Jehst

   
Artist: Jehst

   Genre(s): 
Electronic
   Rap: Hip-Hop
   

---

Discography:


   
 Nuke Proof Suit

   Year: 2005   
Tracks: 8


   
 Return of the Drifter

   Year: 2002   
Tracks: 11


   
 Falling Down

   Year:    
Tracks: 16

---

 





David Spade: Girls Date Me Because I'm Normal

Orquesta De La Luz

   
Artist: Orquesta De La Luz

   Genre(s): 
Latin: Dance
   

---

Discography:


   
 Salsa

   Year: 1994   
Tracks: 5

---

The Japanese salsa striation Orquesta de La Luz was quite a big one, whose main focal point (and only consistent member throughout their term of office together) was isaac Bashevis Singer Nora. Throughout the days, Nora was coupled by a rotating mould of musicians in the mathematical group, including Gen Ogimi, percussion; Carlos Kanno, percussion; Genichi Egawa, timbales; Gen Date, conga; Hiroshi Sawada, bass; Satoru Shoinoya, piano, keyboards; Shiro Sasaki, trumpet; Tatsuya Shimogami, trumpet; Yoshihito Fukumoto, trumpet; Hideaki Nakaji, trombone; and Taisei Aoki, trombone, patch co-producer/arranger Sergio George contributed keyboards from time to time. The grouping reinforced a substantial following in their homeland during the early to mid-'90s (with such releases as 1990's Orquesta de La Luz, 1991's Sin Fronteras, and 1992's Somos Diferentes), before switching their sound in the first place to jazz and ballads. By 1995, Orquesta de La Luz had broken up, with Nora launching a solo life history concisely thenceforth (and reversive back to her early band's early salsa sound).

Banghra

   
Artist: Banghra

   Genre(s): 
Pop
   

---

Discography:


   
 La Danza del Vientre

   Year: 2007   
Tracks: 15

---

The Spanish dance-pop grouping Banghra (taking its refer from a traditional Punjabi dance) is made up of Victoria Gomez, Lidia Guevara, and Javi Mota, a grouping of dance/fitness instructors and singers from Madrid. In hopes of igniting a belly dance craze throughout their native area, the members of Banghra sought-after to release a visualise that combined elements of music, dance and practice session. Their purpose was to proffer the joys of belly terpsichore to all, careless of years or grammatical gender. To that end, the leash released a CD/DVD coroneted La Danza del Vientre, featuring 15 tracks of music in English and Spanish, the DVD sexual climax with careful pedagogy on belly dancing basics. The project's best foot fore was the orient inflected ultra-poppy single and video "My Own Way." The disc's modern, urban aesthetical sundry with sensual melodies earned Banghra a spot on Spain's Top 40 list within its first 2 weeks on the market place. Within deuce more than weeks La Danza del Vientre had risen into the Top Ten, initially taking bit septet and peaking at number quartet. The album's success far outstripped the expectations of both the mathematical group and their label, the Universal owned Vale Music.

Leguizamo: Working with Shyamalan `pretty amazing'

NEW YORK —

John Leguizamo, one of the stars of M. Night Shyamalan's latest thriller, "The Happening," says he enjoyed working with the filmmaker.

The movie - filled with Shyamalan's characteristic plot twists and surprises - follows a pair of teachers as they flee a mysterious pandemic that prompts millions of people to do themselves in.

"I just saw it last night for the first time and it was beautiful. I felt kind of queasy - which I think was a good thing," Leguizamo told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday.

Working with Shyamalan (director of "The Sixth Sense," "Lady in the Water," "The Village") was "pretty amazing," the 43-year-old actor said.

"He's an amazing speaker, so philosophical, incredibly deep," Leguizamo said from his New York home. "I love working with people like that, I feel like my sense of the world expands."

Leguizamo's screen credits also include "Romeo & Juliet," "Summer of Sam," "Moulin Rouge!" and Salvatore Stabile's "Where God Left His Shoes," which is expected to be in theaters later this year.

He said "Where God Left His Shoes" is his "best performance ever." Leguizamo plays a bankrupt boxer who survives with his wife and two children for months in a homeless shelter rather than split up his family.

