pulp, Razor light (although their actual success is debatable!) and Elton John.

Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre really came to prominence through his work with Eminem and is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records.

It is through those labels that he found himself working on records for high-profile rappers Snoop Dogg and Slim Shady; as he is credited as a key figure in the popularisation of West Coast G-funk, a style of rap music characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats.

He began his music career in a few gangster rap bands before releasing a solo album, The Chronic, on Death Row Records which resulted in him being one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993. From there he left Death Row to found his own label Aftermath Entertainment, producing a compilation album, Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath, in 1996, and releasing a solo album titled 2001, in 1999, for which he won the Grammy producer's award the next year.

However, in recent year Dre has focused his attention on other artists, and it’s a well known fact that if you get in with Dr Dre, you’re guaranteed to get noticed in the rap industry.

It's impossible to cram the list of his recent successes into such a short space; but the most prominent ones have to be Family Affair by R&B singer Mary J. Blige, the debut 50 Cent album; Get Rich or Die Tryin', and L.A.X for The Game. He is also behind hits from Jay-Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Eve, as well as the duet between Eve and Gwen Stefani - Let Me Blow Ya Mind.

John Hammond

Proving just how incredible his sense of talent was; in 1933 he heard a 17-year-old Billie Holiday perform in Harlem and immediately arranged for her recording debut; on a Benny Goodman session. Four years later, he heard the Count Basie orchestra broadcasting from Kansas City and brought it to New York, where it began to receive national attention.

After he returned from serving in the military during World War II, Hammond felt unmoved by the bebop jazz scene of the mid-1940s and rejoined Columbia Records in the late 1950s where he discovered the incredible Aretha Franklin, who, at the time, was an eighteen year-old gospel singer.

In 1961, he heard folk singer Bob Dylan playing harmonica on a session for Carolyn Hester and signed him to Columbia, much to the annoyance of the executives, who clearly didn't see the star quality shining as brightly as Hammond. He produced Dylan's early recordings, "Blowin' in the Wind" and "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall."

Although he retired from Columbia in 1975, he continued to scout for talent and signed Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen and guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan to their attention. Thank goodness for that!

http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/music/features/The+greatest+music+producers+of+all+time-6657.html

John - ;)

dreamer

12-19-2008, 1:18pm

working on her 6th album:uhh:

Troll

12-19-2008, 1:29pm

Thanks John

Brit_girlAmanda

12-19-2008, 1:40pm

Not Enough Country Hotties in Fox News’ List
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Buried amid the Madonnas, Demis and Hallies, there is a handful of country stars in this list of Foxs 40 Hottest Over-40 Hotties. Faith Hill, Reba McEntire and Sheryl Crow made the list, which doesnt surprise me. But I think they were missing a few. Where is Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless, Lorrie Morgan and Rhonda Vincent? Not to mention, this little story describes these women as the hottest cougars. Seriously? Last time I checked, a cougar was an older woman trying to hook up with a younger guy. And I firmly believe that your taste in men should never define your hotness.

http://blog.cmt.com/2008-12-19/not-enough-country-hotties-in-fox-news-list/

dreamer

12-19-2008, 1:43pm

thanks

Troll

12-19-2008, 3:15pm

Thanks.

Steve F

12-19-2008, 3:22pm

working on her 6th album:uhh:

We don't really know that at this point.

Ex-wife?:shocked: Have they actually had the divorce yet? You never know if Mutt did in fact produce this next album what it might become or how well it would sell, etc. Who knows, it could be her best yet, but considering everything, I think it would be hard for Shania to even be in the same room with Mutt now, let alone anything else. Maybe a few years down the road when they both have had time to move on, maybe. But I sure hope that for this next album, she goes another route for a producer.

Steve

tonyme

12-19-2008, 3:29pm

I don't know if Mutt is working with her but I so don't think so! :uhh:

Brit_girlAmanda

12-19-2008, 5:50pm

We don't really know that at this point.

Ex-wife?:shocked: Have they actually had the divorce yet? You never know if Mutt did in fact produce this next album what it might become or how well it would sell, etc. Who knows, it could be her best yet, but considering everything, I think it would be hard for Shania to even be in the same room with Mutt now, let alone anything else. Maybe a few years down the road when they both have had time to move on, maybe. But I sure hope that for this next album, she goes another route for a producer.

Steve

I believe it has been finalized, but under Swiss laws, divorces remained sealed. Too much time has passed already. Shania is no doubt bursting with the creative flow and is anxious to come out with new music and any collaboration with Mutt is out of the question given the fact things are rocky between them now.

Eleanor

12-19-2008, 6:04pm

People keep saying Shania's new album is going to be her best, lets wait and see, it all depends if Shania has still got the touch, I am not saying the next Shania album is not going to be her best, but Shania's next album will be what she will be judged by and if for some reason it is't as good as her last three albums her music career will go down hill.
As I say, it's great to wish, but lets hope Shania still has got that special touch.

FinnFreak

01-05-2009, 9:38am

Erie Times-News, PA - January 04. 2009

How 2009 will shine

BY DAVE RICHARDS dave.richards@timesnews.com

Now that 2008 is in the pop-culture scrapbook, we know it was a huge year for heroes and superheroes, courtesy of James Bond, Indiana Jones, Batman and Iron Man.

We saw vampires claim a major stake at the box office, courtesy of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight," and also stake a stronghold at bookstores via "Breaking Dawn," the fourth and final chapter of her saga.

Following a few years where hip-hop and teen pop ruled music, hard rock returned to the forefront courtesy of AC/DC, Metallica and even Guns N' Roses, which finally released "Chinese Democracy."

So what awaits us down the line in '09? Which movies, tours, CDs and books will we be talking about?

My crystal ball is in the shop, but a casual survey of release dates posted by movie studios, Amazon, record labels, Billboard and other sources indicates plenty to get excited about. More, in fact, than we can squeeze into one puny story. This just skims the surface, but it's a good starting point for those who like to look ahead.

Movies

Look for 2008's superhero obsession to carry over as Alan Moore's long-awaited "Watchmen," directed by Zach Snyder ("300"), arrives March 3. X-Men fans are psyched for "X-Men: Origins: Wolverine," due out May 8, with Hugh Jackman and assorted X-Men characters, including Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (June 29), the sequel to Michael Bay's 2007 megahit, returns with Shia LeBoeuf.

Per usual, sequels and remakes abound. "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams tries to reignite the "Star Trek" franchise (May 8) with an origin story about Kirk and Spock at Starfleet Academy. Christian Bale takes off his Batsuit to venture into the "Terminator" franchise, playing John Connor in "Terminator: Salvation" (May 22).

Ben Stiller will spend another "Night at the Museum." The sequel (May 22), subtitled "Battle of the Smithsonian," lists Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), Albert Einstein (Eugene Levy), Lt. Col. George Custer, Ivan the Terrible, the Wright Brothers, Al Capone and Napoleon as characters.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth film in the megasuccessful franchise, opens in July. Will fans still be wild about Harry, two years after the last book was published? Similarly, has "Hannah Montana" played itself out, yet? We'll find out when "Hannah Montana: The Movie" arrives April 10. Some big names pop in: Taylor Swift, Tyra Banks, Heather Locklear and Dolly Parton, who plays Hannah's aunt.

"Angels & Demons," the prequel to "The DaVinci Code," re-teams director Ron Howard and Tom Hanks in May. A couple of vintage characters get new life in November when Robert Downey Jr. stars in a fresh take on "Sherlock Holmes" and Benicio Del Toro becomes "The Wolf Man."

"New Moon," the second film in the blockbuster "Twilight" franchise, also arrives in November. Although no more "Twilight" books are on the horizon, About.com reports Meyer will issue a "Twilight Saga Guide," likely in September.

Those looking for more original movie fare can await Quentin Tarantino's World War II film, "Inglourious B*stards" with Brad Pitt, Mike Myers and narrator Samuel L. Jackson in June, and "Public Enemies," Michael Mann's period look at 1930s-era gangsters John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson that pairs Christian Bale and Johnny Depp.

Depp, along with Jude Law and Colin Farrell, stepped in to complete Heath Ledger's last film, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," a fantasy tale by Terry Gilliam that's due in 2009. "Up," in late May, looks to continue Pixar's roll of smash hits. An elderly man ties a zillion helium balloons to his home and goes, well, up on an adventure.

Should he complete it in time, James Cameron's "Avatar" may be the 2009 movie to beat. He's created new technology to film a super high-tech, sci-fi thriller as his feature follow-up to 1997's all-time box office champ, "Titanic." Sigourney Weavers stars. "Avatar" is due in December, as is Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's sad, haunting, ghost-from-heaven story "The Lovely Bones."

Erieites anxiously await "The Road," the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which was partly filmed at Presque Isle State Park and Conneaut Lake Park. No opening date is set, but a spring release -- March or April -- looks likely.

Music

Release dates for albums aren't quite as locked down as Hollywood films, yet some superstars are already ready to roar.

U2 brought in the big boys -- Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite -- to produce "No Line on the Horizon," the follow-up to 2004's Grammy-winning "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." They'll hit the road to support it.

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band reconvened quickly on the heels of "Magic" to record "Workin' on a Dream" with producer Brendan O'Brien. It's due out Jan. 27, the week before they play halftime at the Super Bowl (Feb. 1).

Eminem will return with "Relapse," although no release is set yet for his first CD since 2004's "Encore." It's also been five years since Green Day conquered the world with the multiple Grammy-winning "American Idiot." Surprisingly, they switched producers, bringing in Butch Vig instead of Rob Cavallo for the follow-up, due sometime in 2009.

Dave Matthews Band will release their still-untitled new CD on April 14.

Nothing has been announced officially, but rumors abound that long-dormant country queen Shania Twain may unveil her first release since 2002's "Up!"

New CDs are definitely en route from the Fray (February), Franz Ferdinand (January), Keith Urban, Lily Allen, Kelly Clarkson, Decemberists, Diana Krall, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Morrissey, Neil Young, Massive Attack, New Found Glory, Depeche Mode, Lionel Richie, Jay-Z, Tragically Hip and Derek Trucks Band.
New work is also likely from Aerosmith, Outkast and Black Eyed Peas in 2009, but no release dates are set. John Fogerty has announced a new Blue Ridge Rangers' set of cover tunes.

Some of 2009's more noteworthy tours will include Mötley Crüe (in Erie, March 7), Britney Spears, Billy Joel & Elton John, U2, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, No Doubt, Metallica, the Eagles, AC/DC, Nickelback, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, the Killers, Dave Matthews Band, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band.

Phish has booked several shows in Virginia but has yet to announce a full-fledged 2009 tour. English bands Madness and the Specials have reunited but so far only have U.K. dates booked. Let's hope that changes.

The Faces have confirmed they will reunite with Rod Stewart and Ron Wood for a summer tour. Odds are good for a Creed reunion tour, as well. While Robert Plant will not take part in a Led Zeppelin reunion, Rolling Stone and Billboard have reported that Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham are recruiting a new singer for a tour.

Books

One novel -- should it actually arrive -- will dominate 2009. That's "The Solomon Key," Dan Brown's follow-up to "The DaVinci Code," the blockbuster that sold more than 70 million copies worldwide.

On his Web site, Brown says Robert Langdon this time "will find himself embroiled in a mystery on U.S. soil. This new novel explores the hidden history of our nation's capital."

Hmmm, sounds like "National Treasure."

No release date has been announced yet, so there's no guarantee it'll arrive in time for beach reading.

Another John Grisham legal thriller, "The Associate," arrives Jan. 27. You need wait just two days for the next Stephanie Plum novel from Janet Evanovich, titled "Plum Spooky," and for Richard North Patterson's timely novel "Eclipse."

You can always count on John Irving to spin a good tale. "Last Night in Twisted River," his 12th novel, arrives in October. According to his agency, the book begins in a logging settlement in 1954 and follows a father and his 12-year-old son who go on the lam after the son "mistakes the local constable's girlfriend for a bear."

The epic story spans five decades.

DAVE RICHARDS can be reached at 870-1703 or by e-mail.

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090104/LIFESTYLES01/301049868/-1/LIFESTYLES

John - ;)

tonyme

01-05-2009, 9:55am

Thanks for that

Brit_girlAmanda

01-05-2009, 11:58am

HOT DISH: The New Year Will Be Good for Country Music

Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood Will Remain Bright Spots in 2009

January 5, 2009

Hot Dish(CMT Hot Dish is a weekly feature written by veteran columnist Hazel Smith. Author of the cookbook, Hazel's Hot Dish: Cookin' With Country Stars, she also hosts CMT's Southern Fried Flicks With Hazel Smith and shares her recipes at CMT.com.)

