he looks soooooooo gorgous wearing an England shirt :dance:

yes he does ;)

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/ICR/Robbie/Picture_36.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

crappy phone pic - but MY crappy phone pic .... I was so close I could smell him :wub:

Hope it wasn't supposed to be a surprise. [/color]

 

That's what I thought too. :unsure:

But you know what would be worse ? If the story is untrue and Rob was now looking forward to a signed England shirt that he won't get. :o Poor baby... :cry:

So that article better is accurate or else ... :arrr: :lol:

 

Oh look, it's the Sunday Kiss and Tell back with us. :cheer: It's been ages since we had one of these. :o :o

 

 

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/story_page.../showbiz4.shtml

 

 

 

EXCLUSIVE

 

By Bethany Usher

 

 

http://i13.tinypic.com/2lbclrc.jpg

 

 

THE Hollywood beauty who captured Robbie Williams' heart today reveals his amazing sexual prowess—and how the demons in his head destroyed their romance.

 

 

 

Model Lisa D'Amato has been dumped by the tortured King of Pop after two torrid months of lust in which she witnessed the secret obsessions plaguing him.

 

She tells how Robbie took her to HEAVEN in bed: "His hands were everywhere. I think he's done a massage course because he knows where all the pressure points are and he'd soon have me moaning with pleasure." :P

 

And then afterwards, she tells how HELL took over as he slept beside her: "He'd shake uncontrollably —looking like a frightened child. He's so tormented."

 

Still heartbroken after Robbie finished with her last month, Lisa, 26, reveals how the 32-year-old star—who called her his ‘Baby Doll':

KISSED her all over after stripping her naked in the build-up to their first explosive night of sex.

MADE LOVE to her for three hours, "showing unbelievable stamina" and satisfying her in ways she'd never known before.

POPPED anti-depressants and chain-smoked as he worried about his image.

LOCKED himself away in his mansion with her to keep her from finding out she'd hit the headlines as his new love—until she got death threats from jealous fans.

She met Robbie at a star-studded LA party last November—the night before they were supposed to go on a blind date arranged by pals.

 

Marble

 

 

 

"We both thought it seemed like fate," says Lisa, who found fame in the US after reaching the final stages of America's Next Top Model.

 

"I thought he was cute. My friend said he was very big in the UK, yet I'd never heard of him."

 

But after their first date bowling with friends, they all went back to his mansion in Hollywood Hills.

 

"The moment I saw his house I knew he must be very famous. Every room is amazing, with marble floors, and the finest furnishings," says Lisa. "I think he could tell how blown away I was."

 

When Lisa's friends went home she agreed to stay with Robbie a bit longer—as long as he didn't try it on.

 

"I'm not the kind of girl who sleeps with people on the first date," she says.

 

"He promised he wouldn't and said he just wanted to talk. We sat on the sofa and chatted for hours about life and how he felt good in LA because no one knew him.

 

"It felt like we had made a real connection. I was thinking, ‘Could he be the one?' when suddenly we kissed. It started slow and got more and more heated. His hands were all over me.

 

"He peeled off my jeans and was over the moon when he discovered I had on little shorts with music notes on. Then he kissed my neck and started moving downwards. I lost all control."

 

They stopped short of full sex that night—but smitten Robbie bombarded her with texts and invited her round to his home again.

 

Lisa says: "We were together almost every night for weeks. I thought I'd found a soulmate.

 

"I didn't want to be another notch on his bedpost, so it was a little while before we went all the way."

 

And when they did, Lisa was blown away. "He is, without doubt, a master in the bedroom," she says. "The first time we made love was fantastic. He had such stamina. We'd started off investigating each other's tattoos. I have 12 and he has loads. Then we kissed slowly and passionately before he started kissing me all over.

 

"By the time we started properly making love I was desperate for him. We spent three hours fooling around.

 

Brooding

 

 

 

"It was a magical night. I know I will be thinking about sex with Rob every time I am with someone for years to come. He made me climax so many times."

 

But between their bouts of passion, the pill-popping, brooding Robbie took over. "It was clear he was struggling with his mind. He doesn't drink, but he needs anti-depressants to get him through the day. A lot of the time he seemed on edge.

 

"He would light up a cigarette, take a few drags and then put it out and light another straight away."

 

The star refused to go out apart from the odd game of football with pals or to rent DVDs from a nearby store.

