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Madonna Tour Kick-off Pushed Back Because Of 'Production Delays'

Posted 4/26/12 3:40 pm EST by in Madonna, Tour Dates

Madonna's "MDNA Tour" just encountered its first setback.

The hotly anticipated tour will now open at Tel Aviv, Israel's Ramat Gan Stadium two days later than previously scheduled due to production delays. Concert promoter Live Nation assured that all tickets for the planned May 29 show will be honored at the rescheduled May 31 event.

Madonna's last several tours have been major technical achievements, featuring elaborate sets and massive LED screens. Similarly, this show, according to a press release from Live Nation, is set to feature "state of the art technical components including the largest video screens ever created."

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Looks like those fancy screens need a little more set-up time before the show can go on.

Hopefully, M and Co. get whatever production problems the show is facing under control quickly. Her Madgesty has already confirmed 76 concert dates in arenas, stadiums and large outdoor venues, including Quebec City’s historic Plains of Abraham, throughout Europe and North America with ticket sales exceeding 1.4 million to date. That's a lot of unhappy customers should the show be plagued by ongoing tech concerns. (Which we're sure it won't be, but, you know, just sayin.')

Despite some (unfounded!) talk that sales were not as brisk as concert promoters would like, the "MDNA Tour" has already sold out multiple shows in Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Istanbul as well as Philadelphia, Boston, Montreal, Quebec City (70,000 tickets), New York City’s Yankee Stadium (73,000 tickets over 2 shows), Washington DC and Los Angeles' Staples Center.

New concert dates in Mexico and South America were recently announced and will be followed by a swing through Australia, where Madonna has not performed since her "Girlie Show" tour 20 years ago.

Related:

>> Let's Talk About This Rumored Madonna Tour Setlist
>> Madonna Celebrates #1 Album With Surprise Party Backstage At Tour Rehearsals
>> Madonna Plans To Address Anti-Gay Russian Law During St. Petersburg Concert
>> Madonna Shows Off Tour Rehearsal Injuries (Photos)

Will you be seeing Madonna's "MDNA Tour"? Let us know in the comments below!

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Taylor Swift Makes Cupcakes With Selena Gomez (Pic)

Posted 4/26/12 11:25 am EST by in Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Tweet Beat

Selena Gomez, Twitter

Taylor Swift must harbor no ill will about being punk'd so hard by Justin Bieber, because she hit the kitchen with his lady friend, Selena Gomez, to bake up some magic.

Gomez posted the above pic, as is, to her Twitter account showing herself and a friend baking cupcakes with Swift, who entertained them by strumming away on her guitar (no teardrops!).

"Because you need a best friend that's sings beautifully, another best friend to dance with you and another to listen. Oh and cupcakes... Cupcakes," Gomez wrote.

Adorbs!

Also, baking cupcakes is so Taylor Swift Being Taylor Swift, just like all the family friendly fun below!

Related:

>> Taylor Swift Enlists Meredith To Rally Fans To Vote For ACMs
>> Taylor Swift Tweets Her Thanks To Famous Friends After CMA Win, Finds A Christmas Tree
>> This Week In Taylor Swift Being Taylor Swift: OMG CHRISTMAS!
>> This Week In Taylor Swift Being Taylor Swift: She Named Her Cat After A 'Grey's Anatomy' Character

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Mariah Carey Hits The Studio With Rick Ross

Posted 4/26/12 10:44 am EST by in Mariah Carey, Rick-Ross

Mariah Carey is hard at work on her new album, and hit the studio in Miami with Ricky Rozay himself.

The two previously collaborated on the official remix to Carey's hit "Touch My Body," and while it's unclear if the collab will appear on Carey's album or Ross's anticipated God Forgives, I Don't, Jermaine Dupri and DJ Khaled, who have been working with Carey throughout her recording sessions, were also present, so perhaps this is meant for Carey's record?

Dupri has been a constant in the latter half of Carey's career, producing some of her biggest recent hits, including "We Belong Together" and "Shake It Off." She is also recording with Randy Jackson, who has worked with her throughout her career and been her musical director for a number of her tours.

She's clearly sticking with what works for her first post-baby release and that's a very good thing!

Are you excited for Mariah Carey's new album? Let us know in the comments below!

