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CHRISTINA AGUILERA refused to show off her multi-octave singing range whi le working with M.I.A. - insisting she was "bored" of her trademark vocal style.
Aguilera teamed up with the controversial rapper to write Elastic Love, for her Bionic album, and M.I.A. was looking forward to hearing the pop star belt out the high notes for the song.
But she was stunned when Aguilera decided against it.
M.I.A. tells MTV.com, "Other people were involved who I respect like Pe aches and it was like a sea of women coming together to write this new th ing. Christina had also had a baby, you know, so it was kind of an intere sting situation.
"I really thought I was going to be able to go in there and get her voc als on to the next level and she didn’t want to do it. She was like, ‘You might think that’s great because it’s not what you do, but to me I’m rea lly bored of it.’ "It’s interesting getting to work with people who can do things vocally that you can’t."

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RUSSELL SIMMONS is celebrating recent changes in the U.S. financial indus try - the hip-hop mogul’s prepaid debit card venture is now exempt from c redit card regulation fees.
The Def Jam Recordings founder sells the RushCard in a joint venture wi th a debt collection company.
After a customer pays cash for the card, Simmons charges a $3 (=C2=A32) activation fee, $9.95 (=C2=A36.60) per month, $2.50 (=C2=A31.70) for eac h automated teller machine (ATM) withdrawal, $1 (=C2=A30.67) for each car d transaction, and 50 cents (=C2=A30.30) to check the card’s balance at a n ATM.
Consumer advocates have claimed the card hurts low-income Americans, bu t Simmons dismissed the allegations and began fighting for changes in the U.S. financial services reform bill earlier this year (10).
In a letter to lawmakers, he wrote: "I have worked all of my adult life as an advocate for the poor, the voiceless and the under-served… Debit cards are what keep the under-served - including minorities, immigrants, the poor, soldiers, veterans and students - from the claws of payday len ders and check cashers, from humiliating lines waiting to cash their payc hecks and then more lines to pay their bills." Now the mogul has scored a surprise exemption on interchange fees.
In a statement celebrating his victory, he says: "We are grateful that the conferees worked to reduce any unintended consequences… on the poor , unbanked and under served… This will protect the fees on the most vul nerable, which is what I care about the most."

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KYLIE MINOGUE has sacked her mum as her long term manager - because the p op star wants to give her some well-deserved time off from working.
The Spinning Around hitmaker’s mother Carol Minogue has accompanied her famous daughter on every tour throughout her lengthy music career.
But the singer recently dropped her mum as her manager - and she admits it was a difficult task telling Carol the news.
She tells British TV host Jonathan Ross, "My mum has been on every tour I’ve ever done. But she did just get the sack… I just wanted her to re lax more. I think it’s quite evident the Minogues, we like to work, we li ke to get stuck in so mum didn’t… take (it) easily. It wasn’t easy (tel ling her), she had a forlorn little face. But I said, ‘Mum… I’m just no t sure I think you should be in the quick change anymore’. I was thinking of her…" But Minogue still gives out tasks to her parents to make sure they feel involved: "I had to give them titles. So I said, ‘Mum… you are in char ge of social things’. For example when we were in Wales, there’s a millio n Welsh relatives… so mum kind of wrangles them, just to take care of i t. And I said my Dad had the very important duty of making sure the red w ine was corked at the right time ready for us to come off stage." (KD//LR

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OZZY OSBOURNE has revealed he parted ways with longtime guitarist ZAKK WY LDE because it was becoming more and more difficult to be sober around so meone who drank so heavily.
The Black Label Society star has been replaced by Gus G in Ozzy’s touri ng line-up and now the rock legend has explained the real reason behind h is decision to end his long professional relationship with Wylde.
Osbourne tells Guitar World magazine, "Zakk came in at the beginning of the new one (record), but he was still drinking. When you’re drunk and s omebody else is drinking, it’s OK, but when you’re sober and somebody’s b labbering away in your ear, it ain’t. I mean, Zakk’s a great player and I love him. I love his playing. But in the end, it came to the point that I had to get another guitarist.
"It was hard for me to be around someone who is actively drinking. I he ard he’s not drinking anymore. I don’t know if that’s true or not.
"I love his playing; he’s one of the greats. But it was the drink getti ng the better of him. I couldn’t watch him die. In one sick respect, it w as good for me to see, because that’s what I was like, and worse. Believe me, if I started drinking now you’d think, ‘F**k, this is b**locks! I’ve got to get out of here.’ That’s how I felt around Zakk toward the end." But the Brit insists he and Wylde are still good friends.
He says, "We’re like family."

