Jennifer Lopez put her recent drama aside as host & musical guest on last night's Saturday Night Live. She performed two never-before-heard songs lifted from her upcoming album Love?, which will still be hitting stores this summer, likely on Island Def Jam. Man, it's rough when you premiere songs live. I think "Pieces" has potential. It's also likely that "Starting Over" will be more uptempo, as it is produced by Danja. Overall, I'd say J.Lo did a good job. For the heck of it, I've included the promos Jennifer shot for her episode below:
David Archuleta will be releasing a book entitled "Chords Of Strength: A Memoir Of Soul, Song, & The Power Of Perseverance" on May 4th. You can check out the cover above. Yes, I know it seems a little silly for someone whose age still ends in 'teen' to be releasing a memoir, but... you know you want it! But really, if you do, I would really appreciate it if you bought it via the Amazon link on the widget to your right. You would be supporting the blog & I would love you the best! :)
"Each Tear," featuring Tiziano Ferro, is Mary J. Blige's new single from the upcoming UK release of her latest album Stronger With Each Tear. Thankfully though, we aren't missing out on anything because as much as the video sucks, the song is worse. Why'd they go & murder an innocent song like that?!
In related news, Mary won 2 trophies at Friday night's 2010 NAACP Image Awards. She nabbed the awards for Outstanding Female Artist & Outstanding Album (Stronger With Each Tear). Other winners include Keri Hilson for Outstanding New Artist, The Black-Eyed Peas for Outstanding Duo, Group, Or Collaboration, & Whitney Houston for Outstanding Music Video ("I Look To You"). In addition, the movie "Precious," which features Mariah Carey, won Outstanding Motion Picture & Outstanding Independent Motion Picture, while cast & crew of the film picked up four more awards!
Alicia Keys wants you to know that she's put in work to make her latest tour in support of The Element Of Freedom a spectacle. I couldn't care less personally, but enjoy!
Rihanna performed her new single "Rude Boy" on GMTV as well on her very own UK promo tour. It's from her fourth album Rated R, which, despite being critically acclaimed & certified platinum already, is rumored to have underperformed in the eyes of her label. What, did you really expect her to start every album off with a massive #1 hit like "Umbrella?" (I mean, you put out "Russian Roulette"..?) Seriously, just cause the singles ONLY go top 10 doesn't mean she's failed. Geez, it's like if an artist actually shows the slightest amount of creativity, you don't know what to do! Ugh.
Leona Lewis continued her current UK promo tour with a stop at The Alan Titchmarsh Show, where she performed "I Got You" again & sat down for a run-of-the-mill interview. I've never heard of this Alan fellow, but he's a bit dorky. ;) Leona's sophomore album Echo is out now.
Rihanna performed her new single "Rude Boy," which was #4 on iTunes last I checked, lifted from Rated R in the UK recently on Alan Carr: Chatty Man. Ah, RiRi, gettin' that choreography in @ mark 0:43, I see! (lol) Nah... I really am digging her this era.
Earlier this week, Leona Lewis stopped by GMTV to give a performance of her latest single off Echo & sit down for a quick interview. I realize that this wonderful song is going nowhere fast, but "I Got You" is truly deserving of success. It's embarassing, actually, that this is going unnoticed when you look at the top 10 on the Hot 100. However, for the few of us that can appreciate good music, listen to Leona's "I Got You" b-side "Heartbeat" below. I don't know who produced it, but it sounds like what she & Ryan Tedder should've come up with this time around (rather than "Happy"):
The live shows of season nine are finally upon us... but they sucked, so you're getting Kris Allen's cover of The Beatles' "Let It Be" from tonight's results show. His rendition, which was about 100x better than anything any one of this year's contestants had to offer this week, is supposed to be available for purchase to benefit Haiti, but it has yet to show up on iTunes, so I'll update this post with a link when/if it does.
As for the contestants, let's start with the girls. The only ones I'm interested in at all are Paige Miles & Michelle Delamor, the latter of which actually had the week's best performance, even though it was only mediocre. I would've said Ashley Rodriguez & Janell Wheeler have potential (Janell being the one that actually impressed me once with her rendition of "American Boy" in Hollywood)--& they were in the better half of the group of girls--but.. ya. I think Crystal Bowersox, Lilly Scott, Haeley Vaughn, & Siobhan Magnus are jokes; I just don't care for Katelyn Epperly; Lacey Brown doesn't know who she is (nor is she really talented); Didi Benami wasn't awful in Hollywood, but she's already gotten old; & Katie Stevens wouldn't make a sound if you plugged her nose.
