ibloggie

The singer who gave birth to twins Max and Emme last February recently admitted that her upcoming release was very profoundly inspired by the fact that she became a mother. Jennifer Lopez said: “I worked on music while I was pregnant and while I was at home, but now to really get into it and focus on it and to finish the project is exciting. You can’t help but put not only your kids into it, but to put anything you are going through in your music. That’s the only thing you can really sing or write is stuff that you know. The more music you make and the more that you get into it and the more you write, the more you realize that’s all you can write.” Jennifer Lopez probably has a good point here… and given the preponderance of but a few themes in popular music these days, it would seem that singers really have very limited life experiences, wouldn’t it?

21st Century Breakdown, Green Day’s highly-anticipated eighth studio album, was released worldwide on Friday May 15th, by Reprise Records. The album is the follow-up to 2004’s two-time Grammy Award-winning punk-rock opera American Idiot, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, spawned five hit singles, and went on to sell more than 12 million copies worldwide.

The album’s first single, “Know Your Enemy” is already capturing the imagination of listeners across the country. It has been No. 1 at Alternative radio for three weeks and is the band’s ninth No. 1 single at the format, making them the artist with the second most No. 1’s of all-time at Alternative.

Green Day, which is singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool, are preparing to launch their first proper tour of the United States and Canada in more than three years. The tour begins July 3rd at Seattle’s Key Arena and will cross North America through the summer, including a July 27th stop at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, before finishing up with a show at the Forum in Los Angeles on August 25th. Please visit greenday.com for all cities, venues, and ticket on-sale dates.

Kate Voegele’s sophomore release, A Fine Mess, is available Now! The Mike Elizondo (Maroon 5, Natasha Bedingfield) produced album features the single “99 Times” and is currently streaming in full on Kate’s MySpace page. Like what you hear? Amazon MP3 is offering a great deal to grab the entire album for only $2.99. Follow these simple instructions to get the discounted tracks from Kate’s album page on MySpace.

Eminem’s new video for “We Made You” started playing on MTV today.

He mocks Lindsay and SaMan, Aniston & Mayer, Sarah Palin, Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke, Amy and Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake just to name a few.

This isn’t exactly the most “relevant” video- it’s still slightly amusing, and makes a lewd time capsule for 2008.

He’s looking good though.

I’m not a fan of using Old English script in all caps, or the over-done making fun of Kardassian a**, bald Brett Michaels, Star Trek bits and the “Jailhouse Rock” homage. When Em first came out it was edgy to say crass things about people but now it just seems so dated.

It’s hilarious that Em thinks he is way more relevant than the people he is trying to make fun of!

Carrie Underwood came away with the night’s top honors at the 2009 Academy Of Country Music Awards held at the MGM Grand tonight in Las Vegas.

She won Top Female Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year (a fan-voted category this year), winning over Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and George Strait.

Carrie did a shout out to her boyfriend hockey player Mike Fisher during her acceptance speech saying:

“My baby, I wish you were here!”

Carrie also sang her hit song “I Told You So” and looked stunning in a fabulous crimson dress, which cascaded like a waterfall over half of the stage. Check out her performance below:

Taylor Swift stopped by the Jay Leno show this past Thursday night and performed her hit song “You Belong With Me” along with her friend and guitarist Grant this past Thursday night. So many girls can relate to this song.

She said she was running behind schedule to the Hannah Montana premiere. Afterwards, she and pals Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato hit the red carpet.

Taylor tweeted:

“Leno, Access Hollywood, Hannah Montana movie premiere. That’s 5 dresses in one day. I love it.”

Taylor has said that she has no regrets talking publicly about being dumped by Joe Jonas- he had broken things off with her during a 25-second phone call.

She wrote “Forever and Always”, and told Seventeen during an interview that she still plans to continue writing music about her personal experiences and situations:

“Writing songs about people is the only way I know how to do things. I mean, I can’t wish I hadn’t written a song about someone, because if I hadn’t, that song wouldn’t exist, I just don’t find any joy in writing about things I haven’t been through. Right now, my favourite thing to write about is love. And break-ups. And boys. And feelings.”

Lady GaGa is now in the elite category of artists who have reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with their first two chart entries. “Poker Face” just rose from 2-1. The New York born artist whose birth name is Stefani Germanotta, was at the top of the list for three weeks with her hit single, “Just Dance” in January.

It’s been 10 years since Christina Aguilera made her mark with a set of Hot 100 chart-toppers for “Genie in a Bottle” (1999) and “What a Girl Wants” (2000).

In the women’s category, Lady GaGa is the fourth female artist in the last 25 years to launch with a couple of Number 1 singles and now takes her place alongside Aguilera, Mariah Carey (1990) and Tiffany (1987).

