Melanie Fiona Performs "It Kills Me" On NRJ Live Session

Another performance from Melanie Fiona's NRJ Live Session has surfaced of "It Kills Me," the new single off her debut album The Bridge (September 22nd). Appropriately enough, she killed it! This is most definitely the kinda song the airwaves need right about now. Whether or not they know it, unfortunately, I do not know.

New Leona Lewis Promo Pic + More

Check out the first official promotional photo for Leona Lewis' sophomore album Echo (November 17th). Would've preferred they not cut off her forehead, but I like it! I'm anxious to hear Leona's new single "Happy," which will be released digitally on September 15th. She should bring it!

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Ryan Leslie "You're Not My Girl" Video Premiere

"You're Not My Girl" is the first single off Ryan Leslie's forthcoming second album Transition (October 13th). It's pretty exciting that we'll be getting another new album from Ryan before the year's end. As far as this song & video go, they're both alright. They aren't great, but they aren't bad either.

Mariah Carey "Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel" Tracklisting

We're only 25 days out from the release of Mariah Carey's new album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel (September 29th) & finally, we have the album's tracklisting. Check out the breakdown of the 2-disc set below:

Disc 1
1. Betcha Gon' Know (the prologue)
2. Obsessed
3. H.A.T.E.U.
4. Candy Bling
5. Ribbon
6. Inseparable
7. Standing O
8. It's A Wrap
9. Up Out My Face
10. Up Out My Face (the reprise)
11. More Than Just Friends
12. The Impossible
13. The Impossible (the reprise)
14. Angel (the prelude)
15. Angels Cry
16. Languishing (the interlude)
17. I Want To Know What Love Is

Disc 2
1. Obsessed (Cahill Radio Mix)
2. Obsessed (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)
3. Obsessed (Jump Smokers Radio Edit)
4. Obsessed (Friscia and Lamboy Radio Mix)
5. Obsessed (Video)
6. Obsessed (Remix Video)

If you don't mind me fanboy-ing momentarily, this is like a dream come true! First of all, I love that there's a little more to love in between some of the tracks. I'm one of those people that always wants a little something extra, especially with Mariah because I tend to play & play & play her albums. Also, the second disc is perfect for someone like me who is--yes, I'm going there--obsessed with "Obsessed!" I think it lends itself great to remixes & considering the song is still sitting at its current peak & its airplay is only rising, I don't think I'm the only one who digs the song. Now, "100%" didn't make the final cut (nor did the Timbaland production), but that just makes it more likely that it'll be used in "Precious." Mariah is giving us every reason to embrace her Memoirs, especially with this excellent new single, so you already know I'll be at the store on the 29th!

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OneRepublic Album Update

"All The Right Moves," single cover to the left, is the first single taken from OneRepublic's upcoming sophomore album Waking Up. The album is set to feature 10 or 11 tracks, as the band assures us it will have "ZERO filler." A few more song titles include "Secrets," "Waking Up," "Fear," "Good Life," & "Everybody Loves Me," a portion of which can be heard HERE in a promo for the ABC series Castle. Here's how singer Ryan Tedder described Waking Up in a recent MySpace blog:

This album will have a ton more tempo and upbeat stuff than the last album- alot more edgier stuff as well....but fear not- it wouldn't be a OneRepublic album without some moody melodic mid's and of course we snuck in a ballad.... but we're definitely not aiming to reproduce or chase album 1 or any of it's singles.

I liked some of the songs on OneRepublic's debut & Ryan is one heck of a producer, so I'm anxious to hear what they've cooked up, especially knowing that they'll have more uptempo material this time around.

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Keri Hilson & R. Kelly Perform "Number One" On Jimmy Kimmel

Earlier tonight, Keri Hilson joined R. Kelly for a performance of their song "Number One" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! R. Keri gave a swaggerific showing & Ms. Hilson was looking particularly fine. I've gotta be honest though: This is not a very good song. Note to artists: If you want R&B music to sell, you have to make good music.

Billboard Update

^#1 Album #1 Single^

Colbie Caillat's Breakthrough enters this week's Billboard 200 album chart at the top spot. Imogen Heap sold 48,000 copies of her new album Ellipse to debut at #5, easily her highest sales week & chart position (her last album never went higher than #145) ever, while Ellipse also manages to top the Digital Albums chart. LeToya's Lady Love didn't fair too well, coming in at #12, though it does top the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The Black-Eyed Peas log a tenth week atop the Hot 100 singles chart with "I Gotta Feeling," making them only the fourth act in history to spend at least 10 weeks at #1 with multiple titles. People... it's not even that great of a song.

"Obsessed" Watch

TW: #11 - LW: #11 - Peak: #11 - Week: #8

See full charts HERE.

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

Esmee Denters "Admit It" Video Premiere

"Admit It" is the second single (I'm assuming in the Netherlands) off Esmee Denters' debut album Outta Here, which has yet to be released in the US. The video's cool for what it is. I like the song too, just not as much as "Outta Here."

