Real Music People

Justin Timberlake was in France earlier this week doing a little bit of shopping with his manager Johnny Wright. Next month, the singing and dancing sensation will host the 2008 ESPY Awards to celebrate the year’s best moments in sports. There are currently 4 commercials featuring Justin on ESPN.com that serve as publicity to drum up support for the ESPY awards. The one entitled ‘Time Capsule’ is actually pretty funny. The ESPY Awards will air on July 20 on ESPN. Justin will appear on ‘Live with Jimmy Kimmel’ on July 18 to hype up the show. Other announced presenters for the award ceremony include Zac Efron, Kristen Bell, Luke Wilson, David Beckham and Lance Armstrong.

Stacy Ferguson, more famously known as Fergie, attends the ASCAP’s 25th Annual Pop Music Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Wednesday. The singer’s hit ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ ended up in a tie with Gwen Stefani’s ‘The Sweet Escape’ for song of the year. Of that honor, Fergie said “To get any honor in that room is something very special. Songwriting is an expression of your soul, so to be honored as a writer feels like an approval of your soul.” Aww, how humble of her. Congratulations go out to both Fergie and Gwen for getting the honor.

It’s an unlikely pairing, but Elton John and Mary J. Blige will perform a duet at his post-Oscars party.

The superstar singers will take to the stage at Elton’s annual AIDS Foundation bash after the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday.

Blige said: “Elton John is one of the most inspirational musicians and philanthropists in this industry for me. I respect him with all my heart and it is truly a pleasure to be performing with him on such an important night as we look to raise awareness and vital funds for the fight against HIV and AIDS.”

This is not the first time the pair have collaborated. In 1999, Elton played the piano on the 37-year-old star’s single ‘Deep Inside’. Elton’s annual Oscar party has raised more than $15 million for his charity over the past 15 years.

Sir Paul McCartney has disappointed pal Ozzy Osbourne by declining an opportunity to duet with the rocker at the 2008 Brit Awards.

The former Black Sabbath singer, who will co-host the ceremony with his wife and manager Sharon, was ecstatic at the prospect of fulfilling his lifelong dream of sharing the stage with the former Beatle.

But McCartney, 65, has since decided to perform a simple solo set instead. He says, “You can either go for something wow or just do a couple of hits - I’ve opted for the latter. I’m quite happy to be just doing stuff that I hope the audience will like.”

He adds, “This year will be outstanding - because Ozzy is presenting.”

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards are over and the winners are in. Here’s a list of the most notable awards of the night. Amy Winehouse was short one Grammy to make a clean sweep.

Album of the Year: “River: The Joni Letters,” Herbie Hancock.
Record of the Year: “Rehab,” Amy Winehouse.
Song of the Year: “Rehab,” Amy Winehouse
New Artist: Amy Winehouse.
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Mark Ronson.
Pop Vocal Album: “Back to Black,” Amy Winehouse.
Female Pop Vocal Performance: “Rehab,” Amy Winehouse.
Male Pop Vocal Performance: “What Goes Around…Comes Around,” Justin Timberlake.
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: “Makes Me Wonder,” Maroon 5.
Rock Song: “Radio Nowhere,” Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen).
Rap Album: “Graduation,” Kanye West.
Rap Solo Performance: “Stronger,” Kanye West.

Celine Dion snuggles up to manager husband Rene Angelil at the 2008 NRJ Music Awards held at the Palais des Festivals on Saturday in Cannes, France. Earlier in the day, the Canadian singer was seen arriving at an airport in Nice on her way to the awards show.

Celine is about to have her first concert in China on April 13 and it will be party of Beijing’s official celebration of the Olympic Games. The singer also submitted an entry for the Beijing Olympics theme song competition and I think she’s a shoe-in. She did sing the theme song for the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

No no not that kind of bet. For all those thinking horses and dogs…shame on you.

Alicia Keys and Tyra Banks were winners at the inaugural BET (Black Entertainment Network) Honors awards on Saturday

‘Fallin” singer Alicia was given the Entertainment Award, at the glitzy ceremony held at Washington’s Warner Theatre, but said she still can’t believe she gets paid to do what she loves.

She said: “For me, I’m just a girl from Harlem, and here I am. It’s a tremendous feeling to do what you love and for people to love what you do.People are honouring me for doing what my heart tells me to do, and that is so fulfilling.”

Hats off to the girls!