"It's a beautiful true story," he said. "It's so honestly told."

Colombian-American Leguizamo said his experience growing up in an immigrant family has helped him in his work.

"I think as an artist, it's better to be an outsider because you have a better point of view of things - a more interesting point of view," he said.

See Also

• Christian Bale - Bale Hates Romcoms
• Warren G - Warren G Drug Charges Dropped
• Cops: Tatum O’Neal Nabbed in Crack Bust
• Jackass star Steve-O ordered to rehab

Bob Dylan: 'Barack Obama is redefining politics'

Bob Dylan has claimed that Democratic US presidential nominee Barack Obama is "redefining politics".

The singer/songwriter said that he was hopeful that the political system in the US would change as a result of him winning the race to be the Democratic nominee for the election in November.

Dylan told The Times: "America is in a state of upheaval. Poverty is demoralising. You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor.

"But we've got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up � Barack Obama. He's redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out.

"Am I hopeful? Yes, I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to."

Patsy Kensit - Kensit Ready For Husband N04

British actress PATSY KENSIT is finally mature enough to wed - following three divorces.

The Lethal Weapon 2 star has seen her marriages to Dan Donovan, Simple Minds star Jim Kerr and Oasis rocker Liam Gallagher fail.

But the 40-year-old - who is dating DJ Jeremy Healy - insists she is now ready to wed.

She says, "I'm probably at the right age to marry. It's only now that I have the maturity to enter that sort of commitment.

"Jeremy bought me a ring and marriage is something we were discussing, but there are no immediate plans."

See Also

• Azad, Kool Savas
• Dr Phil scraps Britney Spears show
• More awards for Oscar-tipped Atonement
• Pirates Of The Caribbean - Pirates Director Verbinski Signed For Bioshock Adaptation

Three Networks Set To Air Cancer Telethon

In an unprecedented one-night hookup, three major TV networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, have agreed to air a joint telethon on the first Friday night in September to raise money for cancer research. To demonstrate the networks' unity, the three evening newsbanchors appeared together on each of their networks' morning shows today (Wednesday) to promote the telethon. The fund-raiser was reportedly the brainchild of Katie Couric, whose late husband, Jay Monahan, died of the disease in 1998.


See Also

• Hari Om Tat Sat
• T-Pain sets date for ‘Three Ringz’
• Shania’s Split: Man, It Feels Like Another Woman
• Redknapp set for West End role?

R. Kelly Looks On Seriously As Lawyers Debate Releasing Sealed Documents; Further Delay In Trial Appears Unlikely

CHICAGO — If it weren't for all the secrecy surrounding the latest developments in the R. Kelly case, the defense wouldn't be asking to delay the trial yet again, argued a lawyer representing the media's interest in the case on Thursday (May 8).

Comparing information about the case to water, attorney Damon Dunn said that the court's efforts to hold back information from the media were like building a dam: by holding some hearings in the judge's chambers, instead of in open court, and keeping the motions and documents from those hearings under seal. That's why, when the Chicago Sun-Times reported that one of the secret witnesses would claim that she had a sexual encounter with Kelly and the girl in question on the sex tape, it was big news, he said, and Kelly's lawyers seemed to agree, by virtue of their motion Wednesday to continue the case.

"You need look no further than the Chicago Sun-Times, and their huge headline of 'shocking allegations,' " Kelly attorney Marc Martin told the court.

Kelly, who remained seated during the hearing, wearing a brown suit and a spotted tie, bit on his lip as his lawyer spoke of the latest scandal.

(Look at a timeline of the events surrounding R. Kelly's trial here.)

Dunn, who represented the interests of the Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press, asked the court to remedy the situation by allowing the media access to the sealed documents, which would "ventilate" what the defense called a "torrent of publicity." Further, Dunn argued, the public has a right to monitor the case, given that it's the public who pays for it. He suggested redacting, or editing, the documents, if it was an issue of protecting the identity of the witnesses and more involved voir dire questioning for prospective jurors to counteract effects of publicity.

But even in trying to make his argument, Dunn pointed out, he was limited, since he hadn't even been able to read the documents in question. "Have you seen them?" the judge interrupted him to ask. "They were not given to us," Dunn said.

