Viacom's $1-billion lawsuit against YouTube threatens the very foundation of online sharing, Google, YouTube's owners, claimed in a court filing on Friday, reported by the Associated Press today (Tuesday). In court documents, Google said that the lawsuit "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression" over the Internet. Responding to Viacom's claim that the site has done "little or nothing" to stop copyright infringement, Google said that it actually "goes far beyond its legal obligations in assisting content owners to protect their works" by removing clips at the request of content owners.
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Monday, 2 June 2008
ELBOW
“The Seldom Seen Kid” (Fiction/Geffen): A-
Less wussy than Coldplay and more accessible than Radiohead, it’s hard to fathom how stardom has eluded this British quintet. Like 2005’s triumphant “Leader of the Free World,” this is literate pop
music at its finest. Frontman Guy Garvey writes clever, insightful songs that he sells with his Daltry-like vocals. Pulp’s Richard Hawley co-writes and duets on the jaunty “The Fix,” where two giddy horseplayers anticipate beating the odds. “Weather to Fly” and “The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver” will break your heart. And for a guitar solo that will knock you off your feet, download “Grounds For Divorce.”
Less wussy than Coldplay and more accessible than Radiohead, it’s hard to fathom how stardom has eluded this British quintet. Like 2005’s triumphant “Leader of the Free World,” this is literate pop
music at its finest. Frontman Guy Garvey writes clever, insightful songs that he sells with his Daltry-like vocals. Pulp’s Richard Hawley co-writes and duets on the jaunty “The Fix,” where two giddy horseplayers anticipate beating the odds. “Weather to Fly” and “The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver” will break your heart. And for a guitar solo that will knock you off your feet, download “Grounds For Divorce.”
Lindsay Lohan poses nude in tribute to Monroe
Actress Lindsay Lohan has posed nude in homage to Marilyn Monroe for the new spring fashion issue of New York magazine.
Lohan recreated the legendary actress' final 1962 photo shoot for Bert Stern with the veteran photographer himself.
According to People magazine, the 21-year-old star said she was comfortable being nude before the camera.
She said she was also aware of the parallels between Monroe's tragic fate - dead from an accidental overdose of prescription medicines - and that of Heath Ledger.
Referring to Ledger, Lohan said: "You know, it's also tragic what just recently happened to someone else. They are both prime examples of what this industry can do to someone."
Lohan recreated the legendary actress' final 1962 photo shoot for Bert Stern with the veteran photographer himself.
According to People magazine, the 21-year-old star said she was comfortable being nude before the camera.
She said she was also aware of the parallels between Monroe's tragic fate - dead from an accidental overdose of prescription medicines - and that of Heath Ledger.
Referring to Ledger, Lohan said: "You know, it's also tragic what just recently happened to someone else. They are both prime examples of what this industry can do to someone."
Pete Doherty admits cheating prison drug tests
Pete Doherty has admitted he cheated drug tests while in prison.The Babyshambles frontman, who recently left London's Wormwood Scrubs Prison, claims he only got his drug-free certificate because he used another inmate's urine.He said in an interview with NME magazine: "I was banging it. The only time I tested clean was when I used someone else's p**s."Pete also revealed how terrified he was during his incarceration at the tough jail after one prisoner threatened to stab him.He said: "It was quite hard work. Constant shouting, 'Pete, is Kate Moss a good s**g? Give us a song.'"I woke up to hear, 'You wait, I'm going to see you outside and stab you up.' "Despite his drug boasts, the 29-year-old rocker realised his substance abuse had spiralled out of control when he attacked one of his beloved cats.He added: "I got a shovel and was going to kill one of the cats. It was a bit of a crazy time."The hell-raising musician has also confirmed he will be working on a follow-up to Babyshambles' Shotters Nation album.
