cancellationwatch
The Great Escape Festival Has Been Cancelled!
4:04PM Jess McGuire | Oooer. If you were one of the unlucky punters who bought tickets to Albert Hammond Jr’s Australian shows only to discover he was suffering from a deathly case of saunteringaroundtownwithamodel-itis and would not be flying Down Under, perhaps you comforted yourself by saying “Never fear! If anything can cheer me up, it’s the knowledge that I have purchased tickets to The Great Escape festival, and I shall have a jolly good time there lighting joss sticks and listening to minstrels!” then I have terribly bad news for you.
A statement from the organisers…
Great Escape 2008 Cancelled
It is with considerable regret that we are announcing the cancellation of this year’s Great Escape Festival.
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Albert Hammond Jr Isn’t Coming To Oz Anymore
12:09PM Jess McGuire | Sad news, Splendour ticket holders and general fans of Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr’s solo work – dude is too sick to come to Australia.
It is with disappointment that organisers announce ALBERT HAMMOND JR has cancelled his Australian tour and SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS appearance on Sunday August 3rd due to illness.
The promoter handling his Australian tour, Frontier Touring announced today
“Albert is suffering a severe throat infection that has resulted in him losing his voice. He has been advised against performing by his doctor.”
Splendour in the Grass orgainisers would like to advise Albert Hammond Jr was a welcome late addition to the festival line up this year and playing times were adjusted to accommodate his performance.
There will no replacement announced for this time slot and the playing times will now return to the original schedule for the Grant McLennan stage on Sunday August 3rd. Please visit www.splendourinthegrass.com for updates.
The tour was due to commence in Melbourne this Wednesday, with shows following in Sydney, Brisbane and at Byron Bay’s Splendour In The Grass. All shows are now cancelled including Albert’s appearance at Splendour.
All patrons holding tickets to any of the shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane can seek a refund from the original point of sale.
The promoter will reschedule the shows later in the year.
Bummer, kids. If you haven’t heard Albert Hammond Jr’s solo stuff, check this out.
It’s been my favourite strolling-around-town-with-headphones-on tune for the past month or so. More » 
Official Message From Melesbian C Regarding Cancelled Spice Tour
10:41AM Jess McGuire | Further to yesterday’s report regarding the Spice Girls cancelling their Australian tour (and the mighty fan wrath subsequently incurred), we wish to alert you to an official statement offered by Sporty Spice Mel C regarding her role in this tragic turn of events.
Melanie would like to make it perfectly clear that at no point has she refused to continue with the Spice Girls Tour.
She is very disappointed that the tour isn’t continuing at this stage and, as she does not have the family commitments of the other Girls, she is in the best position of all of them to continue.
Any accusation that it was Melanie’s reluctance to continue the tour that has brought about this situation is absolutely false.
So there you have it. Those other lazy bitches are to blame.
*Headline thanks to UK Correspondent Will. Defamer Australia wishes to note that we have no evidence Mel C has ever dived for clams, and we believe she is firmly in the I Heart Doodle camp when it comes to love. Truly. No libel suits, please. More »
Hell Hath No Fury Like A Spice Girls Fan Scorned
12:52PM Jess McGuire | Parents of Australian children can rest easy – Mel B won’t be appearing onstage scaring their children with saucy tales of clitoral over-stimulation anytime soon, as news emerged over the weekend that the Spice Girls had decided to cancel their Down Under tour plans.
“We’ve had such an amazing time over the last three months,” said the Spice Girls in a statement (we figure they dictated the note in unison). “It’s been incredible being back together and seeing our fans again. We want to thank everyone who came to see us… Really sorry if we didn’t get to see you this time round. We all have other commitments in our lives now but who knows what will happen next.”
The statement teases that the group will be reviewing “options” and muses, “who knows what the future might bring!”? Rumours have been circulating that the group has been offered a huge offer from EMI to record another album, despite the fact that their comeback single “Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)” disappointed on the UK charts.
Regardless, the Girls will not be performing as planned in Australia, Argentina, and China.
As the brilliant No Rock and Roll Fun put it – Spice Girls discover ‘family’ more attractive than ‘half empty halls’
Those “other commitments” in the Spice Girls’ lives – what would they actually be, then? Is the Australian Dancing With The Stars refusing to take ‘no’ for an answer from Geri? Has Mel B decided she needs to drive up and down Eddy Murphy’s street bellowing DNA test results? Is Victoria thinking that, damn it all, 2008 is the year she needs to finally tackle Anthony Powell’s A Dance To The Music Of Time, and no excuses?
