Whitney Houston

That Grape Juice can EXCLUSIVELY reveal that Whitney Houston will be taking the stage this season on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars.

The legendary diva, whose comeback LP ‘I Look You’ topped the charts last month, will be performing ‘Million Dollar Bill’ on an episode of the show to air in the next few weeks.

Speaking of ‘Milliom Dollar Bill’, due to Urban radio now showing the single more love, we can EXCLUSIVELY reveal that there will no be no new singles to be released from the album until next year. Confirmed. {I guess I’ll to keep my fingers crossed a little longer for a ‘For The Lovers’ and ‘Calling You Tonight’ dual release}

Keep it locked on That Grape Juice for more exclusive Whitney Houston news.

Your thoughts?

The video for Britney Spears’ #1 hit ‘3’ premiered today. Unfortunately for those anticipating the Diane Martel directed clip, the video is a real snoozer. All the visual gloss, fancy sets and troop of dancers cannot conceal the fact that – as blunt as it sounds – Ms. Spears has lost ‘it’. In being 200% honest with you, I can’t say I believe she ever got ‘it’ back after her breakdown. Despite the spectacle around her since her media-sanctioned ‘comeback’ last year, I’ve yet to see that spark that had commentators heralding her as the next Janet or Madonna. There is something distinctly run-of-the-mill, stiff and uninspiring about 2009 Britney Spears.

Not to be mistaken for as a dig at her personally, I’m simply of the opinion that her much publicised issues clearly have put a dent into her confidence – hence the so/so calibre of performances we’ve seen from her as of late. Yet in being fair and judging her, in her current state, on the same plateau as her industry rivals, she comes across average at best. I can’t help but think that ‘comeback’ could have waited a few more years, while she fully came into her own again personally.

What do you think of the video?

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As Usher readies his 5th studio album tentatively titled ‘Raymond vs Raymond’ for a December release, two new cuts -presumed to be from the LP – have surfaced, the Red One produced ‘More’ and ‘Daddy’s Home’, which was produced by The Runners.

Usher’s seems to be onto something with his partnership with producer Red One. While the sound they are churning  out is by no means original (see: Lady GaGa and just about every other uptempo R&B-meets-Electro Pop cut released over the last year!), I’m really feeling their output on ‘More’ as well as the previously heard ‘Rockband’).

Cranking up the tempo and not trying to ‘move mountains’ seems to be call of the day with this new project, as further evidenced by the stormer that is ‘Daddy’s Home’. The slick production and easy on the ear hook, make this one a sure-fire radio smash in waiting.

It’s quite clear to see after the relative tanking of ‘Here I Stand’, Usher is re-positioning himself as the artist and performer we know and love, doing away with the defensive declarations of his manhood and disdain for those who talked about his private life. Come to think of it, had the material on this project been what he released as his last album during the Tameka times, I’d imagine it would have done well. More artists need to swallow the pill they are public figures (hence folk will always talk), and simply serve up the hits. Mr Raymond seems to be getting the memo now…

Hit(s) or Miss(es)?

More

Daddy’s Home

omarion rihanna

In a recent interview with Boombox, R&B singer Omarion offers his 2 cents on the brewing controversy surrounding the ‘dark side’ of the music industry, as well as Rihanna’s alleged involvement. Some of you will recall Tiffany Evans’ recent comments about Rihanna and apparent ‘devil worship’, comments which kinda blew the lid off the whole situation – a situation which has been the subject of much debate on a covert level for some time now. Check out what the former B2K star had to say:

“I don’t personally know Rihanna’s beliefs but I think there’s a very dark and very sinister part of the entertainment business and I think it’s very visible,” he said. “This is something that a lot of people don’t look at [but for example] Michael Jackson used to be a Jehovah’s Witness and I remember hearing that he wanted to separate from the religion — and this was during the time that he was doing ‘Thriller’ [which ended up being] his biggest album.”

