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| 9/10/04 |
Timberlake lends both his likeness and his actual swing to a character in "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005," the seventh installment of the popular golfing video game, which hits stores October 21. The Hustler, a suave, cocky and composed links shark, was designed directly under Timberlake's supervision, right down to his gray two-tone suit, white-banded fedora and tough-guy scar under his left eye. Earlier this summer, Timberlake donned a motion-capture suit so the Hustler's approach, address and swing were identical to his own. But the real difference between him and the other pros — including contemporaries like Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and John Daly as well as all-time greats such as Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer — are his celebratory dance moves and signature shot: a smug look-away putt. The black eight ball he uses in place of the traditional dimpled white one only punctuates his cool. The Hustler is one of several playable characters unlocked by defeating them in the My Legend Pursuit career mode. Other new features of the latest game include a customizable swing, 20 unique courses from around the world and the capacity to Tiger-proof them by adjusting fairway widths, wind velocity and green speeds. Outkast's "The Way You Move" is used as the game's opening theme song, while DJ/producer BT composed the original in-game music.
*NSYNC'S FATONE MARRIES! ET is reporting that *NSYNC member JOEY FATONE married his high school sweetheart, KELLY A. BALDWIN, in a private ceremony on the East Coast last night. All members of the band *NSYNC, including JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, were present for the vows. The couple's reception included a performance by the hit band Soul Solution. Fatone is the first member of the boy band to marry. He and his new wife have one child, three-year-old BRIANNA, who was born in March of 2001. Although Joey and Kelly have dated since high school, it was only last June that the singer finally popped the question. The couple lives in Orlando with their daughter.
Fatone 'N Sync with Bride It's bye bye bye to bachelorhood for just-married Joey Fatone. The 'N Syncer swapped vows with longtime girlfriend Kelly Baldwin Thursday in a private ceremony at an undisclosed location on the East Coast. The nuptials doubled as an 'N Sync reunion as all four of Fatone's bandmates, including Justin Timberlake, were in attendance. Fatone, 27, is the first member of the band to wed. The newlyweds, who live in Orlando, started dating in high school and have a three-year-old daughter together, but Fatone waited until last June to pop the question to Baldwin. When he finally asked, the proposal was extravagant enough to make it worth the 10-year wait. The popster installed a 20-foot-high, 56-foot-wide billboard outside of his home featuring a picture of San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, a place the twosome had always wanted to visit. Fatone recalled the details of popping the question during a Late Late Show appearance with Craig Kilborn last year. "So, we drove up, she saw the Palace of Fine Arts [billboard], I went on my knees, got all teary-eyed, and I just froze for a second," Fatone said. "So, I was like, 'Hey, will you marry me?' " Baldwin was sufficiently impressed and agreed to the proposal. 'N Sync reunited last month for a charity basketball game and to discuss returning to the studio to make a comeback album. However, according to their label, Jive Records, nothing is in the works at this time. Published reports have indicated that Timberlake has expressed reluctance to regroup with the band after achieving Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling success as a solo act. While the fate of 'N Sync remains unclear, Fatone has been branching out into acting in recent years. He had a comic turn in 2002's breakout hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding and went on to a role in 2003's The Cooler with William H. Macy. Fatone also tried his hand at theater, starring in Rent on Broadway, and most recently played Seymour in the stage revival of Little Shop of Horrors. In other words, even if the popster's boy-band days are over, he's probably not tearin' up his heart about it.
And So We Beat On Poor Mia Farrow. Poor F. Scott Fitzgerald! We don't know how to break this to you, so we'll just put it out there: Paris Hilton is going to star as Daisy Buchanan in a remake of "The Great Gatsby," which is being produced by 'N Syncer and near-astronaut Lance Bass. (Hey, he's gotta do something since Justin Timberlake has solidified that 'N Sync won't have a reunion anytime soon...)
JC Changes His Tune For The Record When his *NSYNC bandmate Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's breast at the Superbowl this year, little did JC Chasez know his career would suffer from the backlash. Chasez's gig singing at the Probowl was cancelled - two week after the Superbowl incident. "The NFL just banned popular music after that incident", Chasez says. "They were afraid of what could happen. People are just overreacting". Timberlake phoned Chasez as soon as he heard the news. "He said, 'Never in a million years did I think anything I did on stage would affect your performance on stage'", Chasez recalls. "He apologised, but I told him he didn't have to. It's not his fault. It's everyone else's for blowin it out of proportion. I can't blame him for changing the entire climate of entertainment. Was it inappropriate? Yeah, it was inappropriate for the time and place, but that doesn't mean they should change the rules across the board for every form of entertainment." The new wave of US conservatism put the boot in again when it came to his latest single, 'All Day Long I Dream About Sex'. It was shunned by US radio because of the title alone and MTV refused to play the video and its tongue-in-cheek references to porn movie cliches. "MTV couldn't swallow the pill, but I've seen a lot worse," Chasez says. "You can turn on 99 per cent of hip-hop videos and they're showing a whole lot more skin than mine. I just poked fun at things - the insinuations are strong. It's fun, it's right in your face. That's what I wanted. America just has its panties in a bunch. It's an election year, everyone's uptight. I think after the presidental election goes down everything will change." Chasez's album, 'Schizophrenic', is a brave record in today's US pop climate. He avoided the standard producers, relying on young guns (and the UK's Basement Jaxx) for creative sounds. "I felt I needed to step out and make an artistic record because I felt like a lot of people weren't. I felt that was missing," Chasez says. "I wanted to see what I was made of. I've been cutting records for eight years but I'd never done one on my own." Ironically, 'All Day Long I Dream About Sex' may be Chasez's biggest hit outside the US, earning blanket airplay in the UK and now in Australia. But Chasez has other things on his mind, with *NSYNC having just made their first appearance together in 18 months at a charity basketball game. "There'll be another album, it's just a matter of when. Everyone wants to do one," he says. 'Schizophrenic' is out now.
