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| 8/7/04 - 8/14/04 |
JC nominated in UK Best Disney Performance JC is nominated for Best UK Disney Performance. You can vote for him on the Disney UK Awards Website.
Music Freedom tells us that JC is still confirmed for the show at the Great Wall of China, but the trip to Australia is not confirmed at this time. We are hoping that this will be worked out so fans Down Under will get the opportunity to see JC. As soon as we hear the news, it will be posted here! Rumors of Jive dropping support of "Schizophrenic" are untrue, and JC is still out promoting the new single, "Build My World". Please continue to call/email radio stations and request this song. The Music Freedom site is in the process of a redesign, so expect great changes in the coming weeks, including the promised music, videos and Evenstar information, as well as email updates. JC is planning on going back in the studio at some point, but nothing has been set in stone yet. He is talking to a number of people concerning possible projects. We'll keep you posted here at DirtyPop.net!
Alicia Keys to perform at Great Wall (7/16/04) NEW YORK (AP) — Alicia Keys will perform at the Wall of Hope — China 2004 international pop music concert at the Great Wall of China's "Ju Yong Guan" North Gate in Beijing on Sept 25. Some 10,000 people are expected to attend the invitation-only event, which will be taped for international television broadcast, it was announced recently. Proceeds will benefit the China Children and Teenagers' Fund, a charitable organization. The first in a series of benefits planned for Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzou, the concert series is being produced by Steinberg Lee and Lou Enterprises. [JC is confirmed for this event. See below.]
FIRST-EVER POP MUSIC CONCERT STAGED AT THE GREAT
WALL OF CHINA: (Aug. 5, 2004) LOS ANGELES/BEIJING – – Additional artists confirmed to perform at WALL OF HOPE – CHINA 2004 were announced by veteran youth marketing executive Robert Ajakwe. BTB principles Ajakwe and partner Charmaine Chapman, the show’s co-creators and co-executive producers developed the property in conjunction with Steinberg Lee and Lou Enterprises (SLL) an entertainment production company headed by super agent and sports marketing veteran Leigh Steinberg. Cyndi Lauper, Boyz ll Men, Al Jarreau, JC Chasez and Raz B of the R&B group B2K will join Alicia Keys on September 25, 2004 at the Great Wall’s Juyongguan North Gate in Beijing. Keys was the first artist to confirm her participation in the benefit concert which supports Operation Spring Bud, an educational assistance program providing financial aid to girls residing in China’s economically challenged regions. Additionally, Raz B will act as the event’s official Youth Ambassador. The teen artist has established the Raz Beatz Foundation, which he will launch via a worldwide youth outreach campaign beginning in China in association with the WALL OF HOPE concert. Cynthia Garrett (HBO’s Buzz w/Cynthia Garrett, Sony Pictures Television’s Life & Style) is the international host representing the United States. WALL OF HOPE – CHINA 2004 is the first-ever pop music concert staged at the Great Wall. Additionally, the show will feature the largest number of international artists ever to perform live on one stage in China’s vast market of 1.6 billion consumers. “This venture is significant for both mainstream and urban America. Our involvement in WALL OF HOPE represents the future… one where businesses like our own will make its mark in our global economy,” said Ajakwe, BTB’s president and senior partner. Infusing high caliber live performances with historical and social content, production of the concert-based television special is being headed by veteran producer Hal Uplinger (Live Aid, Sport Aid). Award winning director Louis J. Horvitz (Live Aid, Academy Awards, Primetime Emmys) will act as executive creative consultant. MTV Network will broadcast the television special in the Asia Pacific region.
