Usher (file)
Photo: Getty Images

In what comes as no surprise, Usher is among the top nominees for this year's Soul Train Awards. The singer scored four nominations, including Best R&B/Soul, Male for "Confessions Part II," Best R&B/Soul Album, Male for Confessions and best R&B/Soul or Rap Dance Cut for "Yeah!" The video for "Yeah!" also earned Usher a nod for the Michael Jackson Award for best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video. Fellow ATL native and R&B ingénue Ciara also scored four nominations, including Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist, Best R&B/Soul, Female for "Goodies" and Best R&B/Soul Album, Female for Goodies. Other multiple nominees include Alicia Keys, Prince, Jill Scott and Beyoncé, who is nominated both as a solo artist and as part of Destiny's Child. The Soul Train Awards will be held February 28 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. ...

Want to join TLC? The group is holding open-call auditions, starting Saturday in New York at the Hilton and continuing through the rest of the month in Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Miami. Camera-shy singers need not apply, as they're shooting the auditions for their upcoming reality show for UPN, "R U the Girl with T-Boz and Chilli." ... Seattle radio station 96.5 K-Rock has assembled a lineup of Seattle's finest (circa mid-1990s) for its "Tsunami Continued Care Relief Concert" on February 18. Topping the bill are the re-formed Alice in Chains — Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez — who will perform together for the first time in more than eight years. There is no word yet on who will front the band, whose lead singer, Layne Staley, died in 2002 from a drug overdose. Also scheduled to perform are former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Sea-town booty enthusiast Sir Mix-A-Lot. Tickets for the event are $40, and go on sale February 10 on K-ROCK's Web site, www.965KRock.com . ...

Fans of Radio 4 got a big surprise last weekend when Beck and his band played a surprise set opening for the New York rockers at the Echo in Los Angeles. It was the second unannounced set the singer played at the club last month, and served as a warm-up for the touring that will follow the March release of his new LP, Guero. ... Ever wonder what inspires artists like Björk, Yo La Tengo, Tortoise and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore? Check out Thrill Jockey's "Looking for a Thrill: An Anthology of Inspiration" DVD (February 22), which collects personal stories from more than 100 musicians about the concerts, records and artists that have motivated them. Others interviewed for the movie — the proceeds from which benefit Greenpeace — include Mike Watt, Jon Spencer, Vic Chesnutt, Steve Albini, Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi) and Carl Craig. ...

Despite being behind bars, C-Murder will release his new album, The Truest **** I Ever Said, on March 22 via Koch Records. The album features guest appearances from the late Soulja Slim, Akon and Capone, among others. C-Murder's first single, "Y'all Heard," features B.G. A video for the single, shot in prison and in New Orleans, will be available later this month. C-Murder is currently in jail on second-degree murder charges. ... Warren G, Talib Kweli and Fantasia are all upcoming guest stars on the UPN show "All of Us" (which airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET). Warren G plays a warrant officer on February 8, while Kweli and Fantasia both appear as themselves on the March 1 episode. ...

NBA players Alonzo Mourning and Carmelo Anthony will host "Zo & Melo's 8-Ball Challenge" on February 17 at Denver's Wynkoop Brewing Company. A host of celebrities and athletes including Ludacris, Fabolous, Philadelphia Eagles' Terrell Owens, New Jersey Nets' Vince Carter and members of the WWE are scheduled to be on hand to showcase their billiard skills and compete for an exotic all-expenses-paid vacation and NBA All-Star Game tickets. The event will be hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, and will also include a silent auction featuring items from Michael Jordan, Jason Kidd, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, and LeBron James as well as Anthony and Mourning. The net proceeds raised will benefit charities supported by Alonzo Mourning Charities, Inc. and the Carmelo Anthony Foundation Fund. ... While Courtney Love has been resolving some of her criminal matters, she's still facing legal problems of a financial sort. Saturday is the deadline for her to resolve non-payment of legal fees in one civil case, while another company is now also claiming non-payment, according to a complaint filed recently in Olympia, Washington. WMC Mortgage Corp. is seeking foreclosure on a 13-acre property which Love bought in 1997 for Kurt Cobain's family, which would mean that the home would be put up for bid at a public auction. Love owes about $318,000, and the company says she hasn't paid the bills in over a year. ...

Sharon Warren, who won rave reviews playing Ray Charles' mother in "Ray," spent a lot of time on the set talking music with Jamie Foxx, as she too is releasing an album. Warren, who has written for Lenny Kravitz, will debut in the spring with the single "There." ... Cher is threatening — or promising, depending on how you feel about her — that her current tour will be her last. Though she's intimated that about past tours, she's now saying that this trek, called the Farewell Never Can Say Goodbye Tour, will end April 30 at the Hollywood Bowl with her last live performance ever. ...

