Katy Perry to headline NFL’s 2015 Super Bowl halftime show

LOS ANGELES | Pop singer Katy Perry will headline the halftime entertainment at February’s Super Bowl, the most-watched U.S. sporting and television event, according to an announcement by the National Football League on Sunday.

The 30-year-old “Roar” singer joins the likes of Madonna, Beyonce and Prince to perform at the NFL’s Super Bowl halftime show, which regularly attracts more viewers than the average for the championship game itself.

Sportscaster Bob Costas announced the performance at halftime of the Cowboys-Giants game on “Sunday Night Football.”

The Super Bowl will be played on Feb. 1 in Glendale, Arizona, and broadcast on Comcast Corp-owned network NBC.

Perry acknowledged the announcement on her Twitter feed while watching the game in Australia, where she is currently on her Prismatic World Tour.

“Yeppers!” she wrote. “And I’ve already started testing out ideas!”

A few minutes before the announcement was made, Perry hinted that she was looking forward to the performance.

“My band is in the other room screaming at the TV (and each other) over this Cowboys-Giants game. Can’t wait for February 1st,” she wrote on her Twitter feed, following the words with a picture of a microphone and a football.

The announcement came as Perry won favorite female pop/rock artist at Sunday’s American Music Awards.

This year’s Super Bowl averaged a record 112.2 million viewers on network Fox, while the halftime performance by singer Bruno Mars and rock group Red Hot Chili Peppers drew 115.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

The music industry considers the Super Bowl its top promotional venue because artists can expect a strong recording sales bump following the performance. It is also often used as a spring board to launch new music or tour announcements.

The NFL came under criticism from the music industry this year for reportedly asking performers to either help contribute financially to play the corporate-sponsored show or share some of their post-Super Bowl tour profits with America’s most popular sports league.

It is not known if Perry will contribute financially in any way to the performance but she hinted during a television appearance last month that she would not.

“I’m not the type of girl who would pay to play the Super Bowl,” Perry said on ESPN’s college football “College GameDay” program.

source: interaksyon.com

Kesha accuses music producer of rape, abuse in dueling lawsuits

LOS ANGELES | Pop singer Kesha and music producer Dr. Luke unleashed dueling lawsuits on Tuesday trading accusations of abuse and extortion as the “Die Young” singer says she wants out of her record contract with the hit-making producer.

Kesha, 27, whose legal name is Kesha Sebert, has accused Dr. Luke in a civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court of sexual, physical, verbal and emotional abuse.

The lawsuit accuses Dr. Luke, whose legal name is Lukasz Gottwald, of forcing Kesha to “take drugs and alcohol in order to take advantage of her sexually while she was intoxicated.”

The 41-year-old producer behind hits for singers such as Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus responded with his own lawsuit in New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan accusing Kesha and her mother, Pebe Sebert, of defamation, breach of contract and contractual interference.

The lawsuit accuses Kesha and her mother of orchestrating a campaign to publish “false and shocking accusations” against Dr. Luke to extort him into letting the singer out of her contract.

“Kesha’s lawsuit is nothing more than a continuation of her bad and offensive acts,” Dr. Luke’s attorney, Christine Lepera said in a statement.

Kesha, who has scored No. 1 U.S. hits “Tik Tok” and “We R Who We R” that Dr. Luke helped write and produce, has been under contract to record for Dr. Luke’s music production company and record label since 2005.

Kesha’s lawsuit accuses Dr. Luke of drugging and raping the singer and threatening her career if she told anyone about it, among other lurid accusations about the producer’s personal life.

“This lawsuit is a wholehearted effort by Kesha to regain control of her music career and her personal freedom after suffering for 10 years as a victim of mental manipulation, emotional abuse and sexual assault at the hands of Dr. Luke,” the singer’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said in a statement.

Geragos said Dr. Luke’s suit “has no basis in fact, the law or reality.”

Kesha’s lawsuit also names Dr. Luke’s companies as defendants. It demands unspecified damages and to void Kesha’s current contracts with Dr. Luke.

It alleges the producer’s insults to Kesha’s appearance caused her to develop bulimia nervosa. She finished a more than two-month treatment for the condition in March.

The lawsuit says physicians at the rehab clinic determined that Kesha continuing to work with Dr. Luke would be “life threatening.”

In addition to Kesha and her mother, Dr. Luke’s lawsuit names the singer’s manager and management company. The lawsuit asks for a jury trial and unspecified damages.

source: interaksyon.com

Justin Bieber arrested for drag-racing while intoxicated - reports

MIAMI - Justin Bieber was arrested in Miami early Thursday for drag racing while intoxicated, news reports here said, in the pop singer's latest in a series of run-ins with the law.

The local NBC television affiliate in Miami reported that at the time of his arrest, Bieber was driving a rented Lamborghini.

The incident is one in a long line of controversial headlines which have tarnished the once clean-cut image of Bieber, who has sold more than 12 million albums since emerging on the music scene in 2009 as a schoolboy sensation.

