Wednesday, February 1st 2012

VH1 To Crown ‘The 100 Greatest Women In Music’

Seems like divas are everyone’s talk. For, much like That Grape Juice, VH1 is on a quest to crown ‘the ultimate diva’ and (based on fan votes) tally up the 100 greatest women of music history. The survey comes as their second – the first saw acts Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner take the number 1 and 2 spots respectively while acts like Madonna and Billie Holiday filled out the top 10.

As with most ‘best of’ collections however, much fan uproar encouraged the music channel to redo and revamp their original listing. With 6 categories – “All Time”, “90s”, “80s”, “Pop”, “Rock”, and “Hip Hop/R&B” – VH1 is introducing a more comprehensive compilation of divas to include, unlike their original survey, more contemporary performers.

With singer acts like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Beyonce facing off against legends Janet Jackson, Tina Turner, Barbara Streisand, Madonna, and more, the results should be more than interesting. As the first of the series’ week long airing starts February 13th, fans must hurry before voting closes.

Will your fave land on top? Click here to vote!

Your thoughts?

Posted By: That Grape Juice Team

55 Comments

Sunday, January 15th 2012

Showdown: Who’s the Ultimate Diva?

Diva. A word, much like ‘flop’, ‘epic’, and ‘underrated’, that has, in years of late, seen itself overused and overextended to any chick who ever owned an ounce of relevancy. But, before it was a household term, there were a select few who denoted ‘diva’ effortlessly, helping to turn the term into the epitome of estrogenic swag that it is today. And while every genre has its set of leading ladies, there are some whose range defied limits – unable to be captured by any musical mode. In such, they captured the hearts of legions of fans and earned the title ‘diva’ by merit and not self-christening.

The divine 9 (plus 1…) – Aretha, Celine, Diana, Janet, Madonna, Mariah, Patti, Tina, and Whitney need no introduction. By mention of mononym alone, these musical monarchs inspire applause. So, in one of our most epic showdowns yet, we turn to you – That Grape Juice faithful – to tell us who dominates the diva domain?

In areas of performance, fashion, and overall influence, cast your vote for the ultimate as the Pop elite faceoff after the jump. They paved the way and set the bar for the likes of Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and more to glide their heels across, but they’re still the few your faves are still trying to be…

(more…)

Posted By: That Grape Juice Team

292 Comments

Sunday, March 20th 2011

From The Vault: Tina Turner – ‘Proud Mary’

This week’s ‘From The Vault is guaranteed to wake you up! Originally performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969, ‘Proud Mary’ was famously covered by Ike & Tina Turner in 1971. This live version of the song was performed by Tina in the later 1980′s, years after her divorce from her abuse husband in 1978.

Tina’s influence on the current generation of entertainers is undeniable. Melanie Fiona, Fantasia and even Janet Jackson have taken a page out of the book that she wrote. Of course, Tina’s most notable fan is Beyonce who emulates the icon in her stage shows, vocal performances and videos.

Sadly, all artists aren’t as passionate about developing their craft by studying the greats in the manner that Beyonce has done with Tina. For example, Rihanna claims to be a big fan of acts including Destiny’s Child, Mariah Carey and Madonna but it is unlikely that they would claim credit for her off-key squeals or lazy choreography. The again, she does seem to have mastered Mariah’s ‘Honey’ 2-step routine.

Thoughts?

Posted By: Trent

77 Comments

Thursday, October 2nd 2008

Tina Turner Talks Beyonce, Aretha & Ike

While promoting her brand new 36 date world tour, legend Tina Turner spoke with US Today about performing with Beyonce at this year’s Grammy’s, Aretha Franklin’s anger at her being introduced as the ‘The Queen’ at the same show, as well as her thoughts on the death of controversial ex Ike Turner:

On Performing With Beyonce:

People said, ‘You looked better than Beyoncé.’ Well, that’s not possible. It’s nice that young people hold me up as a model. Beyoncé is elegant and is handling her career well. A lot of new stars go overboard on sex. They’re half-naked up there. My dresses were a bit short, but I stayed respectable.”

On Aretha Franklin’s Declaration ‘I Am The Queen!’:

She was mum at the time, but Turner now says: “Aretha has always been like that. We’ve always accepted that from her. She’s the queen of soul, and I’m the queen of rock ‘n’ roll. There were so many kings and queens there that night. Her ego must be so big to think she was the only one.” Turner laughs. “That’s how queens are!”

On Ignoring Ike’s Death:

“It meant nothing to me,” she says. “He had been dead to me for 20 years.”

While it’s good to see Tina give kudos to those after her in the form of Beyonce and handle the Aretha situation with class, I’m a little shocked at her response about Ike though. I guess it’s a case of ‘each to their own’.

Your thoughts?

Posted By: Sam

13 Comments

Thursday, February 14th 2008

Matthew Knowles Slams Aretha’s Comments

As some of you may know, singing legend Aretha Franklin was none too pleased with Beyonce’s introduction of Tina Turner as ‘The Queen’ at this past Sunday’s Grammy Awards. Franklin branded it a ‘cheap shot for controversy’, yet added ‘love to Beyonce anyway.’ Beyonce’s father and manager Matthew Knowles released the following statement slamming Franklin’s comments:

“As a manager I am not taking something this ridiculous to Beyonce. Beyonce referred to Tina Turner as a ‘queen’. Not queen of gospel, queen of soul, queen of blues, Queen of England. I consider my wife a queen and sometimes call her that. Does Aretha have a problem with that?” {Source}

As much as I r-e-s-p-e-c-t Aretha, I have to side with Matthew on this one. I mean, come on now. Anyway, Aretha should have other things to worry about (hint hint: treadmill).

Your thoughts?

Posted By: Sam

7 Comments

Thursday, February 7th 2008

Confirmed: Beyonce & Tiner Turner To Rock The Grammy’s

The Recording Academy today announced that Beyonce will take to the stage with the legendary Tina Turner at this Sunday’s 50th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. No further details were given on the performance. Other performers on the night include Fergie with John Legend, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin and a much speculated possible performance by Janet Jackson. {Source}With Beyonce having tore several pages out of Tina Turner’s book (hit up Youtube to see what I’m talking about), I’m thinking this performance will be a showstopper. The Grammy organisers really seem to be pulling out all the stops for their 50th.

Are you looking forward to Beyonce and Tina’s performance?