The legendary Whitney Houston brought the house at BET’s Celebration of Gospel extravaganza this past weekend. Introduced as a surprise guest during friend Kim Burrell‘s performance, the ladies performed a duet version of Houston’s inspirational ballad ‘I Look To You’. Reports from those in attendance attest to Whitney’s voice being “the best she has genuinely sounded in years”.

BET’s Celebration of Gospel airs January 30th 2011.

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Funds are clearly not an issue if the spend of Diddy-Dirty Money (and their label) is anything to go by. For, yet another video from the group’s ‘Last Train To Paris’ LP premièred today on World Star Hip-Hop; this time getting the visual treatment is the Swizz Beats featured ‘Ass On The Floor’.

Check out the Colin Tiley directed clip below

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BET aired the ‘A Very BET Christmas’ special just moments ago. The show featured performances from Ne-Yo, Jazmine Sullivan, Keri Hilson and others. Peep the full lineup below:

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Mariah Carey was spotted with Ellen DeGeneres at the ‘Christmas in Washington’ taping earlier today. The event, which was held at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C, will air on December 17th at 8pm Est on TNT.

Check out a 2nd image and a short clip of Carey’s performance of ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’ below:

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Christina Milian appeared on ‘Good Day LA’ on Friday. The singer promoted her new movie ‘Christmas Cupid’, which premieres tonight on ABC. Look below for the interview:

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A clip of Mariah Carey and her mother, Patricia, performing ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’/‘Hallelujah Chorus’ has surfaced. The duo’s entire performance can be seen tomorrow at 9pm Est on ABC during Carey’s ‘Merry Christmas To You’ concert. Look below for the preview:

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With reports surfacing this week that she is experiencing serious health complications, I see no better time than the present to pay homage to the Queen, Aretha Franklin. Hence, this week’s From The Vault features the icon belting out one of her signatures tunes – ‘A Natural Woman’. Alongside Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Carol King (the song’s writer), Gloria Estefan and Shania Twain, Franklin created a legendary moment in television at Vh1’s ‘Divas Live’ in 1998.

There is absolutely no question that Franklin is the most influential artist of the last 50 years. Every singer to emerge in the industry after her arrival has been inspired by her voice, either directly or indirectly. From Michael Jackson to Whitney Houston to Mariah to Beyonce to Lady GaGa, there isn’t a single artist who can deny her influence on their music.

Moreover, Franklin personifies the very meaning of the word ‘diva’. She is more than just an act with a few hits – she is a woman who has changed the game, establishing a legacy that will live on for generations.

Thus, that filth that Vh1 aired last weekend – ‘Vh1 Divas: Salute The Troops’ – should be viewed as an insult to her and all of the other singers who previously appeared on the show. Still, I digress. Long live the Queen!

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With the release of Michael Jackson‘s first posthumous LP ‘Michael’ a mere 24 hours away, the surfacing of these never-before-seen promotional shots of the King of Pop is coincidental to say the least.

Snapped by photographer Arno Bani between 1999 and 2000, the images were to be used for the packaging of Jackson’s 2001 opus ‘Invincible’. However, word has it the label were more favourable of another shoot, hence this one was canned.

Check out the shots below…

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Here is Willow Smith’s full performance of her hit single ‘Whip My Hair’ at the 2010 Holiday Tree Lighting at LA Live last week. Additionally, the young star hit the stage at Power 105’s Holiday show last evening at the Highline Ballroom in New York City. Look below for the footage:

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‘Champion’, Chris Brown‘s collaboration with British rapper Chipmunk surfaced a few moments ago.

Featuring the lyrics such as those below, the song is certainly set to have tongues wagging. Brown sings:

“I used to see my momma getting beat down!
Is that the real definition of me now?
I fell off, back on my feet now
headed to the sky! Can’t even see down
award shows, I poured my heart out
and people still steady trynna point my flaws out
and I’d be lying if I said it ain’t get to me
but I’m a champion, legend, history!!”

Take a listen after the jump…

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Check out these new promotional shots for Ciara‘s fourth studio album ‘Basic Instinct’ (due December 14th). Thus far, the project has been quite the roller-coaster; spawning Urban smash ‘Ride’ earlier this year, only to go on to suffer numerous push-backs, and non-charting singles (‘Speechless’ and ‘Gimme Dat’ really deserved to be hits!). {Pic credits: Ultimate Ciara}

Tidbit: While many scratch their heads at the undeniably shabby handling of the project, That Grape Juice has received reliable word about the drama behind the scenes which has caused for it. All we can say is that the next few months will be very interesting.

Your thoughts?