Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite Message Board

Tommy · Guru

RE: Shania mentions

Tommy · Guru

Here are a couple tidbits floating around Twitter:

1. Apparently Cory Churko (Shania's guitarist) is leaving Kelly Clarkson's band to return touring with Shania. Maybe he'll mention something on his website or Twitter account.
http://corychurko.com
http://twitter.com/cchurko

2. Country singer Jennette McCurdy tweeted yesterday: "Shania Twain is on my flight. Too corny if I say "up, up, up, can only go up from here"?"
http://twitter.com/jennettemccurdy

PurplePeopleEater · Guru

Tommy wrote:

Here are a couple tidbits floating around Twitter:

1. Apparently Cory Churko (Shania's guitarist) is leaving Kelly Clarkson's band to return touring with Shania. Maybe he'll mention something on his website or Twitter account.
http://corychurko.com
http://twitter.com/cchurko

2. Country singer Jennette McCurdy tweeted yesterday: "Shania Twain is on my flight. Too corny if I say "up, up, up, can only go up from here"?"
http://twitter.com/jennettemccurdy

All we have is unattributed twitter comments from someone ...so far .. on cory..

Tommy · Guru

PurplePeopleEater wrote:

Tommy wrote:

Here are a couple tidbits floating around Twitter:

1. Apparently Cory Churko (Shania's guitarist) is leaving Kelly Clarkson's band to return touring with Shania. Maybe he'll mention something on his website or Twitter account.
http://corychurko.com
http://twitter.com/cchurko

2. Country singer Jennette McCurdy tweeted yesterday: "Shania Twain is on my flight. Too corny if I say "up, up, up, can only go up from here"?"
http://twitter.com/jennettemccurdy

All we have is unattributed twitter comments from someone ...so far .. on cory..

Correct. Nothing from Cory himself.

Rumors are flying everywhere today!

UpUpUp · Guru

Tommy wrote:

PurplePeopleEater wrote:

Tommy wrote:

Here are a couple tidbits floating around Twitter:

1. Apparently Cory Churko (Shania's guitarist) is leaving Kelly Clarkson's band to return touring with Shania. Maybe he'll mention something on his website or Twitter account.
http://corychurko.com
http://twitter.com/cchurko

2. Country singer Jennette McCurdy tweeted yesterday: "Shania Twain is on my flight. Too corny if I say "up, up, up, can only go up from here"?"
http://twitter.com/jennettemccurdy

All we have is unattributed twitter comments from someone ...so far .. on cory..

Correct. Nothing from Cory himself.

And nothing from Kelly Clarkson herself. Here is Kelly's Twitter page, and she never mentions Shania anywhere :

http://twitter.com/kelly_clarkson

UpUpUp · Guru

Ok, here's what I found on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/_missakay said :

NEWS ABOUT KC'S BAND STRAIGHT FROM THE HER-Cory is touring with Shania & may not come back. Einar is touring with The Pixies & will be back!

missakay also said :

he's touring with Shania right now & Kelly told me that he may not even be coming back. he may stay with her.

So the tour rumor apparently started with Twitter user missakay She's supposedly a Kelly Clarkson fan who supposedly chatted with Clarkson today "for about 3-5 mintues" at a Kelly Clarkson show. But notice in that second message that she says Cory is touring with Shania RIGHT NOW. She doesn't say he's going to tour with her next year, she says right now. That makes no sense, and it doesn't seem like reliable information.

-- Edited by UpUpUp on Saturday 6th of November 2010 09:54:21 PM

PurplePeopleEater · Guru

UpUpUp wrote:

Ok, here's what I found on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/_missakay said :

NEWS ABOUT KC'S BAND STRAIGHT FROM THE HER-Cory is touring with Shania & may not come back. Einar is touring with The Pixies & will be back!

missakay also said :

he's touring with Shania right now & Kelly told me that he may not even be coming back. he may stay with her.

So the tour rumor apparently started with Twitter user missakay She's supposedly a Kelly Clarkson fan who supposedly chatted with Clarkson today "for about 3-5 mintues" at a show. But notice in that second message that she says Cory is touring with Shania RIGHT NOW. She doesn't say he's going to tour with her next year, she says right now. That makes no sense, and it doesn't seem like reliable information.

-- Edited by UpUpUp on Saturday 6th of November 2010 09:52:49 PM

They are probably touring in the parallel universe...

UpUpUp · Guru

I believe the Perez Hilton info that Shania is doing a Vegas show over this Twitter info that Cory is touring with Shania.

Unless they're referencing the same thing, and Cory is joining Shania for a Shania Vegas show. Watch, these two rumors will end up being connected. biggrin

Tommy · Guru

Must Watch: Taylor Swift Being Surprised, Over And Over Again

Whether she's at the CMAs or the VMAs, it's always the TSAs (Taylor Swift Awards, y'all). This girl racks up awards like nobody's business. Fearless has won more awards than any other country music album OF ALL TIME. Like more than Garth Brooks and Shania Twain and all those people. Taylor Swift's been nominated for over 100 awards and has won more than half of them. And even if some of them were like weird awards nobody's heard of, that's still a lot of hardware!

Still! Still, Taylor Swift is always completely and utterly shocked when she wins an award. Which prompted the folks over at VH1's TheFABlife to produce this incredible video documenting the many faces of shock and awe of Taylor Swift every time she wins an award.

Watch this incredible video of Taylor Swift acting super surprised every time her name's called. It's truly something to behold.

http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2010/11/17/taylor-swift-surprised-vide/

Tommy · Guru

People Country Special, December 2010
Page 58

"SHANIA RETURNS! After years of living outside the spotlight, the singer, who has a CD in the works, announced plans for a TV series and an autobiography in 2011."

Tommy · Guru

Copps at 25: concert venue has seen its highs and lows

Copps Coliseum's 25-year history as a concert venue got off to a slow start. The first two shows booked for the arena were cancelled owing to lack of interest.

A couple of overly enthusiastic promoters put up $6,000 rent to book an oldies rock lineup in to Copps for Dec. 14, 1985, just two weeks after the hockey rink's Nov. 30 grand opening. Jan and Dean, Bo Diddley, Gary U.S. Bonds, and Gary Lewis and the Playboys were set to play, but the show was cancelled shortly before it was to start. Only 2,479 seats were sold for a venue designed to hold more than 18,000. The promoters reportedly took a $55,000 bath.

A week later, a benefit show featuring hot young Burlington band The Spoons was also axed because of poor ticket sales.

Yes, it was an inauspicious start for Hamilton's gleaming new arena.

Things would change quickly. All Copps needed was the right act. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Thompson Twins pulled in a respectable 5,500 fans for a New Year's show a couple of weeks later. A near riot occurred outside the box office when tickets for Corey Hart went on sale. The venerable Bob Hope, at 82, managed to fill the place in February and the Hamilton phone system crashed the next month when it was announced that Kenny Rogers had been booked for two shows in March. Ticket buyers simply overloaded Ma Bell.

Do you have a favourite Copps memory? E-mail us at citizen@thespec.com.

More successes would follow — among them Michael Bublé, The Who, Britney Spears, Rush, Aerosmith, Cher, The Dixie Chicks, Rod Stewart, Pearl Jam, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Kings of Leon and The Grateful Dead. Many would sell out Copps multiple times. All in all, Copps has hosted 266 major concert events during its 25-year run. On average that's 10.6 a year. Last year, the number was 22.

For those keeping score, Bruce Springsteen's 2008 concert was the biggest grossing show in terms of revenue, reaping more than $1.9 million in ticket sales, followed by Elton John ($1.76 million), Shania Twain ($1.73 million) and U2 ($1.5 million). Twain, however, holds the attendance record. With her unique “in-the-round” stage, Twain was able to put 18,573 fans in seats. Springsteen drew 18,254.

As well, Copps hosted Prince Charles, Billy Graham (and several other crusaders), Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, a multitude of monster trucks, Queen Elizabeth II, an NDP leadership convention, several Jehovah's Witness gatherings, a Liberal leadership convention and a hoedown for 10,000 square dancers.

You probably wouldn't have guessed this, but Copps Coliseum is consistently among the top 100 concert venues in the world in terms of numbers of tickets sold. That's according to statistics compiled on a weekly basis by industry trade magazine Pollstar. In 2008, the year of the Springsteen concert, it even broke into the top 50.

“That is really astounding for a venue of its age,” says Duncan Gillespie, CEO of the Hamilton Entertainment and Conventions Facilities Inc. (HECFI), the public body that runs the city-owned facility that was built at a cost of $42 million. “What it does for this city is amazing.”

Not every concert, however, made money for HECFI. Some lost big, like the Bryan Adams 1996 show. HECFI needed ticket sales of 15,000 to break even. Only 9,000 people showed up. HECFI took a $65,000 loss, even after Adams waived $50,000 of his $350,000 fee. Who would have guessed? Adams was huge back then.

But that's the nature of the concert business. You win some. You lose some.

