News for the week of January 16 - January 22
NSync, Britney Spears, KC, Kenny Rogers, Others Hit The Big Screen
What do you get if you put Kenny Rogers as the pilot, KC of KC & the Sunshine Band as the co-pilot, Britney Spears as a flight attendant and 'NSync's James Lance Bass as the flight engineer? Well it might sound like a joke, but what you really get is a scene in the upcoming film Jack of All Trades.
The movie was produced by Louis Pearlman of Orlando-based TransContinental Records, who is the former Backstreet Boys and current 'NSync manager. It is due out mid-2000.
"It's just one little scene in the cockpit," KC tells allstar of his role. "If you blink your eyes, you miss me. I say a couple of lines, it's definitely a cameo appearance and not a major starring role."
Jack of All Trades is certainly a "don't blink" movie as many more singers, middleweight boxing champions, DJs, and even football stars (featured playing a basketball game of all things) line up in this family-oriented flick. Amongst the familiar faces on screen are WWF star The Rock, Kool from Kool and the Gang, Ellen Dow (the rapping granny in the Wedding Singer), and the rest of 'NSync. Even Pearlman himself gets a spot playing the chief of police.
According to the Internet Movie Database, Lil' Kim is listed as appearing, but a TransCon spokesman tells allstar that he is unaware of the rap star's presence, unless she is in a crowd scene. Not surprisingly, even TransCon is losing count of all the stars who dropped by the shoot.
The movie also features veteran actor Paul Sorvino (father of Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino), Antonio Sabato Jr. (The Big Hit), Hunter Tylo (Bold and the Beautiful), Jessica Wesson (Casper/Flipper), and new TransContinental-signing, actor/singer Joey Sculthope. Sculthope plays a high school kid, Alex, who helps out his elder brother (Tony DeCamillas) when he gets mixed up in insider trading. Lionel C. Martin (How To Be a Player) directed Jack of All Trades, which has a proposed PG-13 rating.
Sculthope, who is expected to release his debut album through TransContinental this year, performs the leadoff single release, "A Reason To Love Me," from the film's soundtrack album, which will also be released on TransCon. Also included on the soundtrack are songs from Britney Spears, 'NSync, another new TransCon-signing, all-girl band Innosense, and another TransCon boyband, Take 5, who have already had huge success outside of the U.S., but have thus far failed to make inroads in their homeland. Take 5 are also featured performing their song, "Let's Get the Party Started," in the movie.
Besides those record releases, TransContinental will also handle KC's new album release, also due next year. Given TransContinental's multifarious pursuits, Jack of All Trades might be an apt title, though "Finger In Many Pies" and "Keep It In The Family" have a certain ring too.
Britney wins Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist award at American Music Awards Pop/Rock Favorite Male Artist - Will Smith
Soul/Rhythm & Blues
Favorite Male Artist - R. Kelly
Country
Favorite Male Artist - Garth Brooks
Adult Contemporary
Favorite Artist - Phil Collins
Soundtrack
Favorite Soundtrack - "Wild Wild West''
Rap/Hip-Hop
Favorite Artist - DMX
Latin Music
Favorite Artist - Ricky Martin
Alternative Music
Favorite Artist - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Award Of Merit
Gloria Estefan
Award Of Achievement
Mariah Carey
Artist Of The Decade
Garth Brooks Britney's would-be husbands go online Music award shows vie for talent Britney Spears Wants To Be in Movies
Favorite Female Artist - Shania Twain
Favorite Band, Duo, Or Group - Backstreet Boys
Favorite Album - "Supernatural" - Santana
Favorite New Artist - Britney Spears
Favorite Female Artist - Lauryn Hill
Favorite Band, Duo, Or Group - TLC
Favorite Album - "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill'' - Lauryn Hill
Favorite New Artist - Tyrese
Favorite Female Artist - Shania Twain
Favorite Band, Duo, Or Group - Brooks & Dunn
Favorite Album - "Double Live" - Garth Brooks
Favorite New Artist - Montgomery Gentry
If you dream of the day when Britney Spears becomes your wife, you've got some competition there, big fella.
The Society for Future Husbands of Britney Spears has found strength in numbers and a home on the Internet, flaunting their devotion to Spears online (at http://members.xoom.com/MrSpears/index.html).
