Inevitable Denouements Dept.
After a slew of problems including rumors of low ticket sales, vertigo, bailing openers, and a really unsexy part of her show being censored for its "raciness," Janet Jackson has thrown in the towel and canceled the rest of her Rock Witchu Tour. [Palm Beach Post]
LL Cool J has pulled out of Janet Jackson's Rock Witchu Tour due to "scheduling conflicts" that cropped up after Jackson had to reschedule a bunch of shows because of a bout with vertigo. No word on who's going to replace LL on the dates yet, but whoever signs on might want to stock up on their good luck charms before hitting the road. [AP]
Oasis' show tomorrow night in New York City has been scrapped because Noel Gallagher is still recovering from injuries to his midsection suffered Sunday night, when he was body-checked by a Canadian "fan." This would seem to contradict Noel's blog post in which he said that his band would probably get a couple of extra days in NYC as a result of the incident. I'm guessing this means that the band's plans to join buskers in the city's subway tunnels is off as well, although there's no confirmation of that yet. [stopcryingyourheartout.com]
So Much For Her Assertion That There Were No Hard Feelings
In the wake of their on-stage spat at the British GQ Awards last week, Elton John has announced that rumors of any future collaborations with his sparring partner Lily Allen should be put to bed: "I was thinking about asking her to tour with me and maybe even do a duet... Obviously that won't be happening now," he told the Daily Star. No word from Lily's blog about how she feels about this reversal of fortune, perhaps because she's too busy worrying about the end of the world. [Now Magazine]
Thom Yorke has put the kibosh on a pre-Lollapalooza gig by his band, Radiohead, because he's been a bit under the weather and wants to preserve his voice for Radiohead's Friday night headlining gig at the festival. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the show, which was to take place at the Chicago Theater, being organized by the band itself and not Lolla promoters C3 Presents; all proceeds would have gone to charity. [Jim DeRogatis]
Festival die-hards who were waiting to traipse down to south Jersey for the Vineland Festival, the multi-day, multi-band fest that was "postponed" from this year to a summer 2009 launch date, are going to be disappointed: The festival's plug has been pulled by C3 Presents, the Texas-based company that also puts on Lollapalooza, thanks to the immediate area being too saturated with multi-day affairs.
More »
Yesterday, I wondered why Danity Kane, and not the previously advertised Pussycat Dolls, were the featured group of pop tartlets on Nashville Star's Very Special Country Goes Pop (To Widen Our Demographic) episode. Apparently my initial speculation about there being some sort of feud between Nicole Scherzinger and Jewel was slightly off—TMZ is claiming that any booking-related tussles were actually happening in corporate boardrooms, and the cause of conflict was none other than Idolator's favorite group of Jersey Shore preteens who are aged before their time, The Clique Girlz.
More »
Those scrooges at American Idol are thwarting runner-up David Archuleta's quest to give back to his hometown and to charity! Archie was slated to play a "thanks for voting for me" concert at the E Center in Salt Lake City this coming Friday, with proceeds from the show going to an unspecified charitable organization But the show's bigwigs put the kibosh on the show, perhaps because they were afraid that after last year's soft ticket sales for the annual Idol summer tour, effectively giving a whole market a reason to say "oh, I saw who I wanted to see already, so I'll spend my money on a gallon of gas instead" when given the option to pony up for a show was maybe not the best strategy for bringing in revenue. (But I thought Brooke White was a Mormon, too?)
More »
Whether due to low ticket sales or Mr. West wanting a day off, the Fargo, N.D. date of the Glow In The Dark tour has been canceled. The date came between gigs in Chicago and Winnipeg, and it's not surprising that a sluggish response from North Dakotans would inspire Kanye to say, "Why was I going to play in North Dakota when I could spend another day in Chicago challenging celebrities to games of Connect Four! Man, I love Connect Four! I'm the greatest person on earth and I challenge people to games of Connect Four! Chess? What's that? I only obsess about games designed for seven-year-olds. Because I'm awesome."
More »
Amy Winehouse will not be singing the theme to the next James Bond movie, Quantum Of Solace, because producer Mark Ronson is "not sure she's ready to work on music yet." Winehouse's spokesperson is disputing this claim, saying that the recording sessions fizzled because of "artistic differences." Whichever side is right, the Web producer who put together the linked article and its photo should get some sort of "Not Very Subtly Indicating Which Side Of The Argument He's On Through Photo Editing" award for today. Yeesh. [Press Association]
Two music festivals slated for Farwell, Mich., this summer have been canceled "to restructure and reorganize debt, while continuing to look for new investors." The Mountain Country and Rock Music Festivals had an uneven slate of headliners—the rock fest was going to have the Yardbirds and Starship atop its bill, while the country concerts were to be headlined by bigger names like Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, and Dierks Bentley—which probably contributed to the chaos. Last year's country fest, which had Carrie Underwood leading the bill, attracted 12,000 people. [MLive.com]
Sly Stone's halting trip down the comeback trail has been derailed yet again, with the legendary soul singer canceling a Saturday performance in Chicago "for health reasons." [DeRogatis]
The Midi Music Festival, which was scheduled to take place in Beijing next week and had among its international headliners Mando Diao and Hardcore Superstar, has been postponed to at least the autumn—i.e., after the Beijing Olympics, when bad publicity stemming from things like crazy rock and roll festivals might be a little less international-reputation damaging—and may be canceled outright. But don't worry, ticket-holders: the organizers are now throwing a party on the festival grounds instead. [Guardian]
The Soul Train Music Awards, "which have largely been ignored by the African-American stars the event aims to honor," according to Reuters, are no longer. The 22nd installment of the awards show has been cancelled, two years after the syndicated show that spawned it was taken off the air. No official reason for the cancellation was given, but surely being relegated to 1 a.m. slots on MyNetworkTV affiliates and not even getting an updated Web presence didn't really help the ceremony's case. [Reuters]
Mya Just Can't Catch A Break
"The secret talents of celebrities will remain hidden. CBS is axing its new reality show "Secret Talents of the Stars" after only one episode. The first airing Wednesday had former Star Trek actor George Takei singing 'On the Road Again.' Only 4.6 million people tuned in—and thousands tuned away as the hour continued. The reality show also had Clint Black doing standup comedy and Mya tap-dancing. " Eesh. Well, at the very least her "secret talent" should get her a second look from the people booking the next run of Dancing With The Stars. [AP]
Soulja Boy has said "YAHHH TRICK YAHHH" to his 21 & Under Tour—which also featured Lil Mama and Tiffany Evans—so the ringtone rapper can "work on his new album," or so his people claim. So, what do you think: Is "working on his album" code for "watching his YouTube hits add up so he can add a new freestyle to it the second his view-odometer rolls over to 500,000" or "avoiding future assassination attempts"? [Backstage Pass]
Idolator
