Maroon 5 making moves thanks to 'Jagger,' 'Voice' (AP)

NEW YORK – Before joining NBC's "The Voice," Adam Levine says some folks assumed he was some "singing bimbo that likes girls." So he's grateful to the show for providing a bit of clarification on his image.

"It was a nice opportunity to show my personality — that I have a brain," said the lead singer of Maroon 5. "It's also true: I am a bimbo and I like to sing and I like girls, but there's more to my personality; it's a little more dynamic than that, and I like to show that on the show. It's cool."

The singing competition — which also features Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton as music coaches — was a hit in its first season. The four coaches chose teams of eight after an audition process that allowed them only to hear the contestant's voice, but not to see them. Once teams were whittled down to one contestant for each coach, Levine's mentee — the crooner Javier Colon — was crowned the winner.

"The Voice" helped showcase the playful and sillier side of the heavily-inked Levine. Band keyboardist Jesse Carmichael says Levine's presence on the show "was so positive for him definitely as a person, but for us as a band, too."

Now, the group is taking advantage of the buzz: They recently released "Moves Like Jagger," which features "Voice" co-star Aguilera, and it will be the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 charts Thursday. It also hit No. 1 on the European and Canadian charts.

The dance song is a departure for the pop-rockers, and they say they're rushing to get a new album out this fall. In the past, the group released an album every three or four years.

"We're going to make it as quickly as we can (and) ride this wave of momentum," Levine said in an interview last week.

"That's too long," he explained about past breaks between records. "We can't do that anymore. We've got to keep moving."

The Grammy-winning group's 2002 debut, "Songs About Jane," sold 4.7 million units and they followed that with another multiplatinum-seller, 2006's "It Won't Be Soon Before Long." Last fall, they dropped their third album, the gold-selling "Hands All Over," which was re-released to feature "Jagger."

On Maroon 5's upcoming album, the group says they want to take a new direction. "Jagger" was produced Benny Blanco and Shellback, hitmakers for acts like Katy Perry, Ke$ha and Britney Spears.

"We can definitely stand to take more risks," Levine said. "It's awesome to have that little feeling in your stomach like, `Oh, this isn't safe, this isn't normal for us' ... (and) if you don't do that, I think you're dead a as band."

The second season of "The Voice" premieres after the Super Bowl on Feb. 5.

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Online:

http://www.maroon5.com/

http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/

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Mesfin Fekadu covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin

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Bank moves to foreclose on R. Kelly's suburban Chicago mansion (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter R. Kelly has failed to make mortgage payments on his multimillion-dollar Chicago-area home for more than a year and now may lose the property to lenders, court documents show.

In a foreclosure action filed in June in Cook County Circuit Court, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A. said that the singer, whose full name is Robert S. Kelly, had not made a monthly payment on the 11,000-square-foot home in Olympia Fields in south suburban Chicago since June 2010.

The suit said the current principal balance on the loan was more than $2.9 million, not including unpaid interest, which accrues at rate of $251 a day.

The original loan issued in 1999 was for $3.5 million, according to the lawsuit, and the monthly payments were

$24,345.12.

The property has a number of liens on it, according to the lawsuit, including nearly $2 million from the Department of the Treasury.

The 44-year-old R&B star, who won three Grammy Awards in 1998 for his song "I Believe I Can Fly," is no stranger to controversy.

In 2008 a jury acquitted him of child pornography charges.

(Reporting by Karin Matz; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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Octomom's fertility doc moves to keep license (AP)

By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER, Associated Press Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Associated Press – Wed Jun 22, 3:22 am ET

LOS ANGELES – The fertility doctor who helped "Octomom" Nadya Suleman become the mother of 14 children through repeated in vitro treatments is asking that he be allowed to continue practicing medicine while he appeals his license revocation.

Dr. Michael Kamrava asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge Monday to delay a decision that revokes his license to practice medicine as of July 1.

The Beverly Hills fertility doctor represented himself in the filing, which claims the state's medical licensing agency "exceeded its jurisdiction and violated (his) due process right to earn a living" by revoking his license.

Kamrava declined further comment on the case when reached by phone Tuesday.

"It is what it is," he said.

Jennifer Simoes, spokeswoman for the Medical Board of California, said anyone can sue a state agency for any reason, but petitioning the court is unusual.

Outcomes can vary widely, from the court asking the board to reconsider its decision to refusing to hear the petition, Simoes said. But ultimately, licensing decisions lie with the board.

