The Blood Divine & other: June 2008

Thursday 26 June 2008

West's Double Win At Bet Awards

Rapper KANYE WEST was the big winner at the BET Awards in Los Angeles on Tuesday night (24Jun08) - scooping two major honours.
The Gold Digger star was named Best Male Hip Hop Artist on the night, as well as picking up the gong for Best Collaboration with fellow rapper T-Pain for their Good Life track.
Young R+B hunk Chris Brown was one of the first winners of the night - he was presented with the gong for Best Male R+B Artist, and was escorted to the annual ceremony by reported beau Rihanna.
The Bajan beauty was nominated for the Best Female R+B artist award - but was beaten in the category by singing sensation Alicia Keys.
Keys also performed at the event - stunning the celebrity-studded audience when she was joined on-stage by former female groups En Vogue, TLC and SWV for a medley of their hit tracks.
Hit beatmaker Missy Elliott was honoured in the Best Female hip hop Artist category, but was not present at the ceremony to pick up the award.
Hollywood heavyweights Halle Berry and Denzel Washington were also winners - the pair scooped the awards for Best Actress and Best Actor.
Other performers included Usher, Flo Rida and T-Pain.
The ceremony, hosted by U.S. comic D.L. Hughley, honours leading black entertainers, actors, musicians and sportstars.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Best Female R+B Artist: Alicia Keys
Best Male R+B Artist: Chris Brown
Best Group: UGK
Best Gospel Artist: Marvin Sapp
Best Female Hip-Hop Artist: Missy Elliott
Best Male Hip-Hop Artist: Kanye West
Best New Artist: The-Dream
Best Collaboration: Kanye West + T-Pain - Good Life
Video Of The Year: UGK f/Outkast, International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)
Best Video Director: Erykah Badu and Mr. Roboto
Best Actress: Halle Berry
Best Actor: Denzel Washington
Female Athlete Of The Year: Candace Parker
Male Athlete Of The Year: Kobe Bryant
Viewers' Choice: Lil Wayne, Lollipop
BETJ Award: Raheem DeVaughn
Lifetime Achievement Award: Al Green
Humanitarian Award: Quincy Jones.

Wednesday 18 June 2008

Alex James: 'Blur reunion may still happen'

Former Blur bassist Alex James has said that he would be "surprised" if the band never worked together at some point in the future.

James, singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon and drummer Dave Rowntree had been expected to reconvene in late 2007 to record new material, but despite meeting up as a foursome for a meeting the sessions never took place.

Rumours of a reunion have died down since, but today (May 21) James indicated that the possibility of a reunion is still not dead in the water.

The group have not released an album since 2003's 'Think Tank', which was recorded mainly as a three-piece after Coxon departed a year earlier.

"We're all pretty busy but I'd be surprised if it [a reunion] never happens," he told BBC 6Music. "But I would be terrified if it was happening on Monday."

James was speaking at a photo exhibition on London's Trafalgar Square that is highlighting the environmental and social realities in Colombia of the cocaine trade.

Monday 9 June 2008

Marc Anthony makes a difference on annual tour

Latin/crossover superstar Marc Anthony [ tickets ] continues to help in the fight against childhood obesity with his third annual Juntos en Concierto tour, which will visit a handful of major markets around the US this summer.The singer is just finishing a run of South American performances and will head to Europe later this month before launching the US trek July 26 in Universal City, CA, according to his MySpace page. The Juntos en Concierto series, presented by global financial services company ING, will also visit Chicago, New York City, Miami, the Houston area and the Los Angeles area through mid-September. Details are listed below.For every ticket sold, $2 will be donated to the ING Run for Something Better program, a national initiative that helps fund school-based running and fitness-education programs."Through my music, I want to make a difference in the lives of young people across the country," Anthony said in a statement. "One way is by addressing the critical need to help reduce childhood obesity among Latino children." Speaking of children, Anthony and his wife, Jennifer Lopez, recently became the proud parents of twins--a boy and a girl.Meanwhile, Anthony is staying busy on the recording front by working on three new studio efforts: a tropical album, a Spanish ballad record and an English-language pop set that features collaborations with the likes of Billy Joel and Babyface, according to Billboard."We are aiming to release them simultaneously by the end of the year," the Grammy winner recently told the magazine.Anthony's most recent studio album is last year's soundtrack to the film "El Cantante," in which he starred, portraying Puerto Rican singer Hector Lavoe. Lopez co-starred as Lavoe's wife.Anthony is the biggest-selling salsa singer of all time, according to his bio. He has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide and, with a total of 16 trophies, holds the record for winning the Univision television network's most Premios Lo Nuestro Awards.