For the price of a T-shirt and a hat, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine will personally tear your demo tape to bits. Fans who purchase a shirt/hat combo from Mustaine's merchandising company, BandMerch.com, can enter a contest to have their demo critiqued by the singer. As if chiding and derision from a rock star weren't enough of a prize, the winner will also receive an ESP Dave Mustaine Guitar and Line 6 Guitarport. The deadline for the contest is February 11. ... Canadian rockers Hot Hot Heat will hit the road for a trek across the U.S. prior to the release of their major-label debut, Elevator, in early April. Beginning February 21 in Seattle, the band will hit 14 cities across the country, ending up in Dallas on March 15. ...

Ben Folds' second solo studio LP, Songs for Silverman, has been pushed back from February to April 26. Folds recorded his follow-up to Rockin' the Suburbs with bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Lindsay Jamieson, making it his first album with a band since Ben Folds Five's final LP in 1999. Songs for Silverman includes the first single, "Landed," as well as a tribute to Elliott Smith called "Late." ...

01.31.2005

Ashlee Simpson will begin rehearsing on Tuesday for her first-ever tour, which launches next month. ...

Mariah Carey is shooting the video for her new single, "It's Like That," this week with director Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour," "Red Dragon"). "I don't want to give it away yet," Carey told MTV Radio recently, "because you know how things change, but it's a Las Vegas casino scene. Brett is great at giving things a cinematic feel. We did the 'Heartbreaker' video together, and it had such a sense of humor to it, that I hope to have that for this video." ... Clay Aiken is bringing his squeaky-clean image to "Scrubs," for an episode that was taped in front of a live audience. "Scrubs" usually shoots on a closed set, but Aiken's episode, which airs February 15 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, makes fun of the laugh tracks associated with traditional sitcoms. ...

Jack Russell, lead singer of Great White, said he will not respond to allegations in eight civil suits filed against him by families of the victims of the 2003 nightclub fire that started as a result of his band's onstage pyrotechnics, according to The Associated Press. The singer's lawyer said Russell could face criminal prosecution for his role in the West Warwick, Rhode Island, fire, and is therefore not willing to address the charges. ... Lil' Kim's manager Damion Butler pleaded guilty in a New York court on Friday to participating in a shooting and conspiring to obtain/traveling with a false passport, according to New York Newsday. Butler, who is currently incarcerated on an unrelated charge, could face up to 71 months in prison. The case stems from a 2001 shootout outside a New York radio station between Kim's camp and that of Capone (of rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga). Kim is scheduled to stand trial on February 28 on charges of conspiracy, obstruction and perjury. ...

The Neptunes, Jermaine Dupri and Mario Winans are among the producers who contributed to Faith Evans' fourth album, The First Lady, due March 29. Chris Robinson, who directed the clip for Evans and Twista's current hit, "Hope," is helming the video for the first single, "Again." ...

Janet Jackson and her beau, Jermaine Dupri, are co-hosting a pre-Super Bowl party designed to raise money for scholarships. The Willie Gary Celebrity Scholarship Party — to which Magic Johnson, Bow Wow, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya, and others have been invited — will be held Saturday at the Aetna Building in Jacksonville, Florida. ...

Alanis Morissette will teach you how to be Canadian in a few easy steps when she appears in an upcoming episode of the Great White North's teen soap opera "Degrassi: The Next Generation." Morissette will make a cameo during a three-episode storyline in which Kevin Smith (as himself) visits Degrassi while doing research for a "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" sequel titled "Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh?," according to The Ottawa Sun. The singer will play Degrassi's principal in the story-within-a-story, and will spend the episode throwing out an obscene number of Canadian stereotypes, including references to the metric system and the notion that Canadians say "aboot" instead of "about." The episode will air Stateside on the N channel during the next season of the show, which starts February 18. ... Carmen Electra will voice a character on a preview episode of "American Dad," the latest animated series from "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane. Electra voices Lisa Ailver, the hottest girl in class whose heart is won by the power-mad class president, Steve, whose father just so happens to be a CIA agent. The episode airs Sunday at 10:30 p.m. ET on FOX. ...

Rapper Chuck D and a host of others who played pivotal roles in the creation of Public Enemy's seminal album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back will assemble at New York University on February 25-26 for "The Making of Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back." The in-depth discussions will cover various aspects of the 1988 album, from its creation to its place in music history. In addition to panel discussions, there will be a screening of "Public Enemy: London Calling," an in-progress documentary chronicling PE's U.K. tours. ... Jem, who returned to her DJing roots for the closing party of the Sundance Film Festival over the weekend, will release "24" as the second single from her debut, Finally Woken. After shooting the video next month, Jem will hit the U.K. for a promotional tour and then return to the States for an outing with Gavin DeGraw. ...

