Susan Boyle Has UK’s Best-Selling Debut Album Ever

Susan Boyle, the shy 48-year-old Scottish spinster, has made history with the fastest-selling worldwide debut album for a female artist.


Miss Boyle captured hearts across the globe with her audition on Britain's Got Talent last year.

But even her greatest supporters may not have believed that the eccentric lady who still lives in her childhood home in Blackburn in the heart of West Lothian, would celebrate not just the number one album in Britain, but also Australia and Ireland.

The album, I Dreamed A Dream - named after the Les Miserables tune that Miss Boyle sang at her audition - was last night confirmed as the fastest selling UK debut ever, shifting 411,820 copies in its first week - beating the previous fastest-selling debut of all time, Leona Lewis's Spirit.

It is on course to top the charts in America, Canada and New Zealand. In the U.S., it has projected first-week sales of around one million.

But while sales of the album were soaring, one TV presenter was facing the sack for calling her 'retarded'.

Paul Henry has refused to apologise after saying on his New Zealand breakfast show that 'she is in fact retarded'.

Miss Boyle, who has a minor learning disability, recorded the album just weeks after suffering a breakdown, following the Britain's Got Talent final in May where she was named runner-up. She spent four days being treated for exhaustion at the Priory clinic.

Miss Boyle, who was yesterday rehearsing in London for her ITV Christmas special, released just a brief statement through her management: 'It's fantastic.'

Simon Cowell, who signed Miss Boyle to his Syco record label, admitted to the Mail that he had been 'incredibly judgmental' when he first saw the singer at her audition.

Cowell, 50, said: 'I think Susan Boyle was good for all of us. She was certainly good for me because I look at me in that first audition and I saw something which I didn't particularly like, which was incredibly judgmental.

'So I think Susan is going to help an awful lot of people who didn't have the confidence to do this and realise that actually if you are determined and talented and people like you, you don't have to conform to what the music business has previously said.'

He says she is 'a fly in the face of every talentless monster who's become famous for not actually doing anything, but of which there are thousands in the world today - just people who are famous for being useless'.

Tom Cruise Cameron Diaz “Knight & Day” Bull Run Shoot

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have arrived in the southern Spain village of Cadiz Sevilla to film scenes for the James Mangold-directed action comedy Knight & Day, Spanish media reported on Sunday.


The Hollywood stars have started shooting scenes that imitate the famous bull run held each year in northern Spain.

During The Pamplona Bull Run, crowds race ahead of a herd of thundering bulls, which can weigh up to 1,500 pounds each, along a 900 yard course of cobbled streets. The run is held in the city each July and was made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises.

Earlier this month, seven bulls escaped durng the film’s rehearsals, slightly injuring two women.

Knight & Day opens in North America in July 2010.


'Twitter' top word of 2009

Twitter has had quite a year. Not only has it attracted worldwide attention and millions of new users, "Twitter" has been named the top word in the English language for 2009.

According to the Global Language Monitor, which examines language usage across the world, "Twitter" beat out "Obama," "H1N1," "stimulus," and "vampire" to take the crown. Interestingly, "2.0" came in at sixth place.

"In a year dominated by world-shaking political events, a pandemic, the aftereffects of a financial tsunami, and the death of a revered pop icon, the word 'Twitter' stands above all the other words," Paul JJ Payack, president of Global Language Monitor, said Sunday in a statement. "Twitter represents a new form of social interaction, where all communication is reduced to 140 characters. Being limited to strict formats did wonders for the sonnet and haiku. One wonders where this highly impractical word-limit will lead as the future unfolds."

To compile its data, the Global Language Monitor uses its proprietary algorithm, called the Predictive Quantities Indicator. According to the company, the algorithm "tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet." It also monitors blogs and social media. Word frequency, contextual usage, and "appearance in global media outlets" contribute to a word's popularity.

Click here to see a full listing of the top words, phrases, and names of the year--and of the decade.

Bing’s 2009 Top Search Terms: Michael Jackson Beats Out Twitter

It’s that time of year again when we see each search engine roll out their top search queries for the year. Scrubbed for pornography and other NSFW stuff, of course. And also manipulated in other ways, like taking out old popular terms, to make sure the list is interesting, if not actually representative of anything, statistically speaking. Here are Bing’s top searches for 2009. I hope nothing important happens in December that will force a revision. Michael Jackson took the top spot, edging out Twitter:

Top 2009 Bing Trending Topics:

1. Michael Jackson
2. Twitter
3. Swine Flu
4. Stock Market
5. Farrah Fawcett
6. Patrick Swayze
7. Cash for Clunkers
8. Jon and Kate Gosselin
9. Billy Mays
10. Jaycee Dugard


After School’s “Because of You” MV Released!

The wait is finally over, After School fans! Despite their melodramatic tease, the MV for their comeback single Because of You has been released!


