Will Young - Who Am I

"I don't want people to not know who I am. I don't want to be pigeonholed as the new George Michael, or the guy that won the reality TV show, or Mick Hucknall for the Noughties, or whatever nonsense gets said. It's just me and it's about having a bit of self-belief and turning up the volume a bit" – Will Young, in a café by the Thames, November 2005

Hold onto your trilby... In fact, take off your trilby and jump all over it... Will Young is back more confident and at ease with himself and his music. In less than four years he's won two Brits, had four Number One singles, two Number One albums, and sold out his last tour in 30 minutes. His first single was the fastest selling chart debut by a male artist. Aged 26, the boy from Berkshire is sharper, funnier, more confident, and all growed up. He's got a bit of perspective and he knows how TV, celebrity culture and the pop sausage factory work. But all of that is necessarily two-dimensional. Will Young isn't.

He understands how and why people might have fixed opinions about his tastes. "Here's a perfect example", he laughs. "I went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And this fan came up to me and said, all shocked: 'Will Young! What are you doing at a Chili's concert?' I'm like, I've been listening to the Chilis for fucking ages!' It was very telling, people thought I shouldn't be into stuff like that."

Of late, Will's been having a bit of a fight. With himself, with the voices whispering "stick to the ballads", and with his music. His new single is called Switch It On. It's a party come tumbling out of your speakers. There are mad drums and dirty funk and raw, throaty vocals. It is, in a very good way, all over the place, - and it's definitely louder.

"That track took us a year and half to write!" he exclaims. That doesn't mean Young and his collaborators fussed and tinkered over it all that time, they just kept having ideas to make Switch It On madder, and bolder, and more brilliant (where 'brilliant' means something that 'shines hard'). They threw these ideas into the mix and wrestled them into line.

Switch It On is Will's defiant response to "feeling really shit about myself", and to the image that he felt was being portrayed of him. "It felt like I wasn't being true to myself. There's the line, 'I'm in a three-piece suit and shoes that don't fit me'. Which is basically saying that people shove you in all these categories. It's like, fuck off! And I looked around London and saw all these fake people just obsessed with how other people are viewing them. And I was obsessed with how people were viewing me. I felt like I'd lost the core of me. I felt that I'd gone back to being 17 again, and a lot of it was because of the job..."

But now, things have moved on "I've 'evolved', ha ha," he says laughing and sticking the quote marks round the word 'cause he knows how poncey it sounds. But still, it's true. "So obviously I wanted to come back with something that demonstrated that."

The new album is called Keep On, and one of the key songs on it is the title track that recalls the lascivious groove of George Michael's 'I Want Your Sex'. Keep On and Switch It On come from a similar place. We might call that place "an explosion in a carnival factory". They're songs that sound like they might collapse into a sweaty heap on the dancefloor any second. But they don't; they veer off, surefooted, in thrilling new directions.

"We didn't think about it, that was the key. That's why those songs are so good. You know," Young reflects, "maybe people are fed up a bit with songs. A well-crafted song is great. But there seem to be so many about where you can almost hear the writer thinking, 'right, now we're gonna hit them with the chorus at 40 seconds 'cause that'll get played on radio'... Well, that doesn't have any soul in it. I'd just got to the stage where I thought, I can't do that".

Will Young, of course, knows The Well-Crafted Song. He's made a bit of a career out of it. Leave Right Now, the lead single from Friday's Child, was spellbinding, glorious and exquisite. For those in any doubt, it emphatically revealed Young as an extravagantly gifted and soulful singer. It helped Friday's Child on its way to sales of over 1.5 million copies in the UK, and in 2004 Leave Right Now won its writer, Eg White, the Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically And Lyrically.

There's another Well-Crafted Song on Keep On. It's called All Time Love. It's an elegant ballad, and may well join Leave Right Now as a modern standard. Young nailed the lyric in one take – he knows how to sing songs like that.

Going brazenly off-message, he admits that there was a body of opinion around him that wanted All Time Love to be his comeback single. He says he said "no way", and he dug his heels in. "I just felt I had to move on and do something that was punchier, and was saying more. I just feel very different from two years ago, I've got different things to say and I think Switch It On really shows it. It was a slight uphill battle to get it as the first single but I don't mind that – if you're forced to justify what you're doing, it makes you see if you really believe in it. And," he says, letting loose that Joker-like smile, "I've definitely been forced to see if I believed in that song".

Around the same time he began filming his first acting role, in Stephen Frears' Mrs Henderson Presents. It's the story of a pre-War dancing girls show in London. He plays a choreographer and performer, alongside Bob Hoskins and Dame Judi Dench. He gets to sing All The Things You Are, the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein number that Frank Sinatra made his own.

The whole experience boosted his confidence (he'd always thought he'd like to act but hadn't done anything beyond am-dram while at Exeter University). It introduced him to a new creative world outside music, and opened his ears to new ideas for his new album. Recruiting some fresh writers along with noted string arranger Anne Dudley, and regrouping with the songwriting team he'd built for Friday's Child – Lipson, White, Karen Poole (formerly of Alisha's Attic), Blair Mackichan – he worked on songs that were a bit more... lively.