Trey Anastasio and John Medeski will join Moe at a benefit for tsunami survivors scheduled for February 10 at New York's Roseland Ballroom. Dave Matthews Band are matching the proceeds from the event. ... Lisa Marie Presley has set an April 5 release date for her second album, Now What. The first single is a cover of Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry." ... Lifehouse have just released the first single off their new self-titled album (March 29), the moody ballad "You and Me." The "Hanging by a Moment" group's third effort features the songs "Come Back Down," "Blind," "All and All," "Better Luck," "Days Go By," "Into the Sun," "Undone," "We'll Never Know," "Walking Away," "Chapter One" and "The End." New bassist Bryce Soderberg will join the band when it hits the road in March. ...

• Usher
• TLC
• Ciara
• Beck
• Alice in Chains

Bruce Springsteen
Photo: MTV News

As the second anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks approaches, some artists have elected to avoid playing shows Thursday night. Three of the summer's biggest tours, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Kiss/ Aerosmith, and Cher have scheduled an off-day for Thursday, while the House of Blues is keeping the doors closed at its major venues in the U.S. in honor of the solemn day.

Springsteen will perform in Toronto on Wednesday, then stay off the road until a Saturday show in Landover, Maryland. Kiss and Aerosmith play West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday, after taking more than five days off on their summer juggernaut. Others skipping Thursday bookings include country star Toby Keith and boomer faves Fleetwood Mac. Godsmack avoided the anniversary entirely by booking the kickoff of their upcoming tour for September 12 in Buffalo, New York.

Though not all bands are necessarily avoiding the date because of its association with the attacks, the anniversary holds a strong place in people's minds and has become a day to reflect and honor the dead. Also, the threat of new attacks on large gatherings continues to serve as something of a deterrent for some acts, said Pollstar editor-in-chief Gary Bongiovanni.

"Most tours only work four days a week anyway, but if you look at the calendar and see it's September 11, you think it has some significance and possibly a slightly elevated security risk and you factor that into your thinking," Bongiovanni said. "With all the remembrances and the mood of the day, you may think, 'This is not the best time for my artist to perform.' So you just make it a day off."

For others, the opposite might be true, Bongiovanni said. Thursday could be seen as the perfect opportunity to not alter their lives and attempt to go forward even as we remember the tragic day.

Such was the case for R.E.M. The veteran band needed to fill a date between a Los Angeles show on Wednesday night and a gig in Denver on Saturday and, because of the way their tour was routed, Sin City was their only option. "There's no real significance to us playing or not playing [that date], other than that is where it fell in the routing on our tour," said R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs of the band's gig at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Thursday. "We have respect for what happened, but we didn't avoid it or go out of our way looking to play [on it], either."

R.E.M. are among a number of major acts that are playing on September 11, among them the Eagles, Goo Goo Dolls, Dashboard Confessional and Willie Nelson. Others performing around the U.S. on Thursday include Andrew W.K., Kings of Leon and Damien Rice.

The Take Action Tour, which will benefit the suicide awareness and prevention program the National Hopeline Network 1-800-SUICIDE, kicks off on September 11 in Minneapolis. That trek features Thursday, Avenged Sevenfold and others (see "Thursday, Avenged Sevenfold, Poison The Well Take Action Against Suicide").

One group personally affected by the terror attacks is approaching the day as a way to pay tribute to a friend. New York funk band Afroskull will play the Paradise Lounge on Thursday, with all proceeds going to the Paul J. Battaglia Memorial Scholarship Fund, in honor of a friend of the band who worked at the World Trade Center. Hard rockers Hatebreed, Madball, Ringworm, Embrace Today, Some Kind of Hate and My Revenge will play a benefit for the "Families of September 11" at the Mass Skate in Westfield, Massachusetts, on Thursday night as well.

The House of Blues is observing the somber holiday its own way, by not booking shows at any of its 20-plus large venues. "There is no company policy regarding booking shows this Thursday," said Jack Gannon, senior vice president of marketing for HOB. "But there are no shows scheduled for that day in the U.S. at our large concert venues. A lot of that is driven by whether the artists want to play or not. There's still a heightened sensitivity to playing on that night."

Unlike last year's many televised tributes and specials, network programmers are mostly steering clear of 9-11 events this year, with the broadcast networks sticking to their regular prime-time schedules.

New York is also reducing September 11 commemorations from last year. The largest public event will be a reading of the names of the more than 2,900 victims in the WTC attacks by their surviving children and family members at Ground Zero. The two light beams that shone into the sky for the six-month anniversary of the attacks will be illuminated for the night. President Bush will attend a special church service and observe a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., which is when the first plane struck the WTC. In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a bell will sound at 10:06 a.m. at the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel to commemorate the time at which one of the hijacked planes was reported down in that area.

• Bruce Springsteen
• Cher
• Kiss
• Aerosmith
• R.E.M.

"American Idol" judges Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Paula Abdul
Photo: J. Viles

When the Emmy nominations were announced on Thursday morning, the usual suspects led the way: "Six Feet Under" (16), "The West Wing" (15), "The Sopranos" (13) and "Sex and the City" (13). But a number of music specials landed multiple nominations, among them concerts from Cher, the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen, and the reality smash "American Idol" garnered several nods as well, according to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Cher's prime-time special "Cher - The Farewell Tour" led the musical pack with six Emmy nominations, including nods in Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special, Music Direction, Technical Direction, Lighting Direction and, not surprisingly, Costumes and Hairstyling.