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Rufus Wainwright And Mark Ronson Talk Collaborating On Out Of The Game in VMAN Summer Issue

Posted 4/24/12 3:06 pm EST by in Music

Photo by Maciek Kobielski

Rufus Wainwright is one of music's top Renaissance men. In the last several years, he's (ahem) released several acclaimed albums, written an opera and taken his own multi-octave voice to new heights performing Judy Garland's classic Carnegie Hall concert.

Now, he's back with perhaps his most commercial and radio-friendly album ever, Out of the Game, and tells VMAN in their summer issue that he wanted to make an album meant to be listened to loud with the windows down while cruising in your car. To find that sound, he enlisted on-the-pulse producer Mark Ronson.

"Mark and I had a chance to get to know each other and to really make it about the music," Wainwright says. "It just that kind of visceral, humanistic approach to a song where it has a purpose, i.e. Mark brings the life to a party. I've always wanted that in my work."

Photo by Maciek Kobielski

Check out the full spread, with photos by Maciek Kobielski, in VMAN's summer issue, and get a sneak peek another fantastic pic of Wainwright below. Read More...

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System Of A Down Recruit Deftones For Nostalgic Summer Tour

Posted 4/24/12 1:45 pm EST by in System of a Down, Tour Dates

By Zachary Swickey

It’s clear by looking at festival lineups that nostalgia is in like never before in the music scene. (Why else could Cash Money sign Limp Bizkit?) And now fans of '90s alt-metal have plenty to celebrate with System of a Down announcing a two-week summer jaunt with their old chums, the Deftones.

The two outfits first teased the new tour through the trading of tweets (above) by holding up each other’s backstage passes in photos, but now the cat is officially out of the bag with the two groups hitting the road for the first half of August.

System of a Down notably went on hiatus in 2006, but made their live return for a round of some West Coast dates last year, but this upcoming Deftones tour will mark their first stops in the states since those few shows. SOAD hasn’t released any new music since 2005’s Mezmerize and Hypnotize and have yet to announce any plans of recording a new album (unfortunately).

On the other hand, Deftones have already begun work in the studio on their upcoming seventh disc. Grammy-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Marilyn Manson) will helm the boards like he did with their last effort, ‘10’s Diamond Eyes. Friend of the band Sergio Vega will once again be filling in for original bassist Chi Cheng, who remains in a comatose state following an auto accident four years ago.

Check out the tour dates below (and anyone can feel free to fly me out to the East Coast, so I too may see my dream trek come true). Read More...

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Jimmy Fallon Announces New Comedy Album Featuring Justin Timberlake And Bruce Springsteen

Posted 4/24/12 11:33 am EST by in comedy, Music, Television

Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon has announced he will release his first comedy album since 2002's The Bathroom Wall on June 12. Titled Blow Your Pants Off, the set features guest appearances from many of the top stars who've helped make many of Fallon's best skits from his late night talk show go viral, including Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, Paul McCartney and Justin Timberlake.

>> Jimmy Fallon Sued For Gender Bias (But It's Not What You're Thinking)

Based on that guest list, we're curious if at least part of Fallon's album will be a sort of "best of," featuring his amazing "History Of Rap" medleys with Timberlake or his collaborations with Springsteen, in which Fallon impersonates Neil Young and Springsteen plays a younger, "Born to Run"-era version of himself and the pair sing the most out of character modern pop songs imaginable – so far Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair" and LMFAO's "Sexy and I know It."

>> Jimmy Fallon Spoofs 'Downton Abbey'

We've collected some of our favorite of Jimmy's musical moments, including those listed above and one classic from his first album, after the jump. Check 'em out and let us know in the comments below if your excited about his new comedy album! Read More...

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Kaskade Reveals Additions To 'Freaks of Nature' Tour In New Video

Posted 4/23/12 2:59 pm EST by in dance, Tour Dates

By Akshay Bhansali

Is it too easy to begin this post with a reference to Dirty South’s version of the Diddy-Dirty Money hit "I’m Coming Home"?

Maybe. But frankly that couldn't be more fitting for the occasion. On Monday (April 23), Kaskade revealed exclusively to MTV in a new tour video that he’s added epic home-state dates in Los Angeles, and San Francisco to his already mammoth, 50-plus date "Freaks of Nature" tour. His July 27 gig in L.A. will make him the first solo electronic dance musician ever to headline the Staples Center. The show will be followed by a hearty showing the next day in San Francisco, where his career in music began.