Now, my favorite guy (& possibly contestant, should he do what he's capable of) is Todrick Hall & I don't think he got enough credit for his performance this week, but it still wasn't a very good vocal showcase. I also think Jermaine Sellers is talented, but he hasn't a clue how to use his voice & he may not have enough time to learn. As for Andrew Garcia, I'm on the fence because I like his voice, but his acoustic versions of every song ever are gonna get really old, really fast if he doesn't come harder. That's it though... Aaron Kelly & Casey James are just not for me, Tim Urban's not even worth my energy (although he seems like a nice person), Lee Dewyze & John Park are awful, Michael Lynche is frustratingly bad (Maroon 5? Really?!), & Alex Lambert leaves me at a loss for words. I'm glad Tyler Grady is gone & although Joe Munoz wasn't the worst of the bunch (+ I feel sorry for him since he only left because of his lack of screen time), he wasn't anything special.
Since I haven't done one of these in a while, I feel kinda bad about being so negative towards all these people, but I'm only being honest & American Idol holds a special place in my heart, so to see such a lousy crop of contestants is discouraging, to say the least. I know many people say that the contestants will grow & get better over time, & I'm sure they probably will, but looking back on the last couple of seasons, no first semifinal round was this pathetic.
To round things out, I'm going to be leaving you with the latest episode of The BabyV Show every week. Starring the fourth season of Idol's third-place finisher (& best contestant ever) Vonzell Solomon, The BabyV Show provides some insight into each corresponding week of Idol as well as *drumroll* Boonquisha! Take a look:
UPDATE: You can buy Kris Allen's live version of "Let It Be" to benefit Haiti now HERE.
Katharine McPhee performed the song "Terrified" off her new album Unbroken on The Bonnie Hunt Show & I'm glad they talked about Didi Benami singing "Terrified," which has been sitting pretty in the top 200 songs on iTunes ever since, during Hollywood week on American Idol because it's been a great boost for Kat! I think it's great that they're pushing the gorgeous song now.
Elliott Yamin sang "Rock Around The Clock" at the Competencia Internacional in Chile recently. I'm not really sure why, but you can't say he didn't sound great! He timed this well, as it makes me think of a semifinal Idol performance--& a better one than any offered this week by far! I feel the need to remind you that Elliott's terribly underrated sophomore album Fight For Love is out now.
UPDATE: So, you know how there was that big earthquake last night in Chile? Well, Elliott was still there! He was live-tweeting (@elliottyamin) the whole time & I was actually up, so I caught his tweets & got really worried for him, but thankfully, he's alright. Here he is talking to the Today show this morning on the phone about the incident:
Sade's Soldier Of Love repeats atop the Billboard 200 album chart this week. Meanwhile, The Black-Eyed Peas return to the top of the Hot 100 singles chart with "Imma Be." Also happening on the busy singles chart this week is a 64-23 jump for Rihanna's "Rude Boy," which was named both the Airplay & Digital Gainer following sales of 65,000 downloads. Debuting are Usher @ #71 with "There Goes My Baby" & Mariah Carey & Nicki Minaj's "Up Out My Face" @ #100!
This Friday, the sure-to-be-stylish, as can be seen in this making-of footage, video for Estelle's Kardinal Offishall-assisted first single "Freak" off her upcoming album All Of Me is set to premiere. Estelle's back! This looks like it'll be a killer video & I'm liking the sound of the song, even if it's that bloody dance stuff again. (Kardinal could've had a better attitude!)
UPDATE: Turns out, the video didn't premiere today, but the song did, so you can listen to the David Guetta production below. It's OK... I'll probably like it more with the video:
Rihanna performed her Rated R singles & some previous hits during her AOL Sessions recently. I was all ready to get onto her for doing "Take A Bow" instead of "Fire Bomb" or "The Last Song," but she switched it up with some guitar to make it bearable! I like what she did with "Disturbia" as well for a change & the rest of the set was good too. Also, the Q&A makes me happy.
