Latest 98° and Nick Lachey / Jeff Timmons News

If you have some news on 98°, send it to us, and if you own a website, we'll post your link next to the news! (Delete the words "nojunk" before sending). You can now reach this website through either 98degrees.org or 98degrees.net. We still prefer the first address of course =)

2/25/04

Extra stuff...

As of this month, Nick has sold only 123,000 copies of his album "Soul-O". By most accounts, that is not a success.

Jessica re-releasing her album, including "Take My Breath Away"

Jessica said last November, "I'm re-releasing my new record with some footage from the TV show, maybe some footage you haven't seen before, which will be funny footage, some bloopers, stuff like that."

Among the DVD menu options will be photo galleries and footage from Jessica and Nick's wedding, as well as features called "The Night Before," "An Exceptional Reception," "To the Nines," "The Look of Love" and "The Magic Moment."

Jessica hoped to have the re-release out in time for the holiday season. But she pushed it back to March 2 in order to record two new songs, covers of Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" and Robbie Williams' "Angels," the song credited with reviving the former Take That star's flagging solo career in 1997. The Berlin song, meanwhile, is known as the love theme for Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in the 1986 movie "Top Gun." But the Oscar-winning song is Jessica and Nick's love theme as well, she said on her Web site, because it was playing "the first time Nick kissed me."

The pair debuted the song as a duet at the end of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Thursday afternoon. Jessica is scheduled to shoot a video for "Take My Breath Away" on February 25 in Southern California. In addition to the cover songs, the re-release of In This Skin will also include an acoustic version of "With You." Snippets of all three songs can be heard on her Web site.

When Jeff Timmons embarked on a solo career, he had a huge task ahead - he had to reinvent himself. As founder of the late-'90s "boy band" 98 Degrees (with brothers Drew and Nick Lachey and Justin Jeffre), Timmons knew what it meant to be a success.

When the band played Evansville in October 1999, the first show sold out so quickly a second night/second show was added. "We had a good thing, there's no doubt about that," Timmons said. "But when it was time to move on, we were all ready for something new."

Initially, he had some trouble with DJs who were reluctant to let him break away from the "boy band" label. But over the past half-year to a year, he said, "I've been able to start the 'moving on' process."

The process includes the solo CD "Whisper That Way" and this winter's tour with Jim Brickman, which brings Timmons to Evansville tonight. "It's taken me a couple of years to get this far. Taking a couple of years off gave me time to settle down, regroup, get grounded in knowing what I wanted to do."

And, he said, the path isn't going to be coincidental. "It's all been carefully planned out: 'This is gonna be the route.' And I've spent a lot of time writing, getting the music just right. Sometimes it seems like it's been a slow process, but then again, I made some decisions that pretty much guaranteed it would be a slow, learning, growing period."

That included writing and producing "Whisper That Way" himself. "It's easier to make it big when a powerhouse company is behind you. I didn't want this to be something where people said, 'He's just another boy-band guy,' and they'd write me off. This time it's a real grass-roots effort. I'm going out, proving myself, city by city. We're selling online, on my Web site (www.jefftimmons.com). It's more time-consuming to do it this way, to launch something on my own, but there really is a lot of satisfaction in taking the road less traveled. ...

"I'll hit the main media after everything's set up. That's not a common way to do things anymore, but I know I have a lot of loyal fans from my 98 Degrees days, and they've come forward to let me know they like this CD. If you want to do your own music, this is what you have to do. Yes, certainly, it's reinventing myself. It's working for myself, not a label, not other guys in the band. I admit I didn't always make the best decisions in the past, but I can't let that stop me. Sometimes even negative experiences turn out wonderful."

Pick up, create and carry on, he said. "Being a 'star' doesn't mean being successful. I'd rather be successful than be a star. I know 30 isn't old, but I'm not as young as people think. I've had plenty of time to learn a lot, and even more time ahead to put what I've learned into this next phase of my career."

All of those feelings of anticipation and determination have been "a good fit" with Brickman. "We cater to a similar adult audience, we have similar philosophies, business-wise and work-ethic-wise. And I think we're both very melodic, creative guys, and that's a lot of fun onstage."

