Wild Writings July 2004 News:
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Connecting  Entertainment & Teens!
Christina Aguilera Relaxes Before Big Return
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Radio 1 reports that Christina Aguilera revealed she's taking time off to prepare for a massive return to the spotlight both musically and in film. "I am taking this time off to write and record for the next album," she said. "I am just taking some me time so that I can hibernate at the moment, so that I can come out again with a bang - a new movie, a new album and conquer it all over again."
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Mary-Kate Stays in Rehab
IMDB
Movie star Mary-Kate Olsen has extended her rehab stay because she wants to make absolutely sure she's strong enough to cope with university after fighting an eating disorder. The Olsen twin, who co-starred with sibling Ashley Olsen in this summer's New York Minute, checked into a rehab in Utah last month and is due for release - but she's keen to stay an extra two weeks. Her aides insist things are "going well" and she just wants to make sure she'll be fine before checking out.
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Eminem Lands Own Radio Station
Kriselen
Eminem will have his own channel on satellite radio starting this fall, a major provider announced Monday. Sirius Satellite Radio said it has teamed up with the Detroit-area rapper -- along with his label, Shady Records, and Interscope Records -- to create "a cutting-edge hip-hop music and lifestyle channel." Eminem's DJ Green Lantern will host a weekly show, while Eminem himself and other Shady Records artists will also host occasional shows that will include call-in segments. The channel, which does not yet have a name, will feature hip-hop from across the spectrum, not just the two labels, the company said
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Lohan Signs Record Deal
Kriselen
Teen queen Lindsay Lohan has secured a record deal with Tommy Mottola's Casablanca Records label. The actress, 18, is set to follow in rival Hilary Duff's footsteps as she branches out into the music industry. A representative for Casablanca's parent company, Peter Lofrumento, says, "I can confirm Lindsay has indeed signed with Casablanca." No further details have been released, but it is believed Lohan has signed a long-term, multi-album deal. Lohan's singing talent was evident in last year's hit movie Freaky Friday when she sang "Ultimate." Mottola tells the New York Post, "I'm thrilled we have her. I think she's the next big star on the horizon."
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Kevin Vs. Jason: How Britney's Boys Match Up
MTV.com
Other than the fact that both are members of the exclusive and enviable club of guys who've smooched Ms. Spears, Britney's fiance, Kevin Federline, and her friend Jason Alexander, whom she wed earlier this year, have little in common.

For starters, Spears' engagement to Federline, made public last week (see "It's True: Britney's Engaged"), is already an eternity compared with the one to Alexander, which probably lasted just a little longer than the time it took the couple to drive from Las Vegas' Palms Casino Hotel to the Little White Wedding Chapel, five and a half miles away. Federline is also four years older than Alexander, who at 22 is the same age as Spears.

Where Federline gained his reputation in the background, dancing for boy band LFO, Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Destiny's Child, Christina Milian and Pink, Alexander had hoped his future would be in the backfield, playing fullback or linebacker. He tried out for the Louisiana State University squad but didn't make the cut.

Instead of the gridiron, Federline's fancy footwork found its place on the dance floor. As a 15-year-old student of Clovis West High School in Clovis, California, he fell in love with dancing after a girlfriend invited him to one of her dance classes. Pirouettes and jazz hands didn't likely have a major role in Alexander's upbringing in Britney's hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, where his father worked as an auto mechanic.

While Alexander was attending college, Federline was earning his degree in parenthood, though it's not likely he'll receive valedictorian honors. Federline has a 2-year-old daughter with ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson, an actress best known for her role on "Moesha." A second child, a boy, is due any day.

The most relevant dissimilarity between the two men, however, lies in their level of romance with the pop princess. In the current issue of People, Britney dismissed her past relationships — even her long-term attachment to Justin Timberlake — as "like puppy love" and claimed her love for Federline is the real thing (see "Why Britney Popped The Question").

It may not have been love at first sight, if Federline's ex is to be believed. When he first met his future wife while a dancer for tour openers LFO in 2000, Federline "didn't like her music" and "thought she was wack," Jackson told Us Weekly.
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R. Kelly Gets Court's Permission For Two-Month Tour
MTV.com
Despite protests from prosecutors in his Chicago child-pornography trial, R. Kelly is hitting the road again.

