Jason Castro from Rockwall, Texas is one of our favs.

50 Cent does the pre-game Super Bowl concert.  Between performing hits like “Candy Shop” and “Ayo Technology” with his crew, the rapper welcomed Deion Sanders and Ludacris on the Pontiac Garage Stage during Thursday’s performance at the 944 Super Village, a makeshift venue constructed by 944 magazine in an empty lot adjacent to Scottdale’s Fashion Square Mall.

Paris Hilton also made a cameo about halfway through 50’s performance. Hilton — who appears topless on the February cover of 944 magazine — emerged from the front row and partially danced her way onstage with 50, drawing the attention of both professional photographers’ lenses and audience members’ cell phones.

Meanwhile, two men dressed as Ooompa Loompas from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” danced on tables in a VIP section.

Backstage, reality TV stars Kourtney and Chloe Kardashian, actor Mekhi Phifer and two women wearing nothing but G-strings and Trump Premium Vodka bottles painted on their nude bodies were spotted. Tickets to the concert went for anywhere between $100 to $1,000.  The whole thing sounds very strange to me.

Radiohead has hit out at the chief of its former label after a news report claimed the rock band rejected a 3 million pound ($5.95 million) advance for its new album and demanded the rights to some of its older albums. According to the report, published last Friday by The Times of London, Radiohead’s demands to EMI Group chairman Guy Hands totaled more than 10 million pounds ($19.8 million).

In addition to the advance, the Times said the band also wanted a 3 million pound international marketing budget for the album, “In Rainbows,” while the reversion of the rights to its previous two albums would have cost EMI 4 million pounds ($7.9 million) in future earnings.  The paper quoted an EMI spokesman as saying, “Radiohead were demanding an extraordinary amount of money and we did not believe that our other artists should have to subsidize their gains.”

It also quoted the band’s manager, Bryce Edge, as saying, “We were not seeking a big advance payment, or a guaranteed marketing spend as discussions never got that far.”

Representatives for EMI in London and New York were not available to comment Tuesday.

Hands’ buyout firm Terra Firma Capital Partners agreed to buy EMI in May for 2.4 billion pounds ($4.8 billion). The financier has warned artists they could be dropped if they do not work hard enough for the company.  Imagine that, having to actually work for your money?

Pop star Kylie Minogue, currently in the top ten with comeback single 2 Hearts, has announced a bunch of European concerts for 2008.
The 24-date tour kicks off in Paris on 6 May and will touch down in Germany, Finland and Sweden, among others.  This is very exciting news for all her fans and supporters.

Branded KylieX2008, the tour hits the UK in June, culminating in 2 nights at the O2 arena in London.  The Australian singer, 39, promised fans a “fresh, exhilarating and innovative” set.

Minogue’s last tour was postponed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.  Following treatment, she returned to the stage in Sydney last December with a revamped show designed to be less physically demanding.

Despite the scaled-back dance numbers and the introduction of an interval, Minogue had to cancel two concerts in Manchester in January 2007 after contracting a respiratory infection.  The dates were later rescheduled.

The star, whose tenth album, X, was released on Monday, said her new tour “will be a look to the future but will definitely include favourites alongside the new”.  Tickets for the UK dates go on sale on Monday 3 December and like most every fan I can’t wait!

Bon Jovi embarks on a world tour of more than 10 countries, beginning with the United States and Canada this fall. Following its 10-night stand at the $375 million, 18,000-capacity Prudential Center, which ends Nov. 10, the Bon Jovi Lost Highway World Tour will visit North American arenas through April 8. Tickets for U.S. dates go on sale Nov. 3, with additional markets to follow in the coming weeks.

AEG Live, the live entertainment division of Los Angeles-based AEG, will produce the tour in North America and Europe. The tour is scheduled to make stops in Japan, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Holland and Austria, among other countries. The trek is in support of Bon Jovi’s latest album, “Lost Highway,” which has sold 862,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Here are Bon Jovi’s North American concert dates: You can bet I will try and see at least two of them.