Get More: Kaskade, Music News

Buddies Alvin Risk, Fareoah, Treasure Fingers and Le Castle Vania will be joining EDM icon Kaskade on his "Freaks of Nature" tour. Pre-sales for L.A. and San Francisco will be available tomorrow (April 24) at 10 a.m. PST, with general on-sale tickets becoming available Friday, April 27 at 10 a.m. PST. For updates, more info and to purchase tickets head to www.freaksofnaturetour.com.

Check out a complete list of tour dates below. Read More...

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Adele Bests Jason Mraz's U.K. Sales By Just 44 Albums

Posted 4/23/12 2:04 pm EST by in Adele, Charts, Music

By Elizabeth Lancaster

Poor guy!

Forty four may seem like an irrelevant number in individual album sales for heavy hitters like Adele and Jason Mraz, who are accustom to selling millions, but this week that number made all of the difference.

Adele held on to the top spot on the U.K. album chart this week with her record-setting blockbuster 21 by selling just 44 more copies than Mraz's debuting Love is a Four Letter Word.

Love is Mraz's first new release since 2008's smash We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, which gave the singer the longest running song ever on the Billboard Hot 100, "I'm Yours." In 2010, Mraz won two Grammys for his work on the album, so needless to say the bar has been set high for his follow-up. His first single off the new album, "I Won’t Give Up," peaked at #1 on iTunes after its release in January, and we expect the rest of the album to continue gaining momentum!

Listen to "I Won't Give Up" below:

Get More: Jason Mraz, I Won't Give Up, Music, More Music Videos

Have you picked up Jason's Mraz's new album? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below!

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Kevin Federline's Aunt Writes Britney Spears-K-Fed Fan Fic Erotic Novel

Posted 4/23/12 11:18 am EST by in books, Britney Spears, Kevin-Federline

Pop Bab

Fan fiction is all the rage and if you need evidence just look at the New York Times bestseller list, where "50 Shades of Grey," which was originally developed from an erotic "Twilight" fan fiction entitled "Master of the Universe," is a huge hit and has kind of opened the flood gates.

The latest addition to the cannon: "Pop Baby Krissy Doucet," about an out-of-work dancer ("Keenan Fazio") who strikes the fancy of pop princess Krissy Doucet. A blurb from the book indicates "Krissy" becomes so smitten with "Keenan" she can barely think straight.

"The moment Krissy set her sights on Keenan, she knew he was amazing. Choosing him at the club was one of the best decisions of her life," the blurb reads. "Yet how can she compete with the beautiful Tara Butler? A woman from Keenan's past who understands his sexual desires. Would sharing Keenan in Tara's bed be their only option for love?"

Yowza! With the exception of the bed sharing (which, um, well…), doesn't this story sound kind of familiar?

What if we added this: "Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll might seem like a great theme for a seventies movie, but for Keenan and Krissy it is their way of life," the blurb continues. "The paparazzi say they are in lust, not love. For them, lust and love go hand in hand."

Would it make even more sense if we told you the $4 e-book was written by Diane Story, aunt of Kevin Federline?

OHHHHHH.

According to the official site, "Pop Baby Krissy Doucet" will be in stores April 26 and a sequel "Pop Baby Maddy Fortin" will be released next month. Story also created a contest on her website where the winner can win an actual wedding invitation from Spears and Federline's 2004 wedding. So there's also that…

Britney Spears began seeing Federline when he was her back-up dancer in 2004. They announced their engagement soon after, while Kevin's ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson was pregnant with their second child, and married in October 2004. The couple had two children, Sean Preston and Jayden James, before divorcing in 2007.

Read More...

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Lady Gaga Tweets Stadium Pics As Tour Opener Nears

Posted 4/23/12 10:01 am EST by in Lady Gaga, Tour Dates, Tweet Beat

Lady Gaga is in the homestretch. Her much awaited "Born the Way Ball" opens at Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, and she is already in the country doing final rehearsals for the massive show.

Lady Gaga, Twitter

The pop star arrived in S. Korea Friday and has been tweeting images from the stadium as it is readied for her show, complete with that massive stage we took a look at last week. And in a fitting twist, it's been rainy in Korea, just as it's been in Gaga's native NYC. Feels like home.

>> Is This Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way Ball' Stage? (Pic)

Check out more pics of the pop star taking in the venue that on Friday will be filled with tens of thousands of Little Monsters, after the jump. Read More...

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