Crowdfunding for Fun and Profit
Eccentric cult superstar and Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer took to Kickstarter to ask fans to help her with her next album (and accompanying “art book” and tour) and to show the industry how such projects are the “future of music.” She made her point. Starting off with a goal of raising $100,000, when the month-long campaign ended, she had $1,192,793, making it the richest music-related Kickstarter effort ever (the overall record is for a video game that raised nearly $3.5 million). The “overflow funds,” according to Palmer in an interview with The Gothamist, will go back into promoting the album. “No nose jobs and tummy tucks for the band. Not yet,” she joked.
Al-Qaeda is Bored
If you think that acoustic guitar guy winning American Idol was insane, have you heard the news from the even kitschier, recently completed contest Eurovision? (Somebody you never heard of from Sweden won.) First, Iran pulled its contestant because, it claimed, host country Azerbaijan was planning to hold a gay pride parade. (Azerbaijan called Iran liars; no such parade was ever planned.) Then authorities reportedly foiled a bomb plot aimed at the event and, specifically, Irish Pop boy-duo Jedward. Forty people were arrested in the Al-Qaeda-led plot. Why Jedward? Last year, the pair denied rumors they were gay, so it’s not that (unless terrorists get gossip news on a 12-month delay). The duo is known for songs like “Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby),” a “mash-up” cover of Vanilla Ice’s song and the Queen track that inspired it. Oh, now it makes a little more sense …
Least Amicable Break-Up Ever?
The worse things get during even the most dramatic band break-ups are usually snarky back-and-forth insults in the press. Rap/Metal band Hollywood Undead raised that bar to painful new heights when, according to TMZ, two bandmates waited for singer “Deuce” to leave a club after a solo performance, then beat him. Even sadder, it wasn’t due to the singer’s refusal to ironically cover James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful.” The musicians were just REALLY pissed that Deuce — who is now pursuing legal action — decided to go solo.