 

"We spent most of our time hiding out in his bedroom. I would offer to take him out for dinner or the movies," says Lisa. "He would just reply ‘Baby Doll, I have a chef, I don't need to go out.' He just wanted to be in the safety of his mansion."

 

Even in sleep, Robbie was never at peace. "When he started shaking I would gently lift him into my arms and rubbed his arms and legs until he stopped," says Lisa. "He didn't wake up, but it seemed to calm him down." When awake, Robbie—who has had mixed reviews for his album Rudebox—was obsessed with checking his chart position and what was written about him on the net.

 

"He was very affected about what people thought about his music. He really took things to heart.

 

"And he was so worried about returning to Europe to complete his Close Encounters tour. He said he hated performing."

 

He even hid from Lisa the fact that she had hit the UK headlines as his new girlfriend. The first she knew of it was when she started getting death threats from deranged British fans.

 

"Girls began leaving nasty messages on my Myspace board. So I went onto the internet and found that I had been in the papers in the UK," says Lisa.

 

"When I spoke to Robbie about it he said he hadn't mentioned the articles because he didn't think it was important. But it was to me.

 

"Robbie's world is so messed up. He's got the adoration of millions but he's such a lonely person.

 

Dumped

 

"I used to hug him all the time to make him feel he had someone he could rely on."

 

Robbie even wore T-shirts with Lisa on them he seemed so smitten—but soon she was to go the way of so many beauties who have tried to get close to The Robster.

 

He suddenly dumped her just before heading off to Europe on tour, saying they were getting too close. "I was devastated. I wasn't with him because he was Robbie Williams—I was with him because he made me laugh and feel so special," says Lisa. "He said he was worried he would hurt me."

 

They still texted and spoke on the phone—but soon the calls dried up.

 

"I guess I hoped he would contact me when he got back to LA—but he didn't," says Lisa.

 

"He led me to believe I could be special, but in the end his demons got the better of him.

 

"I just hope one day he finds who he's looking for."

 

 

http://i2.tinypic.com/2ag8f15.jpghttp://i3.tinypic.com/3507yu1.jpg

 

 

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/113327.php/...-cant-deal-with!

 

 

The inner demons that Robbie Williams just can't deal with!

 

London, Feb 11 (ANI): British singer Robbie Williams' ex lady love admits that he has a lot of demons that he just can't seem to deal with.

 

 

Lisa D'Amato, who was romanced for two months by the singer before he broke off their relationship, revealed that Williams needs anti-depressants to help him get through the day.

 

"It was clear he was struggling with his mind. He doesn't drink, but he needs anti-depressants to get him through the day. A lot of the time he seemed on edge. He would light up a cigarette, take a few drags and then put it out and light another straight away," the News of the World quoted her, as saying.

 

"We spent most of our time hiding out in his bedroom... He just wanted to be in the safety of his mansion," she said.

 

And, it seems that Robbie's demons never even left him while he was sleeping.

 

"He'd shake uncontrollably -looking like a frightened child. He's so tormented. When he started shaking I would gently lift him into my arms and rubbed his arms and legs until he stopped. He didn't wake up, but it seemed to calm him down."

 

And while awake, D'Amato revealed that Williams was constantly worried about his career.

 

When awake, Robbie-who has had mixed reviews for his album Rudebox-was obsessed with checking his chart position and what was written about him on the net.

 

"He was very affected about what people thought about his music. He really took things to heart. And he was so worried about returning to Europe to complete his Close Encounters tour. :unsure: (?) He said he hated performing," she revealed. (ANI)

 

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a42644/s...harity-gig.html

 

 

Spice Girls to perform at new charity gig?

Sunday, February 11 2007, 11:33 GMT

 

By Daniel Kilkelly

 

The Spice Girls have been approached to perform at a huge charity gig which will raise awareness of global warming.

 

Famous names including Madonna, Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue and Oasis are all expected to perform at Live Earth on July 7. Baby Spice Emma Bunton will not be able to participate due to her pregnancy, but organisers hope that the other four girls will agree to take part.

 

A source told the Daily Star Sunday: "It's the most important event to happen since Live Aid and the Spice Girls will be the jewel in the crown. This is simply an event of such magnitude that no performer approached will be able to say no."

God, help us... the kiss'n'tell I mean, not the charity gig.

You're right jups, I guess it's been to long, so there had to be another one of those stories that present Robbie as a wordclass lover and total weirdo ... :rolleyes:

 

God, help us... the kiss'n'tell I mean, not the charity gig.

