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Friday, January 16th, 2004
Screaming fans. A frenzy of reporters. Even a make-shift stage. It was the biggest Michael Jackson event in, like, a decade. Unfortunately for the 45-year-old pop legend, all the hoopla for was for his count appearance Friday in Santa Barbara related to those very serious molestation charges. Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment. On his way out of the courtroom, he jumped on top an SUV, did a little dance and waved to fans. Might be just a little early for that kind of celebrating, Michael. One of the most memorable Michael Jackson moments ever was his first moonwalk during the infamous Motown 25 special. Lionel Ritchie and Justin Timberlake are set to host a new ABC special, Motown 45. Whether Jackson will be involved is a major--and unanswered--question. Grammy-nominated rapper Mystikal was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison for his part in a sexual battery case. The early word is Madonna will tour North America starting in June. Old news if you read this column: CBS has officially given the green light for C.S.I.: New York, another spinoff of the popular crime drama. David Spade's guest role on ABC's 8 Simple Rule has turned into a permanent job for the actor. That's a good thing--now somebody else will get a turn on the Asteroids machine down at the 7-11. Rocker Ozzy Osbourne has returned to Los Angeles. He'd been recovering in England since as ATV accident there last month. Ruben Studdard sings the national anthem Sunday before the NFC Championship game between the Eagles and the Panthers. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey will host Saturday Night Live this weekend (if they can find "New York City"). New in theaters: Torque (Ice Cube); Along Came Polly (Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller). Christina Aguilera appears tonight on Letterman. Puddle Of Mudd performs on Leno. --Greg Valentine
"I was in Vegas, and it took over me, and, you know, things got out of hand." That's how Britney Spears explained her 55-hour marriage, breaking her silence on the matter in a phone call Wednesday to MTV's Total Request Live. "I do believe in the sanctity of marriage," she also told viewers. (Just not as much as her belief in the sanctity of the publicity stunt!) Nelly, Kid Rock and P. Diddy will join Janet Jackson for the upcoming Superbowl XXXVIII halftime show. It's a return performance for Nelly, who took part in the halftime festivities in 2001. MTV has inked Cameron Diaz for a travel series in which the cameras will follow the actress and her friends on their adventures around the world supporting environmental causes. Official details for the Kelly Clarkson/Clay Aiken tour will be announced Monday, the same day as the American Idol season premiere. Alanis Morissette releases her new album, So-Called Chaos, April 13th (in hopes of reviving her so-called career). Josh Groban knocks Outkast from the top spot on the Billboard magazine album chart. It's the classical/pop crooner's first number one CD. Frasier will air it's series finale on Thursday, May 13th, even though it's normally on Tuesday nights (that's one week after the final Friends). Former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody is writing songs with Avril Lavinge for her next album. Something to Crow about: Singer Sheryl Crow has booked appearances on Jay Leno, Ryan Seacrest and Sharon Osbourne for next week. Rumor has it they're planning to make Star Wars episodes 7, 8 and 9. Makes sense--7, 8 and 9 are the ages they seem to be making these movies for anymore! Barenaked Ladies will perform two songs at next month's NHL All-Star game. Here's a weird one. Actress Christina Applegate is a potential juror in the Robert Blake murder trial, despite her best efforts to get out of it. She's asked to be excused from the jury pool because of "professional obligations." Course, you actually need to be working for that one to fly. --Greg Valentine
The Long Goodbye: NBC's pretty much devoting the whole night of May 6th to the farewell of Friends. It'll start with a one-hour retrospective of classic scenes, followed by an hour-long series finale. Then the cast is joined on the Central Perk set by Jay Leno, and the reminiscing continues on the Tonight Show. Jay Leno did a similar Tonight Show stunt the night of the Cheers finale. That was set in the Boston bar that inspired the show, and resulted in some truly entertaining bad television (drunk actors on live TV…classic)! Wanna Be Parking Something? It'll cost $250 a spot to park at the Santa Barbara court house during Michael Jackson's arraignment on Friday. Top-Dawg: Randy Jackson (the American Idol dude, not the brother of Wacko Jacko) is putting together the band for Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken's upcoming tour. He says he thinks the singers will duet on a couple songs during the show Sharon Osbourne told her viewers Monday (her first day back on her show) that Ozzy's collarbone has been replaced with a rod and that the rocker nearly lost an arm from that ATV accident last month. Bad Karma Chameleon: Rosie O'Donnell has lost all of her $10 million investment in the Boy George Broadway musical Taboo, which is set to shut down February 