Even when you win big, you don't necessarily make a pile of money. Margins can be tight, especially with the big acts. The sold-out U2 concert, for example, was one of the best and biggest shows ever to grace this city. According to Gabe Macaluso, HECFI's general director from 1989 to 2003, HECFI made a profit of less than $25,000 on it.

While music fans can fight over which concert was the best, everybody can probably agree on which was the worst. It was the show that never happened. Actually, two shows that never happened. Luciano Pavarotti, the world's greatest tenor, cancelled two sold-out shows at Copps — the first, on Valentine's Day, 1999, just an hour before curtain time. Less than six months later, the maestro was good enough to give fans two days' notice when he bailed on the July makeup date. Pavarotti caught a cold, it seems, every time he got close to Hamilton.

It's not easy being a concert impresario at a place like Copps Coliseum.

There was a time when the brass at HECFI could lure acts through sheer determination. Macaluso takes full credit (as well as all of the shame) for luring Pavarotti to town. But he had his successes, too.

Macaluso flew to Nashville to entice Kenny Rogers here. At that time, Macaluso was head of Tourism Hamilton and organizing a benefit for the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation. Macaluso heard that Rogers' manager collected police memorabilia from around the world so Macaluso brought him down a Hamilton police hat and a couple of badges. The gifts worked. (The manager also liked the name of the building: Copps.) Smuggled Cuban cigars did the trick for Reba McEntire's manager. The promise of a makeshift campground at Chedoke golf course for The Grateful Dead's pot-smoking fans, wooed Jerry Garcia for two memorable shows in 1990 and two more in '92. It was Macaluso and former marketing manager Debra Vivian who convinced the Juno folks to move their awards show from the posh confines of Toronto's O'Keefe Centre, now named the Sony Centre, to the cavernous ambience of Copps.

“We said, ‘Open it up to the public. Wouldn't it be great to add the fan excitement to the show?'” recalls Macaluso about the Junos. “They came. We sold out. It was phenomenal and broadcast live across the country on CBC.”

Copps hosted the Junos five times, helping build the music awards into a nationally televised success story. Grammy organizers even sent a delegation up to Hamilton from New York in the '90s to see how we managed to turn a small awards show into a megaconcert event.

The concert promotion business is a different racket now, though. Tours are almost exclusively booked by giant conglomerates such as Live Nation and AEG Live. In their eyes, Copps suffers from location. The problem isn't Hamilton. It's Toronto. It's too close. Copps would be better off if it were another 100 kilometres down the highway, like London's John Labatt Centre. Then concert promoters would consider us a separate market. Instead, Hamilton tends to be considered part of … um … Toronto.

So, most of the time, Copps gets big acts only when places like the Air Canada Centre aren't available. When the Maple Leafs make the playoffs, we get the ACC shows. Sometimes we'll pick up acts like Springsteen or U2 after they've already played Toronto and they're swinging back through the area a few months later.

There are exceptions, however. Shania Twain chose to kick off her Up! tour here in 2003 because we were just the right distance from Toronto, close but not too close. Copps gave Twain a place to rehearse for two weeks in relative seclusion. If you were one of the lucky ones to see her around town, she was probably being trailed by two German shepherd guard dogs. They followed her pretty much everywhere. (“Don't make eye contact with the dogs,” her publicist advised.)

Size is another problem. Copps is too big for most concert tours these days. Back in the '70s and '80s, big arena tours dominated the market. In recent years, however, the number of acts able to fill large venues in secondary markets like Hamilton has declined, victims of the downloading epidemic that has infected the music industry. Record labels no longer have the money to take the risk pushing new bands they once did. With few exceptions — Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga — most arena artists are senior citizens like Elton John, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and The Who.

The trend combined this year with a sluggish North American economy to make 2010 a particularly rough year for promoters. Tours previously considered sure things — Jonas Brothers, the Eagles, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Sarah McLachlan — went flat.

The fewer than 4,000 tickets that sold for this year's American Idol live show in July at Copps was considered so low it forced the cancellation of eight other Idol concerts planned for the U.S. The Idols scored big for HECFI in 2009, but turned into a major money loser for 2010.

The concert climate will undoubtedly put a lot of red ink on this year's HECFI financial results, which come due at year's end. Nonetheless, Gillespie remains positive about the future.

“Copps Coliseum continues to be a significant contributor to this city,” Gillespie says, “It plays host to about 500,000 people each year and it will continue to do that.”

http://www.thespec.com/news/article/277114--copps-at-25-concert-venue-has-seen-its-highs-and-lows

Tommy · Guru

Vivi G., Sam Edelman women’s shoe salons open at 150 Worth
By ROBERT JANJGIAN
Daily News Fashion Editor

The country-pop singer-songwriter Shania Twain, is like many women nowadays when it comes to footwear, being of the mind, at least according to the lyrics of her recent release Shoes, that “a girl can never have too many of ’em."

With the addition of two new women’s shoe salons on the island, both at 150 Worth, the range of female footwear offerings is, of course greatly expanded this season.

What the Vivi G. and Sam Edelman shop introduce to the market are stylish pumps, sandals, boots and flats that appeal not only to fashionably minded sole seekers, but to budget-conscious shoppers as well.

Prices for a pair of kicks at either store are hardly at the bargain-basement, mass-retailer level, and each shoe purveyor considers their merchandise to be of the highest quality and up to luxury-category standards — and comparatively “affordable” when women’s designer-label shoes from such well-known makers as Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin and Jimmy Choo usually require an investment of $500 or more.

Arthur Weiner, of Arthur Weiner Enterprises, the Coral Gables retail management company that oversees leasing at 150 Worth, considers both shoe retailers to be luxury boutiques, appropriate as tenants in the Goodman Co.-owned island shopping center alongside Gucci, Saks Fifth Avenue, Louis Vuitton and other high-end stores.

“It is great to see two more stores taking up residence on the Avenue,” said Sherry Frankel, president of the Worth Avenue Association of merchants. “They both have great assortments that are up to the Palm Beach standard of quality and high style, but they also offer tremendous value, without having to wait for sales to snatch up a pair of trendy shoes.

“That’s something relatively new on the Avenue,” Frankel said. “The concept of affordable luxury.”

Shoe Mecca

Palm Beach’s Vivi G. is the third location for the multi-brand footwear and accessories boutique owned by Sherri Guggenheim, who has been a part-time island resident for the past quarter century. Two and a half years ago, Guggenheim started up Vivi G., having never been involved in retail from the selling side. Her first two shops are in Glen Mills and Wayne, Pa.

“I was a woman of leisure,” she said. “I’ve been power shopping with Jenny, my daughter, now 27 who works with me in the business, since she was in a stroller.

“I always wanted a boutique in Palm Beach,” Guggenheim said. “This is a shopping mecca — and I felt it was the right time to open here, as we can offer something for just about every woman at every price point.”

Shoes are the primary focus of Vivi G., along with assortments of handbags and accessories, including fashion and designer jewelry from Lee Angle, Alexis Bittar, Stephen Dweck and Vaubel.

Guggenheim works in partnership with Delman, and offers a wide range of styles from the venerable shoe company, including many models made especially for Vivi G. “So far, the number one seller here has been Delman’s boots,” Guggenheim said.

Shoes from Diane Von Furstenerg, Kate Spade, French Sole, Elaine Turner, Rebecca Minkoff and other designers are also featured. Shoes start at about $150 a pair, with a top price of about $750.

Handbags from Rodo, Carlos Falchi, Beirn and other makers cost $250 to $5,000.

“We can provide what all the girls need from day into evening,” Guggenheim said. “And they won’t have to pay $600 for entry-level shoes.”

Sole mates

Sam Edelman just debuted his first namesake boutique at 150 Worth. A 35-year shoe business veteran, Edelman and his wife, Libby, with whom he’s worked for 27 years, sold their very successful Sam & Libby brand in 1996 and in 2004 launched the Sam Edelman line. The company was later acquired by global footwear firm Brown Shoe, which also owns the Famous Footwear retail chain and brands such as Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl’s, Via Spiga and Buster Brown.

The first Sam Edelman shoe boutique came about when Murray Goodman, president of the Goodman Co., whose daughter has been a friend of the Edelmans for many years through the equestrian circuit in the Northeast and in Wellington (where the Edelmans have had a winter home since 1996), heard about a brand that was outselling Prada and other major designer shoe labels at a noted retailer in Nashville. Goodman thought it would be a great idea to bring such a label to the island market, and when he realized that he knew the Edelmans himself, encouraged them to open at 150 Worth.

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/business/vivi-g-sam-edelman-womens-shoe-salons-open-1076092.html

Tommy · Guru

Perfumier Coty Inc close to buying nail-polish maker OPI Products for $1 billion news
29 November 2010

Coty Inc, one of the world's largest fragrance maker, is reportedly close to buying nail-polish maker OPI Products Inc. for about $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal today reported.

