Teen stars Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown performed their hit ‘No Air’ on American Idol last night. For all it’s success, the song doesn’t really move me – ok, at best. About the performance, Jordin sounded great; Chris, however, has had better days.

What do you think of the performance?

According to reports, R&B star Estelle is receiving pressure from her US label to make changes to her appearance:

US label Atlantic Records wants Estelle to have surgery on her teeth to help her break into the American charts, say reports.

Her bosses also want her to ditch the boyish haircut she has in her ‘American Boy’ video and would like to give her image a complete overhaul, according to The Sun.

“The American executives are adamant she makes a lot of significant changes,” said a source. “They want rid of her tomboy hair and want her to get her teeth fixed.

“Estelle is not happy. She feels her teeth and the rest of her look are a big part of her character.”

The R&B star has spent the last three weeks at number one on the UK singles chart.

{Source}

The truth of the matter is anyone’s guess, however it does raise a few interesting questions. Do you feel Estelle should comply with what the label want of her or refuse? Is this another (unfortunate) case of image over talent?

Your thoughts?

Mariah Carey was one of the many acts who performed at the Idol Gives Back 2008, which aired yesterday. Check out her rendition of her inspirational song ‘Fly Like A Bird (from the ‘Emancipation):

She nailed it! Great performance. ‘Fly Like A Bird’ stands as one of my personal favorite Mimi songs of all time, so it’s always good to see her do the track justice live. I’m on the fence as to whether there was some ‘studio wizardry’ used during the last part, but oh well, it sounded on-point and seemed live for the majority.

What do you think of the performance?

Following the news of TVT Records bankruptcy back in February, many have been wondering about the status of R&B singer Teedra Moses – who was signed to the label. The critically acclaimed songstress has addressed her current situation in a recent interview with All Hip Hop Alternatives:

Then I’d have a situation where I’m not well promoted, and they really couldn’t facilitate that at the time. So it was a blessing. Part of me was like “Yeah!’’ and the other part was like “Dang!” But it is what it is.

AHHA: Before they went into bankruptcy, I’m sure you had a lot of meetings with them about the album and the release date. What reasons were they giving you about why the album had to keep getting pushed back?

Teedra: Our communication was just horrible. The person I was dealing with [from TVT] was Brian Leech. He was the A&R that came to the studio and listened to what you were doing. Through him I was able to communicate with the label.

I’m not the type of person that can easily sit in the midst of all the technical stuff. I try to stay away from all that so I can be creative and do what I do without the restraints of thinking about what [A&Rs] have to do. That’s why I have people around for those jobs.

So once Brian left, there was really no way to communicate with them as an artist. There was no music person there. There were a couple other A&Rs, but they used to be assistants. There was no music person to really communicate with that could understand the vision I had.

You have to have that person to translate the vision to the label. It was a hard situation because everything was in disarray, and after Brian left, everything just started to fall apart. There were a lot of people underneath Brian that left too, and it kinda fell apart, unfortunately.

AHHA: So are you a complete free agent at this point?

Teedra: Not exactly; I’m not off TVT yet, but it’s something I’m moving towards. It’s very, very near.

It’s great to see that Teedra is moving forward. Like many, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of her sophomore effort ‘The Young Lioness’. Here’s hoping we’re able to hear it soon.

Any thoughts?

Pop superstar Janet Jackson was snapped arriving in Japan early this morning. The singer is over there for 3 days to promote her current album ‘Discipline’, which debuted at # 1 in the US upon its release back in February. It’s one of the few times Janet has been seen since recovering from a serious bout of the Flu, which halted the US promotion of the record. Upon the completion of this stop, it’s expected that full blown promotion for her anticipated tour will commence.

Your thoughts?