Who Sang It Better? Beyonce Vs. Cassie

That title sounds like a joke, I know. Still, Jay-Z has both his wife Beyonce & Cassie singing the hook on two different versions of the same song, "Venus Vs. Mars," which is featured on his new album The Blueprint 3 (September 11th). Word is, Beyonce has replaced Cassie on the album version, yet Cassie is the one credited in the album booklet. Obviously, due to the content of the lyrics, Beyonce is the choice that makes more sense. Now, I don't know what's wrong with me, but I *gulp* kinda like Cassie better on the part. In my defense, even though Beyonce has the best voice of the two, Cassie's strength is being a hook singer.

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Sean Kingston "Face Drop" Video Premiere

"Face Drop" is the second single taken from Sean Kingston's upcoming sophomore effort Tomorrow (September 22nd). I like the song because the lyrics actually mean something, but I LoVe the video! How could I not when Lil' Sean is all over it?

Syesha Mercado Performs National Anthem On Baseball

Back in April, Syesha Mercado sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at an Anaheim Angels baseball game, but I hadn't seen the performance until Syesha added it to her YouTube channel today, so I had to share. I love me some Syesha!

Whitney Houston On GMA

"Million Dollar Bill"

"I Look To You"

"My Love Is Your Love"

"I'm Every Woman"

Interview

Whitney Houston's awaited concert on Good Morning America in support of her new album I Look To You aired this morning. While I'm not gonna pretend that her voice is what it used to be, there were a number of factors that contributed to how she sounded & even still, it could've been worse! For me, the best part of Whitney's showing was how excited she looked to be on stage performing in front of her many (& I mean MANY!) fans once again. It was also touching to see how emotional it was for her to sing for her mother & enjoyable it was for her to perform with her daughter as well.

Dirty Money "Angels" Video Preview + More

Diddy, former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard, & singer/songwriter Kalenna make up the group Dirty Money. A sneak peek at the video for their first single "Angels" can be found above & you've no doubt heard about the album Last Train To Paris, which is due November 24th, by now. If you haven't heard "Angels," you can do so HERE, while a promo club track, "Love Come Down," has just been released & can be heard HERE. I'm pretty excited about Dirty Money, I must admit. I could care less about Diddy though--my main interest is in Dawn. I mean... "Falls Away," "If I Could?" C'mon! I'm pretty optimistic about this musical experiment.

Beyonce Performs At 2009 Essence Music Festival

TVOne aired their 2009 Essence Music Festival highlights special on Sunday & I don't have the channel, so I don't know how much they showed, but this new performance from Beyonce is the only one that has surfaced online. Luckily though, we have yet to see her medley of "If I Were A Boy" & Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" in HQ. Beyonce did a really great job with this & I love the new life it gives the I Am... Sasha Fierce track.

Album Review: Whitney Houston "I Look To You"

It's been seven years & Whitney Houston is back. Her new CD I Look To You is a collection of singers' songs, & rightfully so. Basically, the whole world wants to know whether or not Whitney still has it, so let's uncover the answer!

The album starts out with "Million Dollar Bill," a song she worked with Alicia Keys on. This gives the best example on the project of what Whitney's place is in the industry today, mainly because it sounds like something Alicia might've done herself & Ms. Keys is probably the current artist most comparable to Whitney herself. For me, the fact that the song sounds a little too Alicia takes away from it a bit, but it's still pretty good. "Nothin' But Love" is slightly-better-than-average album filler, while the cool "Call You Tonight" is a little better. Our first big ballad arrives in the title track "I Look To You" & is probably my favorite one. R. Kelly, who wrote the song, sure seems to know his way around penning one. It displays Ms. Houston's voice as well as any track here & the result is not too shabby. The oober-powerful big notes aren't quite there like they used to be, but the tone pretty much is & she can still out-sing just about everyone else in the industry today.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the Akon-assisted "Like I Never Left" when it leaked & it still doesn't do much for me. I don't hate it though; it does offer a different vibe than is found elsewhere on the album. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Whitney's version of "A Song For You." She sounded phenomenal during the slow introduction & as comfortable as ever when the beat came in. Another ballad comes in the form of the Diane Warren-penned "I Didn't Know My Own Strength." You can't really sing along to this one, which makes it harder to embrace, but Whitney does sound great once again. I've gone back & forth with the lack of choir on the song as opposed to the leaked version & I can only say that they both have something nice to offer.

Another decent album filler can be found in "Worth It," but don't worry: your tracklisting isn't out of order. The next track is in fact supposed to be titled "For The Lovers" & it just so happens to be better than the preceding one. The more-or-less uptempo song is probably what you might call the most radio-friendly on the album & it's actually one of my favorites. Before you roll your eyes though, Whitney didn't go too far with the "current" sound because it still sounds like her. Up next is "I Got You," another result of Whitney's work with Akon, & maybe it's because I hadn't heard this track or the one previous to it before the album came out, but I really like this one too. It has a nice groove to it. When it comes to the closer, I feel like I'm the minority because I am quite a fan of the R. Kelly slow jam "Salute." It's a good, if not spectacular, display of vocals, but its best feature is that it's just a good song.

I Look To You is not only a solid balance of ballads & midtempos, but it most likely offers up what the classic Whitney fan is hoping to receive. I really liked that the slow stuff was there, but that it was spread out so that the album didn't get too boring. Some songs were better than others, but at the end of the day, Whitney's is the voice coming through the speakers & it's just as irresistible as ever.

Rating: 4/5 Stars