Check out Kelly Rowland going through security Nice Airport in France today. The Destiny’s Child alumni had been in the city for the NRJ Awards, which she performed at this past weekend. Chilled out look and all, Ms. Kelly looks great.

Your thoughts?

While Pop starlet Christina Aguilera continues to ready her 4th studio album ‘Bionic’ (due March), a new track  titled ‘Spotlight’ -from her soon-to-be-released movie with Cher, ‘Burlesque’ – has surfaced.

Very much in the vein of the throwback 1940’s sound Aguilera experimented with on 2006’s moderately-successful ‘Back To Basics’ LP, this is an up-tempo fusion of Jazz, Blues, and modern day Urban-Pop. I’m pretty over Christina’s flirtation-turned-full on romance with old skool, however, I guess she gets a pass with this one as it’s for a movie and the fact that fact that it’s actually pretty good. Great production and and even better vocals. Good stuff. {Thanks Oliver!}

Hit or Miss?

In a recent interview with iTunes, Rihanna recounted her first concert experience, which interestingly happened to be a Beyonce show. Peep what the Covergirl model had to say:

“My very first arena concert was Beyoncé/Alicia Keys/Missy Elliott [in 2004]. I think it was the ‘Ladies First’ tour,” she said.

Despite her bad seats, she will always remember that special night. “I was in like a nosebleed seat, but I was in tears. I could not believe that Beyoncé was right there, and Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott.”

Rihanna was in awe of the artists she now considers her peers. “I was a little starstruck. No, I was verystarstruck, but it was so much fun. It was very inspiring and it motivated me so much.” {Source}

Needless to say the jokes kinda write themselves with this one!

Randomness: I hear a lot of ‘blah blah’ about going in on ol’ RiRi, but it’s only ’cause we care :-). For all Ms. Fenty’s fierceness looks-wise, it’s such a shame that her talent can’t match up. A damn shame. There’s no doubt in my mind that if it did, she’d be a the total package. Instead we have this absolute stunner with zero stage presence, sheep-bleating over hot beats, and kinda making a mockery of the industry in the process. It’s important to stress that no one is going at Ms. Fenty personally (hell, we don’t know her); however it’s more about what she represents – image over any substance.

Your thoughts?

Peep Fergie glamming it up on the cover of the latest issue of the South American version Cosmopolitan magazine. Photoshopped or otherwise, Fergie-Ferg looks great!

Your thoughts?

According to our good friends over at Mariah Daily Journal, Mariah Carey‘s serially delayed remix LP ‘Angel’s Advocate’ has been pushed back yet again. Initially due out in January, then March 9th, the album is set to hit stores on March 23rd. The videos for the singles preceding the record’s release – ‘Angel’s Cry (ft. Ne-Yo)’ and ‘Up Out My face (ft. Nicki Minaj)’ are set to première this Thursday (January 28th).

Oh Mimi! Though pushed back by just a few weeks, news of this nature never tends to bode well for projects, especially projects like this where the original album flopped worse than ‘Glitter’ (fact).

Having actually had the original (‘Memoirs’) keep annoyingly pop up on my iPod when in shuffle mode, it has grown on me significantly (loving ‘More Than Just Friends’). However it seems it’s less the material and more so Mariah that folks just don’t seem to be gravitating to, hence the album’s dismal sales. Whatever the reason (be it the industry’s unfair ageism towards females or the fact many just want Mariah to sing meaningful, yet easy-on-the-ear songs again), one thing is for sure; Mariah would definitely have benefited from pretending ‘Memoirs’ never happened and laying low musically for a while (to recharge her creative batteries and give the public a break).

Instead, we have ol’ MiMi trying to re-flog an album, which no was checking for to begin with. If the foundation wasn’t there at the start, I’m a little baffled as to why she’s trying to build on it. At best, this should have been a ‘for the fans’ type iTunes release; yet giving it the whole album treatment (especially when the label aren’t supporting it) will only cause for more embarrassment IMO. I’d be forced to shut my mouth if the material was actually any good, but the wackness that has been these cheap remixes (no new vocals or lyrics, just phoned-in guest appearances) hasn’t done her any favours. It’s all quite sad really, as she’s kinda ruining the re-establishment of herself as a musical force that she achieved with the ‘Emancipation’ with her album offerings thereafter. SMH…

Tidbit: Trent come and get your girl!

