UK singer Alexandra Burke brought some high fashion to the Holiday season in these photographs. The images were shot for Sunday’s issue of UK periodical ‘News of the World’. Check out more of her winter wonderfulness below:

What do you think of the pics?

Hip-Hop icon Jay-Z and his apprentice Rihanna took the stage last evening at the Rockefeller Center in New York City. The event was filmed for ‘NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly’ and will air on December 31st at 10pm on the network. Peep more photos of the performances below:

What do you think of the pictures?

Your thoughts?

As the thousands of votes are being tallied for the 3rd Annual That Grape Juice Awards, we here at your favourite site are taking the opportunity to reflect on an amazing decade in music history. In a period that saw the industry reach all-time highs and lows, there is no denying that there has been an eruption of quality material in the last 10 years.

We here at That Grape Juice are eager to hear your picks for the top 7 best artists, singles, videos and albums of the 00s. Here are our selections below (in no particular order):

Trent’s choices

Artists

Beyonce

Kanye West

Alicia Keys

Jay-Z

Mariah Carey

Missy Elliot

Eminem

Singles

Mariah Carey – ‘We Belong Together’

Beyonce – ‘Crazy In Love’

Jay-Z – ’99 Problems’

Britney Spears – ‘Me Against The Music (Ft. Madonna)’

Kanye West – ‘Jesus Walks’

Missy Elliot – ‘Work It’

Coldplay – ‘Clocks’

Videos

Lady GaGa – ‘Bad Romance’

Beyonce – ‘Single Ladies’

Rihanna – ‘Disturbia’

Missy Elliot – ‘Get Ur Freak On’

Kanye West – ‘Jesus Walks’ (the desert version)

Coldplay – ‘Viva La Vida’

Aaliyah – ‘We Need A Resolution’

Albums

Mariah Carey – ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’

Jay-Z – ‘The Black Album’

Kanye West  – ‘The College Dropout’

Alicia Keys – ‘The Diary of Alicia Keys’

Jay-Z – ‘The Blueprint’

Ludacris – ‘Chicken-n-Beer’

Missy Elliot – ‘Under Construction’

Sam’s choices

Artists

Destiny’s Child

Fantasia

Janet Jackson

R. Kelly

Beyonce

Usher

Lady GaGa

Singles

Beyonce – ‘Crazy In Love’

Michael Jackson – ‘Butterflies’

Janet Jackson – ‘Feedback’

Mariah Carey – ‘We Belong Together’

Destiny’s Child – ‘Lose My Breath’

Mary J. Blige – ‘Be Without You’

Ciara – ‘Promise’

Videos

Michael Jackson – ‘You Rock My World’

Toni Braxton – ‘He Wasn’t Man Enough’

Lady GaGa – ‘Bad Romance’

Ciara – ‘Promise’

Beyonce – ‘Single Ladies’

Missy Elliot – ‘Work It’

Beyonce – ‘Crazy In Love’

Albums

Fantasia – ‘Fantasia’

Teedra Moses – ‘Complex Simplicity’

Tamia – ‘Between Friends’

Mariah Carey – ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’

Amerie – ‘Because I Love It’

John Legend – ‘Get Lifted’

Usher – ‘Confessions’

*Sorry…but had to add another…*

Lil’ Kim – ‘The Naked Truth’

Your picks?

Holding true to our promise of keeping things fresh here at That Grape Juice (v.2.0 baby!), we bring you ‘Cover Star’. Completing our current feature-list (From The Vault, Back In The Beat etc), Cover Star will each week showcase regular folk’s rendition of your favourite tracks. Recent history has shown the web to be the place to discover new talent – talent which is undeniably out there in abundance. So what better way to give shine to undiscovered talent than on your favourite site and mine – That Grape Juice!

This week’s Cover Star(s) are 17 year old sisters Ivana and Jessica‘s  from Fontana, California. The talented duo serve up their own unique version of Lady GaGa’s ‘Bad Romance’ – which fuses together tight vocal harmonies and beat-boxing. Check it out:

Once word…FIRE!