"American Idol" was close behind with five nominations, including the big one, Outstanding Reality/Competition Program, where it will face off against "Survivor," "The Amazing Race" and specials commemorating Bob Hope and the history of film. "Idol" also was nominated in the nonfiction directing, sound, lighting and technical directing categories.

Both Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones had strong showings as well, with the Stones' special "Rolling Stones - Licks World Tour, Live From Madison Square Garden" earning four nominations and Springsteen's "Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band" NBC special taking three. Both the Stones and Springsteen will compete with Cher for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special.

Other music-related nominations include an editing notice for "Paul McCartney's Back in the U.S." special and a choreography nod for Celine Dion's Vegas extravaganza, "Celine in Las Vegas: Opening Night Live." Though they didn't get a nomination in the reality-series category, "The Osbournes" was recognized in the Outstanding Nonfiction Program (Alternative) race and the makers of the Pepsi Twist commercial featuring the Osbournes/ Osmonds were nominated for Outstanding Commercial.

Hitmaker to the stars Desmond Child (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Ricky Martin) was nominated for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for the song "Everyone Matters" from the "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie," where he will be competing against "Everybody Hates Ned Flanders," from "The Simpsons" episode "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" VH1's "Behind the Music" was nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Series.

The 55th annual Emmy Awards will take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on September 21.

• Bruce Springsteen
• Cher
• Celine Dion

The White Stripes
Photo: V2 Records

While the White Stripes topped the U.K. album charts last week, they won't be able to achieve the same feat at home with their fourth album, Elephant. Meanwhile, perennial British chart topper Robbie Williams was relegated to the mid-40s with his third U.S. release, Escapology.

The White Stripes' Elephant lumbers into Billboard's top 10 at #6, but the blues punk, candy-stripped duo from Detroit couldn't slow the orbit of last week's #1, Linkin Park's Meteora.

Elephant is by far the highest chart debut from garage rockers Jack and Meg White, moving more than 125,000 copies in its first week, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday (April 9). The album is the follow-up to the duo's breakthrough, 2001's White Blood Cells.

Linkin Park held onto the #1 spot with 264,000 in sales, a 65 percent drop from their 810,000-plus debut last week, but still enough to put them over the 1 million mark. 50 Cent slipped back into the #2 slot with sales of 174,000, just a slight dip from the week before, but enough to push Get Rich or Die Tryin' closer to the 4 million mark. 50 was followed by the Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 12 album (166,000) with contributions from Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z and Nelly; Celine Dion's One Heart (165,000) at #4; and Norah Jones' still strong Come Away With Me (132,000) at #5.

Cher's farewell TV special scored impressive ratings on Tuesday night, and her greatest-hits collection, Very Best of Cher, will say hello to the top 10 next week with a #7 seating on sales of 122,000. The top 10 is rounded out by the soundtrack to "Chicago" (89,000), the debut LP from Evanescence, Fallen (83,000), and R. Kelly's Chocolate Factory (81,000), which held steady at #10 as it neared the 1.5 million sales mark.

Country singer Chris Cagle will debut at #15 with sales of 41,800, and the Dixie Chicks' 'landslide' seems to have leveled out following the fallout from singer Natalie Maines' overseas statements about President Bush. The group's Home sold 41,000 copies last week, which is 10,000 less than the week before and enough to knock them down one spot to #17.

Even as their album Pandemonium! neared the 1 million sales mark, B2K took a tumble, plummeting from #13 to #27 on sales of 32,000, a 50 percent drop from the previous week. The drop was even steeper for the Hot Boys, who fell 17 spots to #31 as their sales were cut in half to 27,000 in their second week on the chart.

Try as he may, British star Robbie Williams can't seem to escape the middle regions of the U.S. charts. He landed at #43 with Escapology on weak sales of 21,000 copies. Williams has released five albums overseas, selling more than 20 million albums total, but Escapology is only his third U.S. release. The sales are a disappointment given the reported $80 million contract Williams signed last year with EMI.

Rob Zombie's soundtrack to his directing debut, "House of 1,000 Corpses," enters the charts at #53 with 18,000 copies sold. Next week will also see the chart debut from Boy Sets Fire, Tomorrow Come Today (#141), Stereomud's Every Given Moment (#146) and not-so-dumb girl Lucy Woodward's While You Can, which slips in at #148.

For a feature interview with Linkin Park, check out "Linkin Park: Pretty Boring, Pretty Huge."

• The White Stripes
• Linkin Park
• Robbie Williams
• Cher

Thirteen years ago this week, Paula Abdul was filling the gap between being a Laker Girl and being an "American Idol" judge by selling millions of copies of her debut album, Forever Your Girl. MTV News crashed a Los Angeles party where she was celebrating her success with several of her new Hollywood pals.