Just last week, police searched Bieber's Los Angeles mansion over an egg-throwing attack seized illegal drugs and arrested one of the singer's associates.

The 19-year-old Canadian teen idol was accused by a neighbor of causing thousands of dollars in damage to a neighbor's house after pelting it with eggs.

News reports said that in July, authorities at the US-Canada border confiscated marijuana and drug paraphernalia from one of Bieber's tour buses. He was not on board at the time, media reported.

He also attracted criticism on a recent tour of Australia after allegedly spraying graffiti on a hotel wall.

A tour of South America last year also ran into turbulence, with allegations that he tagged the wall of a Rio de Janeiro hotel and failed to pay a bill in a Buenos Aires nightclub.

Bieber also caused offense by stepping on an Argentine flag thrown onto a stage during a concert. He was also evicted from a luxury hotel in Buenos Aires after a room was damaged.

Over the Christmas holidays, Bieber announced via Twitter that he was "officially retiring."

 source: interaksyon.com

Singer Kelly Clarkson pregnant with first child

LOS ANGELES | Pop singer Kelly Clarkson is pregnant with her first child, the 31-year-old Grammy winner announced on Twitter on Tuesday.

“I’m pregnant!!! Brandon and I are so excited! Best early Christmas present ever :) ,” Clarkson tweeted.

Clarkson, the first contestant to win the Fox singing competition “American Idol,” married talent manager Brandon Blackstock in October.

The Texas-born singer is one of the most successful winners of the show, having crossed over from country to pop music with hits such as “Since U Been Gone” and “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).”

Clarkson is the stepmother to Blackstock’s two children from a prior marriage.

source: interaksyon.com

Miley Cyrus twerks her way to No. 1 on Billboard 200 album chart

LOS ANGELES | Pop singer Miley Cyrus twerked her way to the top spot of the weekly Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, notching her fourth chart-topping record.

“Bangerz,” which features Cyrus experimenting with hip hop, dance and R&B influences, sold 270,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

Former Disney star Cyrus, 20, has captured headlines with a series of scantily clad, raunchy performances that began with the MTV Video Music Awards last month, where she showed off some provocative dance moves, known as “twerking.”

In the video for her latest song “Wrecking Ball,” the second single from “Bangerz,” Cyrus is seen naked and swinging from a giant wrecking ball and provocatively licking a sledgehammer.

“Bangerz” leads seven new debut records in the top 10 of this week’s Billboard 200 chart. Alt-pop group Panic! At the Disco landed at No. 2 with its latest album “Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!” selling 84,000 copies. Rapper Pusha T entered the chart at No. 4 with his latest set “My Name is My Name.”

The latest compilation of songs from Fox musical TV series “Glee” came in at No. 7 this week, featuring tracks sung by the cast for last week’s memorial episode “The Quarterback,” dedicated to deceased cast member Cory Monteith and his character Finn Hudson. The episode pulled in 7.4 million viewers according to Fox, the highest ratings for the show in over a year.

Other new debuts in the top 10 include metal rock band Korn at No. 8 with “The Paradigm Shift,” “The Voice” winner Cassadee Pope at No. 9 with “Frame by Frame,” and rockers Mayday Parade at No. 10 with “Monsters in the Closet.”

On the Digital Songs chart, New Zealand singer Lorde continued her reign at No. 1 with her breakthrough single “Royals,” while Katy Perry’s “Roar” remained steady at No. 2 and Aviici’s dance track “Wake Me Up!” climbed one spot to No. 3.

Overall, album sales for the week ending October 13 totaled 4.8 million, down 6 percent from the comparable week in 2012, according to Billboard. Singer Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience” released in March, leads the top-selling albums of the year, with 2.3 million copies sold in the United States to date.

source: interaksyon.com

Justin Bieber Disagrees That His Mom Dates Chris Harrison

Chris Harrison has dated Justin Bieber's mother Pattie Mallette for about a week, but the pop singer doesn't approve it. He spills his disagreement to Ryan Seacrest who befriends "The Bachelor" host and sets him up with the singer's mom.

"They both came to my show, but I'm pretty sure they came separate," Justin tells the "American Idol" presenter. "I'm still not cool with it, but I guess I'm going to have to be," the "Never Say Never" singer continues.

According to Justin, his mother promised him that she wouldn't date anyone until he's 18 years old. The boyfriend of Selena Gomez said, "I'm 18 now. She told me she would wait until I was 18 to do the dating thing again." He went on, "My mom's still got to have a life."

On October 1, Pattie wrote on her Twitter, "Had a great night w @chrisbharrison! Thanks @ryanseacrest for setting it up." Chris also tweeted similar words, "Great night & show RT @pattiemallette: Had a great night w @chrisbharrison! Thanks @ryanseacrest for setting it up." Ryan then replied to her, "Does he get a rose?"

Chris was previously married to Gwen Harrison for 18 years. They have a son named Joshua and a daughter named Taylor. In May, they announced their separation. Meanwhile, Pattie split with Justin's father, Jeremy Bieber, 10 months after he was born.

source: aceshowbiz.com