George Michael Tours U.S. This Summer

George Michael announced today that he will be touring the United States and Canada over the summer.

His tour starts in San Diego, CA on June 17 and ends in Sunrise, FL on August 3, with stops in Dallas, Montreal, Toronto, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and Boston along the way.

Before beginning his successful solo career as a music artist, George Michael performed with the band, Wham! in the 1980s.

Michael's Greatest Hits CD is being released in the United States on April 1, and is entitled "Twenty Five."

CMA Announces Some Performers for Their Annual Music Festival

The Country Music Association is lining up performers for its annual festival, which is set to take place from June 5-8 this year.

Among the performers this year, Carrie Underwood, Jewel, Taylor Swift, Alan Jackson, Faith Hill, Rodney Atkins, Sugarland, and Kellie Picker will perform at the Music Festival.

Simpson Joins Performers Giving Concert in Kuwait to U.S. Troops

Next month, several performers are going to travel to Kuwait to give a concert to U.S. troops.

Jessica Simpson has just joined the performers who are scheduled to perform in the concert. Other performers include Disturbed, DJZ-Trip, Filter, and the comedian Carlos Mencia.

The concert is scheduled to take place on March 10 and will be broadcast live on MySpace.com. A shortened version of the concert will also air on the cable channel FX on April 12th.

Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus to Host CMT Music Awards

Billy Ray Cyrus and his daughter, Miley Cyrus, will be hosting this year's CMT Music Awards on April 14.

Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus will also be performing on the Awards show. Additionally, Carrie Underwood, Toby Keith, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Sugarland, and Alan Jackson will also perform during the Awards ceremony.

Miley Cyrus is known for her role in Hannah Montana, where she plays Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana, a girl who lives a double life. Billy Ray Cyrus also holds the role of Miley's/Hannah's father on the Disney show.

The CMT Music Awards will air on CMT.

For more information about the Awards show, please visit: www.cmt.com.

Billy Joel in Denver!

I just wanted to remind everyone that Billy Joel will be giving a performance in Denver, Colorado on February 28th at 8pm.

I don't know if tickets are still available, but you can check at the Pepsi Center.

Jordin Sparks to Open for Alicia Keys on As I Am tour

Jordin Sparks will be opening for Alicia Keys on her upcoming North American tour. Sparks is the latest winner of American Idol. Sparks and Keys will tour together, starting on April 19, 2008 in Hampton, Virginia. The As I Am tour will finish on June 18th at New York Madison Square.

Keys' As I Am tour is in support of her latest album As I Am, and will be making its way to 25 major United States cities as well as to Montreal and Toronto, Canada.

Celine Dion Television Special to Kick off World Tour

Celine Dion is kicking off her world tour with a television special set to air on Friday on CBS. The hour-long special will be broadcast at 9pm ET/PT, 8pm Mountain time.

Celine Dion performs some of her greatest hits on the special as well as performing hip-hop with Will.i.am. from Black Eyed Peas. Additionally, Dion will perform with Josh Groben.

For more information about "Celine Dion: That's Just the Woman in Me" please visit this article on CBS' website.

2008 Grammy Award Winners

Congratulations to this year's Grammy Award Winners!

Amy Winehouse: Record of the Year for Rehab
Song of the Year for "Rehab"
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Rehab"
Best Pop Vocal Album for Back to Black
Best New Artist

Justin Timberlake - Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for, "What Goes Around...Comes Around"

Vince Gill - Best Country Album for These Days

Carrie Underwood - Best Country Song for, "Before He Cheats"
Best Female Country Vocal Performance for, "Before He Cheats"

Eagle - Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group for, "How Long"

Keith Urban - Best Male Country Vocal Performance for, "Stupid Boy"

Kanye West - Best Rap Album for Graduation
Best Rap Song for, "Good Life" (featuring T-Pain)
Best Rap Solo Performance for, "Stronger"

Common - Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for, "Southside" (featuring Kanye West)

Ne-Yo - Best Contemporary R&B Album for Because of You

Chaka Khan - Best R&B Album for Funk This
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for, "Disrespectful" (featuring Mary J. Blige)

Prine - Best Male R&B Solo Performance for, "Future Baby Mama"

Alicia Keys - Best R&B Song for, "No One"
Best Female R&B Solor Performance for, "No One"

