News posted by: Jazz [5.31.02]
ALL US DATES GO ON SALE TODAY!
Here are a few screen captures from the "Do What You Came To Do" video.
Fame holds strong on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart coming in at #5 in its fifth week of sales. The album sold 96,367 copies this past week which brings its five week total to 1,222,304 copies sold in the US by retailers using SoundScan. The "Fame" single stays at #3 on the Hot 100 Singles Chart for the second week in a row. Also, the Fame album has been certified 2x Platinum for shipments of 2 million copies by the RIAA.
The "Party" CD-1 and CD-5 singles were released yesterday in the UK.
"The Ultimate Experience" was released today on VHS format in the US. The VHS version, unlike the DVD version, does not include any behind the scenes footage, just videos.
This is the cover of the 2 track US promo CD for "Do What You Came To Do", which only contains the Single Edit (3:40) and the DJ Quik Edit (3:36).
The tour dates for Europe and Australia were announced today and it has been confirmed that "The One Night Stand -World Tour 2002" will officially kick off on July 20th in London, UK. The dates are as follows:
July 20-21: London, UK (Wembley Arena) (On sale June 12th)
July 29: Sydney, Australia (Sydney Cricket Ground) (On sale June 5th)
It has been reported and confirmed that Melissa will be a guest on Oprah! The show will be taped live from Los Angeles on June 3rd and will air on June 5th. Check your local listings for exact airing time.
Last night at the MTV Japan Video Music Awards, Melissa brought the house down, opening the show with a high energy driven preformance of "Fame". She took home the award for "Best Female [Artist]"! Congratulations, Melissa!!
The Japanese version of the Fame album that contains the extra bonus track "Final Goodbye" (unavailable anywhere else in the world) can now be purchased online by clicking here.
IMDB.com reports that Melissa has had enough of tabloid reports claiming she and boyfriend Paul Walker are engaged to be married. Williams explained how the issue came to a boiling point saying, "I was shooting a video and my mother called and left me a message, sobbing because she thought I was engaged and hadn't told her. Of course I would love to be married one day. I would hate to go through this life without being able to share myself whole-heartedly with someone. Please people, stop the rumors!"
"Do What You Came To Do" will be released to US radio on Monday, June 10th. The first promos of the song will be shipped the prior week.
Australian television station Xara 1 will finally be airing "Melissa Williams: A Little Bit Of Fame" on Friday, May 31st at the following times: 9:00 P.M., 12:00 A.M., and 8:00 A.M. EST.
Groove Armada has remixed "Do What You Came To Do" and we are the first to give you a listen! The "Groove Armada Area 81 Mix" is now available in the Multimedia section. Coming soon: The "DJ Quik Mix".
As previously reported, Melissa has recorded a song titled "Impossible Fantasy" for the upcoming "Austin Powers: Goldmember" soundtrack. The song was written and produced by Dallas Austin and Melissa herself. The tentative release date for the soundtrack is July 16th. The movie, which features Melissa in a cameo role, hits theaters on July 26th. The lyrics to "Impossible Fantasy" have been added to the Lyrics section.
America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive service company, and Melissa Williams, one of the world's most popular female preformers, today announced a broad strategic alliance that will bring an array of content and exclusive benefits to AOL members and Web music fans worldwide, while providing unique cross-promotional and marketing opportunities for both the band and the online service. Advance ticket sales to Williams' upcoming ``One Night Stand'' Tour, also announced today, will be made available to AOL members as part of this agreement. Read More...
Tonight on VH-1 at 9:00 P.M. EST. & PAC., Melissa will make an appearance via-sattelite from Japan [where she is currently rehearsing for her preformance at the first ever MTV Japan Video Music Awards] to introduce Shakira's preformance on VH-1's "Divas Las Vegas".
The Japanese tour dates for Melissa's "One Night Stand -World Tour 2002" have been announced! The Japanese concerts will be sponsored by Music Bank, a new Japanese music club. The new official tour dates are as follows:
October 2nd: Osaka Dome, Osaka (on sale June 13th)
Based on the fact that the video premiere of "Do What You Came To Do" has been taken off of TRL's weekly calendar, and the fact that an article that surfaced yesterday from MTV.com said that the video isn't premiering until the week of June 10th, we are going to assume that TRL must not be premiering the video on Friday as they previously announced they would. This hasn't been confirmed, but these two facts imply that it won't.
Melissa will be rehearsing and shooting several comedy skits with her co-host Jack Black for the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles next week. The 2002 MTV Movie Awards will air on June 6th at 9:00 P.M. EST. & PAC., only on MTV.