Think About It is one of his favourites. "It's quite sultry, then the chorus just rips out." With Dan Carey (Kylie's Slow) he wrote All I Want, "a great psychedelic Sixties song, it's really rough." With Mackichan (with whom he'd done Your Game, the soulful, gospel single from 'Friday's Child') he did Ain't Such a Bad Place To Be, "another rough one. I'm not Mr Tough or anything," he laughs, "but I did need to be tougher". He also wanted songs that had more emotional teeth. "I went through quite a tough stage last year," he concludes, "but in that period I wrote some really good tunes that have stuck around. I don't know, maybe you have to be a bit more angsty to produce believable, true, honest work. He hooked up with Nitin Sawhney, and together they came up with Home, a song born out of personal experiences. "It's wonderful, the lyrics are beautiful... It's all about resolution, about something being the way it has to be but that doesn't make it necessarily a good thing."

"You know," he shrugs, "I've predominantly sung songs about love before and, if I'm honest, I didn't understand them. And just because I've lived a bit more, seen a bit more of life, it was like taking off sunglasses and just going, 'ah, this is what goes on...' I just saw so much more in films and painting and plays and music. I had a revelational moment. 'Now I fucking get it!' And it's just a real shame that in life to have those moments you have to be really badly hurt". So it's time for people to get used to the real Will Young. He won't eat liver. He gets a bit claustrophobic. He overheats easily. And he knows who he is now.

Hilary Duff - With Love

Arguably the only teen pop star with the potential to rival or surpass the popularity of Britney Spears "albeit with a very different approach" Hilary Duff made a name for herself on the enormously successful Disney Channel/ABC Kids show Lizzie McGuire, which she parlayed into careers as a pop singer and film actress. Like most overnight successes, Duff paid her dues for a few years before her big break. Appearances in the 1997 women's Western True Women, 1998's Casper (as the Friendly Ghost's human friend Wendy), and 1999's The Soul Collector paved the way for her best-known role. Lizzie McGuire, which chronicled the ups and downs of junior high schooler Lizzie's life with live-action and animated clips, debuted in 2001 and very quickly became a huge hit with the preteen set. Aside from the show's unique format, one of the main reasons for its success was Duff herself. As Lizzie, she was pretty, funny, and smart, but not intimidatingly so; she had two best friends, Gordo and Miranda, so she wasn't super-popular or an outcast; and she was confident enough to do her own thing, but still vulnerable enough to have crushes on unattainable boys.

At the same time Lizzie was taking off, Duff also appeared in the indie film Human Nature, reflecting her continuing big-screen aspirations. Lizzie McGuire mania continued through 2002, and Duff began her first steps toward her singing career with the song "Santa Claus Lane," which appeared on the soundtrack to The Santa Clause 2, as well as her own Christmas album, also named Santa Claus Lane. That year, production ended on Lizzie McGuire, freeing up Duff to pursue other opportunities. Episodes of the show continued to run into 2003, but by that time Duff had begun to move on, appearing in the teen spy movie Agent Cody Banks and playing Lizzie one last time in The Lizzie McGuire Movie, where funnily enough, she goes to Italy and is mistaken for a teen pop star. The soundtrack to the movie also featured several songs by Duff, including the singles "Why Not" and "I Can't Wait," which were both successes in their own right; the soundtrack went platinum in summer 2003.

Around that time, Metamorphosis, Duff's bona fide debut as a singer, was released. The album had a hipper and more eclectic sound than any of the material she had been given previously, and helped establish her as a personality outside of her Lizzie McGuire fame. The album charted number two on the Billboard 200 on the week of its release, and its single "So Yesterday" topped the pop singles chart earlier that summer. Duff's omnipresence in 2003 continued with appearances at that year's MTV Video Music Awards and the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, where she accepted Lizzie McGuire's trophy for Favorite TV Show. She also appeared in that year's film Cheaper by the Dozen and embarked on a tour that fall.

2004 was just as busy for Duff. She appeared in movies like A Cinderella Story, Agent Cody Banks, and Raise Your Voice, and also released her self-titled second album, which exchanged the neutral fluffiness of Metamorphosis for an anthemic rock-pop style consistent with efforts from Ashlee Simpson and Avril Lavigne. The record continued to shape Duff's public persona, which was a continually evolving dynamo of branding, image, and teenage ambition. Released on September 28th (her 17th birthday), Hilary Duff eventually peaked at number two on both the Billboard 200 and the Top Internet Albums charts, and helped Hilary net "Most Searched by Kids and Teens on AOL" honors and more Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Publicity for the album continued into 2005. That June, The Perfect Man debuted; in a bit of genius casting, it featured Heather Locklear as Duff's unlucky-in-love mother.

In July, Duff started preparing for the August release of Most Wanted. The collection included three new songs -- including the single "Wake Up," written by Benji and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte -- as well as remixed versions of past Hilary hits like "So Yesterday" and "Come Clean." There was also the Most Wanted tour, which stretched into September, ending just in time for her 18th birthday. By this point, the Hilary Duff promotion machine was in overdrive: her website offered a pay-as-you-go mobile phone branded with her name and bundled with Hilary-themed ringtones and wallpapers. During 2006, Duff worked on the films War Inc. and Material Girls, and also found time to work on her fourth album, Dignity, which was inspired in part by her breakup with Joel Madden. Dignity was released in spring 2007.

Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend

Wild child Avril Lavigne hit big in summer 2002 with her spiky-fun debut song, "Complicated," shifting pop music into a different direction.

Lavigne, who was 17 at the time, didn't seem concerned with the glamour of the TRL-dominated pop world and such confidence allowed her star power to soar. The middle of three children in small-town Napanee, Ontario, Lavigne's rock ambitions were noticeable around age two.

By her early teens, she was already writing songs and playing guitar. The church choir, local festivals, and county fairs also allowed Lavigne to get her voice heard, and luckily, Arista Records main man Antonio "L.A." Reid was listening. He offered her a deal, and at 16, Lavigne's musical dreams became reality. With Reid's assistance and a new Manhattan apartment, Lavigne found herself surrounded by prime songwriters and producers, but it wasn't impressive enough for her to continue.

She had always relied on her own ideas to create a musical spark, and things weren't going as planned. Lavigne wasn't disillusioned, though. She headed for Los Angeles and Nettwerk grabbed her. Producer/songwriter Clif Magness (Celine Dion, Wilson Phillips, Sheena Easton) tweaked Lavigne's melodic, edgy sound and her debut, Let Go, was the polished product.

Singles such as "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi" hit the Top Ten while "I'm with You" and "Losing Grip" did moderately well at radio. Butch Walker of the Marvelous 3, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida, and Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Good Charlotte) signed on to produce Lavigne's second album, Under My Skin, which appeared in May 2004. The album topped the Billboard charts and produced the number one hit "My Happy Ending. Other singles like "Nobody's Home" and "Fall to Pieces" did respectably well also.

Settling down a bit from her punk rock wild child persona, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, in July 2006.

Snow Patrol - Signal Fire

Featuring a dynamic fusion of several alternative stylistic touchstones, Snow Patrol's compositions combine songwriting aptitude with guitar rock's sharpest strains. Originally from Northern Ireland, Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar) and Mark McClelland (bass, keyboards) first got together in Dundee, Scotland, where they were studying, prior to the addition of Jonny Quinn (drums), who completed the lineup.

Signed to the U.K.'s Jeepster label in 1998, they released their debut album, Songs for Polar Bears, in August of that same year. The record was a large success across the U.K., where they also gained a large fan base for their live show. The British trio graduated soon after, and decided to move from Dundee to Glasgow in late 2000.

Their second full-length, When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up, was released in April 2001. Quickly thereafter, guitarist Nathan Connolly was added to the group, and Snow Patrol found themselves a deal with Polydor. Producer Chris Lord-Alge signed on for the release of Final Straw, which appeared stateside in April 2004. With the success of singles such as "Chocolate," "Run," and "Spitting Games," Final Straw sold two million copies in their native U.K.

It also became the 26th most popular British album of that year. In March 2005, founding member Mark McClelland left the band to pursue other avenues, leaving Snow Patrol a trio with Lightbody, Quinn, and Connolly. Shortly thereafter, former Terra Diablo bass player Paul Wilson and touring keyboardist Tom Simpson were permanantly added to the band. An opening slot on U2's Vertigo Tour of Europe followed in summer 2005. Snow Patrol's fourth album, the epic Eyes Open arrived in May 2006. That fall, with a successful run through North America under their belt and the mainstream appeal of "Chasing Cars," Eyes Open was certified gold.

Snow Patrol also became the first U.K. rock act in 13 years to break the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.

Music & Lyrics - Way Back Into Love

Alex Fletcher is a washed-up '80s pop star who's been reduced to working the nostalgia circuit at county fairs and amusement parks. The charismatic and talented musician gets a chance at a comeback when reigning diva Cora Corman invites him to write and record a duet with her, but there's a problem - Alex hasn't written a song in years, he's never written lyrics, and he has to come up with a hit in a matter of days.

Enter Sophie Fisher, Alex's beguilingly quirky plant lady, whose flair for words strikes a chord with the struggling songwriter. On the rebound from a bad relationship, Sophie is reluctant to collaborate with anyone, especially commitment-phobe Alex. As their chemistry heats up at the piano and under it, Alex and Sophie will have to face their fears--and the music--if they want to find the love and success they both deserve.

Logline
The collaboration between a lyrics writer and a music writer-performer takes a romantic turn.

Genres
Comedy and Musical/Performing Arts

Running Time
1 hr. 46 min.

Release Date
February 14th, 2007 (wide)

MPAA Rating
PG-13 for some sexual content

Distributors
Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Production Co.
Village Roadshow Pictures Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, Reserve Room Productions

Studios
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.

U.S. Box Office
$50,324,841

Filming Locations
New York, New York, USA

Produced in
United States

Nickelback - Savin' Me

Canada's Nickelback started life as a cover band in Hanna, 215 kilometers northeast of Calgary. Eventually, they tired of playing other people's songs, and singer/guitarist.

