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MusicMonday News

• As the summer winds down, so too do the big musical festivals. Lollapalooza started off as a sogfest Friday in Chicago, but the rains cleared for the remainder of the weekend. Click here for a brief CNN clip with Perry Farrell speaking about the 130-band event -- and here for official photos of all the action.


• Speaking of big summer music festivals -- this coming weekend marks the 40th (wow) anniversary of the granddaddy of them all, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair. Scheduled for release on August 28, Oscar-winning director Ang Lee's new movie Taking Woodstock follows the life of Elliot Tiber, who in 1969, held the only musical festival permit in Bethel, NY and enabled the festival to occur. Click the Woodstock poster above to view the trailer!


• Pearl Jam announced five more tour dates today: September 25 - Vancouver, BC; September 26 - Portland, OR; September 28 - Salt Lake, UT; October 27, 31 - Philadelphia, PA. Tickts for the Philly shows will go on sale August 14 via http://www.comcasttix.com/. The Portland tix will also go on sale August 14, with the other west coast dates available for purchase on August 15 -- all through http://www.ticketmaster.com/.
• The King of Pop will get a royal send-off in Vienna. Events promoter World Awards Media GmbH confirmed today that members of Michael Jackson's family and a "high-profile lineup of international stars" are planning a tribute concert to be held September 26. The venue will be the sculpted and sprawling grounds of Vienna's former imperial Schoenbrunn Palace, where an outdoor stage shaped like a crown will be built. Jackson's brother Jermaine said recently that Vienna was a special place for Michael, who "loved castles." Tickets will go on sale August 20. Details here.
• Also today, a judge approved a major movie deal among Michael Jackson's estate, concert promoter AEG Live and Columbia Pictures for a film that will feature footage of Jackson's final rehearsals for a planned series of London comeback concerts. The film, which opens October 30, could also include videos prepared for display during the "This is It" shows.
  
• Jay Leno's new prime-time series is going to kick off with a performance by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West. NBC said the three singers will perform together on "Run This Town," a tune from Jay-Z's new album, on the September 14 debut of "The Jay Leno Show."


• The network and Leno have also said that there will be fewer musical acts on his new show ("at least once or twice a week"), but that they'll feature interesting combinations of performers. The series will air weeknights at 10 pm EDT.
• And in other tv music news, looks like most of you will miss the wackiness of Paula Abdul on "American Idol." Abdul used Twitter last week to announce she will not be returning to judge the 9th season of the show -- and the news was later confirmed by FOX. TMZ is still reporting that it could all be a major publicity ploy and she may be back. But will you miss Paula if she doesn't? If you haven't voted yet -- check out the poll at left.