covenant artists management

16 Year old's Tribute to Steve Jobs.....

2011-10-09T00:01:00.000+08:00

6^th October 2011 ( Malaysian Time )

I woke up this morning and did the usual…

I brushed my teeth, washed my face, put on my glasses, and checked my iPod for updates in the world. Then it hit me. I looked at my iPod and said, “your maker’s no longer with us.”

Ugh, I suck.

Just last year, my parents decided to show my brother and I how much they loved us by buying a couple MacBook Pros and letting us call them our own. About a year prior, they bought us each an iPod Touch. What amazing parents. If you were to ask my brother and I how these gadgets have changed our lives, we’d probably both tell you that we… can’t say. Then, you’d check your email the following day and find essays from both him and I on how exactly our lives have changed. And there would be no grammatical errors whatsoever. At least not in mine.

Call me “dramatic”, but I honestly don’t think my life would be complete without my MacBook Pro or my iPod. I would not be the person I am today if Apple had not existed. I would not be able to do what I do in the way that I do it if Steve Jobs had not embraced nonconformity and originality. What I want to do with my life and how I intend on making a living revolves strictly around the computer and I can’t imagine ever doing anything else. Steve Jobs has inspired me greatly to pursue whatever is in my heart in a way that I’m comfortable with. And I have every intention of doing so. I’m sure my parents didn’t think much of getting the MacBook Pros for us at the time… but I want nothing more than for them to be able to say that it was one of the best decisions they have ever made in their lives. And soon, they will. They WILL say that it was one of the best decisions they have ever made in their lives. They will see how these gifts would not only go on to play a huge part in the future careers of their beloved children, but in their lives as everyday members of society as well. Then, they will thank God, for not only blessing them with the funds… but also for blessing the mind of Steve Jobs. For if it were not for his mind, which led to his inventions, their children and millions of other young people in the world, would not be living their dreams by doing what they love and making a living. AT THE SAME TIME.

Did you call me “dramatic” yet? Because if you didn’t, now would be an appropriate time.

The news of his death was a lot harder for me than I thought it would be. After my brother told me to turn on to CNN, and after seeing what I saw, I threw the remote control on the couch, put down my bowl of cereal, and while screaming the word “no” repeatedly, I ran upstairs. To figure out what the hell was going on (on my MacBook, of course). After receiving confirmation from several different sources, confirmation of which I do not know why I needed (I first heard about Steve’s passing through CNN), I immediately felt a dark cloud float over me. I don’t know whether or not it was because of the fact that I was a human being and deaths are tragic to most human beings, or because it simply WAS just a terrible, personal loss for me. Yes, a personal loss. I have never had any form of interaction with him before but I was still deeply saddened. Despite all the media attention that was focused on him and the apparent signs of his deteriorating health, his passing was still… seemingly sudden. It was too soon. I was in shock. Not to mention surprised. Because he was gone, but also at how upset I was. I have never even met this man before, and I feel like I had just been kicked in the stomach. It’s been a few days since the news broke, and I still can’t quite understand why his death’s had such an impact on me.

Maybe it’s because HE had an impact on me. Why wouldn’t he? Look at what he’s done. He didn’t come from much, he dropped out of college, he was homeless at one point, then he changed the world. He faced obstacle after obstacle, but never gave up. I have no excuse. And neither do any of you. What Steve Jobs has proven to the world is that there is no valid reason why any of us can’t be great, or different, or more than what people expect us to be.

I am still very upset. And I know I’m not the only one. To many people, the loss of Steve Jobs was a personal one. Without ever experiencing any form of interaction with him, many of us are torn apart by the fact that he is no longer with us. We’re even more torn apart by the fact that we’ve never experienced any form of interaction with him. It’s amazing how the passing of someone whom most of us have never met, can have such a strong impact on our emotions. It really shows how much he’s touched all our lives and changed it for the better.

Steve Jobs gave us things we never knew we wanted. Steve Jobs taught us that we should go after what we believe in. Steve Jobs taught us that it was okay to be different. Steve Jobs made us all want to be different.

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Here’s to Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011) .

http://shekinahkannan.tumblr.com/

Jeffrey Berg, CEO of International Creative Management ( ICM )....speaks....

2011-07-15T13:41:00.000+08:00

LBN-HOLLYWOOD INSIDER:

***The global entertainment industry is going through tremendous changes right now in technology, distribution, marketing and finance that create both threats and opportunities...,

...ICM Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Berg said Wednesday morning during the keynote discussion at the fifth annual Hollywood Reporter Power Lawyers event.

“This is the most fluid market I’ve ever seen,” said Berg, who has been in representing top show business talent for more than three decades.

Addressing the packed room full of top Hollywood lawyers, Berg said that there is a great deal of opportunity for both lawyers and talent agents.

“Whenever you have changes in the market,” said Berg, “it’s a time for thoughtful, smart people to move in, not to retreat.”

You Tube Pays...Bibi Netanyahu NOT a "Belieber"...

2011-04-14T14:46:00.001+08:00

NETANYAHU CANCELS BIEBER MEETING :

Bibi is not a Belieber.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a scheduled meeting with teen heartthrob Justin Bieber, who’s in Israel to perform.

Netanyahu, hoping to score some political points, invited a group of children who live near the Gaza strip to attend.

The children had just gotten off a school bus last week when a rocket fired by Hamas fighters in Gaza struck, injuring a teen and the driver.

But when Bieber reportedly refused to meet the kids, Bibi pulled the plug on the meeting.

While he apparently hasn’t commented on the snafu, it’s not Bieber’s first foray into controversial politics.

LBN-COMMENTARY By MARK CUBAN

On Youtube you can maybe change the world.

On Youtube you can be discovered and help discover the next Justin Bieber.

On Youtube, if one of your videos goes viral, you can make tens of thousands of dollars, and if you can replicate the feat of popularity, you can make hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Those are real commission dollars .

But wait, there is more good from Youtube.

Anyone around the world can get Youtube to subsidize the cost of hosting their family, wedding, team, business, class, or personal videos.

Hopefully perpetually.

These are unique, honorable, impactful and expensive roles that Youtube has chosen to undertake

Bob Dylan LIVE in China...Google enters "tainment..."

2011-04-08T10:23:00.000+08:00

BOB DYLAN PERFORMS IN CHINA:

The times have certainly changed: Bob Dylan performed before a crowd of 6,000 people in authoritarian China on Wednesday, just days after the Chinese government arrested famous artist Ai Wei Wei.

The Chinese government reviewed and approved Dylan’s set list before the performance.

Tickets sold for upwards of $50—a big sum in China.

Separately, Chinese authorities announced Thursday that they are investigating Ai Wei Wei for “economic crimes.”

LBN-BUSINESS INSIDER:

***Google has inked a deal to open a 13,465-square-foot office in Beverly Hills for its entertainment division.

The 11-year lease is valued at $6.3 million.

Google has made several recent moves that signal its desire to get deeper into the entertainment business.

LBN-QUOTE:

“A kiss that is never tasted, is forever and ever wasted.”

-Billie "Lady Day" Holiday

Hollywood's TheArtiste...ASIA's Premier Music Talent Search...7 Cities...

2011-04-02T10:21:00.000+08:00

Liz TAYLOR...1932-2011- Rest In Peace...

2011-03-24T05:05:00.000+08:00

R.I.P. LIZ Taylor
1932 - 2011

Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor lived a big life. "'The more the better' has always been my motto," she once said. Indeed with three Oscars, eight marriages, 12 bestselling fragrances, and countless carats of gemstones, she was a one-woman epic, dressed for the part with towering sculptures of ebony hair and artfully blended sweeps of jewel-toned shadow. Yet despite her timeless beauty, juicy personal history, and legendary film performances, her most extraordinary role was that of a tireless fundraiser for AIDS awareness. For Taylor, living large meant giving big.

REAL STARS...You will Shine Forever...in our Hearts...

Asia's Gift to The World & JAPAN...from Malaysia's "aLi", duo Roslan Aziz & Mukhlis Nor, inspired by Singaporean Nabil "Bill" Fitri...

2011-03-23T06:39:00.001+08:00

Listen to Asia's Gift to the World & JAPAN...

Malaysia's "aLi",

comprising Duo Roslan Aziz & Mukhlis Nor,

performing Hijau 2011...

inspired by Singaporean Nabil " Bill" Fitri...

Leftsetz on Rebecca Black, Lady Madonna, THE Lady "Gaga" & the Genius of Bob Dylan...

2011-03-22T07:05:00.000+08:00

Oh man! Rebecca Black's "Friday" now has more YouTube views than Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" #what?!
And so does little Maria's cover of Lady GaGa's track. And she didn't even have to pay Ark Music Factory.
You see Lady GaGa and the machine, from Jimmy Iovine all the way down to the lowliest music business student, have lost the plot. Music is not about marketing, it's about conception.
"Satisfaction" came to Keith Richards in a dream. Some of the greatest music of all time was written in fifteen minutes. You see art is about inspiration, AFTER perspiration. And sometimes that perspiration isn't even practicing your instrument, but thinking. What we love is new and different, not what's come before. Lady GaGa rips off a Madonna tune and makes a video extravaganza.

Credit Madonna ( above )herself, even she knew it was not about repetition. That was Madonna's genius, she constantly confronted us with something new and different, something unexpected. The woman could barely sing, but she kept our attention. Because she knew art was not about money, but the impression. As in how does it hit the audience?
Vevo's got a problem. They call it ads. Do you really want me to sit through fifteen seconds of sell every time I want to see this rip-off GaGa track? Do you think I know I'm not paying? Do you think I'm not pissed off?
There is art in pissing people off. If it's intentional.
But if you're all about the profit, we don't believe in you.
Just like we'll line up for days and overpay to get inside the building to see our heart's desire while shows featuring production, manipulation of our wallets rather than our minds, play to empty seats.
"Friday" is so bad it's good.
The concept of a barely developed thirteen year old wanting to be a pop star is an unintentional commentary on a business mining nitwits for nickels. Tell me again about Willow Smith's life experience, that allows the tyke to be a musical star? It's the industry that foisted Willow upon the masses.
And T-Pain not only popularized auto-tune, they've auto-tuned the news to great success. Once again, this takeoff, this innovative use, was not done by the "artists" controlled by the major labels, but outsiders, with tools and insight.
As for inane lyrics, we keep hearing that will.i.am is a genius.

No, Bob Dylan ( above )is a genius. will.i.am is a lowest common denominator moneymaker. Why should he have a stranglehold on this paradigm?
"Friday" is an unintentional parody of modern pop music. And that's why we can't stop watching it. Because it's almost good. Stay through the entire clip and the song gets stuck in your head. It won't change your life, but it's not easy to forget.
And it's so easy to forget the market manipulations.
It's like the business has been selling soap instead of music.
It's not about excising rough edges. It's not about lining up publicity. It's about using tools, which are now cheap and prevalent, to capture lightning in a bottle.
There's more humanity in little Maria's take of "Born This Way" than Lady GaGa's. You can see right through the image inside the performer. Watching GaGa's clip you've got to penetrate the director's scrim to a woman who doesn't want to reveal her true self for fear we might not like what we see. If only GaGa threw away the costumes and just sang the song sitting at a keyboard like Maria. That would be innovative. One take, with mistakes, then we'd be interested. Instead GaGa's video is like a failed network TV show.
You don't want to believe all this. Because that means there's no map, no rules, you've got to forge your own path.
But if you get it right, you can succeed beyond your wildest dreams.
Believe me, Rebecca Black never thought she'd become a household name
And just possibly, she'll get a few more minutes of fame.
Did you see her on "Good Morning America"?
The program is frightening. Asking Black about cyberbullying when they're bullying her themselves. All smiles, dashing for dollars, using this child to burnish their ratings. It's television at its worst. But if you stay to the very end, you'll be stunned. Rebecca Black can actually sing. Better than the aforementioned Madonna.

But singing is not enough. To truly last you've got to write. You've got to reach our hearts, change our world by letting us into yours. It's a skill which Rebecca Black hasn't got.
But neither have the rest of the nitwits on Top Forty radio.
Little Maria was built by Perez Hilton.
The people lightning the fire are no longer the mainstream.
Hell, the mainstream didn't even find Rebecca Black, the Tosh.O blog did.
We live in a new world. Word can spread overnight.
If something deserves attention
And Rebecca Black's "Friday" does.
Because it shows how hollow the mainstream music business has become.

I mean where do we go from here? How lowest common denominator can we get? Call-out research featuring a nanosecond of music? Hit songs by babies singing gobbledygook?

If you do something new and different, everybody can know almost instantly.
Ponder that.
Dr. Luke can get you on the radio, but no one wants to see you live.
But if you blow up the paradigm, people clamor to get close to you. Like Charlie Sheen. You want a piece of what he's got. How did he get so insane and yet still win?
Credit Live Nation for seeing something none of the rest of us did.
In other words, concert promoters are now more innovative than record companies. Because record companies no longer know how to sell tickets. Hell, they're not even that good at creating train-wrecks.