Chad Kroeger put together a collection of original songs, borrowed money from his stepfather, and went to Vancouver to record the band in a friend's studio. Based on the results, Kroeger's guitarist brother, Mike, and pal bassist Ryan Vikedal all relocated to Vancouver in 1996; that same year, they recorded and released the EP Hesher and full-length Curb independently, then embarked on a series of cross-country tours.

In late 1998, the bandmembers started managing themselves, with Chad handling all the radio tracking, brother Mike Kroeger the distribution, and Ryan Vikedal all the bookings. A second LP, The State, was released independently in January 2000 during a period when Canadian content requirements were increased and local rock radio began desperately seeking out homegrown product. What they found was Nickelback's single "Leader of Men." The band toured ceaselessly for The State and 200 shows later, Nickelback had gone from virtual unknowns to playing in front of over a million people alongside the likes of Creed, 3 Doors Down, Fuel, and more. The band's post-grunge commercial appeal wasn't lost on the record industry, and The State was snapped up by Roadrunner in the U.S. and EMI in Canada. It eventually sold an impressive 500,000 copies.

Many of the songs that comprised the third album, Silver Side Up, were written even before The State was released in America and road-tested in front of eager audiences on cross-country treks. The other significant change was Chad Kroeger's conscious decision to write his lyrics in a more direct manner, rather than the metaphorical lyrics of previous releases. "Too Bad" pertained to the father who was never around when Chad and his brother were growing up; "Never Again" was a song inspired by broken homes; and "How You Remind Me," the first single from the album, was written at rehearsals shortly before the band went into the studio.

To record the album, Nickelback worked with producer Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog) at the same studio they used for The State, Vancouver's Green House. The combination of the band's growing popularity and the quality of the songs sent Silver Side Up into the sales charts around the world, spearheaded by the hit single "How You Remind Me." (It was only the second time in history since the Guess Who's "American Woman" that a Canadian band had been number one on both the Canadian and U.S. rock charts at the same time.) After Nickelback's initial mainstream exposure, Kroeger produced Vancouver natives Default and collaborated with Saliva singer Josey Scott for the Spiderman soundtrack.

The more polished The Long Road arrived in 2003. The single "Someday" shot to number seven on the Billboard charts, and the album sold five million copies worldwide and was supported by another successful international tour. In February of 2005 it was announced that Ryan Vikedal had left the band, but Vikedal claimed in an interview he was pushed out for not being "the type of drummer" the band required. A month later it was announced that former 3 Doors Down drummer Daniel Adair was his replacement, and that Nickelback was jamming at Kroeger's studio in Vancouver in preparation for their next album. ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and the late Dimebag Darrell from Pantera were guests on the chart-topping All the Right Reasons, which saw release in October of 2005.

Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland - Promiscuous

Singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado heavily credits her ethnic background and childhood for spawning her creativity as a female and as an inspiring musician. Born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Furtado's working-class parents, who are of Portuguese descent, instilled a hardcore work ethic during her upbringing. She spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her housekeeping mother, quickly realizing what it meant to work for a living.

She turned to music for enjoyment, learning to play the guitar and the ukulele, and listened to mainstream R&B like Mariah Carey, TLC, Jodeci, Salt-N-Pepa, and Bell Biv DeVoe. Later, she delved into her older brother's collection of Radiohead, Pulp, Oasis, Portishead, the Verve, and U2, pushing Furtado to fully embrace different musical genres, specifically Brazilian music and material by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Amalia Rodrigues. Hip-hop was also a big catalyst in shaping Furtado's musical appreciation. After high school, she headed to Toronto where she worked at an alarm company by day and experienced the music scene by night. She joined a hip-hop duo, Nelstar, and this opportunity led Furtado back to her hip-hop influences of De La Soul and Digable Planets. This allowed her to get comfortable with writing her own melodies and freestyle rhymes.

When Furtado started cutting loose at a local Toronto club during the week, her musical aspirations began to swirl. Brian West and Gerald Eaton, of Canadian funk-pop group the Philosopher Kings, were instantly impressed by her strong sense of performing and asked to produce her demo. During those sessions, Furtado created some of the moving work that landed on her debut for Dreamworks, Whoa, Nelly!, released in fall 2000. A headlining tour of the U.S. in spring 2001 sparked more interest from fans and critics, and a spot on Moby's Area:One summer tour allowed singles "I'm Like a Bird" and "Turn Off the Light" to receive bigger praise. Furtado's greatest achievement followed a year later when she earned four Grammy nods, including Song of the Year for "I'm Like a Bird."

Folklore appeared in November 2003, nearly two months after Furtado gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Nevis. The record was a general disappointment, failing to capitalize on the success of her previous work. She didn't return to limelight until summer 2006, with her third record, Loose. Produced almost entirely by Timbaland and boasting a much more appealing and timely style, the album earned significant attention, putting Furtado's career back on the fast track. Lead track "Promiscuous" became an instant hit, earning her a number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Loose also topped the Billboard Top 200 album chart during its first week of release in later June 2006, becoming Furtado's first-ever number one album.

Nelly Furtado - Say It Right

Singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado heavily credits her ethnic background and childhood for spawning her creativity as a female and as an inspiring musician. Born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Furtado's working-class parents, who are of Portuguese descent, instilled a hardcore work ethic during her upbringing. She spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her housekeeping mother, quickly realizing what it meant to work for a living.