Here we go again. Hacks and flaks ... drinking, scratching and opinionating. There are those who always groan and moan, "Worst year of music ever." Then there are the copycats who sit around sipping their booze while agreeing with anyone who seems to be in charge of the conversation. But thank goodness for the think-positive ones who always love the music or find something to love about it. Losers, boozers and lovers. There you be: year after year ... same story, different faces.

The economy has us tense and uptight. Times have been better, but they've been worse, too. But there's hope as long as Kenny Chesney can sell out the Gillette Stadium near Boston in less than 10 hillbilly minutes the year before the concert is even due to occur.

Just as long as there is great music like the most-played song of the year, "Just Got Started Loving You" by James Otto, we are doing marvelously.

We're OK as long as there are highlights like the Carnival Ride tour where CMA/ACM female vocalist of the year Carrie Underwood performed for 1.2 million fans in 2008. On top of that, she's up for a Grammy, became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and her "Just a Dream" video reigned supreme on CMT and her "All-American Girl" was the most-streamed video on CMT.com.

When Ashton Shepherd, a tomato-raising hillbilly gal with a deep Alabama twangy drawl, can still find her way to Music Town while walking, talking, writing, singing and playing her guitar like Hank Williams Sr., there's big-time hope for us.

And lastly, the top-selling and amazing Taylor Swift is all over the place at every concert hall or festival, on every TV show and awards show, on every magazine cover and every chart as she's writing, producing, singing and playing her way into the heart of each and every tween and teen within the sound of her voice. And she's still not yet out of her teens, herself, so that gives us plenty of hope.

Beyond that, there's hope that superstar country acts such as Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, Brooks & Dunn, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, Trace Adkins, George Strait, Alan Jackson and Faith Hill are all primed and ready to see us through 2009 with flying colors.

And the New Year will be mighty fine if I can hear more music from Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and Joe Nichols.

Up and comers like the marvelous Kellie Pickler, the Zac Brown Band and Jamey Johnson just kill me. Pretty Julianne Hough can sing, and so can her boyfriend Chuck Wicks. Lady Antebellum has already hit the ground running, and Randy Houser might just take off like a 747. I'm also betting on Carolina boys Jason Michael Carroll and Bucky Covington. And then there are the handsome Luke Bryan and good-looking Jake Owen.

I'm looking for blue skies and thinking positive.

Eric Church Goes to the Ball
I see where Eric Church will perform at the North Carolina inaugural ball on Jan. 9 for governor-elect Beverly Perdue at the brand new convention center in the state capital of Raleigh. Eric will perform the title track from his upcoming album, Carolina, set for a March 24 release on Capitol Records. Seems someone from the Perdue's organization heard Eric's song and decided it needed to be a part of the celebration.

Brooks & Dunn Help Celebrate Rodeo's Anniversary
"Cowboy Town," the title track of Brooks & Dunn's current album, helped the cowboys celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. In addition to performing the song live, the award-winning duo created a special video performance that was interspersed with rodeo footage and shown throughout the event. "Cowboy Town" is also one of the rodeo and cowboy-themed songs on the three-CD set, Boots, Buckles & Spurs: 50 Songs Celebrate 50 Years of Cowboy Tradition, compiled in conjunction with the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) and the Wrangler NFR 50th Anniversary.

Bits & Pieces
I heard that Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley proposed on Christmas Day to publicist Cassie McConnell, his girlfriend of two years. And all this time I've been reminding Lady A's Hillary Scott how cute Charles was.

Jamie O'Neal did a rousing version of the national anthem at Chicago's Soldier Field before the game between the Bears and the New Orleans Saints.

Kenny Chesney's got more awards than Bill Gates has dollars, yet he's come up with another. Kenny now has the distinction of being Country Aircheck's country artist of the year after spending 25 percent of 2008 at No. 1.

A Hollywood legend and a country superstar have volunteered their time to film spots in support of the Honor Flight Network, a nonprofit organization that arranges and finances flights for veterans to visit their memorial in Washington, D.C. Clint Eastwood and Trace Adkins were at the top of the organization's wish list and both agreed to give of their time.

Toby Keith's second motion picture, Beer for My Horses, is CMT's second highest-rated premiere of the year -- only behind the CMT Music Awards. His current single, "God Love Her," is one of the fastest-rising singles of his career. That Toby is multi-media these days.

Billy Ray Cyrus headed back to Tennessee with his family for the holidays and showed up unannounced to surprise nurses, doctors and the young patients at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. In addition to his guitar, Billy Ray also brought along his superstar daughter, Miley Cyrus. A few days later, Billy Ray performed for a sold-out crowd at the Wildhorse Saloon in downtown Nashville, where Miley and her brother, Trace, joined their dad in song.

Well, there's a Toby Keith item followed by a Billy Ray Cyrus item -- and Shania Twain has been on our minds since she showed up at the CMA Awards in November, looking as hot as ever. Don't you dare ever forget the importance of what one person can do in this business. Remember the name: Harold Shedd. He's the man who had the presence of mind to sign all three to Mercury Records -- Toby, Billy Ray and Shania.

http://www.cmt.com/news/hot-dish/16...try-music.jhtml

Troll

01-05-2009, 11:58am

Thanks for the article

Rami

01-05-2009, 12:02pm

Thanks for these articles, I really can't wait for news now :boogie: :boogie:

tonyme

01-05-2009, 12:03pm

Thanks for that!

ktsthegame

01-05-2009, 7:54pm

Very Intesting artcle

shania megafan

01-06-2009, 7:21am

2009 is shaping up to be a great year for us ;)

Troll

01-06-2009, 7:22am

2009 is shaping up to be a great year for us ;)

Yep

eilleen333

01-06-2009, 1:01pm

2009 is gonna be great anyway... But it would be even better if Shania came up with something new. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Troll

01-06-2009, 9:11pm

Fake Celeb Profiles in Spam Attacks
Want to see 'more' of your favorite actor or pop star? Bad idea

Just one day after hackers broke into the accounts of 33 Twitter users, including President-elect Barack Obama, spammers have launched attacks using fake profiles of celebrities.

One attack is on the LinkedIn social networking site for professionals, where the spammers put up a nude picture with a celebrity's name and a fake profile and links supposed to take visitors to three nude videos of the celebrity. Security software vendor McAfee (NYSE: MFE), posted an example on its Avert Labs blog.

However, the links redirect visitors' browsers to a site containing malware.

Another attack, discovered by security vendor Sophos, has spammers putting up pages with photos of celebrities on Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Blogspot that redirect visitors to sites offering scareware -- fake anti-virus software.

Celebrities featured in the LinkedIn attacks include actresses Kate Hudson and Kirsten Dunst, and wrestler Hulk Hogan.

But the spammers have become tricky - instead of sending victims to one site, the links send them to a traffic management system that points to a different domain every time someone clicks on the links, according to McAfee Avert Labs.

This makes it more difficult to track the spammers, and helps hide the malicious site from the Web site's owner or administrator, helping keep the infection undetected for a longer time, McAfee Avert Labs said. It also ensures visitors are automatically redirected to sites where their local language is used.

"When you combine clicking attacks, which always work, with back end sophisticated technology like traffic management, where you get redirected to a site in your own language, you make attacks more effective," Dave Marcus, security research and communications director at McAfee, told InternetNews.com.

Celebrities whose images have been used in the Blogspot attacks include retired Playboy Magazine publisher Hugh Hefner, country singer Shania Twain, actor Warren Beatty and actress Barbara Hershey, according to a post by Paul Baccas, writing as Pob on the SophosLabs blog.

Bad guys Google too
The sites contain the Troj/JSRedir-F malicious script which redirects visitors to another site where scareware is downloaded onto their computers. SophosLabs is working with Google to shut down the sites, which are all hosted on Google Blogspot, Baccas said.

"We are aware of this particular issue and are working now to resolve it," a Google spokesperson told InternetNews.com by e-mail. "Google takes the security of our users very seriously, and we actively work to detect and remove sites that serve malware."

"The bad guys have two objectives - protect themselves and make it as difficult as possible to prevent them from spreading their malware," Randy Abrams, director of technical education at antivirus vendor ESET, told InternetNews.com.

The spammers are using different types of attacks on the rogue LinkedIn profiles. McAfee Avert Labs detected an IFrame attack, while Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security and antivirus vendor Sophos said on his blog that SophosLabs detected the malicious Troj/Decdec-A Javascript code on them.

Malware authors are increasingly expected to use IFrame attacks. An IFrame is an HTML element that lets users embed an HTML document inside another.

Although spammers are expected to become increasingly sophisticated as they leverage Web 2.0 technologies, today's attacks were relatively simple because they work well, ESET's Abrams said.

Also, they tap into one of the most basic human motivators - lust, Abrams said.

"People fall for so many scams on the Web out of greed, and lust is just as powerful as greed."

http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3794581/Spammers+Use+Fake+Celeb+Profiles+for+Attacks.htm

greek fanatic

01-06-2009, 9:17pm

:eek::furious::furious::furious::furious::furious:

tonyme

01-07-2009, 7:47am

This is an ongoing problem :banghead: We can't stop them...

Thanks for this Andrew

Rami

01-07-2009, 8:13am

:furious: :furious:

Thanks Andrew.

ravshania

01-07-2009, 8:31am

Oops!!! sory...i 4gt 2...:furious:

:) luvshania :) ravshania :)

Troll

01-07-2009, 9:06am

This is an ongoing problem :banghead: We can't stop them...

Thanks for this Andrew

Yep

dreamer

01-07-2009, 3:56pm

Band celebrates music of Bob Dylan
January 7, 2009 - by Gillian Brunette
Don’t call the Dylan Tree a tribute band. It’s enough to make the group’s founder Richard Kahl shudder.
The show is much more than a tribute, he says. It is a celebration of the words and music of one of the world’s greatest songwriters, Bob Dylan.

“We do not have a look-a-like or sound-a-like guy on purpose. We didn’t want to pursue that route. We prefer to call our show a celebration of the Bob Dylan songbook,” Kahl said during a visit to the Algonquin Theatre prior to Christmas.

The Dylan Tree is a collection of five well-known Toronto musicians who have put together their own retrospective of the Bob Dylan catalogue. The show features material spanning Dylan’s career from the 1960s to the present. Some of the songs are presented in the style of the popular original recordings (Like a Rolling Stone, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door), others in the style of well known covers, such as the Byrd’s version of Tambourine Man and Jimi Hendrix’ All Along the Watch Tower.

“Each of the players share lead and background vocals and the emphasis is always on letting the songs speak for themselves, not on a Bob Dylan impersonator,” said Kahl, whose idea it was to form the band.

“I had worked on a lot of people’s other projects and wanted to have one of my own that I really believed in,” he explained. “I’ve always been a Bob Dylan fan and thought, ‘Okay, let’s put a band together and see if people like it.’”

It wasn’t hard to find musicians who liked Dylan, said Kahl. “There’s a lot of entertainment out there, but very little Bob Dylan.”

The Dylan Tree consists of Matt Greenwood, who has played with Murray McLaughlin and *Shania Twain, Martin Aucoin, who has performed with Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and George Straight, Doug Inglis from Classic Albums Live, Paul Martin, who has toured with Bo Diddley, and Kahl, also a regular musician with Classic Albums Live.

It was the band’s guitarist Paul Martin who came up with the name, said Kahl.

“We kicked around a bunch of different names and ‘tree’ reflects Dylan’s roots music.”

The Dylan Tree’s first official gig was in Toronto in 2006 on May 24, Dylan’s birthday. Since that time the band has played for the most part in and around the Toronto area and has several blues festivals booked for the coming summer.

The Huntsville show will feature two sets. The first set will be primarily electric numbers with a couple of acoustic songs thrown in.

“For example, in the first set we’ll have All Along the Watchtower, Blowin’ in the Wind, Simple Twist of Fate and The Mighty Quinn,” said Kahl.

The second set begins in more of a folk vein with Kahl singing It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), followed by The Times They Are a-Changin’ and Girl from the North Country.

“It’ll be 20 minutes acoustic and then we will switch to electric for the rest of the set.”

To date the Dylan Tree has not recorded any albums, but the show at the Algonquin Theatre will be videotaped potentially for a DVD, said Kahl.

Kahl, originally from the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, has lived in Toronto since 1983. He has played professionally since the age of 13 and credits include decades with the Blushing Brides, 15 albums with Classic Albums Live, and being a co-founding member of the indie recording group Champagne Boys.

Martin hails from Kingston, Ontario and has more than 30 years of musical experience under his belt. Credits include forming the Blushing Brides, playing with Bo Diddley, a year and a half as a solo singer-songwriter in London and New York and forming the original band Tripminer.

Greenberg began his musical career as a Royal Conservatory of Music graduate, studying bass violin, classical guitar, vocals, harmony and theory, and playing in ensembles and orchestras. Primarily occupying the bass chair, he has done session work, television specials, and played for Lori Yates, Jules Shear, Richard Berry, George Fox, Murray McLaughlin and Shania Twain.

