After six in-vitro attempts, Celine Dion has finally become pregnant again--with twins! The 42-year-old, who even turned to acupunture to increase her chances of conception, is 14 weeks along & plans on finding out the gender of the babies next month. What an incredible blessing for Celine!"Knockout", featuring Nicki Minaj, is the single off Lil' Wayne's Rebirth that matters. I guess I like the video. I don't really know how I feel about it. I don't hate it, but I don't love it.
How do you put Janelle Monae into words? You can't, really. I first became acquainted with this unique artist through her Metropolis: The Chase Suite EP, which serves as the first of four suites in Ms. Monae's Metropolis series. The ArchAndroid, her full-length debut, is made up of the second & third Metropolis suites, & if you haven't completely dived into Janelle's world, now is the time. Janelle's style may be a little out there, but her pure tone & outside-the-box compositions are what attract me to her. Love it or hate it, The ArchAndroid is undeniably an impressive piece of work.Beyonce's third surprise video for us comes in the form of an alternate version of her "Me, Myself & I" video from 2003's Dangerously In Love. Also featuring numerous additional looks, this version is likely the original cut of the video that plays forward that Beyonce expressed her disapproval of, leading to the video that plays in reverse that we all know. It's terribly interesting to see this after so many years.
The day has arrived. The once mega-successful boy band Backstreet Boys have parted ways with their longtime record label Jive Records. I'm not sure why this is good news (like the group is trying to pass it off as) because no one ever leaves a major record label during successful times, but I'm sure they'll be fine without Jive because the fans they already have are dedicated & they don't really have any hope of gaining new fans at this point anyway. I just wonder what this means as far as AJ's solo album getting released in the US goes...Janelle Monae performed her lead single "Tightrope" off The ArchAndroid, which was followed by a short interview, on Lopez Tonight. She killed another performance!
At Last
Almost Doesn't Count
Brandy recently performed some songs at RnB Live Hollywood, including "Almost Doesn't Count" & Etta James' "At Last", which Bran is famous for covering in her bathroom. These phenomenal live performances further prove how untouchable her unique singing skills are. Brandy is everything!
Going on a break as only she knows how, Beyonce gets all Tom Cruise/Mission: Impossible on our behinds in this new ad for international clothing store chain C&A promoting her Dereon line. What can I say? It's cool!
Dirty Money has unveiled the cover art for their upcoming album Last Train To Paris (June 29th). Someone please tell me there's some significance to this utter foolery. (Can someone say "a marketer's nightmare?!")
Mariah Carey was set to begin shooting Tyler Perry's adaptation of the play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf" alongside Janet Jackson in June, but she has dropped out of the film. No reason was given for her withdrawal, but it certainly hasn't helped stop speculation that the singer is pregnant. I'll believe it when I see it, but it really would've been nice for her to give a reason if her dropping out DIDN'T have anything to do with her being pregnant. I just hope everything's alright.Keri Hilson has to say goodbye to her man Trey Songz & baby, & head off to war in the video for Trey's "Yo Side Of The Bed" off his third album Ready. (Keri's not featured on the song.) I have to hand it to them--they put together a nice little mini-movie. An emotional one, at that.
The "Un-thinkable" duo (see below) are at it again, but this time, it's for Drake's debut album Thank Me Later. Alicia Keys is featured on the album's opener "Fireworks", which you can listen to below:Check out this footage on the set of Dirty Money's "Hello Good Morning" video, which includes our first look at the remix video with Nicki Minaj. I'm really excited to learn that there's going to be a remix video that features Nicki Minaj's verse! Dirty Money's album Last Train To Paris drops June 29th.
Both VH1's Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business as well as What Chilli Wants have received second season pickups. This news comes after the network's decision to also renew Fantasia For Real for a sophomore year to air late this year. While Fantasia's show has already concluded its first season, Chilli's dating adventures come to an end (for now) this coming Sunday & the Norwoods don't finish up their current business endeavors until June 27th. It's great to hear that we'll continue to be welcome into the lives of these ladies![Source]
Lil' Wayne is finally releasing the video for "Knockout", his Nicki Minaj collaboration from Rebirth. Obviously, they shot it a while back since he's currently in jail, so a lot of the video was put together in post. We should see the video in full sometime during or around this weekend.
