filed under: music

Michael Jackson is set to collaborate with New Kids On The Block. The reformed boy band's singer, Donny Wahlberg, revealed the plan as the group - who announced they were reuniting earlier this year - celebrated the launch of their comeback tour, which starts in September.

Donny said: "It's very exciting. It's one big party and everyone wants to join us."

Lionel Richie has been banned from performing in New York's Hamptons after locals protested about the noise.

Party promoter Scott Feldman planned to charge guests $1,250 each to watch Richie sing in the backyard of his rented home in the Long Island town of Sag tonight, reports the New York Post's gossip column Page Six.

But the newspaper claims requests for a permit were turned down after wealthy residents of the town -- where rocker Billy Joel also has a home -- stepped in.

Looks like baby Harlow hasn't settled Nicole Richie's wild side yet.

We're told Nicole was involved in an altercation around 1 AM this morning with a female while in line at the valet outside the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Sources say Richie was so rowdy she had to be escorted off the property by security!

Jessica Simpson may be most known for her career as a pop singer, but the Texas native swears she’s a country girl at heart. And the chart performance of her latest single backs up the claim.

“Come On Over,” which was released to country radio last week and debuted at no. 41 on Billboard’s country singles charts, makes Simpson the highest charting debut solo artist in the history of Billboard’s country singles chart.

The previous record belonged to Miranda Lambert and Brad Cotter who both debuted at No. 42.

“I got chills and butterflies in my stomach,” said Simpson of hearing her song on country radio for the first time. “It felt like the first time I heard myself on the radio when I was 19. Country is where my heart is. It’s refreshing to share something that feels so close to home. I am so honored to become a part of the country community.”

Simpson’s album, which is yet to be titled, will be released in the fall.

The singer is currently in Nashville to participate in her first CMA Music Festival. At this time, it is unclear where or on which days she will show up. Fans should ‘come on over’ to the festival to find out.

"I'm always drawn to working with French people - and frenching French people. Vive la France!"

Paris Hilton has become a muse to her boyfriend of two months, Benji Madden.

"He actually wrote me a beautiful song, and actually recorded it in the studio," Hilton, 27, said Monday night at the LG launch of the TV series Scarlet. "He surprised me with it. It's called, 'Shine Your Light.' It's this really beautiful love song about me. It was the sweetest thing that anyone has ever done for me."

As Madden spent the night sharing DJ duties with pal Steve Aoki, Hilton couldn't stop gushing about the 29-year-old Good Charlotte guitarist.

"He's my best friend," she said. "He's just different from any guy that I've ever been with. I just trust him completely, and I know that he'd be there for me, no matter what."

With things going so well, could Hilton beat girlfriend Nicole Richie to the altar?

"I don't know," Hilton says with a smile, "My life's a lot different now, I'm very much at peace, and I'm so happy, and in control, and so very excited about life."

As the 44-year-old diva with the legendary voice struggles to make her comeback, both of her exes have written scandalous things about her.

Her ex-husband Bobby Brown has come out with a tell-all autobiography, "Being Bobby Brown: The Whole Truth and Nothin' But," in which he details his and Houston's drug use and addresses the rumors of her bi-sexuality.

And now her much younger lover, Ray J, 27, has written a song dissing Brown and detailing his sex life with Houston.

In Ray J's "Boyfriend," off his just-released album, "All I Feel," which debuts this week, Ray J croons, "Is that your wife, is that your shorty, well I'm her boyfriend . . . I think the problem is you don't beat it right . . . Making love is cool, just pull her hair sometimes."

The feeling between Brown and Ray J seems to be mutual. While Ray J is more blatant in his diss, Brown tries to be subtler.

In his book, Brown writes:

"For those of you who want to know, I'm aware of the fact that Whitney had been seeing Ray J, a very young R&B artist who is most famous for being the little brother of Brandy, the multi-platinum singing artist and TV star.

"Their relationship doesn't bother me. She's open to see whoever she wants to see, just like I can see who I want to see. I know the age difference between her and the little guy is 20 years, but to each his own. The only concern I had was how our daughter felt about the age difference. As long as she's cool with it, it's fine by me."

At least Whitney hasn't starred in any sex tape. Ray J shot to national attention after he marketed a sex tape of him and ex-girlfriend Kim Kardashian in flagrante.

After that video was released, with Kardashian's blessings (she also rose to fame on the wings of the tape), Ray J signed a deal with Vivid Entertainment to direct porn.

