Post by achebeautiful on Aug 9, 2006 19:33:44 GMT -5
Okay Lara!
It's a great time to resurrect music to a place of respectability once again!
Time for that new album and tour!
Janet's Good "Vibe"-rations
~ Gina Serpe
Janet Jackson's motto: If you got it--or at least got it back after gaining and losing nearly 60 pounds--flaunt it.
Following the grand tradition of stars disrobing in the name of publicity, the comeback-minded R&B songbird has taken it off for the September issue of Vibe to hype her upcoming release, 20 Y.O.
The newly svelte 40-year-old appears topless on the cover, wearing a white bikini bottom and a necklace of large round shells to ward off any possibility of boob slippage.
"It's over and done with," the singer said of her Justin Timberlake-assisted wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. "It's old. It's the past. It's history. I'm onto something new. Everybody got their licks in--those who wanted to--and it's done."
Still, despite the inherent risks in wearing skimpy outfits and references drawn by posing provocatively, Jackson told the magazine she didn't plan on turning prudish any time soon.
"When I'm 80," she said. "That's when I'll call it quits."
Jackson said her sexy endeavors have even been encouraged by her boyfriend of five years, 33-year-old hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri, and that his support following the Super Bowl fallout has given her self-esteem "a little boost."
"I came to realize that younger men had less of a problem with who I am than older men," she told Vibe. "With the younger guys, there was less ego. Things were less competitive. They weren't threatened by who made more and who made less.
"When I look at Jermaine, I see myself. I feel as if I'm looking in the mirror. The connection I feel with him I have never felt with anybody else."
The duo made the connection work professionally as well, with Dupri producing and singing on several tracks on 20 Y.O..
The disc will be Jackson's first release since 2004's Damita Jo, which in addition to receiving mixed reviews got basically lost in the aftermath of the record fine-inducing Super Bowl performance.
The new album's title refers to another milestone for the singer--the two-decade anniversary of Jackson's career-defining Control.
Aside from shop talk, Michael's little sister also addressed her much reported weight gain and subsequent loss.
The Grammy winner said she gained the weight at the request of producers for a role in the upcoming independent movie Tennessee; ironically, she ultimately passed on the film to promote her new album.
Madonna Plays with Fire, Brimstone
~ Gina Serpe
If ever anyone was due for a smiting, surely it's Madonna. At least, an increasing number of Italians seem to think so.
Fresh off her Vatican-disavowed mock-crucifixion performance in Rome, the erstwhile Material Girl has drawn the ire of yet another group of Catholics, this time over her H&M clothing ad draped over the scaffolding of Milan's landmark Duomo.
Surprisingly, it's not the "Papa Don't Preach" star's pose or wardrobe that's causing the controversy--it would be a feat to find offense with the image itself, which features Madonna donning a fully-zipped white sports jacket and looking downward.
Instead, protestors have found fault with the ad's placement, gracing the outside of the cathedral less than a week after the Confessions on a Dancefloor singer went ahead with plans to stage her cross-writhing routine at a concert at Rome's Olympic Stadium, just a mile away from Vatican City.
Timing is apparently everything.
Last Sunday, the controversy-courting singer pulled off a Jesus-channeling performance on stage, suspending herself on a 20-foot mirrored cross and donning a crown of fake thorns while singing the '80s ballad "Live to Tell."
Despite increasing protests over the H&M banner, the revenue from which is helping bankroll restoration of the cathedral, the Duomo's Monsignor Luigi Manganini said the ad would stay up for the duration of H&M's contract.
"It's just an ad, certainly not a canonization," Manganini told Italy's Ansa news agency, per Reuters. "When it was accepted, the poster seemed all correct and appropriate for its place, and it still is."
The head of culture for Milan's city council agreed, claiming the complaints, primarily by a Catholic parents' association and Milan's Advertising Progress Foundation, was much ado about nothing and that the ad might even be in keeping with the decor of the 14th century cathedral.
"The other parts of the building are full of devils and demons," Vittorio Sgarbi told the city's Corriere della Sera newspaper. "So an infernal Madonna shouldn't hurt us too badly."
It's not the first time an Italian church-side advertisement has drawn the ire of watchdog groups.
Last spring, Rome's St. Pantaleo church was blasted for agreeing to hang a giant movie poster promoting The Da Vinci Code on its outer scaffolding.
Several clergymen called the advertisement's presence "blatant provocation" as it came on the heels of mounting Vatican protests against the film, which questioned key tenets of Catholic beliefs.
The poster, which featured the face of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa along with the film's premiere date, remained up for three weeks before the Italian Interior Ministry agreed to remove it.
Madonna, meanwhile, has moved on from her Roman protests and is back on the road, already courting the wrath of another religious body, the Russian Orthodox Church.
Church officials have already jumped on the boycott bandwagon, urging Christians to sit out her concert when she stops in Moscow Sept. 11.
