Our friends over at SOHH caught up with former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard backstage at last night’s Making The Band 4 finale. The singer-songwriter spoke on her new short hair do and the inspiration behind it, working on Diddy’s new album ‘Last Train To Paris’ as part of a new group called Dirty Money, which consists of herself, Diddy and another singer-songwriter called Keleena.

The album is pretty much seeming like some kind of concept record, as Dawn maintains the group will be featured on all the tracks in some capacity – yet the album is still Diddy’s (???). Sounds interesting…

As some of you may know, we announced last month that you can now follow That Grape Juice on Twitter! Adding to the ever-expanding ways to be apart of the That Grape Juice community, our Twitter page allows you to receive up-to-the-minute updates about the latest posts on the site as well as what’s happening in the Urban Pop Culture world more generally.

What’s more, you’ll be able to keep up with me, ‘Sam’, while I’m on-the-go. I’ll be making use of Twitter’s cool SMS feature which allows me to let you guys know what I’m up to via my mobile/cell. That mean everything from checking in with you guys while on location at an artist interview to complete randomness from the wackiness that is ‘my world’. So what are you waiting for…

Beyonce stopped by The Today Show earlier today to perform her current single ‘Halo’. Put simply, awesome performance – much better than her ‘Letterman’ showing earlier this week. Everything from her energy, to her adlibs and riffs, to her outstanding vocal delivery were on-point. 

Tidbit: Beyonce’s new movie ‘Obsessed’ hits theatres in the US today. The movie also stars Idris Elba and Ali Larter. Will you be going to see it?

With the release of Ciara’s 3rd studio LP ‘Fantasy Ride’ drawing ever nearer (May 5th), the singer launched her video diary series ‘Fantasy Ride Webisodes’ today. In the first episode, we see Ciara rehearsing choreography for her promo tour, singing several new cuts acapella (including ‘Like A Surgeon’ and ‘Never Ever’) and much more. A very interesting watch I must say. 

Tidbit: I guess this will silence those who question Ms. Harris’ vocal ability. That said, truth be told, she has come a long a** way vocally compared to when she first came out.

The finale (and rumored last ever) episode of Making The Band 4 aired last night. Hosted by MTV’s Sway, the night saw the former members of Danity Kane (sans Aundrea) come back together to discuss the demise of the chart-topping group.

While I’m cautious about taking sides, I will say this made great television! You could cut the tension with a knife; the bitchiness levels were off the Richter. Besides the back and forths between Aubrey, Dawn, D. Woods (Shannon, as ever, seemed to take a backseat to it all), just watching their body language (and seating arrangement – notice how it changes after the commercial), made it all the more evident that there are still issues between the ladies. A shame, as they, IMO, were one of the most promising collectives to emerge on the music scene in a long while. It’ll be interesting to see how the future plays out for all five ladies…

Regular readers of That Grape Juice will know that I’m none-too-fond of the current dynamic of The Pussycat Dolls; IMO the one-singer/nameless back-up dancers/’singers’ format is not the business. After all in you’re in a singing group, surely you should be able and given the platform to…erm…actually sing! 

While PCD’s team etc seem to be slow to hipping to the fact that people aren’t feeling the ‘Nicole & Co’ set-up (See: ‘Doll Domination’ sales), they do seem to understand that we do want to hear what the other girls are working with. So, on the ladies recent European tour, each ‘other’ member (basically everyone but Nicole) got to perform a cut solo (their solo cuts from the ‘Doll Domination: Deluxe’ edition). Peep the professional clip from this January’s Glasgow, Scotland show to see all 4 of the other girls perform:

Rapper Lil’ Kim delivered her first performance on Dancing With The Stars, which didn’t impress the judges all that much – with one labelling it ‘underwhelming’. That said, the pint sized star, who performed the Rumba with dance partner Derek Hough, still got a pretty decent score from the judges. For what it’s worth, I liked it :S

R&B star Keri Hilson hits London tomorrow for her promo tour, and I’ve just received word from her label that we have confirmed phone time with her late tomorrow afternoon (London time). Short notice, I know; however, as usual, I’m throwing it to you guys to submit any questions you may have for the talented singer-song-writer in the comments section below. As usual, only legitimate questions will be considered. Thanks guys 🙂

Superstar Beyonce stopped by The Late Show With David Letterman last night, chatting it up with the talk show veteran about her 115 date ‘I Am…’ world-tour, singing for the Obama’s, Jay-z, sticking up for Solange, her new movie ‘Obsessed’ and more. Bouncy also performed current single ‘Halo’ also. Check it out below:

Great interview! It’s refreshing to see a more relaxed, less-media-robot Beyonce in interviews these days; it certainly helps makes her more relatable.

About the performance, hmmm…something about these ‘Halo’ live performances aren’t really rocking my world. While, as ever, there’s no flaws with the vocals, something about her delivery live on the track – which I can’t put my finger on – doesn’t do it for me….

Peep the official album cover for, what is being billed as, Eminem’s big comeback ‘Relapse’ (due May 19th). 

Great cover; that said, I’m thinking, judging by the material heard thus far, that the cover may very well be the best thing about the record.

The official radio/Pop version of David Guetta’s new Kelly Rowland assisted single ‘When Love Takes Over’ finally surfaced today. For the last few months, several remixes of the cut have been floating around the net. 

About the track, I’m liking it a lot. Granted the Dance/House production isn’t my usual listening preference, Kelly’s vocal delivery (singing full voice) really makes this one a winner. Raw, impassioned and believable, Ms. Kelly shines on this one more so than I’ve heard from her before. Great catchy track, which I envision being a success here in Europe. 

Tidbit: Kelly is set to record the video for the clip with David shortly.

You can now preview Ciara’s hotly anticipated 3rd studio album ‘Fantasy Ride’ (due May 5th) over at Amazon.com. Say what you want, but the album is sounding like the business IMO. Judging by the clips, stand-outs (of the tracks that haven’t ‘surfaced’ in their entirety online) include ‘Tell Me What Your Name Is’ and ‘Like A Surgeon’…