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DisneyHand Ride-A-Thon mixes fun with fund-raising ...Ah, but it's no dream, folks. It's the DisneyHand Helping Kids Shine Ride-A-Thon, a Greater Orlando Children's Miracle Network charity event that's annually held after-hours at the Magic Kingdom. All in an effort to raise funds for Orlando's own Shands Children's Hospital & the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women. The evening's events started -- appropriately enough -- out in front of Cinderella Castle. Where the evening's 5,500 participants were all welcomed. And then Nsync's Joey Fatone helped lead the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Mickey Mouse (Who officially turn 77 this past Friday). Then -- with an explosion of fireworks -- this year's Ride-A-Thon was officially underway ... Justin's Passion for Fashion Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez, move over. There's a new pop star turned designer in town. Justin Timberlake recently celebrated the launch of his new clothing line, William Rast, at Beverly Hills boutique Kitson. And he's serious about being a designing man. "I didn't want to come out with anything trendy," the stylish singer – who sported a green hat, hunter-style jacket and jeans at the event – told us about the "lifestyle brand" of chic T-shirts and jeans he created with best friend Trace Ayala (and named after their grandfathers). "We started it this way so we could go somewhere, so we could expand." The guys are thinking big: Plans are under way for William Rast underwear, cologne and Italian suits. "But that's something that comes with time," says Ayala. "We're focused on the next step." Adds Timberlake: "I wanted to have a basic collection that we could always fall back on." In the meantime, Timberlake, who showed up at the party solo
(girlfriend Cameron Diaz was in London promoting In Her Shoes),
is busy with a couple of other little things: recording his sophomore
solo album (the follow-up to 2002's multiplatinum-selling Justified)
and voicing his role as a young prince alongside Diaz in Shrek
3 (just one of several movies he's juggling). Says Timberlake:
"I'm always psyched for work!" Rent Stage Cast Sparkles on Screen ...Barkin (see above) and Ronald Perelman attended the big screening at the Ziegfeld in Manhattan last night with their kids, and the house was packed with friends and family, including Joey Fatone of *NSYNC, who has played Mark on Broadway. "A fat Mark," Joey joked. In fact, he’s very svelte now and looking for projects while Justin Timberlake is recording a new album. Then *NSYNC will get back in the studio themselves...
Elton John brings Las Vegas show to TV Elton John brings his Las Vegas show to television with his first
NBC special, Elton John: The Red Piano, on Dec. 14.
Agents of change ...Others see interesting new technologies coming down the road and try to find an opportunity to work with them. Director Randal Kleiser is in postproduction on a musical version of "Little Red Riding Hood" called "Red Riding Hood," starring Joey Fatone and Lainie Kazan, which was shot in front of greenscreens. A computer married the live actors with the digital sets in real time, responding to every movement of the camera and displaying the result on high-definition monitors. "The producers wanted me to do a straight version of 'Red Riding Hood' shot on 35mm in the woods," Kleiser says. "I said that the only way I'd be interested was if I could use this new technology and experiment with it." The shoot lasted a mere 18 days, all in a Simi Valley, Calif., studio...
Timberlake back on the Red Carpet Justin Timberlake and Trace Ayala were welcomed by a barrage of screams and camera flashes as they made their red carpet entrance into Kitson in Los Angeles (sans significant others Cameron Diaz and Elisha Cuthbert) proving that, even though Timberlake's been out of the public eye recently (shooting back-to-back movies), his popularity hasn't waned. And judging by Timberlake's ear-to-ear grin, you could even say he's been missing the spotlight. Or perhaps that was the look of pride. After all, Timberlake and his childhood friend, Ayala, were in the spotlight to launch their new clothing line William Rast. Timberlake tells TEEN PEOPLE the new line, named for his grandfather, William and Ayala's grandfather, Rast, is a tribute to their grandfathers' style. "I love the way my grandfather looks -- the way he stands up straight, with the respect that he's owed," he says. "Our grandfathers wear their clothes with dignity. And he would give me the shirt off his back, so I thought, we should just make him one." That doesn't mean Timberlake's been slaving away at the sewing machine for the last few months."Trace works much harder on this than I do," he said. "He's in the factory all day, designing, checking denim... doing all those things people will probably give me credit for, but they shouldn't." As for whether their respective fashionista girlfriends had any influence, "I'd be lying if I said they didn't," Timberlake admitted. "They definitely used their voice, but at the end of the day, the executive decisions fall to us." Well, on this night, there were lots of Timberlake's famous friends on hand to show their support, including Christina Ricci, Shannon Elizabeth, Kelly Monaco and the ultimate trendsetter, Paris Hilton, who traded air-kisses with her pal JT upon arriving at the store. But not even Hilton could steal attention away from the main event, which continued on at Hollywood's Cabana Club and ended with a beaming Timberlake boogying on the dance floor. Still rocking that body, indeed.