Inglis was born and raised in Ottawa and started drumming professionally in 1970 with Powerhouse. Moving to Toronto in 1976 he joined, and still plays with, Goddo, who have so far recorded six studio albums and two live albums. Inglis has been touring North America for years with the Blushing Brides, Classic Albums Live and as a member of the legendary Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks.

Originally from the Maritimes, Aucoin graduated from the Humber College music program in 1981. He played keyboards in the Toronto area, then in 1990 migrated to Nashville and spent 10 years playing in bands with stellar artists such as B.J. Thomas and Ricky Van Shelton, plus a four-year gig playing the Grand Ole Opry with Cajun singer Jimmy C. Newman.

It would seem the Dylan Tree is headed toward success. Even those who don’t particularly like Dylan the singer love his songs, said Inglis, who has watched the beat poet perform at least a dozen times.

As for hardcore Dylan fans? “I don’t think we will disappoint. I think people will enjoy what we have to offer,” said Inglis.

“One thing we bring to the table is a collection of virtuoso musicians. When you have played for as long as we have, by this time we have got our chops together,” Kahl said.

The Dylan Tree takes the Algonquin Theatre stage on Friday, Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for youth under 18, and are available at the Algonquin Theatre box office on Main Street, by calling 789-4975, online at www.algonquintheatre.ca.

tonyme

01-07-2009, 5:08pm

Thanks for that!

Troll

01-07-2009, 8:22pm

Thanks for the article.

dreamer

01-10-2009, 11:57pm

Star spotting a Kiwi pastime
4:00AM Sunday Jan 11, 2009
Anna Leask
Shania Twain. Photo / AP

Shania Twain. Photo / AP

New Zealanders are no strangers to spotting A-list celebs.

This week, Bob Dylan reportedly popped into the Crow Tavern in Picton for a drink and a chat with some of the locals. Shania Twain, who owns property near Wanaka, is also said to be holidaying in the Marlborough Sounds.

Johnny Depp-fever hit Piha last January when it was reported the actor had been seen taking an evening swim in the surf. Depp was also "seen" at Ahipara, the holiday destination of choice for computer king Bill Gates, who spent time quad biking there during Christmas 2007.

Also in December 2007, Waiheke Island was abuzz with rumours of visits by Oscar-winning actors Charlize Theron and Jack Nicholson to watch the Little River Band at the Ridgeview Estate.

In 2004 actors Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, Holly Hunter and Sir Anthony Hopkins were seen out and about in Queenstown.

In 2003, Danny De Vito was said to have visited while Tom Cruise filmed The Last Samurai in Taranaki.

Troll

01-11-2009, 8:34am

Thanks for the info

tonyme

01-11-2009, 12:41pm

Thanks for the info!

dreamer

01-12-2009, 4:23pm

Two full days of country, cowboy boots, cabernet
Educational experience at the Sound & Speed festival
By Raygan Swan, NASCAR.COM
January 12, 2009
02:45 PM EST

type size: + -NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- So I traveled south this weekend to Nashville and here is what I learned. The politically correct term is Western boots, not cowboy boots. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has eyes for LeAnn Rimes and never order wine at a honky-tonk bar.

All very useful pieces of knowledge if you're going to successfully navigate Nashville, Tenn., during the weekend of Sprint Sound & Speed, a collision of country music stars and NASCAR drivers picked to spend a day together chatting about the world's problems.

Well, actually it ain't that deep, but they did talk a lot about the struggling economy, which most of them are immune too but nevertheless showed genuine concern for.

For the most part, the conversations centered upon the parallels of their respective lives laced with humor warranting courtesy laughs from the audience.

That was until resident NASCAR clown Michael Waltrip gave one fan the uber-cheesy, lime green sweater off his back and then later followed the gesture up with the most disturbing innuendo I have ever heard from a driver in a public setting. Two words: bowling alley, but more on that later. Meanwhile, my two-day diary.

FRIDAY

5 p.m. -- Agonizing over the fact that I had nothing even remotely "country" to wear to the concert, I settled for camouflage Pumas and hiked it to Nashville's Sommet Center to pick up my credentials for the weekend events.

Although at first glance, it seemed to be a crazed Baltimore Ravens party. The streets were crawling with yahoos in purple garb gearing up for Saturday's playoff game with the Tennessee Titans.

"Hey Raygs, this is for you!"The fact that a fully-loaded NASCAR hauler was parked downtown on Broadway failed to impress passersby. Nevertheless, I was ready for the "Sound" portion of the event as Julianne Hough from Dancing with the Stars, Rodney Atkins and Montgomery Gentry were to perform at 8 p.m.

6 p.m. -- Realizing I got to the joint way too early, I wandered over to Rippy's, probably the best honky-tonk bar for people watching. It's built with huge glass windows that stretch along both the Broadway and 5th Avenue sides of the building. Here is where I learned my first lesson. A glass of house cabernet is not the favorable choice on the menu. The waitress looked at me with a blank stare and returned with a tiny, airline-style bottle of Sutter Home. Gee thanks. My bad for not ordering something more suited to my environment such as a shot of Jack or a cold Bud. Besides, you can't boot, scoot or boogie with a glass of red sloshing onto the floor now can you?

7:30 p.m. -- It's almost time for the concert to start so I summon my husband to join me so I don't look like a lonely orphan or get scooped up by some of those crazy purple people on the streets.

We meet at the Sommet and somehow, instead of finding our seats in the crowd and reviewing the performance from there, we both get shuffled in with the media photographers and videographers. Organizers station us on the concert floor front and center.

JACKPOT! My neck hurts but who cares. I get through the infectious, poppy sounds of Julianne Hough and try to keep the mental images of her and Helio Castroneves out of my head. She is good, but I expected to see more dance moves. The man with the moves came about six songs and an uncomfortable moment with Kyle Petty later.

8:15 p.m. -- As you know, the merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises was finalized before the Sound & Speed event, whose proceeds benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty.

So Kyle took the stage and thanked the audience for their support and once he headed backstage, I trotted after him to ask a penetrating, hard-hitting question about his reaction to the merger and if he would be in a Cup car next season.

Um, yeah. I choked, stuttered and asked, "So what is your best memory of this place?" Uggghhhhhh! It's was kind of like when Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing asked Jennifer Gray's character why she was at the dance club. Her answer: "I carried a watermelon." That was my "I carried a watermelon" moment of the weekend.

9 p.m. -- Deflated, I ran back to my spot under the stage and prepared to experience my cheek-blushing moment of the weekend. Rodney Atkins came on stage and remember, I'm in a mix of faceless photographers snapping photos up at the stage.

When Atkins starts singing These Are My People I shriek because I know the words and proceed to sing along. I'm the only media type singing my heart out. Nearing the end of the first verse, Atkins, in all his hotness, waved to me! I felt like a 16-year-old at a Jonas Brothers concert.

"My favorite memory -- is that the best you got?"My husband rolled his eyes and quickly brought me back to reality. Later that night, I lie in bed wondering how Atkins got his jeans on. They were tighter than security at Fort Knox and I was sure his "can" was going to come screaming through if he jumped on that speaker just one more time. Anyway, he's my new favorite and he kind of looks like Martin Truex Jr. I had enough of the concert scene and wanted to hit the town.

Oh I forgot to tell you Kyle Petty's favorite memory: "I think it was when a [Victory Junction Gang Camp] camper sang Rodeo, a Garth Brooks song to Trisha Yearwood [Brooks' wife] on stage. It was great to see a camper imitate Garth Brooks."

9:45 p.m. -- The hubby and I are running loose on Broadway, home to dozens of famous honky-tonk bars like Tootsies with live country music pouring onto the streets. Oddly enough, I did hear a J.Lo riff coming from one of them. Bemused, I kept trucking right on over to The Stage, a wide-open country bar with a guy singing Jamey Johnson covers -- not to be confused with Jimmie Johnson covers. I asked the drunkard next to me who sang the song "In Color" and I swear he said Jimmie Johnson. Figures, he was a Greg Biffle fan, what did he know?

Someone who did have the 411 was the gentleman in front of me sporting a USAC champion Dave Darland No. 9 Sprint Car T-shirt. I told the man that I lived in Kokomo, Ind., Darland's native land, but he wasn't moved by our coincidence. Maybe it was because I had another glass of wine in my hand and not the beer I intended to swill. I was wearing camo but did not blend, if you know what I mean.

10:30 p.m. -- I was reaching my expiration date and I couldn't stomach anymore cheap wine without contracting a terminal headache. So, I bid farewell to my honky-tonk crowd and hailed a cab, but not before I tried to coax my husband into dancing with some bottle-blonde cougars on the way out! This is what we journalists call "color".

SATURDAY

9:30 a.m. -- It's time to wander over to the Municipal Auditorium for the second half of my Sound & Speed event and this should involve more speed, such as chatting with Junior, Ray Evernham, Waltrip and those types. First I stopped for my traditional waffle at the Hilton breakfast bar. Unfortunately, the purple people were swarming the waffle maker; damn Ravens fans are everywhere this weekend.

11:00 a.m. -- I arrive at the makeshift media center inside the auditorium and prepare to settle in for a day of interviews with country stars and drivers. First to arrive was supermodel Niki Taylor and husband Burney Lamar, driver in the Nationwide Series. Turns out, Sound & Speed is where these two crazy kids met and fell in love in 2006.

"Better to be warm and ugly than cold"With them was Aric Almirola and singer Richie McDonald, previously of Lonestar.

Almirola conducted his own interview.

"I have a question for you Richie. How often do you ride down the road with your family, you hear a song come on the radio, and roll down the windows and crank it up?"

McDonald replied: "Usually if one of our songs come on the radio, my kids say, can you change that?"

Noon -- Lunch time. Krispy Kreme donuts! There goes my calorie allotment for the day.

2:45 p.m. -- The next person of note would be Dale Earnhardt Jr. He's a regular at Sound & Speed and usually gets paired with the super cute country chicks. This year it was Danielle Peck.

The usual line of questioning about the upcoming season began mixed with some talk of his Nationwide driver Brad Keselowski. Then a media member from the Nashville music scene asked him about Peck.

"My family back home, they are going to have a ton of questions. Every time I come out to Nashville and meet some of these people, they get excited about it," Earnhardt said.

So I thought I'd get the family's question started by asking him which of these Nashville cuties he would date.

"That's tough," he said. "That is definitely difficult when you have to narrow it down to just one."

Everyone in the audience cracked up, but I genuinely wanted to know.

"I think LeAnn [Rimes]," Earnhardt smiled. "Obviously she's married, but he's probably the luckiest man in country music."

I think he should call Shania Twain. She needs a good, honest man.

5:00 p.m. -- Speaking of good men, Michael Waltrip is just about to tell me why he is running around in a T-shirt when it's 40 degrees outside.

While on stage answering fan questions and signing autographs, a female fan wanted his lime green sweater. I wanted Earnhardt's black Prada shoes but I wasn't going to ask the man for them, geez.

"She liked it and that was pretty awesome that she wanted it," Waltrip said. "I was kind of tired of hearing about it anyway. I probably didn't need to be wearing it."

Why, was it ugly?

"I didn't know," he said. "I thought it was pretty cool, but when I got here people started making fun of it. But let me just tell you what I'd rather be. I'd rather be warm in an ugly sweater than cold in this T-shirt."

Well said.

Later in his media interviews, Waltrip told us of his New Year's Eve celebration at the Mooresville, N.C. bowling alley.

"I bowled from 5:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. and my arm hurt worse than you could imagine the next day. But it was perfect. My daughter loved it. It was cool to have the family together," he said.

What was your high game?

"Well, the answer is 168. But the last time I went, I bowled 188. I thought I was getting toward a 200 game. That was the first time I had bowled in a long time. But I had to let my right arm heal because it really got sore, very bad. I couldn't use it for things that I'm used to using it for anymore."

TMI moment of the weekend!

Denny Hamlin saves Waltrip: "Like writing and whatnot."

Waltrip responds: "Yes, writing and whatnot."

6 p.m. -- And that was the end of the day until it was time to head off to the Wildhorse Saloon for what was called "The Groove," a red carpet type event for drivers and singers on their way to the silent auction portion of the night. And when I say silent, I mean so silent we were told not to report on it. That's a big 10-4, so I got restless and wandered next door to the Nashville Cowboy where they sold boots.

8 p.m. -- Here is where I met Jack Burger, my new best friend. He served me an adult beverage and gave me a full education on Western boots. Apparently I was completely in the dark about the culture of cowboy boots. I said I wanted some authentic cowboy boots.

That was my first mistake.

"They are called Western boots, you can't call them cowboy boots anymore," Burger replied.

