The 2010 American Music Awards will be airing live on November 21st at 8pm Est via ABC from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. With a blockbuster list of performances from Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Usher, Pink, Ne-Yo, Black Eyed Peas and others, you’re going to need expert coverage of the show.

Not to worry because That Grape Juice will be providing live on-the-minute coverage of the event including news, commentary and, of course, all of performances! Expect four main areas:

Red Carpet Arrivals

Your Shout!

Here you’ll be able to express your thoughts on everything AMA related i.e. rumours, spoliers and of course the actual show as they occur . Anything and everything goes; randomness, observations, ‘WTF!’ moments and all that jazz. A live stream also be available!

Performances

Twitter Commentary:

Be sure to follow That Grape Juice on Twitter for our commentary of the show. Furthermore, Trent will be sharing his hilarious (and uncensored) thoughts throughout the event so be sure to follow him too!

Click here to follow That Grape Juice on Twitter!

Click here to follow Trent on Twitter!

That Grape Juice!

Sam

1) Gone – Nelly & Kelly Rowland

2) Who You Are – Jessie J

3) Free Your Mind – En Vogue

4) Insatiable – Nadine Coyle

5) Cause I Said So – Ne-Yo

Trent

What are Your Top 5 Songs of The Moment?

Alexandra Burke is set to re-release her Platinum selling debut ‘Overcome’ in Deluxe edition form on December 6th. Prior to then, you can check out the LP’s official tracklisting, which was revealed today.

The set comes packaged with four new songs, and a DVD…

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Check out the official cover for Jazmine Sullivan’s new LP ‘Love Me Back’. The album, which is now due on November 2nd, is preceded by the single ‘Holding You Down’ and  boasts production from the likes of Missy Elliott and Ne-Yo.

Click here to see the album’s tracklisting.

Your thoughts?

It looks like Beyonce is getting ready to take everybody back to the dance floor. In a recent interview with Music Mix producer/songwriter Sean Garrett revealed that the dynamic diva is in fact working on making more of the “party music” that defines most of her biggest hits. Garrett previously worked with Beyonce to make ‘Get Me Bodied’, ‘Diva’ and ‘Upgrade U’. Check out what he had to say below:

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During a recent autograph signing, Pop star Kelly Rowland revealed that the video for her new mainstream single ‘Rose Coloured Glasses’ was shot in 3D. The Destiny’s Child alumni was coy when further questioned on the particulars of the video, only confirming that the recently wrapped clip is set to première shortly. A video for Rowland’s Urban single ‘Grown Woman’ has yet to be shot {Source}

It’s awesome to see Kelly championing an area untreaded by other artists before her (how many 3D music videos have you seen?); particularly when considering the lyrical content of the song.

That said, it is imperative that a video for ‘Grown Woman’ is being cooked up too; for the Ne-Yo penned song is FAR out-performing ‘Rose Coloured Glasses’; and in keeping it 100% is clearly the ‘HIT’ of the two.

Your thoughts?

As reported earlier, Leona Lewis is currently hard at work on her 3rd studio album. Now the singer, who has reportedly teamed up with David Guetta, Ne-Yo and J.R. Rotem, has now brought producer Dallas Austin into the mix. Austin is known for his work with TLC (‘Creep‘), Blu Cantrell (‘Hit ‘Em Up Style’) and many others. {Source}

Let’s see if Lewis’ new found sass and Austin’s skill can create magic. Either way, it’s refreshing to see that she’s not putting her fate in the hands of the increasingly redundant Ryan Tedder.

Thoughts?

With Kelly Rowland‘s new single ‘Grown Woman’ currently blowing up on Urban radio, the Destiny’s Child alumni is wasting no time with the song’s accompanying video.

During an interview with 100.3 The Beat of Philly radio station yesterday, the Grammy winner revealed that she is set to shoot the video for the Ne-Yo penned/Stargate produced cut next week. When probed further on what folk can expect from the clip, Rowland remained tight-tipped, saying that “these days there is no element of surprise. (Folk) are gonna have to wait and see!” {Source}

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It’s great to see that Kelly and her team appear to paying attention to what the masses are feeling; indeed ‘Grown Woman’ is receiving a great response both in the US and across the pond – something which bodes well for it being able to serve as the follow-up to ‘Commander’ in International territories.

In other Kelly news, while doing the radio rounds yesterday, she confirmed that the album will be released “this fall”. She purposefully avoided mentioning the previously reported September 21st date, due to her still recording.