If you thought Britney Spears would actually get a break following Circus mania, you'd be mistaken. The popstar has her sights set on a June release for her seventh studio album & as you can imagine, she has a who's who of collaborators on the project that includes Max Martin, Darkchild, Danja, David Guetta, Sean Garrett, K. Briscoe of The Outsyders ("Womanizer"), & Corte Ellis of Soul Diggaz ("Get Naked" & "Get Back"). Whoo hoo! Despite David Guetta's name being mentioned & the hint of similarity to her last album (although it was pretty good), you've got suggestions galore of an urban-leaning direction in the vein of Blackout in addition to my favorite producer (Darkchild) & THE man himself (Max Martin)! I would say that gives us plenty to look forward to & if you ask me, you don't have to feel guilty about it either. Sure, Britney may be stuck playing her dad's pawn, but the path he has her on is no doubt a better one than she would put herself on, not to mention that I personally believe going into the recording studio is a release for her (see: Blackout!).
UPDATE: Well, MTV lied. No Britney album this June. Now, I wouldn't necessarily say that they were off base with the producer list, as I've heard some of those names from other sources before, but we'll just have to wait longer to hear what they've come up with.
"Everything To Me" is the first single off Monica's forthcoming album Still Standing (March 23rd). This Benny Boom-directed video features wardrobe by the late Alexander McQueen, to whom the clip is dedicated. Mo gets all up in a chick's face whose trying to get at her family & she ain't havin' it! I love it & Monica looks fantastic. One month to go!
It seems like it's been a million years since Teyana Taylor dropped her first single "Google Me" in support of her upcoming debut album From A Planet Called Harlem. This intriguing protege of Pharrell is finally set to return with the Ludacris-assisted single "Smooches," which was produced by Bangladesh, in hopes of getting her debut off the ground. Should she find success, Teyana has also been working with Polow Da Don on her album. If you can't tell, I'm quite the fan of femcees (especially Nicki Minaj, who needs to get her debut album rolling already!) & Teyana seems to have something unique--thanks, in part, to Mr. Williams, I've no doubt--that I look forward to experiencing.
At a recent concert in London, Imogen Heap asked the audience to give her a key, tempo, & time signature for an improvised song. The result was titled "The Shepherdess" (cover art to the left) & is available for listening/to download HERE. Your purchase of "The Shepherdess" will benefit the Great Ormond Street Hospital...
Why? Because it's a local London charity & because when I was one, they diagnosed me with Osteomyelitis. A brilliant surgeon then operated swiftly & saved my little leg.
Imogen hopes to make this a regular thing, with the audiences at her shows giving her what to run with & the outcome becoming available to download in support of a local charity. "The Shepherdess" features Imogen's signature vocal & electronic adlibs, & I think it turned out incredibly well. What a great idea! Meanwhile, Immi's phenomenal new album Ellipse is out now.
"Coldest Winter" is the seventh track to be lifted from Kanye West's rather brilliant fourth album 808s & Heartbreak (eighth if you count "See You In My Nightmares"--see: "We Were Once A Fairytale"). It's been a minute since Kanye released a video from this album, not that anyone was really expecting him to drop any more from the 2008 set, but I'm glad he did. While Kanye doesn't actually appear in this video, the Harry Potter-esque clip is a cool visualization of the outstanding song. I don't know for sure what Kanye is planning for his next album, but I think it'll be more along the lines of rap again, which saddens me because more of this style would be just wonderful! I would say that maybe he should leave it alone anyway because he might mess it up, but it's Kanye, for crying out loud!
On the heels of the complete & utter flop of her latest single "Louboutins," Jennifer Lopez has parted ways with her record label Epic Records, putting the release of her new album Love? in jeopardy. The split was supposedly amicable (you betcha!) & J.Lo is said to be in talks for a new deal with Island Def Jam as we speak. I don't really buy the rumor that the release of "Louboutins" & "Fresh Out The Oven" completed her contract because it came from the same person who said that Love? is nowhere near done &, between the leaks, what's been announced, & the like, I count 14 songs from this era--plenty for an album... not that any of that really matters. It may not matter either, but I find it funny that "Fresh Out The Oven" is being labeled a flop when it hit the top of the dance charts without even being digitally released! Regardless, judging by what we've heard, I was questioning my own love for Jennifer's upcoming album anyway... not that it didn't have potential, nor would I not want it to come out. Either way, it's possible that we'll get a J.Lo greatest hits package from Epic in the fall + her song "What Is Love" is being used in "The Back-Up Plan," which opens April 23rd, so that's something!