After we established that, I told him that I worked for NASCAR.COM. Turns out, I was shopping at the same joint NASCAR president Mike Helton shopped before attending the red carpet event next door.

"Look at my new boots, they SCREAM country"He picked up some fancy, lizard skin Lucchese classic boots and when I saw the price tag I almost had a heart attack. Who knew the price of Western boots rivaled those of Manolo Blahnik and Jimmie Choo. So of course now I wanted my own pair. That way Helton and I would be forever bonded in our footwear taste. Yeah right. But at least my boss, who fashions some black Python Tony Lama boots, should be impressed with my new knowledge.

Kyle Petty was also in Friday and picked up a couple pair, but his biggest purchase was custom-made Luccheses with hand-carved, sterling silver skulls on the sides.

Before I sat down on Burger's cow-skin church pew to get fitted for my own pair, I thought maybe I should head back to the Wildhorse Saloon. Nah, this was way more important.

After trying on at least four different pair, I realized I had tried on enough hides to start my own metropolitan zoo. Seriously, the man had elephant, crocodile, snake, water buffalo, cow, goat, ostrich and even horse!

Burger said the folks from PETA tend to stay away from his store, so my guilt faded once I realized how comfortable my new hand-made J.B. Dillon Reserves felt on my tired feet.

And with that, me and my new water buffalo hide walked home. I couldn't help but walk with an attitude.

Who knows, maybe this time next year I'll take on line dancing.

dreamer

01-12-2009, 4:25pm

Coty Inc. Announces New Chief Financial Officer

Sergio Pedreiro Joins Coty's Executive Committee

NEW YORK, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Coty Inc., a leader in the global beauty industry and the world's largest fragrance company, is pleased to announce that Sergio Pedreiro has been named chief financial officer effective immediately. In this position, Pedreiro will oversee Coty's worldwide finance and information management activities.

Among his key responsibilities, Pedreiro will oversee strategic leadership for corporate finance, planning and budgeting, treasury, tax and fiscal management, business development and acquisitions integration, and information technologies. As a member of Coty's Executive Committee, Pedreiro will report to Chief Executive Officer Bernd Beetz.

"A leading financial strategist, Sergio Pedreiro will play a key role in expanding Coty in the coming years," said Beetz. "Under his leadership, I am confident that we can and will strengthen our financial organization and processes to grow our success. Despite challenging economies around the world, we will strive to reinforce our leadership and to gain market share."

Pedreiro brings more than 20 years of comprehensive and global financial expertise to Coty. Prior to Coty, Pedreiro served for seven years as the chief financial officer of America Latina Logistica (ALL), Latin America's largest independent logistics company with operations in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. As CFO and a result of his leadership, today ALL's business is experiencing a period of strong consolidation and organic growth. Prior to working at ALL, Pedreiro was an Investment Officer with GP Investment, the leading private equity firm in Brazil.

Pedreiro holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, with honors, from Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica in Brazil. He also earned a Masters in Business Administration from Stanford University.

About Coty Inc.

Coty was created in Paris in 1904 by Francois Coty who is credited with founding the modern fragrance industry.

Today, Coty Inc. is the world's largest fragrance company and a recognized leader in global beauty with annual net sales of $4 billion. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, passion, innovation, and creativity, Coty Inc. has developed an unrivaled portfolio of notable brands and delivers its innovative products to consumers in 90 markets worldwide.

The Coty Prestige brand portfolio is distributed in prestige and ultra-prestige stores and includes Baby Phat, Balenciaga, Calvin Klein, Cerruti, Chloe, Chopard, Davidoff, Home Skin Lab, Jennifer Lopez, Jette Joop, Jil Sander, JOOP!, Karl Lagerfeld, Kenneth Cole, L.A.M.B. fragrance by Gwen Stefani, La Voce by Renee Fleming, Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Nautica, Nikos, Phat Farm, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vera Wang, Vivienne Westwood, and Wolfgang Joop.

The Coty Beauty brand portfolio is more widely distributed and includes adidas, Astor, Celine Dion, Chupa Chups, David and Victoria Beckham, Esprit, Exclamation, Faith Hill, Halle Berry, Jovan, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, La Cross, Miss Sixty, Miss Sporty, N.Y.C. New York Color, Pierre Cardin(1), Playboy, Rimmel, Sally Hansen, Shania Twain, Stetson, Tim McGraw, and Tonino Lamborghini.

Coty and Puig Fashion and Beauty S.A. have a strategic partnership for the distribution of the perfume lines of Nina Ricci, Carolina Herrera, Prada, Paco Rabanne, and Antonio Banderas in the United States and Canada.

For additional information about Coty Inc., please visit www.coty.com.

Not available in North America

SOURCE Coty Inc.

dreamer

01-12-2009, 4:28pm

Maryl Pfeifer Guerra & Consalvo Turchi
Sunday, January 11th 2009, 4:00 AM

Sharpshooters/Sharpshooters

Maryl Pfeifer Guerra & Consalvo Turchi
Nov. 16, 2008, Yonkers

After communicating online for several weeks, Consalvo and Maryl met at a restaurant in Throgs Neck on Valentine's Day 2000. Maryl told her daughter that "there were no sparks, he's nice, though." But she went on a second date - and was glad she did. "On the second date in Manhattan, my heart flipped," said Maryl.

Formerly a Bronx resident, Maryl was a widow and now lives in Yonkers with Consalvo and works as a staff coordinator at St. John's Riverside Hospital. Consalvo is a soccer referee throughout the five boroughs and Westchester and was state referee administrator and an assignor for the New York State Soccer Association. He has lived in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The couple got engaged on Christmas 2005, when Consalvo gave Maryl a diamond and opal engagement ring. During the ceremony, Maryl wore a Junnie Leigh beige gown of crepe and chiffon with Swarovski crystals and carried stargazer lilies and roses. The Rev. Sarah Fogg, chaplain at the hospital, officiated at Spiritoso's restaurant after the bride entered with her brother, Alan Pfeifer, who came from Savannah, Ga. Peter Turchi, one of Consalvo's six brothers, served as best man, and the matron of honor was the bride's daughter, Joy Giangrande.

Eighty-eight friends and family members witnessed the ceremony, as did Consalvo's parents, Nicola and Anna Marie, respectively 94 and 90 years old. (As for the couple's age, Maryl demurred by saying, with a laugh, "Let's just say we were the oldest people at the wedding bureau.") Nicola was one of the founders of the Italian-American Soccer League in 1958.

The couple's first dance was composed of two songs: Shania Twain's "From This Moment" and a cha-cha to "Cherish" by the Association.

The reception was memorable in the warmth fostered by family-style dishes of antipasto, three pastas, a salad and three meat courses followed by wedding cake and fresh fruit. There was much visiting among the tables as family pictures were taken in front of the dais. Fancy photo frames with pictures of the bride and groom were given as favors. As there was a soccer tournament in Florida four days after the wedding, the couple planned to honeymoon in Curaçao sometime in January.

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Troll

01-12-2009, 8:45pm

Thanks for the articles

dreamer

01-12-2009, 10:33pm

Celine Dion spiced up her Saturday show at the New Orleans Arena
Posted by Keith Spera, Music writer, The Times-Picayune January 12, 2009 4:41PM
Categories: Living: Arts and Entertainment, Reviews, Top News
Robert E. Klein / AP Photo
Canadian pop singer Celine Dion performs at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston on the first night of her North American Taking Chances Tour. Dion was at the New Orleans Arena on Saturday, January 10.

Celine Dion is a thoroughbred of an entertainer, sleek and long-legged, disciplined and determined to compete at the highest level.

Unlike her appearance at the New Orleans Arena years ago that sank under the weight of too many saccharine ballads and too much schmaltz, Dion orchestrated a well-paced, consistently entertaining show Saturday at the same venue. During her ongoing Taking Chances world tour, her first since a five-year residency in Las Vegas, she is in fact taking chances, infusing her repertoire with elements of rock and soul. They suit her well.

In front of a capacity crowd that included Gov. Bobby Jindal, she emerged atop a dazzling square stage set in the middle of the arena floor. The stage itself was a performing entity, with moving sidewalks, lighted panels and platforms that alternately elevated and hid musicians and backing vocalists.

In the opening "I Drove All Night," her voice soared over a modest dance club beat as she strutted atop a grand piano and engaged in a bout of air-guitar. On "The Power of Love," she sustained glorious notes, only to snap them off smartly.

A speech about the "rough times in recent years" endured by New Orleanians - apparently it is still mandatory for visiting performers to reference Katrina - zapped early momentum.

It was soon regained. With its acoustic guitar and mid-tempo pulse, the "Taking Chances" title track would not be out of place on a Shania Twain album. The airy, contemporary club vibe of "I'm Alive" would fit on a latter-day Madonna record. The upbeat "Shadow of Love," with its robust harmonies and electric guitar, was particularly sunny. After the big finish of "All By Myself," she dropped to her knees and collapsed onto her back.

She played off her skilled musicians, alternately engaging with a violinist, a pianist and backing vocalist Barnev Valsaint. A troupe of eight modern dancers sketched in the spaces around her.

She remains the goofiest of divas. She licked, then wiggled, her thumb as if flicking a cigarette lighter. She could not gaze into a camera without winking, an act magnified on the many LED screens. She gave herself a hand and acted as her own most enthusiastic cheerleader. She concluded "I'm Your Angel," a duet with Valsaint, with an odd vocal flutter.

But she was not as self-satisfied as in years past; her quirks came across as authentic manifestations of her personality rather than distractions.

Of the half-dozen costume changes, some were more flattering than others. She looked fabulous in the shortest of cocktail dresses paired with the highest of heels. By contrast, white strips wrapped around her legs looked like leftover bandages from a World War I field hospital. An otherwise fetching ensemble of a black sleeveless T-shirt, upscale hippie vest and bellbottom black slacks was short circuited by an odd, sequined crotch.

Dion's studious reading of Heart's "Alone" lacked the desperation of Ann Wilson's formidable original version. A run at the Tina Turner anthem "River Deep Mountain High" fared better, thanks in part to the wall of sound erected by the band behind her. Dion's a cappella opening of "My Love" hushed the entire arena; alone in the vast space, her remarkable voice was a thing of beauty.

Building Las Vegas-like momentum, swells of organ pumped up a hearty run through James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." "My Heart Will Go On," the love theme from "Titanic," sailed in as the obvious finale, one last ballad for those who perhaps had hoped for more.

One by one, her musicians emerged from the beneath the stage to escape down a gauntlet between the floor seats and first row of the lower bleachers. Dion was the last to leave. She shook hands, waved and paused for photos with fans as if walking a red carpet - a final victory lap for a thoroughbred deserving of one.

Troll

01-13-2009, 7:49am

Thanks Misty

tonyme

01-13-2009, 8:02am

Thank you Misty for all of them

dreamer

01-13-2009, 11:54am

my pleasure

ravshania

01-14-2009, 5:32am

thnx 4 art'cls...:)

:) luvshania :) ravshania :)

dreamer

01-14-2009, 12:28pm

EXPERIENCE the essence of Americana in a musical extravaganza featuring the best of American country and rock hits at The Playhouse, Weston.

The show will be led by Dr and the Medics front-man Rev Dr Clive Jackson alongside a superb cast, to take the audience on a journey through the era of American country rock, pop and traditional classics of Route 66.

The audience is invited to feel the wind in their hair as they cruise the highway, losing themselves amongst the sounds of The Eagles, Cher, Meatloaf, Starship, Shania Twain, The Doors, Tina Turner, Neil Diamond, Elvis Presley, Bryan Adams and many more.

The production will appeal to all ages, from the power ballads of Leanne Rhymes to the laid back acoustic of John Denver, all the way through to rockier sounds of Springsteen and Bon Jovi.

Route 66 will be staged on January 31 at 7.30pm. Tickets, priced from £14, are available from the box office on 01934 645544 or via www.theplayhouse.co.uk

dreamer

01-14-2009, 12:30pm

Long Lives the Queen: Celebrating Kitty Wells
Tom Roland January 13, 2009 Kitty Wells sat calmly, almost regally, in a back room of the library at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, quietly contemplating her life and career.

The Nashville native has done quite a bit of reflection recently, thanks to a new exhibit at the Museum. "Kitty Wells: Queen of Country Music, Presented by Great American Country Television Network," which remains open until June 14, 2009, puts her history-making life in a big-picture perspective through exhibits of awards, chart reproductions, vintage TV footage and stage wear, including the peach dress she wore to the CMA Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House in 1976 on the night she was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

"Things," she reflected, "worked out pretty well for us."

That line alone proves that Wells is the Queen of Understatement as well as of Country Music.

"Well," she explained, with a smile, "I let other people do the bragging. I'm not one to really brag and carry on like that."

