-Mariah Carey performed five songs during a brief concert at a Hollywood shopping mall on Thursday. How cool is that!

-Philip Morris International, the original sponsor of Alicia Keys’ gig in Jakarta last tonight, pulled down all its promotional billboards and posters after the singer spoke out against the tobacco company’s sponsorship of her show.

-Miley Cyrus’ non-Hannah album, Breakout, broke onto the charts at No. 1, selling 371,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan data released today.

Have a rock’in weekend, especially my Canadian readers you are off on a long one……

The nine-minute interview was recorded at the Scottish Television studios in April 1964 during the early days of Beatlemania. It will be broadcast for the first time on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday and repeated later this week.  On the tape, Lennon tells how he was playing with a skiffle band outside Liverpool when McCartney introduced himself.  I am really looking forward to hearing this historic interview.

Creative credit: marcroballistic

Music is the poetry of the air.  Richter

Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.  Confucius

I don’t know anything about music. In my line you don’t have to.  Elvis Presley

He won a guitar, a trophy and a pair of shoes. Winners of “American Idol” competitions, which gives ordinary people a chance at stardom, win recording contracts and global fame.  Not all of the contestants made it to the finals of the “Melodies of Freedom” competition, billed as a settling of scores between a dozen convicts from prisons across Peru’s biggest city.

Juan Jose Gutierrez, under house arrest after being released on parole, sent in a choppy music video. Promoters jazzed it up by flanking the screen with psychedelic lights and a smoke machine.

Others said they were just happy to be there.  “This is like a day of freedom,” Javier Casal, who sang an original song called “Freedom,” said. “And that’s the best prize we can get.” Excerpts from the contest were shown on the local television news.

Winehouse, nominated for six awards, lost the final prize in a shocker when Herbie Hancock took album of the year for “River: The Joni Letters.”

For a while it seemed impossible that Winehouse would perform at all. She recently entered a drug rehabilitation center after months of erratic behavior and canceled performances, not to mention the anthemic “no, no, no” resistance of her hit song.

Let’s hope that the support of her mom is enough to keep her clean for now.

Britney and her estate were placed under Jamie’s temporary conservatorship by Court Commissioner Reva Goetz. The order, which only lasts through the weekend, gives the father control over his troubled 26-year-old’s treatment and her finances, and a say in who can have access to her home and hospital room. At the same time, the family was granted a temporary restraining against Sam Lutfi, effectively banishing Britney’s manager and confidant.

To avoid appearances that they themselves might have ulterior motives, Jamie and Lynne petitioned the court to appoint a third-party coconservator to serve as an independent monitor. Goetz, who specializes in probate matters, selected an attorney, Andrew Wallete, for the role. The next hearing in the case is set for Monday—the same day lawyers for Britney and Kevin Federline are due in another courtroom to tangle again over custody issues.  So the saga continues, poor Britney.

I know it might be a bit pre-mature and it is probably based on the fact that Kristy Lee is so darn sexy but I think she has a good shot at making it to the finals!  Go Kristy go!