Will Justin Timberlake succeed in his movie debut?
(6/14/04) Entertainment Weekly (thanks Eva!)

Justin Timberlake

MOVIE: ''Edison''

WHEN: Early 2005

PLAYING: Josh Pollack, a cub reporter

WHAT'S THE STORY?: A rookie scribe (Timberlake, pictured with Morgan Freeman, left, and an unidentified extra) finds himself in deep trouble when he uncovers a citywide police corruption scandal.

WHY HE MIGHT ROCK: He'll be ably supported by world-class actors Freeman and Kevin Spacey. Plus, he spent some rehearsal time learning the ropes with a real reporter on the legal beat.

WHY HE MIGHT HIT A SOUR NOTE: It's a pretty big leap from smooth pop crooner to lead actor in a heavyweight film drama.

Go into space, be part of reality show
Producers shopping projects around
(6/14/04) CNN

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- The great space race is back on among reality TV producers.

Several projects revolving around the concept of sending rookie astronauts into outer space are being shopped around town these days.

Phil Gurin, who worked with pop star Lance Bass to chronicle his 2002 astro-training experience in Russia, is developing a project that would involve ordinary folks training and competing to land one seat on a Russian space flight.

The Bass project never gelled, in part because they couldn't come up with the $20 million needed to reserve Bass' seat on the Russian Federal Space Agency's Soyuz spacecraft.

Bass is still attached to Gurin's new project, but instead of focusing on the singer's adventures, the show "will involve an ordinary civilian competing for a chance to go into space," Gurin said...

Despite all the activity among producers, there's considerable skepticism about the viability of a space-travel-based series among network buyers because of the high cost involved and the logistical difficulties of setting up live coverage of the flight itself.

The Age review: Justin in Melbourne
(6/14/04) Ken Nguyen The Age Australia

Festival Hall, June 11

Some 40 years after the Beatles were drowned out by hysterical fans at Festival Hall, Melbourne fans showed they could still scream. They screamed when Justin spoke. They screamed when Justin took a sip of his drink. And when he stripped off a daggy V-neck to reveal his T-shirt-clad buffness? Well, suffice to say that one could have sworn the Roman Empire was sacking Carthage all over again.

That said, for all his Smash Hits appeal, Friday's entertaining - if often imperfect - show made it clear that former 'NSync member Justin Timberlake dearly wants to be seen as a serious artist.

Despite the critical acclaim garnered by his Neptunes and Timbaland-produced solo debut, Justified - the august New Yorker even certified Timberlake's Cry Me a River the most polyphonically complex teenybopper ballad in history - the ex-Mouseketeer spent much of the middle of his club-style show making plays for credibility.

He played guitar and piano, announced in a none-too-obscure reference to ex-girlfriend Britney Spears that "I don't lip synch, I sing", eschewed dance moves, and led his 13-piece band through morose, self-penned ballads like Gone, which he optimistically described as raw and unpolished. The crowd, meanwhile, having paid $130 for the right to scream and dance, showed signs of restlessness.

No, it was the gormless party anthems that the hipster-clad masses had come to hear and, happily, when he got around to them, Timberlake delivered them with enthusiasm and panache.

It's easy to over-intellectualise pop music but, as girlfriend Cameron Diaz's delighted side-of-stage responses demonstrated, the best thrills in pop are often the dumbest. Who needs credibility when you can make a crowd wet itself over Senorita's "guys say, girls say" call-and-response? Even better were Timberlake's bump-and-grind theatrics during Like I Love You, his blissfully idiotic cover of the Rolling Stones' Miss You and the riotous Michael Jackson-song-that-never-was, Rock Your Body, which closed out the night complete with human beat-boxing. Top stuff.

There's an underrated art to making Great Dumb Pop Music, and Friday's performance showed Timberlake's strengths lie with songs that aim straight for the hips and feet rather than the brain.

Vegas Sightings
(6/14/04) Norm Clarke Las Vegas Review-Journal

...Snoop Dogg, making a grand entrance down the staircase about 1 a.m. Sunday at Body English (Hard Rock Hotel) as the surprise musical guest of Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" party. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, during her red carpet appearance, confirmed plans to assist in the selection of music for the Bellagio dancing fountains. Her friend, Mark Fuller of Los Angeles, coordinates the water show. Others there: Adrian Brody, Vin Diesel, Paris Hilton, Vince Vaughn, 'N Sync's J.C. Chasez, the Backstreet Boys' Howie Dorough, porn star Jenna Jameson, and Laura Prepon and Danny Masterson of "That 70's Show." Prepon was with her boyfriend, Chris Masterson, Danny's brother...

JC Chasez Gives Up On 'Sex,' Teams Up With Paris Hilton
(6/14/04) Corey Moss MTV

JC Chasez is putting a stop to his sex dreams.

After his single "All Day Long I Dream About Sex" failed to ignite much of a spark at radio, perhaps because it was too controversial in the wake of his friend Justin Timberlake's Super Bowl stunt with Janet Jackson, the 'NSYNC singer has scrapped plans to promote the song this summer and will instead focus on "Build My World."

"I'm pretty proud of it," JC said of the ballad last week. "The song is just about everybody, what they're searching for. I finally released a love song. I had fun with my party songs and everything and now I'm releasing a love song, something a little more serious, something that people can sink their teeth into."

Just a few weeks ago, at KIIS-FM's Wango Tango festival in Pasadena, California, Chasez said he had just finished the video for "All Day Long," which he called "the best video I've ever been in." Todd Kellstein (Bon Jovi's "Everyday") directed the clip, which features performance footage along with parodies of porno movies.

"When I told him my ideas and stuff like that, he just got it," Chasez said of Kellstein. "He was just like, 'I'm on it, you got it. You watch it, I'm gonna nail it.' And he sure did, man. Hit a home run."

The "All Day Long" video, however, was not submitted to MTV, and Chasez is now kicking around ideas for "Build My World," which he hopes to shoot in the coming weeks.

Ever since "Some Girls (Dance With Women)" was released earlier this year, Chasez has been arguing that the songs on Schizophrenic are more for fun than controversy. And that includes "All Day Long." "It's just a safe, fun song," he said. "It's talking about 'I think about it, I dream about it, I want it bad.' "

After shooting a video for "Build My World," Chasez will return to the road, headlining club dates and opening for Britney Spears in some cities.

"I've pretty much covered every kind of venue on this tour," JC said. "I've been in stadiums, arenas and clubs, but mainly I've been really beatin' it up in clubs and kind of starting from the ground up. Everyone's heard an 'NSYNC record, but nobody's heard a JC record, so I feel like I have to earn the public's trust. So I've been getting sweaty, shakin' hands and getting down again, and it feels really good. I feel like it's genuine."

In his free time, Chasez has also been helping Robb Boldt, who produced much of Schizophrenic, with his friend Paris Hilton's album.

"She just asked me for some input and things like that, and I'm willing to give it to her," JC said. "She has been a great friend to me over a few years, so when she wanted my ideas, I threw some her way. Whether she uses them or not we'll see. But she's got something in store for everybody. I think everybody will be pretty surprised."