Beyonce has been on a whirlwind promotional trip here in Europe as of late, plugging her International single ‘If I Were A Boy’. The former Destiny’s child front-woman performed the hit on Strictly Come Dancing this weekend. As ever, she delivered a stellar performance. Good stuff (though, I’m sure everyone is itching for a ‘Single Ladies’ live performance instead!)
Ms. Knowles’ new single ‘Ego’ (which will be one of two new singles released. The other being ‘Halo’) has surfaced in full form too. Listen below:
Wow. Beyonce is really feeling herself with this one (check that ‘Piano’ part LOL). She has good reason, though – the song is a winner. Kanye West is said to be on the song’s remix. Watch this space.
The fifth week of X Factor 2008 live shows aired tonight here in the UK. Check out my 2 Pence on the Mariah Carey themed week below:
{For those unfamiliar with the show; The X Factor is the UK’s version of American Idol – with a twist in that groups and over 25’s are eligible to enter. The show also birthed the career of a certain Leona Lewis}
Undeniably the ‘shocker’ episode of the series thus far, tonight saw the ousting of favourite (and one of my personal favourites) Laura White over the far less talented Ruth. A damn shame.
Anyway, Mariah herself was in the building, mentoring the contestants as well as performing twice. You can check out her performances of ‘I Stay In Love’ and ‘Hero’ (with the remaining finalists) below as well as that of standout contestant Alexandra Burke:
Mariah – I Stay In Love
Mariah – Hero
Alexandra – Without You
Mariah, Mariah, Mariah. What awful performances! Ms. Cannon looked so lost up there when miming through ‘I Stay In Love’ and her live rendition of ‘Hero’ which reminded one of how much her voice is a shadow of a shadow of what it once was. What’s more, she was stiffer than stiff; yes, she’s no ‘mover’ but come on now. I’m sitting here scratching my head wondering why she seemed to be full of personality during the interview segments, yet – with her years of being a performer – offered such a dry and lifeless showing. If she doesn’t fix whatever is wrong with her or simply sit down soon, she will be tarnishing what was a remarkably successful career with such crappy performances (which she seems to have a knack for giving these days). Rant over lol.
On a more positive note, Alexadra nailed it once again – showing in the process why she must win this show!
With Britney Spears’ ‘comeback’ looking more a certainty than otherwise, a new track from her hotly anticipated ‘Circus’ LP has surfaced in the form of ‘Kill The Lights’. Produced by Danja, one of the creative forces behind much of her last album ‘Blackout’, the track is definitely a winner.
Unlike ‘Womanizer’, which required several plays to become ‘listenable’ (or may have just been shoved down our throats), ”Lights’ instantly grabs with its infectious production, which Britney rides with ease.
IT girl of the moment Rihanna fainted onstage while performing her smash ‘Umbrella’ with Chris Brown during a concert in Sydney, Australia today.
As seen in the video above, the 20 year old star is visibly clutching her stomach in pain and stumbles off stage into the hands of her handlers, while rumored boyfriend Brown completes the song.
Her camp have since confirmed that she is ok after being taken to the hospital following the occurrence.
Though I don’t mince my words about Ms. Fenty (with good reason), here’s hoping she’s actually better.
R&B star Usher recently stopped by the Angie Martinez show on Hot 97 to promote the New York tour stop of his ladies aimed ‘One Night Only’ Stateside trek. Though, the ‘Love In This Club’ singer mainly spoke about the tour, he confirmed that wife Tameka is due with the couple’s second child next month (Wow, they didn’t waste anytime!) as well as her reaction to his provocative stage-shows. A pretty interesting listen, I must say.
Pop superstar Madonna brought out fellow mega-star Britney Spears last night during the Los Angeles stop of her ‘Sticky & Sweet’ tour at the Dodgers Stadium. Looking every inch a star, Spears joined Madge, 50, on stage for a rendition of ‘Human Nation’.
Though the performance wasn’t exactly mind-blowing, it’s great to see Ms. Spears looking so great and getting her self reacquainted with the music scene again.
Randomness: Justin Timberlake was also in the building. He joined Madonna onstage for ‘4 Minutes’ later in the show. Oh how ‘interesting’ it must have been backstage!
Oscar winner Jamie Foxx is taking a break from Hollywood to release ‘Intuition,’ the follow-up to 2005’s ‘Unpredictable’, this December:
Due Dec. 16 from J Records, the set is preceded by the single “Just Like Me” featuring T.I., which is the top debut this week at No. 48 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
The track, which was co-written and produced by the hitmaking team of the-Dream and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, goes to digital retailers on Tuesday.
“Intuition” will also feature contributions from Timbaland, Ne-Yo, Sean Garrett, Salaam Remi and Carlos McKinney, among others. It’s the follow-up to 2005’s “Unpredictable,” which has sold 1.98 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. {Source}
I seem to be among the few who felt ‘Unpredictable’ really wasn’t that great (a few songs aside, highly overrated IMO), so I’m definitely hoping this new CD showcases Jamie’s undeniably awesome vocals with better material.
The video for 50 Cent’s new single ‘Get Up’, the first from the G-Unit general’s forthcoming album ‘Before I Self-Destruct’, premiered today. Though the video is better than the average Hip-Hop clip and visually quite engaging, there’s no escaping that the song doesn’t really touch anything he put out when he was actually relevant.
‘Before I Self-Destruct’ hits stores December 16th.
Each week an album’s tracklist will be posted, with it being thrown to you guys to detail which 4 or 5 tracks you feel should have been (or should be) singles. This week’s LP is Ciara’2006 sophomore effort ‘The Evolution’:
Tracklist
1. That’s Right 2. Like A Boy (Sam’s Single Pick #2) 3. The Evolution Of Music (Interlude) 4. Promise (Sam’s Single Pick #1) 5. I Proceed 6. Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone 7. C.R.U.S.H. 8. My Love 9. The Evolution Of Dance (Interlude) 10. Make It Last Forever 11. Bang It Up 12. Get Up (Sam’s Single Pick #4) 13. The Evolution Of Fashion (Interlude) 14. Get In, Fit In 15. The Evolution Of C (Interlude) 16. So Hard (Sam’s Single Pick #3) 17. I’m Just Me 18. I Found Myself