UPDATE: In a new statement to set the record straight, Jennifer Lopez assures fans that her new album Love? will indeed come out this summer:
"I am making this statement to put an end to any confusion in regards to my next album titled Love. I have belonged to the Sony family since the beginning of my career as a singer & together we've had great success. I have fulfilled my contractual responsibilities with Sony/Epic up to this point & we have both reached friendly terms about my departure from the label. I'm also happy to say that we've found a new home for my album Love & that it is slated for release in the summer of 2010."
The soundtrack to Monica's BET reality show, I mean, Monica's upcoming fifth studio album Still Standing drops March 23rd. Confused? Check out the album's tracklisting below:
1. Still Standing (ft. Ludacris) 2. Stay Or Go 3. Everything To Me 4. One In A Lifetime 5. Mirror 6. If You Were My Man 7. Here I Am 8. Love All Over Me 9. Superman 10. Believing In Me
I see she didn't get that psychotic 10-song cap lifted... so, tracks 1, 2 (just a snippet), 3 (the single), 4, & 6 ("Betcha") have leaked & we've heard the rest of the album on her show besides "Mirror" & "Believing In Me." Hey, if you guys were just gonna use songs that were featured on the show, why not include "Infinity" (& even "Let Me Know," which was mentioned, untagged)? Needless to say, I was just hoping for a little more material we don't already know, but we haven't heard the final versions of some of these songs (not to mention that what we have heard sounded great!), so that's something to look forward to. At the end of the day, 2010 has been a big, fat R&B drought thus far, so a solid release from Monica is very welcome.
A few days ago, the nominations for the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards were announced & The Black-Eyed Peas scored themselves a pair. Other nominees include Beyonce (Favorite Female Singer), American Idol (Favorite Reality Show), & Mario & Sean Kingston--in the same category (Favorite Male Singer)! The rest of the nominees can be found HERE, where voting begins February 25th. The 2010 Kids' Choice Awards air live on Saturday, March 27th, @ 8/7c on Nickelodeon.
"100%" is Mariah Carey's song for the Olympics that is featured on the AT&T Team USA soundtrack. The video is a mix of live footage recorded at the Toronto stop of her "Angels Advocate" tour & footage of Olympians. I like the video & I absolutely adore the song! I've also been enjoying the Olympics, which I'd never really watched this much of before. Anyway, if you'd like to buy "100%" & support Team USA, click HERE. Also, Mariah's remix album Angels Advocate arrives in Target stores on March 30th.
Mary J. Blige performed the song "Each Tear" off her similarly-titled new album Stronger With Each Tear at the same music festival in Sanremo, Italy that Jennifer Lopez stopped by. Mary was a little off, but still did a nice job.
"Teenage Wildlife" is the first single off Backstreet Boys AJ McLean's upcoming solo debut Have It All. Now, I like the song &, uh, that he went for something different with the Wade Robson-directed clip... but this is weird. I do like the dance break though!
Jenny From The Block/Waiting For Tonight/Love Don't Cost A Thing/Get Right/Let's Get Loud
Jennifer Lopez recently took the stage at the 60th Sanremo Song Festival in Italy, where she performed her new song "What Is Love" for the first time as well as a medley of her hits. I really like the new, Wynter Gordon-penned track (on which I can totally hear her ... I wish the demo would leak!), the performance of which was lipped, so you can hear what it actually sounds like. That's keeping me optimistic about J.Lo's forthcoming album Love?, which drops in April. In related news, Jennifer will be pulling double duty as host & musical guest on the February 27th (that's next weekend!) episode of Saturday Night Live. Be sure to tune in!
"Come Together Now" is the Michael W. Smith-led Haiti charity single featuring American Idol alumni Melinda Doolittle & Mandisa, among many others. It doesn't appear that Mandisa was given any solo parts, which is a shame, but Melinda was featured nicely & did a fine job. If you would like to support Haiti relief by purchasing this cool track, click HERE.
Sade's lovely Soldier Of Love tops this week's Billboard 200 album chart. On the contrary, "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha holds off "We Are The World 25 For Haiti," which debuts @ #2 after selling 267,000 digital copies in just over two days, from topping the Hot 100 singles chart this week. Other debuts on the chart though include Rihanna @ #64 with "Rude Boy" & Monica's "Everything To Me" @ #82.