You're right jups, I guess it's been to long, so there had to be another one of those stories that present Robbie as a wordclass lover and total weirdo ... :rolleyes:

 

Good to know she's not the kind of girl who sleeps with people on the first date though :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

GALAXY OF 'GREEN' STARS TO PERFORM AT WORLD'S BIGGEST CHARITY GIG

Print article

Refer to a friend

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

http://www.pr-inside.com/galaxy-of-green-s...form-r50570.htm

 

Kylie Minogue © ddp

2007-02-11 16:31:30 -

 

 

 

U2, OASIS, ROBBIE WILLIAMS, COLDPLAY and KYLIE MINOGUE are among the acts expected to wow crowds at the world's biggest ever concert to help save the planet.

Former US vice president AL GORE invited some of the world's most influential media figures to a top secret London meeting last Friday (09FEB07) to plan the record-breaking gig.

An insider says, "It was the most stellar array of media figures you could ever see but to get all those people in the room on a Friday night shows how willing they are to help." The 'Live Earth' show will be held on 7 July (07) at venues in England, America, South Africa, Japan and Brazil in a bid to raise environmental awareness.

Gore says, "Television hypnotises billions but it is a one-way conversation filling minds with junk food. The only way to breathe meaning back into our words is through music. We need you." The full line-up of artists will be announced next week (15FEB07).

 

 

http://www.indiafm.com/news/2007/02/12/8865/

 

 

 

Asha Bhosle to jam with Robbie Williams!

By IndiaFM News Bureau, February 12, 2007 - 12:51 IST

 

Superstar of international pop music, Robbie Williams will do a duet song with the timeless Asha Bhosle in a special edition of his music album. The twosome will do a remix of William’s biggest hits Rock DJ and Better Man.

 

The two songs have undergone a complete makeover, with the sounds of traditional Indian instruments like tablas, sitars and the sarangi. While the revamped Rock DJ sounds like a Bollywood club mix, Better Man sounds more spiritual and soothing. Reportedly, Asha Bhosle recorded her parts in India with instrumentalists and arrangers from China, India, Singapore and Hong Kong. Her vocal parts were recorded in Mumbai, while Morton Wilson from Schtung Studios and his team of arrangers worked on the tracks and the overall production in Hong Kong.

 

These remixes will be available for mobile downloads. The tracks will also be available on Inner Sanctum, the Robbie Williams website. If sources are to be believed, the songs will also be included in a Bollywood film! With two legends coming together in sync, these remix numbers are sure to make waves.

 

 

 

http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=225272007

 

 

Approximately 25 per cent of Britons will have had a full-fledged sexual fantasy about one or more celebrities, with men indulging in these imaginary encounters slightly more frequently than women. In the study I allowed respondents to generate their own notion of what constitutes a celebrity. As one might imagine, a tiny sliver of people chose politicians and classical musicians, a larger proportion chose sporting figures and the vast majority defined celebrity as a star of cinema, television or popular music.

 

Britain's most erotically arousing celebrities based on sexual fantasies.

 

Rank order of male celebrities about whom Britons fantasise (2004 figures) 1. Robbie Williams 2. Russell Crowe 3. Brad Pitt 4. George Michael 5. Mel Gibson 6. David Beckham 7. Kevin Costner 8. Sir Cliff Richard :huh: 9. George Clooney 10. Simon Cowell

 

Rank order of female celebrities about whom Britons fantasise (2004 figures) 1. Kylie Minogue 2. Britney Spears 3. Sarah Michelle Gellar 4. Pamela Anderson 5. Angelina Jolie 6. Jordan 7. Julia Roberts 8. Marilyn Monroe 9. Kelly Brook 10. Joanna Lumley

 

 

:unsure: Cliff Richard fantasies :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

 

and why did it take 3 years to tally those figures??? LOL!!

this is actually from November, so I'm not sure why it's just now popping up on my google alert, but I thought it was pretty funny.

 

http://www.ecorazzi.com/?p=670

 

Noel Gallagher of Britpop group Oasis (ahh 1996) managed to make a whole lot of enemies today. Let’s see, in little more than one breath he managed to insult environmentalists, soldiers, Elton John, Robbie Williams, Tony Blair, and his brother, Liam. We have to give him props for that - he probably set some sort of world record. In fact, we’re not sure if there is any human being walking on this planet that he doesn’t hate.