The deal comes after New York-based privately owned Coty, which reported sales of $3.6 billion in 2009, had early this month signed a deal to buy Dr. Scheller Cosmetics AG of Germany and skin care and beauty company Philosophy from private- equity firm Carlyle Group. (See: Perfumier Coty Inc to buy Philosophy from Carlyle Group)

Founded in 1981, North Hollywood, California-based OPI manufactures and markets nail care cosmetics. Its products include nail polishes, hand lotions, hand and nail creams, and nail files.

According to London-based market research firm Euromonitor, OPI held around 6 per cent of the US nail-polish market last year.

founded in Paris in 1904 by François Coty, who is credited with founding the modern fragrance industry. The company holds 48 per cent share of the US fragrance market.

Coty Inc. has a portfolio of notable brands and delivers its innovative products to consumers in 90 markets worldwide.

The Coty brand portfolio is distributed in prestige and ultra-prestige stores and includes Calvin Klein, Davidoff, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker, Adidas, Beyoncé Knowles, Celine Dion, David and Victoria Beckham, Esprit, Pierre Cardin, Playboy, Shania Twain, Stetson, and Tonino Lamborghini among others.

The WSJ, citing sources said that the deal could be announced as early as today. But the negotiations could still fall apart, they add.

http://www.domain-b.com/industry/Personal_care/20101129_perfumier_coty.html

PurplePeopleEater · Guru

The last time I was in a nail polish salon I about keeled over dead from the odors.

There ought to be a law about that.

Tommy · Guru

Bigger than Bush? Sarah Palin uses Shania Twain as cover as she causes a sensation in Upper Kirby

By Sarah Rufca

11.29.10

Sarah Palin had her work cut out for her as hundreds of fans hit Borders in Upper Kirby for a few seconds of face time and a signed copy (or copies) of her new book America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag.

It was just after 11 a.m. when the first Palin fans emerged from an endless, snaking line with signed books in hand. "18 hours! It was worth it!" they whooped about the wait as the crowd applauded.

Palin herself seemed energetic and engaged, asking people about their businesses and cooing over babies. Her apple green jacket popped against the red Borders backdrop for a combo that was either Christmas-y or garish, depending on who you asked. Her outfit might have been perfect politician polish, but her four-inch black stiletto sandals winked at a less-buttoned-up Sarah.

Palin's signing was hectic, though more relaxed than the Secret Service-heavy signing by George W. Bush just a couple weeks ago at Barnes & Noble. People deposited all phones, cameras and purses when they entered the holding area immediately around Palin and the press were cordoned off 10 feet from the former governor and forbidden to ask questions

(Even "What do you think about all these Houstonians thinking it's cold today?" I would have loved to hear her opinion on that.

When either Borders or Palin's people suspected someone was shooting video, Shania Twain's greatest hits were cranked up to prevent the press outlets from using the footage with sound.

Members of the crowd described themselves as unabashed Palin fans, with Jonathan Reazin of Houston declaring he was "all wee-wee'd up" to meet her (we think that means excited), in part because his Palin-loving colleague couldn't make it. But even among the fans, opinions on Palin's political future were mixed.

Todd Killenger said he thought Palin should "definitely" run for president, while Elizabeth Lott had a more circumspect view.

"We were just talking about that. I would like it if she ran, I'm all for it, but there may be too many people with a negative opinion of her. It comes down to balancing what you want against who's going to win," Lott said.

At the bottom of the Borders stairs a a second Palin celebrity emerged, posing for photos with fans and handing out line markers/bookmarks. To our surprise it wasn't Bristol, the recent headline-making Dancing With The Stars finalist. It was 15-year-old Willow Palin, whose only claim to fame so far is being the butt of a bad David Letterman joke and calling her classmates homophobic slurs on Facebook. But when you're a Palin, I guess fame follows you.

According to Amazon, Palin's book is still behind Bush's memoir, Decision Points. But if this crowd is the judge, that will not be the case for long.

Editor's note: Don't miss CultureMap's exclusive video and story on W.'s River Oaks book signing visit earlier this month.

http://culturemap.com/newsdetail/11-29-10-bigger-than-bush-sarah-palin-causes-a-sensation-in-upper-kirby-and-uses-shania-twain-for-cover/

Tommy · Guru

Calgary chiropractor soothes celebrities
Star Treatment
By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald December 13, 2010

Chiropractor Murray Rosen posts pictures of the celebrities he has worked on.
Photograph by: Lorraine Hjalte, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald

Calgary Spine and Sport

Founded: 26 years ago

Practitioner: Dr. Murray Rosen

Employees: Three massage therapists, three chiropractic assistants

Location: Mayfair Place building, 224, 6707 Elbow Dr. S.W.

Square footage: 1,600 square feet

Phone: 403-252-5553

Website: http://www.calgaryspineandsport.com

Description: Treatments for total body wellness

---

He truly is the chiropractor to the stars.

And for the past 20 years Calgary's Murray Rosen has treated some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry.

When you walk into his Calgary Spine and Sport Chiropractic Clinic in the Mayfair Place building, you are met with literal walls of fame.

Roger Daltrey. Santana. KISS. Blue Rodeo. Billy Joel. Elvis Stojko. Faith Hill. Tina Turner. Eagles. Alabama. Bette Midler. ZZ Top. Tom Petty. Supertramp. Fleetwood Mac. Rod Stewart. AC/DC. Dixie Chicks. Nickelback. Shania Twain. Garth Brooks. Britney Spears. Celine Dion. Aerosmith. Cher. Janet Jackson. Alice Cooper.

These are some of the high-profile entertainers Rosen has dealt with over the past two decades.

Although the majority of Rosen's clients are average people, it helps business to have that celebrity connection.

"Hugely, because a lot of people in Canada are very skeptical of chiropractors unfortunately. And I guess if they see all these celebrity pictures on the wall, they think if it's good enough for Shania or Garth Brooks or Celine Dion, it's got to be good enough for me," he says.

For the past 26 years, Rosen, a native Calgarian, has operated the clinic. It is in 1,600 square feet of space and has three massage therapists and three chiropractic assistants.

The celebrity connection began 20 years ago when one of his patients -- working security at the Saddledome and the Corral -- overheard a member of band Megadeth complaining of severe low back pain. The client suggested he try Rosen's services.

Rosen now has rooms in the Saddledome, the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, the Max Bell Centre and the Jack Singer Concert Hall.

His clients also include professional athletes.

The majority of his celebrity business takes place off site at the venues but the odd time they will come to the office or he will go to their hotel rooms.

"We want to make sure there is no interference between the mind and the body. When there is interference, the body doesn't function as well and as a result of that the body breaks down," says Rosen.

A scan of the spine is done to determine what areas have interference and treatment is focused on those areas to remove any interference "to let the body's inborn ability heal itself."

Rosen says when subluxations -- nerve interference or damage -- impede nerve flow, health and vitality is compromised. Subluxations are caused by our inability to handle life's three major stressors -- physical, mental-emotional and chemical. The goal is to locate subluxations, remove them and their causes and heal the individual.

Rosen graduated from the University of Calgary with a biology degree then went to Davenport, Iowa, in 1982 to Palmer College of Chiropractic. He came back to Calgary and set up the clinic.

The office is busy and getting busier primarily because of the public's growing dissatisfaction of the current health-care system.

Calgary Herald

PurplePeopleEater · Guru

I guess chiropractors will always get a bum rap...it may be something about their name, eh?

Tommy · Guru

Tommy Hunter preparing to tour for final time

The Canadian Press

Canadian country legend Tommy Hunter says he’s preparing to walk away from a music career that has spanned more than 50 years because he simply doesn’t want to reach the point where he disappoints his audience.

“I’ve always set a high mark — when we were doing the television show, I tried to achieve high marks on all aspects of the show, and it’s the same thing with our personal appearances, I don’t take it for granted,” the 73-year-old Hunter said on the line from his Guelph, Ont., home on Thursday.

“One of the things that I was always fearful about, and I always said to people around me, is that if I ever felt that I couldn’t hit that mark, I would throw in the towel very, very quickly.

“Well, I haven’t hit that point yet, but it’s like anything else: you know that you’re getting older and someday it’s going to happen. And I’m in good health, I can still sing, so I want to go out when I can still do the things and not disappoint an audience.”

“It’s time for me. I feel that it’s time to pack it in and say goodbye and thank you to our audiences.”

Hunter’s farewell tour will play out in two parts, because, as he put it, “they didn’t want to have me do from Newfoundland straight through to British Columbia — they thought that would kill the old guy.”

The “Travellin’ Man” singer will kick things off in Ottawa on March 23 and wind through cities in Ontario, B.C., Alberta and Manitoba before finishing in Edmonton on April 17.

Beginning in 2012, he will embark on the second leg of the tour, beginning in Newfoundland and finishing in Ontario.

And then? Well, that’s it.

“I’m not going to go back and do my second annual farewell tour — or my third,” said a chuckling Hunter.

“I can tell you that right now. That’s not my style.”

Of course, Hunter is best-known for hosting CBC-TV’s “Tommy Hunter Show,” which began life in black-and-white in 1965 and remained on the air until 1992.

