Last week it was confirmed that Whitney Houston’s comeback album is titled ‘I Look To You’. The set features productions from the likes of Ne-Yo, Akon, Swizz Beats, Dianne Warren and R. Kelly who penned the album’s title track.

I remember watching the above clip little over a year ago, which sees the R&B crooner singing the song, confirming he wrote for it Whitney’s LP. Kelly will, I’m sure, be glad the cut has been placed on the final record for 2 main reasons: 1) he will be part of something the world is waiting for and, 2) “Ka-Ching!!!” Should Whitney’s album be the seller many are predicting it will be, a major paycheque for controversial Kelly would be in store.

About the actual track, I’m loving it! Can’t wait to hear Whitney’s take on it. That said, while I appreciate all Whitney’s been through, I’m hoping the album isn’t all ‘inspirational’ ballads. Ballader or otherwise, Whitney is very versatile and can churn out some winning contemporary uptempos too (See: ‘It’s Not Right, But It’s Ok’, ‘If I Told You That’, ‘Whatchulookinat’).

‘I Look To You’ hits stores on September 1st via Arista.

Your thoughts?

Like many, I sat there at 5am Monday morning UK time wondering why the hell I’d just wasted almost 4 hours of my life watching the BET Awards 2009 and it’s half-a**ed ‘tribute’ to the undisputed King of Pop – something only Janet’s appearance helped put into perspective.

What’s going on world. I haven’t really blogged much since getting this account, save for putting my video work up, but after last nights BET Awards I had to say something. So many thoughts ran threw my mind last night after I watched the awards and here they are.

I did not work the BET Awards. I was there with the DP that I worked with on Girlfriends and I was there observing the show rehearsals from the control room. As you all know I go hard on twitter and the reason for a lot of my excitement was due to what I saw in rehearsal. I was one of the few people that saw the rehearsals prior to the show airing and for some reason or another a lot changed from what was originally supposed to air.

Here is what changed. Alica Keys and Wyclef were supposed to sing “Heal The World” after they accepted their humanitarian award. Beyonce was first going to sing Smooth Criminal then they changed it to I’ll Be There/Halo and then she sang something from her own album the day of the show “Ava Marie”. T-pain rehearsed signing “Rock With You” and that was on show rundown as well. I’m kinda glad he didn’t sing that though. Then on top of all of this, of course there was the Chris Brown drama. As of Friday Chris Brown was slated to perform and he was going to sing “Man In The Mirror”. I’ve heard a lot of rumors as to why he didn’t the most talked about one being that Jay-z had him pulled from the show. Not sure if that’s true but I will say this. Beyonce, Jay-Z, Al Sharpton, Joe Jackson and some of the Jackson family all sat in the front row in the same row. Jay-Z and Al Sharpton have said publicly that they do not support Chris in this situation and that they sided with Rihanna. Entertainment is way more political than a lot of you may know and the mere fact that he did not perform caused such a big distraction could you imagine what may have happened if he did. This night should have been all about MJ.

With that said I would have tweeted during the show but my phone died and all I left you with was feelings of excitement about the show. I am a director but first and foremost I am a fan of a lot of these artists and I was sitting in the crowd enjoying great music like everyone else. If my phone didn’t die trust me my messages would have been a lot different.

First off I love Jamie Foxx and I think he is an amazing talent. With that said I do feel that he promoted his concerts too much and him and Neyo performed way too many times. There are too many talented performers in the industry to have them sing three or four songs each. You can tell they didn’t have much time to rehearse as he constantly asked if the feed was on and he walked off stage numerous times when he was supposed to be on stage. That’s more of a timing thing and with two days to get ready I’ll give them a pass.

In regards to the performances. I loved the old school soul music tributes with Guy, Keith Sweat and New Edition. I loved Beyonce, Jay-z, Maxwell, The Young Ojay’s and the new Ojays. I thought Tevin Campbell was random as hell and I have no idea why he performed. I think that was supposed to be Chris Brown’s spot because on the production schedule it just had special guest named in that segment.

Here is what I hated about the awards. In regards to the lack of the presenters announcing the nominees at the time I thought was warranted but looking back it seemed rushed and awkward. I hated Don Cornelius being anywhere near a mic and I also found it odd that so many people swore when they knew the show was live. The Baby Boy skit was in bad taste and Ving Rhames…I mean what the hell was he doing. There were way more MJ tributes and cover scheduled that for one reason or another just didn’t happen. There was no news about The Game as much as they re-run the episodes and with them possibly acquiring the show I would have thought the cast would have at least presented an award. Why the hell did Young Money bring out all those kids when they where singing about fucking every girl in the world? Jamie went to the top of the balcony and did a segment with the fans everyone seemed so ghetto. Everyone was mugging for the camera, holding up CD’s and calling their boys, SMH These were the times during the show that I actually covered my face in embarrassment.