Oct. 26, 28, 30, Nov. 1, 3-4, 7, 9-10: Newark, N.J. (Prudential Center)
Nov. 14-15: Montreal, Quebec (Bell Centre)
Nov. 17: Ottawa, Ontario (Scotiabank Bank Place)
Nov. 19: London, Ontario (John Labatt Centre)
Dec. 6-7: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Dec. 9: Winnipeg, Manitoba (MTS Centre)
Dec. 10: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Credit Union Centre)
Dec. 12: Edmonton, Alberta (Rexall Place)
Dec. 13: Calgary, Alberta (Pengrowth Saddledome)
Dec. 15-16: Vancouver (GM Place)
Feb. 18: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Center)
Feb. 20: Detroit (the Palace of Auburn Hills)
Feb. 23-24: Chicago (United Center)
Feb. 28: Washington, D.C. (Verizon Center)
March 2-3: Philadelphia (Wachovia Center)
March 5: Pittsburgh (Mellon Arena)
March 10: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
March 18: St. Paul, Minn. (Xcel Energy Center)
March 31: Denver (Pepsi Center)
April: San Jose, Calif. (HP Pavilion)
April 4-5: Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Center)
April 8: Phoenix (Jobing.com Arena)
April 9: Los Angeles (Staples Center)
April 14: Dallas (American Airlines Center)
April 15: Oklahoma City (Ford Center)
April 20: Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
April 22: Des Moines, Iowa (Wells Fargo Arena)
April 24: Nashville (Sommet Center)
April 26: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (BankAtlantic Center)
April 27: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum)
April 30: Atlanta (Philips Arena)

Apple Corps Ltd have announced the much anticipated DVD release of The Beatles’ second feature film ‘Help!’ on November 5th, which will be marketed and distributed by EMI Music.  Directed by Richard Lester, who also directed the band’s debut feature film ‘A Hard Days Night’, ‘Help!’ made its theatrical debut in 1965.

The story follows The Beatles as they become passive recipients of an outside plot that revolves around Ringo’s possession of a sacrificial ring, which he cannot remove from his finger. As a result, he and his bandmates John, Paul and George are chased from London to the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas by religious cult members, a mad scientist & the London police.

In addition to starring the Beatles, ‘Help!’ has a witty script, a great cast of British character actors and features 7 classic Beatles tracks, including:

• ‘Help!’
• ‘You’re Going To Lose That Girl’
• ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’
• ‘Ticket To Ride’
• ‘I Need You’
• ‘The Night Before’
• ‘Another Girl’

The DVD will be a 2-disc set.

There will be 2 editions of the DVD - a standard digipack and a deluxe boxed set that will contain a reproduction of Richard Lester’s original annotated script, 8 lobby cards and a poster, plus a 60-page book with rarely seen photographs and production notes from the movie.

Both the deluxe book and the standard booklet feature an introduction by Richard Lester and an appreciation by Martin Scorsese.  This one is a “must have” for any serious Beatles collector.

After getting hundreds of pledges to tackle the world’s problems at his philanthropic summit, former President Bill Clinton did what any good host would: He threw a huge party.  Music, celebrity and politics mixed Saturday night at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, where Clinton was joined by Bono, Chris Rock, Shakira and Alicia Keyes for a roundtable discussion on youth activism.

Clinton called on each young member of the audience to “be a citizen servant, a giver, because we have to have a vital society,” before announcing the Clinton Global Initiative’s first youth summit, called CGI U, planned for next year at Tulane University in New Orleans.  Like the three-day Clinton Global Initiative philanthropic summit this week, the college version aims to bring together attendees to tackle global issues like sustainable development and poverty.

The former president and the other superstar panelists took questions from the audience before giving up the stage to performances by hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean and soulful singer Keyes.  Clinton got some laughs from the crowd when he told them he was fulfilling a lifelong ambition.

“You know, I grew up playing music, and all my life I’ve wanted to play the Apollo,” he said.

At this week’s event, participants including heads of state, celebrities and business executives made 245 pledges on efforts such as treating neglected tropical diseases, protecting forests and enabling children to go to school for the first time.  Many of the celebrities on hand Saturday night had already made promises this past week at the summit.

Shakira said she would commit $40 million to help Peru and Nicaragua through ALAS, a coalition of artists and intellectuals committed to social change in Latin America.  MTV, which is partnering with the Clinton initiative on the youth activism summit, was to broadcast Saturday’s event on several of its networks and online at its recently launched Think.MTV.com Web site.