Rebecca Black is the future. A bolt from the sky that captures our attention.
But someday soon the track won't be tripe, but something closer to "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

Get ready.
YouTube views:
"Friday" Rebecca Black (http://bit.ly/gn4mWP): 29,807,978

"Born This Way" Lady GaGa (http://bit.ly/gtx5vu): 22,651,885

"Born This Way" Maria (http://bit.ly/hC0DSM): 24,393,140

Rebecca Black on "Good Morning America": http://bit.ly/ew1zpf

P.S. And while I've got your attention, be sure to listen to this "Bob Dylan" parody of "Friday". This is art, this keeps our attention, not GaGa repeating herself: http://bit.ly/dGKn5L

Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

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http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

The "LADY" Gaga; Robert "Bob Dylan" Zimmerman & Bob Leftsetz....& The POWER of Artists...!!!

2011-03-20T15:37:00.000+08:00

From: Bob Lefsetz

> To: danielkannan@yahoo.com

> Sent: Fri, March 11, 2011 2:41:32 AM

> Subject: Lady GaGa/Target

> Now that's a rock star.
> A rock star is not someone with money who flies in a private jet.

> That's a banker.> A rock star is someone who speaks from the heart and puts her fans first. Who won't do anything for a buck. Who uses her bully pulpit to highlight injustices and lobby for change.

> Come on, in an era where everybody is greedy and handlers tell you that you can't make it without tying up with corporations GaGa leaves money on the table?

> In order to succeed in this business, for more than a few moments, you've got to stand for something more than money. Or else you're seen as a chump in the endless parade we laugh at.

> Oh, we're laughing. Don't you read TMZ? That's the Internet era. We make fun of the famous, they need attention, they were the drama queens in high school who didn't get the acclaim they deserved. And too often are of limited talent.

Meanwhile, the faceless fat cats behind them laugh all the way to the bank. The execs keep their jobs, curating the endless parade of wannabes.

> Wanna know why classic rock is classic?

Because in that era rock stars were leaders. You listened to them if you wanted to know what time it was. And they were beholden to no one but themselves, not even the label. They had contracts wherein they could record the music themselves at a location picked by them with a producer of their choice and deliver an album that the label was required to release. Those were the good old days. Before the execs started believing they were the talent.> Sure, GaGa is on Jimmy Iovine's label, but when was the last time Jimmy took a stand for anything but money? Good business breaking Beats headphones but is that what the world really needed now? No, the world needs leaders, and Jimmy is championing wannabes on "American Idol". That's heading in the wrong direction.

> Who is going to hold Wall Street and the corporations responsible?
> THE ARTISTS!
> They're the ones with the power. Which they've abdicated in this decade where you can do it all yourself and all they can do is complain that they're not making enough money.

> This is not the first time GaGa has taken a stand. She also voiced her opinion against the "Don't ask, don't tell." policy. And lo and behold, it was eviscerated.

> It's not about results today, it's about results eventually.
> But everybody wants their money today.
> It's not about that Target exclusive today, it's about your CAREER!
> That's how you truly make money in this business. When you're no longer signed to a label, when radio isn't interested and you're supported by fans. Who keep you alive on the road, who buy your new music.

> GaGa knows who her fans is. She's been playing to her Little Monsters since Day One.

> Maybe because she's so much like them. Not classically beautiful, struggling. She didn't forget where she came from. And they love her for it.
> You want to make it? Stop complaining you can't get paid. Stop complaining how hard it is to make it. GaGa got dropped from a previous label. She struggled. It all wasn't peaches and cream.

> Meanwhile, now that GaGa's paved the way, can't some of the other artists out there take a stand? You think you're alienating people but what you're really doing is bonding your core to you, and we all know it's about the core.

Stand for something or you don't stand for anything. Pick your issues. And know that you've got power. And it's your turn to lead.

> Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
> http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz

> If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
> http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:

That guy who said “The times they are a-changin’” really knew what he was talking about, didn’t he?

Adding to the itinerary of locations where Bob Dylan has never previously played and where we never imagined he’d someday appear in concert, that ragged counterculture bard is slated to give a performance in Vietnam next month.

Did SIMON COWELL meet Sudirman Arshad ? & The Sinitta Factor...19 March 1989- 22 years Ago Today In History

2011-03-18T23:24:00.002+08:00

Today in History.... 19 March 1989:

The Inaugural Salem Asian Music Awards at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England

There were 4 Judges :

1. Chairman of the Judges, Peter Jamieson- who is also Chairman of the BPI - British Phonographic Industry;

2. Singer Sinitta;

3. James Fisher - European Director of collection body ASCAP;

4. Dutch-German singer C.C. Catch &

5. Prominent West End Performer Beatrice Reading

All Music Industry Heavy weights & Powerhouses....no mean feat to impress them...and Malaysia's Sudirman Arshad, Clearly Won ALL their Hearts.....; & they ALL unanimously voted for Sudirman...

as Chief Judge , Peter Jamieson announced, "Ladies & Gentlemen.....We have a Clear Winner...and the Award goes to "Soo Dee Munn..."

Sinitta (born Sinitta Renet Malone, 19 October 1968) is an American-born actress and singer who has lived in the United Kingdom for most of her career. She is best known for her hit records in the 1980s; including "So Macho", "Toy Boy", "Cross My Broken Heart" and a 1989 cover of "Right Back Where We Started From", and her close relationship with Simon Cowell.

Sinitta was born as one of twin daughters. Her twin sister was adopted and raised by an aunt who could not have children

Sinitta spent the first six years of her life in a foster home, until her teenage mother Miquel Brown was able to cope with a child.

Sinitta is a former girlfriend and fiancée of Simon Cowell.

She also had a two-year relationship with Hollywood actor Brad Pitt during the late 1980s.

Please go here to read more about Sinitta...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinitta

Sinitta and Simon Cowell partying in the 1980s

Sinitta arrives at the New London Theatre in 1989 wearing her 'Cats' costume for a reunion of cast member

Simon Cowell in London with his mum and Sinitta recently

Sinitta today: Isn't She Lovely...She may have passed 40 but she still looks stunning

Sudirman Arshad, winner of the Salem Asian Music Awards, Royal Albert Hall, London, 19 March 1989, and He won the Title of "Asia's Best Performer" , in no less than at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, in March 1989 beating the Best of what Asia had to offer in terms of true bonafide Talents, unlike the run of the mill, instant noodle, reality Tv show type artists that dominate the markets today.......

Organised by Impressario, Simon Napier Bell, who had managed the Wham, the duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgely, and was responsible for taking Wham from being a British Duo to an International Global phenomenon by getting them to perform in Communist Closed China at that time in the 80's and subsequently making them the first european or for that matter any western act to do so......and co organiser, Donovan, who was Simon's business partner.....

9 of Asia's best talents......and Sudirman Haji Arshad, Malaysia's underated 5 foot tall gift from the Almighty, beat them all to win the coveted Asia's Best Performer......

( see picture above, from left to right ) : Taiwan's Chyi Chin, China's Cui Jian, Japan's Epo, Sudirman from Malaysia, Anchalee from Thailand, Koo Chang Moo from Korea, Megastar Lesley Cheung from Hong Kong and Las Vegas based ( at that time , now based in Kuala Lumpur) Anita Sarawak representing Singapore......( Kuh Ledesma from the Philipines was not in the picture as she was late for the photo call )
Indonesia was to be represented by Harvey Malaiholo but were eliminated due to the poor anti piracy record and poor policing of the protection of Intellectual Property rights...
HISTORY was made today, 19 March 1989.......

a Malaysian was and arguably still is......Asia'sBest Performer...Malaysia's SUDIRMAN Arshad...

"As excerpted from the forthcoming Book : Sudirman Arshad, Malaysia's Best to Asia's Best, by Mr. Dunn, Manager 1987-1991- The Real Story...;
Expected to be released December 2011..."

Quincy Jones Presents: Alfredo Rodriguez's US West Coast Tour, 19 through 24 March, 2011...

2011-03-17T07:31:00.000+08:00

Thu, March 17, 2011 2:41:18 AM

Quincy Jones Presents: Alfredo Rodriguez's
US West Coast Tour

Dear ALL,

If you are going to be in the US, especially between
March 19th - 24th and are near the West Coast, try to go and catch Alfredo Rodrigues, an immensely talented and gifted Pianist;

and most of all, Endorsed & Supported by "Q" himself through Quincy Jones Productions.

Quincy Jones Productions presents: The Alfredo Rodriguez Trio West Coast Tour w/Ricardo Rodriguez & Henry Cole

Saturday, March 19, 2011
San Jose Jazz Winter
Club Regent at the Fairmont
4:00pm, San Jose, CA

Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Vibrato Grill Jazz...etc.
7:30pm or 9pm
Los Angeles, CA

Wednesday, March 23 2011
Yoshi's Jazz Club
8pm or 10pm
San Francisco, CA

Thursday, March 24 2011
Kuumbwa Jazz
7pm
Santa Cruz, CA

For more information, visit www.alfredomusic.com

About Alfredo:

Born in Havana, Cuba, Alfredo trained at the famous Manuel Saumell Classical Music Conservatory, then at the Amadeo Roldan Music Conservatory and subsequently at the Instituto Superior de Arte. His lucky break came in 2006 when he was selected as one of twelve pianists from around the world to play at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival. In Montreux, Alfredo struck a chord in legendary music producer Quincy Jones who noticed Alfredo’s immense talent and decided to begin working with Alfredo. In January of 2009 Alfredo made the difficult decision to leave his family and country behind and embark on a journey to pursue a career in music in the United States.

In his first two years since moving to the United States, Alfredo Rodríguez has played to capacity crowds during the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl; the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas; the Detroit Jazz Festival; the Monterey Jazz Festival; the Newport Jazz Festival; and many others. In July of 2010 Alfredo did his first European Tour with his Trio playing at XVI International Open Air Festival (Poland), Jazz a Vienne Festival (France), North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Montreux Jazz festival (Switzerland) and with the Quincy Jones Global Gumbo All Stars, a group featuring the likes of Richard Bona, Lionel Loueke, Paulinho da Costa, Francisco Mela, and Nikki Yanofsky. He has built an enormous presence in China after co-writing, with Quincy Jones, the song “Better City, Better Life”, which was chosen to be the Official Theme Song of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. He has since played to influential crowds at the 2010 Shanghai Film Festival and the 2010 Shanghai Tourist Festival. Alfredo’s debut CD is set to be released in early 2011 on Qwest Records with Alfredo’s influences from Bach, Beethoven, and Stravinsky to Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, and Quincy Jones being displayed prominently. In his words, “Everything I learn, in all aspects of my life, contributes to my music.” In the words of Quincy Jones,

“He is very special and I do not say that easily because I have been surrounded by the best musicians in the world my entire life and he is one of the best.”

Watch Quincy Jones Receive the 2010 National Medal of Arts & National Humanities

2011-03-14T23:40:00.002+08:00

Watch Quincy Jones Receive the 2010 National Medal of Arts & National Humanities from

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

" The 2010 National Medal of Arts to Quincy Jones for his Extraordinary contributions to American Music ( & the World..) as a Musician,Composer, Record Producer and Arranger.

As a master inventor of musical hybrids, he has mixed Pop, Soul, Hip - Hop, Jazz, Classical, African and Brazilian music into many dazzling fusions, traversing virtually every medium, including Records, Live Performances, Movies & Television."

President Obama awards the 2010 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal in a ceremony at the White House. March 2, 2011.

Happy 78th Quincy Delight Jones Jr...from Malaysia

2011-03-14T13:56:00.000+08:00

Happy 78th Quincy Delight Jones Jr...from Malaysia

2011-03-14T11:57:00.001+08:00

HAPPY 78th Q...

Pictures Top : Quincy Delight Jones Jr at age 1....- the infamous "Booty Shot." 1934

Middle left to right : Q's Mom Sarah, Q's Brother Lloyd and Q in Chicago 1936

Bottom : Looking out for Lloyd, Q's little brother, 1937

( Pictures taken from Q- The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, published by Harlem Moon, Broadway Books New York 2001 )

"All I know is that, on their own, human beings are not programmed to be able to handle that much fame, that much adulation, that much success.

The only way to deal with something that overwhelming -- even overwhelming success -- is if you are spiritually centered.

If you believe that you deserve all that money and adulation, that is a problem. If you believe you don't deserve it, that's also a problem. And if you don't understand this, you're in trouble.

Picture Top : Q & Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, March 2011
Photos by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

I 've been in the business 59 years and I've seen it over and over again.

It's all about trusting a higher power; believing in divinity.

Picture Top : Cover of Q's Latest CD Release "Soul Bossa Nostra"

It's about cause and manifestation. Cause being God's job, manifestation clearly being our job.

The moment success leads you to say, I'll take it from here, God, God's reply will be, Be my guest. And God will walk out of the room.

The only way to navigate that road is to have humility and grace.

Those are the two cardinal rules.

You must approach creativity with humility and have grace when you're blessed with success.

Quincy Delight Jones Jr.( as appeared in an interview Friday, 28 March, 2008 )

Thank You Q, from Malaysia...

Roslan Aziz & Dani'el Dharanee Kannan
Covenant Artists Management

All Pictures used WITHOUT permission...
All Pictures Copyright 2011 Quincy Jones Productions

Peter Guber's New Book, “Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story

2011-03-12T07:43:00.011+08:00

The Big Picture

Patrick Goldstein and James Rainey on entertainment and media

Peter Guber preaches the Hollywood gospel: It's all about telling the right story

March 11, 2011 10:27 am

After more than 40 years in Hollywood, Peter Guber is a great pitchman.