It also led to a collaboration with Brickman on the song "Be the One" on Timmons' new CD. "Great opportunities like that have changed my life," Timmons said. "Being open to all these new possibilities has been so rewarding."

He began touring with Brickman before Christmas, then picked up the "Valentine's" leg of the tour last week. "This is a great opportunity for people to see me in a more raw form, without three other guys, a band, fireworks and pyrotechnics. ... It's kind of fun to hone my skills as a solo artist onstage."

The audiences, he said, have been "absolutely amazing." "People have embraced the music, and that's been such a good experience for me. I was 22 when I started 98 Degrees. I've matured a lot, discovered what 'my sound' is - I'm not a quarter of a sound anymore. It's a good, good feeling."

Entry into the parties surrounding the Grammy festivities was as coveted as a ticket to the awards show itself. One of the most glittering events was music mogul Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy dinner and concert on Saturday night. The event attracted stars including Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Sharon Osbourne and children Kelly and Jack, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Magic Johnson, comedian Chris Tucker , Will Farrell and many others.

The dinner was a coronation for Davis: Last week, the 70-year-old founder of Arista and J Records was promoted to chairman and chief executive of BMG North America. Davis quipped to rapper Jay-Z, also in attendance: "Who would have thought five years ago that you would have retired before me?"

After Sunday's Grammys , there were plenty of other celebrations, including a party hosted by OutKast, who won album of the year for "Speakerboxxx-The Love Below." A concert by Prince at the House of Blues was one of the evening's biggest draws; he sang some of his biggest hits, including "Purple Rain," "Kiss" and "Sign of the Times." Macy Gray and Angie Stone later joined him onstage.

And while Prince kicked off the Grammy show with Beyonce earlier in the evening, he didn't seem too impressed with the awards. He led the frenzied crowd in a chant: "Grammy don't mean nothin' to me," then added, "I know what I'm singing!"

from 2/08/04 (Grammy Awards)
At OutKast's winning bash in W.C. Fields's old mansion in the hills above Sunset Plaza, Sharon Stone lap shimmied and locked lips with beau Bernie Cahill in the Polaroid lounge. Kelly and Jack Osbourne, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, OutKast and a wobbly Christina Aguilera got out before police closed the hill to limo traffic at around 3:30 a.m. Other revelers walked three miles down the hill.

Newlyweds ratings

25 top ad-suported cable programs
week ending 2/08/04
#10 Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica (2.95 million viewers)

top 10 ad-supported cable shows
Adults 18-34 (week ending 2/08/04)
#1 Real World XIV (2.426 million)
#2 Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica (1.965 million)

top 10 ad-supported cable shows
Adults 18-49 (week ending 2/08/04)
#6 Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica (2.610 million)

1/28/04

4.7 million viewers

Looks like I was wrong, Newlyweds remains very popular, with 4.7 million viewers tuning into MTV to catch the show. It beat the much touted Todd TV.

Nick inks with ABC

Following in the footsteps of Jessica, Nick has also inked a development deal with ABC to join one of the network's comedy or drama pilots next season. The agreement also includes films with Walt Disney Films, which like ABC is owned by Disney. Jessica signed with ABC in Nov 2003 for a show that will debut this fall. When all is said and done, their respective television shows may not even air on the same night, but Nick said that working on separate projects has never been an issue for the celebrity couple. "It all comes back to the same place, whether she does well, I do well, or we both do well, which is obviously what we're hoping for. It's all good. You know? We're definitely pull for each other."

The agreement with ABC, does include a variety show that Nick and Jessica are already working on which will air on ABC on March 28.

Nick has already taped a guest apppearance on NBC's American Dreams. He plays a young Tom Jones. The episode airs on February 15.

No prenup!

Jessica Simpson thinks pre-nups are bad luck and says both she and husband Nick Lachey refused to sign one, despite the advice of their lawyers. "If anything were to happen to me and Nick, I've had a great life with him and he would deserve half of everything I have," she said.