As in most train wrecks, it was hard to focus on just one thing as the Britney Spears disaster unfolded. There was just so much that went wrong.  Out-of-synch lip-synching. Lethargic movements that seemed choreographed by a dance instructor for a nursing home. The paunch in place of Spears’ once-taut belly. At times she just stopped singing altogether, as if even she knew nothing could save her performance.

Designed to drum up excitement for her upcoming album, Spears’ kickoff to the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night became another example of how far she has fallen. It would have been understandable if MTV’s show had been crushed under the weight of the opening fiasco — yet somehow it rebounded, and even flourished.  The show banked heavily on its own reinvention. After poor reviews and a decline in ratings over the last few years, MTV moved the show to Vegas, shortened it from three hours to two, went to a hostless format and focused more on performances than awards.

Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, Kanye West, Fall Out Boy and the Foo Fighters hosted separate suite parties where most of the performances took place.  But the performance most people will be talking about was Spears’. And unlike her last VMAs appearance, when she locked lips with Madonna in 2003, this time it will be for all the wrong reasons.

Lucky for the show things did get a little better later on.  Rihanna won the coveted Video of the Year award, plus Monster Single of the Year for “Umbrella.” The Best Group was Fallout Boy, and Gym Class Heroes won Best New Artist.  Beyonce and Shakira won Most Earthshattering Collaboration for “Beautiful Liar.” Beyonce’s shimmering gold dress barely contained her top; immediately after she picked up her trophy she asked an assistant backstage to help fix her dress, apparently to prevent a wardrobe malfunction.

Other performers appeared on the show’s main stage, in front of an industry-only audience seated at tables, like at the Golden Globes. Chris Brown gave one of the evening’s most extravagant performances — hopping from table to table in a dance spectacle that channeled Michael Jackson, right down to a brief “Billie Jean” imitation.

Alicia Keys had the evening’s most rousing performance, debuting her new song “No One” and then an inspired, choir-backed cover of George Michael’s “Freedom.”  While performances like Keys’ and Spears’ were delivered on the main stage, others came in snippets: Akon crooned a bit of his “Smack That” before an award was announced, while the cameras zoomed in on Fall Out Boy and the Foo Fighters mid-performance in their suites, giving viewers the sense that they had happened upon an intimate concert.

Poor Britney is fodder again for the tabloids.

Promoters are taking action after tickets for a rumoured Led Zeppelin comeback gig are being advertised.   Despite no official confirmation from the band, hotel and ticket packages are being sold for upwards of £269 for gigs at London’s O2 Arena.

The company offering the deal has now been reported to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).    Promoter Harvey Goldsmith has issued a statement to warn the fans not to fall victiom to ticket touts:

“There have been at least four events advertised which I suspect either don’t exist or where no tickets are on sale or indeed dates finalized. These are the very people whom our industry has spent over a year trying to convince the DCMS to instigate outlawing.  The media should consider the consequences of giving credibility to those who rip the public off.

There are NO packages or tickets for some the events advertised at all, nor do some of the events even exist. We are concerned that the public will be fleeced. The bottom line is that unless official adverts have appeared for concerts, tickets are not on sale. Do not buy from unauthorized sources.”

Goldsmith is promoting Bruce Springsteen’s date and confirms that tickets are sold out and that there are no packages available at this time.   There is still no official word on whether Led Zeppelin’s rumoured comeback will happen.  So there is still hope!

Fox, this Monday invited “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest to emcee the network’s broadcast of the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 16.  I must admit I do like this guy, he really has a great low-key way of doing things.

“Ryan Seacrest is a consummate host of major live broadcast events and a proven talent who always makes it easy, which makes the perfect choice for this year’s Emmy telecast,” said Fox’s president of alternative entertainment Mike Darnell.

Seacrest has emerged as Fox’s host in residence for high-profile specials. The “Idol” host was recently tapped for pregame and halftime hosting duties for the network’s upcoming coverage of the Super Bowl.

While Seacrest is a logical choice for Fox, he is a somewhat unorthodox pick for the Emmy Awards ceremony which are usually fronted by a comedian.

“This year’s show will be different in a number of ways,” said Emmys executive producer Ken Ehrlich. “The freshness, enthusiasm and professionalism that Ryan brings to everything he does will be a perfect match for some of the innovative things we have planned.”