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RANDY JACKSON is fuming over a charity event honouring his brother MICHAE L on Saturday (26Jun10), insisting he is "sick of people trying to exploi t" his famous family.
The Forever Michael tribute evening was held in Los Angeles exactly a y ear and a day after the Thriller hitmaker passed away.
The gala was organised by executives at The Jackson Family Foundation, a charity set up by the star’s father Joe to fund a Jackson family museum in their native Gary, Indiana.
But Randy is livid his parents, Joe and Katherine, who are listed as Ch airman and Vice Chairman on the company’s website, have become involved w ith the organisation as he is convinced the foundation is not legitimate.
And he’s called for his parents to disassociate themselves from the cau se, branding the Saturday fundraiser "fraud".
In a series of posts on his Twitter.com page, he writes, "Let me be cle ar, there’s no legitimate ‘Jackson Family Foundation’ that my brothers & sisters are aware of. As far as I am concerned, tonight’s event is a frau d.
"I know my parents would not be involved if they really knew the charac ters they have aligned themselves with… I am doing my best to get my pa rents to understand who the people are around them.
"How can you raise money for a foundation that has not been legally for med? It is disrespectful to this family & an insult (to) the public & fan s. I am sick of people trying to exploit & take advantage of my parents a nd then letting our family take the blame.
"I don’t mean to be negative all the time but please understand my bro (brother) shouldn’t be dead & I get protective when people try 2 (sic) ex ploit us, esp (especially) now."

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Former SHAMELESS star GERARD KEARNS has thrown his support behind an upco ming American adaptation of the hit British TV show - but he’s disappoint ed WOODY HARRELSON won’t be taking the lead role.
The BAFTA award-winning drama series, which follows the lives of a work ing class family in northern England, has been running in the U.K. since 2004 and TV bosses recently announced plans to take the show to the U.S.
The programme will be remade with an American cast and both Harrelson a nd William H. Macy were rumoured to be in talks to sign on.
Kearns admits he’s delighted with the news that the show is heading Sta teside, but he’s disappointed Harrelson has since dropped out of negotiat ions to take the lead role.
Speaking at the Edinburgh International Film Festival screening of Hone ymooners, he tells WENN, "Woody Harrelson was supposed to be playing Fran k, the alcoholic dad. I don=E2=80=99t think he=E2=80=99s doing it anymore .. Everything they do on American television is f**king brilliant. They ha ve such a good way of handling and dealing with things over there and the series are amazing like The Sopranos. It=E2=80=99s amazing TV.
"I love it so I know it will be good. Look at the remake of The Office; they know how to handle it so well so go for it, man!"

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CHICAGO star JOHN C. REILLY refuses to get hairy for a film role - becaus e he can’t stand the idea of spending hours in a make-up chair.
The impatient actor admits he has turned down lucrative film offers bec ause the role demanded too much prosthetic preparation.
He explains, "I know after 20 minutes I get huffy. I just know myself. I was offered something in Planet of the Apes and I wouldn’t take it beca use it was an ape and I can’t sit in the chair for longer than a half hou r; I’d go crazy.
"I’ve always wanted to do a clown on film; clown make-up I could do. I can do make-up that you do yourself; it’s not someone poking you with rub ber.
"I used to be a clown when I was a teenager. I had two characters - one was a sad hobo and another was a country bumpkin with a plaid suit and b uck teeth. I did fairs and retirement homes through my church." (KL/RXM&W

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STAR TREK actor ZACHARY QUINTO and TRUE BLOOD star MICHAEL MCMILLIAN are teaming up to create their own comic book.
The TV stars are the brains behind Lucid, a new graphic novel, based ar ound a set of fantasy characters.
Quinto’s Before The Door Pictures company will oversee the production o f the comic, which will be published by Archaia Comics. McMillian will wr ite the book.
Teenage artist Anna Wieszczyk has been handed illustration duties.
McMillian says, "It’s a rock ‘n’ roll book, and I think, for me, part o f it is taking these elements of magic and this concept of fantasy, which I think a lot of times gets a bad rap… and really make it fun and sexy and cool and contemporary.
The first issue is due to be released in August (10).