The R&B singer appeared in court on June 22 in an off-the-docket hearing to ask permission to travel out of the court's jurisdiction once again to tour in support of his double album Happy People/ U Saved Me, due August 24. Judge Vincent Gaughan decided that the singer may leave Illinois for the two-month tour as long as he checks in with his probation officer daily, according to the state's attorney's office. Gaughan also said that Kelly would be allowed to attend the August 27 BMI Urban Awards in Miami.

Prosecutor Ellen Mandletort objected to Kelly leaving the state, calling it unacceptable since the 40-date tour now means Kelly is not likely to stand trial on child pornography charges until next year.

The tour is slated to start October 4 and run through November 28, though a full itinerary has yet to be announced, according to Kelly's label rep.

Kelly must return to Chicago by November 30. He's next due in court on September 27.
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‘Newlyweds’ Premier Scores Big Ratings
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The Hoollywood Reporter reports “The season 3 premiere of MTV's “Newlyweds”
with stars Jessica Simpson and hubby Nick Lachey drew a healthy 3.1 million
viewers. Thanks to the “Newlyweds”, the second night in-a-row of “Sex and
the City” on TBS dropped more than 1 million total viewers to a acceptable
2.9 million from Tuesday (June 15) premier of a estimated 4.0 million
viewers.

Following the big premier of Jessica Simpson’s “Newlyweds,” sister Ashlee
Simspon premiered her new show “The Ashlee Simpson Show,” which shows her
life as a upcoming artist, garnered 2.6 million viewers.
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Fantasia Beats Diana DeGarmo Again — This Time In Stores
MTV.com
Diana DeGarmo lost the "American Idol" title to Fantasia Barrino by a mere 1 percent margin, but the contest on the sales chart is hardly as close. DeGarmo's "Dreams"/"Don't Cry Out Loud"/"I Believe" single debuted at #2 on this week's chart  Wednesday (July 7) with about 65,000 copies sold, less than half of what Fantasia moved a week ago. The winner sold another 81,000 this week to stay atop the chart.

Experts expected Fantasia to outsell Diana (see "Who'll Sell More: Fantasia Or Diana? The Experts Weigh In"), but the wide margin is surprising considering how popular DeGarmo has been with the younger, typically record-buying audience. She was the favorite on MTVNews.com's "American Idol" poll , and she's done the same amount of promotion as Fantasia, if not more, since the show wrapped.

Also unexpected is how Fantasia and Diana's single sales have stacked up against past "Idol" contestants (see "Fantasia's Single Sales Pale In Comparison To Clay, Ruben And Kelly's"). Still, like Fantasia, DeGarmo is just happy to have a single in stores and an album on the way. In fact, the 17-year-old from Snellville, Georgia, got quite emotional when she first heard the final version of "Dreams."

"I was sitting in the car and my mom put it in the radio and I was like [sniffling], I got all teary-eyed," Diana recalled. "My mom was like, 'Are you crying?' I was like, 'No,' looking out the window. I was like, 'I'm not crying, I'm too tough to cry.' But it kind of gave that feeling of accomplishment because we've come so far, done so many things. And we've worked so hard, put time and money into things that didn't end up working so well and falling apart, and actually seeing something that people are gonna actually hear, with all the hard work behind it, it's such a great feeling."

DeGarmo loves "Dreams" now, but when the song was first presented to her before the "American Idol" season had even ended, she wasn't exactly thrilled.

"Fantasia and I both [recorded 'I Believe' and 'Dreams'] 'cause you didn't know who was going to win or who was going to come in second, so we're both sittin' there and when ['Dreams'] came on it was a man singing it and it was very country and we both looked at each other and we're all like, 'I don't know about that,' " DeGarmo said. "But after recording and everything, I was really proud of how it came out. Mr. Desmond [Child] and all of the people who worked on it, they really made it so much better than what I had expected."

Child, whose résumé ranges from Cher to Bon Jovi, not only produced "Dreams," he co-wrote it with Chris Braide and Andreas Carlsson, the same trio behind Clay Aiken's "Invisible." "Desmond also wrote 'She Bangs,' which is kinda funny," DeGarmo noted, referencing the hit single of "Idol" wannabe William Hung.

"He's an amazing, amazing writer," she continued. "And the song has such a positive meaning. It talks about your dreams — like, what else do people have nowadays? It's a really positive, inspirational song."

As for releasing her version of "I Believe," the song Fantasia sang after winning "Idol" and is promoting at radio, Diana finds nothing awkward about it.

