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Justin Bieber’s Grammy Performance Will Be ‘A Crossover,’ Usher Says

admin — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:01:26 +0000

The ‘O.M.G.’ singer looks forward to sharing the stage with his protégé on Sunday night.
By James Montgomery

Usher
Photo: Amanda Edwards/ Getty Images

HOLLYWOOD — At Sunday’s 53rd Grammy Awards, Usher will be pulling double duty as both a nominee and a performer. Of course, given the massive year he just completed — with the success of his smash single “O.M.G.” and as a mentor to rising phenom Justin Bieber — Ush’s Grammy plans seem rather fitting.

Especially since he’ll be performing with Bieber (and Bieber’s pal Jaden Smith), a move that’s just as much about celebrating Usher’s successes as it is the successes of his young protégé.

“Having been through [the Grammys] so many times, you couldn’t want for anything more than for your young protégé to have the opportunity to have one, so, in support of him having his moment, I wanted to be here,” Usher told MTV News on Thursday, hours before his performance at the (Belvedere) RED launch party in Hollywood. “And also to be there to perform, to kind of tell the story of how we came together. This music business has definitely been good to both of us, and this year we have a lot to be happy for.”

And just how will the dynamic duo tell that story? Well, Usher wasn’t about to reveal all the details, but he did say that he’s hoping their performance will show another side of Bieber … a side most tend to overlook.

“The performance will be fun,” Usher explained. “We want to get up there and just do what we do. Be comfortable, and have a great time. … This is kind of a crossover for Justin. Having performed on so many different stages, this is the way that I wanted him to be seen and an opportunity to show the industry — a lot of the industry, that didn’t believe [in him] — some of his other talents. He’s going to play acoustically, and also, we’ll get down a little bit.”

And though Ush is up for a pair of Grammy awards on Sunday — Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Contemporary R&B Album for Raymond v. Raymond — he’s most looking forward to sharing the stage with Bieber and giving fans a look at where the young artist will be heading next.

“I’m very proud, man. I definitely saw it from the beginning, but thanks to the team that we have around us, it was made to happen. And that story has only just begun,” Usher said. “The story of Justin Bieber doesn’t stop with screaming girls; we need screaming fans all around the world … a cultural experience that’s much more than just fanfare. And that’s what this is. That’s what the Grammys will be; that’s what my next phase for Justin is. This is the way I found him: I found him with a guitar in his hand, so I want him to be seen that way.”

Don’t miss “Snooki & Sway: Live From the Grammys,” a red-carpet live stream kicking off Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on MTV.com. And stick with us all Grammy night for coverage of the red carpet, the show, the afterparties and beyond!

Related Photos

Lyndon Reopell Kelly Kalland Donn Routzen Jutta Eickman Donnie Datson

Is Beyonce Almost Finished With Her New Album?

admin — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 22:01:32 +0000

‘I probably won’t get on this album, but hopefully the next one,’ singer/songwriter Sia says of song she pitched for Beyonce’s new album.
By James Dinh

Beyoncé
Photo: Michael Loccisano/ Getty Images

As Britney Spears and Lady Gaga gear up to release new albums, there’s another pop heavyweight who may offer them some friendly competition: Beyoncé. Details surrounding the singer’s next album remain scarce, but according to a few of the project’s collaborators, Bey is almost finished recording the follow-up to 2008′s I Am … Sasha Fierce and has managed to hit the studio with an extensive list of producers.

After gushing about her high hopes for working with Beyoncé, Australian songstress Sia revealed that she told B’s behind-the-scenes team that she wanted to lend a creative hand for the new album. “So I just said to all the producers, writers, everyone, help me make this happen, and then Diplo e-mailed me and said, ‘where are you in the world right now? would you be interested in flying to New York? I’m writing with Beyoncé,’ and I was like, ‘Yesss!’ ” the singer told MTV Australia.

Despite Diplo’s offer, Sia said she was unable to fly out because of schedule conflicts, but is in the process of pitching songs to Beyoncé. When asked if her submissions were for Beyoncé’s forthcoming LP, Sia said, “Well, there’s only one song left for this album, so I probably won’t get on this album, but hopefully the next one. That’s my dream, that’s my goal.”