Foo Fighters - Best Rock Album for Echos, Silence, Patience & Grace

Bruce Springsteen - Best Rock Song for, "Radio Nowhere"
Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for, "Radio Nowhere"

Michael Buble - Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Call Me Irresponsible

Johnny Cash - Best Short Form Music Video for "God's Gonna Cut You Down"

Best Song Written for Motion Picture - "Love You I Do" from Dreamgirls

Stephen Marley - Best Reggae Album for Mind Control

JJ Cale and Eric Clapton - Best Contemporary Blues Album for The Road to Escondido

Fred Hammond - Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album for Free to Worship

The Clark Sisters - Best Traditional Gospel Album for Live - One Last Time

Israel and New Breed - Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album for A Deeper Level

Patti Austin - Best Jazz Vocal Album for Avand Gershwin

Paul Winter Consort - Best New Age Album for Crestone

For a complete list of 2008 Grammy Award winners, please visit the official Grammy Awards Winners list.

Spice Girls Cancel Concerts

The Spice Girls cut their tour short and apologized to their fans on Tuesday. They put a short video on their site explaining why they had to cut the tour short, saying they have personal and family obligations to tend to.

The Spice Girls had to cancel concerts in Argentina, South Africa, China, and Australia. Their reunion tour will now end on February 26 in Toronto, Canada.

To view their apology video, please visit their website at: www.thespicegirls.com.

Winehouse Checks into Rehab

Amy Winehouse has checked into a drug rehabilitation facility in order to work toward complete recovery from drug abuse. Universal Music Group released a statement earlier today regarding Winehouse's entrance into the rehabilitation program.

According to Yahoo Music News, the statement asserts that Winehouse talked with her family, doctors, the record company, and management before she made a final decision to go into treatment.

She still plans on performing at the Grammy Awards, which are set to take place on Feb. 10, 2008. Her album "Back to Back" received six nominations for this year's Grammy's.

Mary J. Blige to Perform on Soap Opera

Mary J. Blige will be a guest star on "One Life to Live," an ABC soap opera. She will be a guest star on shows airing on February 15 and 18, where she is a surprise performer at a sweet sixteen party.

According to Yahoo Music News, she will perform two songs, "Just Fine," and, "Hurt Again."

Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana on Oprah

Miley Cyrus will be appearing on the Oprah show, which airs on Thursday, December 20, 2007.

Miley Cyrus will appear along with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, on the Oprah show on Thursday, December 20. According to Oprah’s show summary, Miley Cyrus will be answering questions from her fans while she is on the show. Oprah also asserts that her father, Billy Ray Cyrus will tell fans what he would like them to know about his daughter.

According to Oprah’s website, Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus will also be performing a duet together.

Oprah invites 100 of Miley Cyrus’ biggest fans to join her audience. According to Oprah’s website, they think that they are there to participate in a Miley Cyrus Biggest Fan contest. They are all surprised when Miley comes out onto the stage and performs, “The Best of Both Worlds,” as none of her fans are aware she is going to be present.

Miley Cyrus is a well-known singer, songwriter, and actress. She plays Hannah Montana and Miley Stewart on the Disney Channel’s show Hannah Montana, where Miley Stewart appears to be a normal teenage girl by day, but is really Hannah Montana, a famous singer. On the TV series, Miley struggles to hide her identity from almost everyone, except her family and a few of her closest friends.

In October 2006 the Disney Channel released the first of Hannah Montana’s soundtracks, which contained eight songs from the show Hannah Montana.

Miley Cyrus also signed a four-album contract with Hollywood Records for her own solo career in 2006. In June 2007, Cyrus released a double album: Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. According to Wikipedia, Hannah Montana 2 serves as the second soundtrack for the Disney Channel show while Meet Miley Cyrus serves as Cyrus’ solo debut album.

Cyrus is currently on “The Best of Both Worlds” Tour in which she performs some songs as Hannah Montana and other songs as Miley Cyrus. Earlier this month the tour was extended to the end of January 2008 because of the tour’s popularity.

Miley Cyrus is also working on a movie: Hannah Montana: The Movie, which is set for release sometime in 2008 or early 2009, according to Wikipedia.

Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley’s father, is a country singer who maintains a country music career to date. Perhaps Billy Ray Cyrus is most well-known for is his 1992 hit song, “Achy Breaky Heart.”