Of course, no one would blame Wells if she ever did engage in a little self-promotion. Before Loretta Lynn first told off her husband in song, before Tammy Wynette belted out her orchestrated declamations, before Dolly Parton stirred her pot of sonic fragility and glitz, Wells enjoyed a 14-year run of Top 10 hits that helped make it possible for women to achieve success as Country artists.

Wells wasn't the first female to make a mark on this music. Patsy Montana sold a million copies of her classic "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart," released in 1935. Lulu Belle Wiseman found acclaim on "The National Barn Dance," broadcast from Chicago over WLS radio, as half of the husband-and-wife team Lulu Belle and Scotty.

But no woman nabbed a solo No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart until Wells, who achieved that distinction with "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" in 1952.

"If it hadn't been for Kitty Wells," Barbara Mandrell suggested in a famous quote that's documented in the "Queen of Country Music" exhibit, "there wouldn't be a Dolly Parton or Tammy Wynette, and there certainly wouldn't be a Barbara Mandrell."

The magnitude of what Wells achieved becomes clearer when you put her into the context of her time. Women earned the right to vote in 1920, just 32 years before her ascendance, and during her peak commercial years in the 1950s society still maintained a strict division of roles according to gender. Men worked for a paycheck to support the home; women tended the house and took care of the kids. The feminist movement had yet to develop, though the frustrations that sparked it were already brewing.

"Kitty was always speaking for women," observed Patty Loveless, who covers numerous Country songs from the 1950s and '60s on her latest album, Sleepless Nights. "I do believe that she was a voice for all women during that time."

Many women had only recently entered the workforce, during World War II, as men were called into battle and factories suddenly needed personnel to meet the military's needs. And when the soldiers came back home, many of those women found it difficult to return to the role of housewife.

"After World War II, things began to change," the late Minnie Pearl is quoted as saying in the "Queen of Country Music" exhibit. "Women began getting fed up with their way of life."

Coincidentally, Wells first achieved success thanks to a song about being fed up with "The Wild Side of Life." Recorded by Hank Thompson, this single spent 15 weeks at the top of the charts, with a lyric that castigated a woman for choosing liquor and "the glamour of the gay night life." Lured by the prospect of a $125 recording payment, Wells agreed to record "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," which rebutted Thompson's hit by placing the blame on philandering husbands.

The timing in 1952 for release by Decca Records of this single was as perfect as Wells' interpretation of its message. Her performance was strong and defiant, stern but not harsh, pained but not defeated. The song lodged for six weeks at No. 1 (equivalent to the amount of time Faith Hill's "Breathe" and Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take the Wheel" spent at the top position in this decade) and opened the door for Wells to follow it with a series of singles that mined the divide in broken homes, including the post-split "I Can't Stop Loving You," the resigned "Release Me," the forlorn "You Don't Hear" and the divorce ruminations "Will Your Lawyer Talk to God" and "Mommy for a Day."

Despite the disharmony of that subject matter, Wells enjoyed a home life marked by enduring love and stability. At 18, she married fellow singer Johnnie Wright in 1937, and the couple has stayed together for more than seven decades. Wright was part of a hit-making duo called Johnnie and Jack; when they toured with their band to play at radio stations to promote their shows in various markets, Wells would perform a few solo tunes. Acting as her manager, Wright eventually decided to make his wife the headliner in their show, despite an admonition from Roy Acuff, who believed the move was financial suicide.

Looking back, Wells remembered that Acuff, the King of Country Music, "kind of settled down when Johnnie showed him that you could headline a show with a woman. I don't think they" - the audiences who came to their shows - "really thought a whole lot about who headlines a show. We were always there together anyway."

Their relationship, like her rise to stardom, forecast an era when old adages might be reconsidered or even reversed, such as the truism that behind every successful man is a woman. In their case, Wright was always there to bolster Wells' career, which she believes could not have taken off without his support.

"He's always promoted my career," she maintained. "He really promoted me more than he did Johnnie and Jack."

That promotion elevated Wells into a uniquely distinguished career, measured by a catalog that includes 23 Top 10 singles and 35 Top 10 albums.

Since her 1976 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, other female artists, including Hill, Reba McEntire and Shania Twain, have been referred to on occasion as the Queen of Country Music. This doesn't cause Wells to feel slighted, though she admits that the passage of time may have made her a less immediate presence than she once had been.

"Some of the new artists might not be quite so familiar with my singing or with my songs," she said.

Still, the very fact that any performer might earn that distinction testifies to the legacy of Wells, who established the possibility that Country Music might have and acknowledge someone as its Queen at all. And those who are aware of history know who the true Queen is and will always be.

Just ask Loveless, who shared the stage with Wells and Lynn on the program that marked the reopening of the Ryman Auditorium in 1994. On that night, these artists, representing three generations of women in Country Music with careers that spanned five decades, joined to sing "Making Believe," which Wells had recorded in 1955. More than music bound them, as Loveless maintained.

"It is a common thread," she insisted. "And Kitty is what holds it all together."

On the Web: www.kittywells.com

CMA created the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 to recognize individuals for their outstanding contributions to the format with Country Music's highest honor. Inductees are chosen by CMA's Hall of Fame Panel of Electors, which consists of more than 300 anonymous voters appointed by the CMA Board of Directors.

2009 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc. Print Share Email Your Name

Troll

01-14-2009, 1:20pm

Thanks

tonyme

01-14-2009, 1:52pm

Thanks! :D

dreamer

01-14-2009, 8:49pm

Only one song truly represents Canada
January 14, 2009

There is a contest going on, run by CBC, to name the 49 songs that most represent Canadian culture (49 because of the 49th parallel), and these songs will be played on CBC on Jan. 20, inauguration day, to let Obama know who we are. So, I have written the following piece.

Some friends and colleagues and I have given this matter considerable thought. All of us being Canadians, we organized and set up a loose-structured confederation to evaluate and make recommendations. The new ad hoc group is called Canadian Almost Royal Commission Assessing Songs and Singers, or CARCASS.

Our first conclusion was that the words “Canadian” and “culture” are not mutually exclusive, nor do they form an oxymoron.

It was then suggested that we search for a song title that truly represented the culture and aspirations of Canadian society. However, unfortunately, we could not find a song entitled We are Canadian — If it Doesn’t Offend Anyone for Us to Say So.

The closest title we could find that seemed appropriate was I’m Sorry, but since it was recorded by Brenda Lee, and not by Shania Twain, we had to reject it.

After truly serious thought and discussion, we have come to the conclusion that there is in fact one and only one song that does indeed represent Canada, by the dynamic nature and personality of the singer, by the lyrics, and by the historical significance of the song. And that song is Northwest Passage by the late Stan Rogers. No other contenders even came close. It certainly should be at or near the top of any list of 49 songs that truly represent our country.

Mike Yale

North York, Ontario

dreamer

01-14-2009, 8:52pm

It'll be the veteran rockers' third time together in the Twin Cities, following a 2003 date that set the X's attendance record.

It's a three-peat for rock's most famous two piano men.

Elton John and Billy Joel will return to the Twin Cities on May 5 to perform at Xcel Energy Center, where they set an attendance record of 20,250 in 2003 (subsequently broken by Shania Twain). They also performed together at a sold-out Target Center concert in 2001.

Tickets to the new X date, part of their ongoing Face 2 Face Tour, go on sale Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. for the recession-defying prices of $179.50 and $99.50, plus a small number of $54 seats. The concert was announced with a VIP press conference at 11:30 a.m. today featuring St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and a "themed lunch" for media representatives.

"I love touring with Billy. I have the greatest respect for him and we're such good friends," Elton said in a press release. The knighted British singer is reuniting with Joel on off weeks from his stint at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Troll

01-14-2009, 9:35pm

Thanks

tonyme

01-15-2009, 5:27am

Thank you

dreamer

01-15-2009, 12:25pm

you're welcome

dreamer

01-15-2009, 12:32pm

Man, I feel like a woman. It never did feel right whenever I got to that line in Shania Twain’s song. But what the hey: it’s a catchy thing, and so is the Pizzolato Prosecco IG7 (about $13) – a light, easy, mildly crisp, airy fresh and dry sparkling white from Italy’s Veneto region that makes the perfect wine to drink while taking a bath, or attending to those things you do when preparing for those weekend nights out with whomever.

Like any good Prosecco (Prosecco being the name of the grape, of which almost all that is grown in Northern Italy is turned into sparkling wine), the Pizzolato’s flowery, peach fuzz fragrance is mingled with light, warming, yeasty whiffs of rising bread. My only issue: the wine is so soft and easy that a bottle is usually finished before we’re through making dinner. But boy, is it refreshing, especially if you’re standing over the hot stove, frying up some shrimp scampi, with a pot of hot water going for the linguine and some sautéed zucchini simmering on the side.

On top of that, the Pizzolato is a vino da uve da agricolturo biologica – a designation for Italian wines made from organically (the Italians define this as “biological”) grown grapes, which the Pizzolato family has been doing since 1985. Consequently, this wine, imported into the U.S. by Natural Merchants, is found in many natural food outlets such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods (in Colorado, look for it in stores close to the latter).

Prosecco, btw, is also the classic wine used to make the famous sparkling cocktail called the Bellini; invented in the late 1930s by Harry’s Bar in Venice, where literary giants like Orson Welles, Sinclair Lewis and Papa Hemingway were known to wet their whistles, undoubtedly with this mixture of puréed white peach and Prosecco.

To manufacture your own Bellini, use 1 part white peach purée to 2 parts Prosecco, but this really only works when the white (not yellow!) peaches are sweet and in high season. In the off-season, though, a perfectly delicious faux Bellini can be made with either a frozen white peach purée or a slice of canned white peach, both enhanced by an aromatic drop of peach schnapps. Man…

WINE BASICS # 15: What Is the Significance of Grape Identity?

As has been suggested, grape variety (or varieties, if the wine is a blend of several) is the single most significant factor differentiating the taste of wines. Producers in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and South America make it easy for you because wines from there are usually sold by the brand name (i.e. Robert Mondavi Winery) followed by the name of the grape (Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, etc.). New World wines such as these, labeled with the name of the grape, are often called “varietal” wines; and the minimum percentage of how much of a stated grape goes into these bottlings according to law varies from country to country (in the U.S. it varies by state – in California, for instance, it is 75%, whereas in Oregon it is 90%).

dreamer

01-15-2009, 12:34pm

dreamer

01-15-2009, 12:40pm

Music to read Power Line by
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January 15, 2009 Posted by Scott at 5:38 AM

Over the past few months I've been the recipient of notable new work by musicians who are aware of my love of popular music. Among these recordings are the self-titled extended play disc by singer/songwriter/trumpeter Pez Wilson. The new disc is a follow-up to Pez's debut on "Waveland," but features a stripped-down sound and jazzy style that distinguishes it from its predecessor.

It sounds to me like Pez has had some kind of a breakthrough. The new disc is a joyous wonder. Pez has posted the audio on his site. Downloads of both "Waveland" and "Pez Wilson" are available on iTunes. "Pez Wilson" is also available by download at the link via Amazon.

Our old friend Steve Dobrogosz is a Power Line reader, an American expatriate living in Sweden, and a composer of multifarious talents. His new recording with the ravishing Anna Christopherson is "Rivertime," a compact disc on which Steve composed all the numbers and provided the piano accompaniment. "Rivertime" follows up on Steve and Anna's "It's Always You." I've been listening to the new disc with admiration over the past several months. Steve is featuring the audio of one of the disc's knockouts ("Starlit") as the song of the month at his site. The video of "Rivertime" is below.

Steve's work in the popular vein reflected on "Rivertime" reflects his affinity for the Gershwin approach to crafting a tune. He knows the Lennon/McCartney songbook by heart, and in the last ten years has enjoyed Shania Twain's music more than anyone else's. When describing his inspiration for his writing in the pop vein, he also adds Beethoven, "depending on one's definition of popular music..." Steve's work with Anna is and other of Steve's work is available on iTunes

Jude is an awersomely talented singer/songwriter. He has an interesting personal story and an impressive body of work carried on iTunes. He has established a following in Europe, where he may be somewhat better known than he is in the United States. Below Jude performs "Love, Love, Love," which also appears in a higher quality video on his site. Key line: "I don't believe what the world wants me to."

"Love, Love, Love" is off Jude's 2006 disc "Redemption." "Redemption" and "Sarah" (which topped CDBaby's online chart for months and remains one of its all time bestselling discs) represent Jude's newer work, though "Cuba" (also available here via CDBaby) is Jude's most recent disc, collecting early outtakes. He has posted the audio of the song "Cuba" on his site together with another song off the disc.