"Well, I've seen her on MTV and stuff," observed actress Molly Ringwald, "and she seems like a really great dancer. I mean a really great, great dancer."

" 'Straight Up' is my favorite," gushed Eddie Murphy, "and I like the album a lot. Paula's a real sweet girl."

"She sings it for me live, so I don't need the record," bragged Abdul's then-boyfriend, John Stamos.

Eventually, MC Skat Kat's rooftop dance partner was roped into giving a speech. "Everyone at Virgin Records, I thank you from the bottom of my heart because you believed in me when no one had to," Abdul said, "and you really took a risk with me. ... You've helped me live out my dream."

So after selling 6 million records and scoring four #1 hits, what does Paula Abdul do next? Nope, not Disneyland. "As soon as I get finished with my next album, I'm gonna be doing a big [U.S.] and world tour, so I'll be going everywhere," she said.

While Abdul was marveling at her runaway success, karaoke kings Milli Vanilli (shh ... it was still a secret in 1990) were marveling that critics had the nerve to trash their debut LP, Girl You Know It's True. The curious Euro-pop duo — German-born Rob Pilatus and his largely silent partner, Fab Morvan — had sold 10 million albums, which has to prove something, they said.

In a Time magazine interview (in which we assume they did their own talking), Pilatus boasted: "Musically we are more talented than any Bob Dylan. Musically we are more talented than Paul McCartney. Mick Jagger, his lines are not clear. He don't know how he should produce a sound. ... I'm the new modern rock and roll. I'm the new Elvis."

Seriously, the guy actually said that. See for yourself how the Rob and Fab musical revolution turned out next time VH1 has a "Behind the Music" marathon.

One artist who does have staying power, that butt-baring "Mask" mommy Cher, was shooting a video for the title track of 1989's Heart of Stone 13 years ago this week. In the clip, directed by Marty Callner, the singer is surrounded by images of the people and events, both personal and historic, that have formed the backdrop of her life.

"I said, 'Marty, I have this idea,' and he said, 'Well, I have an idea too. ... You tell me your idea first.' So I said, 'I feel like I wanna do this ... ' When I finished telling him, he said, 'All right, we're not gonna do my idea. My idea's nothing like that. I wanted to put you in a boxing ring and do some weird stuff.' "

As the video attests, Cher has seen a lot in her life.

"One time Bette Midler and I were ... doing a special with Elton John and Flip Wilson, and Bette was at my house and Mick and Bianca came over," the diva dished. "We're all sitting around, and Bianca was acting very strange and she turned the light off, and we're all sitting around having a party. And so Mick said, 'You're really rude. Turn the lights back on. This is really stupid. ... You know, sweetheart, you and Bette would really get along because she hates men too.' Bianca looked at him and said, 'No, darling. No, I just hate you.' And she got up and left. I went, 'Well, this is really interesting. They're a fun couple. We should have them over more often.' "

For more "This Week In ...", check out the This Week In Archive.

• Paula Abdul
• Milli Vanilli
• Cher

Cher
Photo: Warner Bros.

Like her pal, Kiss' Gene Simmons, Cher is having a hard time saying goodbye to life on a tour bus.

Though the pop diva said that last year's Living Proof 2002 tour was her farewell to the road (see "Cher Rides Chandelier, Puppet Elephant At Past-Glorifying Michigan Show"), the singer is packing up the feathered headdresses, spangled unitards and glitter wigs one more time for what she swears is her final round of dates in North America.

After 95 dates in 2002, Cher will pick up the third leg of her farewell tour with a January 30 show at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California, according to a spokesperson for the singer. The 35-date outing is currently scheduled to run through an April 30 date at Portland, Maine's Cumberland Civic Center. Not to worry, though, the singer's manager said there will be North American dates through June to be announced soon, as well as some tentative European dates in the fall.

A two-hour prime-time special filmed at a November 8 show in Miami will be broadcast on NBC in late spring. To coincide with the television special, Warner Bros. has plans to release another Cher greatest-hits album in late March, a 21-track set spanning the singer's 40 years of chart hits, from "I Got You Babe" through "A Different Kind of Love Song," from last year's Living Proof.

