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The remaining six Virgin Megastores in the U.S. are set to close, it has been announced.

Despite the fact that the stores have been making a profit, they will close because their locations are worth higher rents. They are owned by real estate firms who intend to profit from new tenants at the six locations, which include Times Square and Union Square in New York City.

All of the stores will be closed by June, including locations in Los Angeles and San Francisco in California, Orlando, and Denver. Over 1,000 staff will be laid off, reports Variety.

The first Virgin Megastore in the U.S. opened in Hollywood in 1992 and closed last year. Sales at the stores have declined in recent years due to online music sales, mostly via iTunes.

Source: NME

LOS ANGELES – In just one night, Indian film composer A.R. Rahman equaled the number of Oscars his fellow Indians had taken home during the first 80 years of the Academy Awards.

The 43-year-old composer, hailed in India as the Mozart of the Madras, won Oscars Sunday for best original soundtrack and best original song, both from the movie “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Other Indians to collect Oscar gold before him were costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, honored for “Gandhi” in 1982, and arthouse director Satyajit Ray, who received a lifetime achievement award in 1992.

“I was excited and terrified,” the soft-spoken Rahman said as he collected his first Oscar, for best original soundtrack. “The last time I felt like that was during my marriage.”

Rahman competed against himself in the best song category with two nominations, for “O … Saya” and “Jai Ho.” He won for the latter, the title of which translates in English to “Be Victorious.”

Rahman is no stranger to success in India. His fans there and elsewhere have made him one of the world’s best-selling recording artists, on par globally with the Rolling Stones and Madonna.

He believes music and film can bring people together despite boundaries of race, nationality and religion.

“All my life, I had a choice of hate and love. I chose love, and I’m here,” he said as he collected his second Oscar.

Long an advocate of the universality of music, Rahman has called on people to be open to all styles, from heavy metal to jazz to hip hop to R&B.

Danny Boyle, who won the best director Oscar for “Slumdog Millionaire,” said that he attempted to give Rahman the leeway he needed to pursue various musical forms in scoring the movie.

“I’m really happy and grateful it worked out,” Rahman said.

By OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer Oskar Garcia, Associated Press Writer – Mon Feb 23, 3:15 am ET

New disturbing details in the Rihanna-Chris Brown case emerged Tuesday with several reports claiming Rihanna’s injuries from Brown’s alleged attack were “horrific.”

Law enforcement officials took pictures of the singer and the photos show major “contusions” on her face, including a split lip and a bloody nose, TMZ reported. In addition, she reportedly has “bite marks” on one arm and on several of her fingers.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Rihanna is cooperating with detectives in the case against Brown, who reportedly left Los Angeles on a private plane to an undisclosed location.

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said Brown received no special considerations before his arrest or when he was booked. “We dealt with him like we deal with everybody else,” Bratton said.

Brown is now scheduled for an arraignment in the first week of March.

Prosecutors said they want more evidence from police before determining whether to press charges against Brown. Police presented a case regarding him on Tuesday, but did not release any of its details, Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison said. She said the office would have no further comment on the case.

RELATED: Who Is Rising Star Chris Brown?

On Sunday night, when Brown was supposed to deliver a prime-time Grammy performance, he was instead being processed in a Los Angeles police station on a charge connected to an alleged assault on a woman that FOX 411 first reported was his girlfriend Rihanna, the 20-year-old pop princess.

Brown was booked on a suspicion of making a criminal threat after he and then-unidentified Rihanna had an argument that escalated into a fight in a rented Lamborghini in a ritzy Los Angeles neighborhood, according to police. Rihanna and Brown pulled out of the Grammys hours before the Sunday telecast.

Fans were shocked to learn of the fight between the young couple, and the news of 19-year-old Brown’s violent outburst seemed a stark contrast to his wholesome image.

By Tuesday, Rihanna had canceled her appearances for the rest of the week, backing out of a concert in Malaysia scheduled for Friday.

PHOTOS: Click here for photos of Rihanna.

The fallout for Brown could prove to be devastating for his career, as female fans will likely find the image of Brown striking his girlfriend with his fists hard to forget.

“If it’s true, his career is probably over,” said Billboard magazine’s editorial director, Bill Werde, although he cautioned that “it’s important to withhold judgment until all of the facts are known.”

Tracey Ford, the editor of AOL Music’s hip-hop/R&B site, TheBoombox.com, said fans are shocked over the allegations, adding that Brown’s career has been centered around his “squeaky clean image.”

There was immediate fallout from Brown’s arrest Monday, with Wrigley stopping all advertising and marketing campaigns tied to Brown, who had been their Doublemint gum pitchman. The singer also withdrew from planned appearances at the upcoming NBA All-Star Game, scheduled for this weekend in Phoenix, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said in an e-mail.

“Wrigley is concerned by the serious allegations made against Chris Brown. We believe Mr. Brown should be afforded the same due process as any citizen,” the company said in a statement. “However, we have made the decision to suspend the current advertising featuring Brown and any related marketing communications until the matter is resolved.”

