Michael Jackson Tomb Defaced- Drake Starts New CD- Miley's Brother Sued- Enrique Iglesias Naked Skiing?- Crystal Bowersox- Taylor Swift Going Fan Interactive- more

(BBC) The daughter of legendary US TV star Lucille Ball threatens to halt an auction of her effects, saying it "prostitutes her memory" more
- more on this story

Leno Snags American Idol Assoc. Musical Director

Associate Music Director for American Idol Dorian Holley, who is also Artist Development Director at Los Angeles Music Academy College of Music, has left his post at American Idol to accept the job as frontman and lead vocalist for Jay Leno's Tonight Show Band.

Holley, who in 2009 joined the school's Vocal Department chaired by multiple Grammy-award-nominee Tierney Sutton, has extensive credits singing alongside the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, Usher, Queen Latifah, Sugarland and Rod Stewart. Holley is reunited with longtime friend and colleague Ricky Minor, whom he worked with on Idol for five seasons and who is now the music director for the Tonight Show Band.

"It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks since Leno has been back on the air, but I'm so excited to start this great new chapter in my music career," says Holley. After a quick chuckle he says, "I've been up night and day learning hundreds of songs." Holley will continue his work at LA Music Academy where his newest courses, Stage Presence, Rehearsal Technique and Showcase, were implemented this semester and are available to all students in the diploma and degree programs. - more on this story

Middle Men Score Set For Release

The score Brian Tyler composed for the film Middle Men, will be released digitally on August 3rd, simultaneous with the release of Middle MEN (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) that includes music from the Rolling Stones, J. Geils Band, Hall & Oates, George Thorogood, 2Pac, Outkast, Tito Puente, Moby, Patsy Cline, Tears for Fears, OMC and others.

The film, which opens nationally on August 6th, is a Paramount Pictures release, directed and co-written by George Gallo and produced by Christopher Mallick, William Sherak, Jason Shuman and Michael J. Weiss with Tricia Holloway serving as music supervisor. MIDDLE MEN stars Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Gabriel Macht, Jacinda Barrett, Laura Ramsey, Terry Crews, Rade Sherbedgia, with Kevin Pollak and James Caan.

In 1995, everyone had a VCR, music was sold in record stores, and the world-wide-web was a new found discovery. Businessman Jack Harris (Luke Wilson) had the perfect life – a beautiful family and a successful career fixing problem companies. And then he met Wayne Beering (Giovanni Ribisi) and Buck Dolby (Gabriel Macht), two genius but troubled men, who had invented the way adult entertainment is sold over the internet. When Jack agrees to help steer their business, he soon finds himself caught between a 23-year-old porn star and the FBI all the while becoming one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs of his time. Inspired by a true story that proves business is a lot like sex… getting in is easy, pulling out is hard. Daily Variety descried MIDDLE MEN as "Boogie Nights meets Goodfellas." - more on this story

Behind The Music: Usher To Air On Monday

vh1 has kindly sent us over a selection of quotes from the upcoming premiere of "Behind The Music: Usher," which premieres on Monday, July 19h at 8 PM ET/PT on vh1.

"Life is an evolution. So as I look at the reality of who I've become, I'm very happy, you know, but at the same time I'm, I'm humbled in every way every day." – Usher, reflecting on life

"I would not be who I am, what I am, without her." – Usher on the influence of his mother

"Everyone started talking about this little kid that was just the next Michael Jackson." – Jonnetta Patton, Usher's mother, on his first singing appearance - a lot more here

Chief Premier New Video, Announce Free Shows

mtvU.com have premiered Chief's new video for their single "Night And Day". The song has been setting the blogs alight for several weeks and hit the #2 spot on the specialty radio charts upon its release last month.

The track is currently enjoying widespread radio support across the country and the video – filmed in New York City by director Matt Creed – sees Chief performing in a world of what can only be described as decadence and murderous passion. Watch it here

The song comes from Chief's debut album Modern Rituals, which will be released by Domino Records on August 17th. As they approach release date Chief will return stateside to play shows on both coasts, including two FREE shows in New York City: Governor's Island with Dr. Dog and a JellyNYC Pool Party in Brooklyn, as well as the Sunset Junction Festival in Los Angeles. - more on this story

Shakira Performs Waka Waka For 700 Million During 2010 FIFA World Cup Closing Ceremonies

700 million in 215 countries tuned in to watch Shakira and Freshlyground perform the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)," during the closing ceremonies.

Selling over a million singles has made Waka Waka the fastest-selling single and biggest-selling World Cup single of the digital age. The song is the #1 selling single in over 15 countries including Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal.

In addition, the official video for "Waka Waka" has seen nearly 100 million YouTube views and over 150 million of additional postings making it the #13 most watched video of all time and the #9 most watched music video. - more on this story

Ne-Yo's Double Premiere

Attention Ne-Yo fans: BET's "106 & Park" will premiered the full-length 8-minute videos for Ne-Yo's "Beautiful Monster" and "Champagne Life" yesterday, (July 14th). Both tracks come from his forthcoming album Libra Scale.