He's been in every end of the business – he ran Sony Pictures, produced hit movies like “Rain Man” and even helped found the legendary Casablanca Records, which spawned Donna Summer and Kiss.

His current company, Mandalay Entertainment, is involved in films, TV and new media and handles a variety of sports properties, including the NBA's Golden State Warriors, which Guber and a partner bought last summer for $450 million.

But when I had lunch with him the other day to talk about his new book,
“Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story,” instead of regaling me with stories about himself, Guber launched into a 20-minute lecture about how to further my career.

“Think of an interview as a relationship, not as a transaction!” he insisted, reaching out across the table to grab my shoulder.

“Relationships are the secret sauce in the business of life.”

Let's just say Guber was so persuasive that when the interview was over, my first instinct was to go ask my editors for a big raise.

But what Guber was really doing was something else he's done for four decades--being a motivator and a teacher, something he started in the early 1970s at UCLA, where he's now a full professor at the School of Theater, Film and Television.

“Even when Peter is giving you his rap, what he really wants to do is instruct and educate,” says Dreamworks partner Stacey Snider, who at 25 landed a job as director of development at Guber's production company. “I was really his story editor, but I wanted a more serious title.

And even then, Peter told me, 'You want to be a story editor because if you know the difference between compelling ideas and trifling notions, you can put that at the end of your pole and catch a fish.

Knowing a good story will be the source of your power.'“

The two sides of Guber's personality--the charming Hollywood hustler and the earnest academic idea guy--are both on display in “Tell to Win,” which has spent much of the past two weeks atop the Amazon best seller list.

It's an odd mixture of showbiz memoir, academic tutorial and self-help manual, full of examples of the power of what Guber calls purposeful storytelling.

You might say that the book is the ultimate demonstration of the Hollywoodization of our culture, since one of its essential lessons is that every business opportunity can be boiled down to making a great pitch.

It’s especially telling that when Guber enthuses over his new basketball team, he talks a lot more about the Warriors’ “new narrative possibilities” and fans’ “emotional bond” with the team than about winning games.

“We're wired to tell stories--we have two million years of it in our DNA,” says Guber, who at 68 crackles with energy, sprinkles his speech with colorful aphorisms and doesn't have a trace of grey in his swept-back sepia-toned hair.

“Facts are great, but what we really want is a narrative. Whatever the creative endeavor, when you want to move people to action, you need a story. It's a way to let people know you're a member of the tribe from the minute you walk into the room.”

In “Tell to Win,” Guber takes us on a dizzying voyage through his showbiz and sports past, dropping names all over the place.

When Guber goes on a white water-rafting trip down the Colorado River, during which his guide offers up a fanciful story about a king of Egypt being ferried across the Nile by a crocodile, Guber is accompanied by Pierce Brosnan, Tony Robbins and “Girls Gone Wild's” Joe Francis as well as a host of top film and TV executives.

We're right there with Guber when Michael Jackson feeds a live mouse to a snake, Pat Riley takes the Miami Heat to the 2006 NBA title, Tim Burton gets Jack Nicholson to commit to playing The Joker in “Batman” and Bill Clinton, in desperate need of money during the early days of his presidential campaign, turns to Guber for fundraising assistance. (Ever grateful, Clinton provided Guber with a cover blurb for the book.)

For Guber, stories help us reimagine the world.

Or as he puts it in one of his many maxims:

“Facts give you perspiration, stories give you inspiration.”

Clinton, when he needed money to keep his campaign afloat, inspired Guber to new heights of fundraising dedication by reminding Guber of the story of the film “High Noon.” It was Clinton, in the role of Gary Cooper, against the world.

Riley tells Guber that the reason the Lakers won the 1979 NBA championship after Kareem Abdul-Jabaar was injured during the league finals was because Magic Johnson, the team's rookie point guard, took charge with a compelling story.

“I know what the problem is,” Magic told the team. “All of you guys are afraid because Kareem isn't here.

Well, I'll be Kareem.” And with that, Johnson led the Lakers to the title.

This storytelling prowess is clearly contagious.

In the book, Guber interviews his friend, New York art maven Arne Glimcher, who not only discovers new artists for his gallery but also studies them as they work to collect stories he can use to sell their pieces to his customers.

“I'm not a picture seller,” he tells Guber. “I'm a narrator.”

Of course, by that definition, even Sammy Glick was a narrator.

But that's what makes Guber's book such an intriguing read. It's full of ideas that often sound like a hustler's pitch, but also seem genuinely rooted in our craving for connection with one another.

Most of the people who populate Guber's book aren't just storytellers, but risk takers.

“Peter seeks out people who are like him, the commonality being that they love a challenge,” says Toby Emmerich, president of New Line Cinema.

“Peter loves to do things that no one thinks he can pull off, whether it was remaking Sony or buying the Golden State Warriors. It's what gets his blood going.”

Perhaps that's why Guber is so excited about owning a basketball team, even one like the Warriors, who only won 26 games last season. It's a new challenge--with a new narrative.

“And here’s the story,” he says, warming to his pitch.

“That team is really owned by the fans. Our job is to make them feel the team is worthy of their emotions.

It's a different kind of show business.

The players are live characters, actors in a different play every game. And I do with a sports team what I did with a movie. I go--here's the audience, here's the artist and I try to imagine the right story that can connect them.”

--Patrick Goldstein

Photo: Peter Guber, chairman of the Mandalay Entertainment Group.

Credit: David Carlson/Mandalay Entertainment Group

LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:

***During the week ending on Mar 6, Usher managed to surpass the 4 million mark with his song OMG, which features will i am. This is the first song of Usher’s to reach that number.

***Lady Gaga’s deal to sell a special edition of her upcoming album at Target is off.

The deluxe edition of the album, was set to be released in May, with bonus content.

But gay advocates expressed their concern about the partnership because of Target’s donation to a political candidate who was against same sex marriage.

***American Idol producers always praise each year’s finalists, but the Season 10 group is getting an early thumbs-up from viewers, too.

Show veterans credit various changes for the shiny haul: the return of executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, a larger Hollywood round and, as executive producer Ken Warwick puts it, “different judges.”

LBN-THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

On March 11, 1997, Paul McCartney, a former member of the most successful rock band in history, The Beatles, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his “services to music.”

The 54-year-old lad from Liverpool became Sir Paul in a centuries-old ceremony of pomp and solemnity at Buckingham Palace in central London.

Fans waited outside in a scene reminiscent of Beatlemania of the 1960s.

Crowds screamed as McCartney swept through the gates in his chauffeur-driven limousine and he answered with a thumbs-up.

LBN-QUOTE:

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”

William James

Jerry GARCIA - Authorized

2011-03-09T09:54:00.003+08:00

JERRY GARCIA DOCUMENTARY AUTHORIZED :

Renowned documentary filmmaker Malcolm Leo and veteran personal manager John Hartmann have announced plans to produce a feature film on rock legend Jerry Garcia with the full authorization and support of The Jerry Garcia Family, LLC.

The agreement allows Leo and Hartmann to produce a documentary featuring a treasure trove of never before seen material on the life and music of Jerry Garcia.

Leo, whose credits include, “This Is Elvis”, “Heroes of Rock & Roll”, “The Beach Boys – An American Band” and “Crosby, Stills & Nash – Long Time Comin’” feature length docs, will direct the ninety minute documentary.

Hartmann, the former manager of Eagles, Peter, Paul & Mary, Crosby, Stills & Nash and America, also promoted the first Los Angeles appearances of the Grateful Dead, in April of 1967.

A Doctor in the House - The Memoirs of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad- Book Launch, 8 March, MPH Mid Valley Megamall

2011-03-09T06:57:00.017+08:00

Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Launch of "A Doctor In The House - The Memoirs of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad", at MPH, Mid Valley Megamall

Photo Right : Tun Dr. Mahathir,
"Larger than Life..."

Photo Below : Sudirman Arshad, Asia's Best Performer, Bunting, promoting the History Channel documentary on Astro channel 555.

To Sudirman, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was more than a Man...Tun was the BEST thing for Malaysia...More like GOD sent...

Photo below : The Backdrop on stage at the Foyer outside MPH, Mid Valley Megamall

Photo Below : Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, wife of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

Photo Above : Datin Paduka Marina Tun Mahathir, Her Daughter & Indonesian professional photographer, Tara Sosrowardoyo, who photographed the warm, friendly & delightful Cover of "A Doctor in the House- The Memoirs of Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad"

Photo Right :

Saudara Sufi, Press Secretary of Tun. Dr. Mahathir Mohamad & Datuk Ahirudin " Rocky " Attan

Photo Above: Jounalist ICON, P. C. Shivadas & Saudara Firdaus Abdullah of APANAMA

Picture above : dani'el d.k. greeting Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to get his Invaluable Autograph

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad....more than a Man...

Terima Kasih Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad & Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah....

Malaysia will NEVER be able to thank you enough....

Launch of - A Doctor In The House - The Memoirs of Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad...Prime Minister of Malaysia, 1981-2003

2011-03-08T12:57:00.009+08:00

LAUNCH of " A Doctor In The House - The Memoirs of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad"

Today, Tuesday, 8th March 2011...3.00 PM

MPH Bookstore Mid Valley Mall...

Tun Dr. Mahathir & Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah – as viewed by Sudirman Arshad

There is nothing that I can say to justify Malaysia's Most Visionary Prime Minister...

Sudirman always told me to study Tun Mahathir, follow Tun and what He did very closely, buy all Tun's books, read all Tun's Articles & Statements...

So much so that, immediately after winning the title of Asia's Best Performer, at the Asian Music Awards at the Royal Albert Hall, London, March 1989, Sudirman dedicated his win to the people of Malaysia and to his Mentor, Tun Dr. Mahathir, and that was flashed across every newspaper the next day, front page...

To Sudirman, Tun was MORE than a Prime Minister with a Vision...

To Sudirman, Tun was MORE than a politician

To Sudirman, Tun was MORE than the Longest Serving Prime Minister...

To Sudirman, Tun was MORE than a Great Malaysian Hero...

To Sudirman, Tun was MORE than a MAN....TUN was the BEST thing for MALAYSIA...more like GOD sent...

That's what Sudirman always told me and there is more, but this is all I can recall right now...

Now in Hindsight, How right Sudirman was....

Without Tun Mahathir, there would be NO Proton, NO Petronas Twin Towers, NO KLIA, NO Formula 1, No MultiMedia Super Corridor ( MSC ), NO Knowledge Based Economy, NO 25 Minute ERL from Sentral to KLIA and the list can go on & on & on & on...

and arguably, Malaysia would NOT be so advanced as we are today....

All I can end with is how fondly Tun Dr. Mahathir & Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah would refer to Sudirman as Anakanda, which means :

...anakanda (Lit.) 1 Child , son (respectful , use mostly in letters with the meaning I or you).

2. familiar form of address to young people .

Sudirman looked up to and Loved Tun Dr. Mahathir & Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah tremendously...

...and they Loved Him back...

As appeared in : www.covenantartists.blogspot.com, Wednesday, February 23rd 2011

Is Quincy Jones- The Greatest & Most Influential Music Producer of ALL time...???

2011-03-06T06:41:00.005+08:00

Attention all aspiring Musicians, Artists, Rappers, Producers, Engineers...and any one who is involved in this business we call Entertainment....

BUY this album NOW and study it, if you want to know how The Greatest & Most Influential Music Producer of ALL time- son of Quincy Delight Jones Sr. & Sarah Jones; Quincy Delight Jones Jr, does it...

It is NOT by chance, that Quincy Jones Produced the Biggest Selling Album of ALL time....

Michael Jackson's Thriller....standing currently at 110 Million copies SOLD World Wide...

And it is Definitely NOT by chance that Q has worked ALL the Biggest & Brightest Artists, Stars, Talents & Personalities in Entertainment;

all the way from the 1940's - more than 70 years ago;

as diverse as Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Lionel Hampton, Bobby Tucker, Billy Eckstine, Dinah Washington, Nadia Boulanger, Sarah Vaughan, Lesley Gore, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Rod Steiger, Richard Brooks, Norman Jewison, Sidney Lumet, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Alice Walker, Jesse Jackson, Sammy Davis Jr, Roberta Flack, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Siedah Garrett, Louis & George Johnson, B.B. King, Lena Horne, Ann Margaret, Minnie Ripperton, Donna Summer, Valerie Simpson, Nick Ashford, Luther Vandross, Patti Austin, Chaka Khan, George Benson, Herbie Hancock, James Ingram, Peggy Lee, Ringo Starr, Jose Feliciano, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau, Manhattan Transfer, Diana Ross....

MICHAEL JACKSON.....and so many thousands more.... and that is not including Artists from Back on the Block, Q's Jook Joint and many other Albums...

It is definitely NOT by chance that Q, born in 1933 Chicago, collaborated with all of them and he has been doing it since the 1940's, and this is 2011.... that is almost 7 Decades, 70 Years.....

...if that is not reason enough......

Go buy it, if you are in this industry called Entertainment......and you will never have a better, more diverse teacher and educator...and Best of ALL...guaranteed....you will, treasure it, timeslessly keep it, share it with all your loved ones, friends & family and most of all;

its from the "Q"...with LOVE

Q's Latest Release

Soul Bossa Nostra...

