List of featured artists: Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Keyshia Cole, Fergie, Miley Cirus, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Ciara, Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Leona Lewis and Leann Rimes.
Hit or Miss?
Hit or Miss?
The unprecedented gathering features vocals from Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Melissa Etheridge, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Keyshia Cole, Ciara, Leona Lewis, LeAnn Rimes and Carrie Underwood. The tune is being produced by the powerhouse duo of Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who are working together for the first time in nearly 20 years.
The song will be available for purchase exclusively on iTunes on September 2 and will get its TV premiere on September 5 during the live “Just Stand Up” special, which will air simultaneously and commercial-free on CBS, ABC and NBC. According to a press release announcing the project, the song was conceived by Reid, the chairman of the Island Def Jam Music Group, after a meeting with the women behind the Stand Up to Cancer campaign.
It’s great to see so many major names come together for a worthy cause.
Your thoughts?
Link Removed As Requested
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Ciara’s version:
I actually intended to make this post at the start of the month….anyway….
With the first half of the year having served up major releases from the likes of Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Usher etc, the second half looks set to be even bigger. The following are just some of the artists whose new projects are slated to drop in the second half of this year:
• Jennifer Hudson
• Ciara
• Beyonce
• T.I.
• Ne-Yo
• Whitney Houston
• Solange
• R. Kelly
• Brandy
• T-Pain
• Michelle Williams
• 50 Cent
• Keyshia Cole
• Keri Hilson
• Teairra Mari
• Monica
That Grape Juice wants to know whose releases you’re looking forward to most. Who do you think will succeed? Who do you think won’t (aka flop)? Drop your thoughts in the comments section…
Your thoughts?
The much hyped Beyonce, Usher and Lil’ Wayne joint performance proved to be a non-event, as, even though the ‘Déjà vu’ singer was spotted in Los Angeles just the day before, she was no where to be seen during the award show itself. In its place, we were treated to a, somewhat, decent solo showing of ‘Love In The Club’ by Usher. However, the entirely lipsynched performance lacked that extra something that would have made me remember it after they cut to the next segment. For an artist who’s place as the top male R&B artist is continually called into question by supporters of younger stars, this was not a good look – at all.
Elsewhere, the show’s lack of ‘that extra something’ was heightened by run-of-the-mill performances by Young Jeezy and surprisingly Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, T-Pain and, to a lesser extent, Nelly (both Ciara and Fergie were worthwhile –and much needed- additions to his set). None of these performances engaged me long enough to warrant anything other than the ‘what’s the next performance’ treatment.
Hot mess of the night, no doubt, went to Miss Keyshia Cole. From the absolutely horrid vocals (a pitchy, strained and screeching atrocity), I was left wondering if she’d taken ‘anything’ before the show with her bizarre choreography. Honestly though, what was that? I didn’t know whether to laugh or feel sorry for her (if she was serious). I think I decided on something right down the middle. Randomness: Lil’ Kim looked good, didn’t she? Moving on…
On a more positive note, brace yourselves people….I actually, dare I say it, kinda enjoyed Rihanna’s performance of ‘Take A Bow’. Granted the song is still and always will be the pits IMO, in her defence she did sound exactly like the record, which surely must count for something. Randomness: Did anyone else spot Chris Brown in the audience singing along?
Alicia Keys brief 90’s group revival was a great addition to her pretty decent showing of ‘Teenage Love Affair’. Watching this was such a contrast to the sleep-inducing piano-strapped Alicia performances we used to be subject to not too long ago. All the groups did their thing as well; SWV with ‘Weak’, the original line-up of EnVogue (good on Dawn!) and TLC. I will excuse the latter – namely T-Boz – for sounding flat-out shot and looking kinda depressed on stage, as the premise of the performance was so great and offered one of the few moments of genuine surprise during the 3 hour telecast.
I’d have to say performance of the night, for me, is a toss-up between Ne-Yo’s near-flawless performance of ‘Closer’ and Chris Brown and Ciara’s show-stopping rendition of ‘Take You Down’. It’s safe to say Ne-Yo was the wildcard when it came to male performances going into the show , considering both Usher and Chris Brown were also billed. However, to say he staked his claim as a performer would be an understatement. Put simply, Ne-Yo wiped the floor with Usher and most other performances tonight; who the hell knew he could move like that? Great stuff.
I know many were shocked, as was I, to see Ciara join Chris Brown on stage for ‘Take You Down’. What took place in the minutes that lay ahead, no doubt, has people talking. Whatever one’s view, there is no denying that they delivered one hell of a performance. As an avid fan of both Michael and Janet, I really did see, in Chris and Ciara, the new generation’s leaders in terms of the ‘all-round performer’. Randomess: LOL at how they kept cutting to Rihanna.
All in all, despite its few (and far between) moments of greatness, this year’s show was somewhat of a let down in comparison to last year (See: Beyonce & Kelly Rowland 07 BET Award performance) and definitely lacked the jaw-dropping moments that are supposed to make such show’s un-missable. Whereas the BET Awards have trumped the VMA’s on a year in and year out basis IMO, watching this actually has me anticipating what MTV will be serving up come August / September.
Despite the Akon/Nelly assisted ‘Body On Me’ having been confirmed as the second single to be lifted from Ashanti’s ‘The Declaration’ LP, it is now being reported that the Jermaine Dupri produced ‘Good Good’ (which you can listen to above) will serve as her next official single (going for adds at radio June 16th). In the meanwhile, ‘Body On Me’ is slated to be one of two of Nelly’s follow-ups to current single ‘Party People’, the other being ‘Stepped On My J’s (ft. Ciara). {Source}
I’m really liking both tracks and, more so than that, the convergence between both Ashanti and Nelly’s projects.
Your thoughts?
“I felt like the whole world had long, curly, flowy blonde hair. Ciara, Beyonce, Mariah, Christina Milian. Everybody wanted to be like everybody else. So I cut my hair and they made me put my long hair back in as extensions. The second time, I didn’t have any discussions, nothing. I just cut it, I dyed it black, I went into the studio making music my way. I found myself all at once. I like things strong, edgy, a little to the left. I don’t like things that are expected – nothing cliched. When I first started, I didn’t know anything. I didn’t really have a say. The second album, I got a little more freedom”
Granted today Rihanna’s image seems pretty legit, I find her comments real hard to swallow. IMO the whole ‘I’m was good girl, now I’m bad…look at my black hair and dominatrix outfits’ was overly contrived and screamed ‘record label construct’.
Your thoughts?
Renown songwriter Sean Garrett (Destiny’s Child, Usher, Ciara etc) is set to release his debut album ‘Turbo 919’ this summer. The video for the LP’s first single ‘Grippin’ On This Bed’, featuring Ludacris, made its debut yesterday. While the song’s infectious hook has made me like it all the more, the video is kinda ‘blah’ IMO. It’ll be interesting to see if Sean’s record garners more attention than the producer/songwriters -turned artists before him.
What do you think of the song / video?