The show was a weekend staple for millions of Canadians, a fact that Hunter doesn’t regard lightly.

“I’ll be honest with you: the only reason that I’m able to travel and to do personal appearances today, there’s no other reason except the fact that I was on television for so many years,” he said. “A total of 36 years — nine years on ‘Country Hoedown’ and 26 years on the ‘Hunter’ show.

“For all of those years, I was in people’s living rooms. Back in the days when there was only one network — so they didn’t have a lot of choice! It was either on or off.”

One of Hunter’s goals with his show was to consciously steer away from the “hayseed” image of country music propagated elsewhere (notably on “Hee Haw,” which actually launched after Hunter’s show).

He also wanted to provide a platform for country musicians both young and old.

“The Tommy Hunter Show” served as a showcase for an exhaustive list of country’s brightest stars, including Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, the Judd family, Hank Snow, Clint Black, Martina McBride and even a young Shania Twain.

She sang on the show in 1980, with the name Eileen Twain.

“I never knew that she was going to achieve the stardom she did,” Hunter said, noting however that she did stand out.

“I mean, she certainly had the voice, she had the talent, she had the looks, you know, (but) sometimes I worry, I’ve seen other people who (have) good voices and are beautiful, but I don’t know whether they’ve got that drive, that stamina, that determination, and that’s what you need.”

Hunter too has had to persevere through trying times.

In 2004, he underwent successful surgery for prostate cancer. The personable singer now says he’s feeling well.

“I am absolutely in the pink of health,” he said. “I’m calling my doctor more often than I used to — that’s because I want to check and see how HE is.”

“I’ve got a clean bill of health. I go and see him every once in a while, if I get a cold or something. I’m always worried about going on the road. I wash my hands frequently, ‘cause you’re travelling a lot, you’ve gotta be aware.

“If I get sick, the show is over. So I can’t get sick.”

Yet the show will soon be over regardless.

While Hunter says he won’t miss the grind of touring, he loves connecting with fans along the way. He relays the story of a Kitchener, Ont., woman who burst into tears upon meeting him backstage because she felt that his CBC show was a consistent source of comfort for her family at a time when comfort was hard to find.

Hunter concedes that he’s feeling similarly sentimental heading into his final rounds of shows.

“I’m looking forward to it, and yet, it’s going to be very emotional for me and I know it’s emotional for my fans,” he said. “I don’t say this to brag, (but) it’s very tough for my audience to come and see a show where they can bring grandkids or grandma and grandpa or mom and dad, and set them down, and they don’t hear any swear words, they don’t hear any dirty jokes, no cursing, we don’t blast their eardrums out, there’s no smoke bombs, there’s no special effects.

“So you say, ‘Well, what do you do?’ And all I do is go out and keep doing memories. ‘Here’s a song that we introduced a number of years ago on television, it was written by so and so and I’m sure you’ll remember this night that we sat and we introduced it.’ And you start it, and they applaud, and they say, ‘Oh, yeah.’

“Now, the next part is, I look down and they’re all singing every line with me. Word for word. It’s so familiar, that they know all the songs. They know the songs sometimes better than I do.”

http://www.thespec.com/news/canada/article/302225--tommy-hunter-preparing-to-tour-for-final-time

Tommy · Guru

Just another example that CMT has execs walking around with sticks up their a$$.

Julianne Hough banned from CMT with her new “Is That Song Wrong” Video.

While Julianne Hough may have been just the right amount of hot and sexy when she was on Dancing with the Stars, she is too hot to handle for CMT. She recently released a new video for her song “Is That So Wrong” and apparently the answer from CMT is yes, that is so wrong. Wrong enough that they banned the video from playing on their network.

The video starts out innocently enough. It is a song about Julianne Hough wanting someone to hold and someone to love. She bumps into a handsome guy while carrying some stuff and in the collision she drops some flowers and doesn’t realize it. She then goes to her new apartment and starts to wonder if she will be all alone here. As the video starts to come to an end and the song picks up its pace Julianne Hough starts showing off those moves that made her a DWTS favorite. She does what might be the most elaborate striptease I have ever seen as she rolls and takes off her jacket then does a few more sexy moves and somehow slides out of her shirt. It is almost like watching a magic act. She is left on the bed in her bra and short, Daisy Duke style, cutoffs as she writhes around a little bit and does her best Britney Spears. As the video comes to an end she scrambles to get dressed and answer the door. Who should be there? None other than Mr. Handsome holding the flowers Julianne Hough had dropped.

It makes me wonder where their limit is. Sure, the video is very sexy and Julianne Hough looks amazing. The dancing at times is pretty sexy as well. But is this anything that Shania Twain wasn’t doing back when she was ruling the charts? Shania may not have shown as much skin, but she was plenty sexy. There have also been a few videos that have featured LeAnn Rimes in her t-shirt and panties. While LeAnn wasn’t dancing around, it was her in her underwear which is as much or less than Julianne is wearing here. Yet they were never banned. It is kind of interesting. I find myself wondering at times if sometimes if the country music establishment doesn’t like it when people try to cross over into it. I’m not saying they are discriminating, but just seems a little convenient to me. I have a feeling if it were Faith Hill that did this video they would rave about how great she looked, they wouldn’t be banning it.

Enjoy the Julianne Hough – Is That So Wrong banned video below:

http://robotceleb.com/news/28819-12172010-julianne-hough-banned-video.html

PurplePeopleEater · Guru

I seem to remember Deanna Carter in a plenty sexy vid with only her underwear on that nobody objected to at CMT.

Tommy · Guru

PurplePeopleEater wrote:

I seem to remember Deanna Carter in a plenty sexy vid with only her underwear on that nobody objected to at CMT.

Yeah, I know. And how about Faith Hill rolling around nude in bed with a sheet covering half her body.

Tommy · Guru

Today In Entertainment History
December 28

In 1993, country singer Shania Twain married producer Mutt Lange. They have since divorced.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=151992&catid=176

PurplePeopleEater · Guru

Tommy wrote:

PurplePeopleEater wrote:

I seem to remember Deanna Carter in a plenty sexy vid with only her underwear on that nobody objected to at CMT.

Yeah, I know. And how about Faith Hill rolling around nude in bed with a sheet covering half her body.

Deanna was far sexier IMHO.

Tommy · Guru

PurplePeopleEater wrote:

Tommy wrote:

PurplePeopleEater wrote:

I seem to remember Deanna Carter in a plenty sexy vid with only her underwear on that nobody objected to at CMT.

Yeah, I know. And how about Faith Hill rolling around nude in bed with a sheet covering half her body.

Deanna was far sexier IMHO.

To be honest, neiither does anything for me. Yawn!

Tommy · by Kevin John Coyne

Best of 2011?

by Kevin John Coyne

December 28, 2010

End-of-year lists abound, and we still have another on the way. But what about the best albums of 2011?

We’re in that super cool period of anticipation, where we wonder what the albums we know about will sound like, and hope that the albums that we don’t know about will be from artists who we can’t get enough of.

Right now, the announced albums that I’m most pumped for are the 2-CD live album from Todd Snider and the new studio album from Alison Krauss, both scheduled for release in early 2011.

Among the unannounced, I’m pining for new studio albums from Dwight Yoakam and Shania Twain. Feels like a lifetime since either had a proper album of new material.

If we’re getting into pipe dreams, I’ll add a new Dixie Chicks set into the mix.

What albums are you hoping for in 2011?

http://www.countryuniverse.net/2010/12/28/best-of-2011/

Tommy · Guru

A & E Venting!

— Shania Twain and Mutt Lange have apparently moved well beyond the era when married couples called on their friends and neighbours to swap garden tools and casserole recipes.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Venting/4034170/story.html

Tommy · Guru

Finding Love Again - A Lesson From Shania Twain

Have you ever had your heart broken? Discover how Shania Twain found love after her marriage failed

By Joe Amoia

Have you ever have your heart broken? Imagine how you would feel after you found out that your husband of 15 years, the father of your child, the man who was the co-writer and producer of your music and one of the biggest driving forces of your multi-platinum, multi-million dollar career was having an affair. And to make it worse he was having the affair with a woman who was very close to you, someone you would consider a very close friend. Now imagine that the news of his affair would be broadcast all over the world on every major television and news outlet, including the internet.

It would make you want to seriously consider giving up on love wouldn't it? But why is it that a person who can have their heart ripped out, have it put on display for the world to see is willing to take that chance again?

For many the experience of having their heart broken causes them to build an emotional wall that is impenetrable by any man and the experience of having their heart broken once scars them forever.

Yet, for others like Twain, no matter how much pain and suffering they have experienced they are willing to do it all over again for the sake of love.

What causes one person to close down and the other to put themselves out there and risk being hurt again? I don't think we'll ever know. But one thing I am sure of is that those individuals who win in life, whether in love or in business, know that they can never have what they desire if they give up after getting knocked down.