Duet albums in the work

"The show just showed my personality and let me fit in where I am supposed to, and that's just middle America." — Jessica Simpson

Nick and Jessica, who sang together on "Where You Are" from Simpson's 1999 album, Sweet Kisses, are planning to record a duets album sometime in 2004. "We're talking about remaking great '70s, '80s hits," Simpson said at KIIS-FM's recent Jingle Ball. "Definitely a romantic album."

In November, Jessica said she and Nick had some reservations about the idea of recording together again.

"We wouldn't want it to be cheesy," she said at the time. "So we'd have to spend a while and pick the right material. We're not going to do 'I Got You Babe,' because that's what people's 'clever ideas' are. 'Oh, you should do Sonny and Cher.' We're just like, 'No, if we're going to do something together, it has to be clever.' We want to remake some stuff and also do original stuff."

The duets album is just one of several projects Simpson hopes to launch in the new year. Another major one is her sitcom with ABC. "It's in the beginning of the development process," Jessica said at Jingle Ball. "We've been interviewing writers. We're spending a lot of time making it perfect so everybody is going to laugh their butts off."

Simpson said her husband will make cameos, but the show will focus on her. "I definitely wanna play into who I am on the 'Newlyweds,' not as a wife, but just who I am up here," she said, pointing to her head. "I think it'll be funny. I think it'll be endearing to people. Something very Goldie Hawn-esque."

Jessica also plans to make at least one movie in 2004 and will continue promoting her third album, In This Skin. She has yet to pick a third single, but she's hoping "With You" will continue growing in popularity like it has in L.A., where it's been a hit on KIIS.

"I'm so proud of my second single because this is the first song that I've written that's on the radio," Simpson said. "It's cool for me just because it's my personality ... Nick loves me with nothing but a T-shirt on so that's where the song idea came from."

Jessica feels the same way about the song as she does about that other little hit on her hands, "Newlyweds." "The best part of this year was that I had success just being myself, and I think that is the best kind of success," she said. "I didn't have to try to be someone I wasn't, try to have an image, try to do the whole teen pop thing I was always trying to fit into. The show just showed my personality and let me fit in where I am supposed to, and that's just middle America."

While "Newlyweds" cameras have been following Nick and Jessica for a second season, she insisted life has gone on as normal.

"Nick and I sat down in the very beginning and wanted it to be reality," she explained. "We have never seen any reality show. Believe it or not, I don't know what 'The Bachelor' or any of that [is about]. I've never watched anything. We had watched a little of 'The Osbournes,' but I think it made us walk into it with a really fresh vibe. We just sat down and wanted to not have any kind of guard, no facade, be who we were. And it paid off."

Golden Globe afterparty

NBC, "Access Hollywood" and Target are throwing a Golden Globes after-party, featuring live performances by Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey.

Nick and Jessica on Saturday Night Live

Last week, Nick and Jessica were the hosts of SNL. Jessica poked fun at Britney Spears and her fellow reality TV show stars Carmen Electra and Paris Hilton on "Saturday Night Live."

The pop star-turned-reality TV icon hosted the show with her husband Nick Lachey and thrilled viewers with comedy takes on her fellow celebrities. She appeared with Nick, Carmen and new husband Dave Navarro in a "Sharon Osbourne Show" skit and teamed up with SNL regular Rachel Dratch to play socialites-turned reality show divas Hilton and Nicole Richie in a fake mad cow disease advertisement.

But it was Jessica's hilarious take on Britney that drew the most laughs - she recreated the pop superstar's vocals on an "American Idol" comedy skit. After singing a part from "Baby, Hit Me One More Time," SNL comic Chris Parnell, as bad-mouthed judge Simon Cowell, asked, "Are you pooping now? Do you need to poop because you sing like you're pooping out a dictionary sideways."

Nick and Jess Settle In
from USA Today

Somewhere between ordering their lunches and describing the second season of their MTV series Newlyweds, the stars align, the gods smile and Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson enjoy a truly chemical coupling moment. Newlyweds ignited the so-so solo solo careers of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey.