Australian fans are apparently taking the news rather badly.
Outraged Australian fans have lashed out at the Spice Girls after the group scrapped plans to tour Down Under.
“I am absolutely disgusted in them,” a fan named Charm said. “Most of us have been waiting years for this and they have just ruined it all for us. As far as I am concerned, they have just lost another fan. So much for girl power.”
Some branded the group liars.
“They have known all along when their kids go to school or whatever,” Stace88 said. “It’s a crappy excuse, really it’s all just about money … they’ve made enough now so who cares about anywhere else right?” Fans said they were upset that promoters kept promising concert dates. “How dare they get our hopes up by sending emails asking us how many tickets we wanted,” Ezzy B said.
On the social networking site Facebook, two groups have started recruiting members, Spice Girls Suck for cancelling tour to Australia and Spice Girls Dogged Australia. Also circulating on the web is a picture of the group holding up a sign – “We Lie”.
The website SpiceNews.com, which has been running since 1998, announced it was closing down.
“I can’t support people who I don’t respect, and I don’t respect people who plainly screw over and lie to their fans, that being the Spice Girls,” the site’s administrator said.
Ballsy move, Spice Girls. Personally, we’d never toy with the emotions of Ezzy B, Charm, and Stace88.
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Hugh Jackman’s Wife Claims Responsibility For ‘Viva Laughlin’ Bombing
8:00AM Defamer Hollywood | When one’s creatively adventurous casino musical murder mystery bombs so spectacularly that everyone involved is still picking the bloody sequins from the costumes of cabaret dancers killed in the low-rated blast out of their hair several days later, one can either go into hiding, hoping the media will stop calling to find out What Went Wrong, or one can hold one’s head high to proclaim (in song, preferably), “Nothing ventured, nothing gained!” We’re not sure which route Hugh Jackman eventually plans to take, but his wife has chosen the latter option: “We are obviously very disappointed, but you have to take risks in this business,” Deborra-Lee Furness said Wednesday in Sydney. More »
Trade Roundup: Fox Planning ‘Prison Break: Chicks In Lock-Up Edition’
6:45AM Defamer Hollywood | · Why does it take the threat of a strike for people to start cranking out the truly genius ideas? Fox has ordered a script that could generate a Prison Break spin-off set in a women’s penitentiary, a project that would be perfect for Michelle Rodriguez once she concludes some previous obligations. [THR] · Jessica Biel will star in the United Artists of Tom Cruise-produced thriller Die a Little, a project during which the actress will be evaluated for her potential fitness as Katie Holmes’ inevitable replacement. Hey, Holmes can’t stay young enough to pretend to have his robot babies forever. [Variety] More »
CBS Doing Its Best To Forget About ‘Viva Laughlin’
6:05AM Defamer Hollywood | A crucial part of the mourning process for a network forced to euthanise a hopelessly enfeebled, Nielsen-sick primetime child is the speedy removal of its web presence, a compassionate measure that stops heartbroken programming executives from obsessively surfing over to the show’s page in hopes a message promising “ALL NEW EPISODE THIS SUNDAY AT 10 PM! ” will magically appear. More »
Viva Laughlin Cancelled
7:15AM Defamer Hollywood | We’ve just obtainted the new draft of the planned Les Moonves ad to be published in tomorrow’s trades: “Hey, writers – You know what? Fuck you. I’ll cancel my disappointing Fall season myself, bit by bit. Goodbye, Viva Laughlin! By the time you go on strike, there won’t be anything left for you to walk out on. Love, Les. PS – Tell Patric Verrone to check his mailbox. The ear in that bloody wad of Kleenex is Hugh Jackman’s. Just wait until he gets four of Jimmy Smits’ favourite toes on Wednesday morning when I sacrifice Cane to the cause.” [Var] More »
Trade Roundup: It’s Like ‘The View,’ But With Bigger Hair And More Gesticulating
5:20AM Defamer Hollywood | Fox sets a May 1, 2009 release date for Hugh Jackman’s superhero franchise spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a story that will explore the days before the hirsute mutant gave up his evil-combating vocation to pursue a successful career in musicals. [Variety] · In the event that Hollywood isn’t completely burned down before midseason shows arrive, Fox plans to pair the new Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles with 24 in a two-hour Monday night block of unstoppable-freedom-fighter-related programming. [Variety] More »
