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Mirror Magazine

Eminem dressed like Bin Laden in new video
By Miles Brohier
Eminem is back in top form. The rapper setted into the No: 1 slot on the UK Singles chart with 'Without Me' this week. The single is the debut release from his third album 'The Eminem Show'.

Despite being a parents' nightmare owing to the lyrical content of his songs, the artiste with his drawing power has now notched up three No:1 songs in the UK. The other two releases from Eminem that reached the UK No:1 were 'The Real Slim Shady' in July and 'Stan' in December 2000. Thus, he is the most successful rap star. His other singles in between locked into various other positions on the top 20.

In the video for 'Without Me', he even dressed up like Osama Bin Laden.

'The Eminem Show' was officially released on May 27.

The controversial star was absent from the scene for most of 2001, but did manage to pen tracks for other rappers. One of his creations,' Shit On You' for D 12 peaked at No: 12 in April 2001.

Since controversy tends to follow Eminem, his appearance at a concert last weekend in Washington DC was interrupted owing to a stampede in the audience. Several people were injured and some suffered broken bones etc.

Atomic Kitten's 'Whole Again' is a very popular song despite it being over a year old. But no one expected the group to chart a release from their second album. Well, they have confounded the pundits and lodged 'It's Ok' the debut release from the group's new album. The single which debuted in the chart at No:3 this week confirms that the teenagers and other CD buying public like the kind of pop songs produced by Atomic Kitten.

Bop Bop Baby' is the new single from Westlife. But unlike the group's previous 9 releases, ' Bop Bop Baby' failed to make it to the top of the UK chart. The UK has been the Irish boy band's strongest market and has its most loyal fans, but the song only checked in at No: 5 this week.

This week the competition was too high from Eminem and home act Atomic Kitten. Unlike previous releases, 'Bop Bop Baby' is penned by Westlife. Debuting at No: 5 is not bad but one wonders if the new teenagers emerging are moving away from Westlife.

With males dominating the rap scene it's a welcome break to see a female making her mark. Checking in at No: 7 is Ms. Dynamite with her debut hit 'It Takes Time'. The garage Mc is tipped to become the next big rap star according to reports.

The US rock band Korn makes a visit to the UK singles top 20 after two years. The group's new single 'Here To Stay' is only its third top 20 hit. Korn first made the top 20 with 'No Place To Hide' in October 1996, but the singles in between all peaked between 22 and 26. With seven singles released in the UK, Korn has only managed to score three hits.

Rhianna, a 19-year-old singer on the Sony label and who has scored her debut chart entry this week.

At No: 18, 'Oh Baby' is a song penned by Rhianna herself. The singer who hails from Leeds in England claims to want to bridge the gap between pop and mainstream music. She has a powerful voice and cites the likes of Kate Bush, Nelly Furtado and Patty Smith as her inspiration.

The band Hole fronted by Courtney Love has split up. The announcement was made by Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson.

Despite the split, both Love and Erlandson will work together to promote future catalogue releases.

Hole was formed in 1989 in Los Angeles but Love's sex, drug taking and marriage to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain overshadowed its progress.

Meanwhile, Love is working on an album with Hole drummer Patty Schemel and ex 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry. The album will be out next year.

At the 47th annual Ivor Novello Awards held in London on May 23, U2 won the Best Song Musically and Lyrically for 'Walk On' while Ash's Tim Wheeler won the best Contemporary Song for 'Shining Light'. In the dance category, Kylie Minogue's 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' won its writers Cathy Dennis and Rob Daris an award. The song also received the PRS Most Performed Song and International Hit of the Year Award. Other winners were Dido and Bjorn Ulvaeus and Berny Andersson formerly of Abba, for their outstanding contribution to music.

Green Day will release an album of B sides called 'Shenanigans' on July 15. It will contain material taken from the post 'Dookie' era.

The 15 track CD will feature among others 'Outsider' (From the Ramones tribute album), 'Espionage' from "Austin Powers - The Spy Who Shagged me" Ost) DUI (previously unreleased) and 'Tired of Waiting For You' (a kinks cover). The album follows the band's greatest hits collection 'International Superhits'.

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