Hasta La Creative!

Madonna still has it as far as packing them in. After a successful “Sticky and Sweet Tour”, already the #1 Biggest Grossing Tour in history for a solo artist, another series of tours have been scheduled starting July 4 in London.

Stops will include appearances in never before played markets such as Werchter Belgium, Marseille France, Hamburg Germany, Oslo Norway, Helsinki Finland, Tallinn Estonia, Ljubljana Slovenia as well as stops in Romania, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria it was confirmed today by Live Nation. Additional appearances by Madonna will include return visits after more than 15 years to Madrid, Gothenburg and Munich.

“This new run of dates will further solidify Madonna’s position as one of the top selling touring artists of all time,” said Arthur Fogel, Live Nation’s Chairman of Global Music and CEO of Global Touring/Artist Nation.

(Source) Press

Jim Horne may not be a familiar to most of us but he was a key figure if you have been constantly following the GQ brand. Jim Horne passed away December 29 after losing his battle with cancer and congestive heart failure. Horne was one of the widely-seen models of his time.

Horne became a familiar face in the 1940s, appearing in ads for MACy’s department store, Lucky Strike and Marlboro cigarettes, Burberry, Chrysler, Budweiser and Grand Marnier, among others throughout his modelling career.

In 1957, Horne made history with men’s magazine GQ – appearing on its debut issue, formerly called Apparel Arts magazine.

(Source) Contact Music.com

Patrick Dempsey, famous for his role as Dr. McDreamy on Grey’s Anatomy is one of the sought after fans, at least for his autography. In fact, one fan really waited for him at the tracks later on revealing that his wife told him not to go home unless he gets Dr. McDreamy’s autograph.

“OK, OK the real reason I’m in line is because my wife said, ‘Don’t come home unless you get Patrick Dempsey’s autograph and a picture.’ The reality is I’m doing this for my wife.’

A self-proclaimed “car guy” Dempsey, 43, got the racing bug years ago and turned it into a serious pursuit. He wants nothing more than to be “one of the guys” in a drivers’ meeting or a race favorite on the starting grid.

So the best place to catch Dempsey is at the race tracks. That is until he is finished racing.

(Source) NASCAR

Kevin James of “Two and a Half Men” has been chosen to headline a new cast in his upcoming film “Paul Blart, Mall Cop”. It was actually a reunion of sorts as James had originally appeared on the CBS Network from 1998 to 2007 with a lead role in the sitcom, “Kings of Queens”.

TV networks and advertisers have tested the use of actors from shows consumers are watching in the commercials that interrupt those programs. The idea is that people armed with DVRs will be less interested in skipping ads willy-nilly when the people they tuned in to see in the first place are the ones cavorting about in the advertising.

(Source) Advertising Age

If you categorize a hormonal imbalance as a serious illness then speculations are true that Steve Jobs is indeed suffering from something serious. But realistically, that is the only reason that has been keeping Jobs out of the picture as his absence at the Macworld circled rumors all around.

He has lost weight but is still up and about. He has declared that he will continue to serve Apple as long as he can and has openly stated that he will personally face the Apple board if he can no longer carry out his duties.

“I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now,” adds Jobs. “I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery, and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.”

(Source) Market News

When you are looked upon as an established singer or lead vocalist, chances are people would be pretty much expecting the best rendering ballads today. But the funny thing is that some of the best stars we see in the music industry may not even be making it big due to their voice but more on how they are marketed and look.

It is really surprising. Imagine big names like David Lee Roth and Bob Dylan tagged as bad singers and mainly lip-synch to carry their way to fame and fortune? Now that is something that they have to give credit to their promotions manager. In most shows, you would notice that lip-synching is common and hence, much of them are practicing singing along with music rather than actually rendering it.

There are two kinds of bad singers in the world: the ones who kid themselves into thinking they’re good (Kanye) and the ones who try too hard — all the time. These are the Mariahs, Beyonces, and Christinas (although Ms. Aguilera is learning; her Nina Simone tribute on the Grammy nomination show this month was remarkably restrained). These performers wring the last bit of life out of every note. Just because you can sing every octave perceptible to the human ear doesn’t mean you have to. These singers don’t know when to hold back.

(Source) Yahoo Music

That’s all I have to say. George Carlin was the best. Nobody had a better understanding of the nuances of language.

I can’t say I’m totally shocked–his last couple of specials on HBO showed him to be a little slower than usual. But I have at least 10 of his comedy albums and they’re wall-to-wall hilarious.

US comic George Carlin dies at 71.

According to The New York Times, Unilever, which makes the margarine spread I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, has been running Spraychel Webisodes since 2005. Unilever’s digital media agency, Story Worldwide, created the Spraychel campaign.

According to Ad Age, Converse commissioned reclusive Strokes’ frontman, Julian Casablancas, to help celebrate the brand’s 100th birthday.

The home of Chuck Taylor is hoping a new song, “My Drive Thru,” featuring Mr. Casablancas, Pharrell Williams and white-hot indie songstress Santogold, can renew the century-old shoe brand’s status as the indie music scene’s footwear of choice.

Geoff Cottrill, chief marketing officer for Converse, said “My Drive Thru” ties in comfortably with Converse’s heritage of aligning with the independent minded. “We call them optimistic rebels,” he said. “They’re the core of what our brand stands for — being an advocate and catalyst for creativity. … We wanted these guys to come together, create a piece of music and share it with anyone who wanted it.”

Added Mike Byrne, executive creative director for Anomaly, Converse’s creative agency of record, “I think by having Pharrell produce the track, we knew we would get something that wasn’t hip-hop or pop or rock. This year is the Converse century, and we’re definitely celebrating our heritage of challenging the status quo in art, sports and fashion. It was a nice ode to all the people who helped build this brand.”

Unfortunately, I can’t locate the song on the Converse site. However, Stereogum is taking care of business.

The New York Times points to the downside of celebrity endorsement.

Christian Dior, the French fashion brand, has become the latest global company to learn a hard lesson about the danger of offending Chinese pride.

Facing the possibility of a boycott of its products, the luxury company said on Thursday that it had dropped the American actress Sharon Stone from its advertising in China after she suggested last week that the recent earthquakes in Sichuan Province were karmic retribution for Beijing’s treatment of Tibet.

Ms. Stone said last week during the Cannes Film Festival: “I’m not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And then the earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma?

If Stone knew what she was talking about, then I’d say we all better get under the table and brace ourselves, for very few humans are truly kind.