Mariah Carey performed a special ‘Stripped’ set for radio Power 105.1 in New York recently. Check out her performances of ‘Always Be My Baby’, ‘We Belong Together’, and ‘H.A.T.E.U’ below (the ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ performance isn’t on Youtube yet):

Always Be My Baby

We Belong Together

H.A.T.E. U

I actually really enjoyed these performances; that said I am wondering whether it’s because it largely consisted of older material, which she actually sounded pretty decent singing today (I had a ‘festive’ nostalgic moment listening to ‘Always Be My Baby”. Love it). Watching these though, I can’t help but think Mariah looks a little unhappy. Now never one’s to start mess, I am by no means insinuating anything (and it could simply be due to already knowing certain things i.e. that her LP ‘Memoirs’ is tanking), but something seems a little ‘off’ with her these days. On somewhat of a lighter note, Ms. Carey-Cannon clearly could not move in that dress, which – as much as I’m an advocate for loving your God-given body – was uber ill-fitting. Not a good look. Respectable vocal performances nonetheless.

What do you think of the performances?

‘The wait is finally over’, according to Rihanna’s PR folk (although I’m a little confused though, as no one told me I was waiting on anything). In any case, Rihanna’s brand new single ‘Russian Roulette’, the first from new LP ‘Rated R’ (due November 23rd) made it’s worldwide premiere moments ago. As a sceptic of Rihanna’s artistry and longevity, I’d be lying if I said I went into listening to this expecting it to be any good.

Unfortunately, true-to-form, Ms. Fenty did not live up to her hype (which is surprisingly off-the-charts this time, for what reason I don’t know). The Ne-Yo penned track sounds as if it’s trying to sound ‘epic’, but falls kinda short. Ballads really aren’t her forte, so it baffles me why they didn’t go with something more her (i.e. uptempo, sing-songy).

In the interest of fairness, Ms. Fenty’s vocals, in parts, do sound better. Mind you, I’m not convinced we’ve heard the last of her sheep-bleating (I’ve still got many a prayer meeting to attend before that ever happens). That said, off the hype alone, I imagine this will do pretty well. Hell, I’ll probably be humming this one once the Def Jam promo machine is done (ever heard of the phrase: “eat sh*t enough times and you’ll begin to like the taste!”). Errr…welcome back Ms. Fenty…

Hit or Miss?

[Audio Removed As Requested]

Full album press release after the jump! (more…)

In what has to be one of the more bizarre Tyra Show episodes I’ve ever seen, yesterday’s show tackled the topic of women who abuse their male partners. I won’t spoil it, but this is definitely a must-see.

I sure as hell don’t condone violence either way, but some of this was seriously disturbing; particularly the fact Ms. Kendra looked like she was gonna whoop her guy when they got home!

Your thoughts?

R&B star Chris Brown has released exclusive pictures from the set of his new video for ‘I Can Transform Ya’ on his blog Mechanical Dummy. With Joseph Khan at the directorial helm and Chris being such a great performer, I’m expecting big things from this video – something which judging by the pics will be a reality. Expect the vid to premiere  any time from now!!!

Your thoughts?

Peep this recent interview which Diddy and Dirty Money did with Atalnta radio host Ryan Cameron. During the interview, former Bad Boy star Mase (who has become quite controversial over the years) ‘gate-crashed’ the interview with his Bad Boy release papers in hand, with the intent for Diddy to sign them. You can watch what went down above.

Hilarious! It was oh-so-evident that there isn’t the best of vibes between Diddy and Mase, and it really seemed like a last ditch effort on Mase’s part (or so it seemed) after being ignored for so long (???). Either way, next in queue should be Day26, Cherri Dennis and the rest of the Danity Kane chicks (’cause you best believe Diddy must have them under some restricting contract/settlement still).

Your thoughts?