"Ever see 'Animal House'?" Dunn asked reporters outside the courtroom. "It's like 'Double Secret Probation.'"

Kelly's attorney seemed to agree with the media attorney on certain points, such as opening up the gag order so that the attorneys involved can address rumors and reports with the media.

"We've had reporters call up and say, 'Cough once if it's true,'" Martin said. "We're handcuffed, judge. We can't say it's false. We can't refute it. But if the court would allow us to respond, we would."

However, Martin didn't come right out and ask for the decorum order to be lifted, instead joking that it will be the first and last time he'll agree with prosecutors, since both the defense and prosecution argued against unsealing certain court records. Though even Assistant State's Attorney Mary Boland smiled at the remark, Kelly maintained his look of concern.

Boland argued that keeping some of the information secret protects both the rights of the alleged victim as well as Kelly himself, since it's regarding his right to a fair trial and due process.

Judge Vincent Gaughan said that it was "my mindset, my philosophy" that without the press, "we wouldn't have the democracy we have today." However, because of the gravity of the request, he said he didn't want to make a decision lightly, so he would rule on May 16.

"It's a sign he's taking us seriously," attorney Katherine Licup, who represented the interests of WBEZ, told reporters outside the courtroom.

The motion to continue the trial is scheduled for Friday (May 9), but while the judge has not formally ruled on the matter, all signs point to him ruling against it and starting the trial as planned.

Jury selection is still slated to begin May 9, and when another matter was brought before Judge Gaughan to be scheduled for trial on Thursday, he said it wouldn't fit on his calendar until next month. "We're starting a really big trial tomorrow," he told the court, "so we're not going to be able to start this case."

Gaughan also took care to make sure the courtroom was tidy prior to jury selection, testing out the jury chairs himself on Wednesday, noting two that needed repairs. The seating in the gallery was freshly painted on Wednesday, and sheriff's deputies met on the terrace Thursday afternoon to go over plans on how to handle the expected crowds.

"It sounds like that motion is being denied," Dunn told reporters. "The judge is focused on this trial."

For full coverage of the R. Kelly case, see The R. Kelly Reports.






See Also

• My Morning Jacket plans summer tour
• Madonna’s Worldwide Sticky & Sweet Tour To Kick Off In U.K., Heads To U.S. In October
• Katherine Heigl to quit Grey’s Anatomy’?

CSS, The Aliens & More For Free London Festival

CSS and The Aliens are among bands confirmed for a free London festival next month called Rise Festival.

Twelve acts have been announced, including Dub Pistols, Jimmy Cliff and TY. The full list of names is below.

Rise will be held at Finsbury Park on July 13th and is organised by the Greater London Authority, to celebrate diversity in the capital.

The Rise Festival 2008 Line Up Is:

CSS

Jimmy Cliff

Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings

Dub Pistols featuring Terry Hall and Rodney P

Kitty, Daisy and Lewis

Trojan Soundsystem

Beardyman

TY

Bassekou Kouyate

The Aliens

Soul Jazz DJ's

Emmanuel Jal

See Also

• CMT to rebroadcast ‘Nashville Star’
• New CDs: Weezer, Jewel, Gavin Rossdale, the Virgins
• Gerard Butler - Butler To Star In Phantom Sequel
• Gately ‘unhappy’ in Boyzone’s early days

Adam Sandler's 'Zohan' is silly and messy, but it means well

For all its perceived shock value, all the concern that a comedy about conflict in the Middle East would offend just about everyone imaginable, "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" is really rather conventional and familiar.

At its core, it's just "Romeo and Juliet," wrapped in Adam Sandler's trademark raunchy humour.

Sandler co-produced, co-wrote the script and stars as the titular character, a famous Israeli commando who fakes his own death to escape to the United States and pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a hairdresser. He's a superhuman trained killer but all he wants to do is make people "silky smooth," one of many lines and jokes that get repeated ad nauseam in Dennis Dugan's overlong movie, which pushes two hours.

Zohan would have made a perfectly fine character in a recurring "Saturday Night Live" sketch; you could imagine Sandler slipping into him when he got tired of playing Opera Man. As the focus of a full-length film, though, it's a serious stretch.