When he started dating Houston, Ray J would take any opportunity to have a picture with the diva - and friends were concerned their love life would end up on the Internet, as well.

Universal Motown execs are keeping fingers crossed that Lindsay Lohan's new album can be released on time later this year. An insider tells us the volatile young star isn't being overly cooperative with scheduling and has already canceled important meetings with superproducer Timbaland.

"Universal is trying to make her new album a success by lining up great producing talents, and, recently, they even hooked Timbaland. But Lindsay has canceled their planned meetings twice," says the snitch.

Lohan's rep denied that Lindsay had missed meetings, and said that Timbaland had yet to be approached to collaborate on the album.

However, it appears that after a rocky start, singer-songwriter Ne-Yo is still on board. The source said Lindsay had rejected some initial tracks from the star-maker, who has created hits for Rihanna, Usher and Celine Dion. But he is still in talks to work with the rehabbed pop star, and staffers hope that one song will make the cut.

LINDSAY LOHAN has reportedly signed to strip naked and play a sex-addicted waitress in a new movie called FLORENCE. Just days after agreeing to portray a member of Charles Manson’s real-life murderous cult in The Manson Girls, Lohan has sealed a deal to star in another controversial movie. Star magazine claims the 21-year-old will be paid just $75,000 (£37,500) for the opportunity to play the edgy character. A source tells the magazine, "She just wants to remind people she can act and she’s worth hiring."

WE hope Jessica Simpson doesn't mind shacking up in bunk beds. When the primped and heeled Simpson leaves for Kuwait today with the Pussycat Dolls, we're told the whole crew will be ditching their usual hotel rooms and limos for sleeping bags and bunks. "Jessica will be roughing it," said a source. "They're receiving no special treatment." Simpson, along with the Dolls, the band Disturbed and comic Carlos Mencia, will perform for troops Monday. The show will air live on MySpace.com.

IT looks like Britney Spears' family will do anything to get her away from her "friends" Sam Lutfi and Adnan Ghalib - including putting the pill-popping poptard on tour. The buzz at the Grammys was that Spears' newfound focus on her dancing is preparation for a world tour. Britney "will be leaving the country in the next few weeks," a source confided to Page Six. "She'll train in privacy for a month, then go on a global tour."

Sources claim Lindsay pointed at Paris and said: "What the hell is that bitch doing here? I didn't know she was on the list."

To which, Paris replied: "Fuck off, you bitch."

Lindsay and Paris were both hoping to convince Timbaland, who has worked with Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and 50 Cent, to revive their faltering music careers.

A source added to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "Both saw the party as an ideal way of getting him on side - but they didn't count on the other being there."

Rap superstar 50 Cent kicked Paris Hilton offstage and reduced her to tears during a pre-Super Bowl concert on Thursday.

Hilton hosted the bash for 944 magazine in Scottsdale, Ariz., and was stunned when the headliner turned on her.

The two star attractions have been romantically linked in the past, but there was no love lost when Hilton tried to steal the show.

After 50 Cent name checked her during his performance, Hilton climbed onstage to dance, but was promptly told to "Get the [bleep] off the stage" by the angry star.

Onlookers tell Page Six the outburst prompted Hilton to break down in tears, which was captured on film by photographers at the event.

"I'd rather be on stage with a pig! A duet with Jennifer Lopez and me just ain't gonna happen."

Sources close to the band are worried that Posh is too thin for the gruelling dates, which kick off in December. So, as a result, she's been put on a spinach-rich diet to increase her stamina and energy.

As well as gorging on the green stuff - famous for giving strength to cartoon character Popeye - she has been asked to eat more carbohydrates, with bowls of brown rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We're told: "Vic is under orders to have at least five small meals a day, to get her body prepared for the tour. She isn't too happy about the plan but understands that it's necessary if she's to stay healthy and not burn out over the coming months."

“She’s planning it to be a big comeback performance,” says a Spears insider, who adds that the goal is to make it “shocking.” One early idea that was canned? Performing “My Prerogative” amid a medley of hits, as images of exes Justin Timberlake, 26, and Kevin Federline, 29, and other gossip fodder flashed on a screen behind her. As for a report that she’d do a duet with Timberlake? “Totally, patently false,” says a Timberlake source.

Britney Spears backed out at the last minute from recording a duet with her old flame, Justin Timberlak