Susan Boyle debuts at number 1 in Australia

Britain's Got Talent runner up Susan Boyle has scored big in Australia with her album reaching number 1 on the ARIA charts after just one week on shelves.

Her debut album I Dream a Dream has taken the world by storm and broke world records with pre-orders for the CD.

The album was also certified platinum status (70 000 units) sold.

Critics and fans are loving it as they get to hear Su-Bo take on some great classic songs from opera to the Rolling Stones.

Britney's 'Circus' a hit in Sydney!

by Nathan Taylor

Screw the rubbish reporting, screw the Britney bashing, screw journos who aren't even Britney fans who write bad things about her because it's apparently good reading. This is the real Britney Spears 'Circus' tour review from a fan that actually went to the concert!

Last night Britney Spears performed her first ever show in Sydney and managed to excite and thrill the crowd with a spectacle like no other.

The Britney experience was jam-packed with circus 'freak show' performers, hot dancers and some amazing visual features.

Each time Britney hit the stage for a new song she would change costumes, there would have to have been more than 10 costume changes throughout the night and each one more spectacular than the last.

While after all the media coverage the crowd were well aware of her lip-syncing but that didn't detract her fans from enjoying the concert. For the record, she did perform one song live 'Everytime' which sounded absolutely amazing.

Her other hits performed were 'Toxic', 'Baby one more time' and 'Womanizer' all in which excited the crowd for a bit of a dance.

A Britney Spears concert is definitely a spectacle. It's 90 minutes of unforgettable hits, amazing dancing, remarkable visual effects and you get that great wondrous feeling of seeing such an amazing pop icon live in front of your eyes.

So well done Britney and we all hope it's not too long between visits!

Britney Spears responds to backlash

by Nathan Taylor

Britney Spears has responded to the backlash she is receiving from Australia's media about her lip-synching.

Spears said this in a statement today: “I hear there is a lot of controversy in the media about my show. Some reporters have said they love it and some don’t. I came to Australia for my fans!”

This whole controversy hit the fan last week after Britney performed her first ever concert in Australia. One Aussie journalist decided to reveal to the world that Britney Spears for the most part lip-synchs through her concerts...Umm hey buddy, we all kinda already knew that! That's NOT why we are seeing her show, fans are seeing it for the whole spectacular that Britney Spears is and the fact she has never toured Australia before...(if I was her I wouldn't tour this country again!)

Britney seems like an easy target to the media and any story done on her...negative or positive is a gem...so it's no surprise news outlets pick up one story and run it to death without even doing their own research.

The Extra Source will be at Britney's first Sydney show next Monday, so expect another post from me this time next week with my thoughts on her concert.

Michael Jackson This Is It Review

by Nathan Taylor & Peter Lang

In less than a week the movie the world has been waiting for opened to an international box office take of over $100 million dollars.
This Is It the Michael Jackson documentary which shows MJ rehearsing for his upcoming comeback tour in London is fast becoming a world-wide phenomena.
Millions of Jackson's fans are praising it for the wonderful insights it provides into the perfectionist mind of this truly unique and talented individual whose life was cut way to short on June 25, 2009 at the age of 50.
The 'Peter Pan of Pop' is seen as a dedicated and hard working performer who cares not just about the concert but about his fellow performers as well. He may lose his cool every now and then or show his frustration but he always ends each mini outburst with the words "It's all for love".
Indeed, think what you will or like about Michael Jackson but after watching the movie, you can't help but think at the end of it, every song he sung, every dance he performed...it was..all for love.
To hear an in depth review of the movie This Is It why not have a listen to our special edition podcast by clicking this link: This Is It Podcast

Miley Cyrus named worst celebrity influence

by Nathan Taylor

I was surprised to hear today that Miley Cyrus was voted the Worst Celebrity Influence of 2009 and what makes this more crazy is that it was voted by her teenage fans.

Cyrus is without a doubt Disney's hottest star mostly thanks to her Hannah Montana TV show, movie and CDs.

Over the past few years raunchy photos have been released of the 17 year old and she also did a nice little pole-dancing routine during a performance on a teen awards show, but apart from that I think she is still a good role model to her young fans.

Perhaps her fans can't handle her growing up and breaking out of that Disney mould. Its also been confirmed that her series Hannah Montana will end next year.

Years ago Hilary Duff left Disney and is now doing more grown up roles and her music has become more adult oriented.

