Blues fans from across the country found themselves deep in the Mississippi Delta this weekend to celebrate the opening of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. The humble guitar legend was on hand to christen the $15 million facility dedicated to preserving not only King's legacy, but the story of the Delta Blues itself. King turns 83 on Tuesday, and was moved to see his name on the front of the museum. As he told the Clarion-Ledger:

"I didn't go to school long enough to be able to tell you how I feel. But I have heard that heaven is beautiful. If heaven is more beautiful than the way I feel today, I'm ready to go tomorrow."

B.B. King is one of the good ones in our book (listen to this NPR interview and tell me you don't agree), and though 83 is a ripe old age, here's hoping he and Lucille (his guitar) hang around a few years longer. Sure, he's enjoyed tremendous success, but anybody who has picked and chopped as much cotton as this man did as a youth deserves some measure of comfort and joy in his golden years.

[Photo: B.B. King Museum]

Related Stories:
· B.B. King Museum [Official Site]
· Blues' King Likes Castle [Clarion-Ledger]
· Music Travel Coverage [Jaunted]]]> Victor Ozols 2008-09-14T13:52:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/27/61517/6036

We're shattered that Eurovision is over for another year, and it's lucky we had an extra long weekend so we could get over the disappointment of geriatric rapper 75 Cents and his crew not winning.

We did predict, though, that good-looking Russian candidate Dima Bilan had a good chance, and now we wish we'd put some money on it: He and his nation raced away with a more than 40 point victory over Ukraine.

We're also a bit disappointed that the Latvian entry slipped under our radar until grand final night, because we would have liked to show them some support. For reasons surely known only to them, they entered a pirate song! And we loved it. Roll on Eurovision 2009. We'll see ya in Moscow.

Related Stories:
· The Eurovision Grand Finale [Jaunted]
· Turkeys (And Singers) to Watch at Eurovision [Jaunted]]]> amandak 2008-05-27T08:50:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/23/62137/1315

The excitement of Eurovision, coming out of Belgrade this year, is coming to climax tomorrow: The semi-finals are all over and we know that quite a few of our favorites have bitten the dust.

We were keen on the invented-language magic of Belgium, but the band Ishtar got knocked out. We've also made no secret of our crush on Ireland's turkey; he didn't make it either.

Depending on who you listen to, the favorites might now be Sweden's Charlotte Perrelli who's singing a song called "Hero," or it might be a 75-year-old Croatian rapper. The French are probably hoping, though, that their electro-pop singer doesn't win because it's a national scandal that he's singing in English.

We're of course behind the geriatric rapper 75 Cents. (Real name!)

Related Stories:
· Favourites Through to Eurovision Final [AFP]
· We Heart Dustin the Turkey [Jaunted]
· Eurovision 2008: Bringing Belgium Together [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eurovision]]]> amandak 2008-05-23T09:15:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/20/105732/304

The semi-finals for oddly captivating song contest Eurovision happen tonight in Belgrade, and Belgian group Ishtar will be doing their track "O Julissi." Written in a made up language, composer Michel Vangheluwe says it was inspired by the happiness of childhood. But we suspect the song might have more than a little something to do with the constant tension between his homeland's French- and Flemish-speaking halves.

On the eve of his group's performance, Vangheluwe told the BBC:

Language nowadays can be a political issue, but it shouldn't. Music is something that brings people together and whatever language you sing in, you get the message and that's the most important thing.

As it happens, "O Julissi" isn't the first contest song featuring invented language. In 2003, another Belgian act, Urban Trad, took second place with "Sanomi." Check out that video after the jump.]]> pbb 2008-05-20T11:01:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/16/42324/5813

The weirdness that is the Eurovision Song Contest is almost upon us. On Tuesday, the first semi-final will run, and the second one follows on Thursday, when the list of the 25 finalist countries will be ready.

The big event itself is on Saturday May 24, and if it's not screening on a TV near you, don't panic because you can watch online. And if you're living or vacationing in Europe, you can take part in the voting, too.

Eurovision--the contest that brought us ABBA--is full of controversy this year. You can't vote for your own country, but many believe some neighboring countries vote for each other regardless of the quality of the song, so this year they've split these neighbors over the two semi-finals to help fix this problem.

There's also the question of whether some nations are taking the contest seriously or not. While Russia is sending its serious singing sweetheart Dima Bilan, pictured, Ireland is sending a turkey. For us viewers, it's simply serious fun, so don't forget to tune in and see the Bosnian singer who takes his chicken on stage.

Related Stories:
· Eurovision 2008 [Official Site]
· We Heart Dustin the Turkey [Jaunted]
· Eurovision coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eurovision]]]> amandak 2008-05-16T09:15:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/28/8381/75098

With less than a month to go until the big weekend of the Eurovision Song Contest, we hope you've got your tickets booked to Belgrade for May 24. We've got a real soft spot for Ireland's Dustin the Turkey (who's made it to the semi-finals), but nearly any of the semi-serious, semi-novelty acts could be the champion--depending on how incestuous the votes from neighboring countries turn out to be.

No matter which song wins, Serbia's capital Belgrade will be the big winner, with a heap of people realizing it might be a nice place to visit. They're going all out to impress with a record 70 tons of lighting and sound equipment at Belgrade Arena, and to finish off the evening there'll be an "incredible pyrotechnic surprise." Dustin the Turkey exploding? We'll soon find out!

Related Stories:
· Eurovision Song Contest [Official Site]
· Eurovision 2008: Adoptions, Garbage and Metal [Jaunted]
· We Heart Dustin the Turkey [Jaunted]
· Is Eurovision a Big Neighbors Scam? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Yogurinha Borova]]]> amandak 2008-04-28T11:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/25/13437/4234

LA Ink "star" Kat Von D has finalized a divorce, made and dumped a "soul mate," and hooked up with yet another new love all within the past half-year or so. Maneater!

Her latest conquest is Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. To cement their, like, totally amazing bond (and reportedly, as per the departed Page 6 online, to commemorate a wild night together at Manhattan's Bowery Hotel), Von D and Sixx got matching tattoos of the hotel's bowery boy logo. No word on who inked them, but shops in the hotel's general vicinity include the famous New York Adorned and re-born East Side Ink.

Take it from these two lovebirds...the couple that (hotel) tattoos together, stays together...at least for another six weeks or so!

Related Stories:
· The Bowery Hotel [HotelChatter]

[Photo: Nikki Sixx/MySpace]]]> djk 2008-03-25T10:00:02-05:00 40.725975 -73.991851 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/