It would have been very easy for Shania to never get married again. But the fact that she is willing to walk down the same road and take that leap of faith is a testament to how wonderful and powerful love is.

Yes, the experience of having one's heart broken is one of the most painful things we can experience as human beings. But from the smile on her face in her wedding picture, it is obvious that the only way to find love again is let go of the past and embrace the future.

If you have had your heart broken and are looking to make sure you don't repeat the same mistakes I would like to offer you free access to my 5 day mini e-course; The 5 Biggest Mistakes Women Make in Dating. You can get instant access at http:// http://www.SmarterDatingForWomen.com

http://www.yourtango.com/proconnect/201167622/finding-love-again-lesson-shania-twain

Tommy · Guru

Oprah Going Vegan for 1 Week (+ 378 Staff Members)

February 1, 2011 in Vegetarian and Vegan

I’ve covered Bill Clinton sort of going vegan, Mike Tyson going vegan, and the Old Spice guy going on a vegan diet in the last year. Additionally, about one and a half years ago, I included a list of many notable vegetarians and vegans (including Carl Lewis — vegan, Bryan Adams — vegan, Andre 3000 — vegan, Russel Simmons — vegan, Albert Einstein, Elle Macpherson, Common, Josh Hartnett, Shania Twain, Hank Aaron, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Mary Tyler Moore, and Leonardo Da Vinci) in a post on how to become vegetarian.

Well, our editor, Becky Striepe, sort of decided to deem me the celebrity vegan/vegetarian writer for Eat Drink Better as a result and recently passed the news on to me that Oprah is going vegan for a week (and bringing 378 staff members with here). Couldn’t pass this one up.

The one-week vegan challenge was covered a bit on Oprah’s show today. It featured the likes of notable eco authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Kathy Freston and journalist Lisa Ling. Among other things, the show included a journey through a beef processing plant, something sure to make your stomach turn.

I imagine videos of the show are or will soon be floating around the internet (i.e. on YouTube). I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Oprah’s Gone Vegan Before

Surprise to me, but maybe not to you Oprah lovers out there, Oprah went vegan for three weeks back in 2008 (mostly for spiritual/moral reasons). While she said she was craving cheese and eggs during the diet (different from me — see the next page), she was also clear that she got a lot out of the experience.

“I am, for sure, more mindful of my choices. I’m eating a far more plant-based diet,” Oprah said. “Less processed food. Thinking about sugar and fat consumption not in terms of calories but in terms of what happens to my well-being.”

In the end, Oprah decided not to go vegetarian or vegan at the time but hinted at taking steps in such a direction. Maybe this is one more step towards a longer-term effort.

Just a couple weeks ago, she also covered Alicia Silverstone’s lifelong switch to veganism and the many benefits she’s seen from it.

http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2011/02/01/oprah-going-vegan-for-1-week-378-staff-members/

Tommy · Guru

Retired Nashville booking agent Ron Baird, former head of Creative Artists Agency's Nashville office and one of the genre's most successful agents of the 1990s and early 2000s, died in Nashville on February 3, of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 60.

Baird joined CAA in 1991 to open the company's Nashville office. The one-man operation that started in his garage grew into the 55-person team it is today. In his 13 years as a CAA agent, Baird handled the touring for such artists as Clint Black, Billy Dean, Jennifer Hanson, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Barbara Mandrell, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Joe Nichols, Olivia Newton-John, and Shania Twain, among many others. Ron retired in 2004 after wrapping Twain's tour of 2003-2004, which at that time was the highest-grossing tour ever by a female country artist at about $90 million, according to Billboard Boxscore.

"Ron was an extraordinary man whose dedication to and passion for his clients and colleagues alike have long inspired us. He had great love of music, a heart of gold and a generous spirit, and it is those qualities that will be the legacy of this wonderful soul. Ron will always be the cornerstone of CAA Nashville. It was an honor to know him and we extend our deepest sympathies to Ron's beloved family," said Rob Light, managing partner and head of the music department at CAA, in a statement.

A Montana native, Baird formed his first band when he was in the second grade, and played his first paid gig when he was in the fourth grade. He toured the Western U.S. before pursuing higher education, graduating from the University of Montana with a degree in Philosophy.

In 1975, began working as an agent at the Good Music Agency, a small rock-and-roll agency based in Missoula, Montana. He accepted a job in 1977 at Jim Halsey Co. in Tulsa, Okla., at the time the top country music agency. At Halsey Baird booked Roy Clark, Merle Haggard, George Jones, the Judds, Ronnie Milsap, Rick Nelson, Tammy Wynette and Dottie West, among others.

By 1987, Jim Halsey Co. had moved its headquarters to Nashville and Baird was elevated to senior vice president and general sales manager. A year later, the firm was acquired by the William Morris Agency. Ron accepted a position with CAA in 1991.

Ron served as Chairman of the Board for the Country Music Association in 2003, and was President of the Country Music Association in 2002. He was also an associate board member of W.O. Smith and an alumnus of Leadership Music.

Baird is survived by his wife Cheryl, their sons John (and wife Jenny) and Marc (and wife Kennon); and four grandchildren, James, Kate, Finley and Cooper.

A memorial service is planned for Feb. 9 from 5 - 7 p.m. at Hillwood Country Club (6201 Hickory Valley Road, Nashville, TN). In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Lewy Body Dementia Association; The Salvation Army; and the Glacier National Park Fund.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ron-baird-influential-nashville-agent-dies-96907

Tommy · Guru

OFFSTAGE: Shania Twain Song a Winner for Idol Contestant

February 7, 2011; Written by Alison Bonaguro

(CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.)

It's been a while since someone has pulled out a mid-'90s Shania Twain song on American Idol, but it worked for Janelle Arthur. She certainly has the country chops to sing Twain, having performed with the Country Tonite group in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., since 2005. But she didn't start her audition on last week's show with country. She started with Duffy's "Syrup & Honey," which was nice, but then judge Steven Tyler asked her, "You got something else a little up-tempo?" That's when she launched into a Twain's "No One Needs to Know." And that earned the 20-year-old three enthusiastic "yes" votes from the judges. Like her father told Ryan Seacrest outside the audition room, "We know she's a star. We just want the world to know it."

http://www.cmt.com/news/cmt-offstage/1657380/offstage-shania-twain-song-a-winner-for-idol-contestant.jhtml

mariana · Senior Member

The Woman In Me
(released February 7, 1995)
1995 The Woman in Me 12 - 14.300.000!!! Wow!!!
Congratulations Shania!
Happy The Woman In Me everyone!!!!

Tommy · Guru

Maxim's Hottest Women of Country Music

Shania Twain

Canada's hottest songbird (sorry, Celine) redefined country music with her catchy, pop-rockin' ditties and sexy, midriff-flaunting getups. We know she just t remarried, but we're still holding out hope...

http://www.maxim.com/amg/MUSIC/Slideshows/Hottest+Women+of+Country+Music

Tommy · Guru

Timmins native Mark Lawson engineers Album of the Year Award for Arcade Fire
By Ron Grech, The Daily Press

Mark Lawson has achieved a distinction only equalled by Shania Twain.

Both are former Timmins residents who now have their names etched on a Grammy Award.

Lawson was a recording engineer for Arcade Fire's latest release The Suburbs which won the Grammy's most prestigious award — Album of the Year.

The best album award is presented to the band members, producer and engineers who work on the year's top release.

The indie band from Montreal was virtually a David competing against internationally renowned Goliaths including Lady Gaga, Eminem and Katy Perry.

Lawson, who was in Los Angeles on Sunday for the event and joined the band up on stage to receive the award, admits he was shocked by the victory.

"I really didn't believe they were going to win," said Lawson. "Even the applause in the room was hushed" when they were listing the nominees and "said the name Arcade Fire. And then they said Katy Perry and the crowd went nuts. But I guess it's not the People Choice Awards."

Lawson, who was born in Timmins and moved away when he was 19, always had an interest in music, initially on the performance side.

In the late 1990s, he played bass in a couple of local Germs-inspired punk bands, including one that performed under the name Cud.

Shortly after moving away, Lawson did an eight-month internship working in a recording studio in Casablanca, Morocco.

He moved to British Columbia where he did some audio production work on the Canadian television series Da Vinci's Inquest before settling in Montreal as a freelance recording engineer.

Lawson, who has now been working as a studio engineer for 11 years, had become friends with a number of Montreal-based indie artists. He said that is how he ended up being invited by Arcade Fire to engineer the band's third album.

"They asked me to do the recording, sort of keeping it in the family," he said.

Only days since he was announced a Grammy winner, Lawson said he has already received an influx of inquiries from musicians wanting him to work with them in the studio and mix their albums.

"I had been busy before that but this definitely gets me out there a bit more," he said. "I actually got recognized on the plane" on the flight back from Los Angeles.

Lawson said the role of an engineer can vary from one band to the next. He said a good producer and engineer can actually have a lot of influence on the sound and direction of a recording.

"You might be in a band that has made four records. The engineers and producers will worked on anywhere from 40 to 400. When you've been making a lot of records with different bands, you can throw a lot more ideas around."