"My version, vocally, is completely different than Fantasia's," she said. "We obviously have different voices — duh — but we just put our own different spin on it. Like, when you hear mine you can definitely tell it's my version, and when you hear Fantasia's you can definitely hear it's Fantasia's version. ... I know it's Fantasia's official single, but all my fans and people were like, 'You know you sang it so well, why not?' And I really love this song. Tamyra [Gray] and all the other people that wrote it just made it a wonderful song and I'm proud that it's on my single."
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No Love For J.Lo In Russia
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The New York Post reports “Newlywed star, Jennifer Lopez failed to appear at
the opening of the first JLo store in Moscow, Russia last weekend, but the star angered many when she stood up 450 orphans and Russian President Vladimir Putin. In addition to the in-store appearance, J.Lo signed full contract papers to appear as a UNESCO ambassador, to hold a fund- raiser with Putin for the orphans.

Instead, the possibly pregnant pop star stayed in Beverly Hills and married Marc Anthony. J.Lo and her managers denials that she was ever going to show up — has left the Russians fuming. Spokesperson for Russian JLo licensee Melanie A. Bonvicino says, "Jennifer didn't let us know she wasn't coming until the day she was supposed to get on the plane."

Bonvicino added that J.Lo’s absence was “embarrassing” as Toroil — who had set up the fund-raiser for Lopez. The star has not done much charity in her career and Hollywood types were hoping the UNESCO position would be the first of many.”
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Confessions to be Rereleased
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Dotmusic reports “Usher has recorded a duet with Alicia Keys called “My Boo,” which did not make the final cut for Usher’s album “Confessions”.

Producer Jermaine Dupri claims the as-yet-unreleased song is "crazy" and has tipped it to become Usher's biggest track. Dupri hopes "Confessions", currently the Number One album in the US, will be re-released in August with the addition of “My Boo”.

He added: ""Confessions" is gonna be complete now... It's "Thriller" 2004. It's gonna go down in history as one of the best R'n'B albums of our time."
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It was Britney's "Milkshake," Not Kelis'
www.therealdirt.cjb.net
The Real Dirt reports “Mega producer Pharrell of The Neptunes, has reportedly “regreted” giving the “Milkshake” song to Kelis.

The “Milkshake” song was originally tapped for pop singer Britney Spears, and due to the fact that Kelis’s album featuring “Milkshake” didn’t do well, Pharrell wished he would have given it to Britney.”
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Janet Jackson: Usher Is Better Then Justin Timberlake
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Pop Dirt reports “In an interview with Queensland's The Sunday Mail, Janet Jackson was critical of her Super Bowl breast flash partner-in-crime, Justin Timberlake. "I really want to be honest about this, but I just feel that anything I say about him will be taken the wrong way," Jackson said of the *NSYNC star.

"I do think Justin is very talented and that he has a very big career ahead of him... But he seems to have changed in recent times. He's gotten cocky. Cockiness is something that's never impressed me. If there was a contest between Justin and, say, Usher, Usher would win hands down. They're both talented. But I've never been fond of cockiness. Some people can handle success and some people can't. I'm starting to wonder if (the latter) is the case with Justin. And it hurts me to say that."
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“Passion Of the Christ” On DVD
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Yahoo! Movie News reports “20th Century Fox has announced Mel Gibson’s epic
“The Passion of the Christ,” will be released on DVD & VHS in the U.S. on August 31, 2004.

The worldwide phenomenon which is “The Passion of the Christ,” will reportedly feature very few bonus features. The movie is expected to carry a suggested retail price of $29.98 with a $24.98 SRP for the VHS.

“The Passion of the Christ” is the #7 top grossing movie of all-time with a total U.S. venue of $369 million.
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Madonna Refuses The Olsen Twin’s
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Star Magazine reports “At her May 26th concert, Madonna refused a request by
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to meet backstage at The Forum in Los Angeles. 
The twins "did not get to go backstage," a source explaiend. "Madge has to approve all of the celeb meet-and-greets, and she did not approve them."

Popular L.A. radio station 102.7 KIIS FM reported Britney Spears along with
her mom Lynn Spears were spotted shopping for a puppy in Santa Monica on
Monday (June 21).
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Hugh Hefner’s Secret Meeting With Britney Spears
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Globe Magazine  reports “Britney Spears has met with Playboy boss Hugh Hefner
about baring her breasts in an upcoming issue, braggging to Hef, "It would be the biggest selling issue of all time." But a sticking point is the singer's need to lose 20 pounds. "Hef wants to do the deal with Britney," the insider revealed. "He thinks she's the No. 1 sex symbol in America. He's seen the footage of her music tour and he loves the controversy she's creating with it.