Kid Sister gives us a look behind-the-scenes of the video for her third single "Big & Bad" off Ultravioliet. It looks fun! I'm just surprised she's getting so many singles.
Now that Fefe Dobson has been re-signed to Island Def Jam, she has a shiny new set of promotional photos to go along with her upcoming album Joy (June 15th). I'm happy for Fefe & I'm looking forward to Joy, but it's just a shame that they let her go & shelved Sunday Love, only to re-sign her, because "Don't Let It Go To Your Head" & "As A Blonde" are my jams! At least Jordin Sparks got "DLIGTYH"... "As A Blonde" on the other hand...
Disney is going above & beyond with the promotional campaign for the new Pixar film "Toy Story 3" before it hits theaters on June 18th. The characters we all know & love are currently being featured in a commercial for the United States Postal Service. I love how Pixar went all out & actually created an ad, rather than just having the USPS use a few scenes from the movie.
She did it! Nicole Scherzinger took the crown on the tenth season of Dancing With The Stars!! On the final performance night of the season, Nicole danced (a redemptive) Rumba & left it all on the floor with an incredible, underrated freestyle. It was a joy to watch Nicole & her partner Derek Hough & get blown away every week, so congratulations to the very deserving pair! Meanwhile, check out Nicole's new single below (I love it!):
Nobody Can Change Me
Today, Rihanna releases Rated R: Remixed, a reimagining of her fourth album of the same name. You can purchase your copy for a low MSRP HERE or by clicking on 
Keri Hilson is the hook girl for another rapper & this time, it's T.I. Hear their collaboration on "Got Your Back", a new single off his upcoming album King Uncaged (August 17th), below:"Rockstar 101" is the fourth single off Rihanna's latest album Rated R. Let's start off with the positives: I love the different looks throughout the Melina-directed video & I think the clip fits the song well. That said, I'm disappointed that it's not in color. I mean, even the preview was! It just comes across as lazy. Also, while her imitation of Slash is amusing, it doesn't fit in with the mood of the video, ya know? It ain't that serious though. Keep an eye out for a cameo from Travis Barker... behind the drums, of course.
You can find clips of every track on Sarah McLachlan's upcoming album Laws Of Illusion (June 15th) HERE. This is what I'm talking about! I hope these clips aren't leading my astray because everything besides the first single sounds just like I was hoping it would.
Jennifer Hudson tried her hand at country music when she performed at Brooks & Dunn: The Last Rodeo, singing their tune "Believe" as a tribute to the retiring duo. I don't know the original, but lemme tell ya, if country music sounded like that..! This woman is incredible!
Making her way to Switzerland, Toni Braxton also performed "Yesterday" off her new album Pulse on Benissimo, with a short interview following. Another great showing!
During her recent Pulse promo tour throughout Europe, Toni Braxton stopped by Loose Women in the UK to perform her single "Yesterday". See, Toni? You can sing live & sound great! Was that so hard?! lol
Pixar: It appears that "Newt", the studio's film originally scheduled for the summer of 2011, has been cancelled. Following rumors that the movie was "dead," "Newt" is now "off of [Pixar's] development schedule." While this news is disappointing, we have no reason not to be optimistic about Pixar's upcoming work... speaking of which, their slate for 2012 now includes "Brave" (formerly known as "The Bear & The Bow"), which opens that year on June 15th, & *drumroll* "Monsters, Inc. 2", which will hit theaters on November 16th, 2012!I'm so pleased that this making-of footage of Rihanna's new video for "Rockstar 101" off Rated R has surfaced because I had totally forgotten that they shot this video. (No, seriously.) I can't wait for it to premiere on Tuesday!
The Goo Goo Dolls go the simple route with the cover art for their forthcoming album Something For The Rest Of Us, which comes out in July. Works for me! They also just premiered their lead single "Home", which you can listen to below. It makes me happy.Sarah McLachlan performed her entire first single "Loving You Is Easy" for the first time on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Still not loving the song, but I am still excited about her upcoming album Laws Of Illusion dropping on June 15th.
Check out this clip of the new Pixar short "Day & Night" that will accompany "Toy Story 3" when it hits theaters in 3D on June 18th. Pixar's shorts are the best!