Once he lands in New York, Zohan wows his older female customers with his sexual prowess (and the hairstyles he copies from his beloved 1987 Paul Mitchell book) but he also finds he's fallen for his boss, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a sassy salon owner who happens to be Palestinian.

He also must elude a group of Arabs, led by cab driver Salim (old "SNL" buddy Rob Schneider), who want to report Zohan's existence to the revered Palestinian terrorist "The Phantom" (John Turturro) who thought he'd killed him. He gets some help in that arena from a naive bike messenger (Nick Swardson) and his amorous mother (Lainie Kazan in a typically robust performance) who befriend him without knowing his true identity. They think he's an Australian-Tibetan immigrant, naturally.

Sandler collaborated on the screenplay with longtime friends and comedy titans Robert Smigel and Judd Apatow, so it features some smarter and more grown-up laughs than you would expect from a typical Happy Madison Production. (Dugan did previously direct Sandler in "Happy Gilmore," "Big Daddy" and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," though, so the lowest-common-denominator elements are right in his wheel house.)

But "Zohan" also addresses far more complex issues than those movies did. Several characters on both sides speak with frustration and sadness about how they wish the fighting would end; Zohan tells his parents he wants to leave the army and become a stylist because, "I like hair. It's pleasant, it's peaceful. No one gets hurt." With its messages of acceptance and reconciliation, the film's heart is certainly in the right place.

And with cameos from Mariah Carey, Charlotte Rae, George Takei, Dave Matthews and John McEnroe, it's got to feature the most random cross-section of humanity since "Zoolander."

Mostly, though, it's just plain silly, which is probably what you're looking for when you show up at the multiplex for one of Sandler's summer comedies. After an amusing set up on the beach in Israel, it settles into a mushy middle with broad gags that play out over and over.

Zohan turns people into pretzels when they cross him, for example, and likes to dip everything in hummus. He likes to show off his naked backside, the crack of which he's quite skilled at catching things in - such as fish.

Sandler's bod is pretty impressive. He worked out with a Navy SEAL for four months and it shows, even when he's dressed in Zohan's usual ridiculous ensemble of a Mariah Carey tank top and Daisy Duke shorts. We've never had much reason to think of him as a sex symbol - or a commentator on global issues, for that matter - but in "Zohan," he almost transforms himself into both at the same time. Almost. Two stars out of four.

See Also

• Joaquin Phoenix - Stomach Flu Keeps Phoenix From Cannes
• Jennifer Lopez - Lopez Takes Over Nannying Duties
• Voice In The Wire
• Scrubs star Braff eyes new TV show

You Are Now Entering the Season of the Jonas

Photo: Getty Images
In case you haven't been paying attention (despite our repeated warnings!), teen-pop juggernauts the Jonas Brothers have slowly been laying the groundwork for a hostile (but tuneful!) takeover of planet Earth, and this week begins their first major campaign, reports today's New York Times. On Friday, they'll rally their armies with their latest propaganda film, Camp Rock, premiering on the Disney Channel at the revolution-friendly time of 8 p.m. Next, they'll launch a 46-date summer tour of North America (footage of which will be shot for their forthcoming 3-D concert movie), release their third album A Little Bit Longer on August 12, and then begin shooting their own television show, J.O.N.A.S., a "comedy-adventure spy series" (while stealing nuclear secrets under the guise of being actors on a scripted TV program, presumably). At this point, any resistance is inadvisable, as their absolute victory, and subsequent enslavement of all humanity, is now certainly inevitable. But will it be enough for the Jonases? "I think we live our lives the best we can," Kevin Jonas tells the Times, ominously. "We've grown up with the idea that even when you're at the top, act like you're at the bottom." They will crush you.

Summer Advisory: A Jonas Front Looms [NYT]

Earlier: Know Your Jonas Brothers Overlords

French film and TV advertising fete opens

More than 12,000 expected at Cannes celebration

CANNES -- This week, more than 12,000 members of the ad industry will descend on the South of France in their yearly pilgrimage to honor the craft and celebrate the importance of advertising on TV and film.


In many ways, Cannes is a perfect reflection of the ad industry. The city itself is glamorous and beautiful yet downright gauche and a little scruffy at times. The week of seemingly nonstop events and parties is inspiring and fun while at the same time depressing in its ephemeral hedonism.


