Are you ready to Panic?

Okay now, don’t panic.

What I simply mean is that get set for the arrival of Panic at the Disco on Aug. 14 for a concert at the Araneta Coliseum.

Panic at the Disco is the enormously successful band that has taken the globe by storm with its albums — from the first, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, to the latest, Pretty.Odd. — which are a mix of pop, rock, electronica and dance.

The Funfare source who broke the story of the Panic at the Disco’s concert said that the group was conceptualized in the suburbs of Las Vegas, Nevada, by two childhood friends, Ryan Ross (guitar) and Spencer Smith (drums). The two met Brendon Urie (who later became the lead vocalist of the band) at their high school. They then decided on the name Panic at the Disco. The band then contacted Pete Wentz, bassist of the now popular band Fall Out Boy. Wentz was so impressed that he flew to Las Vegas to meet the band in person. He watched them practice in their garage and on the same day asked them to sign with his label, Fueled by Ramen.

In 2005, Panic at the Disco released its debut album entitled A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. They then debuted their music video to their hit song I Write Sins Not Tragedies which later won the Video of the Year Award at the 2006 MTV Awards, beating artists like Christina Aguilera and Madonna. In August of 2006, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out went platinum.

In early 2007, Panic at the Disco began writing for its second album, Pretty.Odd. but decided to rewrite the entire album in July 2007. In an interview, Ryan said that the new songs had “a more positive outlook to them.” The album was set to launch last month. Shooting for the music video of Nine in the Afternoon began in January 2008 and was released on-line that same month.

(Note: For ticket inquiries to the Panic at the Disco concert at the Araneta Coliseum on Aug. 14, call Ticketnet at 911-5555. For VIP tickets, call Concertus at 813-2617.)

Also, don’t panic that Madonna isn’t coming after all

Now, is Madonna really coming sometime in July according to the rumor that started circulating weeks ago, keeping her fans in stitches?

Sadly, the answer is a Big No.

According to the guys at Warner Music Philippines, Madonna’s record label and therefore the official representatives who can confirm any such news, Madonna is indeed doing a series of shows in New York, Paris and London but “no Manila” (or any other Southeast Asian country for that matter) is included in her itinerary.

However, it’s only Madonna’s latest album, Hard Candy, which is arriving at local music stores today.

Warner Music is inviting Madonna diehards to “party hard” at Club Government on Saturday, May 3, during the “sweet” launch of the album and get a chance to bring home Madonna prizes.

Mark Mejia did beat David Archuleta

Here’s a rejoinder to the rejoinder published in this corner the other day to the item about Filipino singer Mark Mejia having beaten David Archuleta, predicted as “the most likely” to win in the current season of American Idol, from a reader who requested anonymity:

Mark Mejia defeated David Archuleta in one of the competitions leading to the Battle of the Champions in Star Search.

According to the Star Search Show #37, which was aired on Feb. 14, 2004:

Junior Singers in this episode were Mark Mejia vs Spensha Baker vs David Archuleta. Winner: Mark Mejia (immuned till Final Episode).

Then both David and Mark went to compete again with other champions until the Final 3 were left standing —  Tiffany Evans, Mark and David. The grand champion was Tiffany who went home with the $100,000 plum.

What’s up?

• From reader Cathy Hagad, this info: It might interest you and your readers to know that a Filipino, Eduardo Sicangco, was the conceptual artist in the movie The Forbidden Kingdom (starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, together for the first time). Eduardo has been working in New York, specifically in Broadway, for the past 30 years or so. He was also a member of the faculty of New York University’s theater department until about two years ago.

• Readers Lutgarda Lambe, Bill Rule and L. Bird reacting to an item on Gary Valenciano the other day as having a concert in “Seattle, Washington DC”: Seattle is in Washington State which is in the west coast; Washington DC  is not Washington State. A lot of people get confused with this. Washington DC is in the east coast. DC stands for District of Columbia. It is where the White House is.  

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