Cher tour dates, according to her spokesperson:

• 1/30 - Fresno, CA @ Selland Arena
• 2/1 - Tucson, AZ @ Tucson Convention Center
• 2/2 - El Paso, TX @ UTEP Don Haskins Center
• 2/4 - Phoenix, AZ @ America West Arena
• 2/5 - Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
• 2/7 - Lubbock, TX @ United Spirit Arena
• 2/9 - North Little Rock, AK @ Alltel Arena
• 2/11 - Tupelo, MS @ Bancorp South Center
• 2/13 - Tallahassee, FL @ Leon County Civic Center
• 2/14 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum
• 2/16 - Tampa, FL @ St. Pete Times Forum
• 2/24 - Roanoke, VA @ Roanoke Civic Center
• 2/25 - Richmond, VA @ Richmond Coliseum
• 2/27 - Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Arena
• 3/1 - Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
• 3/2 - Knoxville, TN @ Thomas-Boling Arena
• 3/4 - Memphis, TN @ The Pyramid
• 3/6 - Lafayette, LA @ Cajundome
• 3/8 - Mobile, AL @ Mobile Civic Center
• 3/9 - Jackson, MS @ Mississippi Coliseum
• 3/11 - Huntsville, AL @ Von Braun Civic Center
• 3/13 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Ford Center
• 3/14 - Valley Center, KS @ Kansas Coliseum
• 3/16 - Topeka, KS @ Kansas Expo Center
• 3/17 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Arena
• 3/19 - Nampa, ID @ Idaho Center
• 4/13 - Reno, NV @ Lawlor Center
• 4/16 - Billings, MT @ Metrapark Arena
• 4/17 - Bismarck, ND @ Bismarck Civic Center
• 4/19 - Council Bluffs, IA @ Mid-America Convention Complex
• 4/22 - Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Coliseum
• 4/23 - Charleston, SC @ N. Charleston Civic Center
• 4/25 - Atlanta, GA @ Phillips Arena
• 4/26 - Raleigh, NC @ RBC Arena
• 4/30 - Portland, ME @ Cumberland Civic Center

• Cher

Cher
Photo: ImageDirect/iPhoto.ca

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — On the first U.S. stop of her farewell tour at the Palace of Auburn Hills Saturday, Cher offered living proof that she's a Renaissance woman.

Cloaked in a closetful of different costumes during the course of the set, Cher belted out two hours' worth of hits, celebrated her Oscar-winning film career and recalled her TV appearances with former husband, the late Sonny Bono.

She kicked off her spectacle with a retrospective video that included vintage photos and film clips, backed by a DAT version of "If I Could Turn Back Time." Cher, wearing a jeweled headdress and robe, made a stunning entrance, slowly emerging from the rafters atop a gold-plated chandelier. She began the show with her self-proclaimed "good luck" tune, a disco version of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."

Prior to "Song for the Lonely," back-up dancers removed the headdress and robe to unveil a revealing midriff-baring vest and beaded harem pants. More dancers then arose from beneath the upper level of the stage.

She teased the audience by saying this wasn't the "official" start of the show. First, she needed to share a few stories.

"Well, I'm back here. I have Mr. Big with me. Somebody threw him under a truck last time we were here," she said before explaining that Mr. Big is her pet cat.

"We have to have a small chat. What do you think about me coming down 40 feet on a chandelier? I was laying in my bed and I thought a really cool way to start the show would be for me to come down on a chandelier. But I've never been 30 or 40 feet in the air, except for sometimes after sex," she added as members of the audience responded with catcalls.

Cher's show had a Las Vegas-meets-Cirque du Soleil-meets Ringling Bros. feel to it. Acrobats, wrapped in yards in fabric secured to the rafters, quickly unraveled themselves to the stage through songs such as "We All Sleep Alone." Emphasizing the big-top vibe, Cher slipped on a ringmaster's jacket.

"When I was little, I used to love to go to the zoo. I wanted to be a ringmaster, but I thought that guys do that. I figured the hell with it. I'm doing it. Now we're getting to the 'official' start of the Cher show," she said as the audience laughed.

"Ladies and gentleman, flaming gentlemen, boys and girls and children of all ages, welcome to the Cherest show on earth."

She then disappeared backstage and re-entered atop a puppet elephant singing "All or Nothing."

The set list for her Living Proof tour was a compilation of tunes from her long career. Cher performed medleys of such older hits as "Half Breed" and "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves."

The retrospective video clips were a hit with the fans, who wildly applauded scenes showing her with Elton John, the Jackson 5, Liberace and David Bowie. She received a rousing response to clips from her films "Moonstruck," "The Witches of Eastwick" and "Silkwood." As she recalled her film career via video, she sang "After All," from the Robert Downey Jr. movie "Chances Are."

In her video montage, she showed an interview in which she said that there were no benefits of growing old. Shortly thereafter, she performed "If I Could Turn Back Time" wearing a skimpy black outfit similar to the one she donned in the 1989 video for that track.

Cher's opener, Cyndi Lauper, was an energetic stage presence, running up and down the lower bowl, singing and dancing with the fans who arrived early to see her. She began her set with "Shine," a new song that has become so popular that she is releasing an EP of the same name later this year to support it.

Vocally, Lauper sounded like she did at the height of her career. Renditions of "Time After Time" and "Money Changes Everything" were very well-received. Dubbing it a "self-help song," Lauper served up a rockified "She Bop."