“Poker Face” has also risen to the top of Hot Digital Songs, where it shifts 206,000 downloads in its 14th week on the chart, and riose from 6-5 on Hot 100 Airplay.

David Cook (last year’s winner on American Idol) is working with AT&T to premiere a sneak peek of his much-awaited new music video, “Come Back To Me,” during a commercial break of American Idol’s Wednesday show (April 1) @ 8PM ET/PT on FOX.

It will also be available for viewing after:

– AT&T wireless customers can obtain a link to watch on their cell phones via AT&T Cellular Video (CV) by texting “COOK” to “8008.”
– AT&T U-Verse customers can access it through their Video On Demand (VOD) menu
– Or it can be viewed online at music.att.net

Ciara teams up with Justin Timberlake in her sexy new video for her latest single, ‘Love Sex Magic,’ from her newest album, Fantasy Ride. The video is inspired by the burlesque shows at Las Vegas’ Crazy Horse Too cabaret club, with Ciara showing off her amazing moves to JT.

Ciara told Popeater:

“Justin plays a voyeur in the video, so he pretty much watches me while I’m performing, “[I'm] doing different things with my body and I’m like ‘imagine if it was really me talking sexy to you like that.’ I’m playing with the imagination a little bit, just having fun.”

Fantasy Ride is her third solo album and features appearances by Timberlake, T-Pain, Young Jeezy, Ne-Yo and Ludacris. It drops in stores on May 5.

Working with Timberlake pretty much guarantees a hit, so well done Ciara!

Natasha Bedingfield and businessman Matt Robinson were married in a 30 minute ceremony on Saturday at the Church Estates Vineyards in Malibu. The location overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is the same place where Fergie and Josh Duhamel wed earlier this year.

Natasha told US Magazine:

“Our wedding day was everything we’d hope it would be. It was simple, beautiful and natural. Free from trappings or formalities, it was more about expressing our love for one another in front of those we hold dearest to us than anything else.”

She wore a cream silk Vera Wang dress and H Stern jewelry; her groom wore Armani. The small bridal party consisted of the couple’s closest friends and family.

Their friends David and Robin of Go West, organized the ceremony, which featured flowers arranged by another close friend, Rene Gonera. There were about 150 guests who attended.

Said Natasha,

“We are now very much looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together. Love is hard to find, so when you do find it, hang on to it!”

Bedingfield’s albums include “Unwritten,” “N.B.” and “Pocketful of Sunshine.”

Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Here is Britney’s new video “If You Seek Amy”

I think of seen this video-style from her like… 15 times now? The munchkin-techno vocals, sexy gazing into the camera, the strutting back and forth. Her lack of creativity has become so stunningly obvious!

Spelling “bad words” is amusingly juvenile in grade school. Is she’s trying to make her music kid-friendly? I probably would have found the “hidden meaning” of this song hilarious if I was 16 and foolish, but I’m not so I didn’t.

Check out her weave tracks at the beginning of the video when she first appears on cam and flips her hair. It’s a very noticeable editing mistake. I’m embarrassed for her. If I noticed it, many many other women will too!

Due to the public outrage that Nickelodean did not take the initiative to drop Chris Brown as a nominee from their Kid’s Choice Awards since “the incident” – Chris Brown has removed himself.

This is a good move on his part and that of his PR people who have obviously talked some sense into him. Withdrawing shows that Chris realizes the consequences of his actions.

While Nickelodeon had chosen to let his nominations remain, saying he was nominated before ‘the incident,’ thousands of parents have protested. Despite overwhelming evidence that he did assault Rihanna, he is legally entitled to the presumption of innocence which may have been why Nickelodeon continued to back him.

Then again, the current nominees for male singer are, Jesse McCartney, Kid Rock, and T-Pain. Are they role models? Nominees for female singer include, Rihanna, and currently, is she a role model?

While many agree his musical talent may be award-worthy for nomination, his behaviour in his personal life is not and it is very obvious that his recent involvement in this scandalous situation clearly shows that for the time being, he is no position to be a role model for children.

Chris Brown’s rep released the following statement:

“Chris very much appreciates the support of his fans and the honor they have paid him in the way of nominations for Favorite Male Singer and Favorite Song.

Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the incident last month has shifted the focus from the music to whether he should be allowed to be among those nominated.

While Chris would like to speak to his fans directly about this and other issues, pending legal proceedings preclude his doing so at this time. Once the matter before him has been resolved, he intends to do so.”

TMZ is reporting that their sources have confirmed to them that the woman who sent the text message to Chris Brown on THE night that resulted in the assault against Rihanna was from his manager Tina Davis. Apparently, it was she who had sent him a 3 page text message to his cell phone suggesting they hook up later. When Rihanna read it, she did the freak (slapped him first) and things escalated from there.