I don't hear a political bent to the songs on "Cuba," which are terrific. The song "Cuba" itself tells the story of Jude's unhappy experience recording "King of Yesterday." But Jude dedicates the songs on "Cuba" to the people of Cuba with an unusual imprecation coming from an American artist: "May they soon be free!"

Yesterday Jude posted "Coming out to a whole new world" at Big Hollywood. It's a compelling statement of purpose by an artist who deserves to be heard.
Under the hood, a hearty four-c ylinder engine debuts in the 2009 Grand Vitara. The DOHC 2.4- litre engine delivers 166 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 162 lb.-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm. To my surprise, it has plenty of punch and none of the drawbacks you may expect from a small motor.

Available with a five-speed manual transmission in the entry-level JA model, or a four-speed automatic throughout the rest of the four-cylinder line-up (JX, JLX and JLX-L), shifts are smooth and the living is easy. Though I still enjoy the opportunity to change gears manually, my preference nowadays is the automatic.

Playing up the luxury factor, all Grand Vitaras come equipped with mechanical goodies such as 4-Mode 4WD, fully independent front and rear suspension, 4- wheel disc brakes with ABS, ESP with traction control and automatic climate control for passenger comfort.

Blind crests and tight corners make driving fun in the near north. Climbing an endless series of hills in Muskoka, the 4-cylinder Grand Vitara seemed fast on its feet. Keeping up with, and even passing other V6 equipped SUVs on the twisties was easy. Under a cloud of dust, the 4WD system provided excellent stability without hampering overall driver input.

Inside, the Suzuki Grand Vitara JLX-L is equipped with heated front bucket seats. The "L" in the JLX-L model designates leather along with faux wood trim accents in the center console, lower dash and door panels. Power windows, door locks, mirrors and a power glass moonroof are included. A six-disc CD changer with AM/FM stereo and 8 speakers provide excellent sound.

Back at the resort, we e detoxification from a hectic life with a visit to the Spa at Deerhurst. Recently renovated, head to toe pampering including massage, body wraps, reflexology and facials are just some of the treatments available. Several hours later, finding a comfortable Adirondack chair overlooking the lake was the only thing left on my "To Do" list for the day.

dreamer

01-15-2009, 12:46pm

Bryan White to perform at Wild Rose on Feb. 14

EMMETSBURG — Bryan White will perform at Wild Rose Casino and Resort in Emmetsburg at 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, in the Wild Rose Ballroom. Tickets are $10.

It’s the stuff of country music lore. A young man leaves his home in Oklahoma to move to Nashville to pursue his dream of playing and singing country music.

The dream led to more success than even that young man had imagined. Success that brought him awards and accolades before he was barely into his 20s. Bryan White burst on the country music scene in the mid 1990s with a string of six No. 1 singles. Hits like “Someone Else’s Star,” “Rebecca Lynn,” “So Much For Pretending,” “I’m Not Suppose To Love You Anymore,” “Sitting On Go,” and his famous duet with Shania Twain, “From This Moment.”

White is on the next leg of his musical journey, with a new outlook on life and new music to go along with it.

Tickets are on sale now and are available for purchase through the Player’s Club at Wild Rose Casino & Resort in Emmetsburg, by calling toll-free 877-720-7673 or online at www.wildroseresorts.com.

Troll

01-15-2009, 12:54pm

Great stuff

dreamer

01-15-2009, 1:11pm

indubitably!

tonyme

01-15-2009, 1:12pm

I almost never hear his name. Good to know

dreamer

01-15-2009, 1:15pm

same here tony good to know he's still going

tonyme

01-15-2009, 1:18pm

same here tony good to know he's still going
Yes!

By the way, why did Shania decide to release a solo version of the song as a single?

I think she did that to make it tour-friendly?

dreamer

01-15-2009, 1:22pm

uhh it is on the single cd

tonyme

01-15-2009, 1:23pm

uhh it is on the single cd
Yes, but I mean the video, the promotion of the song, he wasn't in it.

dreamer

01-15-2009, 1:25pm

yeah I think that was for tour and AC radio where they play that version

tonyme

01-15-2009, 1:30pm

yeah I think that was for tour and AC radio where they play that version
Yeah

dreamer

01-15-2009, 9:43pm

Singer Anne Murray is releasing a memoir tentatively called All Of Me this fall through publisher Alfred A. Knopf Canada. Author Michael Posner has also agreed to work with Murray on the book.

“After being on tour for most of my adult life, the time was right to stop and reflect,” Murray said in a statement issued Thursday. “The years pass so quickly when you’re on the road, trying to raise a family, going into the studio and dealing with all the other pressures that come with the business.

“Besides, I thought it was important to do this memoir, while I can still remember things!”

Murray released a Duets album in 2007 featuring Nelly Furtado, Emmylou Harris and Shania Twain among others.

shaniafan339

01-15-2009, 11:19pm

Yes!

By the way, why did Shania decide to release a solo version of the song as a single?

I think she did that to make it tour-friendly?

I don't know why she did that...

But to be honest I'm glad she did it. I like this song alot better when she sings in solo!

eilleen333

01-16-2009, 3:56am

Yes!

By the way, why did Shania decide to release a solo version of the song as a single?

I think she did that to make it tour-friendly?

She did that for me, because I like the single version better ;) .

No, maybe because the Europeans don't know Brian White that well? At least, he's not really famous here, and the solo version is on the international version of the album...

tonyme

01-16-2009, 6:50am

Yes. I prefer the single version as well, Shania sings it much better alone!

ktsthegame

01-16-2009, 7:40am

Yeah, the single version is the one i perfere to listen to as well

Troll

01-16-2009, 7:43am

Yeah, the single version is the one i perfere to listen to as well

Me too.

Hockeystick

01-16-2009, 8:36am

I prefer the single version but the originally released version to country radio was with Bryan, that's the only time you ever hear him, because the video is without him and all non country radio is without him.

SHANIANUTS!

01-16-2009, 1:57pm

She did that for me, because I like the single version better ;) .

No, maybe because the Europeans don't know Brian White that well? At least, he's not really famous here, and the solo version is on the international version of the album.....he soared like an eagle for some time but soon crash-dived into semi-oblivion methinks..

SHANIANUTS!

01-16-2009, 2:00pm

Troll

01-16-2009, 2:54pm

...does this mean he is on his last leg?

Who knows

RKSTFan

01-18-2009, 3:09pm

Sean Penn: Into the Wild

Reshma Iqbal

First Published : 17 Jan 2009 01:01:29 PM IST
Last Updated : 17 Jan 2009 05:01:53 PM IST

Did you know that Sean Penn directed Shania Twain’s video for the song Dance With The One That Brought You? Yes, that was ages ago, but it’s yet another feather in this actor’s cap (critics say Milk might get him a best actor award at this year’s Oscars). The progressive Penn has directed several movies, the latest being 2007’s Into The Wild, a non-fiction account of how a US-based top honours student gives up his comfortable lifestyle and treks to Alaska from Georgia.

Source (http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Sean+Penn:+Into+the+Wild&artid=/pFz6K/j8Kk=&SectionID=IgMuKRE8KM0=&MainSectionID=IgMuKRE8KM0=&SEO=Sean,+Penn&SectionName=q/UTssfdfvPtQOFdqR%7CJRA==)

tonyme

01-18-2009, 3:10pm

Thanks :great:

dreamer

01-18-2009, 3:12pm

thanks

Troll

01-18-2009, 7:02pm

Thanks

shaniafan339

01-19-2009, 12:09am

Cool, Thanks

RKSTFan

01-21-2009, 1:08am

‘Perfect’ relationships may not be so perfect

Relationships are about give and take

Morgan Smith (http://www.dailyevergreen.com/writer/9193)

The Daily Evergreen

Published: 01/21/2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seems like the ideal situation. Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine” proclaims, “Any man of mine better be proud of me, even when I’m ugly, he still better love me.” While I was never much of a country music fan, the message of this song stuck with me. The ideal relationship will involve being able to do whatever I want and having my significant other always support it.

This concept seems to have been blown out of proportion, however. Many people, men and women alike, tend to take the idea of a perfect relationship and run with it. These people expect to be put on a pedestal and all but worshiped while their yes-men tell them how wonderful of people they are.

It seems to me that many men today want to be in a relationship, and they become that yes-man to make whomever they’re after happy. But a relationship should not consist of one person believing they can do no wrong, and the other making sure it stays that way. Where’s the joy in bending over backward to kiss the ground someone walks on, when that someone doesn’t give you the time of day?

The Webster dictionary definition of a relationship is, “a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection)” or “a state involving mutual dealings between people or parties.” There is nothing mutual or connected about a superficial relationship that involves one party snapping the whip and the other sullenly obliging.

That is an awful situation, and you need to learn to respect yourself so you don’t ever find yourself in a situation like that. If you do, you need to step back and assess things. If you aren’t happy, it’s time to take this show on the road.

Maybe you are one who believes you’d rather be miserable with someone else than miserable alone. This was my mindset for a long time. Recently, it occurred to me that if I am with someone I’m not happy with, then I can’t be with the one that does make me happy when I meet him.

Honestly people, you’ll seriously regret it when you meet someone great who you want to spend every second of your life with, but you can’t because you’re tied down to the king or queen of “I can do no wrong.” Those kinds of people need to get a reality check and realize the world does not revolve around them. You, on the other hand, need to move on. You deserve so much more.

All right, so what did we learn here? First, relationships are give and take. Don’t let some whiner take and never give. Second, don’t be such a pessimist. Keep up hope so you have someone to look forward to. Lastly, stop taking advice from songs, country or otherwise.

In a good, or even halfway decent relationship, you should be able to be yourself and be loved for it. That’s where the idea of doing what you want and getting away with it comes from. You don’t want a Yes-Man or Yes-Woman, you want the right man or woman. Don’t settle for less.

Source (http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/27445)

FinnFreak

01-21-2009, 1:39am

True.

John - :)

Troll

01-21-2009, 7:43am

Interesting article

ktsthegame

01-21-2009, 10:15am

Thanks for the article!

shaniafan339

01-21-2009, 11:25am

Thanks

tonyme

01-21-2009, 11:39am

Thanks a lot!

Troll

01-22-2009, 1:04pm

....And in 1997, Moyles got an unlikely gig with Shania Twain. "I did a music video with her called 'Don't Be Stupid,'" he says. "She was looking for an Irish dancer, so I was very lucky to be involved. I actually did it previous to ever joining 'Riverdance'.".....

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090122/NEWS/901221005/1006/NEWS?Title=_Riverdance__gives_farewell_show

RKSTFan

01-23-2009, 9:37pm

This is an excerpt from a really, really long Super Bowl article:

The Nielsen Company’s Guide To Super Bowl XLIII

WEBWIRE (http://www.webwire.com/) – Friday, January 23, 2009

NEW YORK, NY – The Nielsen Company today released its annual Guide to the Super Bowl, which showcases a full range of consumer and media information about the most anticipated marketing event in the U.S. This year’s matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers is scheduled for February 1 in Tampa, FL.

Among the key findings from Nielsen:

* TELEVISION: Last year’s tilt between the Patriots and the Giants was viewed by a record 97.5 million people nationwide. As expected, the Super Bowl was the most-watched TV broadcast in 2008.

* ADVERTISERS: The cost of a 30-second spot in last year’s Super Bowl was $2.7 million. Total spending for the game reached over $195 million. Anheuser-Busch bought the most commercial time (4 minutes total). The highest-rated commercial minute was the Victoria’s Secret spot at 9:44pm, seen by 103.7 million viewers. The most-liked ad was produced by the NFL. The most-recalled ad was produced by FedEx.

* ONLINE: Super Bowl advertisers saw a 24 percent jump in Web traffic the day after last year’s Super Bowl. The Pepsi commercial featuring Justin Timberlake gathered the most Internet buzz.

* MUSIC AND MOVIES: In the week following Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ halftime performance last year, sales of their “Greatest Hits” album jumped 196%. Petty’s “Anthology: Through the Years” album jumped 240% that same week. Box office sales on the weekend of Super Bowl Sunday show notable decline. The NFL Super Bowl XLII DVD was the #1 selling sports DVD in 2008.

* SNACKS AND BEER: The Super Bowl is the 8th-largest beer-selling event each year. Markets with hometown teams involved in the big game are more likely buy more beer. Potato chips are the snack of choice at Super Bowl parties, but tortilla chips are quickly gaining.

* CONSUMER TRENDS: There’s a softer side to football fans. People identifying themselves as avid NFL fans outpaced total U.S. spending in skin care by 74% from 2005 to 2007. NFL fans are also more likely to own hi-tech electronic items than the average adult.

* DEMOGRAPHICS: About 138 million adults – or more than 60% of the adult population in the U.S. – are NFL fans. The league is slightly more likely to attract fans from higher education and income brackets. Fans are also generally more physically active than the average American.

