Alicia Keys 'empowered' by charity work

Alicia Keys admits that her AIDS charity work in Africa is 'frenzied' at times.

The 31-year-old singer is the co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organisation that provides medical treatment to children and families afflicted by HIV and AIDS in Africa.

To commemorate World AIDS Day, which takes place this Thursday, Alicia is airing her newest documentary on the subject Keep a Child Alive With Alicia Keys.

Filming in Africa for the second time was enlightening for Alicia.

'The first [2008 documentary entitled Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland] was about my experience there. This time we chose five Americans to come with me during the World Cup, so there's the juxtaposition of that frenzy and meeting the people we've been helping to get medication,' Alicia explained to People magazine.

A few years back while filming the first documentary on the topic, Alicia was pregnant with Egypt Dean, her now 13-month-old son with her husband hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz.

'I remember thinking, 'My son, who isn't even born yet, is experiencing all these things through me.' It was very empowering,' she recalled.

Egypt continues to bring great joy to Alicia and her husband.

She is elated to see her son progress.

'[Egypt]'s walking!' Alicia gushed. 'He's blowing my mind every second. [Motherhood] is the coolest.'

Keep A Child Alive With Alicia Keys airs in the US on Showtime this Thursday December 1.
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More acts announced for December Sessions at The O2

December Sessions is a brand new and unique Christmas programme delivering a totally free music and entertainment experience which gives music fans of all ages the opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow over the course of 20 days at the world's most popular music venue.

Running from December 3rd until 22nd 2011, each night will see five bands take to a specially constructed stage in London Piazza at The O2. With a potential audience of thousands ' more than 4,000 capacity in the London Piazza and a further 15,000 possible in the thoroughfare ' December Sessions at The O2 gives these new acts a 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity to play to a huge audience at London's most celebrated entertainment venue.

Acts already announced to play included:
- Nikki Garnett, hailing from Manchester and described as a Winehouse meets Lily Allen;
- The Sea and I, (Hoosiers frontman) Irwin Sparkes' new project;
- London based trio Belakiss (whose bassist Tatia is Ringo Starr's granddaughter);
- Treetop Flyers, who recently won the Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition;
- Son Of Jack who are fresh from touring and recording with Chrissie Hynde;

Music Radar & Last FM
December Sessions has teamed up with Music Radar and Last.fm, who each have their own programmed night during December to showcase the pick of their most popular bands. Last.fm Presents is coming to the O2 on 14th December where they will be curating a line up based on acts racing up their Hype Charts, the fastest rising artists in the UK today. MusicRadar are hosting a night on the 12th December and have worked with their partners at Live and Unsigned to select the best bands from this year's competition. The December Sessions is a great showcase for new talent and the MusicRadar night will see performances from five exciting new acts.

Photography Exhibition & 'Silentgig'
As well as the live music, there's plenty more on offer at December Sessions including a photography exhibition by world famous live music photographer Carsten Windhorst. He has created a one-off 'photowall' of more than 80 live images as well as 25 portrait shots of some of his most famous pictures. A 'Silentgig' ' presented by Sennheiser ' involving an audio, visual and sensory stimulation designed to give a truly unique and interactive event experience will also take place on one of the nights. The Silentgig will allow individuals to choose their own listening level and mix for the performance by the act they're seeing, delivering the audio via headphones with virtually no external sound.

The British Music Experience
One of London's iconic red double-decker Routemaster buses has been transformed into a moving museum by The British Music Experience, Britain's museum of popular music based at The O2 'those attending December Sessions can hop on board and get a snapshot of Britain's wonderfully eclectic music history and take a turn on the bus' very own custom band set up. Plus you can pick up a pair of the very latest Festival Spectacles, based on the original Seventies design with a donation from each pair sold going to the Sightsavers charity.

December Sessions at The O2 is proudly supported by Gibson, Best Buy, Sennheiser and Last FM.
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Alabama 3 launch new album & announce 2012 live dates

Musical fusionists Alabama 3 Acoustic will bring their rollicking live show to The Spiegel Saloon, Monday 12th December to launch their new album, "Shoplifting for Jesus.

The band join a host of exciting acts at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham this Christmas for 7UP's Winter Wonderland. The album which is possibly their best titled yet will be released in Ireland February 3rd 2012.

They will perform their unique blend of country acid house music at the Spiegel Saloon along with tracks from their new album. There is free admission to 7UP Winter Wonderland, and to the live music performances happening every day in the continental style Spiegel Saloon.

