After disastrous gigs in Christchurch and Wellington last week, American R&B singer Ciara, 29, has cancelled her Auckland show on March 3, following disputes over contracts between her US booking agent, Kiwi promoter and another agency.
Castor & Ford, the promoters for Ciara's New Zealand shows, declared the performance was canned in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Monday.
They blamed "false booking contracts" made by a US -based booking agency, and another company. The promoters said they were sold shows in NZ and Australia "which never actually existed".
This included an agent not informing the artist of the venues, meet-and-greets and the length of performance the promoters had paid for, the statement said. "Castor & Ford the promoters would like to announce that they must cancel the Auckland show due to these issues ... and would like to apologise for any problems caused."
It's a dreadful end to a tour for Ciara which has left fans fuming.
As reported in The Diary on Saturday, Ciara did two songs at her 10-minute Christchurch gig after a noise curfew came into effect. In Porirua, she played only an eight-song set. Both times she skipped a planned meet and greet.
Lorde shapes up for write mode
Lorde.
Lorde will hit the studio in a matter of weeks to begin work on her second album, according to her producer, Joel Little, who spilled the beans this week to Australia's Triple J radio network.
"That's the plan, basically. We're just going to start writing some songs. We haven't got some planned out [idea of] 'this is what it's going to sound like' ... I think we're just going to start writing and when it starts to feel right, we'll know that it's right. It's pretty simple really," he said. So, how soon? "Really soon. Like within the next month or so we'll be in the studio."
Walker, Carter up for Kids' Choice Awards
BMX rider Sarah Walker and All Black Dan Carter are nominated for Aussie/Kiwi Favourite Sports Star. Photos / NZME.
Kiwi sports stars Dan Carter and Sarah Walker are nominated in the popular Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles next month. So, too, are Lorde and Jamie McDell.
The pop stars have been named in the Aussie/Kiwi Favourite Music Act category, while Carter and Walker are up for Aussie/Kiwi Favourite Sports Star.
Voting on the awards started on Monday, and young Antipodean viewers can cast online votes in five Aussie/Kiwi categories and a further 22 global categories. The All Black has wasted no time taking to social media to drum up support. "Feel free to vote," he tweeted unashamedly.
Kiwi student Jamie Curry's popular Jamie's World (10 million Facebook likes and 1.2 million YouTube subscribers) is nominated for Aussie/Kiwi Internet Sensation and is a shoo-in to win.
The Jon Stevens saga doesn't seem to be ending any time soon with Australia's Daily Telegraph breathlessly reporting updates on a daily basis.
The 53-year-old Kiwi, who fronts band Dead Daisies, was charged with assaulting his partner Jodhi Meares, 43, and released on bail. He used a medical certificate and had his case rescheduled for May 18 in a Sydney court.
Stevens was told to keep his distance and moved out of the couple's plush Point Piper digs. He's now living with his 21-year-old son Levi, while Meares is hiding out at her Hawaiian holiday home, avoiding the limelight.
The paper revealed at the weekend it was Stevens who called the cops during the explosive row with his fiancee, after failing to calm her down. It was said she flew into a jealous rage after reading text messages on his phone.
The paper also suggests that the fight may have had something to do with billionaire James Packer - Meares' first husband - whose driver and car "have been regularly sighted outside her apartment since his marriage to second wife Erica Baxter ended in 2013".
Want to know what runs in Willie Jackson's blood? The broadcaster has been overseas in an undisclosed location filming his segment for
The DNA Detective,
a new telly show about our genealogical makeup. Word is, what he discovers about himself is "shocking".
Jackson will join actor Shavaughn Ruakere, chef Ray McVinnie, TVNZ weatherman Sam Wallace and actors Kirk Torrance and Nicole Whippy on the programme, which uses cutting edge technology developed in New Zealand to discover our ancestry, "going back up to 1000 years," the show's executive producer told The Diary.
"The DNA Detective is Who Do You Think You Are mixed with CSI and Intrepid Journeys," producer Melanie Rakana said.
The six-episode doco series for TV One has received more than $1 million in funding from NZ on Air. No on-air date has been set.
