If you ask a female singer, mainly those is the pop scene, who their influences are, there?s a huge chance that majority of the answers would boil down to Madonna.
British pop princess Natasha Bedingfield proves just that as she has just done a cover of Madonna?s ?Ray of Light?. And let me just say, it?s amazing! What makes it so amazing is that it?s very different from the original. It has piano accompaniment and heavy guitars with Natasha?s low mellow voice that?s almost like Regina Spektor.
But Madonna isn?t only for the ladies as former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes also did a cover of the song. He also went with the guitar sound but his voice stuck true to the original. Yes, even the falsetto.
What goes up, must come down. Gwen Stefani is another artist that has proven that. She joins the likes of Beyonce, Mika and Constantine Maroulis as prime examples.
Gwen was doing her thing with her concert when she fell down during a performance in Glasgow, UK on September 20. She was in the middle of singing the song ?Cool?, the fourth single from her album ?Love. Angel. Music. Baby.? It may not be as entertaining as Beyonce?s fall nor was it as interactive as Constantine?s but it?s definitely noticeable. It?s either she fell through a trap door or she fell off the stage.
But as they say, the show must go on. Once Gwen got her balance back, the crowd went wild.
Pop superstar Justin Timberlake has confessed he canceled two recent concerts because he was “hungover.” Justin, I think you?re phenomenal. Your music has gotten me through so many bad experiences; it makes me happy to listen to your sexy voice. That hangover thing is a road you don’t want to travel. It messed up my life, relationships, goals. Your so talented, don’t let the pressure force you to be something your really not. At the end of the day those people you get high with don’t really give a damn. Life will give you a thousand more opportunities to make up for this let up and you please do not listen to any of those barking comments calling for your apologizes for canceling the gig. They have no idea of how taxing it is to be a famous super celebrity singer; they all want to see you go down someday so that they have the final laugh on you. But I know you are a super performer and you can play to the crowds wherever you go whenever you want to. I love you. Cynthia
Christina Aguilera and her husband Jordan Bratman are having a boy!
Or so reports OK! magazine. They are also saying that the baby boy is due out later this year.
The pregnant pop star has been spotted shopping for baby stuff recently and sources say that it?s been getting more gender-specific. A close pal of her reveals that the things being bought or asked to be given to the baby are all boy-themed and all blue.
Christina is yet to officially announce her pregnancy to the public but several people have already done it for her. E! News, Emmy Awards producer Ken Ehrlic and even Paris Hilton. Come on Christina. Come out with it already. Or are you waiting until the boy?s here?
Troubled pop star Britney Spears’ comeback performance was plagued by drama but helped MTV’s Video Music Awards to reverse a long slide in the ratings. You see that?s the big picture as to why MTV wanted to have an out of shape, hopeless wreck Britney Spears perform at the Video Music Awards. Spears, 25, looked unprepared on Sunday night while performing her new song, “Gimme More,” to a bewildered audience of her music industry peers. But MTV would have cared a damn, they knew that if Britney preformed even in a burqa (Muslim women dress) then too there is currently so much interest in her personal life and her problems that it would generate enough curiosity for the views to switch on the TV sets and see her performance and that would automatically give them the TV ratings to make the show a success. MTV made their day but didn?t care what happened to her and her image.
Its official–Britney Spears is a lost cause. That performance was horrible!!! And i never did like the song. The only people who will buy her CDs are young out of control teenagers. She didn’t perform at all tonight…where?s all the hype people put behind this? She didn’t dance, gave up on her lip synching, and looked high like she couldn’t figure out if she was coming or going. And where were all the Criss magic acts that people said she was working on with him all those “late nights”. Britney is a JOKE and this just proves it! I told you people out there that these VMAs is the make or break thing for her and it solely depended on her whether she wanted to extend her career or finish it with a lull. And we have it, she?s just slammed the door shut on her making a come back and the people who had even the slightest of interest left in her and her music would now have concluded that Britney is a star of a by gone era and there?s nothing left in her to suggest she can make it back from here.
The pop star has arrived in Las Vegas for her much anticipated opening performance on Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards and has already checked in to the Palms Casino Resort.
Clad in jeans, a white shirt, floppy hat and sunglasses, Spears touched down in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon with pal Alli Sims and another girlfriend and went straight to the Palms Sky Villa, a luxury suite equipped with pop-up plasma TVs, a rotating bed and views of the Strip. (Sons Sean Preston and Jayden James were spending the weekend in dad Kevin Federline’s care.)
But her arrival didn’t come off without a hitch ? after her flight was forced to circle the Las Vegas airport a few times and her pit stop at the hotel, she was a couple of hours late for rehearsal with illusionist Criss Angel.
Meanwhile, the rest of Vegas is gearing up for the blowout weekend. Friday night Diddy is hosting a pre-awards party at PURE nightclub in Caesars Palace, and Saturday night will bring out the likes of Christina Aguilera, Kanye West, Panic! at the Disco and more.
Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am says he’s “really excited and nervous at the same time” about becoming a solo artist with the September 25 release of “Songs About Girls.”