During her hour-long set, she frequently acknowledged her homosexual fanbase. "It's gay pride this month. Sorry I couldn't be with you. Last time I was here, I was wearing a macaroni crown on my head, swinging from a swing, eating Greek soul food," she said with a laugh.

In honor of gay pride, she wrapped herself in a rainbow-striped robe, while singing "True Colors."

For more sights and stories from concerts around the world, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Cher

Whitney Houston and Mary J. Blige on stage at "VH1 Divas Las Vegas"
Photo: Image Direct

It was "Divas." It was Vegas. So it had to be an over-the-top, throw-subtlety-to-the-wind kind of affair, right?

Not entirely, though "VH1 Divas Las Vegas" did offer a show-closing Elvis medley and enough vocal gymnastics to turn the MGM Grand into the earth's vibrato epicenter. Between host Ellen DeGeneres' low-key approach and a few quiet acoustic numbers from Shakira, Dixie Chicks and Stevie Nicks, this year's edition may have been the mellowest yet.

Even the opening number — an out-of-breath DeGeneres rapping Salt-N-Pepa's "Shoop" while crawling among a slew of sweaty studs — suggested that this show might offer more nuanced treats than years past. And when Celine Dion and international dance star Anastacia stormed the stage with a version of AC/DC's headbanging classic "You Shook Me All Night Long" (featuring a cranked-up guitar solo by Meredith Brooks), it was clear that any bombast would be delivered with a self-deprecating wink.

That self-deprecating wink is something that Cher has mastered, allowing her to offer up her anthemic "Believe" and "Song for the Lonely" with convincing sincerity while later she donned a black pompadour and fake sideburns for her tribute to the King. While she fell short of some of the high notes on "Believe," she made up for it with her enthusiastic version of "Lonely," spurred on by Cyndi Lauper.

The Dixie Chicks slowed things down with their upcoming single, "Long Time Gone," backed by stand-up bass and dobro. Dressed in loose, flowing shirts that said "Appalachian gypsy," the Chicks' acoustic turn suggested they might have been inspired by the success of "O Brother, Where Art Thou" to reveal a rootsier side than on their crossover hits. Even the full-band version of "Wide Open Spaces" was airier than usual, and their duet with Stevie Nicks on Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" was the evening's quietest moment.

Shakira took a similar approach, forsaking the uptempo "Whenever, Wherever" for an unplugged version of "Underneath Your Clothes." While her sleeveless t-shirt and ripped jeans were biker chic, her harmonica solo revealed her folkier side, and she went back and forth between her throaty vibrato and reedy chirp on the song's chorus.

Despite her song title to the contrary, Mary J. Blige's set was full of drama, no moreso than when she and Whitney Houston engaged in a growling call-and-response duel at the end of "Rainy Dayz." Blige repeated the formula on "No More Drama," ending the song, almost on her knees, with repeated shouts of the song's title.

Anastacia, a native New Yorker who's scored massive hits in Europe despite being a relative unknown Stateside, took her solo shot to present "One Day in Your Life" from her upcoming album, Freak of Nature (which has already been released overseas). With her flowing sleeves and oversized shades, she looked a bit like Nikka Costa, but while Costa offers her funk with icy coolness, Anastacia attacked her tune like a disco diva-in-waiting.

At the other end of the spectrum was Dion, who was already well established when she appeared on the first "Divas" broadcast in 1998. After a two-year hiatus, Dion returned to the stage and the charts this spring with A New Day Has Come, and she used her closing spot to focus on her new material. Wearing a simple, sleeveless white cocktail dress, Dion kept her performance of "I'm Alive" and the album's title cut relatively low key, for her at least.

Everyone threw caution to the wind with the Elvis medley that wrapped things up. Anastacia offered up "Jailhouse Rock" and Blige did "Blue Suede Shoes," both in appropriately slick Vegas arrangements, while the Dixie Chicks' "That's All Right (Mama)" was practically a parody of country music, replete with dancing cowboys. Shakira and Dion took the ballads heavy on the theatrics, the former stretching out her notes on "Always on My Mind" while the latter sang the first verse of "Can't Help Falling in Love" a cappella.

Reprising "You Shook Me All Night Long," all nine divas (Houston didn't return) closed the show together, with the cross-dressing Cher planting a big kiss on DeGeneres' lips. As the King himself might have said, "Thank you, ma'am."

• Celine Dion
• Mary J. Blige
• Dixie Chicks
• Stevie Nicks
• Whitney Houston

Tenacious D heavy-hitter Jack Black and vampire-slayer Sarah Michelle Gellar will host the 2002 MTV Movie Awards, which are set to be doled out on June 1 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The show, which again boasts categories such as Best Kiss, Best Villain and Best Fight, will be broadcast June 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. ... Ashanti is keeping busy. She started shooting the video for her second single, "Happy," in New York City on Wednesday, and on Friday (May 3), she'll receive the keys to her home city of Glen Cove, New York, from Mayor Mary Ann Holzkamp. ...

