Summer 58, Year M210. Cost 30 MCs

JANIE'S NEW CLOTHES Janie Yip has been a screen star since she was ten years old, thanks to her role as manipulative moppet Nina in Screen One's daily soap sensation Power Play. She was sweet sixteen last week, and on her way to becoming a pop star as well, with her slinky new single "Work It" out tomorrow to cap the success of her recent duet with Ricky Khan. When we caught up with her on the hectic set of Power Play, it was clear that the young star is no real-life Nina, and neither is she a naïve pop wannabe. This girl's a professional. JANIE ON NINA: "Daily soaps have an intense following, and my first day on set Dalton Faraday warned me that some fans would see me as Nina. People think Dalton's a philandering wolf, but he's such a nice guy, like an extra grandad. My character's so manipulative I was worried at first, but even the few fans who really seem to think I'm Nina feel sorry for her, because of her back story. I love the part because Nina's so flamboyant, and I love working with the rest of the cast, but after six years in one role it's great to branch out and show that there are more sides to Janie Yip." JANIE ON POP: "I've been singing and dancing since stage school - in fact, I did some commercials when I was nine where I had to sing and dance, and I was disappointed that they dubbed a real singer over me… but then I auditioned for Power Play, and a few months later I was a famous actress! But I've always loved music, and now my voice has really developed I just feel this is the time to go for it." JANIE ON HER NEW SINGLE: "When my producer Floyd Fontley brought me "Work It", I was like... yes! I love the song, and Floyd's a real master of the high-energy dance sounds, so we tried to make the clip special to match the song. The dance routines were a challenge, but with Crank Hatchet directing they look fabulous - plus I get to dress up sexy and show off, which is a lot of fun!" JANIE ON HER FUTURE: "I'm not as busy with Power Play at the moment, but between promoting "Work It" and recording material for my first album I'm super-busy - and that's just how I intend to carry on! I'm never happier than when I'm working, and even though it's hard work I want to keep on balancing acting and singing. I'd love to record some Art Tolliver classics one day, and it's my ambition to play one of the stars of that era, dressing up in Yasuko Yoshihara gowns and high-stepping at the Central Club... now that's style!" COMICS! Forever Human, Einar Itsky's saga of loves, betrayals and interplanetary migration, is sixty years old this Friday! In spite of its status as the defining historical romance in comics, it has become increasingly hard to run down a full set recently.     However, publishing giant DeWinter are marking this Friday's anniversary by releasing the first two volumes of their deluxe reprinting of Forever Human in its full twenty-volume glory, each accompanied by the rare covers and posters Itsky produced for the strip's original run in Love Angle Comics Weekly.     Forever Human Book 1: The Great Deception and Book 2: Love in Outer Space will hit the stores on Friday, both priced 50MCs. NEWS! Concern is growing for former number-one pop singer Amy, whose full name is Amy Corillo. The teenager, whose recent Melody Nelson hit "Hotspot" made her famous throughout the city, has been out of touch with parents, friends and colleagues for a week now, and her parents and producer Nelson spoke briefly of their concern to reporters after officially reporting her missing. Anyone with information or sightings should contact their local MCPD, but her parents stress that they're still waiting to hear from Amy herself.

RIVALRY IN THE HEAVENS? Are the Four Heavenly Kings of Minervan Pop vying for the top spot, or carving up the pop pie? For over two years now Jacky Lau, Sandy Singh, Leo Fine and Ricky Khan have been the Heavenly Kings of the pop-charts and the devilish denizens of the gossip columns. We've all speculated as to who's top of the heap, but while Jacky's popularity alone rivals that of Art Tolliver in his heyday, equal numbers of glossy publications and fans are devoted to Sandy, Leo and Ricky... and many girls' bedrooms have one wall devoted to each!     Sandy's screen debut this Spring, and Jacky's first film with celebrated cinéaste Maude Gombolini both gained by the vociferous tabloid debate over who originated and who imitated, yet after ignoring the debate (and one another) all Spring, the two were recently spotted out on the town with the girls from Shiney.     The recent "Duet War" between cherubic Leo and sensitive songster Ricky was also much publicized, but only once did they have singles out simultaneously, and then only Leo's was a duet... plus last week they were spotted sharing a booth at the Bazaar's recently reopened Feline Club with several models.     It's true the occasions they're seen together are extremely rare, and that none of the four will comment publicly on one another, but the tabloid-fuelled rumors of bitter dislikes and tension-fraught breakdancing showdowns remain unsubstantated. In fact, the only overt element of rivalry in four glittering careers is the fact that they're all on different labels.     As we go to press, Sandy Singh's "Shake You Down" is exiting the top ten as Jacky Lau's "Run For It!" is arriving there, the #1 album is Ricky Khan's I Sing To You (featuring duets with Janie Yip and Marnie McGhee) and Leo Fine is on our screens twice a week, co-starring in Action Screen's Forensic Squad with series regular Julio Jackson.     Factual, fictional or somewhere in between, how important can their internal rivalries be when we see the Four Heavenly Kings of Pop every day of our lives? CLUB REVIEW! In theory, Omaha's new club night Up & Down is a pop extravaganza: massive hits (both current and very recent) are played, new acts perform live and celebrity compères preside over the fun. However, as psysicists and pop pundits are wont to point out, there's an inevitable gap between theory and practice.     The selection of new and newer hits Thursday night was adequate (if uninspired), and caused one or two minor outbreaks of dancing, but the night was sunk from the word go. Since under-18s got in free the audience were mostly about seventeen, and divided quickly into small, unmixing cliques. On one side the real pop kids, dressed up to the nines in imitation of their favorite classic idols, sneered across the room at the casually-dressed clique who came to hear the new bands.     Things got worse when Bobby & Billy took the stage. Seemingly forgetting they were the same age as the crowd, they went straight into their Wake Up It's Saturday! routine, talking down to the crowd as if they were presenting another kids' show and ensuring a cool reception for the first band. Green Dust did everything they could to live up to the sullen disinterest, their brief set consisting of three poor-quality pop covers and a lone original whose only redeeming feature was its amusing ineptitude. After some more hits and another wince-inducing turn from Bobby & Billy, half the crowd had drifted away. Creamsicle were certainly better than Green Dust, but hardly miraculous, and the lack of response led to their bony guitarist petulantly berating the crowd in unintelligible slang. After a few more hits and a big farewell from Bobby & Billy (still in "Isn't this fun!" mode even though it patently wasn't), Up & Down went down and out, leaving one wistfully wishing for those teen tearaways The Psychobabes. Then at least we might have had a riot.

 

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