Over a meal in midtown Manhattan — chicken pot pie for her, lobster mac and cheese for him — Simpson, stuck with a ditzy-blonde rep thanks to her show, is explaining just why some intimate marital traditions are off-limits to cameras.

"Before we go to bed every night, that's our time to lay there in the bed and talk about whatever, and I think that — "

Sudden pause.

"I just forgot what I was thinking," she giggles. Apparently, her thoughts often derail mid-sentence. "That's why Nick fell in love with me," she says. Lachey takes a sip of Diet Coke, studies the table and shakes his head. "That's right at the top of the list," he mutters.

It's vignettes like these that explain the unlikely magic of Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica, kicking off its second season tonight (10 ET/PT) with 20 new episodes.

It's the show that took them from the margins of teen pop — she was previously best known as the virginal songbird who waited until her wedding night in October 2002 to consummate her relationship with boy-band hunk Lachey, a member of the also-ran bubblegum group 98 Degrees — and transformed them into megastars.

The first episode of the new season finds them stuck in Atlantic City at a gloriously tacky Oktoberfest. In later shows, they explore getting a dog — Lachey wants a husky; she'd rather have a toy pooch she can dress up — and bicker over the $1,400 Simpson spent on deluxe sheets.

"We don't care at this point about people making fun of us," says Simpson, 23, now a master at mocking herself. This week, they returned to their home after being away several months celebrating the holidays with their families and fulfilling promotional duties. First item on the agenda is painting. "We're going to hire painters," Simpson announces. "I think?"

"Sure, babe," Lachey, 30, says.

'Poor man's stars'

Simpson grins, having rebounded nicely from last week's brutal 24-hour flu bug, which left her bedridden and hooked up to an IV for two hours. "It was horrible," she says. "They thought I was pregnant, because I had all the signs of pregnancy. And I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, all the rumors. Everyone would know before I did!' The doctor asked me, 'Are you sexually active?'

"I'm married, so I hope so!" she guffaws. At this, Lachey intently scrutinizes the silverware. It's not that Simpson is dumb or clueless. She is, in fact, quite sharp and funny. "I think out loud — that's my problem," she says.

Clearly, that has worked wonders for both her career and that of her husband. Simpson is eyeing four potential movie roles, and Lachey too is exploring acting options. They have signed to do an ABC variety special that, if successful, could lead to more shows.

Simpson and Lachey are grateful for their sudden star power. "We were the poor man's stars," Lachey says. "It's cool that our biggest success in this industry has come as a married couple. It's gratifying to know that people were wrong and being married is not a bad thing." That's because everyone, from Simpson's record label to her father/manager, told her that marriage might mean career death. But here she is, famous on her terms.

As real as they can be

Both say they've made concerted efforts to not play into the characters they inadvertently created last season — she the dumb blonde who can't tell chicken from tuna, he the long-suffering cheapskate. In fact, Simpson whipped up a Thanksgiving dinner for 25 people and is "a very good cook," Lachey says. "And I'm not cheap. I just don't like to waste money."

But it's that very issue that's giving the couple a headache. Simpson and Lachey just opened their first joint checking account after years of having individual ones. "Now I feel like there's a race to the ATM," Lachey says. "I have to beat her to it before there's no money left. I've tried to teach Jessica not to waste money." Simpson snaps to it. "He gets mad at me because I'm a huge tipper."

It's innocuously normal moments like these that you may see on Newlyweds. Both Simpson and Lachey say they're just trying to keep it real, warts and all.

In five years, Simpson and Lachey see themselves with a child, and a life far removed from reality-land. And both insist they're not worried about wearing out their TV welcome, like a certain other MTV reality family. "Let's worry about that when it happens," Lachey says.

MTV's surprise -- and surprisingly entertaining -- hit "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," returns tomorrow at 10 p.m. for its second season. And though I'll probably watch, I already have the feeling the show just won't be as good.