 

We’ll start of with the environmentalists:

 

Greens are f***ing hippies with no place in the world. They’ve been telling us for the last 50 years not to use aerosols or the sky’s going to fall in. Well - you’re the scientists, do something about it. How do you suggest we get 50million Chinese not to have a fridge? Or get 700million Americans to stop using their big stupid cars. The only way its going to happen is if the sky falls in. Until is does, these Greens are wasting their time. I’m glad - because in 50 years time I’ll be dead.

 

Though it’s not like he doesn’t care for the environment.

 

Well - I haven’t got a car. So I’m doing my bit for the environment. I walk everywhere. I only live round the corner from Central London and I walk everywhere. That’s my bit. I take public transport and I walk. So I don’t clog up the roads with petrol fumes and all that stuff. That’s what I’m doing.

 

Elton & Robbie are up next:

 

If I run out of milk, I go to the supermarket. And I queue up like everybody else. Can you imagine Elton John queuing up to by milk? The thing is - these stars like Robbie Williams and Elton John and all the rest of that lot - what are they afraid of? Are they actually afraid somebody might actually say hello to them in the street? There ain’t no axe-wielding celebrity murderers out there. It’s not like that. It p*sses me off that they lock themselves off from humanity. And then you see these people on telly and you wonder why they’re a**eholes.

 

Now the soldiers:

 

You get a million people walking through Hyde Park — ‘don’t send the troops’ and all that. The troops want to go, all they want to do is fight! They’re soldiers. They’re loving it, until they get shot — then they’re claiming compensation. If you’re bothered about getting shot — here’s a thing — don’t join the army.

 

This is how he promotes the release of the Oasis Greatest Hits album: Stop the Clocks. Controversy works, I mean, we’re talking about it. But I don’t know if it will help or hinder album sales. Sounds to me like Noel has completely lost it. He’s pissed at everybody, probably including you. And don’t think that just because you see him in the supermarket means that you can go up and talk to him, and maybe ask for an autograph. He’ll probably say, â€No.†Why not? “Cause I’m not in the fu**ing mood, that’s why. Dead simple.â€

 

Oh well. He’ll be dead in 50 years anyway.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle1400204.ece

 

 

 

From The Sunday TimesFebruary 18, 2007

 

Broken in America

EMI's American business is crisis and its top performer in rehab. Paul Durman assesses whether its decline is terminal

You’ve got to hand it to Robbie Williams: he has a flair for timing. Although he wasn’t even at the Brits last week, and missed out on the award for best live act, the singer still managed to dominate the headlines surrounding Britain’s annual pop-music jamboree.

 

His decision to spend his 33rd birthday checking into an American rehab clinic made him the butt of jokes by Brits presenter Russell Brand, and earned him the sympathy of Joss Stone and the scorn of Liam Gallagher.

 

Eric Nicoli, the record-company boss whose eight-year reign at EMI is closely associated with the Williams soap opera, also displayed the art of timing last week — bad timing. Only hours before the rock stars and music executives gathered for the awards dinner in London on Wednesday, EMI issued its latest profit warning to the stock market, its second in two months.

 

Collapsing CD sales in America had prompted “an exceptionally high level of product returns†from distressed retailers, the company said. Even with the success of the new Norah Jones album, EMI now expects recorded music sales to be down by 15% in the current financial year. Only a month ago, Nicoli thought he could hold the decline to as little as 6%.

 

The news sparked a fresh slump in EMI’s share price and heaped more pressure on Nicoli — described as “a dead duck†by one shareholder.

 

Nicoli was EMI’s executive chairman until last month when he stepped down to become chief executive. He is accused of repeated overoptimism and of failing to grasp the scale of the industry’s trauma as consumers switch to listening to digital music on their iPods and mobile phones.

 

“There is no hope,†said Claire Enders, founder of the media and telecoms consultancy Enders Analysis. “CD sales will have halved by 2010. Virgin, HMV, all the multiples in the US, they’re reallocating space. They’re all selling mobile phones now.

 

“The total retailing space that will be lost in 2006 and 2007 is something of the order of 20%. EMI doesn’t actually understand the change which is going on, which is very, very rapid.â€

 

Last April, EMI was hailing a turnround as the company achieved its first increase in group sales in five years. At the time, EMI was contemplating a merger with Warner Music Group, an on-again, off-again deal that has been under consideration for years.

