Odds & Ends: Justin Bieber, Nobel Peace Prize Concert, Lady Gaga & Billy Joel

Nine-time Grammy winner Mary J. Blige, British singer/songwriter James Blunt, Sweden’s Zara Larsson and Norwegian hip hop duo Envy will gather in Norway Dec. 11 to make the world a better place by performing at the 20^th annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert at the Oslo Spektrum Arena ANS.

Hosted by “Homeland” actress Claire Danes, the concert will honor the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Tickets are now on sale.  Click here for more information.

Lady Gaga wants to be the first music artist to sing in space.  No, she won’t be training with U.S. astronauts or paying the Russians big bucks to ride their spacecraft into orbit.  Instead, she’ll zoom into the final frontier onboard Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic craft in 2015.

Gaga’s space trek will take place during the Zero G Colony tech festival in New Mexico, according to an exclusive from US Magazine.  Citing an undisclosed source, US says Gaga will have to endure a month of vocal training because of the canned atmosphere in the space vehicle.  The source also said the singer’s “glam squad” will join her in the Virgin shuttle.  And, yes, it’s a round-trip ticket.

In an alternate universe six-time Grammy winner Billy Joel has already announced his 2014 tour and fans are now planning their travels to catch as many shows by the Piano Man as possible.

But in this universe news of Joel’s travels is still dribbling out one date at a time.  Yesterday the folks at Florida’s Tampa Bay Times Forum announced their night of Joel-ecstasy scheduled for Jan. 17.

Today another Florida town stepped up to say they have a date with Billy – Jan. 22 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

“It’s going to be an unforgettable night with the legendary Billy Joel,” SMG Jacksonville GM Billy McConnell said.  “We are ready to have Jacksonville back in a New York state of mind and we are thrilled Billy Joel and Live Nation have chosen to bring this show to the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.”

Who knows?  Maybe the general manager of your local sports arena will be the next venue exec to announce Joel’s 2014 arrival.  Meanwhile, tickets for the Jacksonville show go on sale Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. EST.

The latest bit of evidence that Justin Bieber is acting like any 19-year-old guy who has the world at his feet is a video of him sleeping in a bed.  That’s right, Bieber at rest with no graffiti-plastered wall nearby or a bed sheet draped over his head.

The video from Brazil that surfaced online is only seconds long and doesn’t reveal anything scandalous.  During the last couple seconds of the vid the camera pans to show a young lady in the room.

The video is only the latest chapter in Bieber’s journey through South America.  The singer was seen sneaking out of a brothel in Rio de Janeiro Friday while covered with a bed sheet.  On Saturday he ended his show early after getting beaned by a bottle thrown at him by an audience member.  During the last 24 hours Brazilian media has been going crazy showing photos of Bieber spray painting graffiti on a wall of the former Hotel Nacional in Rio.  Defacing buildings is a crime in Brazil punishable by a year in prison. 

However, Bieber is reported to have flown to Paraguay by Wednesday afternoon, leaving the good people of Brazil very little chance of obtaining justice.