And even more recently Vanessa Hudgens of Disney's High School Musical fame who also copped alot of criticism for releasing naked photos of herself has finally broken away from Disney and in her next movie role she is playing a prostitute.

These child stars have to grow up sometime and as long as she lays of the drugs or crime path like other child stars in the past I think she is doing quite well thanks to the great family she has behind her.

Just for the record Britney Spears and Kanye West came in second and third respectively in the poll... Are those kids nuts??

Funniest Quotes by Paris Hilton & Jessica Simpson

We here at the Extra Source like to think we have a sense of humour and this is why this story had to be told.
Here are some un/intentionally funny quotes by two of Tinsel town’s favourite starlets, Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson.
To prove we’re not sexist, next week, we’ll do a story which highlights some of the funniest male celebrity quotes ever made.
Until then, enjoy this one, all the quotes were found and compiled from a much longer story by The Sun newspaper in London.
1) Paris Hilton talking to press about the US chain store: "Wal-Mart... do they like make walls there?"
2) Jessica Simpson on Newlyweds: “Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but it says 'Chicken by the Sea.'
3) Paris Hilton on her technique on the red carpet: "I don't really think, I just walk."
4) Jessica Simpson on her first day at high school: "A teacher asked us if anybody knew the names of the continents. I was sooo excited. I was like, Damn it! It's my first day of 7th grade, I'm in junior high and I know this answer. So I raised my hand, I was the first one, and I said A-E-I-O-U!" (which are vowels)
5)Jessica Simpson when offered buffalo wings: "Sorry I don't eat buffalo."
6) Paris Hilton on her title: "I don't want to be known as the Hilton heiress, because I didn't do anything for that."
Abdee Abdee That's All Folks!

BRAND NEW Michael Jackson This Is It clip released

by Nathan Taylor
With just one week to go before the Michael Jackson's documentary This Is It is released a brand new clip has surfaced to entice audiences to go see the movie...that's if they can still get tickets.
Sessions around the globe have already SOLD OUT for the two-week showing, which is no surprise considering the amount of Michael Jackson fans out there. For instance his official Facebook page has well over 10 million fans...(that must be almost everyone on Facebook)
In this extended clip shown below we see Michael Jackson perform his hit Human Nature in what looks like a number of separate rehearsals cut together to make one song.
Human Nature being one of my favourite MJ songs is performed quite superbly even for a rehearsal and it just further proves that Michael Jackson was a perfectionist.
So see what you think with the clip below and I do hope all Michael Jackson fans pay tribute to him by seeing this movie as it will be unforgettable!

Will Britney sing in Australia?

By Nathan Taylor

With Britney Spears headed Australia's way next month to tour for the first time I'd like share with you all what you may be in store for... and it's not all that pretty!

Below is a recently released video of one of Britney's concerts where her voice or should I say singing talent isn't quite up to scratch.

While it may seem pretty obvious that she mimes her way through all of her she shows... well technically she doesn't. As you will see in the clip below she DOES sing, however the audience can't hear her as they listen to a backing track of her singing, BUT she does sing into the mic to fool us all that she singing and her actual singing is picked upped in the control room.

Hard to explain but after you watch this video everyone going to her upcoming Aussie shows will be glad she is miming... or is she?

New Michael Jackson Song released

Michael Jackson's brand spanking new never-before-heard track 'This is It' was released early overnight on YouTube. The song which would have been the anthem for his concert series is now the title track to his upcoming documentary movie of the same name. The song is rather slow and a fairly nice ballad, but it is hard to tell from just 43sec of audio. The full version should be released tomorrow. But it makes me wonder how people get a hold of these songs so early... I wish they could give The Extra Source an exclusive!

Hotshot of the Weekend 2 - Tickled PINK!

This is a great picture of superstar singer Pink just released to the world-wide media last week via Pinkbrazil.com specifically to show off her many sexy tattoos and of course that's why it's posted right here on the Extra Source as our second HOTSHOT of the weekend but to make the post a little more interesting I've also put together some 'Pink Facts' courtesy of Australian website TV.com

* During Pink's Show on May 1 during 'Glitter in the Air', she slipped while the ribbon was been lifted into the air. So instead of singing, "Have you ever felt this way?", she sang, "Have you ever felt... Scared sh*tless? .... If I had fell, would you have laughed?"
* Funhouse has been certified five times Platinum in Australia with 418, 826 albums been sold.
* In Australia, Pink's album I'm Not Dead has been certified 8x Platinum, and has sold 560,000+ copies.

