//Mixed Bits: Jay-Z’s UK Show Controversy, Chris Brown’s Hot Movie Career, More Leona Lewis In Blender//

June 8, 2008 by TJ
Filed under New Movies

A controversy seems to be brewing in the UK over Jay-Z replacing Radiohead as the headliner of the Glastonbury Festival this year. Organizers admit Jay wasn’t their first choice but they’re happy about bringing something new to this year’s line-up. Some fans of the festival, however, are disappointed and it shows through the slow ticket sales.

Scottish singer KT Tunstall has come out in support of Jay claiming it’s prejudice that’s driving the criticism:

“People need to get a f*****g grip – Jay-Z is one of the biggest stars in the world. Of course he should be headlining.

“Glastonbury is about diversity and introducing people to stuff they maybe haven’t seen before.
“It’s prejudice against hip-hop. So does that mean we should get rid of the world music and dance stages?

“No one caused a fuss when Kylie was asked. I’m not a huge hip-hop fan but I’d really like to see Jay-Z. “

Jay had a little something to say about all the hoopla:

“We don’t play guitars, Noel, but hip-hop has put in its work like any other form of music. This headline show is just a natural progression. Rap music is still evolving.

“People have a passion and have an opinion about who should perform there.

But the world changes and we have to embrace the change. I’ve never been involved in anything this controversial. What’s the big deal about doing a show?”

He’s also isn’t letting the fuss get him down. Jay is reportedly already planning some big pre-Glastonbury bashes. The festival will play June 27th – 29th.

thx to blogxilla for the tip.

Chris Brown is on fire. The young dude is in talks to star in two upcoming movies–one produced by T.I., the other by choreographer and “America’s Best Dance Crews” judge Shane Sparks.

In two seperate interviews, Tip and Sparks spilled the beans to MTV about Breezy’s budding movie career:

“I have a script that I’m working on called ‘Bone Deep,’ over at Screen Gems, that I’ll be starring in with Idris Elba,” T.I. said, name-checking the British actor who co-starred with him in “American Gangster” and with Brown in “This Christmas.”

T.I. will star in and produce the project, and the MC hopes to cast Brown as a young member of a fun-loving criminal crew. “These are young, cool, well-dressed, articulate bank-robbers,” Tip explained. “We’re actually contemplating Chris Brown. I don’t know how concrete that is, but we’re contemplating it. … He’ll be the little homey. “

Sparks’ movie is another dance flick. He’s convinced Brown’s moves will take the movie to the next level:

“Chris Brown is up for the lead guy on it,” Sparks added. “Hopefully, that works out. The movie is a smash, and this’ll be the icing on the cake. So, be on the lookout for it — it should be out at the beginning of next year. We start filming next month; we’re rehearsing right now.”

“He called us,” Sparks said of Brown, barely an hour before the 19-year-old showed off his dance moves in a jaw-dropping display alongside funnyman Mike Myers on the Movie Awards stage. “Now, we just need to make sure everything is right for him. We’ve got to take care of him. He was very interested in the movie, and if he comes aboard, it’s going to be the hottest movie ever made. Trust me.”

Make it rain on ‘em, Breezy! I haven’t seen “This Christmas” yet but I enjoyed the five minutes Chris was in “Stomp The Yard.”

Leona Lewis opened up in the July issue of Blender. The British songstress revealed some details about her rise to stardom, insisting everything in her life hasn’t always been rainbows and butterflies:

At age 6, she was admitted to the Sylvia Young Theatre School. At 9, she began to study opera, fascinated by story lines that seemed like fairy tales. But by 10, her parents could no longer afford the tuition. “That was her lowest point in her life,” says her dad. “We was on our knees financially.” They found a less expensive option, the BRIT School, and both parents put in longer hours: “It was round the clock, nose to the grindstone, basically.” As a teen, Leona won a signing competition by performing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” (Joe Lewis: “She had grown men crying, believe it or not.”)

Then four family members passed away within six years. When she was 14, a 17-year-old cousin died; the cousin’s mother also died a short time later. Her cousin Billie, six years younger and a surrogate little sister, fell to cancer shortly before Lewis began The X Factor. At the funeral, Lewis sang one of her cousin’s favorite songs, “Over the Rainbow.” She sang it again, seven years later, to make the final round of The X Factor, twice nearly breaking into tears.

“When Billie died,” she recalls, “I was quite angry. Then I was just very, very upset and sad. I found it hard to socialize and go out.” Soon after Lewis won The X Factor, her grandmother died, as well. [Source]

The July 2008 issue of Blender is on newsstands now.

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