I feel so badly for Kanye West. His mother, Donda West, passed away last week after suffering complications from a breast reduction and tummy tuck. Kanye canceled all of his public appearances for about a week, but for some reason chose to perform at his concert in Paris at Le Zénith on Saturday. I can’t imagine who would think this was a good idea. Aren’t celebrities supposed to have an entourage to talk them out of things like this? It just sounds like the kind of thing that could trigger a breakdown… which it sorta did. Though it’s certainly understandable. Kanye managed to perform for about an hour, and was going to close the show with “Hey Mama,” a song he wrote as an homage to Donda. But he couldn’t get through the introduction before he broke down in front of the crowd.

West attempted to introduce the tribute to a sold-out crowd at Le Zénith in Paris, saying “this song is for my mother….” and could get no further. “He just cracked,” one attendee tells PEOPLE, “He was at the end of his concert and had just started to dedicate the song and then he just lost it completely. He said the word, ‘Mother’ and just couldn’t go any further,” Le Parisien journalist Meddy Magloire said. “A back-up singer, the DJ and a guitar player came over to console him. It looked like he might collapse. He just couldn’t continue. He just stood there in a spotlight, crying while the band continued playing.”

After a few moments of stunned silence, Magloire says, the audience of 5,000 reacted by offering calls of encouragement, which grew into applause. The band restarted the song, but West left the stage, returning after 10-15 minutes to conclude the concert with a rousing performance of “Stronger.”

“He was very nervous, seemed to have gathered himself up, and had a lot of energy,” Magloire says. “He kept shouting out to the audience, ‘I need you… I need you right now.’ and the public was screaming back. It was magic.”

[From People]

I’m amazed that Kanye tried to perform at all. More power to him for being such a consummate professional. Kanye hadn’t been seen since his mother’s death last week. He was supposed to perform at the Victoria’s Secret show on Thursday and was replaced by the Black Eyed Peas Will.i.am. On Friday there was a memorial at Chicago State University, where Donda was a professor for 24 years. Kanye didn’t attend, which is totally understandable. It’s just very surprising that he did keep his Paris concert. We’ve certainly written a few articles about Kanye’s ego in the past – but if nothing else, part of that ego is deserved. He’s a great performer and he puts his all into his work. One would hope he’ll give himself the time and space to grieve, and not pressure himself to keep performing until he’s doing a little better. Donda’s funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Oklahoma, and Kanye is expected to be there.

Note by Celebitchy: Here’s the video, thanks to user LionelVA36 on YouTube via ONTD. It definitely made me cry. Header image is of Kanye performing on 10/23/07 at the Power 99 FM Powerhouse Concert, before his mother passed. Thanks to Splash News.

Fans the world over have been gearing up for the Spice Girls reunion for months now, with entertainment blogs studiously reporting on the Girls every announcement. While their tour hasn’t officially kicked off, the Girls gave everyone a preview at last night’s Victoria’s Secret fashion show at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Unfortunately the girls were less than impressive… at least for their singing. They lip-synched through their whole show. While audience members noted that a few songs had some vigorous dancing that would have been hard to sing through, several others didn’t – yet the girls just mouthed along anyway.

The Spice Girls took to the stage together for the first time in almost 10 years – but disappointed fans by miming their songs. Despite masses of hype surrounding their reunion, the Girls had clearly not prepared enough to sing live at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show at the Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, last night. They performed two songs, the first was a rendition of their classic Stop, dressed in military clothes and with male dancers. The second was their new Children In Need track Headlines.

While Stop had some ambitious choreography, Headlines had no dancing – making the lip-synching unacceptable. One person at the show said: “It was amazing to see them back on stage again. They obviously put a lot of work into their dance routines, but it was disappointing they didn’t sing live.” The girls kick off their world tour on 2 December in Vancouver, but it’s unclear whether they plan to sing live during any of those shows.

[From the Daily Mail]

Their outfits sure are cute though. And they look better than they did ten years ago. Were they ever really known for their singing? I remember reading years ago that the casting call for the group said something along the lines of “No singing skills necessary.” Obviously they’ve had a lot of training and are able to sing just fine, but it’s not like they were famous for their incredible vocals. One criticism of the Girls is that they’re just trying to rehash the past and cash in on their old fame instead of coming up with new and creative songs.

