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Breaking from the beach parties and reality shows, Aubrey O’Day has finally remembered her singing day job.

Case, point, her newly released take on Gotye‘s gargantuan hit ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’.

Take a listen to the Danity Kane diva’s remix below…

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Everyone clowned Nick Cannon for claiming that American Idol would need to pay all the way up to secure the judging services of his wife Mariah Carey. Yet, a week removed from his comments, not only is the superstar songbird the new judge on Fox’s hit show, she’s made history in doing so.

Find out why after the jump…

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Despite husband Nick Cannon jokingly suggesting that reality talent show titan ‘American Idol’ would not be able to “afford Mariah Carey, it appears the show’s executives are looking to prove otherwise…

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A staple in the headlines, Chris Brown has also been a chart fixture since bursting onto the scene in 2005. Alas, it’s a given that all eyes are on the sales of his latest effort ‘Fortune’.

Preceded by a slew of singles, including ‘Turn Up The Music’ and ‘Sweet Love’, the hotly anticipated set arrived in stores globally on Tuesday.

Find out how many units it’s estimated to sell after the jump…

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Without a doubt, Darkchild is one of Pop music’s more groundbreaking producers.

Responsible for a number of chart dominating hits, Beyonce‘s ‘Deja Vu‘ and Brandy x Monica‘s ‘The Boy Is Mine‘, the maestro is now expanding his empire beyond making music for the stars of today and has turned his attention to developing the acts of tomorrow.

Details below…

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Let’s be honest, beneath that endearing Northern accent , her long running damsel in distress act, and those inescapable dance cuts her label stays turning out, there really isn’t much to Cheryl Cole on a talent tip.

In fact, if we’re going to be brutally honest , we’d say that without the benefit of the X Factor PR machine it’s becoming more and more apparent that Ms.Cole is nothing more than a poor man’s Paula Abdul.

Now peep what our friends over at The Daily Mail and Twitter users had to say about her performance at the Queen’s Jubilee concert last night, below…

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If this week has taught us anything, it’s that not even a 10 month hiatus could dim the Pop light that is Beyonce.

Heralded for her sell out performances at New Jersey‘s ‘Revel Resorts‘, the last few days have seen the singer/songwriter praised (very publicly) by long time friend The Dream and US First Lady Michelle Obama, both of whom were in attendance at the shows.

Now it’s Spin‘s turn to get into the action.

Find out why they’ve called star the ‘greatest performer of her generation’ below…

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Along with higher ratings, many anticipated season 2 of The Voice would bring with it the chart return of Christina Aguilera.

Yet, the curtain fell on the latest series without a morsel of new material from the diva.

Fret not, though. For, it appears the 31 year old has been diligently working on music on the low.

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It’s hard to believe, but six years have passed since Justin Timberlake released the LP ‘Future Love Sex Sounds‘.

Caught between  Saturday Night LiveBiel related tabloid inches and a series of here today forgotten tomorrow movies, Justin’s career-albeit relevant- just isn’t what it could be had he continued pushing new music.

So, after watching one time rivals Britney & Beyonce rise to ‘budding icon’ status and having his business model ‘borrowed’ by Usher to create Justin Bieber, we ask:

Can Justin Make A Comeback?

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An array of awards line their shelves. Millions line their bank accounts and album sales statistics.  Adoring fans line concert venues, fan pages, and front stan wars in defense of them.  Yet, interestingly, even with all the aforementioned, stars like Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, and Madonna find themselves placed in quite the pop pickle.  For, in their hey day, they revisited, revamped, and, to then contemporary music fans, replaced the divas of old.  Putting the Chers, Diana Rosses, Aretha Franklins, Barbra Streisands, and co.s ‘out to pasture’ while they dominated the pop charts.

But, insert a 20 year fast forward, and they find themselves in (or approaching) somewhat of the same jam.

Redefining the standards of pop excellence, the latter 21st century divas (unlike those before them) used the music video medium to push their agenda.   Glossy visuals, accompanied by high octane choreography, cinematic quality themes, and live performances to match.  But, now the pop queens that paved the way for Britney Spears, Beyonce, Rihanna, and more are now finding themselves in their direct competition – sonically and visually.  Some will argue that no copy will ever trump the original, while others say they’ve had their day and should step aside.

We at TGJ want to know:  when one reaches a level of legendary status…what’s to gain from continuing?  You’ve paved the way, had the fame/fortune, and the adulation.  What’s next?  As Madonna’s 12th LP ‘MDNA’ landed on shelves this week, and Janet and Mariah (amongst others 40+ year old divas) are hard at work at their latest offerings,  sales dwindle and once universal praise turns into mock.

The inescapable age/gender bias leads us to ask:

Former Glory Vs. Future Gain:  Do stars who continue to push “pass their prime” ruin their legacies?  Is the gain – at the risk of ridicule, changing one’s sound for the sake of sounding “current”, or dressing/acting much too young – worth the gain of a new generation of followers?

Your thoughts?

 

For Madonna‘s twelfth studio album, the Material Girl has ditched the ‘hard candy’ in favor of something stronger, something meaner. Something she bills, her ‘MDNA’.

A Pop triangulation of sorts, the set was primary produced by the singer’s longtime collaborator William Orbit and two contemporary composers, Benny Benassi and Martin Solveig, to inject an air of “fresh” and “exciting”. As always, being the businesswoman that she is, M shares a songwriting and producing credit on every track.

As her first release not to be associated with Warner Bros. Records (the label she called home since 1982), all eyes are on whether the ‘Queen of Pop’ has crafted a blockbuster Pop LP. One which firmly plants her as a viable contender against the Rihanna‘s and Katy Perry‘s of the world. And one which, at the same time, reintroduces her brand to the ‘YouTube Generation’.

Beyond this, there also remains the penultimate question: as a solid body of work, how hard does ‘MDNA’ hit? Swallow the full review after the jump.

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Sometimes, the public’s  perception of an act is more important than the material that act releases.

Not sure what we mean?

Well, take Keri Hilson for example.

Despite masterminding some of the last decade’s biggest hits, Britney‘s ‘Gimme More’ and Ciara’s ‘Like A Boy’ being two of them, her contributions to Pop are oft disregarded, overshadowed by baseless controversies.

Indeed, much like her philanthropic endeavors, Hilson’s musical feats suffer a similar fate.

For example, how many of you knew that since debuting in 2008 she has racked up 9 Top Tens outside of the US, enjoying #1s in Germany and Slovakia with ‘I Like’ and scoring the same feat with ‘Knock You Down’ in New Zealand.

Or, that her LP ‘No Boys Allowed’ is the highest selling sophomore album to be released by an R&B Female, to have debuted after 2008.

So, taking the above into consideration, we ask:

Do you think Keri Is Unappreciated? 

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