She turned to music for enjoyment, learning to play the guitar and the ukulele, and listened to mainstream R&B like Mariah Carey, TLC, Jodeci, Salt-N-Pepa, and Bell Biv DeVoe. Later, she delved into her older brother's collection of Radiohead, Pulp, Oasis, Portishead, the Verve, and U2, pushing Furtado to fully embrace different musical genres, specifically Brazilian music and material by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Amalia Rodrigues. Hip-hop was also a big catalyst in shaping Furtado's musical appreciation. After high school, she headed to Toronto where she worked at an alarm company by day and experienced the music scene by night. She joined a hip-hop duo, Nelstar, and this opportunity led Furtado back to her hip-hop influences of De La Soul and Digable Planets. This allowed her to get comfortable with writing her own melodies and freestyle rhymes.

When Furtado started cutting loose at a local Toronto club during the week, her musical aspirations began to swirl. Brian West and Gerald Eaton, of Canadian funk-pop group the Philosopher Kings, were instantly impressed by her strong sense of performing and asked to produce her demo. During those sessions, Furtado created some of the moving work that landed on her debut for Dreamworks, Whoa, Nelly!, released in fall 2000. A headlining tour of the U.S. in spring 2001 sparked more interest from fans and critics, and a spot on Moby's Area:One summer tour allowed singles "I'm Like a Bird" and "Turn Off the Light" to receive bigger praise. Furtado's greatest achievement followed a year later when she earned four Grammy nods, including Song of the Year for "I'm Like a Bird."

Folklore appeared in November 2003, nearly two months after Furtado gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Nevis. The record was a general disappointment, failing to capitalize on the success of her previous work. She didn't return to limelight until summer 2006, with her third record, Loose. Produced almost entirely by Timbaland and boasting a much more appealing and timely style, the album earned significant attention, putting Furtado's career back on the fast track. Lead track "Promiscuous" became an instant hit, earning her a number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Loose also topped the Billboard Top 200 album chart during its first week of release in later June 2006, becoming Furtado's first-ever number one album.

Vibekingz ft. Maliq - Like The Wind

Kings are not made but are born. If need be they bear themselves in their idealism, then at least the VIBEKINGz did it - a royal family of exactly the talents, whom it needs, around the local Charts somewhat more soul einzuhauchen. We may call it also Soul… from Germany to call.

Which is designated in the absence of better terms still than “Black Music”, long to a music culture beyond all national writing up developed. The VIBEKINGz is the best example: As activists from the most diverse countries and cities they bridge both local and stylistic borders, in order to work together just in Germany on something larger one. And because genuine Dedication is always recompenced, its first publication “Like The wind” developed also promptly to the summer hit.

In the original a Schlüsselsong for Patrick Swayze in “Dirty Dancing”, the VIBEKINGz DJ Size (Berlin) and DJ transformed S.T.A.T.I.C. (Hamburg) the existenzialistische Schmonzette into an extremely airily fitting with springs piece of Urban Soul. Majority of the charm of this radical new interpretation is to be due naturally also to the concise voice of Maliq. Citizen of Berlin the exception talent is not a blank sheet, it works already since a half eternity with colleagues such as Illmatic, a J-luffing and Culcha candela and/or with producers such as Peter Ries (N `Sync), Beathoavenz (Sido) and Silly Walks (Gentleman) - with its live-appearances, e.g. in the legend club or on the party of Jette Joop, he inspired the public in lively regularity, whereby he as sensitive Performer particularly with his source of inspiration #1, which “Ladies” a lasting impression left… Although its TRACK became „Nasty “already in New Yorker clubs and in the radio “high and runtergedudelt”, the success of “Like The wind is” also for Maliq primarily the long due commercial acknowledgment of a lived passion.

With its debut album the VIBEKINGz & Maliq place impressively under proof that “Like The wind” was only a comparatively laues Lüftchen, the gentle harbinger of a much stronger lift. And that becomes it with its TRACKs, all the same whether self-'s building or Coverversion carries, far beyond our widths into the most remote angles. Producer DJ S.T.A.T.I.C brings the requirement and the range of its common album on a denominator, if he speaks by right of a music, which can be heard problem-free “on the whole world”. In this world without borders find maintained Hip Hop, RnB and Dancehall likewise their place like gentle Balladen and Nu Soul.

The VIBEKINGz does not only consist momentarily in the core of humans to do those directly with the music has - singers, RWSby, Deejays, producer, dancer - nevertheless understands itself it as a production collective. They promise: “One does not need to be DJ or a singer, in order to be with us. If you feel which we feel, then also you are a VIBEKING. The more VIBEKINGz exist, the more contacts, friendships, ingenious ideas and synergies it in the future will give.”

And that it will also actually give, but the quality this album will certainly ensure. The prospects could be hardly better thus. The VIBEKINGz expects a golden future… and also Maliq, which will publish its solo debut in the next year.

High School Musical - We're All In This Together

The Album
Recorded in five days, the soundtrack for the Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical, was released on January 10, 2006 and was the best selling album of 2006 with over 3.8 million copies sold. It debuted at #143 on the Billboard 200, selling 6,469 copies in its first week and climbed to #1 on the Billboard album chart in early March and again in late March of 2006. It has been certified 4x Platinum.

The album has also reached #1 on both the iTunes Best Selling Albums and on Amazon.com's Top Sellers for Music, as well as producing five songs on the iTunes Top 10 Best Selling Songs, and also producing five Top 40 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The High School Musical soundtrack is also the first TV soundtrack to be No.1 in the Billboard since Miami Vice.

The Movie
High School Musical is an American made-for-television musical film, produced and distributed by Disney Channel, and was released on January 20, 2006.

The television film was one of the most successful Disney Channel Original Movies produced, with a sequel and a spin-off[2] confirmed and soundtrack that was the most commercially-successful album of 2006.

High School Musical is a story of two high school students: Troy Bolton, captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella Montez, a shy transfer student who excels in math and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical. Despite other students' attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella persist and inspire others along the way.

The Speaks - High

"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese”
- Chris Rock

A young, talented, and charismatic five-piece band from the Washington DC area, The Speaks are completely redefining the global image of rock music - shattering stereotypes, making believers out of naysayers, destroying everything in their path, and acquiring legions of new fans every single step along the way. From winning every major music competition they’ve entered, to rocking crowds of 25,000+ people, to gaining major support from DC101 (one of the most influential radio stations in the country) -- The Speaks are easily shaping up to be one of the most exciting, talked about rock bands to hit the music scene in years.

If you had to try and characterize these “rockstars-in-training” take the explosive live stage show of Velvet Revolver, add the eternal rock/anthemic appeal of Pearl Jam, and throw in the raw & emotional lyrical intensity of the Foo Fighters for good measure. In a changing new world where music seems to be erasing any existing racial boundaries, The Speaks -- whose members are all American-born, but of Asian heritage“ are poised to further prove that music is, indeed, the one true universal language.

Much like Jimi Hendrix, Living Color, Sevendust and Hootie and the Blowfish (c’mon admit it, when you first heard their music, you thought Hootie was a white dude!) have all changed the face of rock -- and Eminem and The Beastie Boys have changed the face of rap -- The Speaks are opening people’s minds and broaden peoples’ horizons with their driving, emotion-filled music in a unique, unprecedented package. Find out why industry people and fans alike are saying they are the next stage in musical evolution!

The Speaks’ amazing live performances and infectious sound have created a loyal and dedicated following within the local, national, and international music scene with fans all across the globe, the numbers are growing fast in the tens of thousands. Over the past 6 years, they have outlasted numerous growing pains to hone their craft and establish their current line-up. This knack for hard work has paid off for the band in January 2005, The Speaks acquired an international distribution deal overseas with Warner Music (Asia), with re-release of their independently-produced album “Life’s a Joke” in April 2005. Constant radio airplay, supported by two popular musicvideos in regular rotation on MTV Asia and MYX Music Channel, have established the band as one of the breakthrough acts of this year and it’s only a matter of time before record labels, and the rest of the world, takes notice.

Nelly Furtado - All Good Things (Come To An End)

Singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado heavily credits her ethnic background and childhood for spawning her creativity as a female and as an inspiring musician. Born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Furtado's working-class parents, who are of Portuguese descent, instilled a hardcore work ethic during her upbringing. She spent eight summers working as a chambermaid with her housekeeping mother, quickly realizing what it meant to work for a living.

She turned to music for enjoyment, learning to play the guitar and the ukulele, and listened to mainstream R&B like Mariah Carey, TLC, Jodeci, Salt-N-Pepa, and Bell Biv DeVoe. Later, she delved into her older brother's collection of Radiohead, Pulp, Oasis, Portishead, the Verve, and U2, pushing Furtado to fully embrace different musical genres, specifically Brazilian music and material by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Amalia Rodrigues. Hip-hop was also a big catalyst in shaping Furtado's musical appreciation. After high school, she headed to Toronto where she worked at an alarm company by day and experienced the music scene by night. She joined a hip-hop duo, Nelstar, and this opportunity led Furtado back to her hip-hop influences of De La Soul and Digable Planets. This allowed her to get comfortable with writing her own melodies and freestyle rhymes.

When Furtado started cutting loose at a local Toronto club during the week, her musical aspirations began to swirl. Brian West and Gerald Eaton, of Canadian funk-pop group the Philosopher Kings, were instantly impressed by her strong sense of performing and asked to produce her demo. During those sessions, Furtado created some of the moving work that landed on her debut for Dreamworks, Whoa, Nelly!, released in fall 2000. A headlining tour of the U.S. in spring 2001 sparked more interest from fans and critics, and a spot on Moby's Area:One summer tour allowed singles "I'm Like a Bird" and "Turn Off the Light" to receive bigger praise. Furtado's greatest achievement followed a year later when she earned four Grammy nods, including Song of the Year for "I'm Like a Bird."

Folklore appeared in November 2003, nearly two months after Furtado gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Nevis. The record was a general disappointment, failing to capitalize on the success of her previous work. She didn't return to limelight until summer 2006, with her third record, Loose. Produced almost entirely by Timbaland and boasting a much more appealing and timely style, the album earned significant attention, putting Furtado's career back on the fast track. Lead track "Promiscuous" became an instant hit, earning her a number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Loose also topped the Billboard Top 200 album chart during its first week of release in later June 2006, becoming Furtado's first-ever number one album.

Avril Lavigne - Keep Holding On

Wild child Avril Lavigne hit big in summer 2002 with her spiky-fun debut song, "Complicated," shifting pop music into a different direction.

Lavigne, who was 17 at the time, didn't seem concerned with the glamour of the TRL-dominated pop world and such confidence allowed her star power to soar. The middle of three children in small-town Napanee, Ontario, Lavigne's rock ambitions were noticeable around age two.

By her early teens, she was already writing songs and playing guitar. The church choir, local festivals, and county fairs also allowed Lavigne to get her voice heard, and luckily, Arista Records main man Antonio "L.A." Reid was listening. He offered her a deal, and at 16, Lavigne's musical dreams became reality. With Reid's assistance and a new Manhattan apartment, Lavigne found herself surrounded by prime songwriters and producers, but it wasn't impressive enough for her to continue.

She had always relied on her own ideas to create a musical spark, and things weren't going as planned. Lavigne wasn't disillusioned, though. She headed for Los Angeles and Nettwerk grabbed her. Producer/songwriter Clif Magness (Celine Dion, Wilson Phillips, Sheena Easton) tweaked Lavigne's melodic, edgy sound and her debut, Let Go, was the polished product.

Singles such as "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi" hit the Top Ten while "I'm with You" and "Losing Grip" did moderately well at radio. Butch Walker of the Marvelous 3, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida, and Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Good Charlotte) signed on to produce Lavigne's second album, Under My Skin, which appeared in May 2004. The album topped the Billboard charts and produced the number one hit "My Happy Ending. Other singles like "Nobody's Home" and "Fall to Pieces" did respectably well also.

Settling down a bit from her punk rock wild child persona, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, in July 2006.

The Fray - How To Save A Life

From the sleepy sprawl of America's Mile-High City comes The Fray, a Denver-based foursome whose melodic pop-rock songs and soaring vocals resonate with sprawling tapestries and tales of hopefulness and heartache.

Formed in 2002 by Isaac Slade (vocals, piano) and Joe King (guitar, vocals), The Fray earned a loyal grassroots following through impressive area gigs and the support of local radio which led a listen-driven campaign to get the band a record contract. With strong word-of-mouth, the band won "Best New Band" honors from Denver's Westword Magazine and garnered substantial airplay on two of Denver's top rock stations - the demo version of "Over My Head (Cable Car)" became KTCL's top 30 most played song of 2004 in just 4 months. The band signed to Epic Records in 2004 and will release their debut album "How To Save A Life" this September.

"Three years ago, I thought I wanted to start a real estate company," laughs co-founder King. A serendipitous encounter with former schoolmate Slade at a local music store begat an impromptu jam session that begat an impromptu songwriting session that begat The Fray. It wasn't your usual rock n' roll lineup - vocals, guitar and piano - but it worked. The uplifting, melody-driven songs were catchy enough to attract two former bandmates of Slade's - drummer Ben Wysocki and guitarist Dave Welsh. "Ben and I were basically a package deal at the time," explains Welsh. "Ben joined first, but I think he felt lonely without me."

It didn't hurt that the boys were all consummate musicians. A pianist from an early age, King competed in the local recital circuit before dropping piano altogether and picking up the guitar in junior high. "The coolest guys in my eighth grade class all played guitar," confides King. "I wanted to fit in." Slade began singing when he was eight, but temporary voice problems led him to discover the piano at age 11. After regaining his vocal abilities a year later, he continued studying piano and learned guitar in high school. "I wrote my first song at 16," explains Slade, "which is when I first picked up the guitar." Wysocki began taking drum lessons in the sixth grade, but only after having endured piano lessons at his parents' request. Welsh grew up in a musical household, and struggled with piano and saxophone before settling on guitar at age 12.

The lineup secure, all the band needed was a name. Jokes about the boys' tendency to battle it out over song composition led to the suggestion of "The Fray," and the name stuck. So did The Fray's style - a sophisticated, emotional blend of tinkling pianos, acoustic and electric guitars, and gently insistent rhythms that serves as an ideal backdrop for Slade's pitch-perfect, achingly beautiful vocals. The band's first single, "Over My Head (Cable Car)", echoes the poignant lyricism of Counting Crows and the melodic intensity of U2. The title track, "How To Save A Life", is a heartbreaking meditation on salvation inspired by Slade's experience as a mentor to a crack-addicted teen. Both songs employ an epic sweep, speeding up and slowing down so effortlessly that the listener can't help but become emotionally involved by the time the crescendo hits.

Considering the quality of songwriting involved, the band's rise to local prominence within the span of a year doesn't seem so implausible. In January of 2004 The Fray were no-namers trying to find gigs. By December, they were getting radio pick-up and playing sold-out shows at 500-capacity venues. With a series of U.S. tour dates supporting legendary geek rockers Weezer in July, The Fray will have the opportunity to make even more new fans by the time "How To Save A Life" drops in September 2005.

