For the last year, Lady GaGa, who is signed to Akon’s Kon Live/Interscope imprint, has been creating quite a buzz within the industry. Indeed, her first single ‘Just Dance’, which made its debut back in May, has been making a steady ascent up the Billboard Hot 100 and currently sits at #3. Her debut album ‘The Fame’ was released in October.

With a sound that is an eklectic fusion of Electronica, Pop, Rock and Hip-Hop/R&B, this New York native is definitely a breath of fresh air in an increasingly ‘samey’ industry; you’ll be seeing alot more of her here on That Grape Juice. Check out the video for her current smash ‘Just Dance’ above, as well as a live rendition of the track below:

Are you checking for Lady GaGa?

After taking the charts by storm with her 3rd studio album ‘I Am…Sasha Fierce’, Beyonce is embarking on a world tour in support of the record. Her camp released the first set of dates for the trek today – which happen to be for the European leg of the tour. Check out the cities, dates, and on-sale dates below:

DAY DATE CITY VENUE ON SALE
Sun 26-Apr Zagreb, Croatia Arena 15-Dec
Tue 28-Apr Vienna, Austria Stadthalle 17-Dec
Wed 29-Apr Budapest, Hungary Arena TBC
Thu 30-Apr Prague, Czech Republic O2 20-Dec

Sat 2-May Rotterdam, Holland Ahoy 20-Dec
Tue 5-May Paris, France Bercy 17-Dec
Wed 6-May Strasbourg, France Zenith 17-Dec
Thu 7-May Antwerp, Belgium Sportpalais 19-Dec
Fri 8-May Berlin, Germany 02 TBC
Sun 10-May Herning, Denmark MCH Arena TBC
Mon 11-May Gothenburg, Sweden Scandinavium 17-Dec
Wed 13-May Stockholm, Sweden Globen 17-Dec
Fri 15-May Koln, Germany Arena 19-Dec
Sat 16-May Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadion 19-Dec
Mon 18-May Lisbon, Portugal Atlantico 12-Dec
Tue 19-May Madrid, Spain Palacio Desportes 16-Dec
Wed 20-May Barcelona, Spain Palau St Jordi 16-Dec
Sat 23-May Birmingham, UK NIA 12-Dec
Mon 25-May London, UK 02 12-Dec
Wed 27-May Manchester, UK MEN 12-Dec
Fri 29-May Dublin, Ireland The O2 17-Dec
Sun 31-May Belfast, UK Odyssey Arena 17-Dec

To purchase tickets, it’s best to hit up your native Ticketmaster (UK folk: click here to purchase tickets).

Anyone who has seen Bouncy live knows she delivers one hell of a show. Be sure not to miss out on what I’m sure will be a great tour.

Will you be going to Beyonce’s ‘I Am…’ tour?

R&B singer Chris Brown is the latest star to pose for the iconic ‘got milk?’ campaign. More power to him!

Yesterday, we posted Brandy’s awesome performances from her recent stop on The Tyra Banks Show. Ms. Norwood was also interviewed by the supermodel turned talk show host and opened up about many a topic, including her fake marriage, ‘that’ fatal car accident, her brother Ray J’s sex tape and a whole lot more. Part 1 is above, with the rest watchable below:

Great interview!

Any thoughts?

Akon stopped by E!’s Chelsea Lately Show this week to promote his latest effort ‘Freedom’. The ‘Smack That’ singer lived up to the song’s name by erm…(you’ll see) during the interview. He also shed an interesting light on his relationship status, working with Michael Jackson and more. Good stuff.

Your thoughts?

Word has it Mariah and Nick Cannon may be expecting their first child…for real this time:

MARIAH Carey’s wish may finally be coming true. Spies in LA saw the songbird coming out of a well-known ob/gyn’s office on North Crescent Boulevard, “clutching what looked like a sonogram and being greeted by her entourage with cheers. She was ebullient.” It was the same type of paper that Minnie Driver was holding when she found out she was pregnant at the same doctor’s office. Carey, who wed Nick Cannon this year in a quickie Bahamas ceremony, has made no bones about wanting a child. {Source}

If true, congratulations to them. After initially being thrown by their sudden marriage (thinking it was a publicity stunt), I’d be real glad for them as their union seems very genuine.

Your thoughts?

As this year draws nearer to its close, we will be acknowledging the releases, events, surprising moments etc that have made the last 12 months as memorable as they have been with our 2nd annual That Grape Juice: End of Year Awards 2008.

Shaking things up a bit from last year, we will be giving you the chance to decide who will be shortlisted for nomination in each of the categories – something you can do via the comments section below. There are no limits on the number of recommendations you can make per category.

Nominee suggestions must be in by December 15th. The final list of nominee will be announced on December 16th, also the day in which voting starts. Winners will be announced on December 23rd.

Album of the Year

Single of the Year

Best Video:

Best Collaboration

Best New Artist

Best Female Artist

Best Male Artist

The Kelly Rowland Underrated Artist Of The Year Award

The Please Go Sit Down Somewhere Award

Worst Single Of The Year

Worst Album Of The Year

(You) Slippin’ / Step Your Game Up Award

Best Reality TV Show

Most Shocking Event of 2008

Your nominations?

Hot on the promotional trail for her latest effort ‘Human’, Brandy filmed an episode of The Tyra Banks Show which aired yesterday. The interview has yet to hit the ‘net, however her performances of ‘Right Here (Departed)’ and ‘Long Distance’ can be seen above (RH) and below (LD):

Wow! That has to be the best performance I’ve seen to date of ‘Right Here’. From the ad libs and runs, her swagger, everything was on-point. after seeing this, I hope she leaves the band at home for future performances of the song, as the original arrangement/backing track trumps the band version. Her rendition of ‘Long Distance’ was great too.

‘Human’ is on stores today!….

What do you think of the performances?

Will you be buying ‘Human’?

X Factor firm favourite, Alexandra Burke, performed at a special ‘homecoming’ gig at London’s KoKo venue last night. With the final just days away, Burke, 20, gave near flawless renditions of some of her best performed songs during her time on the show – including an acapella version of ‘Listen’, which you can watch above.

Put simply, she must win! Awesome performance.

In other Alex news, word has it she and Beyonce will be performing ‘Irreplaceable’ together on Saturday’s final.

What do you think of the performance?