Pete added: "That will keep me busy and, hopefully, out of trouble."He also revealed singer and pal Amy Winehouse is working on new material with the band.Doherty confirmed the Rehab singer teamed up with guitarist Mick Whitnall in the studio while he was in London's Wormwood Scrubs Prison.He told Britain's Daily Star newspaper: "Mick and Amy have a great relationship. They have been working on material while I was in prison." The collaboration, first sounded out last year, is tipped to be released as a single and will appear on the next Babyshambles album.- BANG! SHOWBIZ
Pete added: "That will keep me busy and, hopefully, out of trouble."He also revealed singer and pal Amy Winehouse is working on new material with the band.Doherty confirmed the Rehab singer teamed up with guitarist Mick Whitnall in the studio while he was in London's Wormwood Scrubs Prison.He told Britain's Daily Star newspaper: "Mick and Amy have a great relationship. They have been working on material while I was in prison." The collaboration, first sounded out last year, is tipped to be released as a single and will appear on the next Babyshambles album.- BANG! SHOWBIZ
Westlife - Westlife Postpone Gigs Due To Illness
Irish boy band WESTLIFE have been forced to postpone two gigs on their U.K. tour - because bandmembers SHANE FILAN and NICKY BYRNE have fallen ill.
The Flying Without Wings hitmakers have postponed a show on Monday (19May08) evening in Nottingham, England, and the following night's show on Tuesday (20May08) in Cardiff, Wales, after a doctor advised the singers to rest in order to recover properly.
A statement from the band reads, "We are very sorry to have to postpone these shows at such short notice, we apologise to all our fans, and we can't wait to get back out there and put on a great show for you.
"Hold onto your tickets and we'll see you soon, Westlife."
The tour is set to continue on Thursday (22May08) in Birmingham, England. The rescheduled dates will be announced shortly, according to a spokesperson for Westlife.
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Live: Kenny Chesney
There's cause to celebrate any time a musical juggernaut as meticulously planned and well-oiled as one of today's arena pop concert tours deviates from the script.
Even when, as was the case at Kenny Chesney's show Wednesday at Staples Center, the outcome isn't inspired musical spontaneity, but more like closing time at the karaoke bar.
One reason this 40-year-old from Luttrell, Tenn., keeps taking home entertainer of the year awards from the major country music trophy-giving bodies is that it's so abundantly clear how much of himself he invests in every performance. So when it appeared he had blown out his voice around the 90-minute mark during his first show in three years in L.A. proper, he trotted out some celebrity vocal power to help him make it through the rest of the night.
That happened to be rap-rocker Uncle Kracker, who had successfully collaborated with him on his 2004 single "When the Sun Goes Down," and who took the lead on a handful of songs as the show drew to its sputtering conclusion. Then, to the screaming delight of the near-capacity crowd, Chesney coaxed Cracker's boss, Kid Rock, from the wings onto the stage for some hand-waving neo-country/rock/hip-hop cheerleading.
They stumbled through good-natured stabs at Steve Goodman's country-cliché sendup "You Never Even Call Me by My Name" (as popularized by David Allan Coe) and dusted off the Allman Brothers' Southern-rock mainstay "Midnight Rider." All the while Chesney attempted to rest and water his overtaxed vocal cords, which still sounded fairly worse for wear when he took the reins back on "How Forever Feels."
Recently Chesney refused to derail a show despite breaking his foot in the middle of a performance. Audiences, country fans especially, love a trouper, and visible effort is typically handsomely rewarded on the concert trail. And so Chesney, year in and year out, sells more tickets than any other country act, and frequently more than any other touring musician, period.
He's more energetic than George Strait, cuddlier than Toby Keith, is less schizophrenic than Brooks & Dunn and rocks harder than Brad Paisley. His closest competitor is Keith Urban, another relentlessly pleasant, magazine-cover handsome country singer and songwriter whose songs rarely plumb emotional depths, but still allow listeners to feel good about him and themselves.
Indeed, shortly into Chesney's show he told the crowd, "I know everybody's got troubles, but we're going to forget them for the next 90 minutes!"
Chesney largely kept his promise, sticking to his upbeat, Jimmy Buffett-esque party- always themes and tuneful celebrations of tropical locales where the biggest dilemma is choosing beer or margaritas.
Even when he turned comparatively introspective midway through the show -- and he deserves credit for stringing together several ballads rather than merely sprinkling them throughout for tempo variation -- he kept fans at arm's length.
"Better as a Memory," from the current "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" album, could easily serve as a bittersweet epitaph to his brief marriage to Renée Zellweger. But there was no mention of any real-life specifics that would bring a sense of personal connection to such material, and he further distanced himself by prefacing it with a generalized remark that it was a love letter "I've had to write several times in my life."