* In Australia, Pink's I'm Not Dead tour sold about 307,000 tickets, breaking Kylie Minogue's previous record. Although only seven shows for the tour were announced for Australia, the demand was so high the the total amount of shows rose to thirty-seven. Majority of these shows were sold out.

Story compiled by Peter Lang.

Black Eyed Peas FAIL to impress in Sydney

Last night The Black Eyed Peas kicked off their Australian tour last night from Sydney's Acer Arena and by all reports they were woeful!

The Extra Source had a source at the concert and in her words it was the "F***ing worst concert I have ever been to in my life."

She went onto say "They weren't good performers," she said. "They were out of tune, their mics were up way too loud and they were out of time."

This source even left early saying "It was a waste of a hundred bucks."

And I must agree! I attended the BEP Monkey Business Tour of 2005 and I was also very disappointed in the show they put on.

I will give them credit, all their albums and songs are brilliant, but performing LIVE, well... they are hopeless!

Here's some footage of the concert last night... judge for yourself:

Sabrina attacks Idol experience

by Nathan Taylor

Today on The Daily Telegraph blog I had the opportunity to ask Sabrina Batshon who was eliminated last night from Australian Idol what she thought of the standard of this year's series?

Also with Australian Idol being in a ratings slump this year, I asked her if she thought it was because of the low standard of contestants or that woeful new judge Jay Dee.

You'll be surprised on what she opened up about... here's what she said:

(sic) Thank you for the support but I dont wish to make the same mistake viewers did in judging people. The Idols are my best friends and I don’t have any ill feeling towars them. They are all extremely talented and I think Idol has created a bad name for itself. It’s the people that vote and the way the cookie crumbles. I think they need new judges. People are getting really bored and the judges are under alot of pressure to give a good show and when you are just saying things to entertain people, people get bored. Dicko’s gotten away with murder, and Marcia’s very kind. JDee needs alot of time to warm up. But with JDee you need 2 stronger judges, and Marcia and Dicko are not as strong. I think Dicko has said a lot of things, he makes derogatory comments and i don’t know if the fans agree with that, his jokes are not funny. We;ve watched that year after year and it gets boring. I didnt watch Idol beforehand, and I joined as I had no expectation. Kyle is fascinating to watch, he is funny and real and witty and not there to play games and they need that, its crucial for the show, and in my opinion i dont know if theyll bother airing it next year. Right now, they are just drowning. Im glad it did it though.

**The comments Sabrina made to me have been picked up as stories by The Daily Telegraph and TV Tonight. I wish they credited me for asking the question!**

Michael Jackson: This is it! Trailer

Last night at the MTV VMAS in New York the highly anticipated trailer for the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It! premiered to the world.
The movie which is to be released for two weeks only world-wide on October 28th and will set the box office alight.
The movie-documentary presents Jackson's concert rehearsal footage and other behind the scenes moments of his planned tour in London.
In my opinion the trailer is brilliant and I can't wait to see the entire thing on the big screen. It will be a great tribute but sad at the same time as we see what could have been.
Above is the movie poster for the This Is It! and below the brand new trailer only just released.
ENJOY!

Robbie Williams is BACK!

Yes ladies and some guys, Robbie Williams is heading to our shores this November to perform at the new-look 2009 ARIA Awards from Acer Arena.
Robbie hasn't been in Australia since his last concert series of 2006 (in which I attended) and has been out of the spotlight working on a brand new album which will be released very soon.
His last album Rudebox bombed, so everyone is anticipating his latest offering will see the Rock DJ at his best!
The Xtra Source will be LIVE this year from the ARIA Awards, so expect in the next couple of months all the run-down for the big event!
I've included a short 30-sec clip of Robbie's new song Bodies:

Home Alone star is Jackson's father

Well that's if you believe outstanding reports today that Macaulay Culkin is Blanket Jackson's mystery father.

The Home Alone film star is said to have donated sperm to help Jacko create his seven-year-old offspring - real name Prince Michael II - with an unknown surrogate mum.

It's well known that Jackson and Culkin had been friends for a very long time, so it's not that surprising that it could be the case.

A source has said even Culkin thinks he may be the father.

"This isn't just chitter-chatter, even Culkin suspects he's Blanket's father."