On May 4th, Melinda Doolittle will release an inspirational, memoir-like book called "Beyond Me: Finding Your Way To Life's Next Level." In it, Melinda will let readers in on the keys to her success, which might just have a little something to do with that infectious optimism of hers. As it turns out, the winner of Melinda's Idol season & her good friend, Jordin Sparks, will provide the book's foreward. Cool!
Avril Lavigne has released the video for "Alice," her contribution to the film "Alice In Wonderland," which opens on March 5th. At least it's an improvement over most videos from soundtracks, though I think I've finally decided that I can't handle the song.
The final poster for Janet Jackson's new movie "Why Did I Get Married Too?" has surfaced. Tyler Perry always comes through with his poster art! "Why Did I Get Married Too?" opens April 2nd.
Mary J. Blige was guest on the Late Show with David Letterman recently, where she performed "I Am" off Stronger With Each Tear & sat down for a quick interview, but this was no ordinary visit. MJB also performed an online mini-concert after the show, which is featured below. For the first half, Mary took it back to the '90s before getting into (& I mean INTO) some of her newer material. Truth be told, her vocals suffered from getting sooo into the performance, but you gotta respect her for putting on quite a show. I would like to see her perform more new songs though... & that doesn't count "I Am" (which she performed TWICE here, you'll notice). I'm really starting to loathe that song. Anyway, as you can see, I've included the setlist for the concert as well:
Love Is All We Need I'm The Only Woman Be Happy You Bring Me Joy Real Love Love No Limit Mary Jane (All Night Long) I Am Good Love Just Fine Family Affair
Britney Spears has signed on to be a spokeswoman for Candie's once again & is being featured in a new campaign entitled "Through The Lens," which features photos of Brit by different photographers. My personal favorite is the one directly below:
Alicia Keys joined Jay-Z on stage at the 2010 BRIT Awards to perform *shocker* their hit single "Empire State Of Mind" in what has become a boring & redundant showing. Lucking out on the actual awards side of things was Lily Allen, who walked away with the Best British Female trophy. See all the winners HERE.
It has now been confirmed that Mariah Carey's upcoming Memoirs remix album Angels Advocate will be a Target exclusive when it arrives on March 30th. As is per usual anymore, Angels Advocate will be available digitally via iTunes. In addition, what most likely rounds out the list of collaborators has been revealed. They are Akon, The-Dream, & Ludacris, with the latter two likely being on the same song. I would also like to point out that since her name was announced, it was confirmed that Mary J. Blige will be included on the remix of "It's A Wrap!" Ever since Mariah released those smokin' new videos, I've been totally amped for Angels Advocate!! Speaking of which, click HERE to receive your FREE copy of the "Up Out My Face" remix video with Nicki Minaj, as it's the Music Video Of The Week on iTunes!
Here's a clip of Estelle on the set of her new video with Robin Thicke for "Rollacoasta," the next single off his latest album Sex Therapy. The video doesn't exactly look innovative--& I'm personally more interested in Estelle's own new video, which she recently shot (Twitter, people.. Twitter!)--but I didn't realize they had collaborated together, so this should be interesting.
"Imma Be Rocking That Body" is The Black-Eyed Peas' epic dual video release for their songs "Imma Be" & "Rock That Body" off The E.N.D. This Rich Lee-directed mini-movie is phenomenal! "Transformers" meets "District 9" ... yes!! I'm really glad that all that "I Gotta Feeling" dough contributed to something good, especially for two of my favorite cuts from the album (finally!).
"The One"/"I Am"/"Family Affair"/"Be Without You"/"Just Fine"
Interview
Mary J. Blige performed the singles that have been lifted so far from her new album Stronger With Each Tear before jumping into her back catalog of hits for her Walmart Soundcheck set. While I would've liked for her to perform more new material, MJB was on fire doing her classics, especially with those adlibs!
In a pre-taped segment from when she recently stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Rihanna performed "Rude Boy," the latest single off her album Rated R, for what I believe is the first time we've seen her do so in its entirety. Call me crazy, but I think this may actually be a good song for her live! Good on her.
Usher took to the stage to perform "More," a portion of new song "Want Her Body" (no YouTube link, but it has leaked), & "Yeah!" ... then a little bit 'more' at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. He gave an energetic & entertaining performance, though I'm not sure what his mouth was doing (you'll know what I mean). Later, Alicia Keys sang "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart," "Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" NBA-style, & "No One" at halftime. Despite being a little hoarse, she was pretty much typical Alicia.