Lawson said he recently finished working with Toronto folk band Timber Timbre, engineering their yet-to-be released album Creep On Creepin' On.

"They're on tour in France and it's a really great record. It's coming out any day now."

Lawson said he still has connections in Timmins including his dad, his grandparents and a lot of old friends.

After winning the Grammy, he said he received a whole slew of e-mails and calls from his friends and relatives from Timmins.

His father Andy was among those who expressed their pride.

He told The Daily Press, "I'm happy. I've never seen someone work so hard in music."

For more about Lawson online, see his website at marklawson.net or on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/6jqna6u.

http://www.thedailypress.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2983824

Tommy · Guru

Maxim's Hottest Women In Country Music

(RTTNews) - Maxim has revealed their list of the hottest women in country music and this year Hollywood icon Gwyneth Paltrow tops the list.

Other country ladies on the list include Taylor Swift, Julie Roberts, Shania Twain, Julianne Hough, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Gloriana's Cheyenne Kimball, Miranda Lambert, Sara Evans, Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott and Sunny Sweeney.

Gwyneth made a splash in the country music world in 2010 when she chose to sing her own vocals in her latest film Country Strong.

Gwyneth earned widespread praise for her vocal performance in the film and has since given live performances at the ACM Awards and the Grammys. According to Maxim, her looks don't hurt either.

"Gwyneth does her own singing as the troubled lead character in 'Country Strong,'" the men's magazine reports. "She does a much better job than Clint Eastwood in 'Honkytonk Man.' And looks far hotter, to boot."

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/EntertainmentNews.aspx?Section=2&Id=1556208&SM=1

Tommy · Guru

JaneDear Girls Bloom With "Wildflower"

Duo Release New Album, Receive Two ACM Nominations

On your website, both of you cited Keith Urban and Shania Twain as influences. How did those artists contribute to your musical vision?

Leverett: Keith Urban really is the reason that I first fell in love with country music -- like really fell in love. I loved how he took kinda rockin' music and played it with the ganjo [a banjo with a guitar neck] and had these innovative melodies but with lyrics that related to the country demographic -- and also to just really anyone. I take pride in being part of a genre that cares so much about their lyrical content. The songs that we sing make sense and they're thought-out and sometimes they're even pretty brilliant lyrically. I think Keith was the best of both worlds, musically and lyrically. He really spoke to me.

Brown: I've always been a big fan of Shania Twain. She put out a lot of songs that were really empowering to women and made them feel good about themselves. I think as female artists as well, that is something that is important to us -- to speak to our audience like that and make them feel good about themselves.

http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1658550/janedear-girls-bloom-with-wildflower.jhtml

Tommy · Guru

Posted Toronto
Five things to do this week: March 5-11
Jason Rehel March 4, 2011 – 8:05 am

The Art of Canadian Music is a collection of new portraits of our nation's musicians, from impressionist to realist, and from Canadian soprano legend Adrianne Pieczonka to country starlet Shania Twain. For details on the exhibition, see No. 4 below.

1. Who the heck is James Taylor? Between M. Ward and Pete Yorn, the landscape of American singer-songwriters is being rewritten in the image of Generation X, even if the themes, especially on Yorn’s latest album, of alienation, the open road and death, are universal. You know, that and teaming up with a Hollywood starlet for your side project. March 5, 8 p.m. Opera House, 735 Queen St. E. $25; tickets at Rotate This, Soundscapes.

2. We die within days without it. Astrophysicists scan the universe looking for the slightest traces of it. And most of us take it for granted when we turn on the taps. Water: The Exhibition offers up the Royal Ontario Museum’s take on the precious resource, examining everything from global fresh water distribution to the state of Great Lakes’ wetlands — with displays of a few water monsters thrown in for good measure. Mar. 5 to Sept. 5. 100 Queen’s Park. $31. rom.on.ca.

3. Honouring International Women’s Day next week, chef Lynn Crawford leads a star-studded lineup of female chefs such as Anne Yarymowich (AGO), Donna Dooher (Mildred’s Temple Kitchen) and half a dozen others for Kitchen Sisters, a four-course meal in support of Sistering, a community group that supports women in need with material goods and advocacy. Diners will be treated to cedar planked Ontario trout, braised beef short ribs and a farm-fresh rhubarb tart. Warm, fuzzy feeling included. Mar. 8, 6 p.m. Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, 85 Hanna Ave. $500 ($350 tax receipt); sistering.org or call 416-926-9762 ext. 243.

4. The Portrait Society of Canada celebrates a new group of works that adds to the case for a permanent, publicly accessible home. This year, The Art of Canadian Music showcases members’ portraits of our musicians, including the likes of Louise Pitre, Shania Twain and dozens of others. Mar. 8-Apr. 1. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. John B. Aird Gallery, 900 Bay St. Free; airdgallery.org.

5. As always, the comedic chameleons of Second City are tuned directly into the zeitgeist: This Party’s a Riot, the company’s 67th mainstage revue, revels in Middle East protests, Jersey Shore and the notion of freedom. Can a cameo by Muammar Gadaffi be expected? We sure hope so. Open Mar. 8, Tues.-Sun. The Second City, 51 Mercer St. $24-$29; secondcity.com.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/03/04/five-things-to-do-this-week-march-5-11/

Tommy · Guru

Tonight at 8:00pm ET/PT on FOX.

American Idol 10 Top 13 Song Spoilers - The Theme Is Sing Boring Ass Ballads
Posted by thefunnystone on Tuesday, March 08, 2011 at 9:09 PM EST

The theme for the top 13 is some bull**** like "songs from your favorite artist." So expect a crapshoot. Rickey's got spoilers, so we'll update them here as they come in. These are in performance order.

1. Lauren Alaina – Any Man of Mine (Shania Twain)
2. Casey Abrams – With A Little Help From My Friends (The Beatles)
3. Ashthon Jones – When You Tell Me That You Love Me (Diana Ross)
4. Paul McDonald – Come Pick Me Up (Ryan Adams)
5. Pia Toscano – All By Myself (Eric Carmen)
6. James Durbin – Maybe I'm Amazed (Paul McCartney)
7. Haley Reinhart – Blue (Leann Rimes) - she yodels during her performance
8. Jacob Lusk – I Believe I Can Fly (R. Kelly)
9. Thia Megia – Smile (Charlie Chaplin)
10. Stefano Langone – Lately (Stevie Wonder)
11. Karen Rodriguez – I Could Fall in Love (Selena)
12. Scotty McCreery – The River (Garth Brooks)
13. Naima Adedapo – Umbrella (Rihanna)

As Smartie said, it looks like the theme this week is Boring Songs That Make You Want to Kill Yourself. How many f'ing ballads can you do in one week? Can we make it through this list without slitting our wrists? Holy ****, people, pick better songs. The song selections that look like VFTW standouts are Haley, Paul, Casey, and Naima.

http://www.votefortheworst.com/story/667050/american-idol-10-top-13-song-spoilers

Tommy · Guru

Lauren Alaina's no Shania Twain

By Brian Mansfield, USA TODAY

Tonight, the Idols will sing songs by their personal Idols. They also got to work for the first time with Jimmy Iovine and his crew of A-list producers.

Lauren Alaina has picked Shania Twain's Any Man of Mine. "She's like a country music legend," says Lauren, who says she hopes to be a diva like Shania one day. She cut the studio version with Don Was, who has worked with the likes of Bonnie Raitt and the Rolling Stones. "I think she's real star," Was says.

Lauren shows a lot of personality on her performance. It's not the best vocal performance we've seen from her, but it's solid in all the most important places. She's got a megawatt smile, but it's lacking that little something extra. Still, I've got to think the producers are happy with her appeal, or they wouldn't have risked putting her in the lead slot.

Steven says he loves the song but wishes it had been a little more kick-ass. Jennifer thinks she always sounds amazing, but she wants her to kick it into high gear: "The competition starts today." Randy says they were hoping for more of the girl they first saw.

Lauren looks like she's not used to getting criticized, but she smiles through it. "I mean, I had a good time," she says.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/post/2011/03/lauren-alainas-no-shania-twain/1

Tommy · Guru

6. Lauren Alaina: "Any Man of Mine" by Shania Twain

I can see how Shania is Lauren's Idol, but there are better songs by Shania to show off her voice. Predictably, the verse is weak. It's just a mish-mash of words with no real singing. The chorus gets a little better, but Lauren sounds really out of breath and she is not working that stage at all. This is a really milquetoast performance. Tyler is on point with saying he wants it to be a little more "kick ass." Yep.

Her post-performance interview is super-awkward, since she thought she had nailed it and the judges really took the wind out of her sails. It's OK, Peaches.

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2011/03/american-idol-top-13-james-durbin-wows-naima-adedapo-rocks-some-reggae.html

Tommy · Guru

Lauren Alaina on American Idol - Yeah I like it that way

Lauren Alaina in her cute blue ruffly top and black belt, knocked her song out of the ball park. She sang 'Any Man of Mine' by Shania Twain. With country leanings to the song it was a good choice, but was not quite good enough to impress the judges totally.

