Ne-Yo may have won a Grammy for his last album, Because of You, and penned Beyoncé’s massive “Irreplaceable,” but that doesn’t mean he’s sticking with the formula. When we ran into the singer at a Tanqueray No. Ten–sponsored party for VH1’s Save the Music in East Hampton this weekend, he told us he’s trying to change things up for his upcoming album, Year of the Gentleman. “For inspiration I started listening to stuff like Coldplay, Radiohead, some of the Beatles’ old stuff.” He even tried to learn how to play guitar, but it didn’t take. “They didn’t tell me that learning to pay the guitar hurts. Your fingers bleed and they cramp. I was like, ‘This is not sexy. I do not like this.’” He gave it the old college try for two weeks before calluses started to show, “and that’s when I gave up. I was like, ‘Nah. I’m okay.’ Playing guitar is not the hottest thing. And then when you shake a person’s hand, you’ve got sandpaper hands. No, thank you.”

Also trying to change it up? Michael Jackson, who asked Ne-Yo to write songs for his comeback album. “Yeah, Michael’s putting together a new album, and I’m helping him out with it,” he confirmed. According to Ne-Yo, Jackson himself called to get him onboard. “I actually hung up on him because I thought someone was playin’,” he said. “‘Who’s this?’ [high voice] ‘This is Michael Jackson.’ Click. Then his representative called back. ‘This is Peter Lopez. I have Michael Jackson on the phone.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God. Are you serious?’ And then I apologized for the next ten minutes. Any comedian who has ever made fun of Michael Jackson was right on. Sad but true. He does have a very high, not very manly voice.”

But in the end, Jackson managed to talk Ne-Yo into the project. “He said he had a very high appreciation for my appreciation for melody. His music is all about the melody, and that’s the only sort of real direction he gave me: ‘Just make sure the song is as melodic as possible. I want to get back to that.’” Jackson apparently also gave some instructions on subject matter for lyrics, but, Ne-Yo said, “it was very much keep it to yourself.” At this point, Ne-Yo has written a number of tracks, which he submits to Jackson as MP3s via e-mail; then, Ne-Yo said, “he’ll call me back and say, ‘I really like song No. 3. Song No. 4, the hook could be stronger. Song No. 1, change the first verse. Okay, bye.’ Click. And then I redo them and he’s like, ‘Okay, they’re perfect. Send me more.’ So I don’t know what he’s keeping, what he’s getting rid of, what he’s recording.”

Will this be Michael Jackson’s comeback album? Ne-Yo hopes so. “He’s definitely trying,” he said. “He’s trying to get back to a place where people remember why they love Michael Jackson in the first place. In the beginning, you didn’t care about Michael Jackson’s personal life. It was about his dancing and his music. That was why you loved Mike. He’s trying to get back there. And I’m trying to help.”

Source: New York Magazine

Singer and songwriter Claude Kelly (27) wrote the song ‘Hold My Hand’ featuring Akon and Michael Jackson which was leaked to the internet a few days ago. Soon after the song was pulled off the internet again.

In an interview to Billboard, Kelly said that hearing Michael Jackson’s voice on the track for the first time was a total surprise to him:

“I wrote the song and gave it to Akon with the intention of it going to maybe Whitney Houston, but Akon said he wanted to cut it himself. I thought, ‘It doesn’t get any bigger than this’. A few months after, Akon plays the song for me and all of a sudden I hear Michael Jackson’s voice. I was literally shaking by the time the song was over.”

The track is in contention to be the first single from Akon’s new album, due late this year. Kelly’s manager Michael “Make” Mentore from Star Power Media/Make Moves Management said that plans are to release the track on both Akon’s and Michael’s album.

As a child, Claude Kelly took piano and flute lessons and sang with local choirs. He attended Brooklyn College of Music in 1999, and in 2002 wrote his first song, which was placed in a Bathing Ape compilation released in Japan. In 2006, his first major placement came with “Daddy’s Little Girl” from Frankie J’s album ‘Priceless’.

Source: Billboard

Even though Ne-Yo is only on his third album, he has already established a theme that runs through all of his work. Each album has to have at least one song that pays homage to his musical icon, Michael Jackson.

“Anybody who has been following Ne-Yo from the start knows that I’m a huge, huge Michael Jackson fan.”

The MJ tribute on Ne-Yo’s upcoming album Year of the Gentleman, which is due to drop in August, is a club-thumping number called “Nobody.” While “Closer,” Ne-Yo’s current hit, is about a dancefloor hookup between two strangers, “Nobody” presents a different scenario. Here’s how Ne-Yo describes it:

“Say she didn’t give you anything, but instead she just started dancing, and it was the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen. It’s like she’s untouchable, like it would be a sin to touch her or dance with her, with what’s going on with her right now.”

When Ne-Yo played the track for the King of Pop, with whom he’s currently working, he got a positive response.

