How do you deal with difficult celebs?
The only one I had a problem with was Christina Aguilera. We went to Pittsburgh where she lives to do a promotional thing for her album Stripped. She’d been out til two in the morning so she came in late and was grumpy. I think she had a hangover.

How did you deal with her?
I told her to sleep for a couple of hours. She was meant to be there at ten. She got there at 12, we started about 6pm and we finished at 4am. She was as good as gold in the end. We got 50, 60 magazine covers and the day was worthwhile.

Have you had to deal with any other divas and their tantrums...
They say that about Mariah Carey, and MC is the nicest person. I love her to death. I just treat her the same as I treat my assistants, with the same respect. Sharon Stone said to me that she’d never worked with a photographer that had so much respect for his assistants. I just said I was once an assistant. I never forget my South London roots.
Source: Mariah Connection
Posted on November the 25th.

The paragon of celebrity activism is Bono, the U2 front man who is rarely photographed without his trademark sunglasses. (Bono is a partner in the company that owns 40% of Forbes Media.) The superstar's fervent activism on behalf of debt relief for African nations and his efforts to raise awareness about the uncontrolled spread of AIDS there, and what he claims are unfair trade rules, have led to meetings with world leaders like President George W. Bush, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. The Nobel Peace Prize nominee, named by Time magazine last year as its Person of the Year and rumored to have been seriously considered for the position of World Bank president, is credited as being instrumental in the G-8's recent decision to forgive more than $40 billion of debt owed by 18 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Celebrity interest in Africa has become something of a cliché these days, thanks to over-hyped events like Madonna's adoption of a child from Malawi. But that hasn't stopped celebrity activist George Clooney from pressing his case concerning the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. In April, he headlined a "Save Darfur" rally in Washington, D.C., shortly after he returned from a trip there, in which he had secretly recorded footage that could be used to document genocide. His celebrity clout earned him a spot alongside Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel before the United Nations Security Council in September, to appeal for intervention in the troubled region. 

Some celebrities keep their charity work low key. Mariah Carey, for example, is a longtime supporter of the Fresh Air Fund and founded Camp Mariah in 1994, which underwrites summer camp for 300 boys and girls. But Carey doesn't bring it up unless asked. Last year, rapper 50 Cent teamed up with beverage maker Glaceau (in which he owns a stake) to promote the issue of childhood obesity. But odds are good you won't hear about that in any of his shoot-'em-up lyrics.

The converse of discreet activism might be best characterized by actor Sean Penn, who is vociferous in his campaign against the war in Iraq. The Oscar winner shelled out $56,000 in 2002 for a full-page ad in the Washington Post deriding Bush's policy in Iraq. Penn accused Bush of violating democratic principles there "through a blood-lined sense of entitlement." He also earned some scorn when he covered the Iranian elections for the San Francisco Chronicle last year. No matter, since his essay was the paper's most widely read story of the year.

Perhaps the most talked-about activist this year may be Michael J. Fox, whose advocacy of stem-cell research became national news after conservative talkmeister Rush Limbaugh accused the Emmy-winning actor of hamming up his Parkinson's Disease symptoms in ads for pro-stem-cell candidates in the latest Congressional elections. (Limbaugh later apologized.) To be sure, Fox got the last laugh, logging scores of interviews on the stem-cell issue right before election day.
Source: Forbes (All rights reserved) (extract)
Posted on November the 22nd.

Kelli Seely, president and CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles said, "We are delighted to have the opportunity to recognize such prominent members of our community for their involvement in supporting wish fulfillment for children and their families. It is particularly exciting to honor Mariah Carey with the Wish Icon award for her extraordinary generosity and her many wish granting achievements throughout her career, those we are honoring tonight have brightened the lives of many children and the family members who love them." 

In addition to her multi-award winning career as a performer and songwriter, Mariah has also been a committed volunteer for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She has personally granted dozens of wishes for children from across the country. Many children have taken Mariah's place at music awards shows, thanks to her generosity. Carey also donates to help grant performing arts/music wishes; she has donated in the six figures to fund more than 20 wishes. The pop legend was also willing to take the stage for the Foundation when it celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Source: MariahCarey.com
Posted on November the 21st.

Of course you want , then go take a look at Cat's forum.

Posted on November the 20th.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, described MySpace as a "vast virtual warehouse" of pirated works from some of the company's best-known artists, including Mariah Carey, Diana Krall and U2. Universal claims that "no intellectual property is safe" from the alleged copyright infringement, even unreleased albums such as Jay-Z's "Kingdom Come." 
Universal, a unit of France's Vivendi, is seeking damages of $150,000 for each unauthorized music video or song posted on MySpace, alleged that MySpace not only is aware of the infringement but also makes money selling advertising to the millions of users attracted by the lure of free access to copyrighted works.
"Businesses that seek to trade off on our content, and the hard work of our artists and songwriters, shouldn't be free to do so without permission and without fairly compensating the content creators," Universal said in a statement. "Our music and videos play a key role in building the communities that have created hundreds of millions of dollars of value for the owners of MySpace."