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Filming for the DOCTOR WHO Christmas (10) special has been thrown into je opardy after the top-secret script reportedly went missing.
Executive producer and lead writer Steven Moffat is facing a race again st time to create a new draft before filming commences next month (Jul10) , according to Britain’s Daily Star Sunday.
The writer reveals, "It’s a flashback Christmas special." Matt Smith currently stars at the Time Lord in the popular British sci- fi show.

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British actor EDWARD HOGG has urged film fans who hire out their homes as locations to think twice - the cast and crew on his new film, OLLIE KEPL ER’S EXPANDING PURPLE WORLD, wrecked their movie home.
A production assistant agreed to hand over the keys to her home to dire ctor Viv Fongenie, and the place became Ollie Kepler’s (Hogg) for the dur ation of the movie.
The actor shudders to think what the poor girl thought of her house onc e the film was done.
He explains, "I feel bad for her because the house was covered in purpl e paint and it was hard to get off things.
"We fell through a floorboard. There was a scene in the film where I li ft up a floorboard and we had just done one take and my make-up girl’s fo ot went through and she was stuck dangling through the ceiling of the flo or below! "We did lots of things to that apartment. I think the door didn’t close properly by the end and there was obviously purple paint everywhere.
"I would never use my own property for a film set; they would have to p ay me an awful lot of money."

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The mystery surrounding BRITTANY MURPHY’s widow SIMON MONJACK has just do ubled after it emerged the producer and writer left a strange message on his own cell phone answer machine before he died last month (May10).
Investigators found the eerie message, left on the day Monjack died, in his voicemail on his phone. In it, he says, "I need to go to the hospita l. I have a fever." Later on in the recording, obtained by TMZ.com, Murphys’ mother Sharon can be heard saying, "Tell them you have a fever." It’s unclear who ‘them ‘ is.
The cause of Monjack’s death has yet to be determined.
Last week (ends25Jun10), Monjack’s mother accused Sharon of ignoring he r pleas to call a doctor in the hours before the filmmaker’s death.
Sharon Murphy found the director unconscious at the Hollywood Hills hom e he once shared with his late wife. Paramedics determined he had suffere d a cardiac arrest and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Monjack’s mother Linda claims she pleaded with his ex-mother-in-law to get Monjack medical help because she was so concerned about him on the ni ght before he passed away.
She told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, "I’d pleaded with Sharon over and over during those last hours to get medical help, to get him to a hos pital, but she didn’t… I’d call and he wasn’t even able to respond. It was at this point that I demanded to speak to Sharon, and I told her, ‘Pl ease, please call the doctor. Get him to hospital. Please just get him so me help’. She told me that she’d ‘been through this before’ and that Simo n was over the worse." Sharon Murphy’s publicist, Roger Neal, has slammed Monjack’s accusation s, insisting she did everything she could to help the filmmaker. (KL/WNWC

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Rapper TINCHY STRYDER faced a dash back to Britain for his set at the Gla stonbury festival after he was offered a last-minute ticket to see Englan d play in the soccer World Cup on Wednesday (23Jun10).
The Number 1 hitmaker jetted off to South Africa to see his team play a gainst Slovenia after soccer player Rio Ferdinand offered him a seat in t he stadium.
Stryder was ecstatic when England won the match 1-0 - but was forced to jet back to the U.K. immediately after the game to make his slot at Glas tonbury on Saturday (26Jun10).
He tells Britain’s News of the World, "Rio Ferdinand got me a ticket so I jumped at the chance. I got to meet some of the players before the gam es and watch the matches.
"It was incredible, but performing here is just as good for me." (CL/WN

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BRITNEY SPEARS dropped in on the BACKSTREET BOYS before the band’s show a t the Pechanga casino in California on Friday night (25Jun10).
Spears, a longtime fan of the Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) hitmakers, made an unannounced appearance backstage before the concert to greet the group.
She then joined the sold out crowd to cheer the pop stars on.
It has been quite a week for the boy band - they were joined onstage at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall last weekend (19Jun10) by fellow a geing pop hunks New Kids on the Block.