The full nine piece band returns to Ireland in the New Year to play Queens University Belfast (Feb 10th), The Button Factory, Dublin (Feb 11th); Cork Opera House (Feb 12th).
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X Factor Guilty Pleasures week review

Guilty pleasures and heroes week on The X Factor. We all have them, so when the editor asked for mine I shamed myself with my confession to loving Rick Astley along with Batman. Oh, not that type of hero! Whoops!!

Last week we said farewell to Craig Colton. A truly likeable lad with a exceptional voice but his luck ran out. It's getting so close now. The good just have to keep getting better to make sure they rise above the rest. Hopefully we will hear more from him in the future. Good luck Craig.

This week, we were treated to two songs each from the remaining five contestants. Guilty pleasures followed by their heroes.

First up however, was the bonus surprise contestant, Mr Dermot O'Leary, who danced rather than sang his guilty pleasure.

Onto the serious stuff and girl band Little Mix were first up. Bit of a shaky start but they finished the song strongly.

Their second song was brilliant and I would be stunned if Little Mix did not make the Final. During their performance the note I wrote on my pad was 'Finalists'

Midas Act Janet Devlin was up next, and sadly it did not go at all well. The song choice was not good, made worse by Janet forgetting her words and she looking very uncomfortable throughout the song. Janet has her unique style, and when she sings to this style, she is the most outstanding and unique artist out there. Feedback from the judges wasn't great.

Her Heroes song was much much better, this time she sung a song she both liked herself and that matched her style. Only time will tell if Janet has done enough to stay for another week. I will be keeping everything crossed.

Now if Misha B can get the public on board, then she is set for a great career. Her vocal during her first song was world class and she is always consistently good. My wife is a big fan of hers.

Saying that though her second track was not as good and the curse of the bottom two could be beckoning again if she doesn't get the support.

Marcus Collins entertained us again during his guilty pleasure song but it is all getting a bit repetitive with him. For the first time this series I got bored watching him. Sorry mate.

The judges did their best to try and persuade us that his second song was better but we all must have been listening to a different version at home. His voice was off key at times and the song didn't work for him. I do still expect Marcus to be in the Final though and he does have the like ability factor with that cheeky grin.

Last up was Amelia Lily who did a 'smashing' version of China in Your Hands, and Gary it certainly wasn't shouty.

Her second track was not as good but I think Amelia still had a lot to offer and her first song more than made up for this offering.

The results show tonight is going to be hard to call.

Before I go I just want to congratulate the X Factor team, the finalists, JLS and One Direction for the brilliant charity track 'Wishing on a star'. If you have a spare pound please download the song as every penny is going to the 'Together For Short Lives' children's charity.

Right now where did I leave my Rick Astley CD?
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American Anthems II 3 x CD

American Anthems II is three CD set to follow up the original collection from last year. Again the set picks up classic tracks from American artists, spanning 3 decades of music. There are some great forgotten tracks on here – Sixpence None the Richer for one, although bizarrely Janet performed this on X-Factor the same week the set came out!! Other ‘lsot’ tracks for me include Mr Mister’s ‘Kyrie’ (better than Broken Wings), Billy Joel’s environmental hit ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ and Rick Springfield’s’ ‘Human Touch’; all take me right back to No Limits with Jonathan King, Lisa Maxwell and Jenny Powell.

This collection also encompasses some more recent acts such as The Killers, Train and Kid Rock, with all three fitting into the set seamlessly. Finally, great to see Prince on here; doesn't appear on many compilation CDs.

Excellent volume 2.


Disc 1

1. Africa - Toto
2. We Don't Need Another Hero - Tina Turner
3. Gimme All Your Lovin' - ZZ Top
4. Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
5. We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
6. Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac
7. I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) - Hall & Oates
8. Burning Heart - Survivor
9. Unskinny Bop - Poison
10. Girl Can't Help It - Journey
11. When I See You Smile - Bad English
12. Lido Shuffle - Boz Scaggs
13. What I Am - Edie Brickell
14. When I'm Alone - Lissie
15. I Don't Want to Be - Gavin DeGraw
16. Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer
17. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite - R.E.M.
18. All Summer Long - Kid Rock
19. All These Things That I've Done – The Killers