Your thoughts?

Peep a stunning looking Whitney Houston posing it up in this new promotional shot for her forthcoming world tour ‘Nothin’ But Love’. Houston, 46, will kick off the tour on February 6th in South Korea, continuing on to Japan, Australia and Europe. US dates are set to be announced shortly. {Thanks Helen!}

Speaking of ‘Nothin’ But Love’, it has been confirmed that the Danja produced song will serve as the next International single to be lifted from Whitney’s comeback LP ‘I Look To You’ (which to-date has sold a whopping 2 million copies worldwide). As we exclusively reported ‘Worth It’ will be rolled out as the next US single. I’m still awaiting a ‘For The Lovers’ release (as is seemingly everyone else), however ‘Nothin’ But Love’ definitely goes hard and should provide Nippy with another hit. For those who’ve yet to hear it, check it out below…

Your thoughts?

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Jennifer Hudson and her husband David Otunga were spotted in The Bahamas recently. The two enjoyed a day of kayaking at the Atlantis Paradise Island while attending the ‘Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational’ in Nassau. Check out more pics below:

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Since her debut on the Billboard charts in 2004, Ciara has demonstrated tremendous growth as an artist. As one of the leading forces in dance, she has transcended beyond the butt-popping gyrations of her early career to become one of the most technically skilled performers in music today. In fact, Ciara’s precision is so acute that many consider her to be as good as or even better than modern day Janet Jackson.

Nevertheless, despite this improvement in her music and choreography, Ciara has yet to match the success of her first album, ‘Goodies’, which has sold over 3 million copies in the US alone. Indeed, her latest album, ‘Fantasy Ride’, while generating a top 10 hit with ‘Love Sex Magic (Ft. Justin Timberlake)’, has only managed to sell just over 300k units. This begs the question: has the industry been fair to Ciara?

It is no secret that Ciara’s voice is quite limited in many ways. However, she compensates for this lack vocal prowess  by outperforming almost all of her contemporaries on the dance floor. Throughout 2009, she delivered high energy performances and displayed outstanding skill that easily placed her in a completely different league from her peers, including Britney Spears and Usher. Yet Ciara has not received the level of recognition that her talents deserve, regardless of the fact that her routines were definitely more difficult than that of ‘Single Ladies’.

On the musical front, Ciara has been out-paced by artists such as Rihanna, who are known more for their beauty and fashion sense than actual talent. Interestingly, there is no doubt that Ciara is just as appealing as Rihanna in every sense of the word but many argue that because of the latter’s unwavering label support and funding, Ciara has not managed to access as wide a market. It seems that Ciara’s success has been unjustifiably limited.

Thus, it can be said that Ciara has not achieved a level of success that matches her abilities. While artists like Rihanna and Ke$ha continue to dominate the Pop charts, she finds herself struggling to make an impact. Nonetheless, judging by her discipline and drive to succeed, the old saying seems to be true: ‘you just can’t keep a good woman down’.

Do you think that the industry has been fair to

Ciara?

Peep rapper of the moment of Drake on the cover of the latest issue of Complex Magazine. This has to be one of the best covers the magazine has had. Very artistic. I like.

Your thoughts?

Judging by the amount of ‘WTF Sam…’ emails I received following our post on the delay of Toni Braxton‘s new LP ‘Pulse’, it appears my comments about not feeling much of Toni’s new material didn’t go down too well with her fans, prompting an influx of ‘haven’t you heard this, this or this?’ themed messages.

