Shakira, Calle 13 Win Big At Latin Grammys

Colombian bombshell Shakira and reggaeton newcomers Calle 13 of Puerto Rico dominated the seventh annual Latin Grammy Awards last night (Nov. 2) in a show celebrating music from throughout the Americas and Spain. Shakira won five of the six Latin Grammys for which she was nominated and held center stage throughout the ceremony at New York's Madison Square Garden.Her album "Fijacion Oral Vol. 1" captured album of the year and best female pop vocal album, and the single "La Tortura" won record of the year and song of the year."Fijacion Oral Vol. 1" also won best engineered album, with credit going to engineers Gustavo Celis, Serban Ghanea, Mauricio Guerrero, Rob Jacobs, Kevin Killen and Dave Way and mastering engineer Vlado Meller.Meanwhile, Calle 13 symbolized the spectacular rise of reggaeton, a Latin form of hip-hop that has become enormously popular with young listeners. The duo of half brothers Rene Perez, better known as "Residente," and Eduardo Cabra, or "Vistante," captured awards for best urban music album for the debut record "Calle 13," best new artist, and best short form music video for "Atrevete Te, Te!"The show started with a medley performed by a gyrating Shakira accompanied by Spain's Alejandro Sanz, who played guitar and sang along with her on a version of "La Tortura" more tame than that of the sizzling video.
But there was plenty of spice in the show. At one point, a female dancer licked the face of Mexican superstar Thalia during a performance of the artist's "Seduccion."The crowd came alive when Mexican group Mana shared the stage with Juan Luis Guerra of the Dominican Republic. Guerra later said he might tour with Mana once his next record comes out.Puerto Rican star Ricky Martin, who was honored as the Latin Grammy's man of the year for his campaign against trafficking in prostituted children, punctuated a rousing performance by warning, "To those traffickers, we are at war."New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a grand entrance, following a bevy of dancers in red dresses. He even tried out his beginner Spanish on the crowd, saying "I, too, love New York and Latin music."The awards were hosted by Mexican soap star Lucero and Puerto Rican salsa star Victor Manuelle and televised on the Univision network. They honored recordings released from April 2005 through June 2006.

Reuters

Genesis Reuniting With Phil Collins For Tour

Mega-selling pop trio Genesis is reuniting with Phil Collins for its first tour with him since the summer of 1992. An official announcement will be made Monday (Nov. 7) in London. Genesis hasn't toured since 1998, during which Ray Wilson replaced Collins on lead vocals alongside principal members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford.Former frontman Peter Gabriel will not be participating in the reunion with the group he exited in 1975. "Tony, Mike and Phil are rehearsing now," he said in a recent video message on his Web site. "I'm not involved in this round or this year. I haven't ruled out the possibility of doing something in the future, but right now I'm going to focus on my own work."Also apparently not involved is guitarist Steve Hackett, who played with the band in the Gabriel era but left in 1977.Collins hasn't toured since 2004, an outing billed as his First Farewell tour. Of late, he's been busy writing the music for Disney's "Tarzan the Musical" on Broadway; his contribution to the animated film's 1999 soundtrack, "You'll Be in My Heart," won the Oscar for song of the year.And while he now seems ready to tour with Genesis again, Collins sang quite a different tune in a 1996 interview with Billboard, when he declared, "How interested am I in old Genesis material? Not very interested, to be honest."
"If I'm to be completely candid, I've never been our biggest fan," he continued. "I have no reverence for the older material, apart from the fun we had making it. I never really felt like we quite got it right on record, especially in the olden days. I can see Genesis fans sticking pins in my effigy as I say this, but you know, I have to be honest -- there's no point in being anything else in life. I'm very proud of some of it, and I could take or leave some other stuff."

Billboard

Snoop Dogg Charged In Weapons Case

Rapper Snoop Dogg was charged yesterday (Nov. 2) with carrying a dangerous weapon - an illegal collapsible baton - at John Wayne International Airport in Santa Ana, Calif. The Orange County district attorney filed a lone count of felony possession of a deadly weapon against the rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus.If convicted, the 35-year-old rapper could be sentenced to three years in prison. A warrant, with bail set at $150,000, was issued for his arrest, prosecutors said."These charges are bogus. The DA knows that, Snoop knows that. If this goes to trial, we will win," the rapper's lawyer Donald Etra said.On Sept. 27, 2006, the entertainer arrived at John Wayne Airport with two bodyguards to catch a flight to San Francisco. Security officers scanning his carry-on luggage spotted a long object in his computer bag and asked to search inside, where a collapsible baton was found.Deputy District Attorney Andre Manssourian said the weapon is dangerous and illegal. The rapper told deputies at the time of his arrest that the baton was a prop for a movie.
On Oct. 26 in Burbank, the rapper's airport problems were compounded when he was arrested at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank for investigation of illegal drug and gun possession. He posted $35,000 bail and was ordered to appear in court Dec. 12.In that incident, airport police officers stopped Broadus at a loading zone for a vehicle code violation. When officers searched the vehicle they found a gun and marijuana, authorities said.

