R&B star Brandy took to Twitter last night to reveal her new short hair-do. As usual, I’m finding it quite funny seeing some of our fellow blogger friends with headlines to the tune of ‘Brandy Chops Off Her Hair!!’ It’s her hair alright…hair she clearly has a receipt for! Obviously weave folks. This will be the Ciara ‘long-then short-then long again’ episode from a couple of months back.

Anyway, Ms. Norwood looks good with it.

Seemingly out of nowhere the debut solo single from Girls Aloud’s Cheryl Cole, ‘Fight For This Love’ premiered on BBC Radio 1 this morning. Then again, with Cole apparently holding the title of the nation’s ‘sweetheart’ and her soaring popularity on the X-Factor, now more than ever is the best time to launch her solo. Is the single actually any good then?

The R&B-tinged Pop cut isn’t the car-crash I was admittedly expecting. Cliche lyrics? Tick. Heavily processed vocals for her Cheryls waifer-thin voice? Tick. Dated sounding; would have been fresh 5 years ago? Tick. All that aside, the track is very catchy, with many a hook to make it a staple in one’s head – whether they opt for it to or not (which I guess is the desired effect). What’s more, the song seems to give a nod to Mary’s ‘Just Fine’ (“Fight, fight fight fight for this love”), KC & JoJo’s ‘All My Life’ and Kandi’s ‘Don’t Think I’m Not’ (the jingle sound).

Tidbit: Interestingly enough, Cheryl’s as-yet-untitled album is set to hit shops the very same day as X Factor winner Alexandra Burke’s debut LP (October 26), who she continues to mentor today. While I’m sure some sort of chart battle to maximise both of their sales is the objective here, I can’t see how this will help Cheryl – as it’s pretty much a cert she will come up short, with the X Factor promo machine that will inevitably propel Alex.

Beyonce celebrated her 28th birthday this past Friday. To celebrate Bey’s big day, her team put together this awesome video of friends, family and fellow celebrities including Michelle Williams, Kelly Rowland, Diddy, John Legend and Tyra Banks, wishing ol’ Bouncy a Happy Birthday.

Randomness: Say what you want about her, but IMO Ms. Knowles-Carter has cemented her place in music history. Am I alone in thinking so or…

The follow-up to the Sugababes smash ‘Get Sexy’, the Red One produced ‘About A Girl’, premiered moments ago on BBC Radio 1 Chart Show. Expectantly an uptempo, the song is an Electro-Pop fusion that seems destined for the clubs. Though lacking kinda lacking lyrically (the Independent Woman cliches are a bit OTT), the song still manages to go hard and is incredibly catchy. With a killer video (perhaps even without), I envision this being B-I-G over here.

‘Sweet 7’, the ladies aptly titled 7th studio album hits stores November 23rd.

Tidbit: Loving the “Red One…Sugababes” part!

The third week of X Factor 2009 audition stage aired last night here in the UK. Check out my 2 Pence below:

Not the best rendition I’ve heard of the song and her voice does need to mature more, but still a great effort – especially for a 17 year old.

Can’t wait!

Kelly Rowland and David Guetta took to the stage at Europe’s biggest music festival The Dome in Cologne, Germany yesterday to perform their smash ‘When Love Takes Over’. Hands-down this was Kelly best live rendition of the song. Killer vocals (for the most part) and an awesome stage presence, Ms. Kelly did the damn thing. Was literally saying ‘Kelendria Trene Rowland, you better walk!!!’ at 1.34 onwards lol. Great performance.

‘Happy’, the lead single from singing sensation Leona Lewis’ sophomore effort ‘Echo’ (due November), officially premiered today. Produced by Ryan Tedder, the power ballad plays to the star’s biggest asset – her undeniably remarkable voice, with Lewis turning in a stellar vocal performance. That said, I can’t say this one is exciting me much at all. I’m still hopeful the album serves up the good good, but this seems like at best ‘a grower’. Still, with the major promotional machine her success-to-date grants her, I’m sure this one will be a hit. Whether it genuinely deserves to be is definitely up for debate.

This week’s From The Vault pick, Gabrielle’s 1993 smash ‘Dreams’, will no doubt resonate with our UK visitors that bit more. The British songstress delivered a classic with this one if there ever was one. I was 5 when this came out and to think it still goes hard today. Love it. Check it:

Apologies about the slow-go over the last 24 hours. Have been working quite rigorously on That Grape Juice’s move over to WordPress and getting the new design in place, which I’m sure you’ll love.

Anyway, according to reputable Mariah Carey fansite Mariah Daily, the following is the official tracklist from the diva’s ‘Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel’ LP (due September 25th):

Despite my criticism of ol’ Mimi, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anticipating this one. Not for the same reason as the lambs (who I have a soft spot for LOL), who essentially eat up anything she serves up. Rather, I’m keen to see whether she can redeem herself creatively after the last dud of an album. Though I still shudder at the thought of ‘Obsessed’, which for some strange reason consistently manages to remind me of the equally atrocious ‘Touch My Body’, ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ is growing on me daily. Definitely not what it’s supposed to be as a ‘Mariah Ballad’, but is still kinda solid. Saying that, I’m a little bit more optimistic about the LP, especially after hearing the demo of ‘Up Out My Face’ – fast food music, yet pretty good sounding fast food music.

Tidbit: The album is almost entirely the work of Mariah, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. Yes, after a largely successful run together, it appears Mariah has ditched Jermaine Dupri. Ouch.

R&B crooner R. Kelly stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live this week to perform current single ‘Number One’ along with Keri Hilson. An enjoyable performance, yet something about it was just a tad off – though I can’t put my finger on what it was (a little help people)?