(8/2/02, 7 a.m. ET) -- Britney Spears spoke with Nancy O'Dell from NBC's Access Hollywood about her Mexico City concert on July 28, which was canceled about 30 minutes into the show due to a severe lightning storm.
During the interview, which aired Thursday (August 1) on the program, Spears said that the concert stage at Foro Sol baseball stadium was struck by lightning. "The whole stage is metal and the stage was hit by lightning and not safe," she said. "The dancers on stage slipped--it wasn't safe at all for us to continue the show. This was not a rainstorm. This was a lightning storm. The stage actually got hit by lightning, it wasn't safe for us."
Spears noted that she was told not to perform at all due to the severe weather, but she decided to press on. "I did a show and I gave it my all," said Spears. "They told us not to go on, but I said, 'No, I have to go out there.' I think I made an effort and that matters." Spears added that it was her decision to make sure that the fans in attendance ultimately received refunds.
As for the infamous "middle finger" incident--in which Spears was captured on camera flipping the bird to overzealous paparazzi and cameramen chasing her in vehicles--the singer chalked up her actions as being a "defense mechanism".
Spears also noted that the universally accepted meaning attached to the raising of the middle finger was, of course, not meant for the fans at all. "The cameras...We were almost in a wreck and they were getting out and shaking vans," she explained. "We were in danger and I didn't think it was my fans. It was just a defense mechanism, and I wouldn't do it again."
-- Jason Gelman, New York
Posted by Jen on Monday, August 5, 2002 @ 01:36 p.m.
BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Arista Records and DataPlay, Inc., developer of the new portable music format, announced today that multi- platinum selling artists Santana and Whitney Houston and hot newcomer Avril Lavigne are planning to make albums available on pre-recorded DataPlay digital media.
Santana's follow-up to the multi-Grammy award winning Supernatural, entitled Shaman, due out in October, will simultaneously be released in CD and DataPlay formats. Whitney Houston's much anticipated new album, scheduled for release in September, will be made available on DataPlay shortly after the CD hits stores. Arista is also scheduling this summer's smash album Let Go by Avril Lavigne for a September DataPlay release. This is the latest in the ongoing announcements surrounding BMG's Arista Records preparation for their launch of DataPlay pre-recorded albums early this fall.
DataPlay gives artists the opportunity to offer fans more than just an album. On DataPlay artists can offer things such as bonus tracks, additional albums, music videos, games, photos, and more, giving fans an entirely new interactive experience. DataPlay also gives fans the ability to add their own additional content to a pre-recorded digital media. A fan can download directly to a DataPlay digital media or transfer files from their PC.
"Retail is looking forward to the roll-out of strong titles for the DataPlay launch," said Jordan Katz, Senior Vice President Sales for Arista Records. "Arista superstars Whitney Houston and Santana, along with the best new artist of the year, Avril Lavigne, will supplement our already powerful list of artists that include Usher, Pink, Sarah McLachlan, Outkast and Adema."
"DataPlay offers artists the chance to expand their albums and add things that they never thought were possible," said Mike Steingrebe, vice president of corporate development for DataPlay. "And fans will also have the ability to do things like adding additional content, viewing music videos and making copies of their favorite songs."
DataPlay music players are scheduled for retail introduction late this summer. Universal Music, EMI and Zomba Recording Corporation have also announced plans to make their best selling artists available on DataPlay.
In addition to its content agreements with leading music labels, DataPlay has deals in place with device manufacturers iRiver, EMI Global, Inc., Kouwell Electronics, Samsung, Toshiba, Hyun Won, Silitek, Tritronics, Kinpo Electronics and Digisette, in addition to others.
The DataPlay solution includes three primary offerings: DataPlay digital media, DataPlay micro-optical engine and ContentKey(TM), a content distribution, marketing and e-commerce tool.
Posted by Jen on Monday, August 5, 2002 @ 01:35 p.m.
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