Disc 2

1. Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
2. Waiting for a Girl like You - Foreigner
3. You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
4. Stuck with You - Huey Lewis & the News
5. Long Train Running – The Doobie Brothers
6. Abracadabra - Steve Miller Band
7. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
8. Hey, Soul Sister - Train
9. Kyrie - Mr. Mister
10. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
11. Take This Heart - Richard Marx
12. Walking in Memphis - Marc Cohn
14. One of Us - Joan Osborne
15. Babe - Styx
16. Lullaby - Shawn Mullins
17. Little Miss Can't Be Wrong - Spin Doctors
18. More than Words - Extreme
19. If You Leave Me Now - Chicago

Disc 3

1. If I Could Turn Back Time - Cher
2. Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
3. Californian Girls - David Lee Roth
4. Crazy Crazy Nights - Kiss
5. Leave a Light On - Belinda Carlisle
6. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
7. Two out of Three Ain't Bad - Meat Loaf
8. I Drove All Night - Roy Orbison
9. These Dreams - Heart
10. Gloria - Laura Branigan
11. Playing with the Boys - Kenny Loggins
12. Mighty Wings - Cheap Trick
13. Human Touch - Rick Springfield
14. Sailing - Christopher Cross
15. Hitch a Ride - Boston
16. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
17. Make You Feel My Love - Bob Dylan
18. Make It with You - Bread
19. A Horse with No Name - America
20. Purple Rain - Prince
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Unseen Michael Jackson Footage Flops at Auction

Unseen footage from a stop on Michael Jackson's Dangerous tour in 1993 failed to sell at an auction in England on Saturday. The film, shot from the stage at a concert in Argentina by Jackson's production crew, was rejected by the singer. The only copy of the footage was presented as a gift to Jackson's driver, who put it up for auction at the Fame Bureau auction house in London.

"At this stage it has not sold," said a spokesman for the auctioneers. "We are still talking to people, but online it did not sell." In a statement, the auction house speculated the failure to find a buyer could be rooted in the fact that the film cannot be used for commercial purposes. Given the restriction, one would need to be a very serious and wealthy fan to require more than the ample footage from the tour that can be viewed for free on YouTube.

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Lily Allen Has a Baby Girl

British pop star Lily Allen has given birth to her first child, a daughter. Allen, whose breakthrough 2006 single, "Smile," helped sell more than two million copies of her debut album, suffered two miscarriages before the birth of her newborn, which she has yet to name.

Allen, 26, is married to 32-year-old British businessman Sam Cooper, whom she has called "the love of my life."

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The Arctic Monkeys have announced that their next single to be released will be 'Black Treacle'

The band will release 'Black Treacle', taken from their latest album 'Suck It And See', on January 23.

'Suck It And See' is the fourth track to be taken from the album; which includes singles 'Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair' and 'The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala'.

Meanwhile, the Arctic Monkeys are currently without a record label for their next album.

The Sheffield band's contract with independent label Domino Records recently expired after their latest album 'Suck It And See'
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Gorillaz Celebrate 10th Anniversary With Spotify Page

Formed by Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett back in 2001, the virtual band have released four studio albums and collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Dangermouse, Bobby Womack Little Dragon, Shaun Ryder and Lou Reed.

The Singles Collection: 2001-2011 was released today (November 28) and to celebrate Gorillaz and Spotify are giving usees of the site five weeks of exclusive and interactive content.

The exclusive content includes a three-part radio programme hosted by Gorillaz characters, covering the band's history and unseen live concerts.

The Singles Collection: 2001-2011' is available on CD, DVD and vinyl.

The tracklisting for 'The Singles Collection: 2001-2011' is:

'Tomorrow Comes Today'
'Clint Eastwood'
'19-2000'
'Rock The House'
'Feel Good Inc'
'DARE'
'Dirty Harry'
'Kids With Guns'
'El Manana'
'Stylo'
'Superfast Jellyfish'
'On Melancholy Hill'
'Doncamatic'
'Clint Eastwood' (Ed Case & Sweetie Irie Refix)
'19-2000' (Soulchild Remix)

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David Bowie has denied reports that he's given permission for his songs to be used in the new 'Heroes' musical.

Reports emerged yesterday (November 27) that the singer had granted permission to allow his music to be used in the stage show, which was reported to get its world premiere next March in London.

But, according to Bowie's official spokesman, this is incorrect and neither the singer nor his management are in negotiation for his songs to be used in a musical.

The statement reads: "Neither the David Bowie Organisation, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for this performance at the O2. There are no negotiations pending for a long running musical featuring the music of Mr. Bowie".

The singer has not released a new album since 2003's 'Reality' and last performed live in 2006, despite calls from his fans to make a comeback.
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