Shakira to Tour
Fanscape
Global superstar Shakira will bring her “Oral Fixation” arena tour to North American cities this summer. Singer/songwriter, five time Grammy winner Shakira is without a doubt one of the most galvanizing live performers touring today. A self-taught musician who speaks five languages, Shakira signed her first recording deal in 1991 and has gone on to sell 33 Million albums worldwide. Originally from Columbia, Shakira found her early success in the Latin American countries. Her latest album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 is her first all English language album and has been a critical and commercial smash.
Beginning August 9th at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas and culminating on September 25th with a performance at the Dodge Arena in McCallen, the highly anticipated “Oral Fixation” tour is being produced by Live Nation and presented by Verizon Wireless.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A World Where 'It's Cool To Have A Sex Tape' Scares Pink
MTV
Being "Stupid" was the smartest thing Pink ever did — it's positioning the self-styled grrrl-power advocate for a big debut with her new album, I'm Not Dead.
But just to be sure, Pink did plenty of promo this past week, playing a secret show in New York (click here for photos) and taping episodes of "Dateline" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show," where she got the dialogue started on the story behind her hit single "Stupid Girls."
Pink might have made these points previously (see "Pink's 'Stupid' New Video Features Fake Breasts, Fake 50 Cent"), but now she's doing the all-out media blitz, with appearances scheduled on "Live With Regis & Kelly," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and "Ellen." "Dateline," airing Sunday at 7 p.m. on NBC, will kick off the queries with Matt Lauer asking about attacking easy targets: "So what did Paris Hilton ever do to you?"
"Let's just get right into it," Pink laughed. "I was using examples to attack a mentality that I find nauseating."
While the celebrity angle of Pink's neofeminist critique got "Dateline" interested, Oprah Winfrey was more concerned about the lack of strong female role models. Calling her episode "Stupid Girls," Winfrey also invited onto the program four teenage girls and Karrine Steffans, author of "Confessions of a Video Vixen," to bring the discussion back to how girls are taught to act "stupid" and how to change that.
Before taping her appearance, Pink told MTV News she was "gonna be a little star-struck dork" appearing on the show. "Love her. Me and my friends are just so excited. We love Oprah."
On the show, airing Monday, Pink was a little more contained than that. When Winfrey asked Pink, "How do you feel as a young woman about where you see women headed in this culture?" she responded, "Scared, really scared."
"I personally need more examples of how to be better and how to be stronger and how to go a different way," Pink said on the show. "I need more examples, so I can't even imagine being in school and looking around. And now it's cool to have a sex tape. Are you kidding me?"
Pink said she's trying not to think about all the attention the song is getting, but at the same time, this is exactly what she wanted — to start a discussion about who we choose to celebrate and why. In a world where women are still reduced to what they look like versus what they have to say, Pink wanted to make her fellow females realize how much of that has to change from within.
"You know, it's a big debate," Pink told MTV News. "And I thought it needed to be had. So it's good, you know? It's bringing attention to something that needs to start going uphill."
At the same time, Pink said the attention isn't about driving her record sales higher. In fact, she told Lauer she wishes her biggest album, Missundaztood, hadn't sold as many copies. "What?" Lauer responded. "You now have become the first recording artist I've ever sat across from who said, 'I wanted that album to sell fewer copies.' Why?"
"It sold 16 million records," Pink said. "And I didn't want that. Where do you go from there? Anything you do after that's a failure."
So while I'm Not Dead could go #1 with all of the promotion she's been doing, Pink told MTV News that's not her real goal.
"I'm not that kind of artist," she said. "People listen to it, and that's all I care about."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jennifer Lopez Sues First Husband To Block Tell-All Book
MTV
Lawyers for Jennifer Lopez filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday against Ojani Noa, the singer's first husband, to block the publication of a tell-all tome containing personal details about J. Lo and the couple's short marriage, Lopez is seeking a restraining order from the court to keep Noa's manuscript from ever making it to a printing press.
Back in October, Noa — who was briefly married to Lopez in 1997 — dropped a breach-of-contract lawsuit he'd filed in late 2004, claiming he'd been wrongly fired as the manager of Lopez's Pasadena, California, restaurant Madre's. That suit alleged that Noa was axed after a six-month stint despite assurances from his ex that he would not be let go without "good cause or reason" (see "J. Lo Sued By First Ex-Husband Over Firing").
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Lopez maintains that the New York Post ran an article describing Noa's book three months ago. When Lopez's attorneys reached out to Noa to inquire about the manuscript, he responded with a letter, saying that he'd continue to shop his book around. The filing also states that Noa later said that "he would not agree to refrain from marketing his book unless [Lopez] paid him the sum of $5 million."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D12's Proof Shot And Killed At Detroit Club
MTV
Proof, a member of the Eminem-fronted Detroit-based hip-hop sextet D12, was killed early Tuesday morning outside a Detroit nightclub in a shooting that left another man in critical condition.
According to a spokesperson for the Detroit Police Department, Proof (real name: DeShaun Holton) suffered a gunshot wound to the head at the CCC Club on East Eight Mile Road, near Gratiot Avenue. By the time police arrived just after 5 a.m., the club — which was operating illegally, after hours — had been cleared out, but several witnesses have come forward to discuss the incident with investigators.
The police spokesperson said only that "an altercation occurred [inside the club], and shots rang out," but would not discuss the shooting further, as the 32-year-old rapper's next of kin have not yet been notified.
Both victims (the other man's name has not been released) were transported to hospitals; Proof was rushed to St. John Holy Cross Hospital, while the second victim, who is 35 and also sustained a gunshot to the head, was taken to St. John Hospital, where he's listed as being in critical condition. Proof was pronounced dead on arrival.
Proof, Eminem's longtime friend (see "Proof: 'Eminem's Best Friend' And A Vital Member Of Detroit's Hip-Hop Scene"), appeared in the film "8 Mile" as Lil' Tic; he also served as Eminem's best man when the rapper remarried Kim Mathers in January. Eminem filed for divorce last week (see "Eminem Files For Divorce From Kim — Again").
Police are searching for the suspected gunman; a description has not been made available. Detectives have asked that anyone with any information on the shooting come forward.
The shooting is the second in three months to involve a member of Eminem's inner circle. Em protégé Obie Trice was shot and wounded New Year's Eve while riding with his girlfriend along a Detroit freeway (see "Obie Trice Recovering From New Year's Eve Shooting"); police have yet to make an arrest in connection with that incident, which remains under investigation. One of D12's original members, Bugz (real name: Kornail Pitts) was shot and killed on May 21, 1999, during a picnic at Detroit's Belle Isle Park.
According to the Detroit Free Press, several Detroit hip-hop DJs, radio personalities, rappers and producers, as well as Eminem and Obie Trice, planned to meet with Proof's family at the hospital on Tuesday morning (April 11). D12 was set to begin work on its third album this month.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
