New Music: "Everybody Hurts" for Charity

Check out this cover of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts,” featuring some of the biggest artists on the UK and US music scenes.

The song, which will be available for download on Sunday, February 7th, and released on CD the following day, features the voices of Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, Jon Bon Jovi, Kylie Minogue, Miley Cyrus, Susan Boyle, Mika, Michael Buble and more.

The collaboration was the brainchild of Simon Cowell, who said late last month that he’d get artists to sing on the track right away.

According to HMV, the single will split proceeds 50/50 between Disasters Emergency Committee and The Sun’s “Helping Haiti” appeal.

Listen to it here FIRST!

Mika: 'Bisexual, If You Need a Term for Me'

The BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter Mika, whose sexuality has been the subject of rumor since he entered the public eye in early 2007, said this month, "Call me bisexual, if you need a term for me."

In an interview with Dutch magazine Gay & Night he mentioned his reluctance to use labels, a frequent response to questions levelled at him over his sexual preferences, before commenting on bisexuality:

"I've never ever labeled myself. But having said that, I've never limited my life. I've never limited who I sleep with. … Call me whatever you want. Call me bisexual, if you need a term for me."

In 2008 he told the US magazine Out that it was possible to discuss "sexuality without using labels", and has not previously identified a term to use when describing his sexual preference, leading some commentators to coin neologisms such as 'ambisexual' and 'gaybe'.

But his insistence on keeping his sexuality under wraps has led to hate messages and even one death threat: "It was over whether I am gay or not. He wasn't happy that I won't talk about my personal life like that," he told thisislondon.co.uk.

London-based and educated at the prestigious Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, Mika has enjoyed appreciative critical reaction to his first studio album and the Gay & Night Magazine interview comes as he promotes his second, The Boy Who Knew Too Much, released in the UK this week.