Mercury News Richard Marx interview Richard Marx thinks the best is still ahead. He was an '80s mulleted mainstay, known for such ballads as "Right Here Waiting,'' "Now and Forever,'' and "Endless Summer Nights.'' He also charted nine times in the top 10 of the Billboard Top 100. But Marx, 40, has proven that he's more than a balladeer. He has written and produced with the likes of *NSYNC, Vince Gill, Luther Vandross, Josh Groban and Barbra Streisand. On Tuesday, Marx comes out with his latest album, ``My Own Best Enemy,'' which he says has a more Rolling Stones feel. The album comes after his Grammy for Song Of The Year for Vandross' ``Dance With My Father'' and is his first major label album since 1997. ...How do you choose people to collaborate with? Most of it is that they pick me. Have they told you why? I don't know if anybody's ever articulated it. I think part of it's consistency in that I've been really lucky to have success with different artists in different genres. ...How would your friends describe you? My first record came out when I was 23. And I think I was like a deer caught in the headlights a little bit, because my success happened so fast. And I think I was embarrassed by recognition. And then after a period of time, eight or nine years, sales started to decline. I didn't freak out, because I never really thought I'll have seven, eight, or nine years. So the last seven years or so, I've made a ton of different kind of music for a ton of different artists, but I've also taken my kids to school everyday, and had like a life. It's a real normal life, except that you might bump into *NSYNC in my studio or Kenny Loggins or Sister Hazel or whatever. I'm a guy who's all about my family first and still really loves what he does...
I care about school. Does that make me an Oreo? Apparently I am an Oreo. According to the past few generations' terminology, an Oreo is not a cookie made by Nabisco but a person who is black on the outside and white on the inside. Now, I admit that I could switch places with any member of *NSync, a late-'90s boy band, and perform a concert, and the fans wouldn't notice. But that doesn't make me an Oreo. And, if *NSync's fan base is mostly white, that doesn't mean I'm not black anymore. I'll be black forever. The words black and white don't just mean color anymore. They describe actions, behavior and intelligence. Black symbolizes guns, violence, "ghetto fabulous" behavior, a job at McDonald's, overall failure in life. And white is a Harvard graduate, CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a house in the Hamptons, success. These stereotypes let all of the air out of a little black kid's balloon. And if the stereotypes don't do it, some other black people will, starting with your education. It is dangerous for a young black female like me to be surrounded by other young blacks who don't value their education. 'Cause I'll tell you, the feeling can be contagious, especially in middle and high school, when fitting in is in and standing out is way out. At my middle school, I stuck out immediately. On my first day, I quivered with my *NSync notebook in hand, as I felt my way around school. I was ready to learn and very surprised to find the majority of my fellow black students were not. "I've never met black kids like this," I told my mom over my afternoon snack. In my reading class their eyes slit my throat as I raised my hand to answer questions. During social studies, I was the only black student who didn't get into trouble with Ms. Burch. She actually liked me; we shared a love of *NSync. Even though I found a connection with Ms. Burch, one that we still share, I couldn't seem to find that basic connection with people who looked like me. The difficulty of coping with the ridicule became a lot to bear at a time when having and making friends was the issue of the day. Being called an "Oreo" or "Miss Smarty-Pants" and "brainy" became normal, but I was never completely numb to the implications of these words. When the people who should be complimenting and congratulating you on your accomplishments are treating you as if you sell drugs, it doesn't feel as if you are doing the right thing. This feeling has continued into high school and probably will continue throughout my entire life. But I am tired of being surrounded by those who don't apply themselves because they are afraid of what other people will think. What will people think when they see you working at McDonald's? Will they think about you or the black race as a whole? I'm looking for a place — a school, a university, a community — where being "young, gifted and black" works for me and not against me. Where I can display my intelligence the way I display my clothes, and speak the way I was raised to speak. And that's not white, black, yellow, green or blue — it's simply the proper way to speak. I was raised to respect my education and the fact that I am blessed to have an opportunity that others before me didn't have. And I will not waste my opportunities. I will continue to take advantage of them so I won't have to settle for flipping burgers and salting fries. I will be successful, have an impact and continue to flourish as a young black woman. And for all those who are curious, the only Oreos I'll see will be the ones in my dorm room. But what does it matter — I only eat the cream anyway. |
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