Wasn't that the case with MTV's "The Osbournes," which essentially created the peculiar reality-show subgenre of celebrity-family sitcom when it premiered in March 2002? If the endless cussing, sibling squabbles, and non-housebroken dogs in the Beverly Hills homestead of Ozzy and Sharon seemed unpredictable and amusing in its first season, its sophomore year was quite something else.

After becoming the highest-rated series in MTV's history, "The Osbournes" quickly grew tired because we had already seen everything they had to offer. Worse still, much of that season played as a reaction to their newfound fame, such as Kelly's "singing" career and Ozzy and Sharon's visit to the White House Correspondents Dinner. It robbed the show of its once-appealing "they're just regular folks" banality.

Don't expect things to be any different for the no-longer-newly-wed "Newlyweds," singers Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. In its inaugural season, the delicious shock of the show was watching a young couple blindly stumbling and bumbling their way to something that didn't quite resemble wedded bliss. For all the lavishness of their fairy-tale wedding, the day-to-day reality of married life was considerably less precious and awe-inspiring.

Even more entertaining was Lachey's stunned realization that he may have married the dumbest woman ever. Each week, Simpson -- once famously confused as to whether tuna brand Chicken of the Sea is actually chicken or fish -- proved she was scarily dense about anything more complex than Louis Vuitton accessories.

Never has unscripted stupidity proved so profitable. Within weeks of the premiere, Lachey and Simpson suddenly found themselves in the middle of a blitzkrieg of fame that dwarfed anything they had achieved during their underwhelming pop careers. Simpson, once only recognizable as the blond teen-pop singer who wasn't Britney Spears, was quickly inundated with film, TV, and endorsement offers. And after Lachey's break with bland boy band 98 Degrees, his solo career soon received more attention than anything on his wan little album "SoulO" deserved.

It seemed as if the couple, with their miniscule body fat and toothpaste-commercial smiles, were everywhere -- morning talk shows, CNN's "Larry King Live," and every magazine cover except Ebony.

Now, after becoming America's favorite young couple (that's what one breathless magazine article claimed), Lachey and Simpson return for round two. And they'll carry on with the misguided conceit that they know exactly what viewers want from them.

So there will be many more brain-dead observations from Simpson, except they won't be as funny because they won't be natural and spontaneous. For instance, last year, as Lachey talked about a dead mouse stiffened by rigor mortis, Simpson, who'd never heard of the term, said, "Rigor who?" This season, she'll purposely pull "a Jessica," which has quickly become a pop reference for a stupid remark.

Her smarmy father-manager (not necessarily in that order) Joe Simpson has already seized a chance to capitalize on his daughter's ditziness by trying to arrange a Simpson tour of Ivy League schools, including Harvard. Having Simpson host a question-and-answer session at one of the world's great academic institutions was inspired by the hit Reese Witherspoon film "Legally Blonde," he told MTV News in October. If it happens, no doubt it will be filmed for MTV.

Simpson has already spoofed her dopiest reality-TV moments in the video for her latest single, "With You." What was novel is now just another marketing prospect. Success spoiled "The Osbournes," and so shall it be with "Newlyweds." Unlike other reality shows that manage to stay somewhat interesting because of their revolving participants, on "Newlyweds," we already know Simpson's a dope and a slob and Lachey is cheap and a neat freak.

If the show's success last year caught most folks off guard, then no one should be surprised when viewership inevitably dips this season as "Newlyweds" returns once more, but with less feeling.

Jessica and Nick `Shoot for The Stars' with Sony Ericsson and Raise Money for Make-A-Wish Kids

(from Nov 03)

More than 30 Celebrities Along With Sony Ericsson Executives Auction off Favorite "Slice of Life" Images Taken With the Sony Ericsson T610/T616 Mobile Phone Camera

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are joining with Sony Ericsson to support "Shoot for the Stars" celebrity photo auction tonight in Los Angeles. More than 70 celebrities are scheduled to attend and help raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation(R) of Greater Los Angeles. Some of the celebrities attending are: Paula Abdul, Rachel Bilson, Jason Biggs, Adam Brody, Amanda Bynes, Wayne Brady, Lisa Marie, Nick Zano, Chris Pratt, Melissa Rivers and Ryan Seacrest.

