Odds & Ends: Timberlake, Hallyday And Boyle

Puttering Around

Saying it needs some upgrades Justin Timberlake has closed his Mirimichi golf course only six months after its opening.

Timberlake’s plan is to close the Memphis course from Jan. 15 to July 17, during which the greens, bunkers and drainage will be upgraded to “world class” standards.

According to Memphis newspaper The Commerical Appeal, the long-range goal is to transform the course so it’s capable of hosting a major golf tournament, hopefully by 2020.

The paper also said the planned changes are in response to customer surveys, pro golfers, the U.S. Golf Association and similar groups.

“We initially planned to make these improvements over the next three years and stay open,” Timberlake said. “But I felt the Memphis community deserves the best now and shouldn’t have to wait through three years of gradual improvements. So I challenged the team to make all the changes by our first anniversary.”

Click here to read the complete Memphis Appeal article.

Hallyday Tour Canceled

It should come as no surprise to Johnny Hallyday fans that the French rocker has canceled his tour.

Hallyday, considered to be France’s biggest rock star, was hospitalized in Los Angeles last week following complications from back surgery performed last month on a herniated disc. The singer went back into surgery last week as doctors attempted to repair damage caused by lesions brought about by the November surgery.

Doctors then put the 66-year-old singer in a medically induced coma until yesterday when he was awakened. According to Hallyday’s producers, doctors are now describing Hallyday as “temporarily indisposed.”

Click here for the Johnny Hallyday Web site.

Boyle Stars On YouTube

Who’s number one among YouTube viewers in 2009? That would be Susan Boyle, the “Britain’s Got Talent” contestant who captured the world’s attention with her phenomenal voice.

In its first Top Five listing presented for any year, YouTube says Boyle’s reality show moment receiving more than 120 million views worldwide.

And second place? A little video titled “David After Dentist” starring a 7-year-old boy musing about whether he’d ever feel normal again after undergoing a session in the dentist’s chair.

And remember Sony expressing its displeasure about “JK Wedding Entrance Dance,” a video depicting a bride and groom along with their wedding party performing a routine set to Chris Brown’s “Forever”? That was No. 3 on YouTube during 2009. Sony eventually learned to love the gag when a link was placed leading viewers to where they could buy the song. Sony also received some bucks resulting from advertising linked to the vid.

Embedding is disabled, so click here to see YouTube’s No. 1 video for 2009.

For more on YouTube’s top ten, click here for the Associated Press report.