Search Results for: Disney

Most young men can be forgiven for not knowing what they’ll be doing two days from now, much less two years. Not the three siblings who comprise the hit trio the Jonas Brothers. The superstars-in-the-making have every day mapped out for the next 24 months. If you’re not a tween/teenage girl or don’t live in proximity to one, you may not yet be in on the phenomenon created by 20-year-old Kevin, 18-year-old Joe and 15-year-old Nick. They opened for Miley Cyrus on her fall “Hannah Montana” tour to the delight of shrieking girls everywhere. Their song, “S.O.S.,” catapulted to No.… Read more »

“High School Musical” star Zac Efron underwent emergency surgery Tuesday to remove his appendix, his publicist said. The 20-year-old actor had the operation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Gina Hoffman said. Efron became a teen heartthrob with his starring role as Troy Bolton in the hit Disney Channel TV movie “High School Musical” and its sequel. He also starred in the film “Hairspray.” He was hospitalized a day after Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Productions announced that he and his five “High School Musical” co-stars had signed on to appear in the theatrical film “High School Musical 3:… Read more »

It was ever so brief, but the use of a body double by Miley Cyrus on her sold-out “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus ‘Best of Both Worlds’” tour is creating plenty of buzz. A video posted on YouTube shows the 15-year-old entertainer as “Hannah” dancing onstage with a group of dancers and the Jonas Brothers, also on the tour. During the song, someone ushers her offstage via a trap door. Immediately, another girl dressed like the character “Hannah” in the same pink trench coat with blonde hair covering her face dances around, runs up the stage set, and then quickly leaves. While… Read more »

Hannah Montana fans are getting the best of both worlds, leaving the less entertaining aspects to the show’s lawyers and publicists. A lawsuit brought against the Disney Channel by an award-winning comedy writer who claims he pitched the original idea for Hannah Montana and was never compensated for his efforts was referred Friday to mediation in the hope that the two sides can cut a deal. Buddy Sheffield sued parent company ABC Cable Networks Group on Aug. 23, alleging breach of implied contract, breach of confidence, unfair competition and unjust enrichment. He is seeking unspecified damages. ABC Cable has denied… Read more »

Concert touring company Live Nation on Thursday said it reached a two-year, multimillion dollar, worldwide touring deal with tween rockers Jonas Brothers. Live Nation caused a stir in October when it lured pop star Madonna from her long-term music label Warner Brothers with an estimated $120 million multi-album, touring and merchandising global partnership. The Los Angeles-based company said the deal calls for the band, comprised of three siblings from New Jersey, to play more than 140 theatres and arenas around the world. The first wave of tour dates kicks off in Tucson, Arizona on January 31. The announcement follows the… Read more »

U.S. album sales plunged 9.5 percent last year from 2006, continuing a downward trend for the recording industry, despite a 45 percent surge in the sale of digital tracks, according to figures released Thursday. A total of 500.5 million albums sold as CDs, cassettes, LPs and other formats were purchased last year, down 15 percent from 2006’s unit total, said Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks point-of-purchase sales. The shortfall in album sales drops to 9.5 percent when sales of digital singles are counted as 10-track equivalent albums. About 844.2 million digital tracks sold in 2007, compared to 588.2 million in 2006,… Read more »

High-priced reunion tours by the Police, Van Halen and Genesis failed to prevent the North American concert industry from posting its worst year since 2004, according to a music industry trade publication. The top 20 tours generated $996 million, down 15.6 percent from the year before, according to preliminary data issued on Friday by Pollstar, which covers the concert business. The previous low was $951.1 million in 2004, when Prince and Madonna topped the box office, it said. The comeback tour by Anglo-American rock trio the Police was the top draw this year with ticket sales of $131.9 million, followed… Read more »

Josh Groban’s “Noel” led the U.S. pop album charts for a third week Wednesday, tying Elvis Presley as the record-holder for the most consecutive weeks at No. 1 with a Christmas album. Now in its ninth week of release, “Noel” moved 581,000 units in the period ended December 9, according to Nielsen SoundScan, an 8% boost over the previous frame. Presley’s “Elvis’ Christmas Album,” meanwhile, ruled the charts for three weeks in 1957. Alicia Keys’ “As I Am” rose one to No. 2 with 234,000 copies, swapping places with the Eagles’ “Long Road Out of Eden,” which sold 204,000. The… Read more »

Amid an uproar over the huge demand for seats to pop idol Hannah Montana’s tour, a U.S. federal judge on Monday barred the use of automated software to make mass ticket purchases from the leading box-office service Ticketmaster. U.S. District Court Judge Audrey Collins issued a preliminary injunction against Pittsburgh-based software maker RMG Technologies, whose computer programs, Ticketmaster says, have enabled scalpers to gain rapid, repeated access to its online retail system. The court order stems from a lawsuit brought against RMG by Ticketmaster, a unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp, in April, before tickets for the 54-date Hannah Montana concert tour went… Read more »

Pop-punk band Plain White T’s led the U.S. pop singles chart for a second week Thursday with “Hey There Delilah,” while Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” rose one to No. 2, swapping places with R&B starlet Rihanna’s former chart-topper “Umbrella.” Timbaland’s “The Way I Are” featuring Keri Hilson rose one to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, trading places with Shop Boyz’s “Party Like a Rockstar.” At No. 6, the “High School Musical 2” onslaught began as the cast single “What Time Is It” entered the chart after selling 87,000 physical singles and 31,000 downloads.… Read more »