Your thoughts?

Pop star Kelly Rowland is currently wrapping up the recording of her third solo LP. With but a few slots remaining on the self-titled album’s track-list, the 29 year old has revealed in a recent interview that she has been working with hit-maker Tricky Stewart in the record’s final stages.

Stewart, whose hits-list is impressive to say the least (‘Umbrella’, ‘Single Ladies’, ‘Touch My Body’), joins the likes of Ne-Yo, Dr Luke, Stargate, Brian Kennedy, Ester Dean, Rico Love, David Guetta, and Bangladesh as a contributor to the record. ‘Kelly Rowland’ hits stores on September 21st {Source}

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Ms. Kelly and her team are clearly not playing with this record! Roll on September!

In other Kelly news, ‘Grown Woman’ is blowing all the way up on Urban radio, ahead of its iTunes release on July 13th. I say forget ‘Rose Colored Glasses’ and push the Ne-Yo penned cut to the top!

Your thoughts?

After a brief rest on the bench, our Best You Never Heard feature returns this week with little known gems by Mya, Sugababes, Ciara and Smokie Norful.

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Mya – I Am

Mya’s last major label effort ‘Liberation ‘ironically remains caged after label mishaps and the poor performance of its singles forced it to be shelved. While what we did sample of the album was kinda hit and miss, the record did boast potential in the form of tracks such as the Kwame produced ‘I Am’. The gutsy up-tempo, saw the singer raunch it all the way up, in what is a very pro-female anthem. A great song!

Listen:

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Sugababes – No More You

Despite the Sugababes’ most recent LP ‘Sweet 7’ being anything but ‘sweet’ (see: it’s dismal chart performance), the album did serve up a few gems – ‘No More You’ being one of its best. The haunting production courtesy of Stargate really compliments the song’s lyrics (which were penned by Ne-Yo); lyrics which Jade, Amelle, and Heidi do an awesome job of delivering – truly capturing the essence of the song. There’s no doubt this could easily be a hit for the ladies should they release it, or any other act for that matter.

Listen:

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Ciara – Tell Me What Your Name Is

Song leaks and bad strategy brought Ciara’s ‘Fantasy Ride’ to an abrupt halt last year. However, despite its shortcomings, the project did yield winners such as the Dr Luke produced ‘Tell Me What Your Name Is’. A well-produced, breezy mid-tempo, with much in the way of playful sensuality.  One of Ms. Harris’ best offerings to-date.

Listen:

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Smokie Norful – Run To You (Cover)

Gospel heavyweight Smokey Norful put his own spin on Whitney Houston’s classic ‘Run To You’ in 2006. Norful’s interpretation not only does the original justice, its tweaked lyrics open the song up to a whole new audience, while capturing an audience already familiar with the original. A skilled vocalist, whose tone favours John Legend, yet whose power is incomparable to contemporary secular acts, Norful turned in an amazing performance with this one.

Listen:

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Hit(s) or Miss(es)?

Things appear to be going from bad to worse for the Sugababes. Following the dismal debut of their ‘Sweet 7’ LP, midweek figures today revealed that the album is set to crash out of #40 in its second week on the Official UK Album Chart. That doesn’t appear to be the worse of their woes though, as there is now increasing talk that the ladies were quietly dropped by production label Roc Nation last month.

Some may remember that the group signed the lucrative deal in early 2009 with the company shortly before the recording process of ‘Sweet 7’ commenced. Indeed, it was that very production deal which enabled the group, then-fronted by Keisha Buchanan, to work with US-based hitmakers such as Ne-Yo and RedOne for the proeject.

It now seems the drama and awful performance of the project on a whole left a sour taste in the mouth of Roc Nation, who are now reportedly referring to the group as ‘former clients’. The group are also no longer featured on the company’s site. Miaw!

Your thoughts?

Pinned: Normal Posts Resume Below!

That Grape Juice caught up with Grammy award winning R&B star Monica this week. In our candid interview with the mother-of-two, she spoke on everything from finding her place in the industry again, to whether her hit BET reality show will be returning, exclusive details on her new album ‘Still Standing’, marriage, kids, Rihanna, and much more.

As ever, we ask the questions you really want answers to. A great read, I must say….Enjoy!

{Transcription by Bisi Kadejoh}

Monica Shouts Out That Grape Juice

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