Madonna arrived in London last night when her acclaimed ‘Sticky & Sweet’ tour triumphed at Wembley Stadium. 74,000 thrilled to new hits “Candy Shop”, “4 Minutes” and “Give It 2 Me” while old favourites like “Borderline”, “Like A Prayer” and “La Isla Bonita” were given exciting new twists. Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Fergie and Gwyneth Paltrow were among the worshippers. What a night!!

Sunday night’s 25th annual MTV Video Music Awards went down as one of the best ever, pulling in record ratings and introducing American television audiences to the inimitable Russell Brand – who won plaudits for a risqué, typically rock ‘n’ roll turn as host. According to Google Trends, “vma host” and “russell brand” were two of the top ten most searched-for phrases on the day of the awards.

Christina Aguilera provided the evening’s star turn with her scintillating performance of her spicy new single “Keeps Gettin’ Better” and a revved-up version of the classic “Genie In A Bottle” – both on the forthcoming hits collection “Keeps Gettin’ Better” due out this November.

If anyone finds a vintage Rickenbacker please call Peter Buck immediately!! This electric beauty was stolen after REM’s Helsinki show on Tuesday night. The guitar has been an instrumental part of REM’s arsenal since 1982. Any information that leads to finding the guitar will be generously rewarded – no questions asked. Email information to fanclub@remtour.com.

Will Young returns this weekend with “Changes”, the first single to be taken from his wonderful forthcoming album ‘Let It Go’. Both the Radio Edit and Chris Lake’s thumping remix are available digitally from Sunday 14th, with the physical single to follow on the 22nd. The remix has gone top 5 in the pop club charts.

Stereophonics have had a hectic North American tour so far. Last weekend they supported Oasis at Toronto’s V festival, Tuesday night they sold out Webster Hall in NYC where the cast of trendy hit show Gossip Girl including Chace Crawford were among those in attendance. Next week they conquer LA! Awesome new single “You’re My Star” hits the airwaves next week.

Martha Wainwright supports Goldfrapp at New York’s Radio City Music Hall tonight following in brother Rufus’ footsteps. He headlined the same venue earlier this year on his ‘Release The Stars’ tour. Catch Martha and her ace band on their 14 date UK tour next month.

Now that the VMA’s are over, MTV is readying itself for their European Music Awards which take place in Liverpool November 6th, 2008. Duffy has bagged 4 nominations while Madonna, REM, Christina Aguilera, Stereophonics and James Blunt have all been nominated.

Duffy has also been nominated for a MOBO Award – Best UK Female. What a glittering year she is having.

We can’t wait for the James Blunt tour to start next month with special guest Teddy Thompson.

Dave Edmunds joined the Stray Cats on stage at Brixton Academy Wednesday night for rocking renditions of “The Race Is On” and “Tear It Up”. This followed last week’s truly memorable showcase at the Gibson Guitar Rooms. His hits collection ‘The Many Sides of Dave Edmunds’ is out September 22nd, 2008.

And finally congratulations to Elbow for their Mercury Prize win. Nominated ‘Raising Sand’ duo Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were both on hand for the celebrations.

Some upcoming 2008 releases:

Sept 14th (Digital) / Sept 22nd (Physical)
WILL YOUNG- CHANGES (RCA LABEL GROUP)

September 15th
ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS- STICK WITH ME BABY (ROUNDER/UNIVERSAL)

September 22nd
GUILLEMOTS- KRISS KROSS / CLARION (POLYDOR)

October 6th
JOHN MELLENCAMP- MY SWEET LOVE (UNIVERSAL) DIGITAL ONLY

October 13th
PRIMAL SCREAM- UPTOWN (B-UNIQUE)

October 20th
JERSEY BUDD- SHE CAME BACK (THIS FEELING/BANDSTOCKS)

October 27th (Digital) / November 10th (Physical)
STEREOPHONICS- ‘YOU’RE MY STAR’ (V2)
AIMEE MANN- THIRTY ONE TODAY (SUPEREGO/ADA)

November 3rd
CHRISTINA AGUILERA- KEEPS GETTING’ BETTER (RCA LABEL GROUP)
MARTHA WAINWRIGHT- COMIN’ TONIGHT (DROWNED IN SOUND)

ALBUMS

September 22nd
DAVE EDMUNDS- THE MANY SIDES OF DAVE EDMUNDS – THE GREATEST HITS AND MORE – (UNIVERSAL)

September 29th
WILL YOUNG- LET IT GO (RCA LABEL GROUP)

October 13th
JOHN MELLENCAMP- LIFE LOVE DEATH AND FREEDOM (UNIVERSAL)

October (DATE TBC)
THE KINKS- PICTURE BOX (UNIVERSAL)

November 10th
IL DIVO- THE PROMISE (SYCO MUSIC)
CHRISTINA AGUILERA- KEEPS GETTING’ BETTER – A DECADE OF HITS (RCA LABEL GROUP)

November 17th
STEREOPHONICS- DECADE IN THE SUN: THE BEST OF STEREOPHONICS (V2)

Christina Aguilera releases ‘Keeps Gettin’ Better – A Decade of Hits’, a must-have collection of her most memorable songs, November 10th, 2008 on RCA Records.

The album includes ten of her most popular, chart-topping hits and two new tracks.

“I can’t believe it’s been over 10 years since my first album and it was really exciting to put all of my favourite songs in one collection for my fans,” said Aguilera.

Since 1999, Christina has had four UK number ones – “Genie In A Bottle”, “Dirrty”, “Beautiful” and “Lady Marmalade” – all included on ‘Keeps Gettin’ Better’.

The album also features re-recorded versions of two of Christina’s best-known songs, “Genie in a Bottle” and “Beautiful”, as well as two new songs: “Keeps Gettin’ Better” and “Dynamite”.

First single “Keeps Gettin’ Better” will be released November 3rd, 2008. Christina will perform the song live at the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday September 7th, 2008 at Hollywood’s Paramount Studios.

As a singer, songwriter, performer and producer, Christina Aguilera is one of the most accomplished artists of the last decade. She has sold 25 million albums worldwide and 3 million in the UK – 1999 debut ‘Christina Aguilera’ went platinum in the UK, while her 2002 follow-up ‘Stripped’ went six times platinum.

‘Keeps Getting’ Better – A Decade of Hits’ is Christina’s first album since the release of her 2006 ‘Back to Basics’ album, which reached number one in both the UK and US, going platinum in the UK and selling over 3.7 million copies worldwide.

Christina Aguilera on amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

MySpace
Christina Aguilera Official Website