The detective’s affidavit stated the text was:

“from a woman who Brown had a previous sexual relationship with.”

Davis who will be turning 40 years old this month has been rumored to have had a relationship with Chris when he was 16… although both of them have denied it.

In other Chris Brown related news:

Even after receiving thousands of requests to remove Chris Brown from the nominee list, the team over at Nickelodeon are allowing his Kids Choice Awards nominations to remain.

Chris is nominated for Favorite Male Singer and also for “Kiss Kiss” for Favorite Song.

It is very upsetting that the network has not taken a more pro-active stand against domestic violence because the evidence is overwhelming. It not only includes pictures and Rihanna’s own words in the police report, but a text from Brown himself to her manager admitting and apologizing for his actions saying he was going to get help for his anger issues.

E! is reporting that Chris and Rihanna are planning to record a duet together for his Greatest Hits Album.

The drama continues…

Michael Jackson held a press conference today to announce his comeback tour which he called “This Is It”. The series of concerts will be held at the O2 Area in London, England. The concerts kick off on July 9th after which 10 shows will go on sale March 13th and more may be added.

It was quite the spectacle as all things related to wacko Jacko usually are. He spun around, punched his fist into the air and thoroughly enjoyed the screaming and adoring fans going crazy at the mere sight of him!

A new album is also in the works for the former King of Pop!

Britney Spears kicked off her Circus tour with a concert in New Orleans, Louisiana on Tuesday night (March 3). It was another fantastically orchestrated Jamie King production… the same genius who did Madonna’s Sticky And Sweet Tour. Is there anyone better to put on a massive spectacle like this? I think not.

As for Brit not singing live, what did you expect? Does anyone actually go to one of her concerts to hear live singing from her? Seriously, come on!

She wore costumes designed by Canadian identical twins Dean and Dan Caten of Dsquared2.

She made her grand entrance by descending from the ceiling on a trapeze and sang her recent track, “Circus”. She also did a pole dance to her song, “Radar”. One of the highlights of the show is when she performed Breathe On Me accompanied by two aerialists, who turned and shaped their bodies into a bed and sent Britney flying into the air with them. She seemed completely fearless in the air and did some impressive moves herself.

Britney also sang her classics “Boys“, “Me Against the Music“, “Baby One More Time“, “Womanizer” and many others.

Britney’s back and her fans welcomed her with all the love they had to give. Through all of her struggles, she has managed to once again rise to the top and impress all who attended. It was non-stop action. She looked fantastic healthy and alert. She didn’t talk to the audience except at the end thanking them all and telling them she loved them.

The tour has 39 more dates and concludes in London on June 14th. If you want to be entertained with flying sets, smoke, wind, pyro, then you won’t be disappointed.

The artist formerly known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince has announced that he will be releasing a three-disc CD album collection package sold exclusively through Target and Target.com for only $11.98.

The three-disc set will include two new studio albums from the music master and pioneering music distributor: LOtUSFLOW3R and MPLSoUND as well as a full length album Elixer from his latest discovery, unknown new artist Bria Valente.

The set will be on sale at Target March 29th.

Prince’s offerings these past 5 years has been fairly solid in my opinion, Musicology and 3121 were intentionally commercial. I am disappointed that Prince won’t embrace iTunes but I am thrilled he is willing to try different distribution models.

I’m liking what I’ve heard so far on his website so a shopping trip to Target is a yes for me!

Here is a 2 minute clip of Britney’s Circus Tour that was released today. The tour kicks off tomorrow at the New Orleans Arena in Brit’s home state of Louisiana. K-Fed is in town also to do his share of the parenting. He’s supposedly being paid 5k a week as well as has homes for him to stay in when he has his access times with their sons.

She is touring with the Pussycat Dolls, as well as illusionist and former Saved by the Bell actor Ed Alonzo. You remember him don’t you? He played Max!

Britney Spears “Circus” Tour Set List

CIRCUS

Parade Intro
Circus (Funky Remix)
Piece of Me
Thunderstorm Segue
Radar

HOUSE OF FUN (Anything Goes)

Martial Arts Segue
Ooh Ooh Baby/Hot as Ice
Boys
If U Seek Amy
Me Against the Music (Bollywood)

FREAKSHOW/PEEPSHOW

Everybody’s Looking for Something Segue
Freakshow
Get Naked
Britney’s Hotline
Breathe on Me/Touch of My Hand

ELECTRO CIRC

Break the Ice Segue
Do Something
Slave
Dancer Solo Segue/Heartbeat Segue
Toxic
Baby One More Time (Remix)

ENCORE

Womanizer (Extended Remix)
Circus Reprise: The Bow

Yes I know, the following songs are NOT on the list:
Oops I Did It Again, Stronger, Gimme More, Shattered Glass, Lace and Leather, My Perrogative, Mannequin, Rock Me In? Ah well, it still should be a great show, entertaining for sure.