Associated Press

Janet, Fergie, Killers To Rock Billboard Awards

Janet Jackson, Fergie and the Killers are the first acts confirmed to perform at the 2006 Billboard Music Awards, which will air live on Fox Dec. 4 from Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena. Celine Dion, Rihanna, Chris Brown and "American Idol" alums Katharine McPhee and Chris Daughtry will also make appearances. Award finalists, as well as additional performers and the show's host, will be announced in the coming weeks. The show is executive-produced by Greg Sills and Michael Levitt. Bruce Gowers will direct and Wylleen May is the executive in charge of production. The Billboard Music Awards honor the most popular recordings and artists of the year as determined by actual performance on the magazine's weekly charts. Awards finalists will be determined after the close of the chart year in late November.
50 Cent and Green Day led last year's winners with six trophies each.

Billboard

Jackson Hits Studio With will.i.am For New Album

Michael Jackson and Black Eyed Peas producer/rapper will.i.am have begun collaborating on new material for Jackson's as-yet-untitled album, due late next year via the Bahrain-based Two Seas Records.The pair recently entered a studio in Ireland. "I like what he is doing and thought it would be interesting to collaborate or just see how the chemistry worked," Jackson told Access Hollywood in an interview airing this week. "I think he's doing wonderful, innovative, positive, great music."The new offering will be the pop star's first release since 2001's "Invincible," which bowed atop The Billboard 200. But Jackson, who currently resides in Bahrain, says he has still been writing in the interim. "I am always writing a potpourri of music," he says. "I want to give the world escapism through the wonder of great music and to reach the masses."Next month, Jackson will make a rare appearance at the World Music Awards in London to receive the Diamond Award, for selling more than 100 million albums. Previous recipients include Rod Stewart, Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi and Celine Dion.
The awards, which are based solely on record sales, will be handed out Nov. 15 at Earls Court, hosted by Lindsay Lohan. Beyonce, Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli are among the performers.

Billboard

Justin and Gnarls top MTV Awards

Justin Timberlake and Gnarls Barkley were the big winners at the MTV Europe Awards, with each collecting two gongs.
JT, who was also hosting the event, walked away with awards for Best Male and Best Pop Act.
The singer joked with the audience that he had only agreed to host the event if he won some awards.
Meanwhile, duo Gnarls Barkley collected awards for Best New Act and Best Song, for Crazy.
There were UK wins for The Kooks, Muse and Depeche Mode.

Ananova

Kasabian reveal single details

Kasabian have announced details of their new single.
The band already plan to release Shoot The Runner on November 6, but they have now revealed they will released Me Plus One in the new year.
The song, released on January 29, will be the third single from their album Empire.

Ananova

MCR want to turn album into musical

My Chemical Romance say they might turn their album, The Black Parade, into a musical.
Frontman, Gerard Way told NME: "I think (The Black Parade) needs to be something.
"If not a play then a musical. It's such a visual thing. I think it would make a great animated film, something experimental would really work for this."
He also added: "It'd also be really interesting to rewrite the script so when you make it into a movie it should be something almost totally different.
"It would be cool to maybe play with the notions of what you're making than just simply tell the story."
The Black Parade is currently at No 2 in the UK album chart, behind Robbie Williams' Rudebox.

Ananova

Atomic Kitten reform for gig

Atomic Kitten have revealed they are to reunite for a one-off gig.
Jenny Frost, Liz McLarnon and Natasha Hamilton will perform a concert in support of jailed Liverpool football fan Michael Shields.
The event will be compered by Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles next month.
Gloria Gaynor, comedian Ricky Tomlinson, the Bay City Rollers and The Farm will also perform, reports the BBC.
Shields is serving 10 years for the attempted murder of a barman in Bulgaria, but denies the offence.
He is expected to return from Bulgaria to serve the rest of his sentence in the UK.
The proceeds from the concert will go towards paying off a fine of almost £90,000 which was also imposed by the Bulgarian court.
Atomic Kitten announced in 2004 that they were to "take a break", but denied they were splitting up for good.

Ananova

U2 go to church

U2 songs are being incorporated into church services in the US.
A number of Episcopal churches in the US have begun using music by the band in their communion services.
Called the U2Charist, the service has spread to 150 churches in 15 US states.
Episcopal priest Reverend Paige Blair came up with idea and held the first U2Charist service at Maine's York Harbor.
He told USA Today: "Bach and Handel were the popular music of their day, and they had trouble getting played in church.
"The Methodist hymn writers once wrote contemporary music. Are we worshipping Bono? Absolutely not."

On the other hand, U2 are planning to release their first 3-D concert film next year.
The untitled feature will draw on more than 700 hours of footage shot during the South America leg of their Vertigo tour, says the Hollywood Reporter.
The film is being directed by Mark Pellington, who began his career by shooting U2's One video.
A representative for the band called it "the first-ever 3-D multicamera live shoot."
Editing is underway in New York with discussions under way with several major studio distributors for a release in late 2007.
It's expected the film will use the Real D technology installed by cinemas showing the digital 3-D release of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Ananova