As for Rihanna, she will likely emerge from the incident with more fans, and sympathy, Ford said.

“It might actually help Rihanna, to a certain extent,” she said. “She’s definitely being viewed as the victim at this point.”

Several stars have already spoken out on behalf of the beautiful singer — who is a spokeswoman for Covergirl cosmetics.

On Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM radio show, hip-hop artist Kanye West said he was devastated at the news of the alleged assault.

“All I want to say is, it’s so devastating,” West said. “Just as a person, I don’t care how famous she is or even if she just worked at McDonald’s … [abuse] should never happen. It should never come to that place.”

LINK: Click here for more from TMZ.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Louisville, Kentucky’s Churchilll Downs is already known for big horses, big bets and even bigger hats. Now, thanks to American Idol, it will also be known for a few big voices.

Contestants made quite an impression in the home of the Kentucky Derby as the judges stopped in for day four of Season 8 auditions. And Simon, Paula, Randy and Kara were determined to make one right back, even if music was off the table.

Tiffany Shed, for example, can thank the judges for inspiring her to go to college after convincing her that her attempting a music career was the equivalent of a donkey in a race with 22 horses “you just wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Mark Mudd was also told music isn’t his thing, but according to Simon, “Wheel of Fortune” might be.

And Rebecca Garcia will likely never be a singer, but thanks to some motivation from Kara, perhaps she’ll consider a career in comedy.

Joanna Pacitti on the other hand should refrain from throwing in the towel on her singing career, despite the number of times she’s probably wanted to.
Related

The pretty brunette makes Carly Smithson seem like a music industry rookie with all the experience (and disappointments) she’s had thus far. Not only was she with A&M, as Kara pointed out, but Geffen records also released an album by her. The soundtracks of “Legally Blonde,” “Bratz,” “First Daughter” and “Nancy Drew” all sported singles by her, and she was featured in an MTV show called “First Year.”

What Pacitti is best known for however, is her famous rise and fall from fame at age 11 when she won the lead role in the 20th anniversary production of “Annie,” only to be replaced by her understudy two weeks before the show’s Broadway debut.

And Pacitti’s far from being the only Hollywood hopeful with a past.

Brent Keith Smith, for example, is a former contestant from Nashville Star 2, had a song on the “Dale” soundtrack (a movie about nascar legend Dale Earnhardt) and is a featured artist on the Country Music Television website.

And despite Matt Giraud’s convincingly coy audition, he actually has two albums of his own out there, too.

Given that Idol is supposed to be all about giving everyday people a unique chance to be discovered, I’m not sure how I feel about them putting through someone, like Joana especially, who’s already had several real shots at fame. But there’s no denying that Joanna, Brent and Matt are all good enough for this competition and now that there in it, all the Idol hopefuls should beware.

Source Fox News

An estimated 30.1 million people watched the season debut of “American Idol,” making it the most-watched prime-time show of the TV season so far.

Nielsen Media Research said that audience on Tuesday night was down 10 percent from the 33.4 million who watched the season opener of the Fox network show in 2008. The 37.4 million who watched the 2007 debut represents the series’ high point.

The most-watched prime-time entertainment show this season had been the first episode of CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” on Oct. 9, with 23.5 million viewers. The Indianapolis-San Diego NFL playoff on Jan. 3, with 27.8 million, was the overall high-water mark before “American Idol.”

Yahoo News

Katy Perry is hurting.

The typically perky pop princess didn’t hide her feelings about her split from boyfriend Travis McCoy during an acoustic performance last night at L.A.’s Hotel Café.

Katy came clean while explaining the inspiration for her new single, “Thinking of You.”

“It means a lot to me,” Perry said of the song. “It’s one of those slit your wrists songs, like one of those R. Kelly songs like ‘Real Talk.’ Like when you break up with somebody and you don’t wanna move on, but you have to move on.”

She continued: “And sometimes you find yourself making out with somebody else and you feel like you’re cheating. But you’re not cheating because you’re broken up. And I know being a girl, I’ve had sex with a guy, and been thinking about a different guy the whole time. That’s ‘Real Talk.’ And even though you’re broken up, it still feels like cheating. And it hurts right now.”

Perry and McCoy, the lead singer of Gym Class Heroes, called it quits just before New Year’s after dating for about a year.

Perry, who went on with the show despite suffering from a nasty cold, also performed a heartfelt tune that included the lyrics, “You know I loved you, you know I loved you, you know I loved you. Someday I wanna be a missus, but it’s not yet quite right.”

She then likened men to artichokes. “Leafy on the outside,” Perry said, “and after a lot of leaves are pulled, maybe there’s a heart.”

After the show, Perry told us she can’t help but open up on stage.

“Anytime I do music, I do it all from the heart,” she said. “I don’t hold back.”

Source E-Online

Pop star Fergie was expected to let it ride yesterday and marry her longtime boyfriend, “Las Vegas” star Josh Duhamel, in a secret ceremony.

The wedding was to take place at an estate outside of Los Angeles, according to Radar Online. The singer and a friend arrived at 9 a.m. in a white Cadillac Escalade, the Web site reported.