Tonight the girls will do a live link from LA during the Children In Need event, but one person who’s not overly excited about seeing them is Strictly Come Dancing [the UK version of Dancing With the Stars] judge Arlene Phillips.

She told us the girls should have moved forward with their sound, and that their new single is stuck in the past.

She said: “I think they are Spice Women now, and not the Spice Girls. I think their whole attack should have been about not what they were, but where they are now.”

Nearly a decade after the five-member group became four — when Geri Halliwell left Mel C, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham — the Spice Girls reunited for a greatest hits album, released this week, and a world reunion tour, starting in Vancouver on Dec. 2.

[From the Daily Mail]

I really don’t think that’s going to bother anyone. Most people seem to just want to look at the Spice Girls more than hear the Spice Girls. They’re fun to watch, sorta diva-ish (but not if you ask them) and wear crazy outfits while dancing to annoyingly catchy songs. I wouldn’t pay to see them, but if someone handed me a ticket I’d totally go to their show, just for the spectacle.

Malaysia is one strict country. Recently Gwen Stefani gave a concert there in which she had to cover up from head to toe, a move she called “a major sacrifice.” But she did it for her fans (or for the cash/publicity) and the world kept spinning. Beyonce, however, has refused to comply with the dress code, and her concert has been canceled.

“According to the rules introduced by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage in 2005 there must be no hugging or kissing audience members or fellow artists, no jumping or shouting, no throwing objects onstage or at the audience and no foul language.

“Clothes cannot have obscene or drug-related images or messages, and female performers must show no skin from the tops of their chests to their knees.”

[From Us Weekly]

As I said when I covered the Gwen Stefani story, I’m a big “when in Rome” type. Beyonce wears some nastily skanky outfits, in my highly-cultured opinion. I’d love it if they could force some dress code on her here, too. Some type of pledge, maybe, like “I, Beyonce Knowles, promise never to wear anything designed by my mother, Tina Knowles. I promise never to wear anything designed by her clothing line, the House or Dereron. I pledge never to wear fur, or outfits with bizarre cutout patterns. I promise to stop exposing my armpits every chance I get.” I think that’d be fair not just to Malaysia, but to the whole world.

“Beyoncé apparently isn’t ready to restrain her jelly. Not even for the sake of her fans. The Grammy winner has canceled what was due to be her first concert in Malaysia next month, in the wake of protests over her booty-baring stage antics and increased pressure to conform to the country’s hard-line Muslim regime’s ultrastrict dress codes for female performers.

“Knowles’ International Creative Management agents, however, said the scuttled show was “due to a scheduling conflict” and nothing more. ‘It is with regret that we announce the cancellation of the Beyoncé Experience. It was to mark the very first time the performer would bring her show to Malaysia.’

“The statement confirmed Friday’s announcement by Kuala Lumpur-based concert promoter Pineapple Concerts that the plug had been pulled; Pineapple, however, declined to give a reason. The news follows an uptick in protests by several conservative groups, including the nearly 10,000-strong National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students, urging the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage to stop the concert from taking place.

“While Kuala Lumpur is a tour no-go, the singer has scheduled a gig to take place in nearby Jakarta on Nov. 1. While Indonesia is also a Muslim state, it has not set any guidelines in place for visiting performers, and Beyoncé will be able to don any of Mama Knowles’ cleavage-baring outfits she pleases and will also be able to jump, shout, curse and embrace audience members onstage—things she would not be allowed to do in Malaysia.

“Other than Stefani, acts that did recently make the highly restricted trip to the Malaysian stage include Kanye West, Earth, Wind & Fire and the Pussycat Dolls, whose promoters were fined nearly $3,000 after the girl group wore too-skimpy outfits onstage and danced in a ‘sexually suggestive’ way.”

[From E! News]

I can’t believe any country would ever let the Pussycat Dolls perform if they could find a reason to keep them out. I think they’re too slutty for pretty much everywhere… except porn. They could do well in porn. Seriously, Beyonce, covering up a bit won’t kill you. I’m not even saying this from Malaysia’s standpoint, I just mean it in life in general. I know I’m going to sound like grandma here, but must we expose our cleavage and our legs and our arms and our butt? Can’t it just be about the performance, instead of your booty? I mean I know the booty is nice, but will keeping it under wraps for just one night be so hard?