She was also announced as Candie’s new spokesperson.

Britney Spears’ official website has just posted the artwork for her latest single “If U Seek Amy.”

The song will be the third single to be released from her sixth studio album Circus. The track was co-written and produced by Max Martin, who also wrote “…Baby One More Time” and “Oops!… I Did It Again”.

An unnamed source told In Style Magazine that she did the shooting for the video outside Malibu in Pacific Palisades California earlier this month. The insider who was an eye witness had this to say:

“The dancers are all dressed in metallic colors, and shiny tights. They look awesome, with sequins all over their outfits” .

In a surprise slip of the tongue at Sunday’s Xbox party, Pete Wentz happily announced that he is going back to Sydney to host the Vodafone MTV Australia Awards 2009 on March 27!

MTV’s Maz Compton interviewed Pete for her show on Nova where he told her:

“I just found out,”. . “I’m very excited.”

When he was asked by Perez Hilton about the rumours that he had died being speculated all over the internet Pete said:

“I just want to make the announcement that it’s not true. I apologise to the lovely commenters on PerezHilton.com that I am still alive and breathing!”

Having hosted the pre-show for the 2006 US MTV Movie Awards, Pete said his favourite part of these events is “getting to hang out with a lot of other bands, heroes, enemies. Doing the red carpet is always pretty cool, with the fans shouting.”

“Taking part in the MTV Awards nominations launch last week was a blast, and being MTV family, hosting the Vodafone MTV Australia Awards 2009 will give me the perfect excuse to come back to this spectacular country and for an even bigger party!”

Some of the performers scheduled to perform on the Vodafone MTV Australia Awards 2009 will be: The Killers, Kings Of Leon via satellite from TSB Arena, Wellington NZ and Adelaide’s Sia. Audrina Patridge will host the ‘Red Carpet Vodafone MTV Awards’, which will be broadcast online. Make sure you are logged onto www.mtv.com.au/vodafonemtvawards on March 27 at 8 P.M. for the Red Carpet show.

Fall Out Boy, who are nominated for Best Rock Video, are now in New Zealand and will leaving for Europe in the next few days.

Some of the previous hosts of the Australian MTV Awards include: Wyclef Jean (2008), Fergie and Good Charlotte (2007), his wife Ashlee Simpson (2006) and The Osbournes (2005).

Log onto www.mtv.com.ua/vodafonemtvawards to register and vote.

The Vodafone MTV Australia Awards 2009 will broadcast live from the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, on MTV Australia, Friday March 27, 7:30pm (AEDT) Red Carpet, 8:30pm (AEDT) main show

Girls Aloud won their first Brit Award. They are officially Britain’s most successful British girl group. They have been together for 6 years and have had 20 top 10 hits in a row and 6 albums, twice as many as the Spice Girls who were together for 4 yrs.

Congrats Nadine, Kimberly, Cheryl, Sarah and Nicola!

Here is the list of categories and who won in each from the 2009 Brit Awards:

British Male Solo Artist
Ian Brown
James Morrison
Paul Weller – WINNER
The Streets
Will Young

British Female Solo Artist
Adele
Beth Rowley
Duffy – WINNER
Estelle
M.I.A.

British Group
Coldplay
Elbow – WINNER
Girls Aloud
Radiohead
Take That

British Single
Coldplay – ‘Viva La Vida’
Duffy – ‘Mercy’
Girls Aloud – ‘The Promise’ – WINNER
Leona Lewis – ‘Better In Time’
Scouting For Girls – ‘Heartbeat’

British Album
Coldplay – Viva La Vida
Duffy – Rockferry – WINNER
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Ting Tings – We Started Nothing

British Breakthrough Act
Adele
Duffy – WINNER
The Last Shadow Puppets
Scouting For Girls
Ting Tings

British Live Act
Coldplay
Elbow
Iron Maiden – WINNER
Scouting For Girls
The Verve

International Male Solo Artist
Beck
Neil Diamond
Jay-Z
Kanye West – WINNER
Seasick Steve

International Female Solo Artist
Beyoncé
Gabriella Cilmi
Katy Perry – WINNER
Pink
Santogold

International Group
AC/DC
Fleet Foxes
The Killers
Kings of Leon – WINNER
MGMT

International Album
AC/DC – Black Ice
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
The Killers – Day & Age
Kings of Leon – Only By The Night – WINNER
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

Critics’ Choice Award
Florence and the Machine

Outstanding Contribution to Music
Pet Shop Boys

Not sure why they seem to distinguish between British and foreign artists in the award categories as they don’t at the Grammys, but whatever!

If you want to check out UK pop hit music, listen to Heart FM.co.uk.