Along with co-hosting Wednesday's 2005 Lady of Soul Awards in Pasadena, California, Ciara also took home two awards, tying no-shows Mariah Carey and Destiny's Child. Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott were also not present to collect their trophies or watch Aretha Franklin perform after accepting the Lena Horne Award for outstanding career achievements. The show will be syndicated for broadcast later this month. ...

The Game just shot a video in Los Angeles for the final single from The Documentary, "Put You on the Game." Timbaland, who produced the track, guests in the clip. "All we needed was me and Timbaland, a couple ladies and some nice cars," the rapper said of the video. ... At Switchfoot's free concert Saturday at the Santa Monica Pier, the San Diego rockers' nonprofit organization, Lowercase People, will be collecting donations on behalf of the Salvation Army to support the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Switchfoot kick off their fall tour October 17 in Ventura, California. ... Cedric the Entertainer has been tapped to host the 33rd annual American Music Awards on November 22 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The show will air live at 8 p.m. on ABC on the East Coast, and delayed on the West Coast.

You might think Wind-Up Records isn't too happy about its business arrangement with Creed, since the label filed a lawsuit against former Creed members Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips and Scott Stapp seeking "discharge of any liability to pay them royalties." But Wind-Up says the suit isn't representative of any animosity, but rather seeks clarification for just how and to whom those royalties should be paid. The label said it received "inconsistent directives from certain members of Creed," and to avoid making any improper payments, Wind-Up filed what's known as an "interpleader action," which gets the court to determine to whom payments should go. ... Depeche Mode have announced a North American arena tour kicking off November 2 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and running through December 9 in Washington, D.C., in support of their album Playing the Angel, due October 18. The Bravery and the Raveonettes will alternate opening duties. ...

Prog-rockers Coheed and Cambria have rolled out a bunch of fresh tour dates for their upcoming trek with the Blood Brothers, Dredg and MeWithoutYou. The itinerary includes stops between October 17 and November 12 in cities such as Las Vegas, Dallas and Washington, D.C., as well as two shows at the new Nokia Live Theatre in New York's Times Square on November 16 and 17. ... Shortlist Prize winners TV on the Radio have released a new song on their record label's Web site (www.TGRec.com) called "Dry Drunk Emperor." "Did you buy the bull they sold you?/ That the bullets and the bombs and all the strong arms/ Would bring home security?" vocalist Tunde Adebimpe sings on the track. TVOTR are currently working on the follow-up to their album Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes. ...

Playing among pop royalty such as Destiny's Child and Gwen Stefani, indie-rockers the Arcade Fire might appear like the anomaly of Thursday's (September 8) Fashion Rocks event in New York, but musical patron David Bowie would like to think otherwise. Bowie will perform with the Arcade Fire during their performance of "Wake Up," and the band will return the favor backing him on a cover of his classic "Five Years." Speaking of the track "Wake Up," U2 have been playing the song for months now to announce their entrance to the stage, and now the Arcade Fire have been handpicked to open for the Irish rockers for three dates in Canada, including two in their hometown of Montreal. ...

New Jersey's Senses Fail have given guitarist Dave Miller the old heave ho, replacing him with Midtown's Heath Saraceno -- but just for the band's upcoming fall tour with Saves the Day. According to the group's Web site, "It was all done on good terms, and we wish Dave the best with whatever he does." The note also said a new album is in the works. ... Guitar virtuoso and human enigma Buckethead has signed a deal with Serjical Strike Records, System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian's label. The first release produced as part of this new partnership will emerge October 25 in the form of Enter the Chicken. Tankian and Death by Stereo's Efrem Schulz are among those who'll lend their pipes to the effort, because, well, Buckethead don't sing. ...

09.07.2005

Don't expect Kanye West to say anything remotely political at Thursday's NFL kickoff concert. At a news conference on Tuesday, his first public appearance since criticizing President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina during last week's "A Concert for Hurricane Relief," the rapper said, "I don't want to detract from the show at all, because it's entertainment, and a lot of times, in a time of need, we need entertainment to lift people's spirits." Green Day, Santana and Maroon 5 will also perform as part of the season opener. ...

(What do you think about Kanye West's statement? Do you think the federal government's response has been adequate? Take our poll.)

Perhaps it was all the cold water dumped on her at the MTV Video Music Awards, as Kelly Clarkson has been diagnosed with bronchitis and had to postpone concerts this past Monday in Santa Barbara, California, and Wednesday (September 7) in Irvine, California. Rescheduled dates will be announced shortly. ... R. Kelly popped into court on Friday, but not to make sure that his upcoming trial on child-pornography charges moves forward. This time, the R&B singer had a different legal matter on his mind, since he spent his time in the Chicago court asking for permission to travel to New York next week so that he could deal with another case instead -- the lawsuit he filed last November against Jay-Z, for bumping him off the Best of Both Worlds tour. Against the prosecution's objections, the judge granted Kelly permission to go to the Big Apple between September 11 and 16 so that he can give a deposition in that case. Kelly is due back in court for the criminal charges on October 7. ...

