Jessica Simpson singing from "Irresistible" video
Photo: Columbia

<P>Pop princess Jessica Simpson is hitting the road in August for a 25-city tour, and she's taking her own stage with her. On August 7 in Corpus Christi, Texas, the Dreamchaser Tour will launch with a portable venue, dubbed the Extreme Mobile Venue, according to a tour publicist. The arena-on-wheels features a 300-foot stadium stage complete with a sound system and lights, and concertgoers will be able to bungee jump, climb a rock wall and go mechanical surfing when they're not watching the performances of Simpson and tour openers Eden's Crush, Youngstown, Toya and Plus One. The venue also features interactive games and exhibits and is bookended by a 9-foot-high ramp for extreme motorcycle riders. Only the first 10 dates of the tour are confirmed, with a second leg to be announced soon. The trek is expected to hit 25 cities before it draws to a close in mid-September. Simpson is touring in support of <I>Irresistible,</I> which debuted at #6 on the <I>Billboard</I> 200 albums chart upon its release in early June. The follow-up to her 1999 debut, <I>Sweet Kisses,</I> has sold roughly 300,000 copies to date, according to SoundScan. The first leg of the Dreamchaser Tour, according to a tour publicist: <UL> <LI>8/7 - Corpus Christi, TX <LI>8/8 - Belton, TX <LI>8/10 - Joplin, MO <LI>8/11 - Tulsa, OK <LI>8/13 - Mankato, MN <LI>8/14 - Sioux City, IA <LI>8/16 - Green Bay, WI <LI>8/17 - Madison, WI <LI>8/18 - Moline, IL <LI>8/19 - Cincinnati, OH </UL> (For a feature interview with Eden's Crush, check out <A href="/bands/archive/e/edens_crush01/index.jhtml">"Eden's Crush: Pop Life"</a>.) </p>

• Jessica Simpson
• Eden's Crush
• Youngstown

Shaq looking like Obi-Wan in black hood
Photo: Trauma Records

<P>Although Shaquille O'Neal has been doing his share of trash talkin' during the NBA finals, when he got into the studio recently it was nothing but love. On "Shaq's Tribute to the Lakers (It Takes Two)," the Los Angeles Lakers center gives shout-outs to his teammates, including Kobe Bryant, with whom he had feuded earlier in the season. Nicole Scherzinger of Eden's Crush sings the hook on the track, which samples Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock's classic "It Takes Two," according to Shaq's Trauma Records publicist. The song will not appear on Shaq's upcoming <I>Shaquille O'Neal Presents His Superfriends</I> album. Instead, it will be available to Southern California Lakers fans at Wherehouse music stores beginning Tuesday as the B-side to the single "Connected." The $5 fans pay for the single will count as a deposit for the album, due September 11. The Lakers are up three games to one in their best-of-seven series with the Philadelphia 76ers. If Los Angeles wins Friday night's game, the Lakers will finish off with a postseason record of 15-1 &#151; the best in the history of the NBA &#151; and win their second consecutive title. <I>Superfriends</I> will feature Ludacris, Nate Dogg, Next's R.L., Peter Gunz, 112, Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman, Mos Def, the Roots' Black Thought, Common, Black Rob, Trina, Talib Kweli, and Angie Stone, among others. </p>

• Shaquille O'Neal
• Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
• Eden's Crush

Eden's Crush feature button
Photo:

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• Eden's Crush

Eden's Crush color press photo
Photo: Sire

<P><B>NEW YORK</B> &#151; The "Popstars" cameras aren't following Eden's Crush anymore, but the group's five members say their made-for-TV ensemble is staying together for real. In fact, the group, who just released their debut album, also called <I>Popstars,</I> are already planning a second release, which they hope will be a Spanish-language collection. "That's the cool thing about our group. We were put together, but there are so many cool things about us, and there are so many artistic things that we are working on for our next album," group member Ivette Sosa said last week. "We all write, so we've all been thinking of [combining] our Hispanic backgrounds and Latin music and Hawaiian music." Eden's Crush have already re-recorded several tracks from <I>Popstars</I> in Spanish, including the ballad "Love This Way," according to the group and its label, London-Sire. A Spanish-language album or EP could be released before the end of the year, a label spokesperson said. "We've already done a couple of our songs translated into Spanish, and we'll probably add a couple of those &#151; maybe four or five of those &#151; and then all the rest [would be] original, actually Spanish songs," the group's Ana Marie Lombo said. Although the other reality-show pop group, O-Town, returned for the second season of their show, "Making the Band," the second season of "Popstars" is expected to focus on the creation of a new group rather than continuing to follow Eden's Crush. Eden's Crush formed after its members &#151; all of whom are in their 20s and have extensive experience in music, dance and theater &#151; beat out thousands of competitors on "Popstars." It was disconcerting when the cameras finally went away earlier this year, they said. "I went through 'Popstars' withdrawal," singer Maile Misajon said. "It was very therapeutic having the camera there &#151; they would do interviews and stuff and I felt like it was a sort of form of therapy," Lombo added. The group's first single, the funk-pop "Get Over Yourself," recently slipped out of the top 40 on <I>Billboard</I>'s <I>Hot 100</I> after nine weeks on the chart. The next single is likely to be "Love This Way," they said. Eden's Crush, who will open for 'NSYNC on their PopOdyssey tour, said they hope live performances will dispel any doubts among fans troubled by the group's TV-show origins. "I have to say the word 'manufactured' has come up," Rosanna Tavarez said. "For us, it's kind of like, people will say what they're going to say ... [but] we feel that our coming together was so natural, not in terms of the auditions, but in terms of who we are. ... We make really good music together." </p>

• Eden's Crush