As expected, Michael Jackson is once again the King of the Pop charts.

Based on preliminary sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, the top nine positions on Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog Albums chart will house Jackson-related titles when the tally is released in the early morning on Wednesday. Nielsen SoundScan’s sales tracking week ended at the close of business Sunday (June 28) night.

Jackson himself — who died June 25 of cardiac arrest at age 50 — has a record eight out of the top 10, and a Jackson 5 compilation also finds its way into the upper tier.

“Number Ones” will fittingly lead the pack at No. 1 with sales of 108,000 (an increase of 2,340 percent) while “The Essential Michael Jackson” and “Thriller” are in the second and third slots with 102,000 and 101,000, respectively. Last week “Number Ones” was the only Jackson title on the chart, at No. 20 with 4,000 copies; both “Essential” and “Thriller” re-enter the tally this week.

Additionally, his classic 1979 studio set “Off the Wall” re-enters at No. 4 with 33,000 while his 1987 album “Bad” returns at No. 6 with 17,000. At No. 5, the Jackson 5’s “The Ultimate Collection” debuts with 18,000. Jackson’s fourth studio album for Epic Records, 1991’s “Dangerous,” re-enters at No. 7 with 14,000, and his 2001 compilation, “Greatest Hits: HIStory — Volume 1,” returns to the list at No. 8 with 12,000. Finally, Jackson’s 2004 box set, “The Ultimate Collection,” charts its first week on the Pop Catalog chart, arriving at No. 9 with 11,000.

The lone non-Jackson-related set in the top 10 is a reissue of the “Woodstock” movie soundtrack, which bows at No. 10 with 8,000.

CHART FIRSTS

Collectively, Jackson’s solo albums sold 415,000 this past week. That’s extraordinary, given that his titles sold a combined 10,000 in the week ended June 21. Of the 415,000, 58 percent were digital downloads.

The 415,000 albums sold last week represent nearly 40 percent more than sales of Jackson’s catalog during the entire year up through June 21 (297,000).

On the Top Digital Albums chart, Jackson has a record six out of the top 10 slots, including the top four. “The Essential Michael Jackson” leads the Top Digital Albums list with 80,000 downloads sold, while “Thriller” is No. 2 with 57,000.

With the Black Eyed Peas’ “The E.N.D.” moving back to the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 chart with 88,000, this week marks the first time that a catalog album has sold more than the No. 1 current set on the Billboard 200 albums chart. (All three of Jackson’s top sellers on the Pop Catalog chart outsell “The E.N.D.”)

It’s a feat that Jackson himself almost achieved when he reissued “Thriller” in February 2008. The set relaunched with 166,000, re-entering at No. 1 on the Top Pop Catalog chart. That week, Jack Johnson’s “Sleep Through the Static” led the Billboard 200 chart with 180,000 while Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” was at No. 2 with 115,000.

Catalog albums are ineligible to appear on the Billboard 200 albums chart, but they can chart on the all-encompassing Top Comprehensive Albums list. On the latter chart, Jackson’s “Number Ones,” “Essential” and “Thriller” are at Nos. 1-3, followed by the Black Eyed Peas’ “The E.N.D.” at No. 4.

NEW DIGITAL RECORD

Jackson places a record 25 songs on the 75-position Hot Digital Songs chart (21 solo hits and four with his siblings), smashing the mark of 14 charting titles established by David Cook in June 2008. Jackson’s Halloween radio staple, “Thriller,” moves 167,000, which is good for second place on the chart behind the 203,000 shifted by the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.”

“Thriller” was also Jackson’s best digital seller in the week before his death, with 5,000 downloads, which translates to a 3,551 percent jump. Jackson’s total volume of downloads this week — including his tracks with the Jackson 5 and the Jacksons — account for 2.6 million downloads, a remarkable number considering that last week’s cumulative sum was 48,000. Moreover, Jackson becomes the first act to sell more than 1 million song downloads in a week.

