On Friday, George Michael called in to Ellen DeGeneres to announce he will bring his 25 Live Show to the U.S. in June (see previous post). He also made another announcement. If you haven’t heard the news, you might want to watch it...



Source Ellen

After performing 80 shows in 12 European countries for a staggering 1.3 million fans over the past year alone, legendary superstar George Michael will be bringing his smash 25 LIVE tour to North American Arenas in the summer of 2008 in support of his new retrospective record titled TwentyFive. The North American leg of the 25 LIVE tour will kick off in San Diego on June 17th (see other dates here). This will be George Michael's first North American tour in 17 years. The new record, TwentyFive, his first U.S. release since his 2004 studio album, Patience, will be released April 1st and is a 29-song, 2-CD set featuring several new songs (including duets with superstars Paul McCartney and Mary J. Blige and a song from the hit TV series, Eli Stone) in addition to many of Michael's iconic songs from both his solo and WHAM! career. In addition, a companion 2-disc DVD of 40 videos will also be made available. Watch some of Michael's greatest hits, Wake Me Up Before You GOGO (top left video), Last Christmas (top right video), Careless Whisper (middle left video), Faith (middle right video), One More Try (bottom left video) and Flawless (bottom right video)...



TwentyFive is available on CDs and DVDs.

Source GeorgeMichael.com

Yesterday, George Michael made his American acting debut on the new hit ABC series, Eli Stone, in which each episode is titled after one of his songs.
Co-written by Marc Guggenheim (Brothers & Sisters, Law & Order, The Practice) and Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters, Dirty Sexy Money, Everwood), the series was described by them as "a dramedy with fantastical elements about a lawyer who may or may not be a modern day prophet." Berlanti is a fan of Michael and tried hard to get him to appear on the show, and it turned out that Michael is a TV junkie, which led to the singer agreeing to do several episodes, including one in which Stone will represent him for real. Watch George Michael acting in 2 Eli Stone's sneak peeks...




Eli Stone, starring Jonny Lee Miller, Victor Garber, Natasha Henstridge, Loretta Devine, Sam Jaeger, James Saito, Matt Letscher, Julie Gonzalo,
Eli Stone airs on Thursdays 10/9c on ABC.

Source ABC

The BBC has agreed not to screen an interview with British pop singer George Michael (right picture) in the documentary Stephen Fry: HIV And Me, after the pop star complained that an admission that he refuses to take an HIV test was “too personal”. Michael, 44, asked the BBC to remove the interview, citing sensitivities over his former partner, Anselmo Feleppa, who died of an Aids-related illness in 1995. A spokesman for Michael said: “On reflection, he felt it was too close and too personal a journey. It was too personal for Anselmo’s family to revisit.” Programme-makers had leaked details of the revealing interview Michael gave for the two-part programme, Stephen Fry: HIV And Me. Fry asks why HIV has “fallen off the radar” even though 70,000 people live with the virus in Britain today. Ross Wilson, producer, said: “George says he does not believe in tests. He says he finds the wait for results too harrowing and that he hasn’t had a test since at least 2004 due to his fears it might be positive.” Fry challenged Michael’s reluctance during the interview. He argues that more than a third of those infected do not know they carry the virus, even though HIV tests take 15 minutes. Fry took an HIV test on camera, which proved negative. But there are three times as many HIV-positive Britons now compared with ten years ago, according to the film.
The programme has been reedited. Stephen Fry – HIV And Me launches BBC Learning's GI Jonny viral campaign to raise awareness of HIV amongst young adults. Young straight people now represent the fastest-growing percentage of new diagnoses in the UK. Other BBC involvement in the campaign includes a special Casualty episode for World Aids Day on Saturday 1 December.

Source Times online & BBC

Mika may not be worldwide famous yet but he'll be very soon. His debut single Relax Take It Easy, remixed by Moran & Rigg has already hit the best dancefloors and his "Queenest" new single, Grace Kelly is already available for download on iTunes. The 23-year old talented pop singer was born in Beirut, raised in Paris and then in London where he says he was "completely tortured"... "I was called the typical fag and all those other homophobic, horrible little comments that kids throw at each other. But it wasn’t just that. Sometimes my hair was way too long. I was tubbier then, so they would say I had child-bearing hips,” he said to The Times. His songs reminds sometimes gay icons Freddie Mercury, George Michael or Scissor Sisters but he admits himself being inspired by artists such as Prince or Elton John. His first album, Life In Cartoon Motion will be released on February 5th. Watch Mika's Grace Kelly video

Listen Relax, Take It Easy, Mika's debut single


Visit Mika Sounds

According to the Sunday Mirror, Princes William & Harry plan to stage a concert with performers including Elton John, George Michael, Madonna, Beyonce, Kylie Minogue and many more next year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the death of their mother Princess Diana as well as her birthday. The brothers intend to directly arrange the event, scheduled to be held at London's Wembley Stadium on July 1, 2007.

George Michael, whose 25 Live tour hits the UK tomorrow, will play the one-off gig at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, on December 20 to thank nurses for helping him through his mum's illness.
"Almost 10 years ago, during the last week of my mother's life, I said that if I ever played concerts again, I would do a free one for NHS nurses. The nurses that helped my family at that time were incredible, so I want to thank them." said the star.

Source Towleroad.