CHICAGO (Reuters) - R&B superstar R. Kelly and a girl who described him as her godfather and was about 13 or 14 are the two people on a pornographic tape Kelly is accused of making, the girl's former best friend testified on Wednesday.
Simha Jamison, now 24, said in the second full day of the Grammy Award-winning artist's trial that she recognized her friend Roshona Landfair on the videotape from her face and from a "mullet" haircut the two girls had gotten together.
"I saw (the tape) in late February 2002," said Jamison, a Chicago hair stylist.
"Who did you believe was the female on that tape?" asked prosecutor Shauna Boliker of the Cook County state's attorney's office.
"I believed it was my best friend, Roshona," she replied.
And the man on the tape, which Jamison was shown again on Wednesday before court?
"Her godfather, R. Kelly," she said, explaining that's how Roshona had introduced the singer.
Kelly is charged with 14 counts of videotaping, producing or soliciting child pornography with a 26-minute tape featuring oral sex, masturbation and other explicit acts. If convicted of all charges, the 41-year-old performer, whose given name is Robert Kelly, could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
Monday 30 June 2008
Tuesday 24 June 2008
Coldplay - Martin Obama As President Would Change Americas Image
COLDPLAY frontman CHRIS MARTIN is desperate to see presidential hopeful BARACK OBAMA win the race to the White House - claiming it would completely transform America's global image.
The Yellow hitmaker is rooting for the recently crowned democratic party leader to land the role as the U.S.'s next president, and first black president, insisting it would boost the nation's flailing image as a world superpower.
And the singer is keen to see the U.S. return to its former glowing reputation as a well-run country - because he is a huge fan of the American people.
He tells U.S. magazine Rolling Stone, "If Obama was to be president, it would immediately change the whole outside world's opinion of America overnight.
"America's public image at the moment is really bad. And it's a bummer, because over half of Americans are the coolest people on the planet. But they've been so misrepresented."
The British musician is married to American actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who is the mother of his children, Apple, four, and Moses, two.
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Saturday 21 June 2008
The future of TV is written in Internet leaks
LEAKED: Somebody at my favourite TV blog -- TVtattle.com -- must have let their curiosity do the (net)surfing for them, because they discovered that at least two of this fall�s big new shows have already been leaked to online file-sharing networks, months in advance of their premieres. J. J. Abrams new X-Filesesque Fringe is out there, as is True Blood, Alan �Six Feet Under� Ball�s new vampire show for HBO.
The TVtattle blogger found them on a site called Insomniac Times, whose proprietor posts about alternate energy tech and other geeky stuff along with the odd leaked file that's making its way onto sharing sites like Pirate Bay. A quick search on btjunkie revealed that both shows have already been disseminated pretty widely, with hundreds of �seeders� for True Blood alone.
Now, I realize that I�m being a naughty boy by even talking about this stuff, but the fact is that screeners get leaked all the time and if you�re really hot to see a show, either a few weeks or months after it�s aired or even just as long in advance, chances are you�ll probably be able to find it out there in the internet�s capacious grey zones. The media is usually blamed, but by the time newspapers and magazines have been serviced with sneak previews of new shows, they�ve usually already made their appearance online, put there by someone a bit higher in the screener food chain at the studios or their production and duplication houses.
Having finished product available long before it�s supposed to be broadcast � even if it�s theoretically meant for a select audience � is the real problem, since simple laws of supply and demand, not to mention human nature, means that leaks will happen no matter how much security is put in place. Lawsuits won�t work either, Hollywood homies � just ask your depressed buddies in the music business.
What�s required at this point is a whole new way of looking at production and programming. A change that�s basically revolutionary, if you�re a network executive working with a business model that hasn�t changed since Burns And Allen was a radio show. Forget broadcasting, fall debuts, even seasons; with a pilot in hand, the networks � or any producer with access to a distribution network online � can make a show available and gauge audience response accordingly, all at a fraction of the cost of producing episodes in advance of demand.
Every fall, shows fall by the wayside after just a handful of aired episodes, while even more are in the can. Networks then scramble for replacements for the now-vacant time slot -- much to the consternation of advertisers. Every year, this system looks more and more precarious and the sense of dissatisfaction and anxiety increases, while the audiences have already begun consuming programming the way they want � at their leisure. The future, at least for TV, is now � somebody just has to tell the networks.
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Oscar-winning special-effects guru Stan Winston dies at 62
LOS ANGELES — Hollywood special-effects maestro Stan Winston has died at age 62.
The Oscar-winning visual-effects artist died at his home Sunday evening surrounded by family after a seven-year struggle with multiple myeloma, according to a representative from Stan Winston Studio.