The ladies have brought a new sound with their comeback, and along with that sound, the ladies brought a new image. The MV revealed a darker, gloomier side of After School, but despite their teary eyes and disheartened faces, I guess it made for good publicity because these ladies have already grasped #1 on various online music charts already with their comeback single. Check out this whole other side of After School!

T-ara releases “Like the Beginning” & two “Bo Peep Bo Peep” MVs!

T-ara has released not one but three versions of the music video for their newest songs, Bo Peep Bo Peep and Like the Beginning from their first album. Usually when artistes release different versions of their music video it's because one is a dance version and the other is a drama version or one has a different setting. This time around for T-ara, it's a totally different story.


For Bo Peep Bo Peep, they released one music video for viewers of age 15 and up and another music video for viewers of age 19 and up. Wow, an idol group making a 19+ music video, pretty intense!

Though Bo Peep Bo Peep has a cute tune, I prefer their other song Like the Beginning which is number 1 right on Bugs chart of Korea.

Since they've just released music videos for 3 songs, they want everyone to decide which is the best. Which is worth promoting and which will win them something this time on a music show?

Check out the music video for Like the Beginning and sit tight while we wait for the rest of the videos!

Like the Beginning



Bo Peep Bo Peep (19+)

Apple May Be Live Testing Next Generation iPhone

An iPhone model that doesn't officially exist began appearing recently in one developer's application analytics, possibly indicating that Apple is field testing the next version of its combination iPod and smartphone. Apparently Pandav's iBart application has been showing usage from an iPhone model identifying itself as iPhone3,1, which is a higher number than any of the current shipping models, according to Mac Rumors.

iPhone2,1 identifies the current iPhone 3GS and began appearing in developer's logs several months ahead of its release, too. The iPhone3,1 identifier first appeared in the iPhone's firmware back in August, leading to speculation that it would be used with the fourth generation model.

Apple isn't saying what it plans to pack into the next generation iPhone, but that hasn't stopped the rumor mill from speculating that it will include a multi-core processor and compatibility with Verizon's cell service. Assuming Apple sticks with its established pattern, the next iPhone model should roll out sometime in July or August 2010.

Bobby Au Yeung bowed to new Film King Nick Cheung and referred him as "Emperor"

Just baked as the new Golden Horse Film King, Nick Cheung made a triumphant return, in a great mood with his new award! This year winning many awards, Nick was at the airport and bumped into good friend and on-screen partner Bobby Au Yeung, who got on his knees and bowed to Film King Nick. Bobby even loudly said: "Seeing Emperor" ("cham geen wong sheung"), making the scene hilarious.

The two have once worked on TVB series <The Legendary of Four Aces> and were both TV King and Film King. They have not kept in contact for some time now, but when they bumped into each other at the airport, they still had great chemistry, causing laughter everywhere.

The two "Emperors" embraced when they saw each other, Bobby even he called Nick "Emperor" while getting down to bow to him and said: "Wah! Another award for you? Now you even got the juice! Usually your not like this though? When will you treat me to a meal?" Nick then said: "This is what call friends!" Bobby replied: "Nah! If it wasn't for the re-runs of <The Legendary of Four Aces> recently, I wouldn't have recognized you! You were just standing near the entrance, blocking my way!" The two were going back and forth making it a hilarious scene. When Nick brought out his award for Bobby to "admire", Bobby was in opposition holding on to the award and laughed: "Wah! I envy you so much!"

Besides Bobby greeting Nick at the airport, EEG Motion Pictures sent out a representative to give him flowers and to pick him up from the airport. Also there were many fans who said: "Handsome Film King!" and a foreigner shouted: "Congratulations! I love you so much!"

Motorola MILESTONE gets video unboxing

Shipments of the Motorola MILESTONE began in Germany a few weeks ago, so it’s a little surprising that we’ve waited this long for an unboxing video. jkkmobile picked up one of the Android 2.0 handsets – known as the Motorola DROID in the US – and promptly opened it up on video.



No great surprises to be found inside, with Motorola’s by-now usual packaging for an Android handset (we’ve seen it before with the CLIQ/DEXT) and the same accessories as we’ve already seen. Still, if you want a slick Motorola for use on GSM/UMTS networks then the MILESTONE is certainly appealing; it’s available SIM-free in Germany priced at around €500 ($750).

Nokia to offer only one Maemo handset in 2010?

There have been a number of rumors flying around that have to do with Nokia and the Maemo operating system that is based on Linux. The rumors have Nokia moving to Maemo rather than Symbian for its high-end smartphones. Nokia has said that statement was premature in the past.



Reuters reports today that a source close to Nokia has said that next year Nokia will offer only one device running Maemo. Nokia has only said that it will not comment on future products. If this is accurate, it could mean one of two things. First, perhaps Nokia is simply not moving to Maemo and its devices will continue to run Symbian for the most part.

The other option is that perhaps Nokia is simply not planning to release many high-end devices. The company has already cut hundreds of R&D employees around the globe so a corresponding reduction in new products would be expected. Nokia has said that it remains firmly committed to Symbian.

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