8th. Singer Daniel Bedingfield has been released from a New Zealand hospital where he's been recovering from injuries sustained in a New Year's Eve car accident. Bedingfield, a New Zealand native, plans to stay with his parents for another month while recuperating. Aerosmith will headline the Super Bowl pregame show. They're also set to perform in the finale, during a tribute to NASA. Did ya think for two seconds you found a website with Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey doing it? It's not them, the couple says. They're looking at suing the porn site. Singer Jason Mraz will portray 60s pop idol Dion on the March 21st episode of NBC's American Dreams. Spacey Macy Gray appears in this weekend's show as soul singer Carla Thomas. Mr. Blackwell (whose fashion credentials are highly suspect, yet never questioned when this stupid list comes out every year) has released his 44th Annual Worst Dressed list. Well the farce stops here, Blackwell! You prove to me you know what the H-E-double-hockey-sticks you're talking about, and I'll report on your little "list!" --Greg Valentine
Showtime will air a Britney Spears concert special March 28th live from American Airlines Arena in Miami to help promote her latest album. Oops, I think I'm in trouble. I just mentioned a "bomb" and an airline in the same sentence! The "nasty" in Dynasty: ABC will air one of those behind-the-scenes, "dirt-revealing" telepics about the rise and fall of the 80s primetime soap Dynasty during the May sweeps. OutKast, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and the White Stripes are the first performers officially announced for the 46th Annual Grammy Awards taking place February 8th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Congrats to Dido, who just picked up three nominations for the 2004 Brit Awards ("the British Grammys"). Nick Lachey as… Tom Jones? The 40-watt bulb of the 60-watt Newlyweds marriage is set to appear on NBC's American Dreams. Lachey will perform the Jones song "It's Not Unusual." Prince Charles recently sent a get-well gift to Ozzy Osbourne following his near-fatal ATV accident: a bottle of Scotch! Then the Prince proceeded to try and extinguish a palace fire with a bucket of gasoline. Another group is having their music turned into a Broadway musical. This time it's the Beach Boys. Good Vibrations should hit the stage next year. Barenaked Ladies have announced a 32-date North American tour, set to begin February 11th in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here's where they'll be playing. Today's the day Sheryl Crow's new DVD, C'Mon America 2003, is screened in movie theaters nationwide. Check RegalCinemas.com for a list of the theaters. Dave Matthews performs one of the tracks from his solo album tonight on Jay Leno. --Greg Valentine
Take cover, music lovers! Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey have recorded a remake of Berlin's 1986 #1 hit "Take My Breath Away," memorably featured in the movie Top Gun. They'll world premiere their duet February 13th on Oprah. The second season of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey's Newlyweds premieres on MTV January 21st. Richard Hatch, Tina Wesson, Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca are among the 18 former cast members invited to participate in Survivor: All-Stars, taking place in the Pearl Islands and airing beginning February 1st. Who else is returning? Click here. This will be the final season of NBC's Frasier. The network considered bringing the show back for (yet) another season. But star Kelsey Grammer would've had to take a huge pay cut. The British tabloid press is reporting that the cast of Friends will return for a reunion special around Thanksgiving. NBC has denied the story. Silly British press. Reunion specials are for when you're old and washed up! Producers are mum about who's performing on the Grammys this year. But Christina Aguilera's website has revealed one of the performers. Her! "Beautiful" is nominated for Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown spent Christmas and New Year's Eve apart. Now comes word Whitney's working on Valentine's Day… in the Arab country of Dubai! It's unknown if Bobby's making the trip. Brown appears in a Georgia courtroom February 4th for a preliminary hearing on battery charges stemming from a fight with Whitney last month. Norah Jones, Ruben Studdard, Cher and Harry Connick Jr. will make guest appearances on Sesame Street starting this spring to mark the popular children's show's 35th anniversary. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl voted Favorite Motion Picture at the 30th Annual People's Choice Awards Sunday night. Beyonce Knowles tied with country singer Faith Hill for the Favorite Female Musical Performer award. Tim McGraw picked up the Male honors. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is number one at the box office again, earning another $14.2 million. Early reports had Tim Burton's Big Fish finishing first. Sorry, Charlie! On Air with Ryan Seacrest debuts today, with a visit from The Rock and Enrique Iglesias. Leann Rimes stops by tomorrow. John Mayer joins the American Idol host Wednesday. Leann rimes performs tonight on Leno. --Greg Valentine
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