Besides “Thriller,” Jackson places five other songs in the top 10 including “Man in the Mirror” (No. 3, 165,000), “Billie Jean” (No. 4, 158,000), “The Way You Make Me Feel” (No. 6, 136,000), “Beat It” (No. 7, 134,000) and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (No. 8, 125,000).

Not surprisingly, each of the Jackson tracks in the top 10 of Hot Digital Songs was among the top 10 most-played Jackson selections on radio after his passing. According to research provided by Nielsen BDS of monitored airplay from more than 1,600 terrestrial and satellite radio stations and cable music channels, “Billie Jean” was the Jackson track with the most spins for the week ended June 28, with 4,540 — 97 percent of which occurred after news of his death became public. The track posted only 318 plays in the previous week.

A reporter who covered CHRIS BROWN’s recent assault case faces a prison sentence for posting illegal video footage from inside the court building on the Internet.

Russell Alan Wetanson uploaded clips of interviews, conducted outside the Los Angeles courtroom, where Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-girlfriend Rihanna on June 22, 2009, to his website.

But it is illegal to tape footage or take photographs inside the official building - and new legal documents filed are requesting Wetanson is held in contempt of court.

Wetanson, who is also a lawyer, was notified by the public information officer of the court of the violation and the videos were subsequently removed from his website.

Brown was handed a community service order, five years supervised probation and he was ordered to stay away from the Umbrella hitmaker.

(source)

A new video shows Jessica Simpson displaying her infamous over-the-top facial expressions while belting out the National Anthem at the AT&T National golf tournament in Bethesda, Md. Wednesday.

Simpson — whose beau Tony Romo participated in the golf event with Tiger Woods — also showed off her curvy figure in a skintight, sleeveless red and blue striped dress.

Two of Michael Jackson’s former confidantes, medium Uri Geller and ex-bodyguard Matt Fiddes, say they tried in vain to keep the pop superstar from abusing painkillers and other prescription drugs suspected of leading to his death - but others in the singer’s circle kept the supplies flowing.

“When Michael asked for something, he got it. This was the great tragedy,” Geller said Thursday.

Geller, who said he suffered a terrible falling-out with Jackson several years ago over the issue, said he often had “to shout at Michael, to scream at Michael” as he sought to confiscate the singer’s stocks of medication during his travels in England.

“I tried to drum sense into his brain,” Geller said. “I told him, ‘Michael you’re going to die, Michael you’re going to kill yourself.’ But he just stared at me. Many a time he was in his bed and I stood and shouted at him. He just stared at me.”

Speaking at his home near London, Geller said he slept on floors or sofas in Jackson’s hotel suites in a bid to talk sense into his sometimes-incoherent friend.

“Most of the people around Michael could not say `No!’ to him. He desperately needed someone there all the time who could say `No!’ and mean it, who could warn him of the dangers … and tell him the truth,” Geller said. “The big problem was that many people wanted to help Michael, to save his life, but we could not be there all the time.”

Geller said Jackson relied on medications to help him cope with relentless pressure and media criticism in his later years. “With his sanity buffeted and health wracked by global bullying nonstop, I think it’s actually incredible that Michael held up as well as he did,” he said.

Fiddes, an English karate instructor who worked as a senior bodyguard during Jackson’s travels in Britain for a decade, said the pop idol abused prescription medications, not recreational drugs, and took so much that it could be difficult to wake him for engagements.

“I confiscated packages and Uri did too. I mean, Uri confiscated injection equipment from his room,” Fiddes said in an interview broadcast Thursday by Sky News. “And Uri would scream at Michael, you know, intensely, to stop doing this. But we just were getting pushed out.”

Fiddes recalled one occasion when Jackson planned to visit London Zoo to see the gorillas, chimpanzees and other primates - but was too spaced out to go anywhere.

The bodyguard said he and Geller “were both shaking him trying to wake him up. It was clear that he had taken something that morning and he was hard to wake. We were extremely concerned … We couldn’t get him in a state that would portray him in a good light.”