"Deep down, I think he always wished Mack was his son. Creating Blanket was the next best thing."

I think this has to be one of the more crazier suggestions of who Blanket's father is, but I still think Michael Jackson is his biological dad... I mean he looks just like him!

Michael Jackson spotted...ALIVE?

We here at The Xtra Source like to bring you the weird and wonderful. And this one may fall under the category of weird.
Since Michael Jackson's death there has been speculation he is still alive. Most of the rumours have him hiding out with Elvis somewhere in Mexico. But a video has surfaced today on YouTube showing a man that looks just like Jackson jumping out of the back of a coroner’s van.
The person who uploaded the video said in a statement, "This video shows that Michael was still alive after his dead body was transported to the Los Angeles Dept. of Coroner I checked the license plate number and it looks like the King of Pop is jumping out of the same van, his dead body has been in. I got the original video tape from a trustworthy source. I know him for years. And I am sure it´s real and Michael is alive."
While I'm pretty much 100% certain this is a fake, it does make you laugh none the less. And I'm sure Jackson would've found it funny as well!

Coming to Theaters: This Is It! The Michael Jackson Concert

by Nathan Taylor

Very exciting news for fans of Michael Jackson, Sony Pictures has announced the rehearsal concert footage from his This Is It tour will be released as a movie in theatres worldwide on October 30.

The announcement came after Sony struck a court-approved multi-million-dollar deal with the managers of the singer's estate to release footage of Jackson rehearsing ahead of his London shows.

Only a snippet of rehearsal footage was released to the world days after he died, so it'll be very fulfilling to see the full show.

The feature "will be drawn from hundreds of hours of rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage, captured in high definition with state-of-the-art digital sounds", Sony said.

I think this is a brilliant idea and a fantastic way for fans to see Jackson performing for the last time and to play it on the big screen is stroke of genius. Not only will it be very popular, but it also will help Jackson's family pay off some of his debts.

Akon has another child

Okay the paternity test is in!! While I wouldn't really usually report on the birth of celebrity babies, but I did find this rather interesting. Superstar R&B singer Akon has just fathered his SIXTH child. I know SIX!!

The guys somewhere between 36 and 28 years of age (no one knows how old Akon is by the way) and he has got six kids to four different women.

The latest child was a result of a bit of 'fun' on a recent tour in Uganda. And by the sounds of it he wants more and more.

Talking with New York Daily News, he said: "I think kids are a blessing. [To set the record straight], I never ran away from my responsibilities and I never plan to. Everything I am doing now is for [my other five kids] anyway, so the more kids I can have, the better.

Akon who is famous for the hits songs Smack That and I Wanna Love You is a Muslim, never drunk alcohol and owns a diamond mine in South Africa. I've been listening to this guy's music for about five years now and I didn't know how interesting he was.

So watch out ladies next time Akon is in town as he plans to continue to grow his family, but you may just have to wait for the paternity test to come through before he declares he is the father.

Oh Akon!

Michael Jackson: A Beautiful End

This morning I woke up at 2:50am to tune in to an event that I never thought I'd see for a very long time. Michael Jackson's Memorial service today was amazing, emotional and powerful.

The likes of Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, Usher, Jermaine Jackson all performed their hearts out and paid a very fitting and beautiful tribute to this genius.

As his golden casket laid there fit for a king, special words were said from many of his friends and family. So many beautiful quotes came from the Memorial one in particular stood out for me by long time friend Stevie Wonder, "As much as we feel we need Michael here with us, God must've needed him far more." A perfect line to help all Jackson fans move on.

But perhaps the biggest tear-jerker was when his daughter 11 year-old Paris spoke on stage which seemed very unplanned. When she said "He was the best father you could ever imagine" and that she loved him so much, I think that made the whole world shed a tear...including me.

Long Live The King... Michael Jackson 1958-2009.

Is this Jackson's ghost at Neverland?

It's up to you guys to decide what to make of this story but Michael Jackson fans around the world think that recent footage from a CNN special entitled Inside Neverland has filmed a brief moment of the shadow of Jackson walking across the corridor from left to right before disappearing. Neither the presenter nor the cameraman noticed anything.

This is out of no disrespect to Michael Jackson as I am a massive fan of him but I do think it's quite eerily interesting.

What do you think?

See the vision here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2H0Oh3Dxv0. Pay close attention to the 17 sec mark. And read further more from this story at The Sun website.