Winston won visual effects Oscars for 1986's "Aliens," 1992's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and 1993's "Jurassic Park."
Winston is survived by his wife, Karen; a son, daughter, brother and four grandchildren.
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Pugwash
Artist: Pugwash
Genre(s):
Drum & Bass
Discography:
Liquid Recordings (LIQUID006)
Year: 2006
Tracks: 2
Liquid (LIQUID005)
Year: 2005
Tracks: 2
China Dreams
Amrit Vela
Artist: Amrit Vela
Genre(s):
Easy Listening
Discography:
Sadhana Chants
Year:
Tracks: 7
Broadway's "Cry-Baby" to close
Kiss - The Things They Say 8611
"We're like herpes I guess." KISS star PAUL STANLEY jokes that the band are hard to get rid of from the live music scene.
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Emeril to be on cover of Everyday Food
NEW YORK —
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The customary culinary eye candy on the cover of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine has been replaced by something that might have readers shouting "Bam!"
Instead of the usual recipe cover shot, readers of the July/August issue will see a picture of Emeril Lagasse and Stewart, marking the first time in the magazine's five years that people, not food, have graced the cover.
The move marks a further development in the relationship between Lagasse and Stewart, whose company in February bought the rights to Lagasse's franchise of cookbooks, television shows and kitchen products from him.
Lagasse will be a regular columnist in Everyday Food. His "Kick It Up - Everyday with Emeril" column will focus on easy, innovative recipes. His first column includes recipes for ribs, macaroni salad and Caribbean chicken.
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Milk Inc.
Artist: Milk Inc.
Genre(s):
Dance
Discography:
Milk Inc. EP
Year: 2004
Tracks: 3
Closer
Year: 2003
Tracks: 14
Apocalypse Cow
Year: 1999
Tracks: 13
Brosnan's Beach Karaoke Concerts Pay Off For Mamma Mia!
Pierce Brosnan prepared for his musical role in upcoming summer blockbuster Mamma Mia! by performing to the ocean on the beach near his Kauai, Hawaii retreat. Too nervous to belt out the Abba songs he performs for the film's soundtrack to friends, family and holidaymakers, the former James Bond hit the shore as the waves were crashing around him - with his iPod. He tells U.S. magazine Parade, "I walked up and down the coast and sang karaoke to my own voice for about six weeks." But his beach rehearsals failed to impress when he had to perform in front of producers and castmates for the first time: "I went to New York for the first rehearsals, and I sounded dreadful. I quietly freaked out... and I made a pig's ear of it." But he refused to give up, went back to Hawaii and worked even harder on hitting the high notes. He adds, "In the end they liked it so much they added a verse to my big song."
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RuPaul
Artist: RuPaul
Genre(s):
Rock
Discography:
Supermodel of the World
Year: 1993
Tracks: 13
A major media presence thanks to his outgoing persona and camp theatrics, RuPaul was a popular attracter on '90s dancefloors as well, scoring several club hits with Hi-NRG Euro-disco pop. Born Rupaul Andre Charles, he grew up in San Diego, eruditeness fashion tips from his mother and iII sisters. After some time dog-tired in Atlanta as a secondhand car salesman, RuPaul affected to New York and grew interested in the Manhattan ball club scene of the '80s. By the early '90s, he had begun acting and signed a narrow in 1991 with the hip-hop judge Tommy Boy Records. Though RuPaul's debut album, Supermodel of the World, was released in 1993, it failed to score with pop audiences until the following year, when the club success of the individual "Supermodel (You Better Work)" carried o'er to a spot just international of the Top 40. His twosome with Elton John, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," as well placed on the American charts but proved more successful in Europe, where the 2 co-hosted England's Brit Awards and RuPaul taped a popular Christmas special. He as well appeared in deuce films, The Brady Bunch Movie and Spike Lee's Crooklyn; the exposure gained him his possess show for VH1, The RuPaul Show. After moving to Rhino for his second album, Guileful Lady, RuPaul scored in the clubs once once more with the unmarried "Shot." In 2000 RuPaul was in Times Square, New York City, for the entry of his Madame Tussaud rise replication. In 2001 he was approached by both the A&E and Bravo networks for profiles of his life. It was wearying complementary both and RuPaul simply watched one earlier falling into a bass, monthlong depression. When he came kayoed of it, he mat free to go on to act terzetto of his animation. Ready to share his creativeness with the world over again, RuPaul released the album Red Hot in 2004 on his possess RuCo, Inc. label. The 2006 freeing Reworked featured remixes of tracks from Bolshie Hot along with a new version of "Supermodel."
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