Eve is four songs away from finishing her as-yet-untitled fourth album, due in February. "Swizz Beatz did a lot of stuff," Eve said Wednesday. "I'm now with Aftermath again, but Swizz is like my brother. Dre hasn't come in yet, but he will, he's the captain of the ship. It's definitely gonna sound different than anything anybody's ever heard [from me], but not in a scary way. It's just in a more mature way." ...

Eve was one of the many celebrities who hit Rock & Republic's fashion show as part of Los Angeles Fashion Week. Paris Hilton, Katie Holmes and Victoria Beckham also caught the sultry show, which featured a Madonna/ Britney Spears-inspired kiss between two models. DJ AM spun at the afterparty. Also in attendance were several castmembers from "Laguna Beach," including Kristin Cavalleri, who revealed she's taking acting classes. "I like both comedy and drama, so we'll see," she said. "I've had a lot of meetings trying to decide my next career move. There's things we're talking about, but I don't want to jinx it." ... Nicole Richie doesn't think there's much hope for her and Paris Hilton to ever become friends again. Richie, who's on the cover of the November issue of Jane, told the magazine that the rift has been going on for much longer than has been reported. "We really haven't been friends in probably about two years," she said. Could there ever be a reconciliation? "No, not at this point. I know that Paris loves to talk about it and that stuff, but that's just not my style." ...

Madonna's done surprise club gigs in the past to promote her new albums, and Confessions on a Dance Floor will be no different, she promised during a recent sitdown with MTV News. She's already lining up gigs in London at G-A-Y and Camden Palace, where she played "a hundred years ago" (actually 1983, but who's counting?). But what about hitting a club in, say, New York or Los Angeles? "There could be, but I'm not going to say anything," she teased. "Shh!" ... Meanwhile, Madonna will presumably be more open when she celebrates the 60th anniversary of the United Nations on Saturday in Pasadena, California. Morgan Freeman is the honorary chairman of the event (for which Madonna sits on the committee), which is being billed as "supporting the U.N. vision" including "keeping peace throughout the world" and "encouraging respect for each other's rights and freedoms." ...

Bono rubbed elbows with President Bush during lunch at the White House on Wednesday. The U2 frontman was in town for a concert at Washington, D.C.'s MCI Center, and Bush invited the philanthropic rocker over for lunch to further discuss debt relief, AIDS, malaria and world trade, Bush's spokesperson, Scott McClellan, said. The two-hour meeting was a follow-up to the talks the duo had during the G8 Summit in Scotland this summer before the Live 8 shows. Bono and Bush ate in a private dining area off the Oval Office and the rocker received a tour of the grounds before he left. ... Michael Jackson, who was acquitted of child-molestation charges in June, has been called in for jury duty in Santa Barbara, California. A request for deferment has been filed on the superstar's behalf, his attorney Thomas Mesereau told The Associated Press, and he will most likely be let off from serving jury duty since he no longer lives in the United States. "All he has to do is show he has legal residency somewhere else and he will be exempted," Jury Commissioner Gary Blair told the AP. The singer has been keeping a low profile since his trial concluded this summer, spending most of his time out of the spotlight in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain. ...

Shooting began on the outskirts of Los Angeles this week on "Somebody Help Me," the teen horror flick starring Omarion and Marques Houston. Chris Stokes, who manages the singers and directed them in "You Got Served," is directing from his own script. ... Back in the days when he was still known as John Gillis, White Stripes frontman Jack White landed himself an apprenticeship at Detroit's Muldoon Studio, an upholstery shop run by family friend -- and amateur drummer -- Brian Muldoon. In addition to reupholstering couches, the two began jamming out as a guitar/drums combination (sound familiar?). Fast-forward more than a decade, and White is a platinum rock star. And to say thanks for all the upholstering advice, he produced a single for Muldoon's band, a three-piece (along with his sons Hunter and Shane) called, well, the Muldoons. White then pressed the single as a limited-edition 7-inch and sold it at the Stripes' recent homecoming gig earlier this month. Oh, and he let the Muldoons open the show, too. ...

Ryan Dallas Cook, who played trombone for Orange County ska-punk outfit Suburban Legends, was killed in a hit-and-run accident Wednesday morning. According to the Orange County Register, the 23-year-old was riding a motorcycle along the Costa Mesa Freeway in Santa Ana, California, when he hit a dark-colored Hyundai. Cook was thrown from the motorcycle and struck multiple times by oncoming cars. He was dead by the time emergency-response crews arrived at the scene; the Hyundai fled the area. ... 311 have added 14 more dates to their current fall trek, extending the run -- which features the Exit and Alien Ant Farm as openers for its bulk, with Pepper, Zack Hexum, Blackalicious, Grasshopper Takeover, Shootyz Groove and Agents of the Sun on select dates -- through December 14 in Los Angeles. Before this week, the tour's dates ran up through November 23 in Lowell, Massachusetts. ...

"So You Think You Can Dance" is coming back for a second season, starting next summer, FOX announced this week. ... A federal court in Los Angeles temporarily stopped a Web site from advertising that it can teach people how to legally trade music, video games and movies that are still in theaters. The site, MP3DownloadCity.com, was ordered to stop promoting its service after the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against its operator alleging that the site fooled customers into believing that for $24.95 they could legally engage in peer-to-peer file-swapping, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. The FTC has warned customers who used the service to download copyrighted material that they are engaging in copyright infringement and has asked the court to have the site's operator turn over his profits and issue a permanent ban on the ads. The MPAA filed suit against six similar Web sites that "facilitate online movie piracy" last week. ...

