The nominations for the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards were announced yesterday (August 7th). Beyonce and Justin Timberlake tie for the most nominations – each clocking up an impressive seven. Following closely behind are rapper Kanye West and Rihanna, who both received five. British crossover success Amy Winehouse also racked up three nominations. The mentioned artists will all go head-to head in the main category – Video of The Year (‘Irreplaceable’, ‘What Goes Around’, ‘Stronger’, ‘Umbrella’ and ‘Rehab’). Click here to see the full list of nominations.
Performers on the night are set to include Justin Timberlake, Kanye West with Common and T-Pain, Timbaland with Keri Hilson, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Lily Allen, and Amy Winehouse. The VMA’s – as the event is commonly known- will air live on September 9th from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Though some of the nominations are kinda suspect, most of them were expected; I’m really pleased Amy Winehouse is doing great over there. Not really feeling the performers list, though – no one that would make the show unmissable.

What do you think of the nominations/performers?
It seems there may be some hope for Jennifer Lopez’s upcoming ‘Brave’ album. Upon hearing the CD’s first single ‘Hold It, Don’t Drop It’, like many, I wasn’t feeling it all that much. In a odd, but necessary move, Lopez will drop another single ‘Do It Well’ simultaneously. Evidently geared more toward the Urban market, the Ryan ‘Alias’ Tedder produced track is great and may just be what J.Lo needs to hit the top again.

Hit or Miss?

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The above pic will serve as the official promo shot for Mariah Carey’s new fragrance ‘M by Mariah Carey’. As with most of Mariah’s more recent photo-shoots (especially for the ‘Mimi’ CD), it looks like someone went wild with Photoshop – as the pic is obviously heavily edited. Not sure I’m feeling this one.

Credit: Mariah Daily

What do you think of the pic?

Just letting you all know that I’ll be heading out to LA tomorrow (probably on the plane as you’re reading). So there may be a very brief hiatus with the updates (maximum a day or so). I’m hoping to keep things afloat while I’m abroad, be sure to check back as you usually would 🙂
For those who have been in contact regarding the Jagged Edge interview etc, I’m looking to have that up before the week’s out – as well as Johnta Austin’s interview too. Also, the EA Games give-away is still running – winners and new chances to enter will be announced shortly. There are a lot of great things in the pipeline for the site (some of which I can’t say just yet), so watch this space.
Remember to keep it locked on That Grape Juice for all the latest Urban music, news, reviews and more.
After a long silence, Eddie Murphy has finally spoken out – via his publicist – on the situation with Mel B and their daughter Angel. Check the statement below:

Eddie Murphy always has and will continue to honor his responsibilities as a father. Mr. Murphy and Ms. Brown dated very briefly and never made any plans of ANY sort. He acknowledges paternity of the child Angel, and has paid child support to Ms. Brown as well as covering the expenses of her pregnancy. Mr. Murphy views this as a private matter and as such, will not be making any further comments about it.”

Source

Even if he is being genuine, this comes a little late – his image has already taken a major blow. Could the timing of this be to deflect attention from Mel’s recent showing with Eddie’s ex? LOL at him calling it a ‘private matter’. It wasn’t so ‘private’ when he publicly dumped Mel on TV.


Your thoughts?

R&B superstar Beyonce stopped by MTV’s TRL earlier this week. Amongst other things, the singer addressed her well publicized fall, her love for ‘Umbrella’ and her tour ‘The Beyonce Experience’. Granted Beyonce is a major star, it’s still funny to see grown men cry like little….{insert expletive} over her. I like her as much as the next person but by no means would I place her on the level of, say, Michael Jackson – whose fans still cry and feignt over him to this day. I immediately thought they were actors planted in the audience (I’m not hating). If genuine, I guess it’s a testament to her ever-rising level of popularity.

What do you think of the interview?

It has been reported that the on-off (and then on again) wedding between Usher and fiancee Tameka Foster took place this past Friday in the singer’s lawyer’s office. Usher’s mother Jonetta Patton – who is said to be strongly against the couple’s union – attended the ‘quiet’ ceremony. The, somewhat, controversial couple were set to exchange vows last week, however the wedding was called off with no reason given.
Now that Tameka is a permanent fixture in Usher’s life, it’ll be interesting to see how things Pan out with his career, as he’s rubbed a lot of people the wrong way in the name of this relationship.

What do you think of Usher & Tameka’s marrying?

Anyone watch this show? I was addicted to the first season and had been wondering if the show would return since it had been so long since it was last on. The all-new 20 episode season will premiere in October. I’ll definitely be checking for this one.

Will you be tuning into The Boondocks?

50 Cent stopped by BET’s 106 & Park yesterday to debut two of his new videos ‘I Gets Money’ and ‘Ayo Technology’. The G-Unit front man was also interviewed on the show; speaking on the fact that his album is dropping on the same day as Kanye’s ‘Graduation’, 50 said ‘I don’t have competition’. Considering none of 50’s singles are burning up the airwaves, I’m surprised he’s so confident about the album. It’ll sure be interesting to see who comes out on top. Anyway check out the vids of his appearance:

What do you think of the interview?

With the release of Chris Brown’s sophomore CD ‘Exclusive’ rapidly approaching (August 28th), yet another track from the set has surfaced. Featuring T-Pain, ‘Kiss Kiss’ is an ‘ok’ mid-tempo track -although it sounds kinda repetitive. Neither Chris or T-Pain take the track anywhere either. I’ve felt a lot Chris’ new material to be real hit and miss; if he’s to avoid the ‘sophomore slump’ the album really needs to deliver – which I’m not sure if it will.

 

Hit or Miss?

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US cable network Black Entertainment Television (BET) is to launch in the UK – it has officially been announced. The network’s owner Viacom has outlined plans for the station – which will operate as a 24-hour general entertainment channel – to debut in Britain towards the end of this year. As well as US programming such as College Hill, 106 & Park, the annual BET Awards and Lil’ Kim — Countdown to Lockdown, BET UK will feature homegrown content also. {Source}
It’s about time! LOL. For real though, I’m so pleased that BET is returning to the UK. I say ‘returning’ as I remember the channel used to be broadcast here in the mid-90’s (when I was little) but disappeared. Urban TV networks over here are few and far between, with MTV Base being the main one, so BET will be a welcome addition.
Any thoughts?
R&B star Kelly Rowland performed a mini-concert as part of the Early Show Concert Series in Dallas yesterday. Though she performed a number of songs, the televised performances were of new single ‘Comeback’, ‘Bad Habit’ and ‘Like This’. Check Out the performances:

Comeback

Bad Habit

Like This

More vids:

Interview

No, No, No

Dilemma

Aside from a few vocal snags, Kelly did her thing – I especially liked the ‘Comeback’ and ‘Bad Habit’ performances. In other, somewhat puzzling, Kelly news, ‘Ghetto’ from her ‘Ms. Kelly’ CD is going for adds at Urban radio. I’m kinda baffled as to why, when ‘Comeback’ has been confirmed as the official next US single (with a video already shot too). My only guess would be that the label want to put out as much possible from the album – video or not?

What do you think of the performances?
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