At the event, photographs and self-portraits taken by fellow celebrities, with the Sony Ericsson T610/T616 camera phone, will be on display and up for bidding during a silent auction. During the past four months, more than 30 celebrities used their Sony Ericsson T610/T616 camera phone to capture and share their favorite things - whether it was a night out on the town, a day at the beach, a vacation far away or the comforts of home.

Associated Press Q&A With Nick Lachey

Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees knows his fan base is mostly teenage girls, and he's OK with that. Those fans pushed the boy band's album sales to multiplatinum. But the 30-year-old singer and husband of Jessica Simpson hopes his new solo album, "SoulO" (Universal Records), a mixture of trendy grooves and syrupy ballads, will knock him up an age bracket or two.

Producers included The Matrix crew (who work with Avril Lavigne ), Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams ), and Trina Harmon and Stuart Brawley (Brandy, Michael Jackson ).

Lachey and Simpson also star on MTV's "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," which follows the couple as they muddle through married life. New episodes will begin in 2004. The show has made the 23-year-old Simpson infamous for her dippy-blonde moments, including the time she confused "Chicken of the Sea" tuna with actual chicken.

Meanwhile, Lachey says he may try acting while 98 Degrees is taking a break from recording and touring.

AP: Do you think the boy band days are over?

Lachey: We see music as cyclical. I shudder to think it was called the `day of the boy band,' we never intended to be swept up by that whole movement. I think there will be an opportunity for harmony groups to be successful again. I'd like to do another record with the group at some point.

AP: Will your fans like SoulO?

Lachey: I would hope that fans like the record, and they will like the songs and me as a singer. I guess there might be a small percentage of people that it could be a problem for, but I did the album for the fans that were still loyal to 98 Degrees, and as I evolve as a singer and hopefully tap into new fans.

AP: Do you think your wife is a ditz, especially after the "chicken of the sea" guffaw?

Lachey: I think she'd be the first to admit that she has ditsy moments, and it became evident very early on that it was going to be a major plotline on the show. But come on. She's not Anna Nicole Smith or anything.

AP: Who takes longer to get ready to go out, you or Jessica?

Lachey: She would say me, but it's definitely her. I'm at the bottom of the stairs yelling that we have to go and she's nowhere near done.

AP: Are you worried about becoming Mr. Jessica Simpson?

Lachey: She knows I'm her biggest fan, I cheer for her louder than anybody. I tell her all the time I'd gladly retire and hang out with the kids and clean the house. I want to have a good life and great family, and from a professional standpoint I want to be successful, but it's not the most important thing at all.

AP: How do you feel about taping more episodes of "Newlyweds"?

Lachey: It's a great opportunity for us. We're planning on being married for a long, long time. We're not going to do a reality TV show forever, but while it continues to work, we're going to continue to do it.

AP: Isn't married life hard without being filmed all the time?

Lachey: The thing is, we don't really know any different. We got married in October of last year, and we started taping in the spring. We don't have any concept of marriage without the cameras yet. I think you have to not take the show too seriously; not get caught up with things that are edited on the show. You get the gist of what's going on with us, but they tape for four months and you see ten 22-minute episodes. It's not a documentary of our marriage. There's plenty of stuff, good stuff and bad stuff, that didn't make the show for whatever reason.

AP: Any advice for young married couples?

Lachey: I always feel stupid giving advice since I've been married, what, a year? I can say this: Be in it for the long haul and just know there are going to be rough patches. No two people are the same, there are going to be areas where you just don't click.

Nick's 30th birthday

Pop star-turned-reality TV icon Jessica Simpson sexed up her squeaky-clean image to give husband Nick Lachey a real treat on his 30th birthday.

The ditzy star hired out Los Angeles celebrity club Forty Deuce for the bash, and then stripped down to her lacy lingerie to perform with burlesque troupe The PUssycat Dolls who also appeared in Charlies Angels: Full Throttle.

She says, "I was really nervous, hoping I wouldn't pop out of my outfit."

