"Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" swept the second annual Video Game Awards Tuesday, taking home "Vector Monkey" trophies for Game of the Year, Best Action Game, Best Soundtrack, and Best Performance By a Human - Male. "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay" won Best Game Based on a Movie, BloodRayne from "BloodRayne 2" won Cyber Vixen of the Year, "Madden NFL 2005" won Best Sports Game and Best Song in a Video Game (for Green Day's "American Idiot"), "Burnout 3: Takedown" won Best Driving Game and Most Addictive Game, "Mortal Kombat: Deception" won Best Fighting Game, and "Halo 2" won Best First Person Action. ...

Ashlee Simpson's upcoming tour has been re-routed, with the whole front end of the outing becoming the back end. Instead of starting in Houston on February 2, it will now begin in Los Angeles on February 18. And instead of ending in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 26, the tour will continue on through the South, eventually ending in Dallas on April 20. ... Jessica Simpson has released two new videos for her Christmas album, Rejoyce, on her Web site. She romps around with an umbrella as snow falls behind her for "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow," while for "O Holy Night," she sings against a simple black background. ... Fat Joe will play Santa Claus next week at his old grammar school in the Bronx, New York. The rapper is donating 20 computers to P.S. 146 and providing money for the school to refurbish its multimedia room, which will be renamed after Joe's late sister, Lisa Cartagena, who died two years ago while giving birth. ...

Courtney Love's assault case in Los Angeles got a continuance on Wednesday (December 15), when the singer mentioned that she's planning to file a petition to waive her appearance at future pretrial hearings. The prosecution opposed, arguing that Love had already been given that privilege and had abused it by failing to appear earlier this year. Love is due back in court for the case on January 11 for a bail hearing and a pretrial conference. ... New music written by Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood will debut at the London Ether Festival in March. Their experimental compositions will be incorporated into a larger piece performed by the London Sinfonietta orchestra at the London Royal Symphony Hall. Other artists taking part in the Ether Fest, the goal of which is to "seek new strategies to present electronica," include rapper Dizzee Rascal and electronic duo Matmos. ...

On January 19, bow-hunting enthusiast/ conservative rocker Ted Nugent will rock the stage at the Texas State Society's Black Tie & Boots Ball. The event, to be held in Washington, D.C., is in celebration of the inauguration of President George W. Bush. Bearded blues-rockers ZZ Top are also on the bill. No word on whether or not the Eliminator will make an appearance. ... Coolio has signed up for "Retirement." The rapper will play Flow, a mentor/rapper and nephew of Ossie Davis' character in the upcoming indie film, in which four grumpy old men go on a road trip to stop one of their daughters from marrying the wrong guy. Taylor Negron, Mario Cantone, Chris Diamantopoulos and Nancy Young round out the cast. Shooting starts in February in South Beach, Florida. ...

Blur have reissued "Starshaped," a documentary about their early days in the burgeoning Britpop movement, as a special-edition DVD. The new version features over one hour of footage not previously seen in the film, including live performances, alternate versions of songs and a super-secret "hidden track." ... Jimmy Eat World have just wrapped the video for their next single, "Work." Director Marc Webb helmed the clip, which was shot in the mountains just outside Los Angeles. ...

12.14.2004

Liv Tyler and husband Royston Langdon (former frontman for Spacehog) are now parents. The actress gave birth to a boy at 4:11 a.m. Tuesday morning (December 14) at a New York hospital, and her rep Stephen Huvane said, "Both baby and mom are doing great." ...

Congrats appear to be in order for Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova — the couple got married in a very small and very secret ceremony a few weeks ago on a beach in Mexico, according to Us Weekly. "Enrique is great. Everything is awesome. We are married," the retired tennis pro told onlookers at a charity tennis event in Boca Raton, Florida, on Sunday, while wearing a wedding band. ... After spending much of 2004 running his Vote or Die! campaign and acting, P. Diddy will focus on music in 2005, mainly his next album, which is no longer titled PD5. "I'm taking my time, it has to be right before it comes out," Diddy said. "I'm also coming out of retirement as a producer, I'm back behind the board, so the takeover of the dance floor is about to begin." ...

With former Bad Company and Free singer Paul Rodgers serving as frontman, Queen will kick off their first tour since singer Freddie Mercury died of AIDS in 1991. "It really all came about because of the Fender 50th anniversary gig that I did with Paul Rodgers," Queen guitarist Brian May wrote on his Web site. "We were both so amazed at the chemistry that was going on." May writes that they are looking at venues for a spring tour, which will likely begin in April. ... Courtney Love was scheduled to start her trial on Tuesday on felony drug-possession charges in Los Angeles, but the case was postponed until January 12. ...

DIY blues-rock tandem the White Stripes are joining forces with DIY hipster clothing line Neighborhoodies — which allows the fashion-conscious to design their own T-shirts, sweats and bags — for a good old-fashioned design contest. On Neighborhoodies.com, fans can "dream up the coolest White Stripes Neighborhoodies sweatshirt, tee or bag" and submit their designs to a panel of judges. The winners will take home $50 worth of Neighborhoodies swag and "a bucketful" of Stripes gear. The contest runs until January 31. ... All you ever wanted to know about former Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin can now be found in one convenient location: "Dust N' Bones: The Untold Story of Izzy Stradlin." According to Black Market Publishing, which expects to release the biography on February 17, the book will chronicle Stradlin's "rise with hard rock's most notorious frontman, W. Axl Rose, from Lafayette, Indiana, to the streets of Hollywood in the early 1980s." The tome will feature interviews with "GN'R insiders" and members of Stradlin's band the Ju Ju Hounds. ...

Twenty years after they first had record-store clerks abuzz, the first three albums from alterna-rock pioneers Dinosaur Jr. are being reissued by indie stalwart Merge Records. Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me and Bug are all remastered and come with beefed-up liner notes and never-before-seen photographs, plus live tracks and early videos. All three LPs hit stores on March 22. ... Alanis Morissette is planning to spend the rest of December traveling — and not for a concert tour. The singer headed to India earlier this month to perform at the MTV Immies 2004 — the Indian Music Excellence Awards held in Bombay — on Friday, and she'll be spending about two weeks there before heading to Bali for Christmas. She'll be back in the U.S. for a New Year's Eve show at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. Next year, Alanis will celebrate the 10th anniversary of her breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill, and she's planning to mark the occasion by not only reissuing the album with extra acoustic tracks, but also by putting out a greatest-hits disc. ...

The winners in the HP Music Video Awards contest were announced on Tuesday, and the creator of a clip for "I Am Crushed," by the Vandals, took home the top honor and $15,000. Michael Estrella's backward, single-shot video bested first- and second-place team entries by Eric Lee and Sam J. Stanton, and Michael Horowitz and Gareth Smith, who used Sugarcult's "Memory" for their entries. The contest, announced this fall, offered amateur filmmakers the chance to choose one of five songs from bands featured on the Warped Tour and create a clip for the track. The three winning videos can be seen at http://hpmusic.shockwave.com. ...