The Society has also found exposure, garnering coverage in the most recent edition of "Entertainment Weekly" and seeing Miss Britney herself discuss the site during a chat with MTV VJ Dave Holmes last summer.
In the eyes of the Society, the singer is the ideal life companion, citing her intelligence, success, and cute Southern accent. The site has already scored more than 100,000 hits and over 9000 personal entries from hopeful young guys trying to catch Britney's eye.
Unfortunately for the prospective Mr. Britneys, the number one competitor for the teen queen's affections (according to British tabloids) seems to be future king Prince William.
But should things fall through with royalty, Britney's cyberspace choices this week include 19-year old Ryan of Los Angeles, who calls Spears "the goddess of women," and 20-year old, 5' 11", 280-pound Dan of Shantytown, who gets "warm and fuzzy" when he thinks of Spears.
The men behind the page freely admit that it's highly unlikely that Spears will choose a hubby from their ranks, noting that the real purpose of the site is "just for the fun of having the hope, however small it is."
Country-pop singer Shania Twain, teen star Britney Spears and R&B diva Whitney Houston are among the leading nominees for Monday's American Music Awards. But none will be performing on the show.
It's hard to say for certain what their individual reasons are but it is a safe bet that if they did, none would be welcome to perform on the granddaddy of music awards shows, the Grammys, next month.
Under an unwritten rule imposed by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which sponsors the Grammys, a recording artist can appear on one show or the other, but not both.
``The fact of the matter is the (American Music Awards) show is four weeks away from our show, and we think it's our responsibility to our audience to give them a fresh look at performers,'' Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich said on Friday.
"Offers that are made to performers (to appear on the shows) are probably made at about the same time, but it's up to the artists themselves to decide what show they would like to be on.
``I don't want to say its a policy. It's an understanding in the music industry that we all make the effort to keep these shows different. ... these shows are competitive.''
The producers of the American Music Awards disagree. ``It's a show that sells records. We don't see it as a competitive thing. We see it as something that benefits all who are involved,'' said Paul Shefrin, a spokesman for Dick Clark Productions Inc., which produces the show. ``If you're preventing an artist from making an appearance, you're hurting that artist's sales.''
There is no question that entertainment awards shows boost sales of the performers who appear on them, but the Grammys are by far the most prestigious and the most watched in the music industry.
Still, the 27th annual American Music Awards show has lined up such performers as teen singer Christina Aguilera, pop group 'N Sync, Latin crooner Enrique Iglesias, country duo Brooks & Dunn and rockers Lenny Kravitz, Beck and the Eurythmics. Pop vocalist Mariah Carey is scheduled to perform and to receive a special achievement award.
Spears, who landed three American Music Award nominations, will appear as a presenter on the show but will not perform, Shefrin said. Fellow three-way nominees Twain and Houston will not be present at the show.
One of the year's most celebrated talents, veteran rock guitarist Carlos Santana, will be in the audience as a nominee for two awards but will be absent from the stage.
Shefrin said he did not know whether particular artists had declined invitations to perform at the American Music Awards in order to remain eligible for a Grammy appearance.
In the case of Santana, whose self-titled band earned 10 Grammy nominations for its comeback album, ``Supernatural,'' Shefrin said, ``Let's face it, he's the centerpiece of their show.''
The performance lineup for the Grammys has not yet been announced. The three-hour AMA ceremony will be aired live on ABC from the Shrine Auditorium. Nominees are based on record sales and radio airplay, with winners picked by a poll of 20,000 American music buyers.
The princess of pop is longing for a shot at the silver screen.
``I really want to do a movie,'' 18-year-old Britney Spears said in the February issue of Teen People. ``There are, like, 20 scripts waiting for me - I get some really good scripts - but I haven't taken them seriously because I knew I didn't have any time.''
She hopes to find the time this year as she basks in the success of her first single, ``Baby One More Time.'' The song shot to No. 1 last year in 15 countries and her debut disc of the same name sold more than 9 million copies in the United States alone.
Ms. Spears said if she finds the right movie, she doesn't necessarily have to be the star.
``To go all out and have the lead role - I'd be scared having that much pressure on me,'' she said. ``It would be fun to do a teen movie - maybe a good supporting role where I could show my acting ability.''