Picture Note by Jaybird: Here’s Beyonce leaving “TRL” on 02-28-07. Header image of Beyonce, actually looking decent and keeping her armpits to herself, at the party for Usher’s new fragrance last Tuesday. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Keith Richards – the man who thinks snorting dead relatives’ ashes is a good idea – has taken a Swedish reviewer to task for giving the Stones concert a particularly bad review. The reviewer did make a few jabs at Richards specifically, but who amongst us hasn’t over the years? Keith Richards is kind of before my time, but I remember very specifically when I was born, the doctor explained life briefly and said “Cry a lot, poop a lot, and make a lot of jokes about Keith Richards.” All people are born with the knowledge that this is okay because Richards sets himself up for it, and just one of the things we’re supposed to do.

“Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has demanded an apology from Swedish newspapers for their scathing reviews of the group’s performance in the country earlier this month. Tabloids Expressen and Aftonbladet gave thumbs down to the Aug. 3 concert at Ullevi stadium in Goteborg, with Expressen suggesting Richards was ‘superdrunk’ on stage.”

[From Newsday]

Well apparently Keith Richards is mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it anymore. He actually responded to the reviewer, and told him he’d cheapened the experience for all the fans at the concerts, and all of the poor saps who love the Rolling Stones but couldn’t afford the $145 tickets.

“‘This is a first!’ the 63-year-old rock star wrote in a letter published by Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter. ‘Never before have I risen to the bait of a bad review. But this time … I have to stand up … for our fans all over Sweden … to say that you owe them, and us, an apology.’”

“Dagens Nyheter said it received the letter from concert organizer EMA Telstar. Company head Thomas Johansson told The Associated Press that Richards wrote the letter and gave it to him after reading translations of the Swedish reviews. “‘There were 56,000 people in Ullevi stadium who bought a ticket to our concert — and experienced a completely different show than the one you ‘reviewed,’” the letter said.”

“‘How dare you cheapen the experience for them — and for the hundreds of thousands of other people across Sweden who weren’t at Ullevi and have only your ‘review’ to go on. Write the truth. It was a good show.’ In his review, Aftonbladet’s music writer Markus Larsson gave the concert a score of two on a five-point scale, and said Richards appeared ‘a bit confused.’

“‘I am not going to apologize for my subjective opinion, ‘ Larsson told the paper’s Web edition on Wednesday. ‘It is Keith who should apologize. After all it costs around 1,000 kronor ($145) to see a rock star who can hardly handle the (guitar) riff to ‘Brown Sugar’ any more.’”

[From Newsday]

How dare the reviewer disagree? I think someone needs to explain to Keith Richards how reviews work. They’re rarely positive. The reviewer always thinks he’s better than the performer, because he’s generally some elitist snob. It’s probably best not to read them for 38 different reasons. Either way, the guy saying that Keith Richards wasn’t exactly on his game isn’t earth shattering news. Again, this is before my time, but haven’t people been saying that about him since the Stones early days? Not that he wasn’t good/great whatever, but due to the massive, ridiculous quantities of drugs, the guy wasn’t always playing with a level deck, right? Unless the Keith Richards Exit Polling Machine was working at all the doors to the stadium, I doubt he really can know that none of the people there would have agreed with the reviewer. That’d be really cute though, if you had exit polling machines shaped like a giant, dried up/shriveled Keith Richards, and you could press buttons that said “Awesome” or “Sucked way hard.” If he’s going to complain about bad reviews from now on, he should probably either quit eating drugs for breakfast and/or quit the band and focus on the machines. Either way would be better for him.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Keith at the : Pirates Of The Caribbean premiere in May. Images thanks to PR Photos.

So in news that isn’t exactly all that shocking, Amy Winehouse has officially canceled all of her North American tour. Rumblings have been going on for quite a while, and to be fair we all assumed she would, just because she’s that way. And she has. Even before the whole rehab in-and-out debacle, it was pretty much assumed she’d cancel her shows because she was so drunk all the time that bookies were actually placing odds on her showing up. Of course her PR people are vague – is she canceling because she’ll be in rehab, or canceling because she’ll be too plastered? At last check, Amy was out on the lose again, but that could change at any moment. I feel like we need some type of Amy Winehouse alert system here.