Featuring :

AMY Winehouse, Usher, Ludacris, Akon, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, T-Pain, Robin Thicke, LL Cool J, John Legend, Snoop Dogg, Wyclef Jean, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, Three 6 Mafia, David Banner, Bebe Winans, Mervyn Warren, Jermaine Dupri, DJ Paul and Scott Storch and so Many More.....

Quincy Jones on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon -(11/15/10) - Video - NBC.com

2011-03-05T07:24:00.001+08:00

Quincy Jones talks to Jimmy Fallon about his epic & unparalled experiences as a Producer, including his work with Michael Jackson.

Please Click here :

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon - Quincy Jones (11/15/10) - Video - NBC.com

QUINCY JONES receives America's Highest Arts Honor from Barack Obama...

2011-03-04T09:33:00.008+08:00

Obama Confers National Medal of Arts And National Humanities Medal To QUINCY JONES

Photos by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Washington D.C.,

Mega producer Quincy Jones was among the honorees accepting the nation’s highest honor for their contributions of the “excellence, growth, support and availability” in arts in America.

Other honorees included saxophonist Sonny Rollins, James Taylor, To Kill A Mockingbird author Harper Lee and more.

President Barack Obama presented the National Medal of Arts to eight recipients for their outstanding achievements and support of the arts. (Ten medalists were announced; however two are not able to attend the ceremony. Their medals will be presented at another time.)

The medals will be presented by the president in the East Room ceremony at the White House. Mrs. Michelle Obama was in attendance.

The National Medal of Arts is a White House initiative managed by the National Endowment for the Arts. Each year, the NEA organizes and oversees the National Medal of Arts nomination process and notifies the artists of their selection to receive a medal, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence.

“The National Medal of Arts recipients represent the many vibrant and diverse art forms thriving in America,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “From criticism to literature, music, poetry, sculpture, and theater, these honorees’ devotion to shaping and sharing American art is unrivaled, and I join the President and the country in saluting them.”

Quincy Jones

“The National Medal of Arts recipients represent the many vibrant and diverse art forms thriving in America,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman.

“Quincy Jones’s extraordinary contributions to American music as a musician, composer, record producer, and arranger are unparalleled and I join the President and the country in saluting him.”

The National Medal of Arts, established by Congress in 1984, is awarded by the President and managed by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Award recipients are selected based on their contributions to the creation, growth, and support of the arts in the United States.

Each year, the Arts Endowment seeks nominations from individuals and organizations across the country.

The National Council on the Arts, the Arts Endowment’s presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed advisory body, reviews the nominations and provides recommendations to the President, who selects the recipients

IMPERFECT...Terima Kasih Cinta- The Musical...Go watch it ....

2011-03-03T08:24:00.011+08:00

IMPERFECT… - Terima Kasih Cinta- The Musical...

Last night my son, Immanuel & i went to watch Terima Kasih Cinta- The Musical….and yes it was IMPERFECT….

The theme itself speaks of Imperfect love…between human beings , between various individuals, Father, Mother and Child love, Brother & Sister love, altogether 6 different types of love relationships…and I guess we human being will always be that, imperfect, and until we go back to our Creator, we will always be imperfect, for only HE is perfect…

But the underlying message is very powerful, it is the people and places that you least expect, and are more often than not, “The Places You Find Love…’

Glen Ballard, Jerry Hey, Quincy Jones, Clif Magness & Caiphus Semenya won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) for "The Places You Find Love" and performed by Grammy Winners Siedah Garrett & Chaka Khan…

That’s what Boudeng has produced here, The Places You Find Love, in a Musical…for local adaptation, titled Terima Kasih Cinta…

My take is that it could have not come from a more passionate team of collaborators, led by Boudeng & Roslan Aziz….they absolutely need NO introduction to Malaysians…

Boudeng & Roslan, were and still are a POTENT, Lethal and Successful partnership...

In the late 80's & early 90's they were responsible for RAP ( Roslan Aziz Productions ) a local Record Label and Artist Management Firm that turned the whole Industry upside down and charted their own way by developing virtual unknowns like Sheila Majid, Zainal, Amir Yusof, Zubir Ali and many more into the household names that they are now...and of course, who could forget that Timeless IKHLAS Concert, held on Christmas Day, 25 December 1992.

RAP was the First Local Record Label bought over by Warner Music and the rest they say....is History....

BUT all that being important and after all that is said & done, it is Boudeng’s plea and message that is so crucial for Serious consideration…

Boudeng is literally BEGGING for support from all the relevant bodies, from the Government, Corporations & their related agencies..

This is a part of Boudeng’s cry….which is so crucial for us to take note, with Urgency….

Quote “…I ( Boudeng ) beg the Government to give us support by studying the dilemma we are facing and getting their agencies to participate and support the local productions.

Apart from it being a platform to showcase local talents, theatre can be a tourism product and I ( Boudeng ), am not ashamed to say that some of our productions are at par or better than some of West End’s products.

Our Prime Minister has always stressed on going Global. With a bigger budget for the Performing Arts Industry, we would then be able to produce a better showcase of our culture, One that we can be proud to show the World.

We have the BELIEF, we have the passion and we have the Talent…”

Boudeng Edruce

Malaysia, ( Our Government, Corporations, and their related Agencies...) please support these Producers and Talents NOW, they need your help, HERE and NOW, please don't neglect the Arts and Entertainment, they are very very powerful & influential platforms...

Please, we beg you too, don't let it go the way of Tan Sri P.Ramlee, who despite all he has done, had no food in his house on the day of his passing....please appreciate and support them NOW...

And the way of Sudirman Arshad;

it took Simon Napier Bell from London to create the platform ( Asian Music Awards ) on which to recognise Sudirman's talents and it took US & Singapore based AETN ALL ASIA Networks but controlled by Malaysia's Ananda Krishnan, to produce the Highest Rated and watched Sudirman Arshad- the Documentary, currently on History Channel...

Malaysia, please go support this Musical, you have until Sunday 6th of March 2011 to catch it

GO SEE it…ask your family, ask your friends, ask ALL your loved ones….it will surprise you …The Places You Find Love…

Terima Kasih Cinta is a 100 % MALAYSIAN production with the exception of Sound Engineer & Sound Designer Ken Freeman;

Terima Kasih Cinta….Terima Kasih Boudeng, Roslan & the Great Cast , Crew, Technical Team, Sophilea, Ken Freeman and all the Government agencies, Corporate Sponsors, Broadcasters & supporters…

TERIMA KASIH CINTA opened on Saturday, 19th Feb 2011 and will play until 6th March 2011. Tickets from RM30 – RM300.

For more info, go to http://apps.gua.com.my/terimakasihcinta/

btw, had the pleasure of seeing so many Giants and Personalities, the Creme De La Creme of Malaysia last night at Istana Budaya...great to see all of you...

YM Tunku Yaacob Tunku Abdullah, CEO & MD of MAA Holdings Bhd ;

Datuk Farah Khan, President of the Melium Group ;

Razak Ahmad, Florists to the Stars Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and so many more ;

Habsah Abang Saufi, my Executive Director at Central Market 1985

Gerard Benedict, Harjit Kaur, Hafee & Safa, Producers of Sudirman Arshad- The Documentary

Pat Ibrahim- Director & Choreographer of Terima Kasih Cinta

Raja Maliq - Artistic Director of Terima Kasih Cinta

Dave Avran - My Blogger Sifu & Veronica Ng

and so many good friends who performed, Latif Ibrahim, Deja Moss, Vince Chong, Jason Voo, Pat Gui and ALL the entire CAST & CREW...

Tun Dr. Mahathir & Sudirman Arshad- Making History yet again...History Documentary scores highest ratings ever...

2011-02-23T20:12:00.019+08:00

(above ) : Tun Dr. Mahathir & Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah

The Mentor & His Legend...

The Documentary Biography, 'Sudirman Arshad' which was aired on the History Channel (Astro Channel 555), on February 20, 2011, at 10.00 pm, made History yet again

It was the highest rated HISTORY CHANNEL show premiering in Malaysia todate. And for the 10-11pm slot on Feb 20 it garned 67% viewership over HISTORY CHANNEL's competitors,

which is huge.

In the overall standings for HISTORY CHANNEL in Asia it was the second highest rated show only losing out to MAHATHIR, ... a 2 Hour Documentary on Malaysia's Longest Serving Prime Minister Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad, ( above )which was shown on HISTORY in 2009.

The ratings for Sudirman premiere won its time slot among all factual channels by a landslide, and rated 5 times higher than its nearest competitor among Astro 25+

It rated as NO.1 factual channel among Astro 4+ for its premiere on 20 Feb.

All Credit should go to the following people, who very quietly worked dedicatedly and tirelessly behind the scenes:

1. GERARD BENEDICT, Producer, Code Computer Design Sdn Bhd, without whom this would never have had happened...

2. HARJIT KAUR, Assistant Producer

3. HAFI PUDIN ABDUL MALEK...whose creative graphics at the Post Production level,added much to the overall look and feel of this world class production...and not forgetting the rest of the team at Code Computer Design.

4. AETN ALL ASIA NETWORKS

5. HISTORY Channel

6. CHRIS HUMPHREY – Executive Producer, AETN All Asia Networks

7. FINAS (National Film Development Corporation Malaysia )

8. Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture Malaysia

9. LOUIS BOSWELL - General Manager of AETN All Asia Networks

10. YAP LU YI & ROSANNE LO of AETN All Asia Networks

11. ASTRO

12. All the Media who came and covered the Media Event, from the Editors, Journalists, Bloggers

13. ARCIS Communications, Michele & Berenice...

14. Datin Rudiah Arshad

15. Razman "Atai" Azrai Zainudin

16. All those who were interviewed, Mrs. Beh, Michael Veerapen, Jenny Chin, Fauzi Marzuki, Joanne Ng, Habsah Hassan, Saodah Ismail, Bahyah Mahmud, Cynthia Chen, Khoo Ai Chien, Mohd Azhar, Simon Napier Bell, Jack Nadarajah,Patrick Yeoh.

17. and last but not least the fans, Mohd Azhar, Ramlan Isa, Nurma Ahmad, Mohd Hafizan, Maznah Abdul Ghani, and so many more who keep Sudirman's legacy and Spirit alive...

The Documentary Biography, 'Sudirman Arshad' will be aired on the History Channel (Astro Channel 555), on the following dates :

There will be subtitles in Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.

26 February: 12pm

27 February: 10am

1 March 7.00pm

11 March 11.00pm and

13 March 7.00pm.

For other repeats, please go to :

http://www.historyasia.com/tvschedule_daily.aspx

Albert Einstein - IMAGINATION is more important than Knowledge...

2011-02-23T07:05:00.008+08:00

LBN-THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“We do not need magic to change the world.

We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”

– J. K. Rowling

LBN-COMMENTARY By PETER GUBER:

Getting the rights to do the movie Gorillas in the Mist was a race between Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures.

(Howard Peter Guber (born March 2, 1942 in Newton, Massachusetts) is an American film producer and executive. Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment )

No one thought I was going to win—what with Mike Ovitz and his clout.

So I decided to tell my story to the gorillas.

I flew to Africa and met with the gorillas, and I made a deal with the people there that I would control the space where the gorillas lived.

You have to sell whatever you do on emotion.

As a result, I was able to make that film.

LBN-THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”

-Edgar Allen Poe

LBN-THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“The imagination, give it the least license, dives deeper and soars higher than Nature goes.”

-Henry David Thoreau

MOBILE NATION

India’s cell-phone market has become one of the world’s largest, creating new possibilities for

many of the country’s rural poor.

2000: 2 MILLION HANDSETS

2010: 545 MILLION HANDSETS

INTERNET USERS IN CHINA

In spite of state censorship and monitoring, China’s Internet community is booming, with 30% of its population now online.

2000: 22 MILLION

2010: 420 MILLION

.

Michael Jackson & Lady Gaga....ROSLAN AZIZ -Terima Kasih Cinta...The Musical & SUDIRMAN...Glee & Elvis...The World's BEST....in one Blog Post.......

2011-02-21T07:21:00.009+08:00

***Michael Jackson’s estate has generated $310 million in revenue from album sales, a film, merchandising and
other products since the “Thriller” singer died in 2009, according to court papers filed on Thursday.

His estate’s administrators have used $159 million to pay down the pop star’s debt, which when Jackson died amounted to more than $400 million, court records show.

Below : ( Michael Jackson in Kuala Lumpur, 1996, during the

History World Tour )

LBN-COMMENTARY By RICHARD RUSHFIELD :

All of a sudden, it’s hard to be Lady Gaga. Since bursting onto the music scene in 2008, the artist born Stefani Germanotta has achieved that rare alchemy of massive commercial success combined with highbrow fascination (albeit grudging fascination.)

Standing almost alone amidst an imploding music industry, she has sold over

55 million albums in the past three years and racked up 340 million views on the avant-garde themed video for her song “Bad Romance.” Considerations of the meaning of Gaga littered the landscape, and her eclectic stew of references had many a university cultural studies department working overtime.

LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:

***Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way ” made music history on Wednesday by going straight to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 song chart to become the 1,000th top song in the list’s 52-year history.

“It is a tremendous honor,” Gaga tells Billboard of the milestone. “To be the 1000th No. 1 on Billboard…I would be silly not to say this is the greatest honor of my career.”