For more on Ivana & Jessica, check out their Youtube page

Your thoughts?

While Heidi, Amelle, and Jade, otherwise known as the Sugababes, continue to tweak their serially delayed ‘Sweet 7’ LP, their rendition of Christmas hit ‘Santa Baby’ has surfaced in full. The song is set for an iTunes release on December 21st.

Despite my reservations about the group, it’s hard to deny that the nailed it on this one. Great vocals (especially Jade), tight harmonies and an all-round refreshing take on an old classic. Good stuff.

Hit or Miss?

R&B diva Mary J. Blige appeared a guest appearance on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ last evening. The singer performed ‘I Am’ from for upcoming ‘Stronger With Each Tear’ LP which hits stores on December 21st. To date the track has peaked at #67 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #18 on the Hip-Hop/R&B chart. Check out her interview with Jimmy  Kimmel below:

Thoughts?

The video for Omarion’s latest single ‘Hoodie’ premièred a few moments ago. Said to be dedicated to the King of Pop Michael Jackson, the clip isn’t bad at all. We oft have much to say about Omarion, but there’s no denying he’s a ridiculously talented dancer – a fact really driven home even more so in this video. Also worth a mention is how much I’m liking the overall visual of the video; the gritty, cinematic-like feel he evidently was going for, really works.

That said, I can’t say the song or the way Omarion’s been ‘singing’ as of late (talk-rapping with an awkward vocoder effect) really move me in anyway. It’s as if there’s this wealth of potential with Omari, yet he never quite gets it right.

In any case, his new LP ‘Ollusion’ hits stores January 12th 2010.

What do you think of the song/video?

Today is the last day to enter our That Grape Juice: Christmas Give-Away! As well as a few secret prizes, we’ve added Alicia Keys’ ‘The Element of Freedom’ and Janet Jackson ‘Number Ones’ to the mix.

Click here to enter!

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Many thanks to the THOUSANDS of you who have already voted in the That Grape Juice: End of Year Awards 2009. If you have yet to do so, or want to vote again…

Click here to vote!

* In keeping an eye on the tally, I must say some of the artists in the lead of some categories are quite surprising!

R&B star Usher and his estranged wife Tameka Foster put aside their differences to celebrate their son Naviyd‘s 1st birthday. The Eygyptian themed party (Camel ride en toe!) looked like fun for everyone. It’s great to see Usher and Tameka not allow their personal differences to affect their children. Good stuff. {Spotted over at The YBF}

Your thoughts?

Drama-plagued group Day26 sensationally kicked out member Que, the singer revealed on his Twitter page moments ago. While little was initially known about the reason for his ousting, Que, 21, posted the following:

wow..im soo hurt RT now i just recieved a letter from day26 saying they r moving foward without me…im so confused..what did i do?

Later adding…

ONCE again (truth) all i wanted was a audit of finances for management & instead management put me out..i love day26 & i wish them the best.

Quick to respond to the relatively shocking news was member Willie, who hit up WGCI radio to offer his explanation as to what went down:

WOW! Can any of these groups ever actually stay together? The worse thing is, if there’s one thing Day26 needed as at now it was stability; as, despite their recent label move, without the Making the Band machine, folks just haven’t been checking for them like that. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out moving forward. Will Day26 last the distance? What will become of Que? Questions, questions, questions…

Your thoughts?

Your favourite Bajan model and mine, Rihanna, is once again on this side of the pond promoting her ‘Rated R’ project, tonight performing current single ‘Russian Roulette’ on BBC’s Jonathan Ross show.

Shocked as some of you may be, I actually really enjoyed this performance. While I still believe the inconsistency in her live vocals holds her back from being taken all that seriously, it’s hard to deny she did the damn thing in this live showing. Ms. Fenty’s vocals have indeed come a quite a long way; despite it taking 4 albums to learn to sing on-key, she eventually is getting there. Baby steps.

What do you think of the performance?