No wardrobe malfunctions in pre-game show FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) - Elton John kept his red top on during the NFL's first on-field musical show since part of Janet's Jackson's black top came off at the Super Bowl. John was part of an hour-long performance at Gillette Stadium before the two-time champion New England Patriots began the 2004 NFL season against the Indianapolis Colts. There was a 10-second delay on the live, hour-long telecast to give the NFL and ABC a chance to pull the plug on anything too racy. John joked during a news conference before singing two songs that he would keep his shirt on when he sang from a stage set up behind one end zone. And he did. During the halftime show in Houston last Feb. 1, where the Patriots beat Carolina 32-29 for their second title in three years, Jackson's right breast was exposed when Justin Timberlake pulled off part of her top during their duet. The Federal Communications Commission received more than 500,000 complaints about the broadcast. The commission is reportedly considering a fine of $550,000 US against CBS for violating broadcast decency standards. The day after what Timberlake called a "wardrobe malfunction" occurred, an embarrassed NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue vowed that the NFL would "change our policies, our people and our processes." The league tightly controlled Thursday night's show. It appealed to a cross-section of music fans with John, country star Toby Keith, rocker Lenny Kravitz and rhythm and blues group Destiny's Child. Mary J. Blige, who sang the national anthem in the rain with backing from the Boston Pops, was conservatively dressed in a long, dark black jacket with white trim. But as she finished, the wind, blowing up to 30.1 km/h, opened part of her jacket to reveal her navel. Jessica Simpson appeared on a hookup from Jacksonville, wearing a Byron Leftwich No. 7 jersey. The next Super Bowl will be played there. She had her wardrobe checked to ward off a potential exposure like Jackson's that occurred in front of 90 million viewers...
Usher puts God first, mostly, as he talks about his
success ...When reporters ask about his feud with pop singer Justin Timberlake — “Who is the better dancer, you, Michael Jackson or Justin Timberlake” — sometimes Usher takes the high road. Sometimes he doesn’t. Although some magazines have quoted Usher as saying he is a better dancer than Timberlake, he responds diplomatically during the teleconference. “To be perfectly honest with you, I work hard to the point where I feel like I’m the best at everything I do, but not in comparison to anyone else,” Usher says. “I think that we all individually have a different style. I think that Michael Jackson motivated both of us.” Still, Usher manages to get a Justin jibe in when a reporter asks him about his childhood dream of being a McDonald’s franchisee. But the reporter is wrong, and Usher quickly corrects her. He dreamed of owning a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop as a child and, after all, McDonald’s did sponsor Timberlake’s tour. “McDonald’s is not going to ever give me a restaurant. They would give it to Justin first. Just kidding,” Usher says...
Football's not for show: Pregame hoopla embarrasses
NFL FOXBORO - The Boston Pops didn't have a wardrobe malfunction last night, damn it. Toby Keith didn't even take his boots off. The big pregame extravaganza before the Patriots [stats, news]-Colts' 2004 season-opener wound up being what such events almost always are, a forgettable mishmash of uncomfortable embarrassment for all concerned, especially the audience. It's like watching the Bush twins sing opera. The NFL is not hip. It wasn't when I began watching it in the '50s, and it still isn't half a century later. Good. The NFL is beyond cool or square. It's pro football, a game so engrossing it transcends our society's cultural bandwidth. Why does this beloved if stuffy institution try to be cutting edge, or as it would say, ``hep?'' The league has fallen for an ancient logical fallacy. If A (pop music) and B (pro football) both are good things, then A plus B must be twice as good. Not so. Blue cheese tastes good. Blueberry pie tastes good, too. Nobody eats them together. The weather didn't help, but last night's show was doomed from the outset. In a frantic appeal to every demographic under the sun, the NFL crammed too many pop genres into one concert. What do Sir Elton John, Mary J. Blige, Destiny's Child, Lenny Kravitz, Keith, and the Pops all have in common? Until last night, they'd never met! Actually, all those worthy performers do share one attribute.