 

Nicoli was still upbeat in July when he told shareholders: “We remain confident that the global music industry has excellent long-term prospects driven by the rapidly expanding demand for digital music. We believe that we will, in this financial year, again deliver a strong operating performance, achieve our financial objectives and make good progress.â€

 

He was sorely mistaken. By October EMI was warning of a 3% decline in first-half sales, and its projections have just got worse and worse.

 

EMI was the talk of the Brits on Wednesday evening, but for all the wrong reasons. Nicoli, a big music fan who usually enjoys the awards, spent much of his time on the phone in his car, trying to avoid the hordes of journalists in attendance.

 

He didn’t have much to celebrate in any case. Artists signed to EMI, the only major record company run from Britain, won none of the awards on offer.

 

ROBBIE WILLIAMS has enough to worry about, but he exemplifies the problem that EMI has traditionally faced in America, the world’s largest music market. It lacks enough of the right sort of artists.

 

Enormously popular though he is in the UK, Williams’s British sense of humour — naming albums after football chants, for example — has kept him from cracking the American market. His US album sales are reckoned to be less than 1m.

 

EMI’s troubled American arm has long been “a massive weakness,†according to insiders. “It’s just failed year after year to turn round its American business,†said one. “Without America, it’s very hard to succeed as a global music company.â€

 

With a world market share of about 10%, EMI is much smaller than the other major record companies: Warner (15%), Sony BMG (25.6%) and Universal Music (31.7%), according to Nielsen Sound Scan. That means the loss-making division, comprising Capitol Records and Virgin Records America, must struggle to support its overheads on a smaller revenue base.

 

EMI compounded these problems by missing the boom in “urban†or hip-hop music. Much of its American management is drawn from Capitol, which made its name with crooners like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin — “about as nonurban as you can get,†said one executive.

 

Nobody doubts for a moment that the American market is extraordinarily difficult. The bankruptcy of Tower Records last year, store closures by Transworld and Circuit City, and Apple’s rapidly growing iPod/iTunes juggernaut (now America’s fourth-biggest music retailer) have hit CD sales for six.

 

Last week’s warning from EMI pointed to Sound Scan, which shows that all CD and other “physical†sales are down 20% so far this year. But some industry rivals suggest that EMI is making too much of six weeks’ data. “There’s no question that everybody is feeling market pressure,†said one expert. “But it’s only February.

 

The biggest hit that’s in the market is Norah Jones; it’s not like everybody has fired their big guns. It’s way too early to say the sky is falling.â€

 

Some accuse EMI of making life worse for itself by overshipping, a practice for which it is allegedly “notorious†in America. Overshipping — supplying more CDs than retailers expect to sell — enables companies to book revenue early, but they run the risk of large numbers of costly returns.

 

EMI’s statement last week acknowledged the exceptional level of returns meant net sales had “been lower than anticipated and . . . the negative impact on gross margin has been higher than normalâ€.

 

Market sources said that EMI had shipped 1.6m copies of Norah Jones’s Not Too Late, which debuted at No 1 in America and has sold 642,000 copies after two weeks. A source familiar with EMI said retailers had expressed exceptional demand for the album.

 

The company rejects claims of overshipping. “Don’t confuse people gossiping with hard facts,†said a spokeswoman. “The exceptionally high level of returns are across the board. It’s affecting new releases and catalogue.â€

 

EMI has already begun laying off hundreds of staff to slash overheads and focus on a narrower roster of artists. Much of the pain is being felt in America, where Virgin and Capitol have been brought together under the management of Jason Flom, who previously ran the Virgin business.

 

Nicoli has taken direct control of the recorded-music business himself, having forced out Alain Levy, its previous boss.

 

Although Nicoli continues to talk publicly about the music business’s “exciting growth potentialâ€, the internal mood is much more gloomy.

 

Senior managers are now talking about working for a declining industry. Martin Stewart, the chief financial officer who was highly regarded when he held the same position at BSkyB, is said to be worried by the potential damage to his reputation.

 

“It’s a very difficult atmosphere,†said a senior executive this weekend. Managers have grown wary of Nicoli and Stewart as everyone tries to avoid the finger of blame.

 

Levy is being held responsible for moving too slowly to tackle costs, and failing to follow through on earlier initiatives. He could not be reached for comment.