As I suspected, Craig David's cover art for his forthcoming UK album Signed Sealed Delivered (March 22nd) has undergone a makeover, if only a slight one. Now, you can see Craig's face... which should look familiar because I posted that very picture not too long ago. Hey, it's an improvement! In related news, an album sampler featuring 1-minute clips of six songs off the release has surfaced. American Idol has pretty well ruined the majority of these for me, but at least Craig sounds awesome as usual! Check out the tracks included & listen below:
Nivea & Rasheeda have remixed Timbaland & Drake's "Say Something" for the latter lady's upcoming mixtape Boss B**** Music. Nivea must be taking this return-to-music thing seriously... & she looks pretty good too! Very nice.
Katharine McPhee sang my favorite track off her new album Unbroken, "Say Goodbye," & sat down for an interview on The View recently. Gorgeous performance, Kat! And seriously, View ladies, her hair's been blonde for like a year.
Craig David is gearing up for the release of his fifth studio album Signed Sealed Delivered (March 22nd) in the UK & has a new set of promotional photos to go along with it. It really does suck that one of the best male R&B singers out there has basically abandoned the US market, but hey, as soon as you release an album that isn't full of Motown covers, hit us up again, Craig!
The lovely & talented Vonzell Solomon took the time to wish us all Happy Valentine's Day yesterday! (I know I'm late, but at least she wasn't...) Don't miss The BabyV Show every Tuesday @ 10/9c right HERE.
Teedra Moses has released a special mixtape, her fourth, entitled Royal Patience Compilation ... A Love Journey just in time for Valentine's Day. If you don't know who Teedra Moses is, you should. I only discovered her recently myself, but that's not to say she isn't great. I would probably describe her voice as reminiscent of Aaliyah with some Brandy-style harmonies to boot. (I also have my theories that she's what Amerie wishes she sounded like, but that's a different story.) Anyway, to download the FREE mixtape courtesy of Teedra herself, click HERE (password: rasntaj). You can view the tracklisting below:
Since releasing her last album, Nivea became The-Dream's ex & Lil' Wayne's baby mama, but thankfully she's turned her sights back to music. Nivea released a new single called "Love Hurts" on Valentine's Day for everybody who isn't so into the holiday. For someone who, these days, is the very definition of an independent artist, I was pleasantly surprised, so if you are too & you want "Love Hurts," click HERE.
Angels & Airwaves is the only band I like & there's a very good reason for that: They're incredible! I honestly believe that no matter what genre you're into, you can appreciate the music of Angels & Airwaves. In an unprecedented move, the band is offering a FREE, no-strings-attached, & legal(!) download of their entire third album Love. What I would suggest is that there's no harm in trying it & I know you'll love it! Simply click the link below:
Melanie Fiona (or a couple of her) would like to offer you this Valentine's Day greeting in the form of a special video for her song "You Stop My Heart" off The Bridge. I'm thinking this is probably just a portion of a full video that'll serve as her next single, but nevertheless, enjoy what we have! I did. :)
As a part of the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities in her hometown of Dallas, Dondria performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge game. She did a fantastic job! Obviously, this is one to look out for!! You can do just that by downloading her awesome single "You're The One" now!
Like Keri Hilson before her, Melanie Fiona recently sat down with Billboard to discuss her success as a chart-topping, Grammy-nominated new artist. While there, she also performed a stirring acoustic rendition of her hit single "It Kills Me" lifted from her debut album The Bridge. All that success is certainly well-deserved, Mel!
As you may have heard, Quincy Jones & Lionel Richie gathered 81 acts on February 1st to remake "We Are The World" for Haiti in the same studio where the original was recorded 25 years ago. With the help of producers Wyclef Jean, Rickey Minor, & RedOne, artists such as Janet Jackson, Jennifer Hudson, Nicole Scherzinger, India.Arie, Melanie Fiona, Mya, Keri Hilson, Brandy, Pink, Jordin Sparks, Celine Dion, Katharine McPhee, Usher, Kanye West, Fergie, Mary J. Blige, & Toni Braxton took part in this piece of history. It even features Michael Jackson! The final result can be viewed above & I think it came out pretty well. Could've given some solos to Brandy & Jordin Sparks instead of Justin Bieber & She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but you can't always win. Just gotta remember it's all for a good cause! Speaking of which, you can download "We Are The World 25 For Haiti" HERE from iTunes, proceeds from which will benefit Haiti.