MTV For The Record ...Aguilera's one of a group of celebs who've signed pictures of themselves to auction off on eBay, to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina. You can bid on shots taken of Lance Bass, Hilary Duff, Wilmer Valderrama, Jack Osbourne and Kristin Cavalleri at Us Weekly's Young Hot Hollywood 20 party at cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=usweeklyauction. The auction ends Sunday...
Bootie Beer Corp Launches in Boston Bootie Beer Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: BTIB) announced
today that it has launched its premium brands, Bootie Beer and
Bootie Light, in the Boston market as a key sponsor of the Boston
Music Awards.
Fashion Forward: Justified? Wondering if Timberlake's clothing line is worth it "Justin was the model for all the jeans," the PR rep informed me as I stroked a pair from Timberlake's new clothing line, which has the improbable name William Rast. The concept of JT's precious bottom caressing each and every pair of denim—well, just one prototype, but weren't we all here to imagine—was just too rich. "Wow," I said, caught in that freak-positive, Miss America dialogue you tend to have with PR people. I examined the jeans more closely, sure that they would reveal some special hidden clues to the true shape of JT ass. Hard? Flabby? Concave? Mind-blowing? I stroked again. No. No clues. From just looking at a pair of jeans, it was hard to get a sense of him. If Bloomingdale's and Macy's are any indication, these celebrity collections have been the flagging department-store industry's golden goose. Timberlake's line, which he worked on in conjunction with his childhood friend Trace Ayala, is set to debut at Bloomingdale's this week. Not an actual person, William Rast is a combination of Timberlake's grandfather's first name and Ayala's grandfather's last. Hmm. It's a given that Diddy's will rip from Ralph Lauren, that J. Lo's will be heavy on fur. Usher's overpriced gay pimp look and Andre 3000's unparalleled style leave them ripe for lines as well. But other than a propensity for tight white tanks to show off his trademark "Well, I'm a man now, ladies" biceps, Timberlake seems to portray no overarching image with what he wears. Perhaps because you can literally feel the small army of stylists and image makers swooping down on the dude every couple years for his routine Justin-tweaking, making him sellable to a new target demographic. If only Justin's capers were translatable in clothing form. Then you could choose the kind of Justin you want to be, just by buying his t-shirt. Forgettable Mouseketeer Justin? Cute-but-boyish 'N Sync Justin, the second coming of NKOTB's Joe-not-Joey McIntyre? No! Maybe . . . Danger Justin! Justin post-Britney breakup! Justin who's shaved off the short and curlies, cavorts with Hispanic girls, and causes wardrobe malfunctions! What about "he-landed-Cameron?" Justin? Unfortunately, the collection does not encompass the many Justins we have known. There is only one Justin here, and he's ready to sell in Iowa malls. "This clothing is representative of where we come from," Timberlake has said. "It's sort of country, but it's also got a little edge and chic to it." The country part goes little beyond some middling vintage-esque tees for men and women, printed with slogans that name check Timberlake's home state of Tennessee. (Don't ask us why every company has to vomit out faux-vintage tees these days, but at least Timberlake's come without the stupid sexual entendres.) "Memphis Blues" is printed on one, and, curiously enough, on another there's a quote from famous Tennesseean Andrew Jackson: "The Union Must and Will be Preserved." (Huh? Well, it's scrawled on a rolled piece of paper—held in an eagle's mouth. I guess that looks appropriately Wild West.) The t-shirts go for around $45, as does a camouflage cap, sporting the label "With Compliments, William Rast." Stronger pieces include men's polos that looks as if they'd been worn to an ideal softness; a rather cute zip-up windbreaker with contrasting stripes available in red, black and army green; and the jeans—all in pleasingly non-atrocious rinses and fades. (It's the least you can expect, considering you're shelling out almost $200 a pair.) At his launch party at Bloomingdale's last Tuesday, Timberlake admitted that Ralph Lauren was a "huge inspiration" for the collection (wait, why does that sound familiar?). Dressed in a black velvet blazer, black button-down shirt and William Rast jeans, the surprisingly unassuming pop star seemed a little flabbergasted with his new designing role. "I'm a pro in front of 20,000 people, but this is the weirdest thing ever," he said, perhaps a little skeeved by the camera crews and chicken-finger-munching guests flanking him as he wended his way around Bloomie's jeans racks. But Timberlake seems to have a serious interest in the collection, or so he attests. "I got even more anal about buttons. I don't know who's anal about buttons, but I am," Timberlake proclaimed. "I'm just glad he didn't put his name on it," commented an Instyle.com reporter earlier in the evening. That was probably Timberlake's wisest move. Who really wants to say, "Yeah, got my sweet Justin Timberlake jeans on"? But we could be wrong . . .