There are some things that are inevitable and you know should happen and would happen. It’s just like Madonna being announced to be a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee on Thursday. I think she’s a shoe-in because she’s pretty much the ultimate icon and the most influential woman in pop music.

Madonna was one of five acts chosen for induction at the annual ceremony which will be held on March 10 in New York City. The other artists are John Mellencamp, The Ventures, Leonard Cohen and The Dave Clark Five.

Congrats!

After the success of her album, a lot of people have predicted that Amy Winehouse would be the queen of the Grammy’s. And when the nominations were announced on Thursday morning, that’s what the rest of the world thought too. Wino scored the most nominations for a female with 6 nods. It’s good to know that despite all the trouble in her life, something good can still happen to Wino.Kanye West actually came out with the most nods, with 8. Five acts received 5 nods each – the Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and T-Pain. In a bit of an upset, favorites like Fergie and Mika only scored a nomination each.

If you’re anxious to see the 2007 American Music Awards, here’s a sneak peek at the rehearsals. From the looks of things, it’s going to be an awesome show.

The Jonas Brothers, Chris Brown, T-Pain, Mary J. Blige, Daughtry and Maroon 5 were all caught as they run through their respective sets. It looks like we’re in for a treat when Chris Brown takes the stage with his gravity-defying performance.

And it seems like the Jonas Brothers even brought their own set of groupies. I can already hear fan girls screaming. Careful ladies, one of them happens to be a minor.

Amy Winehouse gave one of her usual bombed-out performances at the MTV Europe Music Awards. She was even booed off the stage when she could barely say the word “Thanks” after receiving her Artists’ Choice award. However, the new drug-free Pete Doherty says that Amy is on “the straight and narrow,” Holy crap…I was going on and on about how freaking ugly she is (all the time when I see her pics on the internet and music news sites)…then I got a look at her husbands teeth! Sweet mother of Jesus! Can you imagine kissing that thing! It looks like he’s never brushed a day in his life. Bet it smell reals nice, jack! He wouldn’t be a bad looking guy though if he wasn’t so messed up on drugs and hadn’t messed up his body. Yipes; these 2 are obviously not good for each other. I bet there’s some serious mental & emotional abuse going on, in addition to the drug abuse. Hope she gets out of that situation alive.

Tony Bennett and pop star Christina Aguilera, who is btw about six months pregnant, performed “Steppin’ Out (With My Baby)” at the 59th Emmy Awards on September 16th. It’s been a long time i don’t see Christina performing so this is really cool. She looked great

Good have a mercy!!!

Nelly Furtado attended to a Pre-Vma’s party at Jet Nightclub at the Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on September 7th. She showed there her brand new blonde hair. Not that bad at all!!!

George Strait is still blazing a trail through country music. The country legend, who had his 55th number-one single this year and was recently inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, leads this year’s Country Music Association Awards with five nominations. He’s up for Entertainer of the Year, Top Male Vocalist and Best Single (for “Wrapped”), as well as for Best Album for It Just Comes Natural and Musical Event for the live version of “Hey Good Lookin’” with Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson. With that kind of nominations and the track record this guy has, I don’t think he has any competition as on date. Well what I would be interested in would be that when the awards are announced how many awards he will win out of the ones he is nominated for. Like 55 number-one singles in his career is something he would be proud of and should be coz I don’t think there are many how can boast of such a repertoire.

Kanye West says he isn’t political and has no interest in “who’s running with who” in the 2008 election. But the 30-year-old hip-hop mogul filmed a public service announcement Friday for an advocacy group trying to make education the top priority for the next president.

“Politics is a business,” the six-time Grammy winner told The Associated Press Friday. “I’m more social. I just care about people.”

During the filming of the television commercial, sponsored by Strong American Schools and his own Kanye West Foundation, West read from a script at the front of a mock classroom filled with real Chicago students.

“Yo. Becoming a music superstar took hard work but it also took a solid education,” West said dryly into the camera, his hands half inside his pockets.

“Say it with a little more meaning, Kanye,” a director prodded.

West took his hands out of his pockets and started gesturing with his hands as he talked, taking several more stabs at the script.

Strong American Schools is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The group, which says it is nonpartisan and doesn’t endorse candidates, is promoting three goals for education: higher standards, effective teachers and more support for learning, according to Executive Director Marc Lampkin, who worked on President Bush’s 2000 campaign.