Pop recording sensation Melissa Williams has signed a marketing agreement with casual dining leader Red Lobster to star in a series of commercials promoting the restaurant's Seafood and "To Go" service. Red Lobster will also be the lead sponsor of the singer's next concert tour. Read More...
According to Jive Records, Melissa's new 2002 world tour will be called "The One Night Stand Tour." Dates for Japan are expected to be announced soon, Europeon and Austrailian dates should follow shortly thereafter.
Melissa is currently shooting a video for "Innatrance" in Los Angeles with director Steve Carr. It has been brought to our attention that "Innatrance" will be the third international-only single [outside of the US] from Fame. However, since the second international single, "Party", hasnt even been released overseas yet, it will be awhile before "Innatrance" is released. The "Party" single will be released in the UK on May 27th on CD-1 and CD-5 formats.
FHM has listed their "100 Sexiest Music Videos" of all time. Amongst those on the list are Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Melissa Williams, Madonna, Mariah Carey, and Toni Basil. Melissa came in at #21 with "Tonight (Do Me)".
William Orbit's official website has reported that he is currently mixing Melissa's songs in the studio for her upcoming world tour. He will not only be mixing some of the tracks he produced and co-wrote on her current album, Fame, but also re-mixing some of Melissa's older goodies, "Baby I..." being one of them.
Melissa released ALL of her United States & Canada tour dates on Saturday at a press conference she held in New York City. At this press conference Melissa announced that portions of the proceeds from the U.S. leg of the tour will go to the charity "America's Promise" which is a charity that helps poor children get through the burdens of life. Also, at this press conference a mob of fans waited outside just to catch a glimpse of Melissa. When Melissa found out that hundreds of fans had been waiting out for her, she went outside with a microphone and talked to them a bit. The very generous Miss Williams also shook hands with them and signed tons of autographs. It is unknown when dates for overseas shows will be announced, however, it was confirmed at the press conference that Melissa will be touring Europe and Australia before the U.S., Canada and Japan, so expect those dates to be announced soon. According to MTV.com, tickets for all U.S. concerts listed below go on sale May 31st.
August 3: Salt Lake City, Utah (Olympic Medals Plaza)
Melissa is featured on the cover of the June 2002 issue of Cosmo Girl Magazine. The article has been added to the Articles section. Enjoy!
Various pics of Melissa with fans taken during her recent promo tour stop in Japan have been added to the Exclusives section. Special thanks to Kate.
The video for "Do What You Came To Do" will premiere next Friday, May 24th on MTV's TRL.
Melissa has contributed a song titled "Impossible Fantasy" to the forthcoming "Austin Powers: Goldmember" soundtrack. As previously announced, Melissa will be making a cameo in the film, scheduled to be released in July. The soundtrack will be released sometime in June. We'll keep you updated.
Commercials for the MTV Movie Awards, featuring Melissa and Jack Black, have premiered and are currently airing worldwide.
Australia's ABC Broadband has the latest video from Melissa Williams, 'Party', streaming. "Party" is NOT set to be released in the U.S. ('Do What You Came To Do' is scheduled next), so this is probably one of the very limited opportunities U.S. fans will have to be able to view the video. Check out the video here.
Melissa just announced that on Saturday at 3:45 P.M. EST she will be holding a press conference at the City Hall in New York City! She will be there with Mayor Rudolph Guiliani to announce her new United States tour!!! Also, Melissa will also announce her affiliation and support of America's Promise-The Alliance for Youth, a nationwide organization headed by Guiliani and dedicated to improving the lives of under-priveleged and at-risk youth. Plus that very same night (Saturday, May 18th), for the second time this year, Melissa will be on CNN's Larry King Live at 9:00 P.M. EST! It's a big week for Melissa fans!
Actor and musician Jack Black will be co-hosting the 2002 MTV Movie Awards with Melissa, according to MTV.com. The show will air on June 6th at 9:00 P.M. EST. & PAC.
After 2 weeks on top, Fame dips a spot to #2 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart this week. In its third week of sales the album sold 160,606 copies bringing its three week total to 1,000,868. In other chart news, the Fame single ends its reign at #1 dropping to #2 this week on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.
BET.com reports that DJ Quik is currently working on remixes for Brandy, Tweet & Melissa Williams. It is presumed that DJ Quik will be remixing Melissa's upcoming second single, "Do What You Came To Do".
Melissa has been scheduled a preformer at the first ever MTV Japan Video Music Awards to be held on May 24th in Tokyo.
According to Jive Records, Melissa is currently finalizing tour dates and talking with possible future promoters for her upcoming as-yet untitled world tour. The label said that the tour will more than likely begin in late July or early August.
