Music

Keisha Buchanan forgives Sugababes

2009-10-29T18:37:00.000-07:00

Keisha Buchanan has forgiven the Sugababes.

The singer – who was ousted from the girl band last month after months of bitter feuds – insists she holds "no hard feelings" towards her former bandmates Amelle Berrabah and Heidi Range, or new member Jade Ewen.

Keisha, 25, said: "I've cried so many tears. I'm over the worst. I believe I am stronger for it all. The girls are my friends. I'm certainly concerned about them and wish them only the best.

"There's no hard feelings with the girls, it's time to move on. I don't want to cry anymore. We all couldn't work together anymore - we weren't happy, me and Heidi. I was depressed. You shouldn't have to go to work treading on eggshells."

Keisha has been supported since leaving the group by her former bandmate Mutya Buena, who exited the band and was replaced by Amelle in December 2005.

However, the 'Overload’ singer was quick to deny speculation she, Mutya and third founding Sugababes star Siobhan Donaghy – who was replaced by Heidi in 2001 - are set to work together again.

She said: 'Mutya’s been very supportive. It’s been good tot talk with her and have so many friends look out for me.

'We’re not forming another band, that is out of the question. But we are friends of course.'

Instead, Keisha is now focusing on her upcoming solo album, which she is planning to release in 2010.

She added to Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper: "I'm doing fine - I've been focusing on my solo project and my new look. I've been to Paris Fashion Week and I had the best time.

"I'm really excited about 2010. I'm in the studio working out my new sound - and I'm finally OK with things. I have learned to smile again."

British R'n’B star Taio Cruz recently offered to help Keisha conquer the pop charts on her own.

The 'Break Your Heart’ singer – who recently collaborated with Cheryl Cole – said: 'I would absolutely work with Keisha if she wanted me to. She can be sure that I will help her out.'

Leona Lewis had a crush on Justin Timberlake

2009-10-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Leona Lewis had a crush on Justin Timberlake.

The British singer has confessed she was attracted to the 'SexyBack’ star for a long time, but her crush went away once she met him.

Leona – who worked with Justin on new track 'Don't Let Me Down’, which appears on her upcoming album 'Echo’ – said: 'I had a big thing for Justin before I worked with him, but I lose my crush when I meet people. Which is probably good news for my boyfriend Lou!'

The 24-year-old pop star – who is in a long-term relationship with Lou Al-Chamaa – has also revealed she turned down the chance to kiss 'Gossip Girl’ heartthrob Chace Crawford in the video for her single 'I Will Be’.

She said in an interview with the latest edition of Sugar magazine: 'They wanted me and Chace to kiss in the 'I Will Be’ video. But I said no way. I’d just have been too embarrassed, he’s my friend! He’s so beautiful, I mean, look at him - he could be a girl. He’d be a really pretty girl. But I just don’t think of him like that. And it wouldn’t be fair to Lou to kiss other guys.'

U2 got seven million viewers watching live gig

2009-10-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

Nearly seven million people went online to watch U2 live in concert yesterday (26.10.09).

The Irish band became one of the first major groups to stream an entire show live on the internet for free when they posted a video link-up to their concert at California's Pasadena Rose Bowl on YouTube.

Fans in 16 countries tuned in to the event, which saw Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. perform to a sell-out crowd of 96,000 as part of their 360 Degrees Tour.

As the group took to the show, Bono said: "Thank you Los Angeles. Thanks to everyone watching on YouTube all over the world - seven continents!'

He went on to describe the concert as a "space adventure", shouting: "Every horror movie needs a mad scientist and ours is just to my right - The Edge.

"He wants to boldly go where no guitar players have ever gone before. He's Mr Spock to us, he's The Edge to you."

Bono also described himself as "Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito with a little bit of Dennis Hopper thrown in".

The band played 24 songs, including 'Beautiful Day', 'Mysterious Ways', 'Vertigo', 'One' and 'With Or Without You'.

When the concert concluded, thousands of fans left messages of support on the video-sharing website.

The entire show will be repeated on YouTube at a later date.