Other celebrities making public-service announcements for the organization’s $60 million “Ed in ‘08″ campaign include actors Ron Livingston from “Sex and the City” and Maura Tierney from “ER.”

West, who grew up in Chicago, quit classes at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and later left Chicago State University for the music business. His 2004 Grammy-award winning album was titled “The College Dropout.”

His new album, “Graduation,” comes out Sept. 11, the same day as the release of “Curtis,” the new album from 50 Cent, who promised to retire if West’s new album outsells his.

West denied any feud between the two and said he talks to 50 Cent, “all the time.”

Check out these promotional shots of Rihanna and Kanye West for this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. World famous photographer David LaChapelle did the elaborate photo shoots of not only Rihanna and Kanye but also Fall Out Boy, Foo Fighters and Chris Brown.

All of the above mentioned artists are featured as performers for this year’s VMAs along with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. And FYI, Justin Timberlake will be hosting a Fantasy Suite party with good pal and partner Timbaland.

The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards will air on September 9. And if the photos are any measure of the hotness of the show, then prepare to take on the heat!

Rapper Kanye West has ditched the idea of multiple costume changes at the MTV Video Music Awards next month - he plans to wear the same outfit and “stink” like a rock star instead. May be the water supply to his home has been cut off for not paying his due water supply bills for the past year, therefore he knows he will not be able to have a clean bath till the awards take place next month and he is already stinking for the past moth now since the water supply has been cut. So instead of having people faint of bad smell that day he has made this announcement a month in advance so that all those who plan to attend the ceremony could carry protective deodorants and other protective gear that day so as to avoid been taking to hospital for lung and breathing problems. He is a not a rock star and he’s not a star at all so if there any myths that he has about himself then those should be dispelled at once.

Rapper Common has shot straight to the top of the U.S. albums chart with his new disc Finding Forever, holding off competition from rockers Korn’s Untitled. I cannot understand the logic that the youngsters in America follow, the rap music can easily be labeled as pure crap but instead of being at the bottom of the rung it is ruling the roost. What has happened to the lovers of rock and soulful music that warmed the hearts not many years ago. Now the lyrics have the n-word and the f-word in the song in every other line and then you see all these boys and girls swinging and dancing to these horrible songs. They dance as if they have pains in their hip joints and are using this dance form as a therapy just to get relief. Hopefully they don’t get used to the rap songs to much or in the church as well they will be praying in rap songs.

Brian May, the lead guitarist from rock band Queen, is close to earning his doctorate in astrophysics — more than 35 years after quitting his studies to become a rock star.

May arrived on the island of La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands several days ago to conduct astronomical observations in support of his thesis, according to a statement by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands.

His thesis, “Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud,” is the last component of his PhD studies, and May expected to complete his work on Wednesday.

“Maybe you’d like to see the Telescope we are working in,” May, 60, wrote on his Web site on Wednesday.

“Galileo … Galileo … how full of coincidences life is,” he added, referring to the lyrics in Queen’s hit song “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

After submitting his thesis at Imperial College, London, he will have to wait until university assessors approve his work to be granted his PhD next year.

May was studying astrophysics at Imperial College when he formed Queen with singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor in 1970. He dropped his doctorate research into interstellar dust as the band met with increasing success.

After Mercury’s AIDS-related death in 1991, May recorded several solo albums and set up the Brian May Band.

But his interest in astronomy continued, and he co-wrote “Bang! The Complete History of the Universe” with Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott, which was published last year.

Earlier this month, the writer of such Queen hits as “We Will Rock You” and “Fat Bottomed Girls” was granted an honorary doctorate from Exeter University in Devon, England.

It’s a sad story when you’re a singer and you can’t get a musical award. It’s even sadder when the only award you win outside of that industry happens to be being the best at being the worst.

Joss Stone has just been named as the worst dressed celebrity by In Touch Weekly. And I can’t help but agree.

Her first two albums were great and even critically-acclaimed. It just so happens that it didn’t become a hit among the masses. Now, despite having several producers backing her up, her career went to the dumps. All her efforts in promotion go unnoticed because of the crazy outfits and wild hair she sports.

She needs a new stylist.

Singer Rod Stewart was forced to miss the Silver Clef music awards in London after injuring his leg on stage.
The 62-year-old newly-wed had planned to attend the ceremony at the Regent’s Park Hilton in London to collect its inaugural Icon award.