It was confirmed today that Pop superstar Janet Jackson will make her return to the stage here in the UK at the Capital FM Jingle Ball on December 6th at London’s  famed 02 venue. Jackson, 43, will perform a full-set at the hotly anticipated two-day event, which will also see performances from Lady GaGa, Ne-Yo, Shakira, Jordin Sparks, JLS, The Saturdays, and The Noisette’s. (Pretty good line-up, right? A shame they decide to announce this when tickets have completely sold out!  SMH…) {Source}

This will no doubt come as great news for Janet’s UK followers, who have seen her increasingly less over the years and not seen her perform in even longer. According to a Twitter post by Janet literally as I was about to hit ‘post’, she picked her new team of dancers this past weekend. It very much seems as though Janet is coming back full force with her upcoming projects (‘Number #1’s’ LP and her new album). Word has it there is to be a ‘Make Me’ video, as well as a possible performance on X-Factor toward the year’s end. Exciting times to be a Janet fan.

Your thoughts?

Review in a bit…(yes really!)…

In the meanwhile, let us know

What YOU think about the video…

(Bare with my guys with the reviews, I have a surprise for you, which will make all the ‘reviews in a bit’ all the more understandable. Hold tight…you’re gonna love it!)

Review in a bit…(yes really!)…

In the meanwhile, let us know

What YOU think about the video…

(Bare with my guys with the reviews, I have a surprise for you, which will make all the ‘reviews in a bit’ all the more understandable. Hold tight…you’re gonna love it!)

R&B star Ciara tore down the house at Justin Timberlake’s charity concert in Las Vegas over the weekend. Backed by a troop of female dancers, the 23 year old performed hits ‘Love Sex Magic’ (w/ Timberake), ‘Goodies’ and ‘1, 2 Step’. To say she killed it, would be an understatement; she continues to prove why she is one of the best performers (notice I didn’t say ‘singers’) out today. Here’s hoping the sales of her upcoming 4th album (which she is working on exclusively with Tricky Stewart and The-Dream), reflect this. I mean, though not amazing, ‘Fantasy Ride’ deserved to perform better.

Tidbit: As a Janet stan fan, I can’t help but (and I know I’ll get some stick for this) wish she’d give me them ‘WOW’ moments that Ciara has been doing consistently in her videos and performances since ‘Promise’. Come on la Jan, ‘crank it up, give it to me some more, crank it up, give it to me some more’….

What do you think of the performance?

Alexandra Burke hit up T4 over the weekend to perform her smash ‘Bad Boys’, which rocketed to the top spot on Sunday (besting Leona Lewis’ ‘Bleeding Love’ numbers in the process).
Refreshing to see here was the fact that Alexandra was clearly singing live here, as evidenced by her imperfectness of the vocal (it was a great vocal showing nonetheless). As ever, Ms. Burke served up the business with this one. Great performance!

Your thoughts?

Legendary diva and comeback queen Whitney Houston took to the stage on tonight’s X-Factor results show to perform new single ‘Million Dollar Bill (Freemasons Mix)’. As with most things ‘Whitney’ these days, her appearance on the show was almost exclusively the main talking point on everybody’s lips.

As for the actual performance, I really, really enjoyed this. Ms. Houston commanded that stage like the unashamed diva that she is. Work! Her  energy and overall stage presence were so off-the-charts that they compensated for the still-rather-good (for 2009 Whitney) vocals. In what I hope doesn’t become a big deal, Nippy’s ‘wardrobe malfunction’ was in reality a minor and she continued on like the professional she is, poking fun at it at the end.

The interview at the end, upon watching it live, had me (and a whole lot of other folk) giving a collective ‘What in the blue hell?’ For whatever the reason, Ms. Houston wasn’t quite ‘with it’, this evidenced by her not having much of  clue when the album was to be released, the constant looking at the floor, fidgety composure, and the lengthy gap in answering some of the questions. That said, I do not agree with some of whispers-turned-loud accusations that Whitney is back to her troubled times. I strongly doubt it’s that. I guess only she know’s the reading. However, after talking everything there is to talk about with Oprah, it’d be great if her team did a Britney Spears and limit the talking/doing interviews and have her just perform.

What do you think of the performance?

Review coming in a few mins…

In the meanwhile…

What do you think of the performance?