This Thursday, December 20, 2007 Miley Cyrus and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, will appear on the Oprah show.

Sources:

Oprah: The Oprah Winfrey Show: Coming Up:
http://flash.oprah.com/tows/coming/twix_twix_20071217-21.pdf

The Oprah Winfrey Show: Meet Miley:
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200711/20071121/slide_20071121_350_101.jhtml

Wikipedia: Billy Ray Cyrus: Discography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Ray_Cyrus_discography

Wikipedia: Miley Cyrus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miley_Cyrus

For blogging services, please contact me at: miniemedia@gmail.com

Barry Manilow Performing in Chicago, January 12, 2008

Barry Manilow will be performing in Chicago, Illinois at the United Center on January 12, 2008 at 8pm. Tickets for this show are currently on sale.

Barry Manilow is scheduled to perform at the United Center in Chicago on January 12, as part of his current tour. Tickets for this show can now be purchased by visiting the United Center’s Box Office or any Ticket Master retail store. Tickets may also be purchased by phone by calling: 312-559-1212. Alternatively, tickets may be purchased on-line by visiting: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/04003F24947223C5?brand=unitedcenter&majorcatid=10001&artistid=735585&minorcatid=1.

Ticket prices vary widely from $9.99-250, depending on seat level, location, and availability. More specifically, tickets for floor seats range from $179-250, 100 level seating costs $99-250, 200 level seating costs from $99-179, and 300 level seating may be purchased for $9.99-39. There is a limit of eight tickets per household for this concert.

The United Center’s website provides directions to the venue as well as instructions on how to get to the venue using Chicago’s public transportation system and may be found at: http://www.unitedcenter.com/unitedcenter/DirectionsandParking.asp.

Barry Manilow released his first album Barry Manilow while he worked with Bette Midler on the production of The Divine Miss M and Bette Midler, her first two albums. However, it wasn’t until Manilow released his second album, Barry Manilow II, that he obtained his first number one song, “Mandy.”

Manilow’s success continued throughout the 1970s with the release of the albums Tryin’ to Get the Feeling, This One’s for You, Even Now, and One Voice.

In 1981, Manilow released the first album he produced without the help of Ron Dante, which he had used to produce all of his albums to that time. Also notable in the 1980s are Manilow’s release of a pop album, Manilow, and his performances of duets and songs in other languages, such as Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, and French.

In the 1990s, Manilow spent time working with other musicians writing music for Broadway musicals.

Most recently, Barry Manilow has released a series of cover albums. In January of 2006, Manilow released The Greatest Songs of the Fifties, which contained the songs, “Unchained Melody,” and, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” According to Wikipedia, The Best Songs of the Fifties reached the number one spot on the Billboard 200 chart. In October of 2006 The Best Songs of the Sixties debuted at number two on the Billboard chart and contains the songs, “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and, “And I Love Her.” The Greatest Songs of the Seventies was released earlier this year and contains, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” “The Long and Winding Road,” and, “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word.”

Barry Manilow will perform at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on January 12, 2007 at 8pm and tickets for this show are currently on sale.

For more information about this event please visit the United Center at: http://www.unitedcenter.com/calendar/event.asp?event_id=137.

Sources:

United Center: Barry Manilow:
http://www.unitedcenter.com/calendar/event.asp?event_id=137

United Center: Directions and Parking:
http://www.unitedcenter.com/unitedcenter/DirectionsandParking.asp

Barry Manilow: The Greatest Songs of the Seventies:
http://www.starz.bz/barrymanilow/product.cfm?product=2355

United Center: Barry Manilow: Tickets:
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/04003F24947223C5?brand=unitedcenter&majorcatid=10001&artistid=735585&minorcatid=1

Wikipedia: Barry Manilow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Manilow



For blogging services, please contact me at: miniemedia@gmail.com.

Movies Rock

Movies Rock will air on CBS this Friday (December 9th) at 9pm Eastern Standard Time. The event will celebrate music's contribution to the film industry.

Performances will be given by:
Carrie Underwood
Chris Brown
John Legend
Fergie
Will.i.am.
Jennifer Hudson
Eve
Marc Anthony
Beyonce
Tony Barnett
Queen Latifah
Jennifer Lopez
Mary J. Blige
Usher
Nelly