ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

MUSIC/ KOL & PEAS TOP ITUNES 2009 LIST: The Kings of Leon are the kings of the iTunes album charts for 2009. The Nashville rock group have the top-selling CD with "Only by the Night." They are followed by the "Twilight" soundtrack, Lady Gaga's "The Fame" and Taylor Swift's "Fearless." The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" is iTunes' best-selling single. Other songs in the top 10 include Flo Rida's "Right Round," Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" and another Black Eyed Peas' hit "I Gotta Feeling." Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A." is #7 on the singles list. "The Essential Michael Jackson" is #6 in the album top 10. ITunes declared Jackson its artist of the year. "iTunes Rewind 2009," which compiles sales figures from last December until this December, was released yesterday. Full details can be found on iTunes.

 

MUSIC/ BAND AID TOPS UK TOP XMAS SONGS: Band Aid's 2004 version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is the decade's best-selling seasonal song in the UK, according to new figures just released. The hit beat "Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)" by rock band The Darkness into 2nd place. The Pogues' 1987 hit "Fairytale of New York" at #3 is the highest-placed song recorded before 2000. The figures were compiled from the decade's physical and digital sales. Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and "Proper Crimbo" from comedy show Bo'Selecta round out the top sellers at #4 and #5 respectively.  Other seasonal hits which continue to sell decades after their original release date include Wham's "Last Christmas" from 1984, the 7th best-seller of the past 10 years. Released in the same year, the original recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas" is at #18 on the list. Perennial Christmas hits from the 1970s, "Merry Christmas Everybody" by Slade and Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas," make the lower end of the top 20. Full details can be found of the Official UK Chart's Company website.

MUSIC/ PEPSI UNDER FIRE OVER BEENIE MAN CONCERT: Pepsi is under fire for supporting a concert by known homophobe, Beenie Man. Pepsi has said it was not aware of homophobic lyrics sung by the reggae artist, prior to concert. Beenie Man, who has a number of songs which advocate the murder of lesbians and gays, played a gig in Uganda last Saturday, supported by Pepsi. The country is currently considering a new law which would execute or jail for life gay people. The singer reportedly said: "In my family, we don’t have any gay person but if you’re gay, my brother that’s not my fault." He then performed his song "Mi Nah Wallah," which details his wish to cut the throats of all gay men. After gay groups such as Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, OutRage! and Change.org expressed their anger at the sponsorship, Pepsi said it was "appalled" at Davis' lyrics. In a statement, the company said: "We are appalled by the performer’s lyrics and find them repugnant. Our bottling partner in Uganda was not aware of the performer's views and never would have sponsored the concert with this knowledge. Moving forward, we will work closely with our bottling partners to be more vigilant about the events associated with our brands." Other lyrics by the singer include "I'm dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays", while one song suggests lesbians should be hanged.