But a freak fall during a rain-soaked gig in Manchester on Thursday night left him requiring 10 stitches.

His spokeswoman confirmed he would still be appearing at this weekend’s Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium.

Stewart’s concert at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday is also unaffected.

“Rod Stewart was unable to attend the Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef lunch to receive his Icon award after cutting his leg on a wet, slippery metal step while making his entrance on stage last night,” his spokeswoman said

Literally.

Beyonce Knowles first showed off her glam figure in a glitzy hip-hugging silver gown by Dolce & Gabbana at the 2007 BET Awards. The show was held at LA’s Shrine Auditorium on Tuesday.

Later on in the night, she performed a rendition of ‘Get Me Bodied’ wearing a gold space outfit which was later stripped off to show a $100,000 gold Balenciaga leggings and matching bra top.

The bootylicious singer won the awards for video of the year for ‘Irreplaceable’ and best female artist.

Liberty X have announced they will not be recording any more material together.

The five-piece group, formed from 2001 reality show Popstars, made the announcement in a statement to fans on their website.

Although the group received considerably greater chart success than the show’s winners, Hear’Say, they have never managed to repeat the feat of their 2002 number one Just a Little.

That track won a Brit award for best single. Since then the group, consisting of Michelle Scott-Lee, Jessica Taylor, Kelli Young, Kevin Simm and Tony Lundon, have had six top ten hits including Being Nobody, Jumpin’ and Song 4 Lovers.

Their last release, X, charted at number 46 in the UK singles chart and the group have now decided to call it a day for good.

“We want to let the fans know that Liberty X won’t be doing any more recording together. All of us have separate projects we’re working on and are excited about,” the fivesome said.

“We’re still the best of friends and we’ll still be doing all the dates on the current club tour”, their statement added.

Liberty X have become the next group to split after some years of recording together. They didn’t have the success of the big groups like Spice Girls or Backstreet Boys but they showed their fans they could sing very well and make a good show. But sometimes this is not enough. People have different wishes and being in a group do not let them do what they really want. This is the main reason for the split of world’s best known groups and Liberty X is no exception.

Mary J. Blige has had what some might consider a huge 15 years career so far and she is only 36 now. She launched seven albums so far that all ranked high in the tops and this made her a true R&B diva. In February she won three Grammy Awards and now she just got another prize to add to the list. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers decided that Mary J. Blige will be the winner of their Voice of Music award and will be awarded the trophy on June 25 at the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards. The show will be held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel.

ew people actually know how important this award is for some people. It stands out for much more than singing capabilities. It is awarded for a voice that has inspired and that changed something through music. Past people that have been honored with this award include Kenny Chesney, Diane Warren and Jimmy Webb among others. Thumbs up Marry!

The actress was in Russia to co-host the MTV Russia Film Awards. While being there she visited a local orphanage and said that visiting the “inspiring” orphans was the highlight of the trip and really “opened her eyes”. Pamela said she wants to return to Russia to see the kids again.
“It was really eye opening - sad but inspiring to see these kids happy despite having nothing - really nothing, including parents. I’m going back to visit. I’m in love with them and their spirit.”
Maybe the actress would want to adopt some of those children and this would be the aim of her next visit.
She noted: ”It’s very difficult to adopt from Russia unless you are a Russian or living in Russia. It’s not common in their culture and they do not have a foster care system.”
All signs show the intention of Pamela to get a Russian child and if there is a slight chance the authorities should let her do it. Because all she wants is to make one of them happy and give him a better life, one he will definitely not have while living in the orphanage. All we could do is to wish Pamela good luck in achieving her goal and hope to hear soon for an adoption case in Russia.

Carrie Underwood was the big winner at the yesterday’s CMT Music Awards at Belmont University’s Curb Even Center in Nashville. She took prizes for home video of the year and female award for “Before he Cheats”. The award for home video was voted by fans during the show. The director of the video of Carrie took the award for director of the year.

Rascal Flatts won group video of the year for their song “What hurts the most” –one of two videos they had in this category. The musical portion of the show was started with them and they played “Life is a Highway” which is the soundtrack from “The Cars”.

The show was really interesting and it made the public laugh. It was a parody of Fox Television’s “Are you smarter than a fifth grader” which is hosted by Jeff Foxworthy who was also host to the CMT Music Awards for the third time.

As a whole the show was organized good and there were many talented singers who took part in it and won the prizes for their hard work during the previous year.