10.19.2005

MTV Latin America announced on Wednesday (October 19) that it has postponed its fourth annual Video Music Awards until further notice due to the increased intensity of Hurricane Wilma, currently a Category 5 storm brewing off the Gulf of Mexico. The Latin VMAs were slated to be held on Thursday in Mexico's Playa Del Carmen resort in the Caribbean, which MTV felt was a bit too close to Wilma's projected path. "While the eye of the storm is not expected to hit the Mexican Caribbean, we feel its effect is close enough to greatly impact our production," MTV said in a statement. "Unfortunately, given the magnitude of this event, we could not wait for further developments to make this decision without jeopardizing the creative integrity of the show. Furthermore, the safety and security of our staff, audience, talent and clients is our top priority." There is no word yet on when the show will be rescheduled. ...

A charity auction to help victims of Hurricane Katrina will go online at noon PT on Monday with items donated by Blink-182, Good Charlotte, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, New Found Glory, Nirvana, No Doubt, Ozzy Osbourne, the Ramones, Rob Zombie, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Used, 311 and dozens of other bands as well as music and extreme-sports companies. The Unite the United charity organization was founded by the organizers of the Vans Warped Tour and Taste of Chaos Tour; for more information or to bid, go to www.UniteTheUnited.com. ... A Bright Eyes live album, Motion Sickness, will surface November 15 through Conor Oberst's Team Love Records -- but only in independent record stores. The album will contain 15 tracks that were recorded last winter. Look for the disc to include "Land Locked Blues," "Old Soul Song" and a cover of Elliott Smith's "The Biggest Lie." ...

Cuban Link is getting himself in trouble with the law, at least on television. He guest stars in an upcoming episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," in which he plays Enrique, a pimp who works with child prostitutes that a nun is trying to get off the street. When that nun turns up dead in her inner-city church, Vincent D'Onofrio's detective character questions Link, who leads him to some not-so-usual suspects. The episode, called "The Acts of Contrition," airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on NBC. ... Clay Aiken won't be home for the holidays -- he's going on what he calls the second installment of his Joyful Noise Tour, a follow-up to the holiday trek he did last year. This time, he'll sing songs that he recorded for the platinum Merry Christmas With Love that didn't appear on the album, as well as new arrangements for some traditional tunes. The tour will also feature a new element, a series of vignettes with a running storyline that Aiken wrote, featuring two main characters and supporting roles which will be cast in each city with local actors. The 40-date tour kicks off November 2 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and concludes December 30 in Clearwater, Florida. Meanwhile, Aiken has been in the studio recording his next album. ...

Prosecutors in the criminal trial of Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, the owners of the Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island; and Daniel Biechele, Great White's tour manager, want the judge in the case to reject the defense's motion to have some of the charges against the three men discarded. According to The Associated Press, the three each face 200 manslaughter counts -- 100 for the lives lost in the 2003 blaze at the club, and 100 as the result of criminal-negligence claims. The defense feels 100 of those charges should be dropped, because the Derderians were never given advance notice of existing fire-code violations at the club -- the same code violation cited as the impetus behind the involuntary-manslaughter charges. The defense further argued fire-code violations weren't justifiable grounds for a manslaughter charge. The AP reports prosecutors countered that, by installing illegal flammable soundproofing foam, the Derderians created the unsafe conditions that led to the blaze. ...

Want to go bowling with Jimmy Eat World? They'll play with you for two hours on November 12 in Chicago if you're the lucky winner of their bowling-party auction on eBay (travel not included). Proceeds from the winning bid will be donated to P.L.A.Y., which provides creative outlets for young people exposed to violent environments. ... Jack Johnson, who is recording music for February's "Curious George" soundtrack (Will Ferrell voices the Man in the Yellow Hat in the movie), will release two DVDs on November 22: "Live in Japan" (from August 2004) and "A Weekend at the Greek" (shot last month). Johnson has also just signed ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra), his opening band this summer, to his Brushfire Records. Their album will be released in January. ...

The book "Fool the World," an oral history of the Pixies, is now due in the U.S. in March (though it's already out in the U.K.). Written by Josh Frank and Caryn Ganz, it tells the story of the group from the mouths of the bandmembers as well as those around them, such as tour managers, producers, engineers, album designers, label employees and other artists, including Thom Yorke, Beck, Bono, Courtney Love and Perry Farrell. ... Eric Clapton has sold the world rights to his life story and plans to write an autobiography to hit stores in spring 2007. Clapton has rarely granted interviews and has never spoken in great detail about his life, but his publisher, Doubleday, says that the legendary musician will write about every aspect of his personal and musical history, along with collaborator Christopher Simon Sykes, a close friend of Clapton for nearly 40 years. The book will also come out in audio form, to coincide with a box-set retrospective and a world tour. ...

Tired of touring, touring and, well, more touring, Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock has gone and created a record label, called Glacial Pace, and has announced his first signing: Minnesota singer/songwriter Mason Jennings. The label business is nothing new for Brock; for a while, he worked as an A&R rep for Seattle's Sub Pop Records, and recently signed Montreal buzz band Wolf Parade to the label. ...