Interestingly, such messages seem to have done the trick; as, after wading through the suggestions, it seems Ms. Braxton is indeed cooking up a storm in the studio. Check out three tracks (all up-mid tempo), all which surfaced within the last month or so, which have kinda renewed my faith in her project (maybe not sales-wise, but quality-wise):

My Ring (Produced by Madd Scientist / Written by Jesse McCartney)

Looking At Me (Produced by Darkchild)

Wardrobe (Produced by D’Mile)

Hit(s) or Miss(es)?

As reported earlier, ‘The X Factor’ judge Simon Cowell has been busy trying to organise a charity single for Haiti. Now, Mariah Carey has reportedly joined his cause by agreeing to add her legendary voice to a cover version of REM’s classic ‘Everybody Hurts’, which will be produced by Steve Robson. Other performers said to be confirmed thus far for the song are Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle, Cheryl Cole, Alexandra Burke, Rod Stewart, James Morrison, Mika, James Blunt, JLS and Miley Cyrus.

Despite the horribly boring song choice, I am very excited to hear this one. So far, Cowell has managed to gather some of the best singers in the game right now, and I’m certain that with his influence and their collective fame, the song will do well. However, there is one name on the list that perplexes me – Miley Cyrus. She has undoubtedly been added to the track because of her star power because her one-dimensional voice certainly pales in comparison to the other singers. I sense (and hope) that she will get a one line appearance on the record like she did on ‘Just Stand Up’.

Sidebar: Why do I have a sinking feeling that Rihanna’s name is going to pop up within the next few days?

Thoughts?

Following the epic flop that has been Leona Lewis’ sophomore LP ‘Echo’ in the US, one of the album’s main collaborators, hitmaker Ryan Tedder, has given his 2 cents on why he feels the record has underperformed Stateside – poor promotion and…Lady GaGa. Speaking in an interview with Digital Spy, the producer (the creative force behind Lewis’ ‘Bleeding Love’ and ‘Happy’) said:

“In the US, unless you’re Justin Timberlake or Beyoncé, you cannot put out a song and not be in the country when it comes out.

Leona was gone for six weeks when ‘Happy’ came out because she was promoting the record in other countries – it wasn’t her fault; she couldn’t be two places in once.

I had radio stations telling me that they thought ‘Happy’ was the single biggest ballad they’d come across in ten years, but that if Leona didn’t come over here and promote it, it was going to fall.”

However, Tedder also admitted that the impact of Lady GaGa – who has notched up five US top ten hits in the last 12 months – might have adversely affected the single’s chances.

“On top of that, America’s consumed with Lady GaGa and dance music right now, so it’s not the best time for ballads anyway”, he said. “When everything on the radio is blasting out at 120 bpm, a song like ‘Happy’ almost sounds out-of-place.”

Though I commend Tedder for trying to help Leona save face, let’s be real…’Happy’ and ‘Echo’ were both sleeping pills on a disc. At the end of the day, with the amount of marketing push and budget put up for artists of Leona’s magnitude, if the album ended up tanking it’s usually the material that is at fault. I mean, folks knew it was out, yet didn’t buy it because they didn’t gravitate toward the sub-par single (which is always supposed to act as an advertisement of sorts for the actual album). For all Lady GaGa’s success, her case is still an anomaly, yet is a testament to the fact that ‘good’ music will find a way to get its shine, somehow, some way.

Still, on the one hand, the whole situation is actually quite unfortunate, as Leona has been blessed with a level of talent and skill the music industry has not seen since Whitney and Mariah hit the scene all those decades ago. However, in today’s uber competitive climate, it’s imperative that artists consistently serve up that good-good with the music, as we’re unfortunately at that stage where they are only as hot as their last hit.

Yet on the other hand, it’s slightly annoying; I can actually remember reading and watching interviews about Leona’s sophomore LP (many of which were given by her), talking about how she was experimenting with new sounds and how it’d be markedly different to her debut, only to hear the finished product and -save for a couple of tracks-having to endure ballad after dry ballad.

In any case, I’m sure Leona will be fine in the long run. Her team just need to switch things up. Ballads are understandably her mainstay, with good reason; however delivering half-decent ones would be a good starting point. Sigh…

Your thoughts?