Mariah: I know I'm called 'ditzy moron'
NEW YORK - Mariah Carey knows her indisputable talent clashes with her sexed-up image as a "ditz." "It's a dichotomy, I understand," the 37-year-old Grammy winner tells Allure magazine. "I understand that people think I am a ditzy moron."
The singer — who was treated for exhaustion in 2001 after a public meltdown — says she still struggles with her confidence.
"I've always had really low self-esteem, and I still do," she says. "What's weird about that is being onstage, and the love that you get, and the adoration that you feel from your real fans. It's hard for a partner to compete — just imagine."
Carey and ex-husband Tommy Mottola, the former chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, divorced in 1997. She has described that relationship as controlling and says: "I had to make a decision: either lose myself completely or learn to stand up for myself. You have to be very courageous to do that."
She says she'd marry again — preferably, to someone who knows where she's coming from.
"That's a big deal for me: feeling like somebody else can't fully understand me because they're not in show business. It shouldn't matter, but it does, because the energy it takes to be `on' is a lot," she says.
Carey's latest album, EMC2, arrives April 15. Her previous album, "The Emancipation of Mimi," has sold 10 million copies.
The April issue of Allure hits newsstands nationwide on March 25.
Jeff Healey tributes confirmed
TORONTO - The family and friends of late guitarist Jeff Healey are holding two memorial concerts to celebrate his life and music.
The shows are set for May 3 and 4 in Toronto. A spokesman says the concerts will feature Healey's two bands - the Jazz Wizards and Healey's House Band.
A final lineup will be announced in two weeks, along with ticket prices and availability.
Healey, whose guitar prowess was characterized by an unusual playing-style that had him lay the instrument across his lap, died earlier this month from cancer at the age of 41.
The death of the jazz and blues aficionado drew tributes from famous fans including Bryan Adams, Colin James, Randy Bachman.
New CD Releases, March 18: Danity Kane, Daniel Lanois, She & Him
Danity Kane "Welcome to the Dollhouse"
Diddy's darlings return with their second studio album, which follows the ladies' eponymous debut of 2006.
The Danity Kane story began when Sean "Diddy" Combs set out to create an all-female super group during the third installment of the MTV reality TV series "Making the Band." The result was the creation of Danity Kane in 2005.
Thanks in large part to all of the exposure on MTV, the group was a hit and its debut CD, "Danity Kane," would produce two big singles--"Show Stopper" and "Ride for You"--and go on to sell more than a million copies.
The five ladies in Danity Kane are Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgette, Aundrea Fimbres, Shannon Bex, Aubrey O'Day and Dawn Richard.
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Daniel Lanois "Here Is What Is"
The master musician/producer, who has worked with everyone from Bob Dylan and U2 to Emmylou Harris and Peter Gabriel, hits with his fifth studio album. Lanois released the album in a "download-only" format back in December--a la Radiohead--and is just now getting around to putting it out on CD.
"Here Is What Is" is the soundtrack to the 2007 documentary of the same name, which chronicles Lanois' creative process for recording an album. That doc premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival. Brian Eno is featured both in the film and on the album.
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She & Him "Volume 1"
The "She" in question is Zooey Deschanel, an actor-turned-musician known for such films as "Elf." The "Him" is the acclaimed singer-songwriter M. Ward.
The two were first paired, musically speaking, by director Martin Hayens for the film "The Go-Getter." The result, apparently, was fetching enough to inspire the duo to record a full album, "Volume 1."
Besides recording this debut, She & Him have also been playing some concerts, including a date at San Francisco's influential Noise Pop festival.
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Flo Rida "Mail on Sundays"
The rapper, who--you guessed it--hails from Florida, releases his debut album. Flo Rida is perhaps best known for his work on the touching love song "Bitch, I'm From Dade County," which was featured on DJ Khaled's "We the Best" CD. The rapper's latest single is called "Elevator."
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The Kills "Midnight Boom"
The minimalist art-rock duo, consisting of Florida-bred Alison "VV" Mosshart (vocals/guitars) and UK native Jamie "Hotel" Hince (drums/vocals/guitar), returns with its third full-length studio album. The band's two previous outings, 2003's "Keep on Your Mean Side" and 2005's "No Wow," have combined to sell more than 70,000 copies.