Cassidy is about to be re-arrested on first-degree murder charges. The rapper has been incarcerated in a Philadelphia prison ever since turning himself over to police on June 17; he was charged with the first-degree murder of 22-year-old Desmond Hawkins and the attempted murders of two other men, both charges stemming from an April 15 shooting incident. On August 16, Municipal Court Judge Marsha Neifield reduced Cassidy's first-degree murder count to murder in the third after ballistics evidence indicated bullets came from both sides during the shooting; police alleged Cassidy and two others fired shots on three unarmed men, killing one of them -- Hawkins. Now Cassidy's case will go before Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner, according to the rapper's defense attorney, Fortunato Perri Jr. A preliminary hearing could take place as early as next week. "We'll have a final answer as to whether this thing's going to go to trial or not, what the [official] charges will be and what the bail status will be," Perri said of the hearing. ...

Nick Cannon has yet to set a release date for his second album, Stages, but he's already picked the second single and follow-up to "Can I Live?" The track is called "My Wife" and was produced by Kanye West. "It's a song for the ladies," said Cannon, who also worked with Scott Storch on the album. "Kanye gave me a hot track and then blessed it with a hook." ... Russell Simmons, Juelz Santana and Remy Ma will be on hand when the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network's 2005 Financial Empowerment National Tour hits Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday. ...

You knew this was coming. FOX has greenlit a celeb-pro pairs skating competition show, "Skating With Celebrities." The series will be hosted by Scott Hamilton and judged by Dorothy Hamill, both Olympic gold medalists, and feature six celeb-pro figure skating teams: "Full House" star Dave Coulier with Nancy Kerrigan, gold-medal-winning decathlete Bruce Jenner with Tai Babilonia, "Diff'rent Strokes" actor Todd Bridges with Jenni Meno, original Buffy from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" movie Kristy Swanson with Lloyd Eisler, weather forecaster Jillian Barberie with John Zimmerman, and singer Deborah Gibson with Kurt Browning. The network said there's no air date set yet. ... A DualDisc version of Fiona Apple's long-awaited Extraordinary Machine is set for the same October 4 release date. The expanded version of the disc will feature the entire album in an enhanced LPCM format, videos for "Not About Love" and "Parting Gift" (live) and a performance of five songs filmed during producer Jon Brion's weekly residency at club Largo in Los Angeles, including "Fast As You Can" and "Paper Bag." ...

Staind have canned their monthlong European trek that was set to kick off September 19 in Dublin, Ireland, due to "U.S. promotional commitments," according to their publicist. "We love touring overseas and are incredibly thankful to our European fans. Unfortunately at this time, circumstances prevent us from coming over to perform live," the band said in a statement issued this week. "We apologize for this inconvenience to our fans and look forward to seeing everyone in the future." The dates will be rescheduled for March. ... A fragment from "Image of the Invisible," the first single from Thrice's forthcoming album, Vheissu (October 18), can be downloaded at the band's Web site. As soon as 100,000 people visit the Thrice site and click on the "Download Now" option, though, the song will become available for a full download. This weekend, the band will shoot a video for the track with Jay Martin (Burning Brides, Eagles of Death Metal); frontman Dustin Kensrue concocted the clip's treatment with help from My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way. ...

British-born, New York-based singer/songwriter Antony Hegarty topped a field that included Coldplay, the the Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party to win the Mercury Prize on Tuesday. Hegarty's I Am a Bird Now -- recorded under his pseudonym Antony and the Johnsons -- took home the prize, awarded to the U.K.'s album of the year, along with a check for £20,000. ... The Ska Is Dead Tour, featuring such acts as the Toasters, Mustard Plug, the Planet Smashers and, on a variety of dates, Catch 22, Buck-O-Nine and others, kicks off Wednesday (September 7) in Buffalo, New York. The 43-date trek will wrap up on October 22 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. ...

Rod Stewart must pay back a $2 million advance plus interest to Las Vegas' Rio Hotel Casino for a show he canceled there in December 2000, The Associated Press reports. A U.S. District Court jury decided the case on Wednesday without the 60-year-old singer present. Stewart has said he was unable to perform because he was recovering from throat surgery and that he wanted to reschedule the show but the casino would not. His lawyers said he plans to appeal. ...