In a written response, MySpace said it did not "induce, encourage or condone" copyright violation in any way. Indeed, on Friday it announced a new tool to make it easier and faster for content holders to remove unauthorized content from the site. 

"MySpace provides an extraordinary promotion platform for artists — from major labels to independent acts — while respecting their copyrights," a company spokeswoman said. "We have been keeping [Universal Music] closely apprised of our industry-leading efforts to protect creators' rights. It's unfortunate they decided to file this unnecessary and meritless litigation."
Click here to read the full article
Source: LA Times (All rights reserved) (extract)
Heroes comment: Soon, they will sue people for buying and listening to their artists albums , no, just kidding, but it's too bad as MySpace is a good way to promote artists....
Posted on November the 18th.

The suit alleges that the American pop diva was "greatly looking forward" to performing in the territory, but was forced to cancel the show when promoter ONE Group Investments Private Limited "breached its contractual obligations".

"Regretfully, Ms Carey's production company has been forced to bring legal action to vindicate its rights," the company's Los Angeles-based lawyers Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher said in a statement.

"This is an open-and-shut case for Mariah's company and we are confident that the company will prevail," said the singer's attorney, Orin Snyder.

ONE Group's chief executive Adrian Hobbs hit back.

"We received no reply to get our money back and we would love for the matter to go to court and the facts (to) come out and clearly she had savings by not coming," Hobbs said in an e-mail reply to AFP. He did not say whether he had taken any legal action.

He said: "We would not presume to tell the court an outcome. This is a matter for the court, not arrogant assumptions... ONE Group is confident that we would prevail and they would be ordered to return money paid."

Carey's concert was cancelled two days before it was due to take place on October 28 after her management company, Handprint Entertainment, and ONE Group pulled the plug, with each blaming the other for mishandling the event.

The promoter blamed poor ticket sales -- claiming that just 4,000 of at least 10,000 had been sold -- and also Handprint's specific last-minute "wholly unreasonable" demands.

Handprint at the time blamed One Group for failing to pay outstanding production and artists' fees.

Carey had been booked to play on a harbourside site that hosts occasional outdoor events. Production crews had already begun building the stage when the announcement came.

Carey's cancellation follows the axing of a show by British pop singer Robbie Williams on November 10 due to poor health.
Source: Yahoo! News (All rights reserved)
Posted on November the 10th.

Any woman would love to feel the soft touch of a fur coat wrapping around her shoulders. And it does not really matter what that fur coat is made from. Of course, the statement does not apply to pampered stars. 

According to different sources, the oligarch chose from two to eight fine fur coats worth around 5,000 pounds. The rich man was confident that the girl would be immensely grateful to him for the present. 

But the present had an opposite effect on the singer. She was reportedly shocked and dismayed when she got it. The businessman apparently knew nothing about her attitude towards animals. Mariah is deadly serious about them. Just like many other celebrities, she is a vocal advocate of animal rights. 

“The fur item sent by that man really horrified Mariah,” said a source from the singer's inner circle. “They are not close friends though she believes the guy should have known better before doing things like that. Mariah had the furs sent to the New York office of PETA, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals,” said the source. 

Needless to say, the organization was pleased to get a parcel from Ms. Carey. “We are very excited about such a generous donation,” said a press secretary for PETA. According to him, members of the organization will be touring the States and use the fur coats as exhibits while lecturing teenagers on cruelty to animals.
Source: Pravda.ru (All rights reserved)
Posted on November the 9th.

"Mariah Carey holds a moral belief about the sanctity of life, and will most likely be insulted by the gift, as will many of the viewers and other faux-fur stars," Jeremy reported. You can read the full context of Jeremy's report at Eureka Hats.
Source: MariahJournal - Jeremy
Posted on November the 9th.

This year Mariah is up with 21 songs .  C'mon guys, vote now!!!!!!!

21 Mariah songs op in de Radio Donna Top 2006
Je mag nu stemmen voor Mariah op Radio Donna in hun Top 2006.
Dit jaar, Mariah staat er in met 21 liedjes .  Allé, nu stemmen jongens!!!!!

21 chansons de Mariah en liste pour le Top 2006 sur Radio Donna
Vous pouvez voterà partir de maintenant sur la radio belge "Radio Donna" pour leur Top 2006.
Cette année, Mariah a 21 chansons listées .  Allez les gars, votez maintenant!!!!
Source for the info: eliseke81 on our forum.
Posted on November the 3rd.