“I was like, ‘How and why should I put out a solo project?’ I could just do another Black Eyed Peas record,” he tells Billboard.com. The hook, he says, was making “Songs About Girls” a semi-autobiographical conceptual piece “where all the songs could tell a story of falling in love, falling out of love, trying to get back in love, destructing love and destroying love and then starting a new situation. That journey is what makes this unique.”
The album features only one guest star, Snoop Dogg, on the electroclash-styled track “Donque.”
Besides the album’s 12 songs, will.i.am shot videos for eight of the tracks and stitched them together into “a movie about making a movie” that will accompany the CD.
will.i.am plans to perform some of the “Songs About Girls” material live when Black Eyed Peas hit the road for a two-month international tour on September 4 in Israel. The group will play in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America and Mexico but not in North America. “There’s no Black Eyed Peas record out,” he explains, “and America’s weird like that. If you ain’t got nothing in the marketplace, (the fans) ain’t showing up.”
Jordin Sparks doesn’t have a name for her debut album yet, but she’s got a release date set in stone: November 20. In anticipation of the 19 Recordings/ Jive disc, the “American Idol” champ drew back the curtains on her first single on Friday (August 24), debuting “Tattoo”. she’s a bit nervous to be following in the wake of Clarkson and Carrie Underwood’s success. “They’ve risen the bar so high and I’m like, ‘I hope I can reach it,’ ” she said. “Hopefully [my LP will] sell well and people will like it.” …Firstly just stop trying to imitate the past winners, try being someone whose got some of her to talent that she wants to showcase or if she cannot do that then it will be easier becoming a mimckery artist and earn money copying others. And if she wants to make a name for herself then listen dear dare to be different and aim for the stars, and if you start daring then the star will fall at your feer. Yeah don?t start dreaming so fast and get to dizzy heights there a long away to go before you achieve the dizzy heights.
Fans who’ve followed Lori McKenna since she was performing in small cafes, selling self-released CDs after a show, may have been a little nervous when the mainstream country establishment scooped her up.
In mere months, McKenna went from a critically acclaimed but under-the-radar singer-songwriter to a protege of country superduo Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. After McKenna penned Hill’s hit “Stealing Kisses,” she signed a record deal on McGraw’s label, opened for the pair on their huge nationwide tour and even sat next to Hill on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as Winfrey gushed about McKenna’s talents.
But don’t worry about McKenna trying to Faith Hill-ify her music and sacrifice her intensely personal, emotional songwriting. With “Unglamorous,” released this month, the 38-year-old makes such a seamless transition even she jokes it has been too good to be true.
“I keep telling my kids, these things normally don’t happen … it’s usually not this easy,” laughs McKenna.
But McKenna’s path to Nashville hasn’t followed the typical major-label debut trajectory. First off, she’s 38 years old and not trying to hide it. She’s also the married mother of five children, ages 18 to 3.
And she still lives the life of a typical juggling mom, living outside of Boston and writing songs in between school dropoffs and cleaning up after kid mishaps.
McKenna wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m just one of those people, I’ve been so blessed to do what I do, and be able to have my focus still be on the things that I love, which are my kids, and my family and my husband and my songwriting.”
McKenna has maintained this artful balance since 1998, when she put out her first album, “Paper Wings & Halo.” Though McKenna, the youngest of six kids, had been playing guitar since she was a teen and always had a passion for music, she didn’t start her career until after she became a mom. When “Paper Wings” was released, she had to borrow money from family and friends to get it released.
“Music was always one of those things that I sort of did on the side. I remember at first it was considered like, ‘Oh, it’s like a hobby for mom,’ because it’s something that would take me away from home, and I wouldn’t really make money on it,” says McKenna, whose husband is a plumber. “Then the next year, it was like, ‘Well, she’s making a little money, she helps with the grocery bills.’”
Soon, it was her second job, after being a stay-at-home mom. McKenna would load up her minivan and play gigs across the Northeast, often making it back home before the kids got up for school the next morning.
Her stature grew, especially regarding her songwriting, which is filled with strong characters, rich storytelling and haunting melodies.
Kanye West considers a certain ”SexyBack” singer his biggest rival. ”My biggest inspiration and biggest competition is Justin Timberlake,” the 29-year-old rapper tells. ”He’s the only other person that gets an across-the-board response and respect level – black radio, white radio.” What ever color of Radio he his more interested in this is in quite sometime that I have ever seen him talk something sensible and respectful about his competition. Yes true we all need some one to push us beyond our known limits and that?s when we probably get to see what we actually made of ? mud or steel. Some just can?t stand the pressure and fade off into deep darkness and others rise to the occasion and gradually fulfill unthought-of dreams and ambitions. Well may be its another salvo that West has fired at Justin asking him to up the ante as he is prepared for a long battle for supremacy.
The best of the best got together on TRL last Tuesday as Timbaland, Kanye West, Robin Thicke, Rihanna and Chris Brown announced the nominees for the MTV Video Music Awards.
Justin Timberlake and Beyonce led the pack of nominees with seven nominations each. Kanye West and Rihanna both earned five nominations and Amy Winehouse came out with three. A list of performers were also announced. Performers will include Kanye West, Fall Out Boy, Amy Winehouse, Chris Brown, The Foo Fighters and Rihanna. The VMAs will air live from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on September 9th.
