Michael
Jackson testifies at lawsuit trial
The
King of pop Michael Jackson took
the witness stand last week (Nov. 13) in a $21 million lawsuit that
was brought about by his longtime promoter that accuses Mr. Jackson
of backing out of two millennium concerts. Michael spoke in his usual
soft tone while testifying, answering yes or no to the questions asked.
Marcel
Avram the German-based promoter alleges he was left with
hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses after the singer dropped
out of the performances, which were to take place Dec. 31, 1999, on
both sides of the international date line in Honolulu and Sydney.
Avram's suit claims
Jackson agreed to perform at two concerts for charity and the two
millennium concerts, but only did the charity shows. The suit contends
Jackson was paid a $1 million advance and had debts totaling $1.2
million covered.
Jackson's attorney,
Zia Modabber, said in his opening remarks Tuesday that it was Avram
who postponed the concerts when he met with Jackson's representatives
in October 1999. Modabber said Avram, who had agreed to pay Jackson
$15 million, realized the shows would not be as profitable as he had
hoped 'He could not live up to the huge promises he made to Mr. Jackson,'
Modabber said.
Avram attorney
Louis Miller said in his opening statement that the promoter had no
motive to cancel the concerts. He had agreed to cover expenses for
the benefit shows with the understanding that he would recoup his
costs from the New Year's Eve concerts, Miller said. Deliberations
on the case continues this week..
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Tyrese
ready to drop 'I wanna go there'
Tyrese
Gibson aka Tyrese
is set to release his third album and first for J
records called 'I wanna go there'
The new album sees the model
turned singer with a more hands on control as he serves as producer
and executive producer on the album as well as some top notch producers
that include Eddie F, Darren
Lighty, Jack Knight,
Joe & Josh
Thompson.
In Miami while
shooting the video for the lead off single 'How
you gonna act like that' the young R&B crooner told
news magazine Entertainment Tonight
that this album is his most personal to date. 'There's a bit of me
in all the songs, I wrote most the songs on the album as well as produced
it and it felt good to be calling the shots'. The album is due to
hit your record shelves Dec. 17th.
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Rick
James under investigation for sex assault
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Singer
Rick James is in trouble
with the law again. He's under investigation for an alleged sexual
assault of a woman at his home last weekend. James, 50, who had
major hits in the 70s and 80s with 'Mary
Jane' and 'Super Freak'
respectively had a search warrant served on his Woodland Hills,
Calif., home on Nov 11th. Police said a 26-year-old woman claims
she was sexually assaulted by James over that weekend.
Said police
Capt. Jim Tatreau,'They
are allegations of a sexual nature', who said James has cooperated
with police. This is nothing new to James who was convicted
in 1993 of assaulting two women. He was sentenced to more than
two years in state prison.
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- 702's
all grown up and ready for 'Star'dom
The young teeny bopper girl group that brought you 'Steelo'
in 1996 and 'Where my girls at'
in 1999 are back - and they're all grown up. The girls (eh hum - excuse
me) ladies of 702 -- (Kameelah
Williams and sisters Misha
and Irish Grimstead) returns to
the limelight after a 3 year hiatus from it, sporting a more mature
look and attitude on their latest Motown
set, 'Star' due this Tuesday (Nov.
19th).
The lead off single
of the same name was produced by The Neptunes
and features Clipse and the idea
for the song came courtesy of one of The
Neptunes. Said Irish 'Pharrell
[Williams of the Neptunes - no
relation to Kameelah] came up
with the idea for the song in the studio, He was coming up with ideas
as we were all getting a feel for each other and figuring out what
direction we wanted to go in. It was a blessing working with Pharrell.
We learned a lot, from watching him play the drums live to all the
other instruments.' The album is due out Feb 25th 2003