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Can Mike Read beat Ken? TV personality and radio DJ Mike Read has been revealed in the Conservative Party’s ‘X-Factor’ shortlist as they try to search for a candidate to battle Ken Livingstone, Sound Generator can report. The former Top Of The Pops host, who fronted the Radio 1 Breakfast Show in the 1990’s before moving to TV, has been named alongside a number of MP’s and current affairs personalities to run in an X-Factor style voting contest, which would see Conservative party members, and possibly even the general public, chose who will represent the Conservative Party in the race… Read more »

Not every A-lister rang in the New Year in style. Britney Spears’ evening, for one, was quite the snoozefest. At least, that’s the official no-partying party line. The singer’s recently rehired rep, Larry Rudolph, is lashing out at reports that the star passed out–and had to be carried out–while hosting a New Year’s Eve party in Las Vegas, claiming instead that the mother of two was just catching some zzz’s. “By about one o’clock she was just done, so we took her out,” Rudolph told the Associated Press. “She was not drunk. She was just tired and falling asleep.” The… Read more »

The upcoming closure of New York’s famed punk-rock club CBGB is lamented by locals as the loss of a legendary venue; for others it symbolizes another Manhattan neighborhood becoming corporate and bland. Standing underneath the club’s red awning on Thursday evening, several young musicians smoked cigarettes and bemoaned the loss of the dank, grimy club that began in 1973 and will have its last show on Sunday, featuring Patti Smith. The venue — its full name is CBGB & OMFUG, or Country Bluegrass Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers — spawned the Ramones, Talking Heads and Blondie, whose lead… Read more »

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Grammy-winning singer and guitarist Jack White of the rock duo White Stripes married British model Karen Elson this week in a canoe in the Brazilian Amazon, according to a message on the band’s Web site. The marriage, conducted by a shaman priest, took place on Wednesday at the confluence of the Amazon, Negro and Solimoes rivers with a group of close friends attending, the site reported. The band’s drummer, Meg White, was maid of honor, and manager Ian Montone was best man. The couple were later blessed by a Catholic priest in a church in the… Read more »

Toronto, Ontario – Strutting onstage in unison, the five founding members of Duran Duran – on their first major arena tour since reforming in 2001 – looked suspiciously like an aged version of the Backstreet Boys. Thankfully, the opening chords of “Reach Up For The Sunrise” from their 2004 release Astronaut announced that this would be a genuine rock concert and that the only onstage dancing would come in the form of singer Simon LeBon’s spastic, Elaine Benes-like gyrations. The guy may have presence, but he’s got no rhythm whatsoever. It didn’t make a difference, though. “Hello, Toronto,” LeBon cooed… Read more »

The “American Idol” final twelve (Photo: Kevin Winter) For the first time in “American Idol” history, the producers have called a revote. After incorrect voting phone numbers were displayed during the performance recap at the end of Tuesday’s show, the producers decided to throw out all of the votes and ask “Idol” viewers to revote Wednesday (March 23) night, a FOX spokesperson said late Tuesday. While the phone numbers that spell out IDOLS were correct for all contestants, the phone numbers listed in all numerals below the IDOLS number for contestants Mikalah Gordon, Anwar Robinson and Jessica Sierra were incorrect.… Read more »

Los Angeles – Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst is suing 10 Web site operators who the rocker claims profited from posting an explicit video stolen from his home computer showing him having sex with a former girlfriend. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks more than $70 million in damages and any profits reaped by the Web site operators in recent weeks, when the 3-minute clip began appearing on the Internet. In the complaint, Durst contends that the video, which he shot in 2003, was never meant for public viewing. By disseminating the clip,… Read more »

It’s a good day for pop-punk as Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan and Billy Talent are all up for a handful of Juno awards. This year’s Juno nominees were just announced and leading the charge is Lavigne, one of Canada’s biggest international exports. She’s up for five awards including Artist Of The Year. Toronto rapper K-OS, West Coast jazz star Diana Krall and 2003’s Juno host, Shania Twain, join Simple Plan and Billy Talent with three noms each. Single Of The Year: River Below, Billy Talent; One Thing, Finger Eleven; Crabbuckit, k-os; Not Ready To Go, The Trews; Party For Two,… Read more »

Seven months ago, A Dozen Furies were just another band you would catch playing in a dive bar and, looking up only briefly from your drink, note to yourself, “Interesting name.” Now, after besting North Carolina’s Cynder in the finals of MTV’s “Battle for Ozzfest” – scoring $60,000, a contract with Sanctuary Records and a slot on next year’s Ozzfest second stage in the process – they’ve become the metal community’s biggest overnight success story. “We’re a very new band. We only have one album. We’ve only been around for a year,” ADF guitarist Marc Serrano laughed. “When we won… Read more »

CANBERRA, Australia – Australian rock star-turned-lawmaker Peter Garrett said Monday he expected to return to Parliament on Tuesday following a health scare over the weekend. Garrett – former lead singer for the band Midnight Oil – collapsed Saturday as he waded from the surf at a beach in his southern Sydney electoral district and spent 10 hours in a hospital, undergoing tests that failed to explain his fainting spell. The 51-year-old, known for his passionate environmentalism, rested at his family’s country home when Parliament resumed Monday for the year’s final two-week session. Garrett issued a statement saying he intended to… Read more »