Solange recently participated in Yahoo Music’s ‘Cover Art’ series, offering her own spin on Coldplay’s ‘Viva La Vida’. ‘Interesting’ dancing aside (LOL), I really enjoyed this one. Solange continues to establish herself as a viable artist in her own right. Good performance.

Check out singer/songwriter The Dream taking to KissFM radio about his work on Mariah Carey’s brand new album (tentatively ‘MC3’), as well as his own sophomore LP ‘Love vs Money’.

Though new music from heavyweights such as Mimi are always welcome, I can’t help but think she should sit down for a little while and re-focus. I’m pretty sure it will do her a world of good after the so-so’ness of ‘E=MC2’.

I’m sure many of you will be pleased to hear that That Grape Juice has secured a confirmed interview slot with former Danity Kane star D. Woods – ironically on the same day as our interview with Dawn Richards from the group! Some of you may remember, we were meant to interview D late last year, however scheduling conflicts caused for a delay.

When catching up with D here in London last year, she insisted she would be setting the record straight about the Danity Kane / Making The Band fiasco, as well as what the future holds for her.

In news that unfortunately comes as no surprise, it has been confirmed that Janet Jackson’s Japanese leg of her ‘Rock Witchu’ tour, which was supposed to kick off in 3 weeks, has been postponed due to the ‘global financial crisis’:

Janet Jackson is having a rough time of it. She split with her second major label in less than three years after her latest album, Discipline, failed to catch fire. Her 2008 Rock Witchu Tour was plagued by postponed and canceled dates due to an unexplained illness that was later described as severe vertigo.

And now the singer has been forced to postpone her upcoming tour of Japan due to the global financial crisis. According to BBC News, Japanese concert promoter Kyodo Yokohama announced on Monday that Jackson would be postponing the five dates the singer had scheduled in Japan between February 14 and February 22 “due to the impact of [the] economic crisis.”

Jackson, 42, had planned to hit such major Japanese cities as Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka on the world Rock Witchu outing, which was her first major tour in nearly seven years. According to reports, the tour will be rescheduled for later this year with new dates expected to be announced in March.

The announcement comes on the heels of the recent news that Jackson’s longtime boyfriend, rapper/producer Jermaine Dupri, has left his position as the head of Island Def Jam Records’ urban music department after what he described as a troubled relationship with label boss L.A. Reid. {Source}

It kinda goes without saying that we here at That Grape Juice both love and respect Miss Jackson and her many achievements, but this is BS if I’ve ever heard it. ‘Global economic crisis’ is far from a legit reason for ‘postponing’ a tour, only to suggest new dates will be announced in March for later in the year; the financial crisis isn’t heading anywhere anytime soon -so…? I wish Janet and/or her team could get themselves sorted, as her tour, by all accounts, is a must-see. SMH…

Former Mis-Teeq star Alesha Dixon continues to establish herself as a viable solo act with the success of current single ‘Breathe Slow’. The 30 year old performed the track, which is currently sitting at #8 on the iTunes chart – with a physical release still to come, on the BBC’s Your Country Needs You show this past Saturday. 

Great live showing IMO, which really drove home Alesha’s vocal prowess. Good stuff.

Peep former Danity Kane vixen Aubrey O’Day get her classy on in this preview of her forthcoming shoot for the March 2009 issue Playboy magazine. The issue will hit newsstands in February. As Aubrey would say, it’s ’empowering’ LOL.

Having enjoyed much success with his ‘Tha Carter III’ LP, rapper Lil’ Wayne is currently prepping the release of a rock-inspired album called ‘The Rebirth’ (due April 7th). The record will be preceded by first single ‘Prom Queen’, which you can listen to above. While the production has enough grit to accommodate the ‘hardest’ of rappers, Wayne misses the mark with this one. From the annoying vocoder effect, to the down right embarrassing chanting of ‘Prom Queen…prom queen’, this is just…no. Hell no. Here’s hoping Wayne isn’t the one who prematurely ends his ‘winning’ streak with this garbage.

That Grape Juice are pleased to inform you that we will be interviewing Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard during the latter part of this week. Richard is set to star in the forthcoming new season of Making The Band 4 along with fellow Bad Boy artists Day26 and Donnie Klang. 

With the dramatic events which saw the ousting of original members D. Woods and Aubrey O’Day last year and the uncertainty surrounding the group moving forward, we’re sure many of you will be eager to present questions to Dawn. As I’m sure longtime visitors will know, we here at That Grape Juice do not shy away from asking the questions you really want answers to. Therefore, please drop any questions you have for Dawn in the ‘comments’ section below. Remember only genuine questions will be considered. Thanks guys 😉

Last night an UNCF’s ‘An Evening Of Stars – A Tribute To Patti Labelle’ aired in the US. The show, which was filmed back in September of last year, featured performances from host of artists, including Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson and LeToya – whose live showings you can see below:

Jennifer and LeToya really did their thing, nailing both of their performances (Jennifer, in particular surprised, as some of her adlibs showed me things I never thought she could do vocally). Fantasia, however, was off the charts…A-Mazing. While Fanny’s church wailing may not be to everyone’s taste, at a show honoring Patti Labelle, it certainly was apt. Great, great performances all-round. {Thanks Joanna!}

Some of our UK visitors may already be familiar with The Saturdays, who burst on the music scene mid 2008 and have not looked back since, notching up 4 consecutive top top 10 singles on the Official UK charts.

Boasting a sound that crosses and blurs multiple genres lines, the ladies also possess the rare talent of all being able to hold their own vocally (live) and dance as well. Fans of the sound Rihanna has popularised as of late, will certainly enjoy what the ladies are serving up – which is best described as a fusion of Pop/Electronica/R&B. The Saturdays are heading for big things in 2009 IMO. Check out some of their 3 of their singles below, including the soon-to-be released ‘Work’, as well as ‘Issues’ and ‘Up’:

Apologies for the slow-ish posting this week. Much does go on behind the scenes here at That Grape Juice to make the site the best it can be. That said, I have some very interesting news to share with you all this coming week, so watch this space! In the meanwhile, this week’s classic From The Vault clip is Jade’s 1993 hit ‘Don’t Walk Away’. Though the group failed to sustain any success after this, the track undoubtedly has gone down in the R&B history books. Check it out below: