Britney Spears Escapes Charges Over Paparazzi Accident
LiveDaily.com
Britney Spears will not face any charges over an incident last year in which she allegedly ran over a photographer's foot.
Los Angeles prosecutors said Spears was not at fault and the evidence doesn't prove that she knowingly left the scene of an accident, according to published reports. Deputy District Attorney Joseph Shidler noted in a report that it is possible Spears wasn't even aware that the alleged victim's foot had been struck due to the commotion and noise when a group of paparazzi surrounded the singer's car.
Prosecutors said a video, which circulated on the Internet, does not show the photographer's foot being run over; the photographer filed a police report about six months after the November incident. Prosecutors also said the only way the victim's foot could have been under Spears' tire, is if he himself had put it there, according to a Reuters report.
Coldplay Headed To No. 1
Billboard.com
On the heels of Lil Wayne's 1 million-plus debut sales week with "Tha Carter III," Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" (Capitol) will post similarly lofty numbers and bow at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 next week.
The set leads Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart, released today (June 18), with unweighted first-day sales of 316,000 copies through the close of business yesterday.
That is the third-biggest Tuesday Building Chart number registered since Nielsen launched the tally last September. Only Kanye West's "Graduation" (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam) and Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money/Universal Motown) racked up larger numbers, with 437,000 and 423,000, respectively.
A source close to the new album expects "Viva La Vida" to finish the week with a number in neighborhood of 700,000 to 750,000.
Coldplay's last album, 2005's "X&Y," debuted at No. 1 with 737,000 in its first full week and spent three weeks atop The Billboard 200. In that first week, 8.4% of its sales were digital, but all signs point to a much greater first-week digital share for "Viva La Vida."
Billboard estimates the nine merchants who report to Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart -- Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, Circuit City, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, Target, Anderson Merchandisers and Handleman Co. -- comprise about 80% of all U.S. album sales.
If Coldplay's album sells north of 700,000, it will be the first time since 2005 that the chart has housed back-to-back 700,000-plus sales weeks. It last happened when 50 Cent's "The Massacre" cleared more than 700,000 in its first two weeks at No. 1, the first of those clearing the 1 million mark.
Other albums likely to make top high debuts on The Billboard 200 next week based on first-day numbers reflected on Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart are the soundtrack to Disney Channel's "Camp Rock" (Walt Disney), the Offspring's "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" (Columbia) and Judas Priest's "Nostradmus" (Epic).
Coldplay will also be No. 1 for the first time in its career on tomorrow's Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Viva La Vida." The song shifts 246,000 downloads in its third week atop Hot Digital Songs and continues to build at multiple radio formats, holding top 20 rankings at Adult Top 40 (No. 15) and Modern Rock (No. 16).
Capitol has even more reason to celebrate, as the label's Katy Perry will move 4-2 with Greatest Gainer/Airplay honors on the Hot 100 for "I Kissed a Girl." This will mark the first time that Capitol has had the top two slots on the Hot 100 in the same week since Billboard's Sept. 2, 1967 issue, when the label had Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe" at No. 1 and the Beatles' "All You Need is Love" as the runner up.
In other Coldplay news, the group has tapped Santogold as the opening act for most of its North American tour, which begins July 14 in Los Angeles.
David Archuleta Checks In with Fans
David Archuleta checked in with fans on his blog at MySpace on Saturday (June 21). The 'American Idol' season seven runner-up writes:
Today we did a bunch of press stuff for the tour. Carly [Smithson] and I were partners and it was pretty fun haha. She's kinda like my mom of the group because she's always making sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to. I also had a photoshoot today which was a lot of fun. I actually used to hate pictures and would like run from any camera until about last summer. Yeah I was pretty weird haha. But anyway I've gotten a lot better with cameras and don't mind them, especially since they're everywhere now. I can probably thank Fish for overcoming my fear of cameras, since she had one everywhere we hung out last summer and I started getting the hang of it.
Tomorrow I have some other music stuff for the album and then I'm going to the 'Wall-E' movie premiere. I know I'm pretty immature, but Pixar movies are my favorite. They're just really clever and I love being a kid lol. I can't wait to see it. So tomorrow should be another fun day. That's all for right now!
-David
Mandy Moore Dating Ryan Adams, Mom Confuses Him With Bryan Adams
Gossip Star magazine reports Mandy Moore left her mother Stacy confused after revealing that she's dating Ryan Adams, with mom thinking Mandy was dating the 48-year-old singer Bryan Adams. "She told Mandy she loves his song 'Summer of '69,'" a source said. But 24-year-old Mandy explained that while they're both singers, Ryan's closer to her age at 33.
Mandy's mom better not make that mistake again if the Tennessean's report in 2002 was true. The newspaper said Ryan went ballistic after a fan in the crowd jokingly shouted out a request for 'Summer of '69'. Ryan started spewing expletives and ordered the house lights be turned on. Ryan then asked the audience to point out the offender, pulled $30 of ticket refund money from his wallet and gave the money to the fan, ordered the fan to leave and said he would not play another note until the the guy left.
Katy Perry Interviewed At 'Katy Karnival' Record Release Party
Multimedia Altitude caught up with Katy Perry at the singer's 'Katy Karnival' record release party at the Capitol Records parking lot on Tuesday (June 17). Katy talked about what separates her from the pack of other female pop artists, saying, "I want to push the envelope and I wanna do something different and exciting and make people, keep them on their toes at all times." Katy also talked about her favorite 4th of July moment and her summer fashion tips. Watch the interview below the fold.