Fiddes said both he and Geller told others supplying medications to Jackson to stop, but when their efforts “got back to Michael, he would have a screaming fit that we were interfering with his private life. He was in denial.”

However, Geller said he was convinced that “Michael did not want to die.”

“Michael loved life,” he said. “Michael loved his children. They were everything to him.”

Several other Jackson confidantes have expressed concern since his death at the volume and mixture of medications he was taking. Self-help guru Deepak Chopra said he rejected Jackson’s 2005 appeals for painkillers and that their relationship suffered lasting damage because of it.

Geller said he was fearful that Jackson could not have completed his planned 50-concert run in London, which was due to start July 13. Stress over the imminent comeback, as well as drug misuse, combined to kill his friend, he said.

“Whatever the autopsy will come back with, part of what made Michael Jackson’s heart stop involved the stress and the anxiety that, ‘My God, in a few days I have to get on a plane and fly to England.’ But he could have done it,” Geller said.

The King of Pop had a fan in the White House.

President Barack Obama described himself as a longtime follower of Michael Jackson, the legendary performer who died June 25 at age 50.

“I grew up on his music - still have all his stuff on my iPod,” Obama said in an AP interview Thursday, adding that Jackson “will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers.”

At the time of his death, the pop icon was preparing a series of comeback concerts to overcome years of sexual scandal and financial calamity - a troubled history the president acknowledged without naming specifics.

“I think that his brilliance as a performer also was paired with a tragic and, in many ways, sad personal life,” Obama said.

He expressed pleasure that the public is celebrating Jackson for his talents, instead of dwelling on his personal tragedies.

“I’m glad to see that he is being remembered primarily for the great joy that he brought to a lot of people through his extraordinary gifts as an entertainer.”

The president said he didn’t see any controversy in the fact that he did not issue a formal public statement upon Jackson’s death, and said he was unaware of any dissatisfaction in the black community with his response.

“I know a lot of people in the black community,” Obama said. “I haven’t heard that.”

Obama added that Thursday’s interview was the first time he had been asked about Jackson’s death.

Britney Spears proved she was alive and kicking by taking her family out on a boat trip.

The singer, who was the victim of a malicious hacker earlier in the week, headed out for a jaunt along the California coast yesterday with Jayden James and Sean Preston.

The trip provided happy evidence that she is fine and well after her Twitter micro-blogging page carried the astonishingly heartless message that she had died.

The posting, left by a hacker, read: ‘Britney has passed today. It is a sad day for everyone. More news to come.’

However, soon after the message was deleted when an official member of Britney’s crew insisted she was alive and well.

A post read: ‘Britney’s Twitter was just hacked. The last message is obviously not true. She is fine and dandy spending a quiet day at home relaxing.’

After completing the UK leg of her Circus tour last month, Britney is currently enjoying a two week break before she continues the European leg of her The Circus… Starring Britney Spears tour in Paris on Saturday.

And on Tuesday, the newly-brunette pop star brought Sean Preston, three, and Jayden James, two, on a yachting trip off the coast of Los Angeles.

Setting off from the port of Marina Dey Rey, Britney looked relaxed in a stripy blue and white t-shirt and denim shorts as she hung out with her sons, a blonde friend and a bodyguard.

Sean and Jayden looked equally cool as they shielded their little eyes from the sun in matching green sunglasses and light blue shirts.

Sitting on a 30 foot Flybridge yacht, Britney pointed out sea life and birds to her inquisitive sons.

On the way back to her Hollywood home, Britney stopped by Fred Segal department store on Melrose Avenue and treated her boys to some inflatable guitars.

Britney is clearly loving being with her sons after being forced to spend lengthy times apart during a rocky 2008 when her ex-husband Kevin Federline was given custody of the boys.

However, under a recently agreed custody deal, Britney will now care for her sons for over 50 per cent of the time during the summer.

While Britney is on stage for her Circus tour, which returns to North America after the European leg wraps on July 26, Kevin will accompany her to care for the children.

(source)

A month after David Beckham unveiled his last underwear campaign for Emporio Armani, the footballer is back in another new advert - but this time with his wife Victoria.