Except for Beyonce, they are soooo over. They still play and
sing up a storm, but none generates buzz. Amid the mentally ill brouhaha over Janet Jackson and Justin
Timberlake's pas de deux at Super Bowl XXXVIII, one fact was
lost. Jackson's slightly exposed breast was a desperate attempt
by two has-beens to claw back into the nation's consciousness. ``Oh, yeah, I forgot this is Boston,'' Black said. ``Halftime. (Expletive deleted), let's go get some more beer.'' Just so. Since ``Monday Night Football'' began 33 years ago, fans in Foxboro and every other NFL venue have used the hour before kickoff for eating, drinking and convivial football talk. Since Princeton first played Rutgers in 1869, halftime is when fans hit either the hot dog stand, their refrigerators or the bathroom. If the NFL had to have a live pregame show, it should have outbid the Red Sox and had Jimmy Buffett play at Gillette. He's No. 1 on the charts. Mostly, I wish the league would drop its infatuation with lame show biz. If the NFL brought back the Grambling marching band for halftime of Super Bowl XXXIX, no one would complain. Most fans would applaud.
Will The NFL Never Learn? September 10, 2004 (morning)--The game’s purists will no doubt protest. Still others will simply ignore it or shake their heads that this is another example of the NFL’s arrogance. But the NFL is back in the music business eight months after it suffered through the embarrassment of the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake halftime episode. If you’ve forgotten, Ms. Jackson’s breast was exposed at the conclusion of a song she and Timberlake were performing in Houston at halftime of Super Bowl XXXVIII. By the conclusion of the game and in the weeks that followed their antics were being discussed more than what took place on the field of play that day. Later, the commissioner was called to testify before a congressional committee and the matter was written off as a bad judgment call. That the league would simply sweep those memories aside and go right back to having a musical component kick off its new season is difficult to understand. I don’t watch much major network television any more – which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who reads this column – but someone named George Lopez hosted last night’s “NFL Opening Kickoff” – a celebratory exercise including a long list of musical guests, sponsored by Ameriquest Mortgage Company and promoted by the National Football League. I don’t pretend to be the face of America’s culture, but like most people I like my sports straight with no chaser. I don’t need Destiny’s Child, Lenny Kravitz or even the Boston Pops to get me pumped up for this year’s NFL season and I don’t think most of you do either. Is the atmosphere surrounding our games to become a present day version of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair with “bullies pushing about, bucks ogling women, knaves picking pockets, policemen on the lookout, quacks…bawling in front of their booths and yokels looking up at the tinseled dancers…not a moral place certainly; nor a merry one, though very noisy.” On its face, the extravagance of pop music and the culture that surrounds it have precious little to do with football and everything to do with commerce. It’s all about grabbing the viewing audience’s attention and particularly that of a younger audience. You see, the NFL is concerned that it is losing the battle to hold the interest of today’s youth. For evidence, it cites ratings from last year’s Super Bowl where viewership was down 13% for men 18-34. But an hour’s worth of pop entertainment won’t make professional football more hip or more profitable and, anyway, what does being hip have to do with why we like football? Football is old school, simple with blocking, tackling, running and throwing. It’s managed to flourish all these years without a warm-up act. The people who think up these ideas in the league office huddle together for warmth in what G. K. Chesterton called “the clean, well-lit prison of one idea.” It was bad idea then and it’s a bad idea now.
Lance will appear in 'Lovewrecked' Lance Bass is appearing in the movie he produced after all. "Lovewrecked," starring Amanda Bynes, just finished principal photography and will feature the 'NSYNC singer in a cameo role as "Dan," a cell-phone-toting assistant to the manager and publicist for the rock star marooned on a tropical beach with Bynes' character. Bass shot his scenes in the Dominican Republic.
At Sass & Bide, Lacoste shows, it's all about
celebrities ...Lacoste The scene: The makers of those polo shirts bearing the alligator symbol couldn't be hotter right now. Instead of showing their spring collection in the bland tents of Bryant Park, they picked a trendy warehouse called the Waterfront for their show and attracted celebrities high on the hip quotient — former 'N Sync singer J.C. Chasez, indie actor Stephen Dorf, indie actress Debbie Mazur — and the biggest "fashion gets" of the week — the Hilton sisters...
Grabbing a 'Last Chance' "I go to church down here, so it worked out really well," said Jaymie Sanderlin of Vancouver's Hazel Dell area, hanging at Waterfront Park this sunny Sunday to catch the A's: pop performers Avril Lavigne and Ashlee Simpson. Just then, Sanderlin leaped and snagged one of the rolled-up T-shirts being shot from onstage at Z100's Last Chance Summer Dance. He had hit the annual outdoor concert last year to catch Ashlee's sister Jessica -- "She was awesome!" ...Ryan Cabrera, Shifty and JC Chasez all turned in fair sets; Chasez sang just one ballad, but that left more time for him at the autograph booth... |
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Justin
Timberlake Tees Off In Tiger Woods Golf Game