With that list of nominees and performances, it will look to be a solid show. I?m watching!
Beyonce and Justin Timberlake have each received seven nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards, including best female and male artist of the year. Rapper Kanye West and R&B star Rihanna are shortlisted in five categories. Umbrella, which topped the UK chart for 10 straight weeks, is also up for “monster single of the year”. This could be the one award that Rihanna grabs because I heard to the number it is one of the coolest I heard in recent times. Lilly Allen has time on hand to sort out her visa problems so that she can make it to the ceremony which should be rocking as Justin, Beyonce, and Amy Winehouse are slated to perform as are many other at the show piece event. Now last year Latin singer Shakira too was nominated for seven awards but landed just one, so lets hope this year turns out to be better for the leading nominees.
Gwen Stefani was terrified she’d be a bad mother to son Kingston because of her hectic life as a glamorous pop star. Stefani gave birth to Kingston – her first child with husband Gavin Rossdale – last year, and was pleasantly surprised she made a natural mother. The 37-year-old says, “My biggest fears about motherhood were, ‘How would I fit him into my life? Would I be too self-obsessed to be able to care about him enough? This statement from her makes me like her more, it shows that she really wants to be a good mom and not just raise a child for the heck of it. But how the child will grow to be, we will only know by the time he is 18+ and she has faded away from the limelight. Good parents will always want their children to be level headed and understand that the world they live in is a false and temporary one that?s not going to be there forever. Hope the kid is not all nuts as most others are in Hollywood, rather has a mind that enjoy life within some limitations.
Christina Aguilera canceled a string of shows in Australia and now she has just canceled a pair of concerts in New Zealand because she is too sick to continue on with the show. Luckily enough, those two shows happen to be the last of the worldwide tour.
Christina has been suffering from a viral upper respiratory tract infection with a high fever and abnormal coughing ? an ailment that went around her crew before getting to her. With the tour over, she now has the time to get well and focus on getting healthier for her and the baby?s sake.
From Mmmbop to Mmmboobs. The Hanson brothers, 26-year old Isaac, 24-year old Taylor and 21-year old Zac, took the time to sign one female fan?s boobs at her request as Canada?s MTV Live aired on Tuesday. Jessi Cruickshank, a confessed Hanson lover and MTV host looks like she?s ready to pass out. And who wouldn?t with Taylor pretty much grabbing her boobs.
You should note that all the guys are married.
Hanson is going on tour in support of their fourth studio release called ?The Walk? which was released under their own record label 3CG last week. Zac says that the record is about the struggle and decisions you have to make in life.
As if her life wasn?t already enough of a gong show, each day seems to add to it. It seems that Britney Spears body guard Julio Camera is being charged because of an assault on a photographer on Thursday. The photographer had been trying to take pictures of Spears and her two children walking through a hotel in Vegas. Her bodyguard lashed out at the man, shoving him which witnesses say caused Sean Preston to also be hurt. Britney is blaming the photographer Kyle Henderson for the incident with her son. The Las Vegas P.D. is charging Camera with battery while Spears is trying to do the same against Henderson. The most amazing thing here is that literally every single day in the life of Britney Spears is a gong show. Courtney Love can breathe a sigh of relief. She is no longer the most screwed up celebrity in Hollywood.
The Spice Girls have added three more dates to their upcoming reunion tour. The shows, in Vancouver, British Columbia (December 2); San Jose, California (December 4); and Shanghai, China (January 8), join a roster of 11 previously announced dates, with the Vancouver gig now serving as the tour’s opening night. This is getting bigger and better from the group. This is the fun in regrouping after a long time. You tend to feel there is so much that you have missed while being away that you add more dates to the world tour so as to be with each other for that wee bit longer, catch up on old times share good memroies and giggle on stupid mistakes that now sound so funny and ridiculous. There would be as much fun as on stage as there would be behind it and if things turn out as I think it would be then this world tour could be of the most successful events of the decade.
Paul McCartney’s entire solo catalog will appear on-line for the first time as part of a “comprehensive re-launch” of the Beatles legend’s repertoire, his former record company, EMI Music announced.
EMI Music also confirmed its Parlophone label has retained the McCartney catalog, terms for which were not disclosed. Through the planned reissue campaign, albums from McCartney and his group, Wings, will be made available across all digital platforms and in physical formats.
The project will cover the singer/songwriter’s post-Beatles legacy, from his first album “McCartney” (1970), to his most recent studio album “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard” (2005), which earned three Grammy Award nominations and worldwide sales in excess of 1 million copies.
“Our digital campaign will be DRM-free,” explains an EMI spokesperson, adding that more details will follow shortly.
The news follows McCartney’s recent revelation to Billboard that a deal to finally make the Beatles catalog available for sale on-line is “virtually settled.”
McCartney left EMI earlier this year to sign with Hear Music, the label formed by Starbucks Entertainment and Concord Music Group. His new studio album, “Memory Almost Full,” arrives June 4 internationally and a day later in North America