Chris Brown stays up late looking at photographs of him and Rihanna

2009-10-27T21:13:00.000-07:00

Chris Brown stays up late looking at photographs of him and Rihanna.

The 'Run It’ singer turned to his Twitter account during the early hours of Monday morning (26.10.09), where he posted a link to a photo montage video of them in happier times and wrote about his 'emotions' about not being with the 'Disturbia’ songstress anymore.

He wrote: 'IM SORRY YALL. JUST HAD TO POST IT (sic)'

He added: 'FOR THE FELLAS: showing emotion doesn't make u weak... BEING HONEST MAKES U STRONG (sic).'

Chris has to stay at least 100 yards away from his ex-girlfriend for the next five years, following his violent attack on her as they left a pre-Grammy Awards party in February.

Last month, he started 180 days of community labour, 12 months of domestic violence counselling and five years probation.

Although at the start of the week the 20-year-old singer opened up about his emotions he has now seemingly decided to stop talking about his feelings on the internet.

In a recent posting he wrote: 'IMA TALK ABOUT OTHER SH** FROM NOW ON.... ima fall back lol.. twitter will get u IN TROUBLE...lol (sic).'

Last week, Chris admitted he is still learning from his mistakes and regrets assaulting the songstress.

He said: "I'm human. If people feel a certain way, I'm not going to say they're wrong. But it's not right to judge somebody when people make mistakes all the time.

"I've learned from my mistakes and I'm learning from them. And I regret every moment, every second of it."

Madonna has been 'taught a lot' by Malawi

2009-10-27T20:46:00.001-07:00

Madonna has been 'taught a lot' by Malawi.

The 'Celebration’ singer - who has adopted two children, Mercy and David, both four, from the African country – says she was 'chosen' by the poverty-stricken area to help it anyway she can.

She said: 'People always ask me, 'Why did you choose Malawi?’ But I have always said, 'Malawi chose me’. Growing up in a privileged life, I took education for granted. Coming to Malawi has taught me a lot.'

The 51-year-old star is currently in Malawi with the two youngsters and their older siblings, Lourdes, 13, and Rocco, nine.

The family flew out to the country for a week-long break, starting with the official opening of her charity’s school, the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, in Lilongwe yesterday (26.10.09).

Madonna, 51, is working closely on the school – which will reportedly cost £9 million to build and will have space for 500 girls – because she is determined to make 'future female leaders' out of girls from across the country.

The pop singer attended yesterday’s brick-laying ceremony for the school and promised to continue her work in other countries if the project is a success.

She said: 'I realised how much children deserve to be educated and so, for me, the best thing I could do was to build a school, a unique school that will create future female leaders, scientists, lawyers, doctors and if this school is successful it will be used as a model to replicate it in other countries.'

During the visit, Madonna will take her two youngest children to meet their biological families and will spend time learning the local language and teaching them about where they came from.

Muse named Best Act In The World

2009-10-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Muse have been named Best Act In The World Today - but were unable to celebrate the accolade.

The Devonshire trio were bestowed the honour at the Q Awards in London today but were forced to make a swift exit from the stage due to their hectic touring schedule.

Drummer Dom Howard said: "It feels great. It's always amazing to be nominated so we're very privileged."

Singer Matt Bellamy added to BANG Showbiz: "We've only been able to come because it's in the afternoon, so that's lucky for us - we have to play in Denmark tonight. It won't quite be taking a helicopter from the roof but we have to take a care and a plane straight away. We'll maybe carry on partying over there later."

Kasabian were also honoured at the bash, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, picking up Best Album for their LP 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum' and admitted they were concerned they had gone "too far" in their desire for an experimental sound on the record.

Guitarist Serge Pizzorno said: "We're really proud. It was very ambitious and we've been recognised for that. It was in the great tradition of British rock and roll bands, pushing things to be interesting rather than just successful. We pushed it a bit too far. It's nice."

However, despite their happiness, the band admitted they were also struggling to get into the celebratory mood.

Serge added: "We're pretty much mangled from touring Europe and drinking Parisian absinthe so it's all quite hazy at the moment."