Following on from their first more restrained joint ad in January, the celebrity couple give us an insight to their private life as they cuddle up in their undies.

In a bizarre new image, a lingerie-clad Victoria, with a Geisha-style knot in her hair, lies astride her body oil-covered husband on top of a giant rope.

Exactly what the couple are doing with the rope is unclear, but perhaps it’s just as well we don’t find out.

In solo shots for the Italian designer last month, the 34-year-old athlete posed provocatively with the same rope wrapped around his toned body and six pack.

As well as the rope’s return, it appears Victoria’s former 34DD bust is back too.

Wearing little more than a black bra and knicker set, the former Spice Girl, 35, appears back to her busty best in the cleavage-heavy shots.

Posh was reported to have undergone a breast reduction operation down to a 34B in May - the same month these latest shots were taken.

In another new shot for Armani’s new autumn/winter underwear collection, the couple lie beside each other in predatory semi-crouching positions as David hangs off a metal rail.

Instead of her brunette bob, Victoria goes for the Cleopatra look with her plaited fake ponytail on the crowd of her head and her dramatic eye make-up.

The new shots bring the couple closer than their previous ad, which shows Victoria sitting on the floor, while her husband lay on the bed.

The latest photos were taken by celebrated photography duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott and will appear in magazines and billboard nationwide from this month.

These new shots are just the latest in the couple’s multi-million pound advertising deal with the Italian fashion house.

Last year, David signed a £20million deal to become the firm’s new global ambassador, while his wife later clinched her own £12million deal to represent Armani underwear.

Designer Giorgio Armani said of the England footballer: ‘David has a great sense of style and is an inspiring role model - this is what makes him the perfect partner for Emporio Armani underwear.’

Meanwhile, as David prepares for his return to Los Angeles Galaxy after his lengthy loan to AC Milan, he should be prepared for some grief.

(source)

Debbie Rowe wants custody of the two children she had with Michael Jackson.

“I want my children,” Rowe said during a 90-minute phone conversation Thursday morning with NBCLA’s Chuck Henry.

Rowe said she was willing to submit to any testing, including DNA to prove that she is the children’s true biological mother. Rowe also said she would submit to psychological testing.

She also said she would seek a restraining order to keep Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson, away from the children.

The agreement does allow for visitation, but Rowe said it’s a very difficult process. She said if she misses a visitation date, it is difficult to reschedule with the Jacksons.

“I am stepping up,” Rowe said. “I have to.”

Rowe said she was still grieving. She said she decided she had to seek custody after Jackson’s death.

“We had an agreement… he didn’t keep his end,” Rowe said, referring to Jackson’s death. “It hasn’t been easy. It’s been painful.”

Jackson, who died at age 50, left behind three children: son Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11; and son Prince Michael II, 7. Rowe was the mother of the two oldest children.

The youngest was born to a surrogate mother, who has never been identified.

Rowe said she was concerned about splitting up the children. She said she did not expect the court to grant custody of the third child, but added that she would be willing to accept custody.

Rowe, who was married to Jackson in 1996 and filed for divorce three years later, surrendered her parental rights. An appeals court later found that was done in error, and Rowe and Jackson entered an out-of-court settlement in 2006.

In her testimony eight years ago, Rowe said, “I had the children for him. They wouldn’t be on this planet if it wasn’t for my love for him. I did it for him to become a father, not for me to become a mother. You earn the title ‘parent.” I have done absolutely nothing to earn that title.”

Earlier this week, Jackson’s mother was appointed temporary guardian of the children, pending a hearing on Monday. A will signed by Jackson in 2002 and filed with the court Wednesday requests that Katherine Jackson be named guardian of the children, but in the event of her death, he asked that singer Diana Ross be appointed.

The will also specifically leaves Rowe out of any inheritance.

“I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Jean Rowe Jackson,” the will states.

Rowe’s attorney, Eric George, told the Los Angeles Times he will be at the custody hearing Monday to represent her.

(source)

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