Sia isn’t the only collaborator that has suggested Beyoncé is close to wrapping up studio sessions for the project. Sleigh Bells have confirmed working with the singer, but are weary on whether their work with the songstress will make the final cut. Speaking with NME.com, guitarist Derek Miller admitted, “I actually have no idea if the collaboration will ever be released.”

While Miller remained tight-lipped on details regarding the song (or songs?), the Sleigh Bells bandmate confessed that the collabo is just one of her many musical partnerships, saying, “Beyoncé works with whoever she wants to work with, probably 30 or 40 producers. It’s a totally different world from what I’m used to. So for me, it’s just exciting to hear something that I worked on but I can’t really say any more than that.”

Sia and the Sleigh Bells join a long list of other collaborators who have been tapped to work on Beyoncé’s new album, including Ne-Yo, S1, Jim Jonsin, Sean “The Pen” Garrett, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart.

Who do you want to see Beyoncé collaborate with on her new album? Share your suggestions in the comments.

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Beyoncé

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1658108/beyonce-new-album.jhtml

Lonnie Merlos Raymond Smar Lael Sadri Jackie Jaussen Joella Hershaw

Beyoncé – Ego

admin — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 20:01:23 +0000

Ego

Artist: Beyoncé
Label: Columbia, Music World Music
Director: Beyonce, Frank Gatson, Sheryl Murakami
Album: I Am…Sasha Fierce [Deluxe Edition]

Source: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=1236911&vid=391548

Reynaldo Fessler Scottie Alameda Lamar Lucus Ria Withenshaw Israel Vacheresse

Usher – DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love

admin — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:01:22 +0000

DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love

Artist: Usher
Label: LaFace

Source: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=1270&vid=555426

Carson Finnefrock Christin Diniz Lyle Montrose Shanda Millie Raleigh Cutrell

Usher Says New ‘Rev Pop’ Project Is A ‘Movement’

admin — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 16:01:25 +0000

Singer teases his new project by pointing to past hits like ‘Yeah!’ and ‘OMG.’
By James Montgomery

Usher
Photo: MTV News

With the success of songs like “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love,” “Hot Tottie” and “OMG,” Usher had himself a fairly massive 2010. But rather than rest on his laurels, he’s looking to build on his big year, not with an album, but with a “movement.”

It’s something he’s calling “Rev Pop” — or, simply, “Rev” — and though he’s already teased his idea in a video with David Guetta (Akon is also involved), he has yet to speak in full about it. So when MTV News caught up with Ush before the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles at the (Belvedere) RED launch party, we asked him about his next musical endeavor. And though he didn’t reveal much, he did let it be known that “Rev” isn’t exactly something new. In fact, he’s been doing it for a while now.

“I’ll give it to you this way: At a later date, I’ll tell you more about Rev Pop, but if I were to give you a flash: I’ve done it before, I did it with ‘Yeah!’ ” he said, “taking a cultural experience, and also worldwide recognition of a feeling, and putting the soul in the middle of it. Not allowing it to shift heavily to R&B genre, or pop. I did it again with ‘OMG,’ once again putting the soul in the middle of it, which was an electric-pop experience, with the soul.

“It’s bringing those elements together to tell a story, that was born here,” he said, gesturing toward his heart, “And that’s what Rev Pop is. There’s more, I mean, I could really elaborate, but that’s just what I’m going to tell you right now. ‘Rev’ is what it’s called … the movement is called Rev.”

Usher wouldn’t say just when his fans would be getting their first taste of Rev, but whenever they do, it sounds like they’re going to be impressed … if not a little shocked.

“Stay alive,” he smiled, “Because you’re definitely going to be in for a surprise.”

Related Artists

Usher

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1658043/usher-rev-pop.jhtml

Lorie Krukiel Reynaldo Fessler Scottie Alameda Lamar Lucus Ria Withenshaw

Beyonce Donated Gadhafi Money To Haiti Relief Last Year

admin — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:01:22 +0000

Music industry urges other stars who played for Libyan dictator’s family to donate their earnings.
By Gil Kaufman

Beyonce
Photo: Al Pereira/ WireImage

Just days after singer Nelly Furtado announced that she planned to donate to charity money she received for playing a concert for the family of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, a spokesperson for Beyoncé said that the “Halo” singer had already done the same.