Terima Kasih Cinta...The Musical.....ONE reason to go watch.....

ROSLAN AZIZ- Musical Director....

( The World's BEST Unknown ((at least not yet...))

Music Producer... & Asia's Best Kept Secret....)

But Then, of course, the other reason to go watch is producer, Boudeng Edruce....

Boudeng & Roslan, were and still are a POTENT, Lethal and Successful partnership...

In the late 80's & early 90's they were responsible for RAP ( Roslan Aziz Productions ) a local Record Label and Artist Management Firm that turned the whole Industry upside down and charted their own way by developing virtual unknowns like Sheila Majid, Zainal, Amir Yusof, Zubir Ali and many more into the household names that they are now...and of course, who could forget that Timeless IKHLAS Concert, held on Christmas Day, 25 December 1992.

RAP was the First Local Record Label bought over by Warner Music and the rest they say....is History....

TERIMA KASIH CINTA opens this Saturday, 19th Feb 2011 until 6th March 2011. Tickets from RM30 – RM300.

For more info, go to http://apps.gua.com.my/terimakasihcinta/

SUDIRMAN....ASIA'S BEST....( still is and always will be... )

19 years since his body left us, but His Spirit still and will forever live on....Al-Fatihah & May Almighty GOD Bless his soul...

( Below : Atai, Sudirman & Mr. Dunn at Royal Albert Hall, London, March 1989 )

( Above : Sudirman & Mr. Dunn on Stage...during the Charlie Chaplin Act, Royal Albert Hall, London, Mach 1989 )

*The cast of TV musical comedy “Glee” has beaten the record set by Elvis Presley for the most single entries on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, Billboard said on Wednesday.

With six new songs making their debut on the singles chart this week, the young cast of “Glee” has notched up 113 entries on the Hot 100 — less than two years after the show made its debut in 2009. Presley has 108 entries on the chart since it was started in 1958, Billboard said. The King’s hit-making career predates the launch of the Hot 100 by about two years.

LBN-QUOTE:

“I know in my heart that man is good.

That what is right will always eventually triumph.

And there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.”

-Ronald Reagan

LBN-QUOTE:

“Democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.”

-Ronald Reagan.

Sudirman - Asia's BEST Performer - Media Event, Thursday, 10 Feb 2011, Smoke & Fire, Level 6, The Gardens Midvalley

2011-02-14T09:02:00.022+08:00

From left to right :Producer, Gerard Benedict ; AETN General Manager, Louis Boswell; Finas Director General, Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim; Sudirman's Dancer and Former Miss Malaysia, Joanne Ng; Legendary Music Impressario & Wham Manager, Simon Napier Bell; Journalist, Saodah Ismail; Sudirman's Sister, Datin Rudiah Arshad;Former EMI Malaysia Managing Director, Mrs Beh Suat Pheng; RTM Producer, Jack Nadarajah; Sudirman's Nephew, Razman"Atai"Azraai; One of Sudirman's Biggest and most loyal fan's Mohd Azhar Md Isa; and dani'el dharanee kannan

Above : Datin Rudiah Arshad & Journalist Fauziah Abd Samad

Above : Razman " Atai " Azraai carrying his biggest blessing, daughter Mira

Below : Harjit Kaur, Assistant Producer and Fan Azhar

Above : Specialist Writer Dennis Chua & dani'el d. k.

Below : dani'el d.k. and Louis Boswell ( background ) and Rentak Sejuta's Journalist, Kumar ( foreground )

Above : FINAS Director General, Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim saying a few words...

Below : Band TILU, performing....

Above : Film Director " Kami" and Playwright, Patrick Yeoh

Below, left - right : Journalist, Saodah Ismail; RTM Producer Jack Nadarajah; dani'el d.k; Producer Gerard Benedict; Impressario Simon Napier Bell & AETN GM, Louis Boswell.

Above : dani'el d.k & Simon Napier Bell

Below : Banner

Above : dani'el d.k; Ashraf Dahari, one of Sudirman's most loyal photographers; and Pat Danker, dani'el's wife

The Documentary Biography, 'Sudirman Arshad' will be aired on the History Channel (Astro Channel 555), on February 20, 2011, at 10.00 pm.

There will be subtitles in Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.

There will be the following Repeats ;

Feb 22 (11.00pm),

Feb 23 (9.00pm),

1 March (7.00pm),

11 March (11.00pm) and

13 March (7.00pm).

For other repeats, please go to :

http://www.historyasia.com/tvschedule_daily.aspx

Media Event - Sudirman Arshad- Making HISTORY...

2011-02-03T09:58:00.004+08:00

The HISTORY Channel, in collaboration with,

Kementerian Penerangan, Kommunikasi & Kebudayaan ( Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture ),

FINAS ( National Film Development Corporation Malaysia ) and

ASTRO

are organising a Media Event to promote Sudirman Arshad, "One of Malaysia's most prolific performers", scheduled to be aired from the 20th of February 2011 onwards, on History Channel ( Astro Channel 555 ).

Sudirman Arshad- The Documentary, was first aired on the BIO Channel on the 20th of December 2010.

Initial audience reviews ranged from, " highly emotive...," "touches the heart...," " i cried...," " i never knew that he did so much...," " we truly lost a Icon..." to " the show was too short, it should have been longer...", "where was his favorite nephew, atai ?"

It is heartening to note that History ( formerly known as

The History Channel ) an international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts programs regarding historical events and persons.

The channel is owned by A&E Television Networks, a joint venture of Hearst Corporation, Disney-ABC Television Group (The Walt Disney Company), and NBC Universal (General Electric), and operates, in various forms, in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Ireland, Israel, Spain, Poland, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Romania and Latin America.

The network was also available in South Asia under a deal between STAR TV and AETN International until November 21, 2008. The channel has consistently produced prime time ratings in the U.S. comparable to or higher than the A&E Network itself.

On February 16, 2008, a new logo was launched on the flagship American network. While keeping their trademark "H", the triangle shape on the left acts as a play button for animation and fly-outs during commercials and shows. On March 20, 2008, The History Channel dropped the "The" and "Channel" parts of its name to become simply "History".

May we hope that many more Malaysians will make History......

and like what Michael Jackson sang about.....Every day create your History....

ASIA's BEST - SUDIRMAN ARSHAD makes History again on History Channel Asia.....

2011-02-02T07:08:00.009+08:00

Asia's Best Entertainer.., the late Sudirman Arshad, winner of the Salem Asian Music Awards at the Royal Albert Hall, London, March 1989, and whose documentary was shown on the BIO Channel Asia, ( channel 731 on Astro )late December 2010, will now be telecast on the History Channel Asia ( channel 555 on Astro ) from 20th February 2011 onwards, and is expected to reach a wider audience.

Sudirman Arshad, The Documentary, was produced by former TV 3 Newscaster, Gerard Benedict, who first proposed the idea to BIO Channels' representatives in New York last year.

According to reliable sources, Gerard's pitch to the BIO reps were, " Would you like to do a Documentary on an Asian Singer who drew 100,000 fans in an Open air concert in the 80's on one of Kuala Lumpur's Busiest streets...

, and the immediate reply and answer was a definite "YES"...and the BIO channel's representative's rationale was that..." whoever that can pull in an audience of a 100,000 is definitely worthy of Documentation, and like they say....the rest is HISTORY.....

A Press conference to announce this will be held soon and family, colleagues and friends of the late Entertainer, are expected to attend.

Among those who are invited and expected to attend are Legendary Music Manager / Impressario..., Simon Napier Bell ( above )..., who together with Donovan, were the Organisers of the event in London.

( http://www.simonnapierbell.com/)

Simon Napier Bell, was largely responsible for taking talented British Duo, George Michael and Andrew Ridgely, also known as Wham !, from being Britain's Pop Duo into the Global phenomenon that they had become, when he arranged for Wham ! to perform in China, way back in April 1985, the first Western or any foreign act to have done so.

Local personalities also expected to attend are Musician / Musical Director, Michael Veerapen.., Jenny Chin, Fauzi Marzuki, Lyricist Habsah Hassan, Journalist Bahyah Mahmud and Film Director Patrick Yeoh amongst others.

Sudirman Arshad, regarded by many as Asia's answer to the likes of

Michael Jackson and Sammy Davis Jnr, passed away on 22nd February 1992 but many of his fans remain devoted and loyal to him.

Sudirman, was a gifted and versatile talent, among which was as an Entertainer /Singer/Performer/Actor/Portrait Artist/Author/Cartoonist / Script writer / Composer / Lyricist / Entrepreneur / Philantropist / Humanitarian / Lawyer, amongst others.

May SUDIRMAN''s Legacy continue to live on...

the Human ear....LISTEN & Hear....

2011-02-02T07:05:00.002+08:00

LBN-INVESTIGATES:

The human ear is most sensitive to frequencies of 1000-4000 hertz, though young ears can hear 20-20,000 hertz.

Roslan Aziz and Zade Dirani - Possible Collaboration ?

2011-01-24T10:35:00.009+08:00

Breaking News.....!!!

The World's BEST kept secret....

Malaysian Music Producer Roslan Aziz (below)

and Jordanian / American Pianist, Composer and Producer.... Zade Dirani to Collaborate ????

We hear it from the grapevine that gifted and internationally acclaimed Malaysian Music Producer, Roslan Aziz , winner the "Quincy Jones - Most Promising Music Producer Award in 2002, held in Los Angeles, and

Jordanian / American Pianist, Composer and Producer, Zade Dirani , who performed in the " One Night in Jordan- A Concert for Peace, to a sold out crowd of over 8,000 fans at the historical Roman Amphitheatre in Amman, Jordan in June 2008, featuring among others,

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , the London Voices Choir, a star studded line up of musicians in the likes of the "Most Recorded Drummer in history" ,

John JR Robinson ( Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Rufus and Chaka Khan....), Guitarist Michael Thompson ( Madonna, Cher, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, Michael Buble...)and

Produced by the Illustrious Danny O'Donovan, (Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr. and Marlene Dietrich; Jazz and Blues giants such as Ray Charles, Count Basie, B.B. King and Sarah Vaughan; and Soul and Reggae Superstars like James Brown, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry, to name a few.

It would be interesting to see if this happens..........sure going to be

GroundBreaking...

Will keep you updated....

ROSLAN AZIZ

http://roslanmukhlis.blogspot.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/roslanmukhlis
http://www.last.fm/music/Roslan+Aziz+Productions
http://www.google.com/profiles/roslanabdulaziz.

ZADE DIRANI

http://www.zade.com

Keyshia Cole Fires Longtime Manager In Wake Of Poor Record Sales

2011-01-24T10:17:00.003+08:00

Keyshia Cole Fires Longtime Manager In Wake Of Poor Record Sales

Posted: 22 Jan 2011 04:31 AM PST

press release

Keyshia Cole is shaking things up within her inner circle, hoping to give her career a boost.

The 29-year old singer has fired her longtime manager, Manny Halley.

The move, though unexpected possibly stems from the poor performance of her latest cd “Calling All Hearts”, which has moved 139,000 copies in it’s first four weeks

compared to her last album “A Different Me”, which moved 539,000 copies during the same time span.

Cole informed her fans on the news via Twitter.

“Would like for u guys to know that Manny Halley is no longer my management.”

Touring Hollywood in Search of Box-Office Success

2011-01-19T08:36:00.002+08:00

Five Chinese film veterans and ambitious newcomers are seeking to hire Hollywood help to achieve their goal: exportable movies.

BEIJING --

A group of Chinese filmmakers is touring Los Angeles this week to learn what it takes to make movies with universal appeal.

Though China's box office rose 61 percent in 2010 and Hollywood films from Avatar to Alice in Wonderland are grossing more in the Middle Kingdom these days than anywhere else outside the U.S., few Chinese films have ever enjoyed such overseas success.

So, the delegation of five Chinese film veterans and ambitious newcomers now is serious about hiring Hollywood help to achieve their goal: exportable movies.

From Pang Hong, a producer of the 2008 Gordon Chan hit supernatural thriller Painted Skin, to talent agent-turned-producer Mu Xiaoying, the delegation is led by former Warner Bros. executive Ellen Eliasoph and Bai Qiang, CEO of Beijing-based company 3D China.

"Things have changed 180 degrees," said Eliasoph, a 30-year China veteran and managing partner here for U.S. law firm Covington & Burling.

"Just five or six years ago, Chinese companies went to Hollywood looking for finance but couldn't get it because their products weren't developed properly and had little chance of going overseas. Meanwhile, the Chinese box office wasn't big enough to care about."

But now that movies are making real money in China -- Avatar grossed $207 million here and Aftershock, by local hero Feng Xiaogang, took in $100 million -- China's industry is looking to expand in step with Beijing's plans to present a new China to the world using the media.

"What's nice about traveling with this group is that they're paying their own way, not looking for money, just looking to partner with real talent that can teach them something," said Eliasoph, former head of Warner's China office from 2003-2007.

It's a trend in the making. Last month, China's best-known director, Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers), hired not only Dark Side FX, the Hollywood team behind The Dark Knight, but also the film's star, Christian Bale, to work on a $90 million World War II drama called 13 Flowers of Nanjing.

The Chinese in Hollywood this week for meetings with the likes of Rand Holstein of CAA, Sandra Lucchesi of The Gersh Agency, and Elizabeth Daley, dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, hope to be taking home a few tricks of the trade. They're also due at meetings at Castle Rock, Village Roadshow, Warner, Fox, Sony and 3ality.