“He told me that he likes the way I do Michael Jackson. I asked him what he meant by that, and he said, ‘When you do that, it doesn’t feel like you’re trying to copy me or trying to be me. It feels like you’re complimenting me.’ And that’s what I’m doing. It means the world [to me] that he liked it.”

Source: MTV

Earlier this year, Rolling Stone Magazine named Chris Brown the “Best New Michael Jackson“, so it made sense that Brown told them a story about the King of Pop when he stopped by for lunch last week:

“He’s one of the most difficult guys to get to do anything. I’ve done the World Music Awards [with him], and he’s called me for my birthday - he did it the superstar way and had his security [call] for him and say ‘Yeah, I got Michael on the phone.’

“[Jackson] was telling me ‘Happy Birthday’ and I was like ‘Thank you, we need to do a record.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, definitely. Will.i.am was telling me about it, so we need to do it.’ It didn’t actually happen how we wanted it, but hopefully in the future it’ll work out.”

Source: Rolling Stone

Appearing on the BET network TV show 106 & Park in New York (USA) earlier this week, Michael`s younger sister Janet was also asked what she thinks about rumours of Michael doing a show in Las Vegas. Janet responded that she has no idea if he will go ahead with the show but was extending an offer to be his opening act:

“I’ve heard that (story) for a while, but I don’t know.

I would love to (open up for him).”

Source: World Entertainment News Network, MJFC-USA

THE Jacksons phoned double act Signature before the finals of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent to wish them luck.

Suleman Mirza and Madhu Singh revealed on GMTV today that the phone call came out of the blue.

“I couldn’t believe it. It happened about an hour or two before the show. I got a call from the security manager saying, ‘Hi, I’m here with the Jackson family - Michael’s mother and the two brothers are here - I think it ’s Jackie and Tito - they’re sitting down, they wish you all the best and they’ll be voting for you.’

And then I got a call back on Sunday saying that apparently Michael’s aware of our act and he’s a big fan and he’ll be contacting us soon. I don’t know if that’s quite true, but we’ll see what happens.”

Source: GMTV, Coventry Telegraph

This week, the British tabloid The Sun published an article claiming that Michael canceled a performance on ‘American Idol’ just 24 hours before the show due to stage fright. The story was repeated by media organizations worldwide.

On Friday, ‘American Idol’ judge Simon Cowell appeared on the BBC Radio 2 ‘Steve Wright In The Afternoon’. Asked about the rumour he said that those rumours are not true:

“Not true, not true. We hear those rumours all the time.”

Cowell also stated that they would be happy to have Michael Jackson on the show some time.

Click Here for an audio of the show.

Source: BBC Radio 2

RnB sensation Ne-Yo has confirmed he is working on pop legend Michael Jackson’s comeback album.

The So Sick singer, who has written hits for Rihanna and Beyonce Knowles, is now helping both Michael and Janet Jackson prepare new releases.

Ne-Yo, real name Shaffer Smith, reveals working with the Thriller hitmaker is one of his most challenging jobs yet.

“I’m submitting songs for his new album. He’s being very selective; very picky, but he’s supposed to be. This is a going to be a really important album.”

Ne-Yo isn’t the first person to work with Jackson on his comeback album - will.i.am spent a large part of last year (07) in the studio with the pop superstar and Akon is rumoured to be part of the project as well.

Source: Showbiz Spy

In a recent interview with the New Zealand Herald, Sudanese supermodel Alek Wek spoke of her fond memories of Michael Jackson:

“Michael Jackson really is the king of pop. When my friends talk about childhood, I’ve never heard of any cartoons or TV they remember. The only thing we share is Michael Jackson. That’s how far his music travelled - to a remote village on the other side of the world. When the militias came to Wau (Sudan), they would blast out ‘Thriller’ as they moved down the dirt streets.”

Alek is best recognized for her work with prestigious fashion designers John Galliano, Donna Karen and Calvin Klein. She was also featured in the video for Janet Jackson’s “Got ‘Til It’s Gone” in 1997.

Source: New Zealand Herald

Victoria Beckham has revealed she has taken her sons to Michael Jackson’s home Neverland.

The Spice Girl, who has three sons with husband David Beckham - Brooklyn, nine, Romeo, five, and three-year-old Cruz - defended the outlandish pop star, saying what a nice place for families it is.

Victoria told London’s Heart Radio:

“I’ve been to Neverland with the kids. I’m not going to say if Michael Jackson was there. It was amazing and I have met Michael Jackson and he’s a very nice man. What I thought was really nice is there’s pictures of family everywhere and that’s what I mean about a lot of these people are actually really nice and just the same as everybody else. They’ve got pictures of kids up everywhere, which I think is really cool. Pictures of his kids!

“You wouldn’t imagine that because we do read such bizarre things about everybody.”

You can listen to her interview from London’s Heart Radio website.

Source: London’s Heart Radio