There were some positives. I love that BET honored people that weren’t entertainers and celebrities doctors, mayors, lawyers etc. Our young people need to know that you don’t have to be a rapper and an actor to be successful. A man proposed to his girlfriend during one of the commercial break, I wonder if it aired? Jamie Foxx was funny as a host and his MJ outfits were on point. Janet Jackson at the end. She was so strong for doing that. That alone made the show worth it.

All in all I am still a huge fan of awards shows, I mean, where else can you see 20 different performances in one night. I feel like BET tried to do too much and maybe they should have either dedicated an entire segment to Mike or did an entire show all about him. I definitely jumped the gun with my excitement for the show but if you would have saw what I saw then you would have said the same things I did. I so also think that it’s a different experience seeing something live rather than on TV but it is what it is. I truly hope that BET steps there game up next time and they learn from this experience.

Thanks for reading

-Matthew “Mac” Cherry

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This really explains a whole lot. Nonetheless, I have yet to find valid justification for Beyonce’s performance being changed, as well as Chris Brown not performing. Jamie Foxx has since gone on to say this was to ‘protect’ Brown. I call BS, as – without sounding cut-throat -if there was one time where Chris Brown’s recent drama wouldn’t have been at the center of media scrutiny or even relevant it would be now – a time when the world is dealing with the loss of the greatest entertainer of our time. That said, the age old adage does indeed go ‘what’s done is done’. Here’s hoping BET commission a full-fledged Tribute show sometime down the line.

Your thoughts?

As Britney Spears continues to break records with her hugely successful ‘Circus’ tour, the 28 year old’s latest video ‘Radar’ premiered today. Serving as the 4th release from her Platinum selling ‘Circus’ LP, the clip – to put it rather bluntly – was a bore-fest. Of course, first springing to mind is the fact that there was no choreography – which considering Britney’s recent showings was perhaps for the best. Above all, the actually video, it’s concept and execution missed the mark IMO.

I don’t feel it fair to judge all artists in the same vein, after all each have their own strengths. Hence Ms. Spears gets an ‘OK’ from me, and I’m sure several others, based on all she’s been through. I’m kinda looking at this period as her rediscovering her mojo. However, should she still not have re-learned how to dance and ‘bring it’ overall on her next project, a full-time mother vacancy might just be one she should take up. Harsh? Perhaps. Yet, watching her churn out mediocrity, knowing what she was once capable of, IMO kinda tarnishes whatever legacy she is to leave (See also: Mariah Carey).

What do you think of the video?

The video for the second single from LeToya’s ‘Lady Love’ LP, ‘She Ain’t Got’ premiered a few hours ago. Directed by Bryan Barber the clip marks the first time we’ve seen the singer take the uptempo route for a single and it works fantastically. Put simply, Ms. Luckett nailed it. Though I’m a little on the fence about the budget (then again, there’s a recession going on), the video does an awesome job of capturing the ferocious essence of the song. The attitude, the swagger, the choreography…all really good. Here’s hoping this the gas which gets her project moving. ‘Lady Love’ hits stores August 25th.

Tidbit: This is exactly how I envisioned the ‘All Eyes On Me’ video from LeToya’s debut. While some of LeToya’s mid-tempo’s are standouts, I must say I really prefer her uptempo offerings.

What do you think of the video?

Recent events meant the surfacing of Mariah’s album cover for ‘Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel’ kinda went under the radar. Check it out below, it looks very Mariah circa 1997. I like:

Your thoughts?

Amidst the tragedy which struck the world this past week, the video for Jay-Z’s much talked about new single ‘Death of Autotune’ premiered. I’m really feeling this one; how long has it been since a mainstream rapper came as hard as this, with something actually worthwhile to say? Good stuff.

What do you think of the video?

As the shocking death of The King of Pop Michael Jackson continues to reverberate around the globe, new pictures of the icon rehearsing for his ill-fated London ‘This Is It’ shows – just 2 days before his passing – have emerged. As sad as this whole episode is, it’s somewhat uplifting IMO to see MJ happy doing what he does best. Tour promoters AEG Live have confirmed that they have a full dress rehearsal of the show filmed. There is mounting speculation that a live DVD/CD of the show, and an accompanying live audio album of the set may be released at some point. Here’s hoping it does. {Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/AEG/WireImage.com}

What do you think of the pics?

As many of you know, the BET Awards 2009 took place last night at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Long time readers will know that with the big award shows, That Grape Juice are at the forefront with live coverage and performance videos. However, with Michael’s passing really hitting me (and millions) to the core, the show kinda took a backseat in my mind, only regaining my interest when it began to be advertised as a Michael Jackson Tribute Show following The King of Pop’s sudden death. Check out the night’s performances below:

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Despite last night’s BET Awards being pretty much an exploitative joke (I won’t even get into that…shameful), the most poignant part of the show was when Janet Jacksoon took to the stage as a representative of the Jackson family. Fighting back the tears, the star paid homage to her brother Michael Jackson – declaring that his legacy will live on forever.

So, so sad.

Your thoughts?