This was the first time that "106 & Park" has ever hosted a double video premiere of such lengthy clips. No word in the announcement, if they planned to re-air the videos for those that missed them as VEVO premiered 4-minute versions of each video.

Libra Scale, scheduled for September 21st release, is the follow-up to Ne-Yo's RIAA platinum Year Of The Gentleman. - more on this story

The Avett Brothers Announce New CD and DVD Release

The Avett Brothers have announced the release of Live, Volume 3 on CD and DVD on October 5, 2010.

This electric performance was recorded on August 8, 2009 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC. A special thrill for the band after seeing artists like Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Queen and Bob Dylan grace this same stage.

Live, Volume 3 will feature material culled from their decade-long career including their most recent, critically acclaimed album I and Love and You. Live, Volume 3 showcases the amazing live performances that have helped The Avett Brothers build a legion of loyal fans; growing exponentially with each release, performance and appearance. - more on this story

Kylie Minogue Charts Around The World

Kylie Minogue's new studio album, Aphrodite, debuts at No 19 on the Billboard 200 this week, marking her highest U.S. chart position since 2002's Fever.

It is top 10 in such major markets as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, DC, Seattle, Miami, Chicago and Boston. Aphrodite became Kylie's fifth #1 album in the UK, hitting the top spot a full 22 years to the week since her debut album Kylie entered the chart.

The album also made Kylie the first solo artist in the history of the UK charts to have a #1 album in four different decades. Around the globe Aphrodite debuted in the top 10 in thirteen different countries including #1 in Mexico, #2 in Australia, Switzerland and Spain, #3 in Austria, France and Germany and top 5 in Belgium, Holland, Ireland and Taiwan. - more on this story

Liza Minnelli's Confessions Coming

Decca will release Liza Minnelli's new album, Confessions, on September 28th. Here are the details: A collection of American classics, Confessions features some of Minnelli's favorite songs of all time, arranged simply and elegantly, with accompaniment by her long-time pianist Billy Stritch.

Though the album will surely stand as a landmark in her celebrated body of work, Minnelli maintains that the origins of Confessions were entirely organic, almost accidental. "It just sort of happened," she says. "I used to have these evenings at my house, usually on a weekend, and people like Tony Bennett—or more surprising people like Janet Jackson—would come by, and we would end up singing around the piano."

Inspired by the intimacy of those incredible evenings, Liza decided to start recording some of her favorite songs with Stritch, and producer Bruce Roberts. Excited by how effortless the process became, she decided to keep going, giving the listener an up close and personal glimpse into her musical world. Unlike so many of the "Songbook" albums that have come out in recent years full of over-familiar selections, Minnelli dug deeper into the catalogues of great writers, balancing beloved numbers like "All the Way" and "At Last" with such hidden gems as "You Fascinate Me So" and "Moments Like This." The timeless songs were written by the accomplished likes of Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin and Sammy Cahn to name a few. - more on this story

Who Wants To Play Dorothy in Broadway's WiZaRD?

Those looking to be the next Broadway star need to look no further than the Yellow Brick Road. The Harold Arlen Foundation is sponsoring a nationwide talent search to Be The Next Dorothy, which will be held exclusively at General Growth Properties (GGP) malls.

If you are between the ages of 16-21 and can sing and act, then this is your chance to be cast in the musical, "WiZaRD," which opens at New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center in December 2010. The musical, "WiZaRD," was created, written and directed by singer/crooner George Bugatti and is produced by the Harold Arlen Foundation.

This national, grassroots competition will be held exclusively at 11 of GGP's shopping centers across the country. Be The Next Dorothy kicks off at Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California on Saturday, July 31st and the winners will be announced on September 3rd at the South Street Seaport in New York City. - more on this story

Savannah Jo Lack Debut Coming This Month

Indie singer-songwriter-violinist (yes, she plays and sings at the same time) Savannah Jo Lack will be releasing her debut solo album, "Knitting Songs," on July 27, 2010.

The album will be available at online digital download portals, and hard copies will be available at shows and via her website.

Lack grew up in Brisbane, Australia, and now splits her time between her homeland and San Francisco. Known to some as a violin soloist, to others as a strings arranger and session musician, and to others as a composer and improv jazz musician, prior to releasing "Knitting Songs," Lack was best known to Australian audiences for her work with indie instrumental group Trinkets, whose two albums earned her critical acclaim as well as a prestigious Golden Fiddle award for "Best Violinist on an Album." - more on this story

The City Life Riddim

(Submitted) Zincbeats has released City Life Riddim, the first new project from legendary Jamaican dancehall producer, manager, EMI-signed writer and musician Jeremy Harding's 2 Hard Music label in several years.

The City Life Riddim is a quality release that will remind all of us of the potential of Jamaican music- no slackness, no almshouse, no guns or gangsterism, just party fun and conscious tunes on an extremely well produced modern one drop riddim.

The City Life Riddim is available as of today on leading digital retailers worldwide, including the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon.com, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, the Microsoft Zune Marketplace and more. - http://www.zincbeats.com