More than 75 guests were kept in the dark until yesterday morning, when they were to receive e-mails with an address where they could catch a shuttle bus, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

E! Online reported that attendees were also instructed not to bring cellphones or cameras.

The purported location is close to the ocean and offers sweeping views of the countryside. The property has an 8,000-square-foot French chateau nestled aside a vineyard and gardens.

Source NY Post

NEW YORK (Billboard) – Beyonce logged a fourth week atop the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Friday, while near-record digital sales drove dance-pop singer Lady GaGa to the No. 2 slot.

Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” a track from her chart-topping album “I Am … Sasha Fierce,” sold a massive 382,000 downloads last week according to Nielsen SoundScan, a 157% increase.

But Lady GaGa’s Grammy-nominated “Just Dance” featuring Colby O’Donis sold 419,000 downloads, the second biggest single-week sum of all time behind Flo Rida’s 467,000 from the same week last year. It rose one spot from the previous week, swapping places with T.I.’s “Live Your Life” featuring Rihanna.

Kanye West’s “Heartless” held at No. 4, and Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” rose two to No. 5. Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold” remained at No. 6, and Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” fell two to No. 7.

Rounding out the top portion of the Hot 100, West’s “Love Lockdown,” T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” and Beyonce’s “If I Were a Boy” were are unchanged at Nos. 8-10.

Nickelodeon star Miranda Cosgrove’s cover of Sugababes’ “About You Now” was the top debut at No. 51. The song was released last June on the “iCarly” soundtrack but is now doing strong digital business after a performance on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade; it sold 74,000 copies last week.

By Jonathan Cohen

Britney Spears reportedly has a new man in her life, and the lucky boy is Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden.

The pair have apparently been dating since Madden split with Paris Hilton a few weeks ago, and were reportedly introduced by Spears’ manager Larry Rudolph, who has been helping her find a man.

A source told In Touch Weekly that Spears and Madden met for dinner at a Los Angeles hotel suite, after Rudolph and Spears’ father Jamie made a list of potential boyfriends for the singer.

“They’ve been on a few dates. She appears to like Benji a lot, and he seems to really like her,” the unidentified source said.

Rudolph also reportedly called Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, and Gossip Girl actor Chace Crawford, but Madden was the most interested in meeting Britney.

Spears recently announced a string of dates to promote her current album Circus.

Yahoo News

LOS ANGELES — The group representing the U.S. recording industry said Friday it has abandoned its policy of suing people for sharing songs protected by copyright and will work with Internet service providers to cut abusers’ access if they ignore repeated warnings.

The move ends a controversial program that saw the Recording Industry Association of America sue about 35,000 people since 2003 for swapping songs online. Because of high legal costs for defenders, virtually all of those hit with lawsuits settled, on average for around $3,500. The association’s legal costs, in the meantime, exceeded the settlement money it brought in.

The association said Friday that it stopped sending out new lawsuits and warnings in August, and then agreed with several leading U.S. Internet service providers, without naming which ones, to notify alleged illegal file-sharers and cut off service if they failed to stop.

It credited the lawsuit campaign with raising awareness of piracy and keeping the number of illegal file-sharers in check while the legal market for digital music took off. With two weeks left in the year, legitimate sales of digital music tracks soared for the first time past the 1 billion mark, up 28 percent over all of last year, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

“We’re at a point where there’s a sense of comfort that we can replace one form of deterrent with another form of deterrent,” said RIAA Chairman and Chief Executive Mitch Bainwol. “Filing lawsuits as a strategy to deal with a big problem was not our first choice five years ago.”

The new notification program is also more efficient, he said, having sent out more notices in the few months since it started than in the five years of the lawsuit campaign.

“It’s much easier to send notices than it is to file lawsuits,” Bainwol said.

The decision to scrap the legal attack was first reported in The Wall Street Journal.

The group says it will still continue to litigate outstanding cases, most of which are in the pre-lawsuit warning stage, but some of which are before the courts.

The decision to press on with existing cases drew the ire of Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson, who is defending a Boston University graduate student targeted in one of the music industry’s lawsuits.

“If it’s a bad idea, it’s a bad idea,” said Nesson. He is challenging the constitutionality of the suits, which, based on the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999, can impose damages of $150,000 per infringement, far in excess of the actual damage caused.

Nesson’s client, Joel Tenenbaum, faces the possibility of more than $1 million in damages for allegedly downloading seven songs illegally, which Nesson called “cruel and unusual punishment.” The case is set to go to trial in district court in Massachusetts on Jan. 22.

Brian Toder, a lawyer with Chestnut & Cambronne in Minneapolis, who defended single mother Jammie Thomas in a copyright suit filed by the RIAA, said he is also set to retry the case March 9 after a judge threw out a $222,000 decision against her.

“I think it’s a good thing that they’ve ended this campaign of going after people,” Toder said.

“But they need to change how people spend money on records,” he said. “People like to share music. The Internet makes it so easy. They have to do something to change this business model of theirs.”

The Associated Press

Source: Washington Post