As the hit High School Musical Concert Tour rolls on, packing in stadiums across the United States, Disney are preparing to roll out their next big made-for-tv movie.

Starring HSM's Corbin Bleu (as Izzy) and Keke Palmer (Mary), Jump In! is a movie about jumping rope. Izzy is into boxing, just like his Dad. But he's keen on the girl next door (Mary) who spends her life jumping rope... so he ends up joining her Double Dutch jump team when another member defects.

Bleu will be well known to "tween" audiences as Chad from High School Musical, and as Nathan from the Discovery Kids Channel series Flight 29 Down (about 7 teens whose plane crash-lands on a deserted island...'Lost' much? ;-) His co-star Keke Palmer was the star of this year's Spelling Bee movie, Akeelah and the Bee.

Jump In! premieres January 12th on the Disney Channel in the US (while Bleu's still on tour). Disney are hoping for another hit, after their success with HSM, and Cheetah Girls 1 & 2.

Fans can preview songs and videos from the movie's soundtrack (featuring Bleu and Palmer) for a limited time at Disney Channel's Jump In! website, before the soundtrack is released on CD and iTunes on January the 9th. There's also plenty of photos, games, and other downloads to keep teen surfers busy.

For Corbin Bleu, his life doesn't look like slowing down anytime soon. As soon as the High School Musical Concert Tour finishes up late January, he'll head back to Hawaii to film the two-hour finale of his tv show.

Bleu will then join the rest of his HSM mates in Utah to shoot High School Musical 2: Sing It All Or Nothing!, and has his first solo album coming out in April (featuring the single Push It to the Limit, from the Jump In! soundtrack).

Wishing everybody out there on the interweb a very Merry Chrismukkah!

Have yourself a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a Exciting, challenging, and very prosperous New Year in 2007!

Dave Gee

The Fat Cowboy scored a Top Ten entry first week in the UK charts with his debut single Do Dat Diddly Ding Dang, but a chart controversy has seen those sales wiped from the records.

Its understood the initial release of the UK singles charts for the week ending December 3rd 2006 placed The Fat Cowboy's novelty song as a new entry at #7. However, the single was then suddenly deleted by the chart company just one hour before radio announced the weekly charts, making Do Dat Diddly Ding Dang ineligible for a placing.


Chart commentators apparently received the new UK chart as per normal around 1pm on Sunday afternoon (with the usual 7pm embargo). However, an amended version of the singles chart was rushed out shortly before 6pm, with some other new entries promoted to better positions (apparently the first time in over a decade an amended chart has been issued).

The physical CD single release of Do Dat Diddly Ding Dang was limited to internet retailers like Amazon UK and a small number of stores, mainly Asda supermarkets which Max C visited during a promotional tour this week. The digital download was available from 7Digital and Wippit, but wasn't added to itunes.co.uk until very late in the week (and is now on itunes.com as well).

Max C / The Fat Cowboy is now trying to get to the bottom of all this. The major record companies are obviously worried about this new digital era, and keen to keep smaller players out for as long as possible. The single was released through small independent record label Better the Devil (Mike Stock/Bob Patmore).

The chart company claim to have identified cases where people bought multiple copies of the single (some as gifts), and are classing that as chart-rigging. Its also possible that a number of pre-orders made through the 7Digital site over the last month were somehow delayed until after the charts closed for the week.


The Fat Cowboy's single Do Dat Diddly Ding Dang was even listed as a long-shot candidate for the UK's prestigious Christmas Number One. The dance-country track was originally written by Max C for Swedish group Rednex, who recently made a comeback through the magic of Eurovision.

Singer/songwriter Drew Seeley is proving a smash hit with US teens on Disney's $8.5 million High School Musical stage spectacular concert tour.

The 41-city tour (a New Year's Eve gig in Uniondale NY has just been added) features some of the top stars of Disney's smash hit High School Musical TV movie. The only new face is Drew Seeley - filling in for Zac Efron (Troy Bolton) - who's currently shooting the new movie version of the musical Hairspray.

Seeley might look unfamiliar to audiences, but his voice sounds suspiciously familiar. That's because he actually sung most of Troy Bolton's songs on the movie's soundtrack, with actor Zac Efron just blending his vocal chords to the start and end of most numbers.

Drew Seeley is an Emmy Award-nominated singer/songwriter, and co-wrote one of the soundtrack's hits, Get'cha Head in the Game. He also performs on the soundtrack to another Disney TV movie-musical, Cheetah Girls 2, including the song Dance With Me. Seeley is expected to release a self-titled debut album early in the new year.

The 90 minute concert features snappy choreography, glitzy costumes, and big screens for those close up shots. Around 90 crew are involved in the arena tour, which requires 9 trucks and 10 buses.

The show doesn't try to follow the plot-line of the High School Musical movie, instead allowing the six stars to perform as singers, rather than as Disney characters. Three of the cast members get to do their own solo sets - Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, and Corbin Bleu - all have debut solo albums in stores or on the way.

Along with the new 2-disc "Remix Edition" of the Disney Channel TV movie, there are plenty of other High School Musical products due instore for Christmas.

The first sequel should hit US TV screens next August, with a possible Broadway production on the way, thousands of real high school productions of the stage musical, along with spin-off shows in Disney's theme parks.

The pop smash hit single of Christmas 2006 has just been released in the UK!...


The Fat Cowboy's ultra-catchy debut single Do Dat Diddly Ding Dang is now available to buy through digital download, and also available to order as a physical CD single.

Fans in the UK may get the chance to meet the Fat Cowboy in person, and buy a signed CD single during his whirlwind tour of 60 ASDA stores over the next week (Check local stores for details).


Better the Devil records are releasing Do Dat Diddly Ding Dang (which gives a friendly nod to the popular Swedish group, the Rednex), and the company are aiming to put some fun back into the charts this Christmas.

Backing Max C - aka The Fat Cowboy - in his bid for a festive smash hit is the mega-talent of hit producer and songwriter Mike Stock (Stock/Aitken/Waterman), and manager Steven Foster along with Bob Patmore.

* Order the CD single of Do Dat Diddly Ding Dang now through Amazon UK...

* Watch the video of Do Dat Diddly Ding Dang, and find out how to order The Fat Cowboy's new single with your mobile phone (UK only)...