TELEVISION
In 2008, an average of 97.5 million Americans tuned in to FOX to watch the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots, making it the most-watched Super Bowl ever. The event averaged a 43.1% household rating, up from the 2007 game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears, which was watched by 93.1 million viewers and an average of 42.6% of U.S. Homes.

The highest-rated Super Bowl of all time was Super Bowl XVI in 1982, with a 49.1% rating. It is the fourth-highest rated television program since 1961 just behind the final episode of M*A*S*H, Dallas, and Roots Part VIII. Of the top-40 sports telecasts since January 1961, all but four telecasts were Super Bowls.

The highest local market rating in 2008 – at nearly 56% -- was in Boston, home of the New England Patriots. The second-largest local TV audience, with an average of 54.1% was Indianapolis. Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and Ft. Myers followed respectively as the next three markets with the largest Super Bowl audiences (see Table 1: "Super Bowl TV Ratings" in Full PDF Download version of release). The New York DMA, home of the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants, had an average audience of 44.9% with 3.3 million viewers.

As expected, men watched the 2008 Super Bowl the most (42.9% rating, or 45.8 million viewers). But a significant amount of women tuned in to the game as well. Approximately 37.7 million women over the age of 18 watched Super Bowl XLII for a 32.9% average rating. Overall female viewership of the Super Bowl has climbed each of the last five years.

An average of 29.2% of African Americans (approx. 10.5 million viewers), and an average of 17.9% of Hispanics (approx. 7.5 million viewers) tuned in to Super Bowl XLII.

If the Super Bowl is the biggest TV event of the year, it’s even better in high definition. In 2008, even with HD penetrating only about 15% of TV households, 41% of Super Bowl viewers watched the game in HD, according to the Strategic Media Research Super Bowl Survey.

Networks broadcasting the Super Bowl often use the game as a lead-in for one of their regular shows. This year, NBC will broadcast a one-hour episode of The Office. Last year, 29.1 million viewers stuck around after the game to watch an episode of House on FOX.

ADVERTISING

The Buyers
The 2008 Super Bowl aired 50 minutes and 50 seconds of commercial time. Fifty-two unique brands aired commercials that competed for viewers’ attention for a total of 84 advertisements. The highest-rated commercial minute was the Victoria’s Secret commercial at 9:44pm., which was seen by 103.7 million people.

The cost for a 30-second spot during the 2008 game was $2.7 million, up from $2.4 million in 2007. Total spending for the game reached over $195.7 million.

Average 30-second Cost
2008 - $2.7 millions
2007 - $2.4 million
2006 - $2.5 million
2005 - $2.4 million
2004 - $2.3 million

The categories that advertised the most in 2008 included Automotive, Motion Pictures, and Beer. In the top slot, Automotive aired 5½ minutes of commercial time, adding one minute to its total from 2007. Motion Pictures followed, airing 4 minutes and 15 seconds of ads, significantly increasing from under 2 minutes in the 2007 game. Finally, the Beer category, which has traditionally led the Super Bowl, dropped to the third largest category with 4 minutes of air time, compared to 5 minutes in the prior year.

Top Categories Super Bowl 2008
Category Minutes of Exposure
Automotive 40645
Motion Pictures 30322
Beer 30424
Source: The Nielsen Company

For the eighth year in a row Anheuser-Busch was the leading advertiser. The beer category included advertising for Bud Light and Budweiser. As the brand did in 2006, Bud Light aired three minutes of ads (six 30-second spots). Budweiser ran one 60-second commercial.

Among automotive brands, Hyundai Genesis ran 2 ads at 30-seconds each; Audi R8 ran one minute-long commercial; Toyota Corolla and CarMax Auto Dealership each ran a 30-second commercial; GMC Yukon Hybrid Trucks ran one 60-second spot; and Acura MDX, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Toyota Sequoia each ran one 30-second commercial to promote their truck brands.

A breakdown of the Motion Picture category shows eight movies were advertised in 2008, compared to only 4 in 2007. During the 2006 Super Bowl, 9 movies advertised totaling 4 ½ minutes. Buena Vista was the only studio to advertise more than one motion picture (Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian and Walt Disney Wall-E). It was also the only movie studio to air a 60-second ad (for Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian).

Dell, Schering-Plough (Claritin) and Hyundai emerged as newcomers on the Super Bowl scene, advertising in the big game for the first time since Nielsen began tracking Super Bowl advertisers in 1993.
Top Advertisers Super Bowl XLII Commercial Time
Anheuser-Busch Inc. 4 minutes
Coca-Cola USA 2 minutes
Buena Vista Pictures 1½ minutes
Frito-Lay Inc. 1½ minutes
Pepsi-Cola Co. 1½ minutes
Source: The Nielsen Company

To view full-motion commercials, storyboards, and ratings that aired during the Super Bowls since 1999, visit our creative website at https://www.nielsenmedia.com/monitorplus/superbowl/.

Effectiveness
Due to a combination of uniquely strong ad attention and higher quality creatives, Super Bowl commercials have achieved effectiveness levels that are well above-average. Super Bowl ads in the last three years generated an average of 31% higher break-through and 93% higher likeability, compared to the typical ad on television.

Last year’s best-liked Super Bowl ad was produced by the NFL itself, hitting 172 on the likeability index. FedEx aired the most-recalled ad, with a recall index of 150. Anheuser-Bush aired three of the top-10 best-liked ads and four of the top-10 most-recalled ads of Super Bowl XLII.
(See tables "Top Ten Best Liked 2008 Super Bowl Ads" and "Top 10 Most Recalled 2008 Super Bowl Ads" in Full PDF Download version of release).

Viewing the game in HD also translates into better advertising recall. Respondents who viewed the Super Bowl in HD set were able to recall 21% more commercials than those who didn’t.

Advertising in the Super Bowl also results in longer-term brand benefits, which typically last at least one week past the game. Both Brand Opinion and Purchase Consideration significantly improved in the week following the 2007 and 2008 Super Bowl. (See chart on Brand Opinion and Brand Consideration in Full PDF Download version of release).

Sponsorships
Super Bowl advertising isn’t just limited to standard commercial breaks. On-field and in-program sponsorships account for a significant exposure to viewers. Cadillac was the top in-program sponsor in terms of time on screen and gross impressions during last year’s Super Bowl. The automaker sponsored the game’s MVP award given to New York Giants QB Eli Manning, and used on-screen graphics for a total of 23 minutes and 11 seconds during the 4th quarter and immediately following the game.

Other top sponsors included Gatorade (sideline cups, coolers, and towels), Motorola (Coach’s headset), SoBe Life Water (on-screen graphics), and halftime sponsor Bridgestone (on-screen graphics).

(See table "Top In-Program Sponsors, Super Bowl XLII" in Full PDF Download version of release.)

ONLINE
Collectively, Super Bowl 2008 advertisers saw a 24 percent increase in Web traffic after the big game last year.

MySpace successfully capitalized on the popularity of Super Bowl advertising by hosting those ads online; unique visitors to myspace.com/superbowlads increased 104 percent from Sunday to Monday. Fox Sports on MSN and Chase took the No. 2 and 3 spots among advertisers when ranked by daily traffic growth, increasing 72 and 56 percent, respectively. (See table "Top 5 Fastest Growing Super Bowl Advertiser Web Sites" in Full PDF Download version of release.)

Overall, the Super Bowl commercials placed on YouTube received over 6 millions views in two days. Thanks to a pre-Super Bowl push, Pepsi’s commercial featuring Justin Timberlake was the most-viewed Super Bowl ad on YouTube with nearly 1.3 million hits. Pepsi also claimed the second-most views on YouTube with a SoBe ad featuring Naomi Campbell (399,202 views). E*TRADE followed up in the third and fourth spots with commercials featuring a talking baby. (See table "YouTube Super Bowl AdViews " in Full PDF Download version of release.)

One-third of online conversations about the Super Bowl the day of and the day after last year’s game were driven by Super Bowl advertising. The most-discussed ad online with 6.7% buzz volume was Pepsi’s spot with Timberlake, followed by E*TRADE (5.2%) and Audi (4.4%). (See table "Top 10 Super Bowl Ads as a % of Super Bowl Ad Discussion " in Full PDF Download version of release.)

MUSIC AND MOVIES
From The Rolling Stones and U2, to Prince and Tom Petty, halftime and pre-game performances have provided sales growth for artists from a wide variety of musical genres since the early ’90s.

After last year’s halftime performance by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Billboard reported that the band’s catalog album "Greatest Hits" made a 196% jump in weekly sales, shifting 33,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan. Outside of the always-busy Christmas shopping season, that was the biggest sales week for any catalog album since 2004. Additionally, Petty’s "Anthology: Through the Years" moved 7,000 the week following the Super Bowl (up 240%). It was the album’s best sales week since December, 2000.

The Super Bowl’s impact was also felt in Petty’s digital track downloads. Key hits like "Free Fallin" "American Girl" "I Won’t Back Down" and "Runnin’ Down a Dream" all saw a weekly gain of more than 150% in paid digital downloads.

This year, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will rock the Super Bowl crowd at Raymond James Stadium. Springsteen’s new album “Working on a Dream” will be released January 27, just days before the game.

Other recent Super Bowl spikes that Billboard spotted in Nielsen SoundScan data:

* Prince in 2007: His catalog of albums more than doubled in sales in the week after his halftime performance to 31,000 - up from 14,000 the prior week. Similarly, digital downloads of all his available songs almost doubled, with Nielsen SoundScan posting 102,000 paid track downloads for Prince, compared to 59,000 the week before the championship game.

* Rolling Stones in 2006: Their album "A Bigger Bang" showed a 34% increase over the week before the Super Bowl.

* Paul McCartney in 2005: His 2002 live album posted a 542% increase in sales, while two of his greatest hits sets more than doubled ("All the Best" by 246% and "Wingspan: Hits and History" by 161%). Beatles’ hits album "1" showed 72% growth.

* Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake in 2004: Despite - or maybe because of - controversy generated by their halftime appearance, sales for three of her albums more than doubled, while his "Justified" increased 160%. Current albums by participants Nelly (up 56%) and Kid Rock (up 25%) also gained.

* Shania Twain in 2003: Twain’s "Up" (http://www.amazon.com/Up-Shania-Twain/dp/B00006IX86/ref=pd_bxgy_m_text_c) led the Super Bowl field, with a 41% increase, while No Doubt’s "Rock Steady" gained 23% and Sting saw "Very Best of Sting & The Police" grow by 39%.

* U2 in 2002: Sales for three of the band’s key albums more than doubled ("All That You Can’t Leave Behind" up 142%; "Best of 1980-1990" up 154%; "The Joshua Tree" up 144%).

As usual, movie-going plunged on 2008 Super Bowl Sunday. Nielsen EDI found that U.S. box office receipts, which averaged $30.7 million on a typical winter Sunday in 2008, fell to $26.5 million on Super Bowl Sunday 2008 (2/3/08) – a 14% decline. Over the past five years, the average domestic box office for Super Bowl Sunday versus the average winter Sunday is down by about $11.4 million.

Source (http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=85385)

dreamer

01-23-2009, 9:48pm

thank you

FinnFreak

01-24-2009, 12:31am

This is an excerpt from a really, really long Super Bowl article:

:shocked: - Wow. A bit of info, eh..? Thanks.

John - ;)

shaniafan339

01-24-2009, 1:51am

Thanks for sharing!

Troll

01-24-2009, 8:07am

Great article.

tonyme

01-24-2009, 8:09am

Thanks for that!

Brit_girlAmanda

01-26-2009, 2:20pm

'Legends' line up for Lee TV
Monday, January 26, 2009 By STEVE CAMPBELL
Times Staff Writer steve.campbell@htimes.com

Newsmakers with local ties in focus for magnet journalism students

This group of budding broadcasters has learned that producing a televised interview is hard work.

Since last April, students in the Lee High School broadcast journalism magnet program have been editing tapes of previous interviews with local news makers.

Their work will soon pay off. "Legends: Rocket City" debuts later this month on Education Television.

"We finally have a product we can show that's perfect - or close to perfect," said April Allison, a senior.

The young journalists began their interviews more than a year ago. Among their guests were JD Blair, a drummer for singer Shania Twain, and Beth Boldt, a photographer credited for discovering model Naomi Campbell. Blair, Boldt and the other "Legends" guests are from the Huntsville area.

But after countless hours of writing scripts, designing graphics, and recording the interviews, the tapes still needed work before going on TV.

Tweaking the tapes to (near) perfection was at times tedious, but mostly it was fun, the students said. The best part, they said, was watching a completed interview after all their work.

Lauren Clark, also a senior, said she hopes TV viewers stop and watch the show as they flip through the channels.

