A celebrity auction spearheaded by former Friends star Courtney Cox and her husband David Arquette was held on August 25 to raise money for the families of missing tourist Natalee Holloway. Most of the proceeds will be given to the Holloway's and Twitty's to help pay their expenses in Aruba while they continue the search for their daughter. Natalee vanished on May 30 while on a class trip with other graduates of Alabama's Mountain Brook High School. Courtney Cox graduated from the same school. Among the auction items donated were guitars from Alan Jackson and Sting, an autographed drumhead from the Grateful Dead, a table full of items from the cast of "Friends," a pair of Super Bowl tickets donated by the National Football League and an autographed piece of Jimmy Johnson's NASCAR race car. 200 items were collected for the auction.
Pop singer Hilary Duff debuts at Number One on the Billboard 200 chart the week ending September 3, with her new greatest hits CD Most Wanted. The album sold 208,000 copies its first week in record stores. Most Wanted includes remixed versions of Hilarly's hits, plus four new tracks. Duff wrote some of the new songs with her boyfriend, Good Charlotte member Joel Madden. In 2003, Duff reached Number One with her second album, Metamorphosis. The release went on to sell 3.7 million copies in the United States.
According to Billboard.com, on September 1, Country superstar Toby Keith and Nashville record company executive Scott Borchetta will launch two new labels under one parent company. They'll share office space, but each will run his own label. Borchetta's will be called Big Machine Records. They told Billboard.com that their staff is in place, some artists have been signed and they've secured a major distribution deal. Toby will announce the name of his record company and distribution details at a press conference in Nashville on August 31. The Oklahoma native has one more album left on his contract with DreamWorks Records, then he'll be free to record for his own label.
Elton John will perform a free concert on September 3 at Rome's Via dei Fori Imperiali. Last year, Simon & Garfunkel performed a free show on the same boulevard that leads to the Colosseum. Paul McCartney played there in 2003.
Carly Simon will perform on the Queen Mary 2 September 2-8. The ship will be sailing from New York to England. Carly plans to record the shows for an upcoming PBS special and DVD release.
AWARDS PRESENTATIONS/WINNERS:
On August 28, the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards will be handed out in Miami, Florida. This year's leading contender is Green Day with eight nominations. Six are for the video to the rock group's hit single "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." Other multiple nominees include Gwen Stefani and Missy Elliott, who each received six mentions; U2, with five nominations; and My Chemical Romance, which earned four. Among the artists scheduled to perform at the ceremony are Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Shakira, R. Kelly, 50 Cent, Ludacris, Kanye West, Green Day and The Killers. P. Diddy will host this year's event. MTV announced that many celebrity pre-parties, productions and other events had to be cancelled due to Hurricane Katrina, which struck south Florida on August 25. The hurricane claimed the lives of seven people along the state's southeastern coast.
The 2005 World Music Awards will take place at Hollywood's Kodak Theater on August 31. Winners are determined by record sales. During the show, New Jersey rock band Bon Jovi and Carlos Santana will be presented with special awards. Proceeds from the event benefit the Monaco Aide and Presence Foundation, which builds orphanages, hospitals and school for underprivileged children in third world countries. This year's featured performers will include Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Santana, Destiny's Child and Diana Ross. The World Music Awards will air in 160 countries. A two-hour U.S. television broadcast is scheduled for September 13 on ABC.