"I Got You" is the second single off Leona Lewis' sophomore album Echo. Have no fear: It's nothing like "Happy!" Now, I must admit, I don't love the video, but the visual is perfect for the song & really helps it shine. This song is IT, folks! You know you wanna download it HERE ... unless of course you'd rather do the smarter thing & pick up the whole album!
Adam Lambert performed an incredible set of For Your Entertainment tracks for AOL Sessions recently. It's the first time we've seen him perform "Soaked" & "Fever," so they're awesome in particular. Not to take away from what he did do, but when are we gonna get performances of my jams "Aftermath" & "Broken Open?" Unfortunately, the Q&A is just regurgitation. They did mention touring though (for which Adam had no info) & I would LOVE to see an Adam show!
Brandy did a phone interview on her birthday yesterday (Happy 31st, Bran!) with the lucky dawgs over at TrueExclusives. She revealed that she has worked with Timbaland & will.i.am so far on her sixth studio album, & plans on hooking up with Akon for it soon. Brandy also discussed being a part of the new "We Are The World," her upcoming reality show, & her rumored relationship with Flo Rida. It's always great to hear from Brandy! (Spotted @ WeLoveBrandyNorwood)
Celine Dion is set to reside in Las Vegas for another three years beginning on March 15, 2011. She will be returning to the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace that was build for her five-year "A New Day..." show, which ran through 2007. Celine, who's coming off her "Taking Chances" world tour, plans to have a full orchestra-accompanied show inspired by the romance of classic Hollywood movies. I wish I could've seen her original show live, but for anyone else who has the DVD, you know her new one is gonna be quite a spectacle! Speaking of which, Celine's documentary "Celine Through The Eyes Of The World" based on her recent world tour will be playing in theaters nationwide throughout the latter half of February... but, of course(!), not in my area, so if you go, enjoy it for the both of us!
A third trailer for Disney/Pixar's next film "Toy Story 3" has premiered! This one tells more of the movie's story & features a lot of footage of the many new characters. June 18th can't come soon enough!
Jennifer Hudson performed two songs last night on the PBS special "In Performance At The White House: A Celebration Of Music From The Civil Rights Movement." Not only did she further prove that she is one of the best singers of our generation, Jennifer also sounded great with Smokey (who's been everywhere lately)!
Lady Antebellum repeats atop the Billboard 200 album chart with Need You Now, while numerous artists see a Grammy bump in sales:
The Black-Eyed Peas The E.N.D. (10-6 / 70,000 / +76%)
Beyonce I Am... Sasha Fierce (35-14 / 32,000 / +101%)
Pink Funhouse (61-15 / 31,000 / +234%)
Ke$ha's "Tik Tik" also spends another week on top of the Hot 100 singles chart, where The Black-Eyed Peas also get a Grammy performance boost for "Imma Be," which jumps 4-2 after selling 236,000 copies (+33%). Another artist *slightly* benefitting from the Grammys, Pink, lands the week's Hot Shot Debut at #18 with "Glitter In The Air," selling 114,000 copies (+1,143%), which marks her fifth entry on the chart from Funhouse, a personal best for an album of hers. One last Grammy-related debut: Mary J. Blige & Andrea Bocelli's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" comes in at #75.
Here's a new poster for the upcoming Dreamworks Animation movie "How To Train Your Dragon." How very... "Twilight?" Nah, it's cool. I know I'll be headed to my local theater the weekend of March 26th to see this--in 3D!
Toni Braxton performed her new single "Make My Heart" for the first time on The Wendy Williams Show, where she also sat down for a chat with her friend. Granted, she did lipsync & her hair looks a bit of a mess (I prefer long hair on her personally... why is everybody ditching their locks lately?), but Toni commanded that stage & I love her for it! Oh, & will you look at that: "Make My Heart" is available now to download!! The interview was an interesting one, as Ms. Braxton brought out her Wendy-fan mother & outspoken sister (just a taste of what's to come!), discussed her recent separation, & mentioned that she is in good health! Yay!! Toni's sure-to-be-blazin' next album Pulse is due May 4th.