If Britney gets back into shape, there are only three things to negotiate. Is she slim enough? How much is she prepared to show? And how much money is it worth to her?"
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X-Tina's X-Rated Video?
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NW Magazine reports “Christina Aguilera is telling a close friend that if she sells her video that their 10 year friendship will be over! Lucy Ashmore, one of Christina's close pals, has recently told the star that unless she breaks up with her ex, Jordan Bratman, she will sell the video of 21-year-old Christina indulging in herself after a long 21st birthday.

The video shows Christina drunk, naked, and all over three male strippers that
she organized for her 21st birthday. Ashmore has told Christina that this video could be all over the news/magzines and porn sites world wide in a matter of hours if its released."

>>To listen to Christina's new song, "Hello," just click here!
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Wild Writings Birthday Celebration: June 26!
www.WildWritings.com
We have been busy over at Wild Writings planning the 2 year anniversary of WW on the net!

As you know, Wild Writings is a popular online entertainment magazine connecting both entertainment and teens! So far, we have worked with Universal Music Group and Warner Bros. Pictures on promotions this month. As well as given away Mariah Carey CDs and Christina Aguilera singles.

On June 26 (which is our exact Birthday) we will be having chats all day with industry insiders and other successful webmasters. (Full list coming soon). We will also be giving away Music CDs, DVDs, singles, autographed glossy pictures of stars, and posters throughout the day and night!

The party won’t stop on the 26th though! On the 27th, there will be an exclusive contest only to our members and a very important Wild Writings announcement will be revealed to our members. Thereafter, the announcement will be broadcast over the site for general visitors.

Then, on the 29th, Wild Writings will be featuring 6 new interviews with nationally known artists!

The end of June will be a very exciting time for www.wildwritings.com. Please come and join in on the festivities!
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CAA to get Carey back to famous high notes
The Hollywood Reporter
Rob Light, managing partner and head of music at CAA, asks the important question, "How do you take Mariah Carey, arguably the most successful female singer in history, and reinvent her for the next stage of her career while staying true to exactly who she is?"

The past few years been a roller coaster ride for the songbird, who has sold more 150 million albums worldwide since her 1990 debut. In 2001-02, her film "Glitter" flopped, she had a nervous breakdown, and Virgin Records dropped her. Yet, she received critical acclaim for her role in the indie film "Wisegirls," and only six months after she left Virgin, Island Records signed her to a multialbum deal and gave Carey her own label, MonarC. While her first album under the Island deal, "Charmbracelet," wasn't the smash many hoped it would be, it did sell more than 1 million copies in the United States, and her 2003 tour in support of the record grossed $6 million-plus.

Now she has re-signed with CAA for representation in all areas, and Carey's manager, Benny Medina, and Light are planning a multipronged approached to remaking her into a multimedia star.

Carey is in the process of writing an illustrated children's book about a biracial orphan girl, which Light says could be turned into an animated series.

"The children's (project) is a very natural step," Light says. "It's something she's worked on without the help of ghostwriters. She has a whole idea based on her biracial heritage; she thinks there is a huge audience."

While Carey is best known for her seven-octave range, she also has penned 15 No. 1 singles. Light says CAA will be looking to utilize her songwriting talent to possibly write for other artists, as well as for jingles, commercials and television.

Carey also is looking at theater opportunities. She is set to star in "The Prince and the Showgirl" early next year in London's West End, and Medina says Andrew Lloyd Webber's office has expressed interest in working with Carey on Broadway.

Says Light: "For everything she's done to this point -- she's been credited as being an incredible vocalist -- but everything else, from acting to songwritng, kind of gets pushed down. Our goal is to just take the lid off that talent and let people know who she is."

Carey's next album, her first with new Island Def Jam chief Antonio "L.A." Reid, is due out this year. Medina says the record will "hit all the marks," from her signature ballads to R&B crossover songs and high-energy dance tracks. She's been working with such A-list producers as Kanye West, Swizz Beats and R. Kelly.

"She's an interesting iconic phenomenon," Light says. "Every time a record comes out, it feels as relevant today as when her first record came out. Very few artists can do that."

Of course, Carey is likely to tour again after the album's release. "She really enjoyed the last touring experience," Light says. "She really felt she put on a show that was her and connected with the audience. We're looking at the big picture. I think touring will be a part of it."