It's more than two months away, and already Filter's new album, The Amalgamut, has just about spanned the gamut of mid-summer release dates. Originally expected to be released in early July, the group's third album was officially set for August 6, then July 23, and now carries a release date of July 30. ... Ed Harcourt is packing up his toybox and heading out on his second North American tour to support his debut LP, Here Be Monsters. The multi-instrumentalist crooner begins the two-week jaunt May 7 in San Francisco and wraps it up May 21 in Boston. ... Maya and Last Train to Lhasa, the first albums by global ambient figurehead Banco De Gaia (a.k.a.Toby Marks), will be reissued on May 14, and a two-CD retrospective, tentatively titled 10 Years, is in the works for September. ...

05.01.02

The 2002 MTV Video Music Awards will once again pitch its tent in New York City. The 2002 VMAs will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on August 29. ... Cher's final tour will begin June 14 and hit 50 North American cities before ending September 15 in Minneapolis. The Living Proof - The Farewell Tour will promote Cher's latest album, Living Proof. ...

Industrial rock purists KMFDM will hit the road for the first time in five years to promote their just-released 11th album, Attak. Pig will open on the outing, which kicks off May 31 in Seattle and returns there for the tour wrap-up July 3. ... Meanwhile, KMFDM frontman Sascha Konietzko has been in the studio remixing singles for Kittie and the Kidney Thieves. ...

Mike Patton, of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantômas and Tomahawk fame, contributes vocals on the upcoming EP from New Jersey metal band the Dillinger Escape Plan. The record, Irony Is a Dead Scene, is due August 13. ... Mancunian ethereal slow rockers Doves and Elbow will begin a U.S. tour in Seattle on June 3, the day before Doves' second disc, The Last Broadcast, hits shelves. The 11-date tour runs through June 20 in New York ...

• Tenacious D
• Ashanti
• Filter
• Ed Harcourt
• Maya

The 2002 MTV Video Music Awards will once again pitch its tent in New York City. The 2002 VMAs will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on August 29. ...

Cher's final tour will begin June 14 and hit 50 North American cities before ending September 15 in Minneapolis. The Living Proof - The Farewell Tour will promote Cher's latest album, Living Proof. ...

Industrial rock purists KMFDM will hit the road for the first time in five years to promote their just-released 11th album, Attak. Pig will open on the outing, which kicks off May 31 in Seattle and returns there for the tour wrap-up July 3. ...

Meanwhile, KMFDM frontman Sascha Konietzko has been in the studio remixing singles for Kittie and the Kidney Thieves. ...

Mike Patton, of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantômas and Tomahawk fame, contributes vocals on the upcoming EP from New Jersey metal band the Dillinger Escape Plan. The record, Irony Is a Dead Scene, is due August 13. ...

Mancunian ethereal slow rockers Doves and Elbow will begin a U.S. tour in Seattle on June 3, the day before Doves' second disc, The Last Broadcast, hits shelves. The 11-date tour runs through June 20 in New York ...

04.30.02

'NSYNC's Challenge for the Children Foundation received a $1 million donation this week from the Coca-Cola Company, which will be the title sponsor for the Challenge for the Children IV celebrity basketball tournament in Orlando in July. The foundation raises money and awareness for various children's charities and programs nationwide. ...

Latin singer Marc Anthony will launch a North American summer tour on July 6 in Boston in support of his May 21 release, Mended. Anthony will play 30 cities before wrapping up September 20 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. ...

Foo Fighters, Jane's Addiction, Incubus, Sum41, the Strokes, Slipknot, the Offspring, Weezer, Puddle of Mudd and Andrew W.K. are among the artists scheduled for the U.K.'s Reading and Leeds Festivals, taking place August 23-25. ...

The Goo Goo Dolls performed a surprise concert at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, California, on Friday. The show was the result of a student at the school winning MuchMusic USA's Class Dismissed contest. ...

Jamiroquai keyboardist Toby Smith has left the funk rock group to spend more time with his family. Singer Jay Kay, who has left the door open for future studio projects with Smith, said in a statement, "It is sad to see him go but I totally understand the commitment Toby feels for his family and the strains of being away from home for long periods." ...

A decade retrospective collection from pop punkers MxPx is set for release May 21. Ten Years and Running features 19 of the band's choice cuts, including a re-recording of "Punk Rawk Show" and two new songs, "Running Away" and "My Mistake." ...

On May 2 at the Malibu Country Club in California, Mötely Crüe singer Vince Neil will host the sixth annual Skylar Neil Tournament in memory of his daughter who died of stomach cancer at the age of four in 1995. The Doors' Robbie Krieger, porn star Jenna Jameson and Dennis Rodman are the golfers lined up for the event, which will benefit the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund and T.J. Martell Foundation. ...

• Cher
• KMFDM
• Mike Patton

Love Rocks Honors Bono

• Lauryn Hill
• U2
• No Doubt
• R.E.M.
• Cher