"These days we're making so many movies in China but our goal is to make movies that will rise to the standards of Hollywood," said Mu, who, with backing from a Zhejiang Province-based real estate conglomerate, is developing a popular graphic novel serialized online into what he hopes, a year from now, will turn into a trilogy called Jade Dynasty costing $30 million a picture, a sort of Chinese Lord of the Rings. Mu's colleagues on the Hollywood trip include Jiang Xinguang and Mao Panfeng.

"We're here learning how Hollywood works, what's appealing in Asian films and how better to build relations," Mu said over the phone.

To that end, USC film professor and accomplished editor, producer and writer Mary Sweeney (long a partner of director David Lynch) told the Chinese visitors that each of their stories had to be developed in such a way that an audience anywhere in the world could understand the characters' emotional journey, Eliasoph said.

Pang, the CEO of Beijing-based Kylin Network Movie & Culture Media Co is in the process of making Painted Skin 2 with up and coming Chinese Mongolian director Wuershan, whose The Butcher, The Chef, and the Swordsman from Fox International Productions will release in the U.S. in March. "Pang hopes to make Painted Skin 3 in 3D and he wants to cooperate with Hollywood," said Qiang of 3D China.

Qiang, for his part, recently finished shooting a 3D version of a New Year's Eve concert in Beijing held by Cui Jian, China's biggest rock star. With the help of a South Korean crew and U2-3D producer Michael Peyser, also a USC professor. It was the first such 3D filming of big Chinese rock show and one that is bound to be popular as Cui's anthems carry weight with Chinese from all walks of life.

Veteran Hollywood 3D producer Brian Rogers of Redruth Pictures, now working with Legendary Pictures on director Gareth Edwards' upcoming Godzilla for Warner, said he met the Chinese delegates with an open mind. This despite having gone there six years ago to work on project that was brought down by local political infighting.

"It's not a question of corruption in China any more. It's more about the system's rigidity and finding ways to open it up, so the Chinese can be more international and give their movies a chance overseas," said Rogers, who is helping taking the visitors to CG, 3D and post-production houses Rhythm & Hues, Panavision and Oasis.

Rogers said the Chinese he met over the weekend were forthcoming about their varied business backgrounds -- from real estate to socks -- but each asked astute questions about the movie business.

"It's going to take them some considerable time, but the answer today will be different tomorrow and the day after tomorrow," Rogers said. "They're learning fast."

and a comment by a reader :

Anonymous Tue, 2011-01-18 11:29

Stay away.

I worked on three movies in China.

They are all criminals.

No way to track box office.

They will manufacture products that the stars wear and sell them in another city creating revenue from merchandise that you will never hear about.

Contracts mean nothing.

Try to sue anyone in China.

Hah.

They are not good in math.

They are great.

In accounting even better.

I lived thru it.

These were with extremely well respected business people too.

And all with lots of money.

They will pay your fees and make 10xs that and not share with you.

And it's not just me talking.

Names we all know have been trying to work in China.

Check the track record for the past 20 years.

Good luck!

Marilyn Monroe........Worth more Dead than alive ?????

2011-01-18T15:18:00.006+08:00

Canadian businessman Jamie Salter has purchased the rights to the Marilyn Monroe’s name and image for $50 million.

He wants to “create products that people actually want to buy” with the Marilyn Monroe branding.

He plans to introduce branded lingerie, handbags, jewelry, fragrances, and maybe even produce a reality show.

Salter says, “We’re not really interested in the trinkets and trash.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good business — calendars, posters and shot glasses — but that’s not what we want to do with Marilyn Monroe.”

This will certainly boost Marilyn Monroe-related sales to the likes of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, which make between $60-275 million a year.............Dead............

words of wisdom from Howard Shultz, founder of Starbucks

2011-01-18T09:29:00.006+08:00

LBN-COMMENTARY By GISELE BUNDCHEN (Model and Actress):

I love Jack Johnson’s music.

Every song.

He’s the best writer of this generation.

I like music that carries a message, and I think he always has a very empowering message.

LBN-COMMENTARY By HOWARD SCHULTZ (Starbucks Chairman, President, and Chief Executive):

The discipline I believe so strongly in is H.R., and it’s typically the last discipline that gets funded.

Sophie Tucker

2011-01-14T14:39:00.002+08:00

LBN-TODAY’S BIRTHDAY:

Sophie Tucker (1884)

Tucker was a Russian-born American singer and entertainer who began performing vaudeville as a child, singing ragtime melodies in blackface.

She later abandoned the makeup but continued in the African-American style, helping popularize the songs of black composers.

Known for her racy songs, she enjoyed great success on tour and went on to appear in several stage and movie musicals but was best known as a nightclub torch singer.

Sudirman....Asia's Best Performer, Royal Albert Hall, London 1989

2011-01-13T07:32:00.011+08:00

Asia's Best Performer Sudirman Arshad, won the Title of

"Asia's Best Performer" , in no less than at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, in March 1989 beating the Best of what Asia had to offer in terms of true bonafide Talents, unlike the run of the mill, instant noodle, reality Tv show type artists that dominate the markets today.......

( see picture above, from left to right ) : the likes of Taiwan's Chyi Chin, China's Cui Jian,

Japan's Epo, Sudirman from Malaysia, Anchalee from Thailand, Koo Chang Moo from Korea, Megastar Lesley Cheung from Hong Kong and Las Vegas based ( at that time , now based in Kuala Lumpur) Anita Sarawak representing Singapore......( Kuh Ledesma from the Philipines was not in the picture as she was late for the photo call )

Organised by Impressario, Simon Napier Bell, who had managed the Wham, the duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgely, and was responsible for taking Wham from being a British Duo to an International Global phenomenon by getting them to perform in Communist Closed China at that time in the 80's and subsequently making them the first european or for that matter any western act to do so......and co organiser, Donovan, who was Simon's business partner.....

9 of Asia's best talents......and Sudirman Haji Arshad, Malaysia's underated 5 foot tall gift from the Almighty, beat them all to win the coveted Asia's Best Performer......

Indonesia was to be represented by Harvey Malaiholo but were eliminated due to the poor anti piracy record and poor policing of the protection of Intellectual Property rights...

HISTORY was made.......a Malaysian was and arguably still is........

ASIA'S BEST....... SUDIRMAN ARSHAD.....

Music "NOT Compatible" for and with Islam......Ayatollah Ali Khameini

2010-08-06T09:17:00.003+08:00

LBN-THE "INSIDE" STORY:

Iran’s “Supreme Leader”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said that music is “not compatible” with the values of the Islamic republic and should not be practiced or taught in the country.

He said : “Although music is halal, promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic.”

Khamenei’s comments came in response to a request for a ruling by a young follower who was thinking of starting music lessons, but wanted to know if they were acceptable according to Islam.

"It's better that our dear youth spend their valuable time in learning science and essential and useful social skills instead of music,” the Supreme Leader went on.

FIVE HUNDRED MILLION......HALF A BILLION....ONE TWELFTH OF WORLDS POPULATION.....one Facebook.....

2010-07-23T08:58:00.006+08:00

FACEBOOK GETS 500 MILLION MEMBERS:

Mark Zuckerberg sure is popular.

Facebook, the online social networking site, has reached 500 million members, making its Web population equal to the size of the world's third largest country.

Birthed in a Harvard dorm room in 2004, the site's number of users has accelerated in the past year.

In January 2009, Facebook had 150 million members.

The company isn't suffering for ambition:

last month, Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO, said that the site would hit one billion users.

This fall, Aaron Sorkin will release a movie depicting the rise of the company.

The tagline? "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies."

LBN-INVESTIGATES:

An adult human body contains approximately 100 trillion cells.

Holy HOLLYWOOD................

2010-07-14T07:47:00.004+08:00

LBN-THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

Hollywood Sign Is Dedicated (1923)

The iconic Hollywood sign overlooking the community, which spells out its name in 50-foot (15-meter) high white letters originally said "Hollywood land".

It was erected as an advertisement for a real estate firm promoting a new housing development with that name.

Though not intended to be permanent, the sign quickly became an internationally recognized landmark, and the last four letters were removed in 1949.

The Music Industry’s 360 Deal = Rape!

2010-06-25T10:25:00.003+08:00

The 360 deal reflects the fact that most of

musician’s income

now

comes from source other than recorded music.

These include live performance, merchandising and part time stints with “Staples or Starbucks”.

In the future these artists can get used to flogging whatever they can fit names on.

New Rules If you want a piece of pie , the record company demands 360 degrees of your arse.

You’re gonna be a star

Mark TWAIN.......................you too can become great..............

2010-06-16T15:41:00.002+08:00

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY

By Mark Twain:

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.

Small people always do that, but the really great
make you feel that you, too, can become great.

sinon fuller to acquire CKX........owners of IDOL franchise.....ELVIS & MUHAMMAD ALI likeness & image.......

2010-05-31T17:21:00.003+08:00

CKX Confirms Acquisition Offer From Simon Fuller

"American Idol" creator wants to take over parent company of show's producer, 19 Entertainment

By Wrap Staff

Published: May 28, 2010

CKX, parent company of 19 Entertainment, which produces "American Idol," confirmed Friday that it has received an acquisition proposal from a group of investors led by "Idol" creator Simon Fuller.

The offer is believed to be for about $600 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In addition to "Idol," CKX owns the rights to the names, images and likenesses of

Elvis Presley and

Muhammad Ali, and also operates Graceland.

It also produces Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance."

The CKX board of directors is evaluating the proposal, "as well as other potential strategic alternatives," it said in a statement, has retained Gleacher & Company as its financial adviser and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as legal adviser.

CKX also said, "There can be no assurance that it will enter into any agreement with respect to any transaction, or as to the timing or terms thereof, including price."

Fuller left 19 Entertainment, of which he was CEO and founder, in January.

In May, CKX founder-CEO Robert F.X. Sillerman resigned from the company to pursue other opportunities, including possibly buying CKX.

Fuller and partner Roger Jenkins, formerly of Barclays Capital, have amassed a $1 billion acquisitions fund, according to ABC News.

One Equity Partners, a private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase, also is eyeing CKX as a takeover target.

mick "rolling stoned" jagger.............

2010-05-24T09:52:00.003+08:00

LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:

***Mick Jagger -- hawking "Stones in Exile," a documentary about the making of the Rolling Stones' 1972 album, "Exile on Main Street" -- told reporters in Cannes:

"We were young, good-looking and stupid then.

Now we're just stupid."

The album was mostly recorded at Keith Richards' villa in the South of France -- where the Stones had fled Britain's crushing income tax -- in a hedonistic haze of heroin, pot and booze.

"Nixon was in the White House and Watergate was going on, but we didn't know about it until later because we were down there making this album," said the rubber-lipped rocker.

AXL ROSE versus IRVING AZOFF

2010-05-19T12:06:00.005+08:00

Axl Rose slams Irving Azoff in $5 million countersuit

Tue May 18, 2010 @ 12:08PM PST

By Eriq Gardner

EXCLUSIVE:

Axl Rose says his former manager tried to implement a scheme to force him to reunite with the original Guns N' Roses band members and, as part of the plot, failed to properly promote the "Chinese Democracy" album, lied about a prospective Van Halen super tour and mishandled the band's tour dates.

The claims are part of a bombshell countersuit filed yesterday against Irving Azoff's Front Line Management.

In March, Azoff sued Rose, claiming the rocker violated an oral agreement to pay 15% of earnings, or nearly $2 million, from a lucrative concert tour.

Not since the G'N'R song "Get in the Ring" has Rose struck back at a foe so forcefully, alleging antitrust concerns about Front Line's parent company, Ticketmaster, to drive home a major claim that his former manager is up to no good in the music business.

Azoff is CEO, director and majority shareholder of Front Line, whose roster of artists include the Eagles, Neil Diamond, Jimmy Buffett, Christina Aguilera and John Mayer.

In 2008, Front Line was acquired by Ticketmaster.

Rose claims that through Azoff's control of the "trifecta" of artist management, concert and touring promotion, and ticket sales, Azoff has been able to gain wide influence and power in the music industry.

Azoff allegedly decides what artists he wants to promote through favorable touring deals and uses his power to punish artists and harm their careers if they don't follow his orders.

When informed of the myriad allegations in the countersuit, Azoff's lawyer Howard King quipped to us: "He didn't accuse Irving of being on the grassy knoll in Dallas on November 22, 1963?"

The countersuit invokes the U.S. Justice Department's recent antitrust lawsuit that sought to stop a proposed merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation over concerns about the new entity having too much control over artists and venues.

Afterwards, Ticketmaster entered into a consent decree with government regulators to allow the merger to continue under certain operating provisions.

Axl's counter-complaint says that Azoff is violating the consent decree by coercing and bullying artists to do what he wants.

What Azoff wanted, the rocker says, was the reunion of Guns N' Roses.

To execute this, he would sabotage Rose and his new band so that Rose would have no option but to reunite.

According to the filing, "Upon realizing that he couldn't bully Rose and accomplish his scheme, Azoff resigned and abandoned Guns N' Roses on the eve of a major tour, filing suit for commissions he didn't earn and had no right to receive."

