Heidi Montag: living the island life


'It looked worse than it actually was,' the 'OMG' singer laughs about accidental blow during concert serenade.
By Mawuse Ziegbe
Usher
Photo: Jordan Strauss/ Getty Images
Usher's club-rattling jam "OMG" may "kill it every night" according to tourmate Miguel, but when the Atlanta crooner hit Madison Square Garden earlier this week, he was almost taken out by a clumsy fan.
When the singer touched down in New York on Monday, he indulged a super amped fan's fantasy by pulling her onstage for an intimate flirty serenade of "Trading Places." As Usher and the concertgoer got cozy on a recliner, she swiveled around to face the crooner — knocking him squarely in his mug with her foot. She began apologizing profusely as Usher briefly paused to collect himself. But the superstar took the strike in stride, quipping, "We play rough in the bed. We kick each other in the face and all type of good stuff."
Although Usher brushed off the blow, the moment did make an impression on him.
"In all my years, this is one of the most interesting experiences. I got a kick out of it!" he told Us Weekly. The singer assured fans that the knock wasn't that bad. "It looked worse than it actually was. My audience and I got a good laugh."
As for the fan, the "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" star maintained everything is all good on that front too. "Wherever you are baby, don't feel bad," Usher said. "No hard feelings."
As Miguel has noted, Usher isn't one dwell on drama, whether it's cranking out another hit album or weathering an unexpected hit from a fan.
"He's such a tremendous example of perseverance and determination," Miguel recently told MTV News. "I was there throughout this album, so I've seen the adversity that he's had to overcome perception-wise."
What do you think of Usher's response to getting knocked in the head by a fan? Tell us in the comments!
Related ArtistsAlbum art from Pink Floyd, Blur and David Bowie also included.
By James Montgomery
Coldplay's new British stamps
Photo: Royal Mail
On Thursday (January 7), the U.K.'s Royal Mail unveiled a series of 10 new stamps, honoring the most iconic album covers of the past 40 years.
The albums featured in the new series are the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed, Led Zeppelin's IV, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, The Clash's London Calling, New Order's Power, Corruption and Lies, Primal Scream's Screamadelica, Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, Blur's Parklife and — the most recent album on to make the cut — Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head.
Meant to honor "the most potent graphic images of modern times, many of which have provided a visual soundtrack to people's lives," the series is the end result of a lengthy research process by the Royal Mail, who looked through thousands of album covers by British artists before deciding on the final list. And, during a Wednesday night BBC Radio broadcast, it was revealed that the queen herself actually approved each design.
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page — who helped design the cover for IV — was on hand to celebrate the release of the stamps and recalled the mysterious nature of the album's iconic imagery.
"Almost 40 years after the album came out, nobody knows the old man who featured on the cover, nor the artist who painted him," he said. "That sort of sums up what we wanted to achieve with the album cover, which has remained both anonymous and enigmatic at the same time."
Of course, any great honor is befitting of an equally great contest, so, on the same day the stamps were made available to the general public, Coldplay decided to give one of their Rush of Blood stamps away. In a message on their official site, the band held a contest to send one lucky fan "a letter using a Coldplay stamp, postmarked with today's issue date."
"We visited our local post office earlier today and bought some of the Coldplay stamps," the message read. "Very nice they are too."
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Natalie Portman is closing out an amazing 2010 with a huge announcement! The actress revealed to People that she is engaged to boyfriend Benjamin Millepied and the two are expecting a baby! Natalie and Benjamin met on the set of Black Swan where he was the choreographer. He also recently posed for a Club Monaco ad campaign. Natalie has received tons of critical acclaim for her role in the movie and has already earned Golden Globe and SAG nominations. It sounds like her award season gown picks are going to have to accomodate a baby bump - huge congrats to the happy couple!
Update Natalie released a statement to EW saying, "I have always kept my private life private but I will say that I am indescribably happy and feel very grateful to have this experience."