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Midem kicked off with more flash than usual Saturday with a touch of Britneymania, a surprise appearance from Virgin mogul Richard Branson and the NRJ awards, France’s answer to the Grammys. Pop icon Britney Spears, braving the chill at the 36th installment of the annual music market in a skimpy floral dress, was on hand to promote her upcoming feature film, “Crossroads,” scheduled for Valentine’s Day release in the United States, as well as her third album, “Britney,” already approaching 8 million units worldwide At a packed Carlton hotel press conference, Spears expressed her hopes for her first foray onto… Read more »

Chart-topping singer/songwriter Dido added two top awards to her growing list of music accomplishments on Saturday, but sexy singer-actress Jennifer Lopez stole the show as best female artist. Pop princess Britney Spears also got pulses racing at the music industry’s NRJ awards on the French Riviera with a raunchy performance of her latest single “I’m a Slave 4 U,” before crowning her “king of pop” Michael Jackson as best male star. Dido, who shot to fame in 1999 when bad-boy rapper Eminem sampled her song “Thank You” for his hit tune “Stan,” landed best album and best newcomer. The nods… Read more »

Justin, JC and Lance, meet your newest competition: Archie, Jughead and Veronica. That’s right, the man behind such pop creations as the Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync and O-Town is moving onto a different type of two-dimensional character: Boy-band mogul Lou Pearlman says he’s teaming up with Archie Entertainment to launch real-life music groups based on The Archies and Josie and the Pussycats comic books. With the help of former BMG President Strauss Zelnick, Pearlman’s Trans Continental Entertainment is staging a nationwide search for young musicians to become the next Archie, Jughead, Veronica and Betty, in preparation for a new album,… Read more »

Being the most vocal member in a group called Naughty by Nature, it’s no wonder Treach isn’t shy about exposing himself. Last year he shot simulated sex scenes for an online adult movie, and for his role as a hit man in this spring’s “Love and a Bullet” he shot a full-frontal nude scene. But apparently baring all is limited to clothing. The man who built his star by being down with “O.P.P.” and writing on ladies’ kittens is a little more inhibited when it comes to the 411 on his personal relationships, especially the rumors that he has been… Read more »

Four members of the crew working on the Eminem movie Eight Mile in Highland Park, Michigan, were injured on January 13th during a controversial scene in which a house was set on fire. All four were taken to a local hospital for treatment. One of the injured suffered first-degree burns, while the others had minor burns. All four were released the same day and returned to work that night. They also reported for work on January 14th, the last day of filming. The arson scene drew protests from residents of Highland Park, who claimed that it would reflect poorly on… Read more »

MTV: Music Television will premiere its most recent original movie for television, “Wasted.” The movie, directed by Stephen Kay (The Last Time I Committed Suicide), stars Summer Phoenix [The Laramie Project, The Believer], Nick Stahl [In the Bedroom, Bully], and Aaron Paul [“Judging Amy”, Whatever It Takes]. Based on extensive research, “Wasted” chronicles the resurgence of heroin use among young people in recent years. With a cheap price tag and an enhanced purity-enabling users to snort the drug and do away with the stigma of the needle-heroin proved irresistible to high school students with money to spend, time on their… Read more »

The track listing for Sheryl Crow’s follow-up to 1998’s The Globe Sessions has been firmed up, and the album is now slated for March. Crow spent time in New York City last year working on the record, popping up for star-studded surprise gigs that included appearances by the likes of Keith Richards, Stevie Nicks, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kid Rock. And while Rock and Paltrow were initially rumored to be singing on the upcoming album, Nicks is the only one from those performances confirmed for the album. Nicks lends backing vocals to “You’re Not the One.” But Crow has enlisted a… Read more »

While on the road last year filming his latest independent movie, director Ludi Boeken and his relatively unknown cast decided to stop at Hooters for lunch. It would have been no big deal except that one of his stars looks almost identical to Britney Spears. And, of course, he (yes, he) was dressed in character as the pop icon. “We were so used to seeing Robert as Britney, we didn’t think anything of it,” Boeken recalled. “All of a sudden we had like 800 people looking at us. He fled, and they chased him. From then on, we just brought… Read more »

Napster launched a test version of its new copyright-compliant service Thursday in a bid to restart the once wildly popular song-swap Web site that was shut down by a record industry lawsuit. The test or “beta” version, which lacks content from the major music labels, is not open to the public. Instead, it will be offered to 20,000 people randomly selected from a group of more than two million who e-mailed Napster showing interest in participating in the beta test. Napster’s service has been sidelined since July as a result of an injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn… Read more »

Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath isn’t sure what all the fuss between the American Music Awards and Grammys is about. “It’s a petty argument and I think it can all be resolved. The people getting hurt at the end of the day are the fans,” he said backstage Wednesday night. “Being down in South Central, can’t we all just get along?” he said, echoing Rodney King’s plea after the 1992 Los Angeles riots. AMA producer Dick Clark sued Michael Greene, president of the Recording Academy, for $10 million in December. Clark alleges that Greene has for years siphoned talent… Read more »