Documents obtained by the WikiLeaks website revealed that stars including Beyoncé, Usher and Mariah Carey had played big-paycheck gigs for Gadhafi. On Monday, Rolling Stone magazine reported that the industry was urging the stars (noting that rapper 50 Cent had also played such gigs) to return the money they earned for the concerts.

“They’ve done it for tons of artists,” an unnamed music-business source told the magazine about lavish parties by Gadhafi’s son, Muatassim, which are reportedly often “jammed” with supermodels. “Those guys are all over the world.”

On Wednesday, a rep for Beyoncé — who played a New Year’s Eve gig for Muatassim with Usher on the Caribbean island of St. Barts in 2009 — told the Huffington Post that the singer had long ago resolved the matter.

“All monies paid to Beyoncé for her performance at a private party at Nikki Beach St. Barts on New Year’s Eve 2009, including the commissions paid to her booking agency, were donated to the earthquake relief efforts for Haiti over a year ago,” her publicist said. “Once it became known that the third-party promoter was linked to the Qaddafi family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause.”

The money was donated to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, established in the wake of last year’s devastating earthquake, and a spokesperson for the fund confirmed that it received the $1 million check in the weeks after the January 2010 earthquake.

According to her official Twitter feed, Canadian pop star Nelly Furtado confirmed on Monday that she once did a show for the dictator’s family and now plans to donate the money to charity. “In 2007, I received 1million$ from the Gadhafi clan to perform a 45 min. show for guests at a hotel in Italy,” she wrote on Monday. “I am going to donate the $.”

The star-studded shows were part of the extravagant lifestyle of the dictator’s sons, whose splashy parties and out-of-control spending have angered their countrymen, many of whom wallow in poverty as the Gadhafi clan benefits from the country’s oil riches.

Related Artists

Beyoncé

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1659097/beyonce-gadhafi-donation.jhtml

Dimple Mccartin Myron Sharkey Mozell Honegger Tobias Kwasnik Veronica Ostling

Photos | Chris Brown And Usher Perform In Jamaica

admin — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:01:22 +0000

Chris Brown And Usher Perform In Jamaica

Kelly Kalland Donn Routzen Jutta Eickman Donnie Datson Tracie Dam

Leighton Meester Channels Ke$ha On New Song

admin — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:01:24 +0000

The ‘Gossip Girl’ star gets her party on with ‘Front Cut,’ a new track that just hit the Internet.
By Jocelyn Vena

Leighton Meester
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

For a while there it seemed like Leighton Meester was only going to be “Country Strong,” but now she’s again embracing her dance-club music roots on a new track. On Tuesday, a new Meester tune titled “Front Cut” hit the Web.

The “Gossip Girl” star’s track, a certain club banger that could easily be confused with any song in Ke$ha’s dance-heavy discography, features the writing, production and vocal talents of Clinton Sparks.

“I’m too fly to be all up in this line, boy/ I should get a front cut/ I should get a front cut,” Meester proclaims in the opening lines of the song — which is all about getting key access to a slamming party — before some killer keyboards and heavy beats kick in. She goes on to rap/sing, “You see me coming through/ Not just me, my girlfriends too/ You know what we came to do/ That’s why we in front of you.”

Meester really displays her swagga on the song’s bridge, when she goes on to sing, “Don’t tell me I gotta wait in the line/ I said f— the front door, I should go in through the side/ Why don’t you/ Lift up that rope to let through/ All these girls in my crew / Give me a drink or a few/ I mean a bottle or two/ We’ve been out here too damn long / And I hear Clint Sparks playin’ my song/ Got my diamond and my Louboutins on/ Ya better hurry up or I’ll be gone/ Don’t tell me I gotta wait in no line/ ‘Cause there’s plenty of other clubs that want me inside.”

With no official release date for the track or any definite plans for an album release, it seems that for now Meester fans will have to just enjoy the song online. The singer/actress’ pop-star career has been long-simmering, to say the least. She was expected to drop an album in 2010, but that never happened.

In 2009, she appeared on Cobra Starship’s “Good Girls Go Bad,” then she hooked up with Robin Thicke on the song “Somebody to Love.”

So what do you think of Meester’s new club banger? Share your opinions in the comments.

Dimple Mccartin Myron Sharkey Mozell Honegger Tobias Kwasnik Veronica Ostling