I found X-Men to be among the only present day movie series, that did somewhat justice to the iconic Marvel comics their based upon. I really enjoyed the whole X-Men trilogy, because of it’s dazzling special effects, so-so story line and of course the spectacular mutants, each with its special ability. My clear favorite? Wolverine, hands down; so recent news of a new X-Men movie, a prequel to the events in the original series, that will be centered around the charismatic mutant, made my day. No doubt a clear sense of money and merchandising is behind the whole movie, but a sincere thumbs up for the movie’s producers.

Anyway let’s get to the subject at hand at that being R&B star will.i.am is set to play in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” too … as a mutant. The Black Eyed Peas frontman will play Wraith, a mutant with the power to turn himself translucent. Major turn off for me here, as I’m more the skeptical in his abilities to act, I mean watch the man’s videos and you’ll get my point. The movie’s time frame is set 17 years before the first X-Men movie, following the origins of the popular mutant interpreted by Hugh Jackman, the dude that played in the previous 3 X-Men movies as well.

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There is no way you can go and sing against Aretha Franklin. Going against the undisputed Queen of Soul would be suicide. Mister T would pity you. But since you can not defeat her it would good to join her.

Franklin demonstrates her ability to belt it out with the best of them on “Jewels in the Crown,” a collection of 16 mostly old duets with such artists as Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, spanning almost the entirety of her career at Arista, from 1981 on. But she has two new numbers: the Underdogs-produced smooth R&B tune “Put You Up On Game” with “American Idol” winner Fantasia and the much more funky, catchy “What Y’all Came to Do” with crooner John Legend.

The latter duet is centered around a riff from Sam & Dave’s 1968 dance anthem “I Thank You,” and it manages to make the most of her voice highlighting Franklin’s gritty soul chops in the best way possible. She whoops, she hollers, but she doesn’t overdo it. Legend knows how to complement, versus compete with, her voice.

The best of “Jewels in the Crown” are actually reworkings of Franklin’s ’60s hits, from a grooving, layered version of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” with Bonnie Raitt and Gloria Estefan from 1993’s Fox TV duets special to a spirited “Chain of Fools” with Carey from VH1’s 1998 “Divas Live” concert. Her voice and way of being remains a legend and worth listening to even just a bit less than 50 years after.

Artist name: Spice Girls
Album name: Greatest Hits
Label: Virgin
Gender: Pop
Release date: November 9, 2007
ZMErating: 8/10
Website: http://www.thespicegirls.com

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The long announced and discussed reunion took place and the next obvious marketing move would be to release their greatest hits. That was easy. What they did was that they played it safe. They are not going to make any new fans and some old fans are going to dislike it, but they managed to bring themselves in the center of attention.
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Here’s a sweet upbeat track, perfect to startoff your dizzy mornings, from hip-hop soul queen [tag]Mary J Blige[/tag], with a equally invigorating video as well. Impressive CGI and props on MJB, who’s actually dressed up in like 20 different versions. All in all great video, grats to her team. Take that Mary J. haters !

Artist name: Jennifer Lopez
Album name: Brave
Label: Epic
Gender: Pop
Release date: October 8, 2007
ZMErating: 8/10
Website: http://www.jenniferlopez.com/

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This is the fifth English language studio album recorded by [tag]Jennifer Lopez[/tag] and beyond any predetermined ideas it is not that bad. Her previous release which was named Rebirth lacked many things and the R&B act was not that good. She goes for a 70s/80s pop sound and manages to keep you listening to it. There are no tracks which are remarcable but they manage to keep things upbeat and interesting. This retro sound she goes for is an interesting choice.
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If you found the collaboration between Chicago native [tag]Common[/tag] and English pop star [tag]Lilly Allen[/tag] a tad strange, then you’ll find the video for “Drivin’ Me Wild” even more weirder. There’s Common rapping about, in a impeccable white tux, in his limo, around the streets etc and there’s Lily Allen singing the song’s chorus in a matching white … astronaut suit. Soft beats and down tempo piano line, toped by Lily’s slow and shallow voice makes the song a relaxing listen.

R&B prince [tag]Usher[/tag] has canceled his wedding with his longtime girlfriend Tameka Foster, on their wedding day, this Saturday. Tameka is pregnant, with Usher’s child and is expected to give birth sometime this fall.

What’s the reason behind this, near the limit, tabloid hell canceling?It seems the main reason is that Ushers err … mom, doesn’t agree to the wedding and objected numerous time, regarding their engagement.

“Usher’s mother [and former manager, Jonetta Patton, whom he fired in May] is against the wedding. That is one of the main obstacles,” a source told People magazine, who also added: “They only decided two weeks ago to have a wedding. They wanted to have it take place before the baby bump started showing.”

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English R&B singer [tag]Amy Winehouse[/tag] has just mapped out a series of gigs across the UK. The series of shows is set to kick off in Manchester Apollo on November 12, before ending in a epic closure in Cardiff Arena on November 28. Until then be sure to pickup Amy’s new single, due to be release on August 13, called “Tear Dry On Their Own”.

Tourdates:

November 12: Manchester Apollo
November 14: Birmingham NIA
November 17: Glasgow Barrowlands
November 18: Newcastle Academy
November 20: Blackpool Empress Ballroom
November 22: London Brixton Academy
November 26: Brighton Centre
November 27: Bournemouth BIC
November 28: Cardiff Arena

Haven’t had enough of [tag]Rihanna[/tag] yet ? Well we haven’t. After her smashing hit “Umbrella” scored the longest Number One position in the UK since 10 years ago, for a period of 10 weeks, it was obvious that this success had to be marketed. And thus Rihanna has recently announced her own collection of umbrellas, devised in collaboration with Totes clothing company.

Currently the Rihanna umbrella collection has 5 models, all in different color. It will be interesting to see   if people will actually buy them, as we’re in mid summer season and unless buyers will purchase models out of utterly love for Rihanna and i don’t see them selling very well.

That is Burkle for financial advice. He stated in a court deposition that Rev. Jesse Jackson and billionaire Ron Burkle gave him advice to help save him from financial disaster when he was fighting child molestation charges. He had a lot of trouble back then and the two helped him get out of most of it.

The New York Daily News said in Sunday’s editions that it had reviewed seven hours of transcripts, and they found out that the the singer believed disloyal advisers took advantage of him financially before a California jury acquitted him of child molestation in June 2005. He is the pray this time.

The music industry is a dangerous place. For some more dangerous than for others. So it isn’t strange that Michael Jackson says the entertainment industry is “full of sharks, charlatans and impostors.” He adds that, “because there’s a lot of money involved, there’s a bunch of schmucks in there.”He has a point.

The deposition was made in preparation for a civil trial expected to begin this week in U.S. district court. The case against Jackson was brought by a New Jersey finance company that claims he cheated the company out of $48 million.