By now, you know I'm appalled by this season of American Idol, but this week especially... wow. In particular, I'm talking about Old Yeller 2.0's final performance. It would be a compliment to even say that he sounded just like the original--& although it was incredibly inappropriate for him to be accompanied by a black choir, if only for the sake of a fabricated "moment," I'm willing to forgive even that--but what absolutely kills me is that he performed JASON CASTRO's "Hallelujah" & they acted like he did a brilliant job! Only idiots perform songs that previous contestants have had "moments" with (Yes, I'm looking at you, Aaron Kelly & Tim Urban...) & the best they can hope for is mediocrity, which just proves that if Simon Cowell himself has to stoop to this level to create a "moment" that would never have happened organically, this show has undeniably lost it. Not that his other performance wasn't awful... or Casey's... or either of Crystal's terrible or tone-deaf (respectively) performances. But, hey, at least the producers got the finale they wanted (Bye Casey!)... that is, the worst finale ever, which fits in just grand with the rest of this pathetic season! Get excited though because on this week's episode of The BabyV Show, Boonquisha plays a snippet of a new Vonzell song called "Moma's Boy":
Finally (& miraculously?), we have the alternate version of Beyonce's video for "Halo" off I Am... Sasha Fierce that features those mysterious dark scenes that were shown being shot during the "Above & Beyonce" behind-the-scenes featurette. This version is far & away superior to the trash that is the original "Halo" video. The dark scenes make the extreme brightness of the others make sense. Maaaybe they could have executed the dark part of the video a little better, but they certainly should have left it in if they weren't going to reshoot the entire video.
Listen to clips of all 23 tracks on the deluxe edition of Christina Aguilera's fourth studio album Bionic (June 8th) right HERE. It sounds like the time she spent on the album resulted in some pretty awesome music! I'm liking the blend & both the ballads & the uptempos sound great!! I can't wait!!!
Adam Lambert invited Entertainment Tonight to the set of his video for "If I Had You", the third single off his debut album For Your Entertainment. By the look of it, I'd say this is definitely a Glambert video! I'm glad though--a nice change of pace from "Whataya Want From Me".
"Happiness" is the first single off Alexis Jordan's as-yet-untitled debut album, which will be released on Jay-Z's Roc Nation. A friend got me bumpin' this song a little while back & while I'm not 100% sold on her as a whole just yet, she's cute & she can sure dance, as displayed in her cool video. I'll say this though: those "mmm"s are perfection & I can't get them outta my head!
Following the disappointing reception of her last album In Love & War, Amerie isn't wasting any time dusting herself off & moving on. She has just dropped a buzz track entitled "Who's Gonna Love You" (listen below). In addition, her next album title has been revealed: Cymatica Vol. 1. Leave it to Amerie to come up with something like that! I'm always a little iffy about artists putting out 'volumes' because Vol. 2 often never comes... lol, but I'll concern myself with that later. As for the song, not that it's groundbreaking, but I think I can already tell that I'm gonna like this album even better than her last one! This is a lot closer to the sound I like to hear from Amerie. It's what she does well--signature Amerie--& I think people should pretty much stick with what they do best.Teairra Mari kicks off the new video for "Will 2 Win" from Swerv, which also features Cardan. No clue who they are... Teairra, you do some pretty ghetto strange things!
"If I Had You"
Interview
Adam Lambert premiered his new single "If I Had You" off For Your Entertainment with a performance & interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. That performance was a bit more pre-Idol Adam (if you know what I mean) than we're used to at this point, but I'm glad because you can tell it's more like what he wants to do.
Janelle Monae made her network TV debut on the Late Show with David Letterman with a performance of "Tightrope" off her debut album The ArchAndroid. After her incredible performance, Diddy made his way to the stage to show his support.
Sarah McLachlan got some great exposure for her new single "Loving You Is Easy" off Laws Of Illusion (June 15th) when she performed it following "Angel" as part of a medley on Dancing With The Stars this week. Her voice is so gorgeous. Glad to have it back!
Estelle joined Reflection Eternal on last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform their collaboration "Midnight Hour". Estelle's gonna be everywhere this year & I love it!