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More new releases:
Be Your Own Pet, "Get Awkward" (Ecstatic Peace)
Big Dipper, "Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology" (Merge)
Black Tide, "Light from Above" (Black Tide)
Destroyer, "Trouble in Dreams" (Merge)
DeVotchKa, "A Mad and Faithful Telling" (Anti)
The Hush Sound, "Goodbye Blues" (Atlantic)
Johnny and the Sprites, "Johnny and the Sprites" (Disney)
Ottmar Liebert, "La Semana" (Spiral Subwave)
Mindless Self Indulgence, "Never Wanted to Dance" (The End)
The Teenagers, "Reality Check" (Beggars Xl)
Yael Naim, "Yael Naim" (Atlantic)
Various Artists, "BuzzCuts" (Razor & Tie)
Various artists, "Tom Waits Jukebox: The Songs that Inspired the Man" (United States of Distribution)
Soundtracks and scores:
"Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran" (Sire)
Abba drummer found dead in his garden
MADRID, Spain - A former drummer for the Swedish pop band ABBA was found dead with cuts to his neck in the garden of his house on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Police said Monday an autopsy showed it was an accident.
A neighbor found the body of 62-year-old Ola Brunkert on Sunday evening at his house in a coastal area outside the eastern town of Arta, a Civil Guard spokesman told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
He said an autopsy was carried out and confirmed initial investigations. "It was an accident," he said.
The spokesman said Brunkert hit his head against a glass door in his dining room, shattering the glass and cutting himself in the neck. He managed to wrap a towel around his neck and left the house to seek help, but collapsed in the garden.
Brunkert lived in the coastal apartment complex of Betlem in the municipality of Arta, in the eastern part of Mallorca.
Brunkert had lived in Arta for around 20 years. His wife, Inger. died less than a year ago, an Arta municipal official told the AP. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the case.
ABBA band member Benny Anderson told Swedish daily Expressen he was sad to hear of the drummer's death. "It is tragic," he said.
Band member Bjorn Ulvaeus added that Brunkert had been "one of the best."
"I remember him as a good friend when we worked together in the mid-1970s. He was a very creative musician who contributed a lot when we toured together and worked in the studio," Ulvaeus told Expressen.
According to ABBA's official Web site, Brunkert and bass player Rutger Gunnarsson were the only musicians to appear on all ABBA albums.
Brunkert first played with ABBA on the group's first single, "People Need Love," and toured with the band in 1977, 1979 and 1980.
He had been a jazz drummer and a member of the blues band Slim's Blues Gang, before joining pop group Science Poption in the mid-1960s.
ABBA, with the four regular members Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Ulvaeus and Andersson, was one of the world's most successful bands, with album sales of more than 370 million. The group has not performed together since 1982, but continues to sell nearly 3 million records a year.
Halle Berry has baby girl
NEW YORK - Halle Berry doesn't just play a mom in movies anymore.
The 41-year-old actress had a baby girl Sunday, and "is doing great," her publicist Meredith O'Sullivan told People.com, the Web site of People magazine. It is her first child.
The father is 32-year-old model Gabriel Aubry. The two met while shooting a Versace ad in Los Angeles two years ago.
Berry told Oprah Winfrey on her show last year that playing a mother in her latest movie, "Things We Lost in the Fire," helped convince her that motherhood was for her.
"I think it validated that I was meant to be a mother because every day I dealt with the character as a mother and thinking as a mother," Berry said. "It let me know that I must be a mother."
Berry won the best-actress Oscar for 2001's "Monster's Ball." She also won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for 1999's "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge."
Berry had said she and Aubry don't plan to marry, but feel fully committed to each other.
"Big Brother" feels summer love
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Big Brother" is going back-to-back.
CBS is gearing up for a summer edition of its voyeuristic reality series to follow the winter run that's still on the air.
The network has aired "Brother" the past three summers. Once the Hollywood writers strike kicked in last November, CBS opted for the show's first in-season edition, which premiered in February.
Although a summer season of "Brother" always has been likely, the prospect of the series' first back-to-back run has been tempered by the current edition's modest ratings.
Season-to-date, the winter run has averaged just 6.6 million viewers, according to a Nielsen Media Research, despite some video outtakes of lurid bedroom (and bathroom) coupling that have made entertainment blog headlines.
Given the numbers, it was unclear whether CBS might opt to give the show a breather before bringing it back. But some "Brother" episodes have gone up against Fox's "American Idol," which offsets the larger audience benefits of airing in-season. And fans contend that the sun-drenched summer atmosphere is ideal for the show.
CBS has not announced a premiere date for the summer edition.
Reality fans also could face another unprecedented back-to-back series run because of the strike: With Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" to premiere in-season for the first time next month, the show also might have its regular summer version. The network has a second run on tap, having ordered two editions shot during the show's recent production cycle.