Shanadoo - Guilty Of Love

SHANADOO is an all female member group made up four young Japanese women from the PLATINUM PRODUCTION agency.

Chika, Junko, and Manami have worked together in the past as part of avex's promotional group, Vivace. Vivace's works include promotional work as race queens, bikini pinup modeling, and even a few eurobeat style recordings for various avex music compilations such as Girl's BOX. Marina was later added to the group as lead vocalist once the project went into production with noted German music producer, David Brandes, at the helm. Brandes' production works include numerous international hits with acts such as E-ROTIC, Bad Boys Blue, and Vanilla Ninja.

Released on June 16, 2006 through one of Brandes' record labels, ICEZONE MUSIC, SHANADOO's first single, King Kong, a cover of E-ROTIC's 2000 work of the same name, later popularized in 2005 by HINOI Team in Japan, was met with great success.

SHANADOO's works were exclusive to Germany and other European markets, such as Austria, until December of 2006, when avex announced that a then untitled debut album would be released on February 28, 2007 in Japan. In January of 2007, it was announced by ICEZONE MUSIC that SHANADOO's fourth single, to be released on March 09, 2007 in Germany, would be original content instead of a Japanese cover of E-ROTIC.

GUILTY OF LOVE is a Japanese cover of the English-language, THE POWER OF SEX, released in 1996, from the album of the same name by German dance act, E-ROTIC. The single also contains another song entitled, KONNICHIWA, a Japanese cover of the English-language JOHNNY Y, released in 2001 by E-ROTIC from the SEX GENERATION album.

Currently, GUILTY OF LOVE is exclusive to Germany and other European markets, such as Austria. There are no plans to bring the single to Japan.

Tobias Regner - Cool Without You

Tobias Regner (born August 5, 1982 in Teisendorf, Bavaria) is a German singer.

He became famous as the winner of the third season of Deutschland sucht den SuperStar, the German version of Pop Idol, broadcast between November 2005 and March 2006 by RTL. He is mostly known for singing rock songs and he fits the stereotype of "being hard outside and soft inside". He is the middle child of three sons born to a guitar teacher and a math teacher. He won DSDS on March 19 against his competitor Mike Leon Grosch, receiving 55 percent of the final vote.

Hinder - Lips Of An Angel

Post-grunge rockers Hinder got started in the early 2000s in Oklahoma City, where Joe Garvey and drummer Cody Hanson found Austin Winkler singing cover songs at a college party.

The three formed the nucleus of Hinder, and started landing gigs opening locally for acts like Theory of a Deadman. Lineup changes brought on guitarist Mark King and bassist Mike Rodden, and after an initial, self-released EP the quintet signed with Universal for their 2005 full-length debut, Extreme Behavior.

Lemon Ice - Stand By Me

Lemon Ice, hiding behind it, two full blood musicians GEENO & JAY LOW. As a producer, GEENO created two years ago its own company - UTOPIC MUSIC - without to suspect that he would wave off later short time also than singers of the project Lemon Ice.

Inspired by the creative idea giver JAY LOW, both decided to take up the Ben E. King classical author “Stand By Me” in a up-to-date new version. “Stand By Me” captivate at the same time by the unmistakable and soulige voice of GEENO, its head voice are correct, with leaves, geil, and by cool R&B Beats and the singular RAP of JAY LOW.

The video to “Stand By Me” was turned into renowned AVA Studios and stands for the American “Gangster Rappers and supersexy girls on fat carriages” - trick in nothing at all after, because Frauenflüsterer GEENO did not bring its “hottest contact” also to the video trick (as bonus TRACKs on the Maxi “Stand By Me”) - the PLAYBOY “PLAYMATE of the YEARLY 2005” GUILIANA MARINO - now featured by Lemon Ice!

Daz Sampson - Teenage Life

Daz Sampson started his music career as a mobile DJ but first found fame as the MC, songwriter and ideas man in Bus Stop. Bus Stop's debut single Kung Fu Fighting featuring Carl Douglas sold 250,000 copies in the UK and was a major international hit. Bus Stop had four hit singles in the UK and released two albums internationally before splitting. Daz formed the duo Rikki & Daz with John Matthews, their single Rhinestone Cowboy (Giddy Up Giddy Up) featured a new vocal from country music legend Glen Campbell, and reached number 12 in the UK .

Next up was a return to dance music - Daz was playing the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City when he heard Out Of Touch by Hall & Oates on the soundtrack. Within hours, his production partner Paul Keenan had knocked up a demo sampling Out Of Touch, and they formed Uniting Nations. The single sold well over 100,000 singles in the UK , and was a pan-European hit. There followed further Uniting Nations hit singles and an album that showcases Daz's ability to write original smash hooks of his own. Their reputation as one of the UK's leading commercial dance act was sealed when Smash Hits readers and T4 viewers voted them Best Dance Act at the last ever Pollwinners Party in 2005.

But through it all, Daz yearned to get back to making pop music, and Daz's greatest ambition to bring home the Eurovision crown to Britain . With that in mind he co-wrote Teenage Life long-term collaborator John Matthews.