On July 7, Michael Jackson’s family gathered to celebrate him at his much-watched memorial service.

Noticeably absent?

Janet Jackson’s longtime music-exec boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri. (A pal says Dupri skipped the memorial because he “doesn’t attend funerals.”)

And for good reason. “His friends are telling people it’s over,” a source tells the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands now.

Echoes another: “They have been moving in different directions for a while.”

So what drove Jackson, 43, and Dupri, 36, apart after nearly seven years?

“You shouldn’t mix business with pleasure,” a mutual pal explains. (Dupri produced several tracks on her last two CDs.) “Janet felt their lives were too crossed and they should have kept things sepa rate.”

Plus, the polar opposites were never too compatible.

“Jermaine likes to be out there, mingling with everybody, and Janet’s more shy.” (And secretive: She kept her nine-year marriage to Rene Elizondo hidden until their 2000 ­divorce.)

Meanwhile, Jackson is still deeply mourning the death of her big brother.

“She’s devastated,” an insider says. “She’s busy caring for Michael’s kids. Janet’s the family’s backbone.”

See photos of Jackson and his kids through the years.

Jackson’s rep couldn’t be reached.

I’ve been meaning to update you guys on a number of things for a while now, but (as usual) have been procrastinating. So without further ado LOL…

* Blogroll: Let me take this opportunity to apologise to those who have sent me requests to be featured on our blogroll. My mailbox is the epitome of a hot mess, hence it’s really difficult to sift through them all. So, while a dedicated and regularly updated ‘Link Exchange’ post will be posted soon, please submit any link exchange requests in this post in the comments section.

Kelly Rowland has denied that she and former Destiny’s Child bandmates Beyoncé Knowles and Michelle Williams are working on another album.

The ‘Work’ singer encouraged fans to ignore the reports and insisted that the trio, who split in 2005, are concentrating on their solo careers.

Rowland told the New York Post’s PopWrap blog: “There is no Destiny’s Child album in the works. None of us have talked about an album or anything. And until we do, no-one else should worry about it. Simmer down now!”

Rowland’s ex bandmate Williams recently announced that she will be playing the role of Roxie Hart in London’s West End production of Chicago. {Source}

There are doubts about whether Ne-Yo will be able to perform at his three remaining UK shows after he was taken ill and left the stage in tears during a gig in Manchester.

The R&B singer, who was performing at the MEN Arena in Manchester on Thursday, was crying after struggling to sing on stage for over half an hour.

He told fans he had never not completed a show before but couldn’t continue with his performance.

Ne-Yo is meant to be performing in Liverpool tonight ( Friday ) and in Newcastle and London over the weekend.

BBC Manchester presenter Karen Gabay was at the concert and said Ne-Yo looked like he had a “really bad fever”.

She says Ne-Yo started his gig 30 minutes late and announced that he wasn’t feeling well quite early on.

“Even after the second song, for a man who is normally so cool, he was sweating.

“He was doing a Michael Jackson tribute and you could see that he was actually struggling to finish every musical phrase. He kept asking the audience to bear with him.

“Then he actually was crying – I thought it was because he had done a couple of Michael Jackson tributes and he was getting a little bit overcome, but it did seem a bit strange – he was very emotional.

‘Floods of tears’

“Then he did a slow song, he was really struggling to move, he was absolutely pouring with sweat, and he went over to a table. He was actually hanging on for dear life and he looked as if he was about to drop then, he looked so ill.

“My friend also noticed that his songs had been shortened.”

Gabay says Ne-Yo then went off for a “very long break” before he came back on stage in “floods of tears”.

“He absolutely couldn’t hold tears back – the crowd were applauding him and he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

“Then he said he’d never had to do this before – he’d never not been able to finish a show – he said it though tears, it was unbelievable.

“He looked like he had a really bad fever.

“Then he went off stage crying.”

Although most of the crowd cheered, Gabay says some people booed.

“Then they announced the show wasn’t going to be cancelled, it was postponed – so in effect saying he will do the show again.” {Source}

Not content with losing out to Kanye West 2 years ago, rapper 50 Cent has once again laid the gauntlet down to one of his contemporaries – this time in the form of Jay-Z, new reports are claiming. The G-Unit general is set to release his long delayed LP ‘Before I Self Destruct’ on the same day Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, releases his eagerly anticipated ‘Blueprint 3’ record: Peep the report below:

Rapper 50 CENT is preparing to go head-to-head with JAY-Z – he’s reportedly releasing his new album on the same day as the hip-hop heavyweight.

The In Da Club hitmaker has been locked in the studio putting the finishing touches to his fourth studio release, Before I Self Destruct, with his mentors Eminem and Dr. Dre.

But he’s setting his sights on a challenge with the Big Pimpin’ superstar and according to reports, plans to drop his album on 11 September (09) – the day Jay-Z’s long awaited Blueprint 3 is due in stores.

Ironically, 50 released his third album Curtis on the same day in 2007 when he went up against Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella signee Kanye West – and lost.

West’s Graduation outsold Curtis by an estimated 266,000 copies in the U.S. to snag the number one spot, while the Stronger star also came out on top in the U.K. {Source}

I actually feel quite embarrassed for ol’ Curtis. After all it doesn’t take a genius to see whose gonna come up short in this one. For, by and large, folk just aren’t checking for 50 like that anymore, while Jay’s popularity continues to soar – even at this late stage of his career. If there was ever a time to sit down and fall back for the once noteworthy 50, it would be now. SMH…

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LMAO!!!

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