Timberlake Delivers 'Little Baby', Writes new tracks with
fellow ex-mouseketter NEW YORK — Justin Timberlake celebrated the launch of his new clothing line, William Rast, at a little shindig Tuesday night at Bloomingdale's, where he'd already snagged one of the coveted window displays. Recovering from "Black Snake Moan" (see "Christina Ricci Cured Of Nymphomania By Samuel L. Jackson In 'Black Snake Moan' "), which finished shooting just two days prior, the singer/actor expressed amazement that all his work with best friend and business partner Trace Ayala was finally seeing the light of day (see "Timberlake Wants To Rock Your Body With A New Clothing Line"). "This was our little baby," he said. "Can two men have a child in New York together? Is that legal? It's a terrible joke, I'm sorry!" Along with Ayala, whom he credits as being better at style and design, Timberlake said he was involved with every step of the process, "from buttons to rivets to fit to design to actual washes of the denim," even serving as the men's jeans fit model. And now that he's gone through the whole process with this "little baby," from conception to birth, he likens it to recording an album. "It's definitely similar," he explained. "You have your initial rough recording, you go back in and you may change some lyrics and melodies, you may record some more vocals, you leave it alone for a minute, come back to it and mix it, put some other sounds on. In that way it's very similar. "Obviously, this is clothes," he continued, "so a lot of what we did, after designing it, was just wear it around town, asking ourselves, 'Does this work?' You figure out what's good, what's bad, you come back and just keep chipping away at it." Timberlake says he halted production briefly to create a special Dixieland T-shirt to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina; he's planning to sell them in stores as well as auction off signed copies. "So much is being done for the Katrina effort, and that's wonderful," he said, "but it's like, if you see a benefit on television, and then another one, and then another one, probably just that first one is going to have an impact on you. So we wanted to take that into consideration. I mean, I can do music, I can do telethons, but this is a cooler way to do it." Ayala isn't the only childhood friend Timberlake's teamed up with as of late for his creative ventures — he's also been writing songs with fellow-Mouseketeer-turned-Nashville-songwriter Matt Morris, who co-wrote five tracks on Christina Aguilera's Stripped album. "We see and hear music in the same way," Timberlake said, "so I've been working with him. We just get together and write songs, and since we've got similar voices, we figure out, 'Does this work better for you or for me?' " After squeezing in a few writing sessions this past summer, Timberlake's excited about the 15-20 songs he's got so far, which he plans to finesse with Timbaland. "It moves in a different direction than the last record," Timberlake said. "I'm really happy with that." This report is from MTV News.
Catching Up with 'N Sync Justin and the guys are back – with a greatest hits album With the release of their greatest-hits album (their
first CD since 2001's five-times platinum Celebrity), see the
individual paths Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Chris
Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone have been taking in their lives. Justin Timberlake Now in the studio recording the follow-up to his triple-platinum 2002 album Justified, Timberlake – who splits his time between Los Angeles and Memphis – has entered the fashion world with his new clothing line for men and women, William Rast. It's "southern country club meets southern rock," says Timberlake of the collection (available in select Bloomingdale's stores Nov. 1) he designed with pals Trace Ayala and Danny Guez. Timberlake has also been busy acting: He's got several movies due early next year, including Edison, in which he plays a reporter opposite Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey, and Alpha Dog, costarring Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone. And he's currently filming the drama Black Snake Moan with Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci. And while rumors of a December wedding in Hawaii with girlfriend Cameron Diaz have been shot down, their relationship is still going strong. "It was darling to see that young love happening," says Diaz's In Her Shoes costar Shirley MacLaine. JC Chasez Stlll, says the Winter Park, Fla.-based Chasez, "I wouldn't mind a relationship with the right girl. Every artist needs a muse." And he'd also welcome an 'N Sync reunion. "If I'm 40 and we're still playing shows, and people want to call us a boy band, by all means – drink from the fountain of youth!" Lance Bass In the meantime, Bass, who's based in Beverly Hills, is pursuing
more terrestrial interests. He and bandmate Joey Fatone are working
on a sitcom, which he describes as "The Odd Couple meets
Curb Your Enthusiasm." And acting is where his heart is.
