The A-Teens official site has photos of the group recording two versions of the Alice Cooper song “School’s Out” with the veteran rocker, with one being a pop song and the other version being ‘harder’. The songs will be included on the upcoming album being released this spring/summer. Check out the recording session pictures at a-teens.com.
No details on an air date but Aaron Carter’s official site reports 48 Hours is looking for one of Aaron’s biggest fans to follow as they attend his February 5th show in Lowell, Massachusetts. The site is soliciting fans that have tickets to the show to email them at at aaroncartercbs48@hotmail.com for consideration.
The Sun reports Victoria and David Beckham have commissioned a 20ft bronze statue of themselves for their garden. The couple will spend GBP100,000 on the sculpture which will be done by Frances Segelman. A friend revealed, “They wanted something three-dimensional to immortalize them and then Emma told them about Frances. She is very excited about it. She wants to get them to pose as soon as possible.”
Entertainment Weekly spoke with India.Arie, Nelly Furtado, and Alicia Keys ahead of the Grammy Awards, where both dominate in nominations. Nelly gave a lot of credit to teachers saying, “There’s nothing better than when a teacher tells you you’re talented or they believe in your writing. When a teacher says that when you’re a kid, it’s like, Oh my God, nothing better. And I’m talking all it takes is one comment from a teacher to give you confidence for, like, five years- longer — a lifetime.”
Mike Walker of the National Enquirer reports Mariah Carey goes out to eat she makes it a point to go visit the chef to make sure no one spits in her food or ”accidentally” drops the food on the floor before it’s put on her table.
Dan Aquilante of The New York Post spoke with Craig David about the Michael Jackson influence in his music and his thoughts on being nominated against him for the upcoming Grammy Awards. Craig said, “He is one of my idols, so when I saw his name in the same category as mine, I immediately thought, ‘I’m not worthy to be there with him.’ It’s beyond belief. I mean, it’s Michael Jackson, man.”
The New York Daily News reports Wesley Snipes was working his charm on Christina Aguilera at the Waldorf on Wednesday where Hugh Hefner was being honored by the Magazine Publishers of America.
Dave Ferman of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram profiled the Mariah Carey contract buyout with EMI and the source of the move, blaming it not on her personal problems, but primarily the weaker sales. Ferman said, “At the heart of this decision lies the troubling reality that the music industry at present does not tolerate even one slip-up from its artists on the business end. A label will put up with all sorts of unsavory/freakish/odd behavior as long as the artist continues to sell records.” The full story at jsonline.com has since been removed.
Hits Daily Double reports Mariah Carey is not drawing interest from BMG labels Arista, J and RCA, nor Sony and EMI despite the reports stating otherwise. The only labels having an interest appear to be Island Def Jam and Elektra, which should mean a much lower payoff and one conditional on performance and creative input from either label.
Michael Jackson tells Vibe magazine that he believes that children deserve their own annual holiday in their celebration. Jacko said, “There’s a Mother’s Day and there’s a Father’s Day, but there’s no Children’s Day. It would mean a lot. It really would. World peace. I hope that our next generation will get to see a peaceful world, not the way things are going now.”