My selection of industri news

After being nominated at the Grammy® Awards and reaching platinum for sales of their albums, the Jonas Brothers have recently finalized the details of their upcoming world tour titled “The Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009.” The show will kick off at June 20 in the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas. The trio will then head out to 44 North American cities throughout the United States and Canada before going worldwide.
The world tour will include performances in sold-out arenas in the most popular cities in the world such as London’s Wembley Arena, Paris’ Zenith Arena and the Palacio De Deportes in Madrid. American Idol Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks is also set to tour with the band.

Google’s current inability to secure a licensing deal with Warner Music is causing yet more problems for YouTube users. Because of possible copyright infringement YouTube videos which include Warner-licensed songs are constantly being removed from the site. Even homemade versions of these copyrighted songs are being taken off of the site. The biggest loser in this dispute is of course the users.
YouTube’s motto encourages users to broadcast themselves, but surely this would be difficult if we have to constantly be conscious of the music we have or include in our videos. Some users would choose not to post their videos online if they knew that there was a possibility it would be removed anyway. Google is again showing its stubborn side and its time that they come up with an amicable solution before users begin complaining yet again.

April 5 will be a historic date for the World Wrestling Entertainment® as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of their most popular pay-per-view event. Wrestlemania 25 will be held at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas and fans from 24 countries around the world are expected to attend the event.
The main events of the show include WWE Champion Triple H defending his title against Randy Orton while the World Heavyweight Championship will be up for grabs in a triple threat match involving champ Edge, John Cena and The Big Show. Aside from the exciting matches the WWE also announced recently that both five-time Grammy® nominated rapper Kid Rock and Nicole Sherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls will be performing that same night. Fans will not only see great fights but will also be treated to a night of good music.

After securing an alcohol permit from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, popular theme park Six Flags Over Texas will begin selling beer to its customers starting this Saturday. Park officials say that they only intend to sell beer and that customers are only allowed to drink the booze in specific areas of the park. People are not allowed to roam around with a cup of beer in their hand.
Some see this as a controversial move as theme parks are usually catered for kids and exposure to alcohol may not be beneficial for them. Another thing is the increased risk of accidents within the park as people get intoxicated. Will other amusement parks follow in these footsteps and if so, what implications can we expect from this legalization?

George Weber, age 47, was found dead in his apartment by New York City Police in the morning of March 22. Police reported that they discovered the hands and feet of his lifeless body were bound by duct tape. An autopsy found that the former reporter died of multiple stab wounds to the neck, head, arms and torso.
A sixteen-year-old youth named John Katehis confessed to the murder and said that he had met Weber online and agreed to receive a fee for his services. The teen was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon and second degree murder.
George Weber was part of the ABC Radio Network and served as a reporter for famous radio programs such as “Curtis and Kuby.”

TBS has recently announced that they will be airing a late night show starting next fall and that it will be hosted by comic George Lopez. The show will be on at 11 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays but currently does not have a title yet.
The move is seen as TBS’s reaction to NBC’s changes in the talk show genre which saw Jay Leno moving to prime time and Conan O’Brien taking over as the host of the “Tonight” show this coming June. Former Saturday Night Live comedian Jimmy Fallon has recently replaced O’Brien time slot.
Lopez and his producers provided TBS with a copy of a pilot episode which did not comply with the usual talk show format. The show was taped outdoors and Lopez encouraged audience members to ask questions. The show’s first guests were Dane Cook, Eva Longoria and Samuel L. Jackson.

HBO has recently confirmed rumours that they are currently working on a new movie that portrays the relationship between former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former United States President Bill Clinton. The movie is entitled “The Special Relationship” and Dennis Quaid is set to play Clinton while Julianne Moore will be taking the role of his spouse and current United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Michael Sheen will be portraying the character of Tony Blair for a third time after playing the British politician previously in “The Deal” and “The Queen.” Sheen was also part of the Academy Award-nominated film “Frost/Nixon” which was written by Peter Morgan. The English screenwriter who wrote all three of the previously mentioned films will also be writing “The Special Relationship.”

After the shocking exit of Alexis Grace in last week’s episode of American Idol we are now down to the top 10. This week the hopefuls were asked to perform Motown hits. With the help of Motown legend Smokey Robinson, the contestants worked on their own versions of chart-toppers from the 70s and 60s.
The night was opened by two excellent performances by Matt Giraud who sang “Let’s Get It On,” and succeeded by Kris Allen’s take of another Marvin Gaye classic “How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You.” The judges loved Adam Lambert’s rendition of the Smokey Robinson hit “The Tracks of My Tears” and was deemed by Simon Cowell as the performance of the night.
All of the songs performed on the night, as well as contestants singing over original instrumental tracks from the 60s, will be available for download in iTunes.

Everyday hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans are losing their jobs and even powerhouse corporations such as Google fall victim to the global financial crisis. The internet company recently confirmed rumours regarding the layoffs and stated that they intend to let 200 staff members from the sales and marketing group go.
Although this is only a fraction of Google’s 20,000-strong workforce it is still a worrying fact as this is the largest layoff done by the corporation to date. Google got rid of 40 people in February when it closed its radio group after letting go of 100 recruiters last January. This just goes to show us that no one, not even Google, is invincible and that everyone seems to be suffering from the recession.

Myron Gottlieb and Garth Drabinsky, who co-founded Broadway theatre company Livent in the 90s are facing criminal charges for accounting fraud. The Tony award-winning duo established the Broadway theatre company which produced successful shows such as “Show Boat” and “Ragtime.” The Toronto-based organization was once the most successful theatre company in North America as it controlled theatres in Chicago, New York, Vancouver and Toronto.
The row dates back to 1999 when the two were indicted for allegedly submitting false financial statements that helped increase the corporation’s shareholder value by over $100 million. After nearly a decade the two ex-producers finally received their sentence as the judge gave them a maximum of 14 years behind bars. Turns out, even Broadway has its share of fraud and corruption.