Although the band won Best Album, they were left disappointed after missing out on Best Track to Lily Allen's 'The Fear'.

The excited star was thrilled by her win -though she admitted she hadn't been bothered what she was honoured for.

She said: "It's really nice, I've never won anything before. It didn't matter why I got it, it's just nice to have someone say to you, 'Well done, you're quite good at music.' "

Other winners at the ceremony, which was presented by British comedian Al Murray, included Lady Gaga, whose song 'Poker Face' was named Best Video, Arctic Monkeys, who were Best Live Act, and Spandau Ballet, who were given the special Q Idol honour.

Q Awards 2009 with Russian Standard Vodka full winners list:

Best New Act - White Lies
Breakthrough Artist - Mr. Hudson
Best Video - 'Just Dance' by Lady Gaga
The Q Idol - Spandau Ballet
The Q Inspiration Award - The Specials
Innovation in Sound - Sonic Youth
Q Classic Album - 'The Unforgettable Fire' by U2
Best Track - 'The Fear' by Lily Allen
The Q Icon - Marianne Faithfull
Classic Song - 'Relax' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Q Legend - Edwyn Collins
Best Live Act - Arctic Monkeys
Classic Songwriter - Yusuf (formerly Cat Stevens)
Outstanding Contribution to Music - Robert Plant
Best Album - 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum' by Kasabian
Best Act In The World Today - Muse

Nicole Richie can't decide on Halloween costume for daughter

2009-10-27T20:15:00.000-07:00

Nicole Richie and her daughter can’t decide on a Halloween costume for the toddler to wear.

The reality TV star – who has 21-month-old daughter Harlow and newborn Sparrow with partner Joel Madden – says the family are struggling to agree on what outfits they will wear to a ghoulish party on Saturday (31.10.09).

She said: 'I wanted Harlow to be something from Alice in Wonderland, but she really wants to be Tinkerbell.'

However, the 28-year-old star – who plans to dress as a white rabbit – says her son is much easier to please than her daughter.

Nicole explained to TV show 'Extra’: 'I will wrap Sparrow up in toilet paper and make him a little mummy. He doesn’t care.'

Meanwhile, Joel – who will miss the spooky bash because of work commitments in Australia – believes he has the perfect costumes for his three loved ones.

He laughed: 'I had an idea that I would be the beekeeper and they could be the bees. But that didn’t appeal to Nicole too much!'

Fans set to boycott Michael Jackson movie

2009-10-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson's fans are boycotting 'This Is It', the film about his last performance.

Thousands of the late singer's followers have formed a group called 'This Is Not It', to protest against the movie, which is due to be released on October 28.

The group has accused the AEG and Sony - the firms behind the film - of concealing Michael's poor health and glossing over the stress he was under as he prepared for his 50-date London residency.

A statement on the group's website reads: "The true state of Michael Jackson's failing health was being hidden from you by those who are making a profit from the screening of the 'This Is It' movie.

"The movie is made of a careful choice of footage taken during Michael Jackson's last rehearsals. Out of 110 hours of footage, a few scenes were selected in which Michael Jackson smiled, in spite of being in a dire state.

"The promoters for 'This Is It', ignored the signs, ignored the pleas, and in fact, actively covered up the truth. What you will see on that screen is part of that cover up."

If people do decide to see the film, the 'This Is Not It' urges them to "see it with different eyes".

The statement continues: "Should you decide to watch it, we hope that you will see this movie and the greed that produced it with different eyes, because you are watching the product of those who should bear much guilt for the passing of the world's greatest entertainer, Michael Jackson.

"This movie is not a true representation of what happened to Michael Jackson in his last weeks, nor is it the polished, live performance that Michael would have wished the world to see. It is their lie. The true story behind is one of neglect, greed, and inhumanity."

But Michael's close friend Elizabeth Taylor - who has seen an advance screening of the film - sobbed when she watched the movie because she loved it so much.

Writing on her Twitter account, the iconic actress said: "It is the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking I have ever seen. I wept from pure joy at his God-given gift. There will never, ever be the likes of him again."

Michael died of acute Propofol intoxication on June 25.