“‘Due to the rigors involved in touring, Amy Winehouse has been advised to postpone her upcoming September U.S. and Canadian tour dates,’ the British singer’s publicist, Tracy Miller, said in a statement Tuesday.

“‘Amy’s European and U.K. tour dates in October and November remain in place. Plans are being made to reschedule her U.S. tour for early 2008. Until then, Amy has been ordered to rest and is working with medical professionals to address her health.’

Last week, it was announced that the 23-year-old was canceling all her August performances due to ‘severe exhaustion.’ While British tabloids have claimed the retro-soul singer has been in rehab due to drug abuse, her spokeswoman has denied such claims.”

[From AM New York]

You know what can improve your health when you have a drinking problem? Going to rehab and staying there. Divorcing your loser, enabling, drug mule husband. That’s obviously pretty easy to say from the outside looking in. We’ve all gone through hard times, and sometimes it’s rather embarrassing to look back on them. It’s going to be rather mortifying when Amy looks back on this someday. Though at this point I’m really just hoping she gets to “someday.”

Picture note by JayBird: Thanks to Splash for the pic, from Amy’s first escape on August 16th.

I wouldn’t call Gwen Stefani’s clothing trashy on any given day. Unusual, sometimes bizarre, perhaps, but she’s not constantly baring her nipples or anything. So I guess by American standards she’s pretty much the norm – not conservative, but not slutty, either. Well before performing in Muslim-majority Malaysia this past weekend, Gwen was faced with quite a backlash over her clothing, and had to agree to cover up.

“Stefani had promised to dress modestly after the 10,000-member National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students charged that her skimpy outfits and cheeky performances clashed with Islamic values. The opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party also accused her of promoting promiscuity and corrupting the country’s youth.

“In an interview with Galaxie, a local entertainment magazine, Stefani said she had made many changes for Malaysia, calling it a “major sacrifice.”

“’I’ve been in the music industry for 20 years and this is the first time that I’m facing opposition from people who have misunderstood me,’ she was quoted as saying. ‘I’m not a bad girl,’ she said.”

“Media photographers weren’t allowed to take pictures for copyright reasons, and those attending the show had to leave their cameras outside. Most fans in the stadium said protesters had gone overboard with their criticism.

“‘I think they were making a big ho-ha for no reason. Even the local artists, they dress even much worse, much more indecent,’ said Denise Chan, a 15-year-old ethnic Chinese. Fans also said Stefani had shown respect for Malaysia’s cultural values. ‘All international artists have to dress down a bit to respect our religion,’ said Linda Yusof, 33, a Malay Muslim.

“Under government guidelines, a female artist must be covered from the top of her chest, including shoulders, to her knees. No jumping, shouting or throwing of objects onstage or at the audience is allowed. Performers also cannot hug or kiss, and their clothes must not have obscene or drug-related images or messages.

“Ethnic Malay Muslims form about 60% of Malaysia’s population of 26 million, with ethnic Chinese, who are Christians and Buddhists, making up 25%. Ethnic Indians, most of them Hindus, are about 10%”

[From USA Today]

I’m a big “When in Rome” type, so I’m glad Gwen was respectful of local customs. I don’t quite understand why it was a “major sacrifice.” It was a change. But then again I’m not a singer; maybe she felt it compromised her artistry or something. It also doesn’t really sound like she was necessarily “misunderstood.” Her clothing isn’t raunchy for America, but it is for Malaysia. It’s not culturally appropriate, and every country has different levels of tolerance. It sounds like she was pretty good about it if she dressed more conservatively than local performers. I really wish photographs had been released, I’m interested to see what she came up with.

Picture note by JayBird: Header image of Gwen performing live on her Sweet Escape at Acer Arena in Sydney. Does anyone else think she looks like the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak? Thanks to WENN for the photos.

There was some back-and-forth about Lily Allen’s work visa issues. We published an article a few weeks ago which stated that her visa had been revoked, and then updated it based on Allen’s publicists statement that the issue was blown out of proportion by the media. Well it turns out that the publicist was full of bull, because Lily has had to cancel her appearance at the MTV Music Awards and postpone her US tour.