“Fast forward to now,” Omarion continued, “[and] it really made me think that there is a [time as an artist] where there’s going to be a choice. The[entertainment] world [dictates] that you have to be with three or four women, or do this in order to get that [and] I think it’s really interesting. With God and the industry, it’s really dark. The dark side is having to get in, there’s a certain submission you need to have. Just like a gang [initiation], so to speak. You might have to do something against your moral code. I’m not saying that it’s always this way, but when you’re someone that is young and you’re coming up in the industry and you really don’t have a grip on your morals it can be very dark. The game is just about over saturation.

“I don’t know if Rihanna [has fallen victim to those pressures]. I’ve never really heard her speak about it,” he said. “I hope that she doesn’t believe in that stuff and I don’t think that she does, but I don’t know. It’s not just been a Rihanna thing, [there’s has been religious speculation] about a lot of artists.”

Hmmm. I’ve kinda kept my mouth quiet about all this Illumnati malarky for a while now, but feel there’s there no time better than the present to address it head on, following Omarion’s comments (which I felt, though thought provoking, had holes all over the place).

Coming from a strong pentecostal Christian background myself, the notion of the existence ‘evil’ and ‘evil spirits’ are something which has been drummed into me from an early age, hence I’ve always had an awareness of negative entities. More broadly speaking, though, even on a non-religious tip, to believe in any type of ‘good’, one must believe in the existence of ‘evil’. That said, I really can’t see what all the noise is about here.

Yes, some artists’ conduct are questionable. And, yes, folks are in their rights to actively question certain things they observe (Ms. Fenty’s uber ‘dark’ image is becoming a little worrying). However, to start lumping almost every major artist and their mother as being part of some ‘evil’ cult is just ridiculous. So ridiculous, that I can’t but laugh. It’s funny, as the folk that are making the most noise are the same ones who don’t actively practice religion or aren’t religious at all. All these rumours seem to be bringing out the ‘inner preacher’ in many a gossiper (rolls eyes), who will have you believing the ‘devil’ himself  is a man who lives on Hollywood Blvd, a man who all of the industry’s top stars visit and ‘sell their souls’ to in exchange for success. I call BS.

The limited glimpse I’ve had into the ‘showbiz’ world through the opportunities I’ve had via this site, really drives home the age-old adage that  ‘not all that glitters is gold’. I can’t help but think that those saying these stars have ‘sold out to Satan’ are of the opinion that what they see in the music videos and on TV are real (i.e. luxury life, fame, money, cars aka hedonistic pleasures). It really isn’t, trust me. The reality of these stars are usually markedly different to what the Hollywood machine would have you believe is real. It is this same Hollywood machine that pumps money into artists and brands until they they reach the dizzy levels of success that seems to be triggering these accusations. It’s as if the level of stardom some artists enjoy isn’t digestible for some, hence to explain it, there has to be some kind of ‘supernatural’ element to it. Surely, it’s not that hard to swallow the fact that the media, a very powerful entity, creates (super)stars, as well as the fact that many of today’s stars do indeed work very hard on their craft, as well as their business savviness – to ensure their continued success and staying power.

While I’m not entirely downing some of the messages these religious DVD’s etc are propagating (although this CD burning thing needs to stop. You know damn well you paid good money for them!), I urge folk to not get caught up in the sensationalism of it all. If anything, if you didn’t pay attention to or question certain peculiarities before, now’s the time to switch your radar on – not just when it comes to the music industry either.  That said, singling out the most successful ones and putting their success down to some kind of ‘evil exchange’ is rather senseless IMO.

Quite eager to hear what you guys think about all this…

Your thoughts?

Jay-Z and Alicia Keys took centre stage at the The World Series today in New York during Game 2, to perform their smash ‘Empire State of Mind’. As mentioned in previous posts, I’m not as big on the song as everyone else seems to be, however will call a great performance when I see one – and great it was. Even better was the fact that Lil’ Mama was nowhere to be seen!

What do you think of the performance?

X Factor star Alexandra recently performed a set for MTV Europe’s new channel VIVA. You can watch her performance of album cut ‘They Don’t Know’ above, as well as her #1 hit ‘Bad Boys’ below:

I’m glad that she’s starting to perform more of the material from ‘Overcome’. The only problem is that that material isn’t very good

‘They Don’t Know’ left me so bored that I was hoping that the video would stop working halfway through. Alex has a great voice, but this album does not feature engaging enough material. Furthermore, although I really like ‘Bad Boys’ I’m growing a lil’ tired of watching her perform it, although it’s a plus that she’s singing it live now.

