As he puts the final touches on his sixth studio album, the follow-up to 2016’s ‘Darkness & Light,’ EGOT winning singer-songwriter John Legend took a brief leave of absence from NBC’s ‘The Voice’ to lend his songwriting expertise to up-and-coming talents on the network’s new series, ‘Songland’ (which sees undiscovered songwriters pitch their tunes to an esteemed music industry panel).

Appearing as the inaugural episode’s celebrity guest judge (May 28), the 40-year-old revised and recorded the winner’s song, ‘We Need Love.’

“Too many brothers fallen / Too many mother cry / Too many prayers that bounce back from the sky / Too much talking, too much cheating / Too many father’s losing sleep / Too many broken heart we can’t make right,” John wails.

Before you catch the next episode of ‘Songland’ when it airs on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST on NBC, listen inside to Legend’s take on ‘Love’:

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Basketball fans who tuned in for tonight’s NBA Finals to see the Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors didn’t know they’d be treated to a pre-show battle of sorts as viewers at home took to Twitter to weigh in on if Grammy winners Alessia Cara or Fantasia delivered the more rousing rendition of their respective home countries’ national anthems.

Fannie kicked off the ceremony with a stirring interpretation of the ‘Star Spangled Banner,’ almost taking onlookers to church by its fiery end.   Cara, who had the home field advantage as the game was held at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, had the crowd singing in unison as she extended the mic out to encourage them to assist her cute version of  ‘O, Canada.’

The respective renditions ignited debate on who was better.  Polls revealed Canadian viewers said Cara left Fannie in the dust.  Watch both inside and weigh in:

Canadians are really out here saying that Alessia Cara is a better singer than Fantasia. pic.twitter.com/3YSXn5TBhE

— Christen (@_JustAGoodGirl) June 3, 2019

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Welcome to another edition of The Stream Scene, a feature carved out to keep you in the loop with all things streaming!

On the menu today? Facts and figures on tracks dropped by Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Jess Lamarre and Cardi B.

This new Cardi B song press is a hit

— Wanja (@justMrsAgger) May 31, 2019

Read below…

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Guess who is making serious moves at the box office?

Octavia Spencer‘s ‘MA.‘

Full story below…

Just saw the movie Ma…..Octavia Spencer did the damn thing!

— Living my best life….always! (@blasian_Cyn) June 2, 2019

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Lee Daniels‘ TV series ‘Star‘ is officially over.

Y’all I really can’t believe Star Is cancelled! ?

— Arrogant ? (@dev0nte_) May 26, 2019

Full report below…

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A difficult but necessary watch.

The statement above is just one way Ava DuVernay’s ‘When They See Us’ has been described since it was unveiled on Netflix.

In it, the visionary tells the real-life story of five African-American children (cruelly named ‘The Central Park Five‘ ) who were falsely accused of raping an affluent white women in Central Park.

Accused, without evidence or proof that the boys had even seen the violated woman.

What unravels next is a stomach-churning story of racism, corruption within law enforcement and a life-changing plot twist no one could have seen coming.

Had to turn “When They See Us” off. I got too angry. To see the true story of the way the police department failed those five kids, made me angry. To see how they played them, abused them, scared them… made me angry. They knew that these boys CLEARLY Did not know their rights.

— M.Jayy (@SincerelyMJayy) June 2, 2019

Social media’s response below…

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Welcome to Retro Rewind, the TGJ original feature created to celebrate some of TV and Film’s brightest moments.

Today, we’re celebrating the TV series ‘Hang Time’!

The series was baked by NBC to power its Saturday morning teen-focused programming schedule, was launched on September 5th 1995 and featured ideas created by ‘Saved by the Bell’ writer Peter Engel, Mark Fink and Jeffrey J. Sachs and performances from a young Anthony Anderson.

I’ve always been weird and liked things that others think isn’t good. Like the tv show Hang Time, for instance.

— Armen Saryan (@ArmenSaryan) June 1, 2019

Watch below…

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LaLa Anthony is to star in the ‘90210′ remake.

Exciting news below…

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Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion may be readying a conversation for ‘Queen’ radio.

Full story below…

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Christina Aguilera brought all sorts of fire to the debut night of her Las Vegas residency ‘The Xperience’ at the Zappos Theater. 

Backed by an army of dancers, Xtina journeyed through her classic catalogue – delivering live renditions of hits such as ‘Genie In A Bottle,’ ‘Fighter,’ and ‘Dirrty.’

The diva also delivered a meaty medley of ‘Bionic’ tracks and also offered up the first live performance of ‘Lotus’ bop ‘Your Body.’

Head below for more…

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Ciara is hitting the road!

While performing a headlining set on Good Morning America‘s Summer Concert Series, the stage blazer officially announced the ‘Beauty Marks Tour.’

Details below…

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For weeks, Miley Cyrus has been teasing the term ‘She Is Coming.’

Well, she is here and arrives in the form of a six-track EP.

A Pop chameleon, Cyrus does away with the Country-kissed sound of her last LP – 2017’s ‘Younger Now’ – in favor of hard-hitting Urban production.

Interestingly, the project is the first of three EPs due this year. ‘She Is Here’ will be unleashed in the Summer and ‘She Is Everything’ in the Fall. Together, they’ll make up the star’s seventh studio album ‘She Is Miley Cyrus.’

An eclectic list of guests join the singer on this edition including RuPaul and Ghostface Killa, as well as Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt on production duties.

Take a listen below….

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