Further, Axl says the botched tour cost him money in production startup and rehearsal expenses.

Claiming breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud and breach of contract, the singer wants at least $5 million in damages.

The cross-complaint was filed by Skip Miller and Sasha Frid at L.A.'s Miller Barondess.

ALICE COOPER'S -----...that 3 Minute Musical Boundary......

2010-05-19T11:17:00.004+08:00

If I were to take a young band, I would have them listen to four people:

Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and Paul Simon, or maybe Laura Nyro.

Listen to the construction of those songs. I mean, the Beatles - so simple, but I get everything they're saying to me.

When I hear these new bands, I don't get it.

And it's because they don't know how to tell a story within those musical boundaries.

That three-minute musical boundary.

Alice Cooper

Christopher Columbus.......living in HIS Grace and Mercy...............

2010-03-30T08:17:00.004+08:00

LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS:

I am a most noteworthy sinner, but

I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy,

and they have covered me completely.

I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy

His marvelous Presence.

Winner of American Idol 2010.....BIG MIKE............?????????

2010-03-12T08:18:00.004+08:00

BIG MIKE..........at least a Finalist.........???????????

Luther Vandross incarnate??????

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By JOHN ADAMS:

A desire to be

observed,

considered,

esteemed,

praised,

beloved,

and

admired

by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the

heart of man.

LBN-QUOTE:

"Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends." -

H. L. Mencken.

IFPI claims Artists still need Record Labels.....?????

2010-03-10T13:47:00.006+08:00

Tuesday March 9, 2010

By Ben Cardew

Record companies around the world invest $5bn (£3.3bn) a year in developing and marketing artists, according to a new report from the IFPI which aims to debunk the myth that artists no longer need labels.

The report, Investing In Music, claims that it costs around $1m (£663,000) to break a new pop act.

Of this, typically $200,000 (£133,000) goes on the advance,

$200,000 on recording,

$200,000 on filming three videos,

$100,000 (£66,300) on tour support and

$300,000 (£199,000) on promotion / marketing.

However, at a briefing to launch the report Columbia managing director Mike Smith says that this $1m figure is “a minimum to get an act up and running and moving somewhere towards platinum”.

But, he adds that companies can easily double that if they are looking to get 1m-plus sales.

“If you add the international picture and add in tour support and other things it could be $2m.

It can be more,” explains Decca managing director Dickon Stainer.

And of course this investment is no guarantee of success, but IFPI chairman and chief executive John Kennedy says the record lables are more efficient nowadawys.

He adds that 10 years ago around one act in 10 would re-coup their initial advance; now “there is a general feeling that has come down to one in five”.

This $5bn figure means that record companies spend around 30% of their sales revenues on developing and marketing artists.

Of that, a global average of 16% is spent on A&R, although this is higher in certain countries, including the UK where A&R investment totalled 23% in 2007.

The IFPI says this figure shows record companies are global leaders in investing in new product.

In the UK the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, for example, invests around 15% of its gross revenues in R&D.

But, the IFPI warns that this high level of investment from record companies is under threat from falling revenues from recorded music.

“A&R spending in some countries has stayed strong, for example in the UK,” says Kennedy.

“But it becomes more and more difficult to sustain that given some of the problems that we face.

The levels are at risk down to piracy.”

Kennedy adds that investing in music is the “core mission” of record companies and they should be respected as such.

“No other party can lay claim to a comparable role in the music sector.

No other party comes close to the levels of investment committed by record companies to developing, nurturing and promoting talent,” he says.

“One of the biggest myths about the music industry in the digital age is that artists no longer need record labels.

It is simply wrong.

The investment, partnership and support that help build artist careers have never been more important than they are today.”

Kennedy also claims that, despite the proliferation of fan-funded websites, there is “no evidence” of artists succeeding in the long-term by going direct to the consumer.

“Creative energy can be wasted on business problems,” he adds.

Looking beyond recorded music, the report claims there is an economic “ripple effect” from this record company investment, which helps to benefit a broader music sector that includes live music, radio, publishing and audio equipment, thought to be worth $160bn (£106.1bn ) annually.

The IFPI estimates that more than 2m people around the world are employed in this broader music economy.

However, the report also aims to disprove the myth that artists can survive just on live income.

“You probably won’t see the level or earnings of Madonna or U2 again,” Kennedy adds.

“But a successful band in the music industry could still become a millionaire.”

The IFPI estimates that there are more than 4,000 artists on major label rosters around the world, with thousands more on indies.

MICHAELANGELO ------- 1475

2010-03-08T08:35:00.003+08:00

LBN-TODAY'S BIRTHDAY:

Michelangelo (1475).

Among the world's most celebrated artists, Michelangelo was one of the foremost figures of the Renaissance.

The marble David, which he completed before his 30th birthday, set a new standard in nude sculpture, and his paintings in the Sistine Chapel are among the most influential frescoes in the history of Western art.

A true "Renaissance man," he also was an architect and poet and wrote more than 300 sonnets.

***P.R. firm 42West has appointed veteran music publicist

Dvora Vener Englefield to head their newly created music department.

Happy Birthday SONG earns USD $ 1 Million a year for Warner Chappell.................and ISRAELI Model Bar Rafaeli.........

2010-03-05T08:01:00.005+08:00

LBN-DID YOU KNOW:

***Warner Chappell Music owns the copyright to the song ''Happy Birthday''.

They make over $1 million in royalties every year from the commercial use of the song.

LBN-COMMENTARY BY GEORGE MICHAEL:

Amy Winehouse is one of the most gifted singer-songwriters to emerge in Britain in the last few years.

And Lady Gaga has my full attention. She's a unique songwriter with an original overall package.

And Bjork - she just gets better. Her voice is amazing.

LBN-COMMENTARY By KIM ELSESSER:

The Academy Awards should allow men and women to compete for one Oscar for best actor.

WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WORK FOR ZUCKERBERG:

The Wall Street Journal profiles the working habits and aspirations of one of Silicon Valley's most-watched men in Thursday's paper: 25-year-old Facebook founder

Mark Zuckerberg.

One of the games he likes to play is to imagine what he would do if he had $1 trillion dollars to work with.

He says he is in no hurry to turn his social networking behemoth into a public company.

Dont expect much praise, if you work for him.

But do expect movie quotes: Zuckerberg is particularly fond of Troy, which he screened for employees once.

He even delivered a gong to the office so workers could announce new developments with added authority.

ISRAELI model Bar Rafaeli

Hollywood for Sale -- But What's the Right Price?

2010-02-23T12:20:00.002+08:00

It’s a sign of the times, and it may as well be a big “For Sale” sign.

With three major entertainment properties openly on the block, and another independent studio quietly made available for sale, Hollywood -- once the sexiest of high-priced baubles -- faces a glut of supply and a dearth of demand.

-- MGM needs to be sold or faces bankruptcy sooner rather than later; the studio’s production has been virtually halted as financiers seek to sort out its debt-laden balance sheet.

-- Disney has put Miramax up for sale, seeking $700 million -- with buyers so far balking at that price tag.

-- Liberty Media’s John Malone has hired an investment bank to sell or dismantle Starz Media and its main division, Overture Films.

-- Summit Entertainment -- while seeking acquisitions itself -- has been quietly shopped for several months, according to several knowledgeable individuals.

The company denied that it is for sale when questioned by TheWrap.

A decade or two ago, corporate giants as disparate as Coca-Cola, Matsushita and Vivendi vied to own a glittering piece of the entertainment business.

How things have changed.

Profit margins are tight, the future looks uncertain and -- visibly -- times are tough all over.

But there is another dynamic at work.

As the industry continues to consolidate -- with NBC Universal bought by Comcast, and Marvel bought up by Disney -- the number of cash-rich customers cruising the boulevard seems to dwindle with every passing month.

If you question experts in Hollywood and financiers on Wall Street, the conclusion seems to be that there is a significant disconnect between buyers and sellers.

Sellers seem to believe they can command premium prices for entertainment properties at a time of severe dislocation in the industry’s business models.

The buyers no longer believe that libraries are worth their asking prices.

Once upon a time it was clear that libraries were the key to any studio’s success.

That steady stream of revenue from a deep well of movies sustained the major studios through patches of bad movie slates.

That was the reason that independent studios even as successful as DreamWorks - which sold to Parmaount, then had trouble getting new backing to leave Paramount -- eventually were cash-strapped.

The capital-intensive business of moviemaking could not be sustained with a library of just 60 films.

But now, as the haggling over Miramax shows, “Libraries are worth less now than people think,” as one analyst told me on Wednesday.

“This makes valuations more and more difficult.”

“Without the old business model, all these production machines are sputtering,” said Harold Vogel of Vogel Capital Management.

As DVD sales and rentals have declined, and as new-media revenue streams have yet to prove themselves, libraries are becoming less valuable.

"At the right price, there are people that would look at these things,” said Tom Wolzien, of Wolzien LLC, a consultant to movie companies.

“But at the moment there’s a huge discrepancy between what sellers want and what people are willing to pay.”

declined to say what he thought Miramax, or MGM, might really be worth.

Vogel, the veteran entertainment industry analyst, said the current standoff is rooted in problems that have been brewing for more than a decade.

“The giants have libraries to provide cash flows when movies miss, and smaller studios bump up against this all the time,” he said.

“Overture hit the wall early.”

Entertainment companies are limited in their scalability, since they are limited to releases 52 weekends a year.

And capital constraint are built in – movies cost a lot of money to produce, and to market.

“Ten years ago people assumed that content was king, and that libraries would go up in value,” said Vogel.

“But it turns out that attention is king, not content.”

So who will want to buy these studios?

The answer comes back consistently that it depends on the price.

What is clear is that the frivolous shopper, whether that’s Jean-Pierre Messier, or a German tax fund backing the likes of Elie Samaha, has put away his wallet.

What remains are real strategic partners who have both the cash flow and the vision to connect their dots with the remaining robust businesses in Hollywood. (By which I mean, those businesses that remain will likely be robust.

Said Vogel: “They’ll cherry-pick the libraries, and the prices will be much lower than you might expect.”

That kind of partner would be Comcast.

It might be Studio Canal, the French media giant.

Or Big Reliance Entertainment, the Indian conglomerate.

There are fewer of these than before.

Which means the deals will be harder won.

The profit analysis will have to be more airtight.

Because nobody in Hollywood wants a fire sale.

sade adu...............................new album NO 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-19T09:25:00.006+08:00

CHRYSANTHI DAFLA ..................................

LBN-Music Insider:

***Sade's first album in 10 years, "Solider of Love" will top the Billboard 200 next week.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, Solider of Love sold total of 502,000.

***Britain's National Trust may intervene to protect the Abbey Road studios

where the Beatles recorded most of their hits.

The possibility that the studios might fall into private hands and be demolished has sparked a national outcry spurred by former Beatle Paul McCartney and prominent disk jockey Chris Evans

LBN-DID YOU KNOW:

***The word she did not exist in the English language until 1000 AD.

***There are more than ten billion web pages on the internet.

***If California were a country, it would be the worlds fifth largest economy.

***There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes.

***There are about a billion bicycles in the world, twice as many as motorcars.

LBN-QUOTE:

"I married the first man I ever kissed.

When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up."

-Barbara Bush.

Sammy Davis says......................

2010-02-05T10:17:00.005+08:00

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By SAMMY DAVIS JR.:

When you lose a lover it's like getting a bad haircut.

It grows back in time.

LBN-MUSIC INSIDER:

***Australian rock band Men at Work had a massive hit with their 1980s song "Down Under" about a vegemite sandwich and the worlds other temptations.

It turns out they had some help as an Australian judge ruled Thursday that the group's famous flute riff was ripped off from a folk tune.

The owner of the song, the entertainment group EMI, may have to pay up to 60 percent of the earnings they made from the international smash.

"It's a big win for the underdog," said one lawyer.

LBN-BUSINESS INSIDER:

***The private equity firm Star Avenue Capital - a partnership between CAA and Irving Place Capital - is buying a majority stake in J Brand, a denim apparel brand whose jeans are popular among the celeb crowd.

The agency thus becomes an equity owner in the blue jeans company making this, to Fleming's recollection, the first time a talent agency has held a stake in a consumer apparel brand.

LBN-QUOTE:

"The world of politics is always twenty years behind the world of thought."

- John Jay Chapman.

"if you have an ounce of common sense and one good friend.........you don't need an anal...............

2010-02-01T16:15:00.004+08:00

LBN-COMMENTARY By JACOB BERNSTEIN:

The reason for this is that the Grammys are fundamentally unlike film awards shows, where small, critically acclaimed films frequently dominate.

Rather, they' re a mutual masturbation society for a dying breed of A&R men, an opportunity to give out year-end bonuses in an industry that cant afford them and is ineligible for a government bailout.

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By JOAN CRAWFORD:

If you have an ounce of common sense and

one good friend ,

you don't need an analyst.

LBN-DID YOU KNOW:

***France has the highest per capita consumption of cheese.

***Dalmations are born without spots.

***Mens shirts have buttons on the right side; womens shirts have buttons on the left.

***Dutch are the tallest average people.

***An olive tree can live up to 1500 years.

LBN-QUOTE:

"Whenever you see a successful business, someone made a courageous decision." - Peter Drucker.

LBN-HISTORY:

On Jan. 30, 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu extremist.