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MICHAEL JACKSON’s Swarovski Crystal glove won a standing ovation at an au ction in Las Vegas on Friday (25Jun10) when it went under the hammer for a staggering $192,000 (=C2=A3128,000).
The worn glove was the highlight of the Julien=E2=80=99s Auctions sale, which fell on the first anniversary of the King of Pop’s death.
Standing room only crowds turned out in record numbers to attend the Mu sic Icons auction at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
Jackson’s documents, drawings, clothing and furniture were the main att ractions.
Auction house boss Darren Julien tells WENN, "It was amazing with inter est from around the world and the crowd stood to its feet and cheered whe n Michael Jackson=E2=80=99s white Swarovski Crystal glove from the Victor y Tour sold. I’ve never seen anything like it." Other highlights included: Jackson’s Victory Tour Jacket, which sold fo r $66,000 (=C2=A344,000), Michael Jackson’s Drawing of a Man ($30,000/=C2 =A320,000), an autograph Jackson signed the day before his death ($21,000 /=C2=A314,000), and a Jackson Signed Beat-It Jacket ($132,000/=C2=A388,00 0).
Even Jackson’s worn loafers sold well - for $90,000 (=C2=A360,000).
A Tsar Nicholas II replica parlour set which the late pop superstar com missioned for the rented English home he planned to live in during his Th is Is It dates in London last summer (09) was among the few items which f ailed to sell.
Mariah Carey was reportedly interested in the ornate sofa and chairs, b ut her man at the auction, interior designer Kenneth Bordewick, didn’t bi d for it. Insiders claim Carey lost interest following her involvement in the auction pre-publicity.
Julien reveals he has a private Russian buyer interested in purchasing the custom-made Combustile furniture which failed to sell at the auction.

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EMINEM can’t go down to the recording studio he built in his Michigan hom e anymore - because it reminds him of a very dark period in his life.
The rapper admits he spent a lot of time down there at the height of th e drug addiction, which kept him out of the spotlight for two years - and couldn’t face returning to a place full of bad memories.
Instead he recorded most of his new album Recovery in a new hometown st udio.
He tells Billboard magazine, "I still have the studio at my house, but it reminds me of when I was in a really dark place.
"As soon as all the pills were flushed out of my system and I started s eeing things clearer, going downstairs in my basement and recording creep ed me out a little bit."

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MICHAEL JACKSON’s longtime friends COREY FELDMAN, EDDIE GRIFFIN and MICKE Y ROONEY joined members of the King of Pop’s family in Beverly Hills on S aturday night (26Jun10) to raise funds for the late superstar’s favourite charities.
Stars and Jackson family friends were treated to a performance by the l ate star’s niece Genevieve, who jetted in for the Beverly Hilton Hotel ga la a day after helping her grandmother, Jackson matriarch Katherine, unve il a monument to the King of Pop on the lawn of the Jacksons’ former home in Gary, Indiana.
The get together came a day after the first anniversary of Jackson’s de ath.
Feldman said, "It has been very hard for all of us and now we can try t o honour his (Jackson) name and his legacy."

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BIFFY CLYRO’s set at Britain’s Glastonbury festival on Saturday (26Jun10) was marred by injury when singer SIMON NEIL hurt his leg after jumping o ff a speaker.
The trio, comprising of Neil, James Johnston and Ben Johnston, were sur prise guests on The Park Stage and drew a huge crowd as news of their app earance spread.
But the frontman was left with a nasty injury when a stage stunt went w rong, according to NME.com.
A spokesperson for the band has confirmed the injury is not as bad as f irst thought, with many fearing the star had broken his leg, telling the website the singer has "ruined his knee".

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STEVIE WONDER used his headlining slot at London’s Hard Rock Calling on S aturday night (26Jun10) to pay tribute to the late MICHAEL JACKSON, just a day after the anniversary of the King of Pop’s death.
The soul legend took to the stage in the British capital’s Hyde Park fo r the annual event, performing a full set of his hit tracks, including Si gned, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours and Isn’t She Lovely, for the 50,000 st rong crowd.
But it was his tribute to Jackson, who died on 25 June 2009, which real ly moved the gig-goers.
Wonder sang, "We love you Michael Jackson, we love your music Michael," to the tune of Master Blaster (Jammin’) and played the harmonica to Jack son’s hit track Human Nature.
The 60 year old was supported by Jamiroquai, James Morrison and Corinne Bailey Rae, who was full of praise for the veteran singer.
Bailey Rae says, "He has influenced me so much and is such an icon." (C

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