It has been reported that Melissa will not be appearing live at VH-1's "Divas Las Vegas" show, she will be introducing Shakira's preformance via-sattelite from Japan, where she will be rehearsing for her VMAJ preformance. "Divas Las Vegas" airs on May 23rd on VH-1 at 9:00 P.M. EST & PAC.
Melissa recently made a brief cameo in Jermaine Dupri's upcoming remix video for "Welcome To Atlanta". Jermaine Dupri produced songs for Melissa's two previous studio albums, All I Am and Exposed.
Movie Offers
Melissa and Paul attended the "Star Wars - Episode 2: Attack of the Clones" movie premiere in Hollywood last night.
Here are some notable quotes from Friday night's MSN chat:
DishDiva: Teck Wee from Singapore would like to know: When was the last time you had a really good time? Can you describe it?
Melissa_Williams_Live: About 2 weeks ago. The dancers and myself, we went surfing and jet skiing, we just decided to just let loose and have some fun. A lot of fun.
DishDiva: sweetliljennigrl Asks: Melissa, I love the new album! My question is, how long did it take to make the album?
Melissa_Williams_Live: About 2 and a half months. There wasn't one day within those 2 months that I did not do something for the album. And I must say, I had the most fun recording this one. My creative juices just flowed so well in the studio.
DishDiva: Fame2002 Asks: Melissa, you are my inspiration, I love you so much! I wanted to ask about the tour. You recently announced that there will in fact be a tour, will you be coming to Australia? You were supposed to come last December, but it was cancelled due to the US terrorist attacks.
Melissa_Williams_Live: Oh, thank you! Actually, yes, I plan on making up for that. Australia will definitely get a visit this year. :)
DishDiva: SFMelFAN Asks: Hi Melissa, there are rumors your next single will be "Do What You Came To Do". Can you tell us what the video will be like?
Melissa_Williams_Live: I wanted to keep the video concept as related to the song as possible. It's basically me playing a young, struggling actress who wants to get a certain part in a film, but along the way I get sidetracked by all the negative opinions about me and I kind of lose hope and confidence of actually making it. But, there's a light at the end of the tunnel in this one. It's almost like a short film.
EXCLUSIVE: In a press conference that was held in Japan today, Melissa exclusively revealed that she will indeed be touring! Here's an excerpt from her comment: "I've thoroughly thought about touring for this album and I think it would probably be a crime if I didn't. So yes, there definitely will be a world tour for this album. No details have really been finalized, but I will be touring. This time around I want to be able to go everywhere I can possibly go, so it will probably be a fairly long tour." Melissa also joked about never saying never, refering to the times she has said that she would not tour for awhile after last year's Exposed Tour. -- More details will be revealed as soon as we get them!
Melissa will be chatting live from Japan tonight on MSN at 9:00 P.M. EST. In order to join the chat you need an MSN Passport account; for example, if you have a Hotmail account you need to enter that as your "sign in name", or create a new MSN Passport account for free. To enter the special chat, click here.
The video for "Party" [the second international single from Fame to be released outside of the US] will premiere on MTV UK's popular "Video Express" show on May 18th.
Melissa will be featured on the upcoming soundtrack to the "Austin Powers: Goldmember" film. Details of the song and title are currently unknown, as more information surfaces, we'll be the first to let to you know! In related news, as previously reported, Melissa will also be making a cameo in the Austin Powers flick, due to hit theaters this July.
Fame sits comfortably at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart selling 274,054 copies in its second week of sales. This brings a total of 840,262 copies of Fame sold in only two weeks in the United States alone. Melissa still reigns supreme on the Hot 100 Chart where the "Fame" single is #1 for the sixth week in a row, making it the longest running #1 single of her career!
It has been confirmed that Melissa will be a preformer on this year's MTV Movie Awards. As previously reported, Melissa will also be hosting the event scheduled to air on MTV on June 6th at 9:00 P.M. EST. & PAC.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Melissa Williams has done it again. For the 3rd time in her short, but fufilled career, which has seen the sale of over 30 million albums, Williams has landed the #1 spot on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart. Fame, which has also produced the country's #1 Billboard Hot 100 Single, for the 5th week in a row, sold a whopping 566,208 copies in just its first week of release and outpaced the #2 album on the charts by more than 2 to 1. Read More...
Melissa is on the cover of the June 2002 issue of Allure magazine. The magazine hits news stands on May 10th. The article has been added to the Articles section! Enjoy!
Fame debuted at #1 in Canada after seeing sales of 35,001 copies in its first week of release.