It's a great time to resurrect music to a place of respectability once again!
Time for that new album and tour!
Janet's Good "Vibe"-rations
~ Gina Serpe
Janet Jackson's motto: If you got it--or at least got it back after gaining and losing nearly 60 pounds--flaunt it.
Following the grand tradition of stars disrobing in the name of publicity, the comeback-minded R&B songbird has taken it off for the September issue of Vibe to hype her upcoming release, 20 Y.O.
The newly svelte 40-year-old appears topless on the cover, wearing a white bikini bottom and a necklace of large round shells to ward off any possibility of boob slippage.
"It's over and done with," the singer said of her Justin Timberlake-assisted wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. "It's old. It's the past. It's history. I'm onto something new. Everybody got their licks in--those who wanted to--and it's done."
Still, despite the inherent risks in wearing skimpy outfits and references drawn by posing provocatively, Jackson told the magazine she didn't plan on turning prudish any time soon.
"When I'm 80," she said. "That's when I'll call it quits."
Jackson said her sexy endeavors have even been encouraged by her boyfriend of five years, 33-year-old hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri, and that his support following the Super Bowl fallout has given her self-esteem "a little boost."
"I came to realize that younger men had less of a problem with who I am than older men," she told Vibe. "With the younger guys, there was less ego. Things were less competitive. They weren't threatened by who made more and who made less.
"When I look at Jermaine, I see myself. I feel as if I'm looking in the mirror. The connection I feel with him I have never felt with anybody else."
The duo made the connection work professionally as well, with Dupri producing and singing on several tracks on 20 Y.O..
The disc will be Jackson's first release since 2004's Damita Jo, which in addition to receiving mixed reviews got basically lost in the aftermath of the record fine-inducing Super Bowl performance.
The new album's title refers to another milestone for the singer--the two-decade anniversary of Jackson's career-defining Control.
Aside from shop talk, Michael's little sister also addressed her much reported weight gain and subsequent loss.
The Grammy winner said she gained the weight at the request of producers for a role in the upcoming independent movie Tennessee; ironically, she ultimately passed on the film to promote her new album.
Madonna Plays with Fire, Brimstone
~ Gina Serpe
If ever anyone was due for a smiting, surely it's Madonna. At least, an increasing number of Italians seem to think so.
Fresh off her Vatican-disavowed mock-crucifixion performance in Rome, the erstwhile Material Girl has drawn the ire of yet another group of Catholics, this time over her H&M clothing ad draped over the scaffolding of Milan's landmark Duomo.
Surprisingly, it's not the "Papa Don't Preach" star's pose or wardrobe that's causing the controversy--it would be a feat to find offense with the image itself, which features Madonna donning a fully-zipped white sports jacket and looking downward.
Instead, protestors have found fault with the ad's placement, gracing the outside of the cathedral less than a week after the Confessions on a Dancefloor singer went ahead with plans to stage her cross-writhing routine at a concert at Rome's Olympic Stadium, just a mile away from Vatican City.
Timing is apparently everything.
Last Sunday, the controversy-courting singer pulled off a Jesus-channeling performance on stage, suspending herself on a 20-foot mirrored cross and donning a crown of fake thorns while singing the '80s ballad "Live to Tell."
Despite increasing protests over the H&M banner, the revenue from which is helping bankroll restoration of the cathedral, the Duomo's Monsignor Luigi Manganini said the ad would stay up for the duration of H&M's contract.
"It's just an ad, certainly not a canonization," Manganini told Italy's Ansa news agency, per Reuters. "When it was accepted, the poster seemed all correct and appropriate for its place, and it still is."
The head of culture for Milan's city council agreed, claiming the complaints, primarily by a Catholic parents' association and Milan's Advertising Progress Foundation, was much ado about nothing and that the ad might even be in keeping with the decor of the 14th century cathedral.
"The other parts of the building are full of devils and demons," Vittorio Sgarbi told the city's Corriere della Sera newspaper. "So an infernal Madonna shouldn't hurt us too badly."
It's not the first time an Italian church-side advertisement has drawn the ire of watchdog groups.
Last spring, Rome's St. Pantaleo church was blasted for agreeing to hang a giant movie poster promoting The Da Vinci Code on its outer scaffolding.
Several clergymen called the advertisement's presence "blatant provocation" as it came on the heels of mounting Vatican protests against the film, which questioned key tenets of Catholic beliefs.
The poster, which featured the face of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa along with the film's premiere date, remained up for three weeks before the Italian Interior Ministry agreed to remove it.
Madonna, meanwhile, has moved on from her Roman protests and is back on the road, already courting the wrath of another religious body, the Russian Orthodox Church.
Church officials have already jumped on the boycott bandwagon, urging Christians to sit out her concert when she stops in Moscow Sept. 11.