"I hope they recognize us," said Clark, who interviewed Guadalupe Robinson, a local artist known for her pottery.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/ht.ssf?/base/news/1232964939172970.xml&coll=1

tonyme

01-26-2009, 2:22pm

Thanks

Troll

01-26-2009, 3:07pm

That is neat

dreamer

01-26-2009, 3:57pm

thanks

shaniafan339

01-26-2009, 5:19pm

Thank you :)

ravshania

01-26-2009, 11:22pm

thnx 4 d info...:)

:) luvshania :) ravshania :)

ktsthegame

01-27-2009, 12:08pm

Thanks for the article

Troll

01-27-2009, 9:17pm

In addition to talented horsemen and women, celebrities such as country music star Shania Twain and actor William Shatner have visited the farm. Ms. Twain spent time there while on tour, parking her bus on the property and riding horses during her time off. Mr. Shatner also rode at the farm while passing through town.

http://www.equestrianmag.com/news/fox-chase-farm-success-01-09.html

dreamer

01-27-2009, 10:26pm

thanks

dreamer

01-28-2009, 4:16pm

By KATIE MCBROOM

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Country vocalist Cecila Lauren and the Ocoee River Band are just one more reason attend the biggest event in Palm Beach County - the South Florida Fair.

Lauren, a Loxahatchee reside

Just last year she was a semi-finalist in The Stars of The Future Contest.

"Everything sort of fell into place last year at that singing contest," she said. After placing in the semi-finals, she was discovered by her manager who introduced her to the Ocoee River Band. And the rest is history.

"I grew up listening to Shania Twain," explained the hometown songstress.

"Ever since I was a little girl I would sing along with the radio."

Now, the 24-year-old singer writes her own songs and is aiming for an April release for her debut album with original songs including her favorite, Country Girls Do It Better.

In addition to lighting up the South Florida Fair and sharing the stage with big names like Billy Currington at events all over South Florida, she regularly performs at local venues such as Uncle Mick's and Oasis, both in Jupiter, and Kocomo's in the Acreage.

She also uses social networking sites to promote herself as an entertainer. "I like that you can reach a mass audience. I think it's good that people can look up your schedule and see what you're up to," she said.

To see what Cecilia Lauren is up to, visit www.myspace.com/cecilialaurenmusic or www.cecilialauren.com.

She and the Ocoee River Band grace the Pepsi Stage at the South Florida Fair, 8 p.m. Friday.

tonyme

01-28-2009, 5:40pm

Thanks :D

dreamer

01-28-2009, 5:45pm

my pleasure love

shaniafan339

01-28-2009, 8:16pm

Thanks Misty ;)

Troll

01-28-2009, 8:24pm

Thanks Misty

FinnFreak

01-29-2009, 9:24am

The Gazette (Montreal), Canada - Thursday, January 29, 2009

We and Americans - we're similar, but different

By RICK BLUE

I don't wish to gloat (much), but as you read this, I am in the sunny Shangri-La we call Florida. I am down here performing for the Snowbirds - retired Canadians who have chosen this place to spend almost half of the rest of their lives.

Snowbirds pick up a lot of American culture. They know that Paris Hilton isn't a hotel in France. And they soon realize that they are very similar to the local Americans. They also believe in the "Right to Bear Arms." It's just that to the Snowbirds, it means the right to wear short sleeves all year round.

In so many ways, Canadians are like Americans. Both countries have similar, but different histories.

Like when it comes to using violence to resolve issues. The U.S.A. had the Revolutionary War. We Canadians have Hockey Night in Canada. They had the Civil War. We have Question Period.

We are similar, but different.

Americans have low taxes and high expectations. Canadians have high taxes and low expectations.

They have the American dream. We have the Canadian compromise. The American dream is to maximize your potential - especially your wealth. We Canadians are more modest. What would the Canadian dream be? Keeping some of your money after taxes?

Americans are more competitive.

If an American doesn't win gold at the Olympics, it's a reason for shame. But if a Canadian comes in second, we consider it a win. Canadians all across the country start our victory chant: "We're No. 2! We're No. 2!"

They also have a very different take on security.

To an American, security is dogs, fences and guns. To a Canadian, security is 3.5-per-cent per annum, guaranteed.

There are a lot of names that resonate across our mutual border. The slight phonetic change makes them sound similar - but different.

They had Malcolm X. We have Molson X. They had Mark Twain. We have Shania Twain. They have the Statue of Liberty and Mr T. We have Red Rose Tea and, in Quebec, hostie.

They have a figurehead called Ronald McDonald. We have one called Sir John A. Macdonald.

They have the George Washington Bridge. We have the Peter Mansbridge.

Like I said: similar, but different.

They have the looming stone antiquities of Monument Valley. We have the Senate. They have the predictable spout of steam called Old Faithful. We have Jacques Parizeau.

They have Paul Bunyan, but we get bunions, too. Their John Henry was a steel drivin' man, but our Bud the Spud was a truck drivin' man. Their Jesse James stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Our Brian Mulroney stole from the rich and kept it.

They had Old Shep, who becomes increasingly lame until he eventually has to be put down. We have Gilles Duceppe.

They have Kermit the frog. We have Stephane Dion. (I like the guy., but listen to that voice!)

Their big hero was Davy Crocket. But we had the Pocket Rocket.

One of their more recent figures of fun was John Kerry. We have Don Cherry.

Yes, in the end so much of our identity is tied up in hockey.

Americans have an expression: "The buck stops here." We Canadians have an expression: "The puck drops here."

Rick Blue is a resident of Beaconsfield and half of the well-known comedy act Bowser and Blue.

You can read and comment on his blog at westislandgazette.com

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/westisland/story.html?id=89312e62-c566-4958-9418-be2ecc171dbc

John - :p

tonyme

01-29-2009, 9:34am

:funny: Thanks!

greek fanatic

01-29-2009, 10:05am

Shania and Molson X,2 of the best Canadian "products",
red rose tea isn't bad either:p

FinnFreak

01-29-2009, 10:07am

"The puck drops here"

John - :D:up:

shaniafan339

01-29-2009, 10:16am

Thanks!!! :D

AikoujOi

01-29-2009, 10:54am

Hahaha thats a funny article.

What is Molsen X?

greek fanatic

01-29-2009, 10:57am

Hahaha thats a funny article.

What is Molsen X?

its a Beer,
actually its Molson Export but the call it just X:D
and is a very tasty beer i have to add:D

Curti

01-29-2009, 12:08pm

yesterday on the radio they were talking about Shania
- said she was putting together a new album with about 100 songs to choose from
- not yet in the studio
- will go in after completing the Mutt Lange voodoo doll (joke they made)

dreamer

01-29-2009, 12:15pm

hmmm

Rami

01-29-2009, 12:17pm

Thanks for the info :)

Troll

01-29-2009, 12:47pm

Thanks for the article.

shaniafan339

01-29-2009, 7:41pm

Thanks for the info. But I don't think it's true. Not from what I've heard...

ravshania

01-30-2009, 4:30am

Thanks for the info. But I don't think it's true. Not from what I've heard...

wat hv u heard...:eek:

:) luvshania :) ravshania :)

shaniafan339

01-30-2009, 2:08pm

wat hv u heard...:eek:

:) luvshania :) ravshania :)

Oooh... I'm not suppost to say.
But it won't be long now...

Tammy

02-01-2009, 9:38am

shaniafan339

02-01-2009, 2:29pm

It's not!!!! Trust me!!!! ;)

Troll

02-02-2009, 1:08pm

At Cox's former high school, memories of the 19-year-old are still strong. "Tiffany was a very energetic and social lady and loved life...she had this Shania Twain step about her, an air that no matter what group she was with, had that kind of confidence," says Chris Lees, the principal at Cochrane High School.

http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090130/CGY_Fire_Cox_090129/20090201/?hub=CalgaryHome

tonyme

02-02-2009, 1:13pm

Great, thanks! :great:

dreamer

02-02-2009, 3:26pm

I remeber reading that thanks andrew

shaniafan339

02-02-2009, 4:08pm

Cool, thanks!

FinnFreak

02-09-2009, 9:01am

Expatica Switzerland, Switzerland - 09/02/2009

Zurich ends tax breaks for rich foreigners

Swiss voters abolish tax privileges for foreign millionaires on Sunday.

GENEVA - Voters in the canton of Zurich, the home of Swiss banking, decided Sunday to abolish tax breaks for rich foreigners living there, including entertainment and sports stars.

Some 52.9 percent of voters, more than 216,000 people, approved an initiative by the left-wing Alternative List to abolish "tax privileges for foreign millionaires" in the canton.

It was the first time that the group won a referendum in Zurich, the home of Switzerland's secretive and conservative banking and finance establishment.

The result obliges cantonal authorities to change local tax laws.

The tax break helped draw dozens of international sports, entertainment and business celebrities to Switzerland. In Zurich, 137 people benefited from the deal in 2006, the Swiss news agency ATS reported.

In several cantons, wealthy foreigners are able to negotiate a confidential tax fee with local authorities instead of paying income tax, provided they do not work in Switzerland.

However, the practice often caused controversy in the home countries of some of the celebrities, amid accusations of tax evasion.

Unease also grew in Switzerland recently, not least because some of their own stars, such as top tennis player Roger Federer, could not enjoy the same deal.

Famous foreign residents in Zurich include US singer Tina Turner and Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

Other celebrities residing in Switzerland in 2008 included motor racing champions such as Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkönen, Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Loeb, singers Shania Twain and James Blunt, and business magnates.

After arguing that the tax privilege was unfair, the Alternative List said it hoped the outcome would send a signal to the rest of Switzerland.

http://www.expatica.com/ch/news/local_news/Zurich-ends-tax-breaks-for-rich-foreigners_49410.html

John - :smirk:

tonyme

02-09-2009, 10:58am

Thanks for that

dreamer

02-09-2009, 12:05pm

yes, thank you

ktsthegame

02-09-2009, 12:50pm

Thanks for the story

Troll

02-09-2009, 1:04pm

Thanks for the article.

shaniafan339

02-09-2009, 3:23pm

Thanks :)

Rami

02-09-2009, 4:46pm

Thanks for this :)

FinnFreak

02-11-2009, 6:18am

Jam! Showbiz, Canada - Wednesday 11 February, 2009

Concert Review

Bryan Adams

Jack Singer Concert Hall, Calgary - February 10, 2009

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/A/Adams_Bryan/ConcertReviews/2009/02/11/adams.jpg

By LISA WILTON - Sun Media

CALGARY - This country has produced a wealth of talent over the years, yet there are only a handful of artists who are internationally known as being Canadian.

Seriously, ask 10 foreigners to name Canadian music stars and at least eight of them will mention Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Nickelback and/or Bryan Adams.

Adams hasn't even lived in Canada for years (he's called London, England, home since the '90s) but he's as much a part of the Canadian identity as Tim Hortons and hockey fights.

Even though Adams' music is met with some derision -- particularly such overly sappy ballads as Everything I Do -- there was little to criticize during his sold-out show at the Jack Singer Concert Hall last night.

I wasn't sure how well Adams would be able to pull off a solo acoustic show since his raspy vocals aren't what you'd describe as angelic. His voice has always seemed to need a full band to hide its limitations.

But the Vancouver-bred star sounded great last night thanks, in part, to the excellent acoustics of the Jack Singer. He managed to rock with just a guitar and mic and left the 2,000-strong audience in stitches with his witty banter.

Clad in a smart black button-up shirt and black jeans, the 48-year-old singer greeted the crowd with a simple "Hello, Calgary!" before launching into his first song of the evening, Run To You.

It's hard to believe the man is nearing his 50th birthday as he looks in even better shape than he did 25 years ago when his breakthrough solo album, Cuts Like a Knife, was released.

Adams says performing acoustically is a way for him to 'rediscover' his songs.

And it was the same feeling for the audience.

He breathed new life into such tracks as Back to You, In The Heat of Night, Cuts Like a Knife and Summer of '69, yet they were still recognizable enough for the crowd to sing along.

The set list featured a good mix of older smash hits, minor singles and newer tracks from his latest release, 11.

The only time Adams wasn't completely solo on stage was when doppelganger Gary Bright joined the singer on piano.

Even then, all eyes stayed on Adams.

Adams is a consummate performer. He looked comfortable and confident on stage and kept the crowd engaged with funny and interesting anecdotes between songs.

The adoring crowd listened intently -- at least the ones who weren't constantly taking pictures on their Blackberry phones -- as he told them about all the "pubs, clubs and strip joints" he's played in Calgary over the years.

"I saw the best fights ever in Calgary ... and then the guys would step in," he joked.

For Adams' fans, last night's show was everything they could have hoped for: A truckload of hits, great musicianship and, above all, a whole lot of fun.

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/A/Adams_Bryan/ConcertReviews/2009/02/11/8346641-sun.html

John - ;)