Melissa will be in Japan for a few days next week on a promo tour to support Fame.
Pop princess, Mandy Moore, who is also a close friend of Melissa's, recently sent in a voice message for her Official Web-site and said that she thought Fame was an "interesting and great album".
Nielson ratings for Melissa's Melissa Williams: A Little Bit Of Fame special report that 9.2 million households tuned in to watch when it aired on April 19th.
It has been confirmed that Melissa will be a special guest at VH-1's Divas Las Vegas concert. Melissa will not be performing. The event will air on VH-1 on May 23rd at 9:00 P.M. EST. & PAC.
As was predicted, Fame makes an explosive debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. In its first week of sales the album sold 566,208 copies in the United States, making it not only Melissa's second fastest selling album ever, but also the fifth fastest selling album ever by a female artist. Melissa's fastest selling album in the US is still 2001's Exposed, which sold 597,991 copies in its first seven days and went on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide. Also, for the fifth week in a row the "Fame" single is the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, tieing "Didn't We Almost Have It All" as the longest running #1 single of Melissa's career. Currently Melissa has both the #1 song and the #1 album in the country, a first in Melissa's career.
Melissa will be fighting Britney Spears in an upcoming episode of MTV's claymation wrestling show, "Celebrity Deathmatch". This episode will air on May 14th at 10:30 P.M. EST. on MTV.
Melissa is VH-1's Artist of the Month for the month of May.
News posted by: Jazz [5.28.02]
News posted by: Jazz [5.25.02]
July 22: Rotterdam, Holland (Feyneoord Stadium) (On sale July 1st)
July 26: Hannover, Germany (Hannover Dome) (On sale June 27th)
July 27: Bercy, Paris (Blue Central) (On sale June 16th)
July 30: Brisbane, Australia (Brisbane Anz Stadium) (On sale June 2nd)
July 31: Melbourne, Australia (Melbourne Cricket Ground) (On sale June 11th)
News posted by: Jazz [5.23.02]
News posted by: Jazz [5.22.02]
October 3rd: Osaka Dome, Osaka (on sale June 14th)
October 5th: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo (on sale June 17th)
News posted by: Jazz [5.21.02]
News posted by: Jazz [5.20.02]
August 4: Portland, Oregon (Rose Garden)
August 5: Tacoma, Washington (Tacoma Dome)
August 7: Oakland, California (Oakland Arena)
August 8: Sacramento, California (Arco Arena)
August 9: San Jose, California (Compaq Center)
August 10: Los Angeles, California (Staples Center)
August 11: San Diego, California (Sports Arena)
August 13-14: Anaheim, California (Arrowhead Pond)
August 17: Phoenix, Arizona (America West Arena)
August 19-20: Las Vegas, Nevada (MGM Grand)
August 22: San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome)
August 23: Dallas, Texas (Reunion Arena)
August 26: Denver, Colorado (Pepsi Center)
August 29: Ames, Iowa (Hilton Coliseum)
August 30: Cleveland, Ohio (Gund Arena)
August 31: Columbus, Ohio (Nationwide Arena)
September 1: Minneapolis, Minnesota (Target Center)
September 2: Grand Forks, North Dakota (Alerus Center)
September 3: Auburn Hills, Michigan (Palace of Auburn Hills)
September 4-5: Rosemont, Illinois (Allstate Arena)
September 7: Uniondale, New York (Nassau Coliseum)
September 9: Albany, New York (Pepsi Arena)
September 12-13: New York City, New York (Madison Square Garden)
September 15: East Rutherford, New Jersey (Continental Airlines Arena)
September 16: Pittsburgh, Phillidelphia (Mellon Arena)
September 18: Miami, Florida (American Airlines Arena)
September 20: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (National Car Rental Center)
September 21: Tampa, Florida (Ice Palace)
September 23: Washington, D.C. (MCI Center)
September 24: Atlanta, Georgia (Phillips Arena)
September 26-27: Toronto, Ontario (Skydome)
September 29: Vancouver, B.C. (General Motors Place)
News posted by: Jazz [5.16.02]
News posted by: Jazz [5.14.02]
According to popdirt.com, since the cancelation of the film she was to begin filming this spring, "Truth", Melissa has recieved over 7 movie scripts that are affiliated with the film company, Miramax, in which she signed a multi-picture deal with this January. It has been reported that Melissa signed for 3 films and will be paid $2-3 million per film.
News posted by: Jazz [5.13.02]
News posted by: Jazz [5.10.02]
News posted by: Jazz [5.9.02]
News posted by: Jazz [5.5.02]
News posted by: Jazz [5.4.02]