Steve Tyler loved her voice and the song, but that it wasn't quite there for him. Jennifer wants Lauren to kick it into high gear.

"You have an amazing voice, competition starts today, we love you" - JLO

WE want America to see more of the girl like before, it was good were the thoughts of Randy Jackson.

Lauren has all the makings of an American Idol and she may be the one to beat, but clearly tonight she did not set the bar very high for the other contestants.

http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-headlines-in-national/lauren-on-american-idol-yeah-i-like-it-that-way

Tommy · Guru

mariana wrote:

Marcela Morelo sings now covers

The singer released his new studio album "Another plan" which contains covers of great songs of the 70 Anglo, 80 and 90, in Spanish, his first experience as an interpreter of songs that are not their own but that marked different periods of life.

"Honestly," said Morel in dialogue with Télam-wanted to make a different album to come out of my songs and took things that I scored at different times of my life, but versions in Spanish and fully arranged for us. "

"Hence the title of` A plan 'because the public was always used to getting their own songs with stories that happen to me I have now is to find a Morelo who plays and I feel fine versions of the final achievement, " argued.

"It started with a personal need, he said, was dressed as a performer and is the first time I do to sing songs that are not mine, but have much to do with my career and my life."

It was recorded at Studio Pillars and Panda in Buenos Aires and mastered at Sterling Sound in New York, with the arrangement, direction and production of Rodolfo Lugo.

We should have listened Rodolfo (Lugo) more than 100 songs, we would for a second and a third volume, but we are on stage, for now enjoy this, as known.

New album has songs like "Luz de luna" (Moonlight shadow) by Mike Oldfield, "Creer" (Believe) by Cher, "Desde ahora" (Fron This Moment On) By Shania Twan, "Todo mi amor eres tú" (I just can't stop loving you) by Michael Jackson, "Si me dejas ahora" (If you leave me now) de Chicago, "Amame una vez más" (Do that me one more time) by The Captain Tennille, "Por el mundo voy" (All around the world) by Lisa Stanfield, "Tienes un amigo" (You've got a friend) by James Taylor & Carole King y "Vamos" (Roam)de B-52´S.

http://www.marcelamorelo.com.ar/

Tommy · Guru

Lauren Alaina: Any Man of Mine

Lauren Alaina kicked off the first Finalists' show of the season with the up-tempo Shania Twain song, "Any Man Of Mine." The judges love her voice, but they want her to kick it into high gear.

Click Link For Video

http://www.americanidol.com/videos/season_10/performances/lauren_alaina_any_man_of_mine/?ref=ai10_contestants_profile_judge_comments

Tommy · Guru

The theme was “Your Personal Idol,” and each chose songs from an artist who means something to them.

Lauren Alaina chose Shania Twain, predictably, with “Any Man of Mine.” “Shania Twain is a country music diva, and hopefully one day I will be, too,” she grinned at the camera. Alaina looked adorable for her performance, but she started off on a weak note and had trouble hitting her stride. Lauren pulled it together for the chorus, and as the only overtly country female performer she’ll probably do just fine in the votes. It certainly wasn’t the best choice from the Twain songbook, however.

“I love that song, but I wish it’d just been a bit more kickass,” Steven Tyler told her.

“You always sound so amazing!” Jennifer Lopez was enthusiastic, but she wanted Lauren to “kick it into high gear.”

Randy Jackson thought it was “good,” but he didn’t much care for the song choice either. And with this, the episode was off and running.

http://television.gearlive.com/tvenvy/article/q107-american-idol-10-top-13-perform/

Tommy · Guru

Doin’ a little dance, makin’ a little love

Sex in the city going very well for most, survey says - Sample size 500 HRM residents - Margin of error plus or minus 5.5 per cent

By The Numbers by Rick Emberley
Published: March 11, 2011 12:01 a.m.

Most Desired:

We asked: If you could spend a romantic evening with one famous Canadian, who would it be?

Shania Twain topped the list for men at 34 per cent. Michael Buble was most mentioned by women at 18 per cent.
Of note, one per cent of women picked Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Haligonians appear to be having a good time in the bedroom.

Fifty-six per cent of us rate our satisfaction with our sex lives at eight or higher on a 10-point scale.

That rating is 62 per cent for women and 50 per cent for men.

There is relatively little variance across age groups, too. Nonetheless, the 18-to-24 crowd is the most satisfied at 66 per cent.

So go the results of a recent survey of attitudes toward sex conducted across the region, and residents of HRM are much like people elsewhere.

Seventy-six per cent of us judge our attitudes toward sex as liberal, yet 61 per cent say sex should be limited to a monogamous relationship. Another 76 per cent think extramarital sex is morally wrong.

And what about sex education?

Almost 75 per cent say it should be the responsibility of parents and not schools, but 78 per cent say schools should offer sex education as part of the curriculum with a large majority saying it should begin around Grades 5 or 6.

There may be some ambiguity in all this because only 30 per cent of our respondents say parents are comfortable talking to their children about sex.

Regardless of how we feel about the subject and how active we are sexually, almost 90 per cent feel it is important to our quality of life. We almost universally feel it affects our overall health, our happiness and, of course, our relationships.

We also have some strong feelings about how pervasive sex is in our society. Almost 70 per cent feel it is used too much in advertising, but 44 per cent admit we pay more attention to ads containing sexual material.

http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/local/article/799603--doin-a-little-dance-makin-a-little-love

Tommy · Guru

By Sarah Kurchak (CHARTattack) April 5, 2011 2:12 pm

Music Review

Album: Goodbye Lullaby
Label: RCA/Sony
Rating: 2 / 5

Shania Twain has always been upfront about the fact that she's a commercial performer. She writes more personal, emotional material for private use, but she believes it's her job to entertain people, not share her innermost feelings with them. I can only hope Avril Lavigne is following in the footsteps of her childhood hero with her latest album because the idea that Goodbye Lullaby is the work of anyone's internal life is just too sad.

It's especially distressing coming from a woman whose adolescent work showed a fair amount of promise. Although Let Go's songs were on the precocious side, the lyrics — "Sk8er Boi" notwithstanding — at least painted a portrait of a girl who was starting to grow into her thoughts and feelings, and to express and explore them with a certain amount of depth.

As annoying as it was to hear a then-17-year-old lecture the world on what life was like in "Complicated," it was also refreshing that a young pop star was even considering the idea. "I'm With You" and "Things I'll Never Say" managed to touch on teen angst with a competent mix of vulnerability and relative self-awareness. That trend seemed to be continuing with songs like "Don't Tell Me" and "My Happy Ending" on Under My Skin.

Then The Best Damn Thing happened.

In a way, though, Goodbye Lullaby is actually more disappointing than The Best Damn Thing. While the latter is at least an obvious attempt at "selling out" — whatever that term even means anymore — the former lacks any "**** it, I'm going to be a pop star" flippancy and posturing.

Goodbye Lullaby attempts a return to form. Other than a pair of in-your-face pop punk singles ("What The Hell" and "Smile") the album is mostly filled with the kind of serviceable female singer/songwriter fare that was the backbone of Avril's early work. There's certainly nothing on the disc to suggest she's still interested in courting the kind of fans she was the last time around.

The lyrics, however, have not rebounded as well. Despite their attempts to tackle subject matter with more substance than not liking someone's girlfriend, they're more symptomatic of creative regression than rebirth.

"What The Hell" is an empty kiss-off. "Smile" offers a tale of crushing and blackout drinking so threadbare that it makes episodes of Jersey Shore seem like Proustian ruminations. "Push" offers all of the musical phrasing of an Alanis Morissette song and none of the human depth or experience. Lines like "There's a girl that gives a ****/behind this wall/you just walked through it" ("Wish You Were Here") and "The reason I love you is you being you, just you" ("I Love You") litter the album the way preteen scribblings cover a Lisa Frank binder.

This mix of petulance, infatuation and disinterest would be unimpressive coming from any adult, but it's particularly so when it's coming from someone whose personal life has gone through as much turmoil as Lavigne's in the past few years.

A bad breakup was the catalyst for Morissette's transformation from cheesy pop star to a brutally honest and raw dynamo. Lavigne's divorce seems to have had little impact on her work at all, aside from a couple of songs about having fun, and some half-hearted breakup tunes.

Maybe somewhere, deep in her personal vaults, Lavigne has a whole slew of seething, cathartic tracks about the tumultuous turn that her early and mid-twenties have taken. I really do hope it's true because it's really disheartening to think Lavigne has turned into such an uncomplicated adult.

http://www.chartattack.com/reviews/2011/apr/05/avril-lavigne-%E2%80%94-goodbye-lullaby

Tommy · Guru

Lady GaGa Announces Producer For You And I

Lady GaGa is getting the best of the best for her new Born This Way album.

Her piano power ballad You and I was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who's worked with AC/DC, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Billy Ocean, and many others.