It is tempting, even easy, to say that Cannes is an anachronism, a bit of "Mad Men" nostalgia for a once-raffish industry losing its sexy allure. But the truth is more complicated. Cannes, like the industry it celebrates, continues to change, with its far greater emphasis on digital and integration, an influx of clients and agency executives, and the creeping in of success metrics as judging criteria.


The conundrum for Cannes is the same for the industry, says Ty Montague, co-president and chief creative officer of JWT New York: It needs new blood. "Our business is upside down these days," he says. "The people with the most experience and most seniority are the people least qualified to lead the business forward."


For all its warts, he notes, Cannes also represents something more.


"Paying attention to telling the story through every conceivable medium and most particularly through the actual physical experience of using the product is more important than before," Montague says. "The future is bright for our business."


For now, however, Cannes, like the industry, is an old institution struggling to reinvent itself in a new-media environment, not to mention in an economic downturn. When it was first dreamed up in 1954, the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival was unabashedly modeled on the more famous film festival that precedes it. The idea of the festival is squarely centered around "the work," the art side of the art and science that is advertising. It's no coincidence that the crescendo of the week is the film awards, drawing rowdy crowds that start lining up hours in advance for a shot at getting a seat inside the Palais des Festivals.


The push and pull between traditional creativity -- centered on the big idea and storytelling -- and the disruption caused by digital technology has only just begun to play out in advertising. "Your Internet technology person will be as important as your creative person," predicts Mark Kvamme, a venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital, the Google backer, and founder of an early Web agency. "It's a data game, a speed game."






On the other hand, there are some who believe that technology has received too much attention lately when it comes to advertising. Machines won't rule the future, the argument goes, but will amplify the same creativity that's made all great advertising great. "Advertising is the art of persuasion," says Wenda Harris Millard, the newly named co-CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and former Yahoo ad sales head. "Technology is a great facilitator, but that's all it is. Technology isn't what advertising is."


At the heart of the problem is the award show focus on craft. In days when campaigns were distinct, it was easier to look at work in isolation. Yet now, digital is cutting across many channels, as ideas live in many forms of media.


Stengel's presence, along with a 40-deep delegation from the world's largest advertiser, is a further symbol of how much Cannes has changed. Once a refuge for creative directors to admire one another's work, even if that work wasn't a client success, Cannes has now become the Woodstock of advertising. Kraft, Unilever and Johnson & Johnson will all have delegations in town.


"Clients come to Cannes looking for a signpost to the future, looking to be inspired," says Mark Tutssel, CCO of Leo Burnett Worldwide and president of the 2008 Titanium & Integrated Lions jury.


Another uncomfortable truth for Cannes is how digital media is driving the desire for better metrics. Cannes always has stood staunchly on the side of evaluating work on its own rather than looking to results. This has fed a feeling of disconnect between the high-mindedness of the award show culture and the gritty realities of art in the service of commerce: Advertising is about getting people to buy stuff. Yet that stance, the commercial as pure art, has started to break down. It began to crumble nine years ago, when the festival added the Media Lions, judged in part (20%) on the basis of an entry's effectiveness. The introduction in 1998 of an award in interactive, where metrics are more common, has further blurred the line, though technically only the media competition considers results.


Perhaps subconsciously, Cannes juries have made moves to recognize this. Take Dove "Evolution," last year's Grand Prix for Film. By any creative measure, the Ogilvy & Mather video is impressive. But it is more so because the work captured the imagination of millions of people with its message of authenticity in the face of a superficial culture. The judges knew "Evolution" was a YouTube sensation. How could that not factor into their decisions?


"I wouldn't be able to judge a creative campaign without the metrics," says Sarah Fay, CEO of Aegis North America.


Cannes won't die, just as the ad industry won't die. As R/GA CCO Nick Law puts it, it "is first and foremost a business. It will do what it has to do to survive."

See Also

• Housemates awaiting first eviction
• Bo Diddley - Diddleys Rocking Send Off
• Winehouse taken to hospital after fainting spell
• James McAvoy: ‘I Let Angelina Jolie Take Control Of Our Kiss’