SHOW THEM THE MONEY: Is Simon Fuller's Sweetened TV Deal Richer Than Cowell's?

2010-01-19T12:04:00.004+08:00

SHOW THEM THE MONEY:

Is Simon Fuller's Sweetened TV Deal Richer Than Cowell's?

By TIM ADLER

Friday January 15, 2010 @ 11:48am

UPDATE:

We told you there was intense rivalry between The Two Simons.

Now it's over their new net worth. Simon Fuller's flacks on both sides of the Atlantic have angrily contacted Deadline London claiming the producer is already far wealthier than his one-time protégé, Simon Cowell.

That alone speaks volumes.

Is this hilarious or what?

American Idol creator Simon Fuller through his PR mouthpieces claims he's set to not just match but pull even further ahead of Simon Cowell when it comes to how much money he’s going to make from new TV deals.

As you know, Fuller has quit 19 Entertainment, the company he founded, to set up a new as-yet-unnamed company to executive produce Fox’s American Idol.

Remember, five years ago, U.S. entertainment group CKX bought 19 Entertainment, his £92 million business with 200 employees, for nearly $200 million, already making Fuller a rich man.

But his new executive producing deal means he will share for the first time in the profits of American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

Fuller will also continue to supply “general consulting services” to CKX, which owns the format for American Idol.

On the other hand, Cowell, unlike Fuller, owned the formats of the shows he makes, The X Factor and Got Talent, from the beginning.

Sony then bought out the remaining 50% of X Factor.

Between them, X Factor and Got Talent sell to 30 countries and Cowell makes money from them all.

In addition, UK broadcaster ITV pays Cowell £6.5 million a year for hosting the British versions of X Factor and Got Talent, plus fees which go to his production company Syco.

Cowell also shares in phone revenues, which generate around £1 million from viewers’ votes.

For American Idol though, Cowell is paid a flat fee – albeit a hefty £20 million a year.

But he recently announced he's quitting as an AIl judge next year when Fox will start running The X Factor.

Now Sir Philip Green, owner of the Top Shop fashion chain, is going into business with Cowell.

Green is Britain’s 9-richest man with a personal fortune estimated at £4 billion.

Now for the numbers:

The Sunday Times Rich List already has Fuller worth £300 million compared with Cowell's £120 million.

Game Over?

Maybe not.

Because it'll be amusing to watch The Two Simons keep piling up big bucks as their new TV deals kick in.

Great idea for another TV competition show.

Let them fight over who'll produce it.

Simon Cowell........a STAR.....................by Bob Leftsez

2010-01-15T11:22:00.006+08:00

Simon Cowell is a star.

I like Kelly Clarkson.

She's cute, honest about her weight/body image and is a good singer.

But she's not a star.

Her best material is written by others.

And she has the depth of an Oreo cookie.

If I asked her to wrestle between higher taxes and a social safety net, I'd expect her to go blank and suggest we get another drink.

But I'm sure Simon Cowell has an opinion.

Real stars don't exist in a vacuum,

but in the environment,

they're aware of their surroundings, their context.

As for the other "Idol" winners...Clay Aiken couldn't admit he was gay.

Oops, he wasn't the winner that year?

Well, he got the longest ride, which is just about over.

A real star is not afraid of who he is,

he owns his identity, he doesn't fake it.

Adam Lambert played coy with his sexual identity until the competition was over.

Stars don't leave us guessing about where they stand.

And after coming out, selling his music, Adam resembled nothing so much as a cartoon.

Let's see, other "Idol" victors...I just can't think of one.

Oh yeah, that young woman, the plump one, what was her name again?

Jordin Sparks...

Let's see, we've got Jim Morrison, college-educated, writing poetry, and Jordin's number one asset is her smile. Whoo-hoo!

I'm not saying "Idol" will crumble without Simon Cowell, although I do expect it to sustain a deep ratings hit, but the reason the show has been so successful is because of this one man,

who won't wear a tie on camera,

who smiles like the Mona Lisa,

daring us to wonder what he thinks,

and when he speaks states his own, unequivocal truth.

That's a star.

That's why we revere stars.

They're not beholden to a boss.

They do it their way.

Mmm... God, everybody on the hit parade seems to be beholden to someone else.

Thanking their sponsors...

Doing whatever their labels tell them to do...

Unwilling to offend anyone in their pursuit of the brass ring.

No wonder the public likes the song at most, and why music doesn't drive the culture.

Steve Jobs?

The biggest rock star on the planet.

Does whatever he wants, is beholden to no one and releases the best damn products.

Don't agree?

That's just the point,

stars have haters,

from the beginning of time.

At least people CARE, have an opinion.

Who's got an opinion on all those evanescent singers in the Top Forty?

Somehow, in the dash for cash,

we've given up searching for stars.

Stars are uncontrollable,

they break ground,

they need to do it their way.

Why, with millions on the line, would investors want to spend money on people like this?

But they used to.

When there was less money at stake.

When labels weren't owned by multinational conglomerates, when those truly in charge were willing to take risks.

Risks...

What's the cliche, no reward without risk?

That's true.

There hasn't been any risk in the music business for eons.

Except by no-talents pissed no one's paying attention.

Speak your mind.

Take a stand.

Don't be afraid to offend.

The opposite is death.

We love to watch Simon Cowell.

Because we truly believe it's his opinion.

That he's not second-guessing us, is not beholden to the sponsors or Fox.

And like a true star, Simon is willing to strike out on his own, to bet on himself.

We don't begrudge stars their success, we feel they're entitled.

Love him or hate him, you pay attention to Simon Cowell.

"X Factor" will succeed, this is assured.

As for your next record...odds are not so good.

Simon Fuller to launch new company...........

2010-01-15T11:02:00.003+08:00

Simon Fuller to launch new company

'American Idol' creator to keep working on hit shows

By Georg Szalai

Jan 14, 2010, 07:55 AM ET

NEW YORK --

Simon Fuller, founder of 19 Entertainment, and 19's parent company CKX have agreed to a long-term deal to keep the "American Idol" creator and executive producer involved in the firm's key shows, while freeing him up to launch a new entertainment company.

The deal includes a provision that gives Fuller a share of profits.

In addition, Fuller is launching a new company, in which CKX can invest, and Fuller will provide general consulting services to CKX.

The two parties didn't immediately disclose further details.

The news follows recent industry rumors focused on a possible change in Fuller's status or title.

The deal keeps Fuller in place as executive producer and driver behind hit shows like "Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance" and new online led property "If I Can Dream."

"As an entrepreneur I feel I am about to enter my prime years and starting a new entertainment company at this moment fills me with great excitement," said Fuller.

"This new arrangement guarantees that Simon and CKX will be working together for many, many years to come," said Robert F.X. Sillerman, chairman and CEO of CKX.

"I'm also delighted that going forward Simon will be free to focus his creative energy on developing new ideas and projects and that CKX has the opportunity to invest in his new business.

"The 19 founder sold his firm to CKX in 2005.

It creates a vast majority of CKX's revenue.

NELSON MANDELA......"your playing small does not serve the world"

2010-01-13T11:46:00.003+08:00

LBN-QUOTE:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

-Nelson Mandela.

Simon Napier Bell, Wham's ex Manager on Marc Bolan........British Rock Star

2009-12-23T10:56:00.004+08:00

MARC BOLAN

...................Nevertheless I had to let him do it because the instant he walked through the door he came across with the one thing that is most needed but is most lacking in all rock singers.

It's what people call star quality,

but in reality it's nothing more than the artist seeing himself as the essential material of his own art.

He devises his own unique image and lifestyle and projects them to everyone around him

The fact that he has chosen singing, or acting or even being a politician, as the area to work in is irrelevant.

He uses himself as a painter uses a canvas, or as a sculptor uses his lump of rock.

He paints himself a little, does a bit of sculpting, decides on the right clothes, and out comes a new person.

A creation.

A work of art.

A star.

ADRIAAN and Legendary Wham Manager and Music Industry Impressario.... SIMON NAPIER BELL

Freddie "Farrokh Bulsara" Mercury..............

2009-12-17T09:30:00.004+08:00

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By

FREDDIE MERCURY:

No one loves the real me inside.

They're all in love with my fame, my stardom.

I fall in love far too quickly and end up getting hurt all the time.

I've got scars all over.

But I can't help myself because basically I'm a softie.

I have this hard, macho shell which I project on stage but there's a much softer side too, which melts like butter.

(1985)

William Shakespeare...........All the World's a stage.............

2009-12-14T10:58:00.004+08:00

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE:

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts.

(1599)

Florence Nightingale...Actions of WISDOM......

2009-12-10T11:43:00.007+08:00

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By Florence Nightingale:

You ask me why I do not write something...

I think one's feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results. (1910)

LBN- COMMENTARY By

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN:

Whenever something like Fort Hood happens you say, “This is not Islam.”

I believe that.

But you keep telling us what Islam isn't.

You need to tell us what it is and show us how its positive interpretations are being promoted in your schools and mosques.

If this is not Islam, then why is it that a million Muslims will pour into the streets to protest Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but not one will take to the streets to protest Muslim suicide bombers who blow up other Muslims, real people, created in the image of God?

You need to explain that to us- and to yourselves.

LBN-MEDIA INSIDER:

***MGM sale expects to elicit half-dozen bids. Hollywood should know better by the end of next month whether MGM will change owners or simply shift course.

***Liberty Media president and CEO Greg Maffei said Tuesday that Comcast is paying a "pretty big price" for a 51% stake in NBC Universal, but he lauded the cable giant for pulling off a deal that will allow it to hedge potential future challenges.

***Comcast-NBC ad industry executives have talked for years of a future where a marketer could buy a single national TV placement that serves up different ads to individual households depending on the viewing and purchase profiles of those homes;

this Universal deal could change ads.

LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By

MARK TWAIN:

LBN-NOTICED:

***Rev. Jesse Jackson and media expert and author Michael Levine talking about Michael Jackson at Jeff Wald's party for the official photo book titled Michael Jackson Opus at the Luxe Hotel last night in Brentwood.

Also present at the party were attorney John Branca, Suzanne DePasse, actor Ray Liotta, attorney Howard Weitman, Bruce Jenner, radio talk show host Richard Greene, Irving Azoff, among many others.

The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot. (1906)

You power: The decade’s new media revolution...

2009-12-08T14:25:00.008+08:00

You power: The decade’s new media revolution

DECADE IN MEDIA

Most of us can’t get through our days now without being reminded of technology we didn’t have or didn’t use in 1999.

But as we Tweet via our BlackBerrys or watch the latest viral video from the YouTube application on our iPhones, we may be taking for granted just how much media developments have affected our culture and transformed our lives in the past decade.

"What has happened between the beginning of the 21st century and now I think is the most profound part of the new media revolution," says Paul Levinson, a professor of communication and media studies and Fordham University and the author of "New New Media."

“In particular, what makes these newer media so important is that it turns the consumers into producers.”

Developments like Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and Twitter have allowed audiences to participate in producing content that can easily be distributed to others.

Before, that kind of power was reserved mainly for big companies.

"In previous times, no matter what, someone was deciding what you were going to hear and see and watch and listen to," notes Ken Hudson, a digital media consultant in Toronto.

"But now there are also individuals that produce content.

And so if the story is worth telling or if it’s worth hearing, it’s going to be heard."

The ability to distribute content we produce has also led to a new age in the news media.

We now give the credibility and regard to some bloggers that was once reserved for those employed by a major newspaper, wire service or television network, says Hudson, who thinks the 21st century has seen the rise of what he calls the

"democratization of media."

We can see and hear all of this user-produced content from almost anywhere nowadays.

The convenience of the laptop computer developed into smart phones that help us become content producers from where ever we happen to be at the time.

With so much information from so many sources at our fingertips at all times, there has been talk that it’s bad for interpersonal connections. But the media experts seem to disagree.

"Social media is letting people create much, much bigger communities than they ever have before," says Barna Donovan, chair of the communication department at Saint Peter’s College.

Websites like Facebook allow people to reclaim any part of their lives at any time, Levinson says.

Developments like Twitter allow us to be in touch with people we’re close to – or people we’re not even close to – throughout the day without ever having to pick up a phone.

And Skype, which provides video chats for anyone with an Internet connection, lets us see and hear people who might be halfway across the world – for free.

"That’s like the revolutionary thing that’s happening right now," Levinson points out.

"The idea that you can talk to someone and see their face and have a video conversation with them that doesn’t cost anything – that would have been science fiction 10 years ago."

In addition to challenging the authorities’ rule with user-produced content, audiences are also having a powerful impact on society through technologies like Hulu, which allows free television viewing online.

By flocking to what we want to see, instead of what the networks want us to see or the Federal Communications Commission permits us to see, we are creating a loophole in censorship, says Donovan, who is writing a book called "Violence is Good: How Anti-Media Paranoia Threatens Free Speech and Democracy."

"We are able to see just what kind of values the culture really lives by and what kind of things they believe in," he says.

"It’s going to be difficult to impossible to censor and keep audiences from explicit content."

But, as significant as the "democratization of media" has been, Hudson says he thinks more significant developments are on the way.

"I think we’ve just seen the beginning of it.

I don’t think we really understand how it’s going to revolutionize our society," he said, noting that, appropriately,

"I think we’re in charge of where it’s going to take us, which is also revolutionary."

– Laura E. Davis