For someone who also advises that his fans "Don't Blink" lest they miss all the richness that this all-too-short life has to offer, Chesney might try heeding his own hit's words.
LeAnn Rimes preceded him with a short set heavy on vocal power and Americana rock-leaning arrangements, demonstrating how far she's moved away from the Patsy Cline-like country of "Blue" that launched her career as a teenager.
When she offered up a snippet of that song, it was no longer the steel-guitar driven traditional country tune it started out as but a cabaret-lounge version with moody piano backing.
And the wonderful lunacy she's shown at times by covering such non-country material as Prince's "Purple Rain" was nowhere in sight -- replaced by undistinguished pop-rock.
randy.lewis@latimes.com
Even when, as was the case at Kenny Chesney's show Wednesday at Staples Center, the outcome isn't inspired musical spontaneity, but more like closing time at the karaoke bar.
One reason this 40-year-old from Luttrell, Tenn., keeps taking home entertainer of the year awards from the major country music trophy-giving bodies is that it's so abundantly clear how much of himself he invests in every performance. So when it appeared he had blown out his voice around the 90-minute mark during his first show in three years in L.A. proper, he trotted out some celebrity vocal power to help him make it through the rest of the night.
That happened to be rap-rocker Uncle Kracker, who had successfully collaborated with him on his 2004 single "When the Sun Goes Down," and who took the lead on a handful of songs as the show drew to its sputtering conclusion. Then, to the screaming delight of the near-capacity crowd, Chesney coaxed Cracker's boss, Kid Rock, from the wings onto the stage for some hand-waving neo-country/rock/hip-hop cheerleading.
They stumbled through good-natured stabs at Steve Goodman's country-cliché sendup "You Never Even Call Me by My Name" (as popularized by David Allan Coe) and dusted off the Allman Brothers' Southern-rock mainstay "Midnight Rider." All the while Chesney attempted to rest and water his overtaxed vocal cords, which still sounded fairly worse for wear when he took the reins back on "How Forever Feels."
Recently Chesney refused to derail a show despite breaking his foot in the middle of a performance. Audiences, country fans especially, love a trouper, and visible effort is typically handsomely rewarded on the concert trail. And so Chesney, year in and year out, sells more tickets than any other country act, and frequently more than any other touring musician, period.
He's more energetic than George Strait, cuddlier than Toby Keith, is less schizophrenic than Brooks & Dunn and rocks harder than Brad Paisley. His closest competitor is Keith Urban, another relentlessly pleasant, magazine-cover handsome country singer and songwriter whose songs rarely plumb emotional depths, but still allow listeners to feel good about him and themselves.
Indeed, shortly into Chesney's show he told the crowd, "I know everybody's got troubles, but we're going to forget them for the next 90 minutes!"
Chesney largely kept his promise, sticking to his upbeat, Jimmy Buffett-esque party- always themes and tuneful celebrations of tropical locales where the biggest dilemma is choosing beer or margaritas.
Even when he turned comparatively introspective midway through the show -- and he deserves credit for stringing together several ballads rather than merely sprinkling them throughout for tempo variation -- he kept fans at arm's length.
"Better as a Memory," from the current "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates" album, could easily serve as a bittersweet epitaph to his brief marriage to Renée Zellweger. But there was no mention of any real-life specifics that would bring a sense of personal connection to such material, and he further distanced himself by prefacing it with a generalized remark that it was a love letter "I've had to write several times in my life."
For someone who also advises that his fans "Don't Blink" lest they miss all the richness that this all-too-short life has to offer, Chesney might try heeding his own hit's words.
LeAnn Rimes preceded him with a short set heavy on vocal power and Americana rock-leaning arrangements, demonstrating how far she's moved away from the Patsy Cline-like country of "Blue" that launched her career as a teenager.
When she offered up a snippet of that song, it was no longer the steel-guitar driven traditional country tune it started out as but a cabaret-lounge version with moody piano backing.
And the wonderful lunacy she's shown at times by covering such non-country material as Prince's "Purple Rain" was nowhere in sight -- replaced by undistinguished pop-rock.
randy.lewis@latimes.com
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