Mr. Entertainment’s jam-packed summer

Usher fans take a seat -- there’s still plenty to see.

The singer’s summer of success is pretty well summed up by his schedule this week, which will see him featured in no fewer than 19 shows on VH1 (there’s “Driven,” tracking his career, and “The Fabulous Life,” detailing his riches, and “Celebrity Breakups,” chronicling his love life) and he can also be seen on both “Last Call With Carson Daly” and the Teen Choice Awards airing Wednesday on Fox.

The 25-year-old is logging road miles this week as his Truth tour of arenas hits Toronto tonight and finishes up the week in New Orleans. The tour arrives here for Staples Center dates Aug. 30 and Sept. 2. Rapper Kanye West, maybe the most-watched newcomer on the pop scene thanks to his “The College Dropout” album, is the opening act.

It’s a big-time summer for the guy who calls himself Mr. Entertainment and was recently labeled by MTV as the artist of the year. (Talk about banking success -- BankFirst has a new “Usher Raymond IV Debit MasterCard,” so you can see the singer’s face staring back at you from your wallet.) His album “Confessions” has sold 5.1 million copies since its release in March and the seemingly autobiographical tracks have made it the most personal bestseller of 2004.

Lyrics about an affair, which led to an unexpected pregnancy, and relationship angst have added a dramatic new chapter to the story of an artist who has grown up in front of his fans. He recently told MTV: “This album had to be a lot more personal than the last....All of us have our Pandora’s boxes or skeletons in our closets. I let a few of them out, you know. And with everything that’s been happening in my life, I’ve got a lot to say. I’ve got a lot of stuff built in me that I just want to let go of.”

The material will be getting more consumer attention and an intriguing new interpretation with a re-release containing new material. The details of the expansion of “Confessions” have come in dribs and drabs, and his record label is reluctant to divulge too much at this point. But Usher and producer Jermaine Dupri have said in interviews the re-release contains four new tracks and will be accompanied by a new video of Alicia Keys and Usher duetting on “My Boo.”

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-- Geoff Boucher