What do you think of the Alexandra’s performance?

memoirs-1

Exactly one month ago, superstar Mariah Carey released her 12th studio album ‘Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel’ with a far from fantastic debut on the Billboard charts. Not only did the record fail to capture the top spot, but it spawned the lowest first week sales of her career with only 168, 000 units sold. To date, the album has managed to sell only a dismal 275, 000 copies.

This is beyond random. ‘Obsessed’ is a certified platinum hit (which I’m sure made a certain other poster on this site gag) and the album got way better reviews than the lukewarm ‘E=MC²’. Add that to strong material and impressive live vocal performances, many thought the album would have been a huge hit.

I sense the real downfall of the album came with the choice of ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ as the “first” single (o please). The label thought it would be a guaranteed ‘stone-groove smash hit wonder’. However, just because critics favour a track does not mean that the DJ’s or radio will support it. The same thing happened with the garbage that was ‘Bye Bye’.

It’s a fact that Mariah herself was pushing for ‘H.A.T.E.U’ to be released instead, voicing her annoyance almost every time she sang ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ in concert. No wonder there have been murmurings of her planning to leave Def Jam for a while now. I’d imagine an artist of Mariah’s caliber does not like to be told what to do in the vein a random R&B chick would, especially when they are proven right. Whether this album will even go Gold remains to be seen…

What do you think went wrong?

alicia element

‘Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart’, the 2nd single to be lifted from Alicia Keys’ fourth studio album ‘The Element of Freedom’ (due December 15th), premiered a few moments ago on US radio. Produced by Jeff Bhasker, the song is surprisingly new territory for Keys, with its Synth-meets thumping Hip-Hop production. Still, Keys manages to put her own stamp on it, which results in a winner of the track. After getting somewhat bored with Alicia’s ‘samey-ness’, this is awesomely refreshing. I’m actually checking for her ‘Element of Freedom’ now. Great track.

Hit or Miss?


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According to Video Static, Janet Jackson is preparing to shoot the video for new promotional single ‘Make Me’. The cut is being used to promote her new greatest hits compilation ‘Number Ones’:

BOOKED: Janet Jackson – Robert Hales, director

To support the new Janet hits compilation, Number Ones…

artist: Janet Jackson
song: “Make Me”
label: A&M/Interscope
director(s): Robert Hales
production co: HSI
producer: Oualid Mouaness
exec producer: Coleen Haynes
commissioner: Kathy Angstadt

Go Janet! Though she’s served up better cuts in recent years, I’ve had the song on ‘repeat’ recently – the bridge is killer!

In other Janet news, we have reliable word that Ms. Jackson is *very* close to signing (or has already signed) a new record deal with Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope Records, home to Lady GaGa, Eminem, Pussycat Dolls, 50 Cent, and the Black Eyed Peas. Notice how all of the aforementioned are promoted to the high heavens. Could this be the ‘comeback’ we’ve been waiting on?

Do you think Janet can make a comeback?

Today saw the premiere of Ne-Yo’s video for ‘Never Knew I Needed’, his contribution to Disney’s animated movie ‘The Princess & The Frog: Tiana and Her Princess Friends’. Though I doubt this will be setting charts alight anywhere, hats off to Ne-Yo for expanding his market. The video itself is pretty cool too.

What do you think of the song / video?

michael jackson

With this week having ushered in the worldwide release of the hotly anticipated Michael Jackson documentary ‘This Is It’, we here at That Grape Juice want to hear what those who have seen it think of it (and boy have folk been going in their droves to see it. $2.2 million grossed in the US – on the first day!)

While, I, myself, will be seeing it sometime within the next few days, we want to know whether you think it does Michael any justice? A befitting curtain call for the King of Pop? Not seen it yet…will you be? Drop a line in the comments section…

Your thoughts?

newgagapromo

Check out this new promotional shot of Lady GaGa for album re-release ‘The Fame Monster’.

Is it me or does she look a little too thin? Just saying…

Your thoughts?

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