 

One person familiar with the situation said: “They’re completely reengineering their cost base, recognising that the business has fundamentally changed. The previous cost structure is completely out of kilter with the business. They need to get rid of 25% of costs.â€

 

This looks a more aggressive target than EMI’s stated plan to reduce costs by £110m by March 2009. This is understood to equate to 20% of the costs of the recorded-music business. EMI’s other big failing, according to its critics, is the slow progress it has made in developing its digital business. Although sales of mobile ringtones and downloads are booming, up 68% in the first half, they remain less than 10% of group sales.

 

Yet it is now eight years since the arrival of Napster, the original file-sharing service, forced the record companies to take digital music seriously. The industry’s defensive and litigation-led response has cost it the initiative, largely surrendered to Apple, and slowed the development of alternative business models.

 

One insider said: “In Levy’s day, there were dozens of signatures that were required internally before a digital deal could be done. EMI is going to have a much more aggressive approach in digital.â€

 

EMI, like its major rivals, can point to a number of digital initiatives. It is setting up an online music service with Baidu, the Chinese equivalent of Google.

 

It has also been exploring the possibility of selling digital files without restrictive copyright protection, known as digital rights management. DRM, and the problems it causes for consumers when using their music players, is blamed by many for the modest scale of digital sales. A solution that will allow players from Apple, Sony and others to work with all available online stores is increasingly seen as a necessity.

 

The fear is that these initiatives are too little too late. Many critics believe the music industry has lost a generation of teenagers and twentysomethings, who have got used to taking free music from illegal file-sharing services. The record companies’ response — to sue many of the biggest consumers of music — has made it commonplace for the industry to be accused of hating its customers.

 

There are two more reasons why EMI may be wrong to believe the growth in digital sales will come to the rescue.

 

Downloading individual tracks makes it much easier to avoid what one former music-industry executive called “the bundling scam†where “we’ll put a bunch of average tracks on a CD with some good stuff. Now people are able to pick and choose what they want, their business model falls apartâ€.

 

Another problem, said Enders, is that as more people carry their music around with them, the demand for “best ofs†and compilations is diminished. “People are no longer buying any compilations,†she said. “They’re making their own.â€

 

The dreadful irony, of course, is that music has never been more popular or more widely consumed — as one can see from the Brits awards, from the ubiquitous use of music in advertising, and from the boom in festivals and other live music.

 

This is an issue facing all the industry giants, not just EMI. There are no easy answers and that is why so few investors were publicly calling for Nicoli’s head last week. EMI investors had a chance to sell out last year when the price was above 310p and the group was in merger talks with Warner. They didn’t because they were confident there was further upside.

 

With the shares now down at 221p, investors still maintain there is huge value to realise. The problem is they still don’t know how to release it and that is the big frustration.

 

TIME FOR THE MUSIC BUSINESS TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOXED SET

 

At the 3GSM mobile phone conference in Barcelona last week, Edgar Bronfman, chairman of Warner Music Group, said record companies would have to do much more than simply digitise their song catalogues if they were to succeed in the digital era.

 

In America, Warner has tried bundling videos, photos and other extras with digital albums, and selling them at a premium price. For example, last year’s Depeche Mode album could be bought with a digital booklet, and with a code that gave priority access to concert tickets. Warner is finding that the more expensive bundles typically sell much better than the album alone.

 

Tim Grimsditch, strategy director at Frukt, a music consultancy, said the industry, spoilt by the 1990s, had remained overreliant on CDs: “It’s like a car industry that only sells Vauxhall Astras. You can have one in any colour you like, but you can only have an Astra. It’s a one-format industry, which is pretty odd.â€

 

While there have been small experiments - for example, with box sets and licensing music to online start-ups - these have mostly generated minuscule revenues.

 

Grimsditch said: “The experiments let them defuse criticism, but as a proportion of overall sales it does not really stack up. For all the boasted creativity of the majors, where’s their creativity in business?â€

 

 

Interesting article. But imo, EMI deserve to be losing money. If they actually promoted their acts instead of spening all their time moaning then things would be different.

 

And nearly 1m albums in the US is'nt bad for someone who claims to have only spent a few weeks promting over there :lol:

Robbie helps Savage get better

 

Laura Kemp, Wales on Sunday

 

 

ROBBIE Savage has overcome a bout of depression thanks to a little help from his troubled pop superstar namesake.

 

The 32-year-old Welsh midfielder was overwhelmed by messages of support after he broke his right leg from a challenge by Watford's Al Bangura.

 

And Sav revealed ex-Take That singer and old pal Robbie Williams - who has just gone into rehab for an addiction to prescription pills - was among them.