"I'm not doing any music unless it has something to do with
a movie or TV soundtrack," says Bass (who's in "the
first stages of dating someone very special"). "I may
get back into music later, but not now." Chris Kirkpatrick The singer – who owns a six-bedroom home in southwest Orlando – has kept a relatively low profile, though a source says that the single Kirkpatrick is working to get a solo career off the ground. Joey Fatone And besides the sitcom he's working on with Bass, Fatone –
who had small roles in 2002's My Big Fat Greek Wedding and 2003's
The Cooler – is "going on a lot of auditions. I know
there will be roles that I want that I don't get, but right now
it's a fun time for me. I'm excited to see what my next move is
going to be." Single Review: Pop *NOTE: Blogcritics is a site where everyday people post reviews; this is not written by a professional critic. I just thought it was interesting enough to post here. Pop N Sync defend their genre and the TRL lifestyle in the snippy electro "Pop." Justin Timberlake intros the song by coining "dirty pop." Producer and DJ B.T. then adds that he's at helm the single. Justin Timberlake has had it from the press and anti-pop putting down teenybopper music. He responds that pop is not going to go away. He says N Sync will be around long after the all the boy bands and blonde tressed teen singers have hit the bargain bins. "Sick and tired of hearing/All these people talk about/What's the deal with this pop life/And when is gonna fade out/The thing you got to realize/What we doing is not a trend/We got the gift of melody/We gonna bring it till the end/(Come on now") J.C. Chasez adds that he would like to be taken seriously in the pre-chorus. He doesn't want to get involved with the paparazzi and be gossiped about in US Weekly. The silver necklace around his neck, shiny suits and the Mercedes Benz is irrelevant. The music is the most important thing and that people enjoy it. "It doesn't matter/'Bout the car I drive or/What I wear around my neck/All that matters/Is that you recognize/That it's just about respect/It doesn't matter/About the clothes I wear/And where I go and why/All that matters/Is that you get hyped and/We'll do it to you every time/(Come on now.") In the chorus, Timberlake bristles that pop is energetic and gets people moving. It's addicting. Pop is the only genre capable of being fun. "Do you ever wonder why/This music gets you high?/ It takes you on a ride/Feel it when your body/Starts to rock/(Your body starts to rock)/Baby you can't stop/ (You can't stop)/And the music's all you got/Come on now/This must be, pop/Dirty pop/Baby you can't stop/I know you/Like this dirty pop/This must be." Chasez wonders why the press is attempting to put them in a niche. But he says he doesn't care. He likes the music they are making. He spouts if they really do like their jobs. Chasez feels the tension that people are sick of teenyboppers. He tells them to basically to get used it. "Now, why you wanna try/To classify the type of thing/That we do/'Cause we're just fine/Doin' what we like/Can we say the same for you?/Tired of feeling all/Around me animosity/Just worry about yours/'Cause I'ma get mine/ Now people can't you see." Timberlake sings the pre-chorus this time. After the chorus, Justin "oohs" and says he can't sing anymore. "Ooh/I'm tired of singing." The hyper beat settles down. Then, the record scratches. As the bass thumps with Timberlake's beatboxing, he sings "dirty, dirty, dirty pop, dirty pop." An electric guitar jumps in for a second or two. Synthesizers dissolve as NSync echoe "do you ever wonder?" BT namechecks himself again. Hopped up drums pound over more beatboxing and electric guitars. It's an exciting minute and a half. The chorus is sung twice, with Chasez adlibbing. The single ends with Timberlake's beatboxing. "Pop" is misguisded, although the music itself is exceptional. N Sync come across as entitled pop stars who have bought into their own hype. However, they are trying to make the point that liking pop isn't something people should feel guilty about. The music to "Pop" is progressive and thrilling. Boy bands in the U.S. typically do not veer into European dance tastes (namely, electro) and build a single around it. Justin Timberlake Honored (10/25/05) 17KGET.com Justin Timberlake was moved to tears Saturday night when the Memphis, Tennessee chapter of the Recording Academy honored him for his achievements. The singer's 'Edison' co-star Morgan Freeman surprised the pop star by presenting him with his award, announcing, "I've come to appreciate Justin as an artist and a friend." Timberlake's girlfriend Cameron Diaz and fellow Memphis local Lisa Marie Presley were among the guests at the event. Frankie J Throwing Curves With JC Chasez If you thought you had Frankie J pegged, think again. The charismatic R&B crooner is about to pitch a few curve balls. "I've been working with a few different people," the Tijuana, Mexico-born singer said. "I'm actually on my way to Atlanta to do a song with JC Chasez for his new record. I know his manager through a mutual friend. He told me JC was working on some new stuff, so we met up for lunch one day to talk business and we just clicked." The as-yet-untitled track will be penned by Frankie, Chasez and songwriter Sean Garrett (Aaliyah, Usher, Ricky Martin), and it will be produced by Timbaland, who has already laid down several tracks for Chasez's sophomore solo effort due out next year (see "JC Chasez Promises Next Solo Outing Will Be Less Schizophrenic"). "I've heard some of JC's stuff and it's very different,"
Frankie said. "He's not really following the sound of what's
popular on radio today, which is good because he's not trying
to be anyone else. He just wants to be JC. I'm not sure what to
expect when I go in, but I know I'm looking forward to what comes
out of it." ...
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| * All typos are that of the original author, not that of DirtyPop.net. |