Following a perfect 30 for her Argentine Tango & an equally impressive Cha Cha Cha, Nicole Scherzinger danced her way to the final three during her ninth week on Dancing With The Stars. You're so close, Nicole, & you're doing so well! Nicole FTW!!
Nicki Minaj is leading the pack with five nominations (two solo, three with Young Money) for the 2010 BET Awards, where she will also be performing, as will fellow nominee Dirty Money! Other multiple nominees include Beyonce, Alicia Keys, & Melanie Fiona with four each, Rihanna with three, & Monica, while sadly left out of the Best Female R&B Artist race, with a pair. As always, I've listed out the nominations with my pick emphasized in each category below. The 2010 BET Awards will go down live on June 27th @ 8/7c & be hosted by Queen Latifah.Kelis gave another performance of her first single "Acapella" off Flesh Tone (July 6th) on GMTV during her UK promo tour for the album. Another solid performance & yes--I have indeed had the song stuck in my head for quite a while now.
"Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down"
"No One"
Interview
Alicia Keys (& company ;) ) performed a pair of her annoying hits while promoting her new album The Element Of Freedom in London on Later With Jools Holland. Well, at least she changed up "No One" to make it bearable.
Details are starting to emerge as Dirty Money's album Last Train To Paris (June 29th) approaches. Diddy, being who he is, has enlisted an all-star lineup of guests for the project that includes Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Lil' Wayne, Chris Beatdown, Swizz Beatz, Bilal, & Drake, who is featured on the mediocre leaked track "Hurt", which isn't confirmed to be on the album yet. These are in addition to the previously announced Nicki Minaj ("Hello Good Morning" remix), T.I. ("Hello Good Morning"), & Rick Ross ("Hello Good Morning" & "Angels" remixes), who may or may not be featured on more, but hopefully more in Nicki's case! Add the world's greatest songwriter James Fauntleroy into the mix & you've got yourself one album that I'm sure anticipating!David Guetta keeps the hits from his latest album One Love coming with "Gettin' Over You", which features Fergie, Chris Willis, & LMFAO. Naturally, Fergie steals the show by both sounding & looking amazing! I was actually impressed by Chris Willis too though--I had never even heard of him before. Btw, keep your eyes peeled for the JabbaWockeeZ from ABDC.
"4th Of July (Fireworks)"
Interview + "Sweet Dreams" (Eurythmics Cover)
Although I already posted Kelis' performance of "Acapella" from this show, her performance of "4th Of July (Fireworks)", interview, & cover of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" on what may or may not have been the same episode of Later With Jools Holland (same taping, different airdate?) have only just surfaced. While I've had time to warm up to "Acapella", I have yet to do so with "4th Of July (Fireworks)", so I feel a bit more recording > live about it at the moment. I dunno whether its Kelis' new single or not yet, but I still need to listen to her new album Flesh Tone, which is out now in the UK & drops July 6th in the US, in full, so I don't have too strong an opinion on that front quite yet.
Sarah McLachlan will also be putting out a deluxe edition of her new album Laws Of Illusion when it comes out on June 15th. The CD/DVD set will feature the same 13-song tracklisting as the regular version, but the deluxe edition DVD will include five live performances of tracks from the album: the single "Loving You Is Easy", "Forgiveness", "Rivers Of Love", "Love Come", & "Illusions Of Bliss". I looove Sarah live, so I'll be getting this version on 6/15 for sure!
Rihanna is set to release her latest remix album Rated R: Remixed next Tuesday, May 25th. To listen to snippets of each track on the album, you can click HERE. When it comes to remix albums, I can't really make any judgments based on short clips, so we'll see!
The release of Sarah McLachlan's long-awaited new album Laws Of Illusion on June 15th is now just under a month away. As the album's release date approaches, we now have its tracklisting, which you can check out below:
Today, The Emotion Picture AKA Janelle Monae's debut album The ArchAndroid arrives. Made up of Suites II & III of her 4-part Metropolis series, the album includes the Big Boi-assisted single "Tightrope". Janelle is the kind of talent this industry desperately needs, so if you'd like to support her by purchasing The ArchAndroid for the low price her label is offering it for, click HERE or on the cover on the widget to your right!