 

"I've had so many letters, I didn't realise I was so popular," he said. "I even got one from Robbie Williams, who passed on his best wishes through a friend of goalie Brad Friedel."

 

But getting over his despair was finally down to a young Blackburn fan.

 

 

When I first broke my leg, I was so down it was unbelievable. I lost three-quarters of a stone just through being depressed," said Sav.

 

 

"Then one day I went into the training ground and one of the secretaries was passing a card around and asked if I'd sign it. It was for a five-year-old boy, who had a problem with his leg, and when I asked what was wrong with him they said he was having it amputated.

 

 

"That put everything into perspective. I immediately stopped feeling sorry for myself because it made me realise there's a hell of a lot of people out there who are far worse off than me in life."

 

 

ROBBIE Savage has overcome a bout of depression thanks to a little help from his troubled pop superstar namesake.

 

 

The 32-year-old Welsh midfielder was overwhelmed by messages of support after he broke his right leg from a challenge by Watford's Al Bangura.

 

 

And Sav revealed ex-Take That singer and old pal Robbie Williams - who has just gone into rehab for an addiction to prescription pills - was among them.

 

 

"I've had so many letters, I didn't realise I was so popular," he said. "I even got one from Robbie Williams, who passed on his best wishes through a friend of goalie Brad Friedel."

 

 

But getting over his despair was finally down to a young Blackburn fan.

 

 

"When I first broke my leg, I was so down it was unbelievable. I lost three-quarters of a stone just through being depressed," said Sav.

 

 

"Then one day I went into the training ground and one of the secretaries was passing a card around and asked if I'd sign it. It was for a five-year-old boy, who had a problem with his leg, and when I asked what was wrong with him they said he was having it amputated.

 

 

"That put everything into perspective. I immediately stopped feeling sorry for myself because it made me realise there's a hell of a lot of people out there who are far worse off than me in life."

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,4-2007080106,00.html

 

Williams is mad on movie

 

http://i15.tinypic.com/44l9xdg.jpg

Inspiration ... Robbie in She's Madonna, and inset, snap that birthed the idea

 

February 19, 2007

 

 

ROBBIE WILLIAMS’ She’s Madonna video – which sees the troubled star in DRAG, left – was inspired by the picture below.

 

The snap shows Madge playing a Twenties lounge singer in 1989 movie Bloodhounds Of Broadway.

 

Robbie wanted Madonna to star alongside him in the video, but hubbie GUY RITCHIE had other ideas.

 

A source revealed: “Guy realised the song was based on the line he used to dump TANIA STRECKER for Madge – ‘I love you, baby, but face it, she’s Madonna.’

 

“So he put his foot down.â€

 

Guy was mentioned in the single and threatened to sue if the lyrics weren’t altered – causing yet more stress for poor Rob.

WILLIAMS' STUDIO HAVEN

 

Singer ROBBIE WILLIAMS is only truly at peace with himself when he's in the studio, according to his producer pal MARK RONSON.

The FEEL hitmaker was admitted to The Meadows rehabilitation clinic in Arizona last Tuesday (13FEB07) to overcome his addiction to prescription pills, and Ronson is thrilled he's finally sought help after years of bottling up his problems through music-making.

He says, "Robbie is at his happiest when he is in the studio. He does have a lot of demons that he deals with, but he makes sure he does that in private.

"He just doesn't want to burden anybody with his own personal traumas."

 

Bellamy bust-up over Robbie hit

 

From ALEX PEAKE Sun Sport

in Vale Do Lobo, Portugal

FEBRUARY 19, 2007

edited

 

 

 

LIVERPOOL hothead Craig Bellamy attacked a team-mate with a golf club after a row over a Robbie Williams song, it emerged last night.

 

Fiery Bellamy went for John Arne Riise when the Norwegian refused to join him in a karaoke version of Angels.

 

The 27-year-old Welsh star had angered Riise by egging him to join in when players took turns performing during a boozy night out in Portugal.

 

About 20 Liverpool players had been letting their hair down in Monty’s karaoke bar in the resort of Vale Do Lobo.

 

The squad was on a five-day break to prepare for Wednesday’s clash with Spanish giants Barcelona.

 

But back in Liverpool yesterday the players were seen joking together at the club’s Melwood training ground.

 

Trouble began when Bellamy — who had sung an Elvis number earlier — badgered Riise to get on the stage, where other players were lining up to sing Robbie’s hit.