He's also responsible for Shania Twain's Come On Over, which is the best-selling album by a female artist EVER.

There's no doubt that BTW is going to be huuuuge!

http://perezhilton.com/2011-04-11-lady-gaga-announces-mutt-lange-as-producer-on-you-and-i-track

Tommy · Guru

Unattended cooking caused York fire, displacing 10

AMANDA DOLASINSKI
The York Dispatch

Katie White, nine months pregnant, watched as friends and family carried armfuls of clothing and knickknacks from her young daughters' room out of her fire-ravaged home.

Black trash bags filled with clothing and toys, a Shania Twain poster and a blue and white bassinet were among other items lining the sidewalk in front of 622 Wallace St. in York City, where the Whites lived on the first floor.

Men loaded the items into pickup trucks. Anthony White, Katie's husband, walked out of the house holding a plastic bin filled with family pictures. She smiled, relieved they were not destroyed, and snatched the box from his hands.

Crews were called to a structure fire on the block around 8:48 a.m. Tuesday, where they found three row houses - 620, 622 and 624 - fully engulfed in flames. York City Fire Chief Steve Buffington said unattended cooking on the second floor of 622 caused the four-alarm blaze.

The York-Adams chapter of the American Red Cross assisted at the scene. Three families - seven adults and three children - were displaced, Red Cross spokeswoman Victoria Connor said.

For nearly two hours, multiple fire companies rotated in and out of the burning row houses. Buffington said he called to evacuate crews because the conditions had become unsafe for firefighters on at least two occasions.

He escalated the fire to four alarms so that additional manpower could be rotated in and out of the homes. Neither residents nor firefighters were injured in the fire, Buffington said.

"It's a good situation on a bad day," he said, referring to the fact that no one was injured. "We try to do everything we can to keep our people safe."

Fire spread through the second and third floors of 620, 622 and 624. A breezeway protected 626, while crews were able to limit damage to 618 and fully protect 616, Buffington said.

Crews struggled to get the fire under control because thick black smoke filled the top floors of the three damaged row houses.

Buffington said firefighters had limited visibility on those floors and had to knock out windows in order to release heat and smoke. Firefighters in aerial apparatuses hosed down the roof.

By 9:30 a.m., smoke in the area had begun billowing out of the row houses and was so thick neighbors watching across the street were coughing and covering their faces. A firefighter taking a break on the front stoop of a home across the street took off his head gear to reveal his face was covered in black soot.

Trooper Patrick McKenna Jr., a state police fire marshal, was at the scene Tuesday morning. Damage estimates were not released Tuesday night.

Friends and family surrounded Bernardina Torres, 33, as she sat in her backyard and stared up at the gutted third floor of her home at 624 Wallace Street. She said she had lost everything.

Torres had just punched her time card in at United Natural Foods when she received a call that her home was on fire. Through her sister Jenny Torres' translations, she said she had been nervous driving home, but relieved when she remembered she dropped her 18-year-old son Frankie off at school earlier.

She had moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic more than 18 years ago and immediately worried about her passport and other important papers, Jenny said.

"I feel sad," Torres was able to say on her own. "I cried a lot."

Torres met her sister at the scene early Tuesday and the women hugged and cried while watching the firefighters work. Torres' next call was to her husband, Michael Kramer, a flight attendant who had just landed in Detroit. Too panicked to talk, Torres had to give the phone to Jenny to have her explain that everyone made it out safely. Kramer was able to catch a flight and will be back in Pennsylvania around 9 p.m., Jenny said.

The Torres family will be staying with Jenny as the insurance company determines their reimbursement.

Anthony and Katie White will also be staying with family. The couple, expecting a third child in late May, lost several belongings and the fire. Their renter's insurance lapsed when they were both previously unemployed.

Katie, 24, recalls hearing a neighbor pounding on her front door shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday.

"She was saying, 'Get out! The house is on fire!'" Katie said.

Katie said she grabbed her daughters - Mariah, 4, and Shania, 2 - who had been sleeping. After she dragged her daughters out, she called Anthony, 23, who had been working in the Dillsburg area. Although she explained to him everyone made it out safely, Anthony said he was still nervous as he drove down Interstate 83 south to get to his family.

"I came as quickly as I can," he said. "I was praying to God."

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/ci_17927305

twain2country · Guru

Blake Shelton retracts apparent anti-gay message

Country star Blake Shelton found himself apologizing after he wrote what appeared to be an anti-gay message from his Twitter account Wednesday.

GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, demanded an apology Thursday from Shelton, who is a judge on NBC's new reality singing competition "The Voice."

Shelton referenced the Shania Twain tune "Any Man of Mine" when he wrote: "Re-writing my fav Shania Twain song... Any man that tries Touching my behind He's gonna be a beaten, bleedin', heaving kind of guy."
The original lyrics are: "Any man of mine better walk the line/ Better show me a teasin' squeezin' pleasin' kinda time."

Shelton later clarified his Tweet: "Hey y'all allow me to seriously apologize for the misunderstanding with the whole re-write on the Shania song last night. ... It honestly wasn't even meant that way.... I now know that there are people out there waiting to jump at everything I say on here or anywhere. But when it comes to gay/lesbian rights or just feelings... I love everybody.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110506/ENT07/105060330/Blake-Shelton-retracts-apparent-anti-gay-message?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs

twain2country · Guru

OFFSTAGE: Taylor Swift Talked Too Fast to Shania Twain

(CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.)

Taylor Swift enjoyed an In-N-Out burger for lunch and listened to pop and hip-hop on her iPod. That's what I know about her latest InStyle cover shoot. And that the stylist used Fekkai Coiff Oceanique Tousled Wave spray to give Swift's hair a beachy look. And that they shot all this at someone's home in Venice, California. But here's the part I loved the most. When the magazine asked Swift, the superstar of all superstars right now, if she'd ever been starstruck herself, she said this: "I met Shania Twain at the CMA Awards three years ago. When she tapped me on the shoulder, I was suddenly talking faster than I've ever talked in my life." So good to know Swift isn't so big that she's forgotten what it feels like to look up to someone.

http://www.cmt.com/news/cmt-offstage/1663933/offstage-taylor-swift-talked-too-fast-to-shania-twain.jhtml

Tommy · Guru

OFFSTAGE: Shania Twain's Hot Husband

May 25, 2011; Written by Alison Bonaguro

(CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.)

This month's Redbook is all about hot husbands, including Shania Twain's husband, Frédéric Thiébaud. In fact, she'd like to nominate him for the Hottest award. Why? Um, have you heard the man's Swiss accent? But that's just me. Twain has her own reasons to put him on a pedestal. Prepare for your own husband to pale in comparison. (For God's sake, even his name looks sexy.) According to Twain, Thiébaud has eyes that are "gentle, intelligent and alluring." He is a true gentleman and he calls her Sunshy (short for Sunshine). Their favorite activities are kissing, talking and playing tennis. Plus, she says he taught her to stop and think before expressing herself. "Trust me, that's hard for a girl who grew up cursing hockey refs," she tells the magazine. But the best part is when she describes her husband this way: "He's attentive, brighter than God should ever allow any one man to be, funny, romantic, and cute as heck." Yep. That's hot. He's got my vote.

http://www.cmt.com/news/cmt-offstage/1664532/offstage-shania-twains-hot-husband.jhtml

Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite Message Board

CMA Awards Fashion -- Best Dressed of the Decade

Copps at 25: concert venue has seen its highs and lows

Tommy Hunter preparing to tour for final time

Today In Entertainment History
December 28

Best of 2011?

A & E Venting!

Finding Love Again - A Lesson From Shania Twain

Oprah Going Vegan for 1 Week (+ 378 Staff Members)

Oprah’s Gone Vegan Before

Ron Baird, Influential Nashville Agent, Dead At 60

Shania Twain

Maxim's Hottest Women In Country Music

Lauren Alaina's no Shania Twain

Lauren Alaina on American Idol - Yeah I like it that way

Lauren Alaina: Any Man of Mine

Doin’ a little dance, makin’ a little love

Lady GaGa Announces Producer For You And I

Unattended cooking caused York fire, displacing 10

Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite Message Board

CMA Awards Fashion -- Best Dressed of the Decade

Copps at 25: concert venue has seen its highs and lows

Tommy Hunter preparing to tour for final time

Today In Entertainment HistoryDecember 28

Best of 2011?

A & E Venting!

Finding Love Again - A Lesson From Shania Twain

Oprah Going Vegan for 1 Week (+ 378 Staff Members)

Oprah’s Gone Vegan Before

Ron Baird, Influential Nashville Agent, Dead At 60

Shania Twain

Maxim's Hottest Women In Country Music

Lauren Alaina's no Shania Twain

Lauren Alaina on American Idol - Yeah I like it that way

Lauren Alaina: Any Man of Mine

Doin’ a little dance, makin’ a little love

Lady GaGa Announces Producer For You And I

Unattended cooking caused York fire, displacing 10

Today In Entertainment History
December 28