Jingle Bell Bash has 'it' couple

Pop's "it" couple, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, will be on hand next month at the Tacoma Dome for KBKS-FM's Jingle Bell Bash.

Last week, KBKS (106.1, "Kiss") announced the couple as hosts for this year's holiday gala, set to take place 5 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Dome. Simpson and Lachey will record an episode of their MTV reality show "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica" while in Tacoma, according to KBKS spokesman Marc Jones.

This year's Jingle Bell Bash lineup also includes Michelle Branch, Sean Paul, Clay Aiken, the Black-Eyed Peas, All-American Rejects, Simple Plan and Seattle native Stacie Orrico. Tickets are $45 and are available through Ticketmaster

In Touch Weekly, the weekly entertainment magazine, today announced the Top 50 stars of 2003, which will be featured in the November 24th issue of the magazine. To celebrate this special issue, the "Top 50" will be celebrated at the 2003 In Touch Weekly Awards at club Deep tonight at 8:00PM. The celebration, which also marks the magazine's one year anniversary, will be sponsored by Revlon, a global leader in cosmetics.

During In Touch Weekly's first year, it was truly the year of the celebrity. 2003 was a time of shocking romances (Demi and Ashton), true love (Trista and Ryan), wild men made good (Russell Crowe), immense bravery (Pam Anderson), and massive success (Nicole Kidman). Arnie the Terminator became Arnold Schwarzenegger the governor, Uma Thurman lost a husband but won praise as The Bride (in Kill Bill) and Jessica Simpson showed the world that dim was in. And, of course, there was a certain on-again/off-again couple that prompted Christian Slater to joke that even he was "Bennifried out."

The "Top 50 Stars of the Year" were chosen by In Touch Weekly's editorial staff, influenced by outstanding displays from stars over all aspects of entertainment including music, television, and film, fashion, and lifestyle.

(1) Beyonce Knowles -- 2003 Belongs to Her
(2) Colin Farrell -- Sexiest Dad of the Year
(3) Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey - America's Most Famous Newlyweds

SoulO review (external source)

Nick Lachey, Soulo (*1/2) Any guy whose wife can't tell the difference between chicken and tuna fish probably has got a right to sing the blues. But on his solo debut, Jessica Simpson's spouse projects the unsinkable perkiness that has presumably gotten him through his first year of marriage. Unlike Justin Timberlake, who on his solo outing embraced grittier and more sophisticated textures than those favored by 'N Sync, Lachey basically sticks to the formula championed by his boy band, 98 Degrees, cranking out sappy ballads such as Edge of Eternity and faux-funk fluff such as Shut Up. Ironically, Simpson inspired the former tune, but not the latter.

The first anniversary

Singer Nick Lachey surprised his wife Jessica Simpson with a romantic trip around New York's Central Park to mark their first wedding anniversary on October 26th.

The pop pair, who have captured large audiences with their hit new reality TV show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, opted to spend their big day in the Big Apple after Simpson performed a show in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The 23-year-old beauty says, "Nick completely surprised me. We took a horse-and-buggy ride around Central Park, and then Nick took me to a beautiful dinner at Tavern on the Green. He had this amazing cake. There were flowers everywhere. It was just so special."

Nick Lachey/Jeff Timmons News Archive

Fall 2003
Summer 2003

98 Degrees News Archive

98° News Archive (up to April 2003)
98° News Archive (August - September 2001)
98° News Archive (June - August 2001)
Past 98° News Archive (till June 2001)

Other stuff (not online currently, sorry)

98° in Cincinnati!
massive special August update

We've found an interview with Jessica Simpson where she talks about her relationship with Nick...click here to read the interview

Plus, we've added more clips of "Where You Are" to the videos page. And to round out the entire theme for today's update: photos of Nick and Jessica: photo 1 photo 2

Watch a clip of 98° from the Nickeloden Kid's Choice Awards! "Jeff, Drew and Justin from 98 Degrees describe their plans to make fun of bandmate Nick Lachey during his KCA duet with Jessica Simpson." note: you need Real Player (click here for clip)