By law, Kamrava can petition for reinstatement of his license three years after revocation takes effect, though he would have to show considerable rehabilitation to persuade the board to give his license back.

In its decision earlier this month, the board noted that Kamrava was not "a maverick or deviant physician, oblivious to standards of care in IVF practice," but he failed to exercise proper judgment in patient care, including the care of Suleman.

Kamrava has acknowledged implanting 12 embryos into Suleman, then 33, prior to the pregnancy that produced her octuplets. It was six times the norm for a woman her age.

Suleman's octuplets are the world's longest surviving set. When they were born, the unemployed single mother already had six children — also conceived through Kamrava's treatments.

The state also found that Kamrava was negligent in the care of two other patients. He implanted seven embryos in a 48-year-old patient, resulting in quadruplets, but one fetus died before birth.

In another case, Kamrava went ahead with in vitro fertilization after tests detected atypical cells, which can indicate the presence of a tumor. The patient was later diagnosed with stage-three cancer and had to have her uterus and ovaries removed before undergoing chemotherapy.

No date has been set for the court to hear Kamrava's request.

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Shaya Tayefe Mohajer can be reached at http://twitter.com/APShaya. Associated Press writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report and can be reached at http://twitter.com/CelebrityDocket.

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Singer-songwriter Yuna moves beyond Malaysia (AP)

ATLANTA – Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna didn't take long to pen her first tune, writing the winsome "A Deeper Conversation" after learning a meager three chords on her first guitar.

Yuna Zarai, 24, was a self-described bored law school student back then, in 2008. But sometimes it only takes a few notes from the right hands and a few words from the right voice to reveal a budding star. Zarai was recently signed to New York-based FADER Label Records and recently opened for Raphael Saadiq at select tour stops.

"My songs are basically, they're just stories. I like telling stories about my friends whenever they tell me stuff and if it's very inspiring, I would just write about it," Zarai told The Associated Press during a tour stop in Atlanta, Ga.

"Sometimes it would be unsent letters _stuff that I would like to say to someone but I never manage to do it before. Songs are one of the ways for me to actually convey the message," Zarai said.

The native Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia offers echoes of Fiona Apple and Tori Amos in her delivery, her voice cracking at all the right parts when she sings about a strained relationship in "Decorate." Zarai's EP, also named "Decorate," was released on March 15, and a yet untitled full-length album is planned for release later this year.

Zarai is Muslim and retains that identity by, among other things, wearing a hijab, a traditional head covering worn by many Muslim women, whenever she performs. For some Western audiences, it may seem out of place for a pop singer, but for Zarai it simply is a part of her.

"If I were to play music, do I have to take off my hijab? To me it doesn't make sense. I don't know. I guess people have their own opinion and their different views about stuff like this. But to me it's just like as long as I'm comfortable with my own skin, it's enough for me," Zarai said.

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Online:

http://yunamusic.com/

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Report: Scarlett Johansson Moves In With Sean Penn

After just three months of dating, Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn are living together, according to UsMagazine.com. The 'Iron Man 2' actress has moved into Penn's $3.8 million Malibu home, a source close to the couple tells the magazine.

The 26-year-old actress "has essentially moved in over the last few weeks," the insider said. And now that they are living together, the pair are keeping their public outings to a minimum, preferring to "just stay home" when they can.

The source claims Johansson and Penn, 50, like spending their time cooking and staying in with Penn's kids with ex-wife Robin Wright: daughter Dylan, 20, and son Hopper, 17. They also like hanging out with palls Owen Wilson and Javier Bardem.

The couple made headlines earlier this week when Johansson was photographed jogging alongside Penn with what looked like an ever-so-slight belly. Pregnancy rumors quickly started though the actress' rep shot them down quickly.
"Scarlett is not pregnant," Johansson's publicist, Marcel Pariseau, told PEOPLE. "She's been training for 'The Avengers' for over four months and is in the best shape of her life."

In fact, Pariseau blamed her outfit: "She's outside running and it's simply the placement of her shirt that is misleading. She was followed and photographed for over 20 minutes and I'm sure there are other photos in the series that show and prove that she is not pregnant."

Johansson and Penn were first spotted together at a party celebrating the film 'Black Swan.' Since then, the couple has been spotted in Mexico and even attended Reese Witherspoon's star-studded wedding together.

Johansson separated from husband Ryan Reynolds in December. Penn, 50, and actress Robin Wright divorced in 2009 after 13 years of marriage.

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