“Her tour was due to begin in San Diego on 6 September but a record company spokesman said reinstating the visa was ‘taking longer than anticipated’.

“The visa was cancelled after Allen flew into Los Angeles and was questioned over an assault in London.

“’I’m so disappointed. I’ll be back as soon as I can,’ said the singer, 22.

“Her spokesman denied she had been dropped from the MTV ceremony in Las Vegas on 9 September.”

[From the BBC]

Publicists annoy the crap out of me. You can have stories from reputable sources like the AP, BBC, and Reuters and they’ll still say it’s not true. Just because you don’t want it to be true doesn’t mean it isn’t. Well even though Allen’s publicist called reports of her suspended work visa “rubbish” and said “’She’s in Las Vegas [shooting a video] right now,’” the reports were entirely true. All of the stories made it clear that Lily had been allowed into the country, but that her visa had been suspended which meant that she wouldn’t be allowed back into the country once she left. It’s screwy and makes no sense, but that’s how it works. Lily is said to be really upset, since she made a commitment to her fans. She canceled a string of US performances a few months ago, and was supposedly looking forward to a more successful tour.

“’She was not dropped from the awards and MTV are hugely disappointed that she will not be able to participate,’” he [Lily’s manager] said. The singer, whose hits include Smile, is nominated for best newcomer. ‘I was really looking forward to playing these shows and being part of the video music awards,’ Allen said.

“The singer had previously said she would do ‘everything I can’ to honour the US tour dates. Earlier this year, Allen postponed a string of other dates in the US saying she was “bored” and wanted to concentrate on her second album.

“She was arrested following an incident outside a London nightclub in March and this resulted in a caution for common assault. Allen is due to perform at this weekend’s V Festival after pulling out of several other European festivals due to illness.”

[From the BBC]

That sucks for Lily, as I can kind of understand going apeshit on a bunch of photographers. When we look at the pictures of celebrities, it normally just seems like there’s one photographer, or you even forget that they’re there. Then you see those videos of someone just walking down the street with a million flashes going off. I’m not saying we should feel sorry, I mean they’re famous, rich, and knew what they were getting into. But I can’t imagine how a person could function like that. It would be distracting and scary, so a well-aimed kick to a photog’s crotch once in a while may be understandable. But in a weird way I’m glad her visa was revoked, because she did commit a crime in her own country, and if anyone else did that, they wouldn’t be granted a visa. So I’m glad Lily’s no exception just because she’s famous. And I want to find her publicist and kick him in the crotch for all the double talk.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Lily at Kanye West 30th Birthday Party on June 7th. Header image of Lily at the Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix London premiere on July 3rd. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Clay Aiken is one of those celebrities that annoys the crap out of me – and as a result, I tend to pay attention. I think that’s the same angle a lot of famous people take to get attention. His whole “I must expose my feet every chance I get” thing really freaks me out, but I can handle it. But thinking he’s sexy? That I just cannot take. Apparently part of Clay’s new repertoire involves a brief cover of Justin Timberlake’s now-classic “SexyBack.” My God, I hope he doesn’t cover JT’s “Dick in a Box.”

Did you notice that as the video cuts out, he starts in on a cover of Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy Breaky Heart?” That’s a bit more acceptable. What would make Clay think this is okay? And isn’t he loudly, annoyingly conservative Christian? Emphasis on the conservative? The guy really is an enigma. The “sexy” faces he makes are priceless. Clay, I don’t care whether you’re gay or straight, I don’t care whether you ever tell us if you’re gay or straight, I just care that you never do this to the internet again.

In slightly less horrifying Clay Aiken news, the red-headed sex machine will appear on an episode of Fox’s “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?”

“We know Clay Aiken has a voice, but how’s his brain? We’ll find out when he appears on ‘Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?’

“Aiken will try to win money for his foundation that runs a camp for kids with developmental disabilities. If he answers all his questions correctly, the foundation will get a million dollars.

“Aiken will tape his appearance August 28th. No air date has been set yet.”

[From ABC affiliate abc13.com]

I really hate it when otherwise contemptible celebrities do something good. Like having charities for kids with developmental disabilities. Stupid Clay Aiken. You’re so good, and so bad, all at once.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Clay at the Emmy Awards in 2005. Images thanks to PR Photos.