You know the feeling: It's when your stomach lands in your mouth at the apex of a rollercoaster. Watching the two guys work the “Wheel of Death” at Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza in Santa Monica on Thursday night elicited the same exact sensation. more ›

4 pm // Nokia Theatre L.A. Live // 777 Chick Hearn Court, Los Angeles // $50 - $500 (plus VIP options if you have several thousand to burn) more ›

With reports of The King of Pop's financial troubles continuing to moonwalk all over the press, it's hard to feel sorry for the middle aged superstar, considering he hasn't really seemed to try to work out his issues - literally. You'd think a guy like Michael Jackson could do a few concerts and collect the $212,963 that's reportedly outstanding on his $23,212,963 mortgage on his sprawling ranch north of Santa Barbara. This summer Pollstar... more ›

If you haven't seen it already, Hillary Clinton's campaign spoof of The Sopranos' finale was released today (and wow is that acting bad!). It's purpose? To show that she and Bill are still together? Nah. The video helped announce her campaign theme song. And it's possibly the lamest campaign song EVER. Move over, Bill and Fleetwood Mac. Here comes Hill and Celine Dion. Yup, to appeal to all those kids and liberals out there,... more ›

LAist is proud to offer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine's most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week's chart toppers. Behold the #1s. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts Issue... more ›

LAist is proud to offer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine's most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week's chart toppers. Behold the #1s. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts... more ›

But it was for a good cause, right? LAist watched the entire two hours of American Idol's telethon tonight, which was broadcast at both the regular Idol studios and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. And while we admire Ryan Seacrest and company for trying to do something good for kids living in poverty in both America and Africa (checkout myspace.com/idolgivesback or the Idol Gives Back page for ways to donate), we felt cheated and... more ›

LAist is proud to offerer a weekly, chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts... more ›

As you continue to nurse your week-long Academy Award champagne hangover and try desperately to block all memory of the "sound effects choir" & Celine Dion's massacre of Ennio Morricone's work (just as Elina predicted!), it should come as a relief to you that while there are yet more awards on the horizon, these are of the bookish kind. The LA Times has announced their Book Awards Finalists. more ›

Here's a little something to help wash out the taint of Celine Dion's "tribute" to Ennio Morricone at last night's Oscars. Sure, Celine has a great set of pipes. No one will argue that. But her singing? Puke! She might as well have been singing the latest bit of background fodder from American Idol for how much you could tell that it was an Ennio Morricone tune. But that's who Celine Dion is. That's what... more ›

Most vanilla Oscars ever. Ellen DeGeneres wasn't a bad host. But she wasn't a good one. Her mildly funny jokes and conversational good nature made it feel like we were watching a daytime talk show host wallowing in the oversized britches of a big-time awards ceremony. Oh wait, we were. Thank you, Ellen DeGeneres, for proving that queers can be as bland and conventional as breeders. Jerry Seinfeld's presentation of the feature documentary award was... more ›

The Oscars as TV This is strictly opinion about the Academy Awards broadcast on ABC - not the pre- or post- shows. This isn't about who won and the merits of their winning, this is just about the nearly 4 hours of TV that was on. The Oscars are a marathon, no doubt about it, and a slow marathon at that. Most able bodied people should be able to do a marathon in about... more ›

Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and John C. Reilly brought the biggest laughs to a pretty ok Oscar telecast in this musical jab at how the Academy doesn't reward comedic actors as much as dramatic ones. The singing from this trio wasn't as great as the "Dreamgirls" medley, but it was way better than Celine Dion's tune, and it filled the gaping hole left by the lovable Three 6 Mafia, who we now know are... more ›

What if... Jennifer Hudson doesn't win? Sometimes the one sure thing turns out not to be the one sure thing. Then who wins? The ten year-old. None of the others are in the running, and I say that thinking that Rinko Kikuchi should win, even though I had tons of problems with Babel. Everyone likes the ten year-old. Don't count out the ten year-old. What if... Eddie Murphy doesn't win? Then the theory that... more ›

Morricone, who has scored over 500 films and TV series, is known for his haunting musical accompaniments to such films as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Danger: Diabolik, The Mission, The Untouchables and Cinema Paradiso, among many others. For the tribute, which will be part of the 2007 Oscar ceremony, Dion is expected to sing lyrics that have been specifically written to accompany the score for Once Upon a Time in America, according to E! more ›

It's that time again. Get down with your bad self. [via All Music & iTunes] Rock Christina Aguilera - Christina Aguilera (BMG Germany) Anastacia - Not That Kind [Bonus Track] (Sbme Import) Barenaked Ladies - Live from Etown (etown) Candlemass - Dactylis Glomerata [Bonus CD] (GMR Music) Celine Dion - Let's Talk About Love (Sbme Import) Dollar - Platinum Collection (WEA International) Jason Donovan - Greatest Hits [EMI] (EMI) Billy Fury - Live at... more ›

Tonight - Monday "Monday Night Football" (ESPN, 5:30 p.m.) Panthers @ Eagles "College Basketball" (ESPN2, 6:00 p.m.) USC @ Kansas "NBA Basketball" (Fox Sports, 7:30 p.m.) Pacers @ Lakers "The Girl With the Pearl Earring" (IFC, 7:50 p.m.) Peter Webber's flick about Dutch painter Vermeer, and Scarlett Johansson before it was all about her boobs. "The 2006 Billboard Music Awards" (FOX, 8:00 p.m.) Fergie shakes her thing, the Killers rock, and unfortunately, Celine Dion... more ›

In an earlier roundup of the day's news Tony noted the brouhaha over a series of Republican-financed anti-abortion radio ads, one of which calls black women "Hos." more ›

Cirque de Soleil is holding court at Staples Center for a limited run, and LAist had a chance Thursday night to catch a sneak preview its latest music-dance-acrobatic-video show “Delirium.” According to the Cirque du Soleil website: DELIRIUM is the quest for balance in a world that is increasingly out of sync with reality. It pushes the limit of arena performance through technical magnitude, human introspection and creative prowess. Basically, the self-billed "live music... more ›

You may be saying to yourself, “I'm from Los An-ga-lese, bub. I care not for, nor do I understand, this hockey of which you speak.” more ›

For the past few weeks, Supernova – a new group pieced together from Motley Crue (Tommy Lee), Metallica (Jason Newsted) and Guns N' Roses (Gilby Clarke) – has been auditioning lead singers on CBS, and some are quite good like Dilana, Josh and Storm. But then there’s Zayra. more ›

Join music fans from around the city in bidding a sad farewell to the Rhino Records Store in Westwood this weekend. After a couple of decades of selling records, then 8-tracks, cassettes and CDs, it will be shutting its doors; the very last parking lot sale is this Saturday and Sunday from 10am-4pm. That's at 2028 Westwood Blvd, in the parking lot. more ›

There's a reason that when you flip through the radio stations, it's the same junk all along the spectrum, and it's not that everyone else really does love Celine Dion. Sony BMG has agreed to stop giving payola (bribes) to radio stations and DJs, under pressure from New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Yes, he has documentation that people were given trips to Las Vegas in exchange for playing Celine Dion songs. Anyone surprised? Yeah, OK. more ›