05/25/2011
Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez To Perform At Billboard Music Awards
Black Eyed Peas, Taio Cruz also among artists set to hit the stage at the event, which takes place May 22 in Las Vegas.
By Jocelyn Vena
Rihanna
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/DCP
Some of the biggest acts on the charts will be on hand to take the stage when the 2011 Billboard Music Awards hit Las Vegas on May 22. Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, the Black Eyed Peas, Taio Cruz, Keith Urban and 2010's crossover kings, Lady Antebellum, have all been tapped to perform at the show, which ABC will air live from Sin City's MGM Grand.
The event honors artists who have appeared on the Billboard charts during the period of February 28, 2010, through March 1, 2011. Winners are also determined by album, single and digital sales, touring, streaming and social interactions on MySpace, Facebook and other popular online destinations for music, according to Billboard.com.
"This show marks the first of several broadcast platforms we plan to build around the Billboard franchise," Richard D. Beckman, CEO of Prometheus Global Media, which owns the magazine, said in February about the show. "We have an incredible network partner and with Don Mischer, one of the finest producers in the world. We look forward to entertaining music fans with Billboard's own rendition of a televised celebration of music."
The scheduled performers have not just been successful during the period of eligibility for the awards show, but they are still hot on the charts. Currently, Rihanna's Britney Spears-free "S&M" holds steady at #2 on the Hot 100 chart, the Black Eyed Peas' "Just Can't Get Enough" is right behind at #3 and J.Lo's "On the Floor" is sitting at #8. Keith Urban's "Without You," meanwhile, is #11 on the Country Songs tally.
Which pop superstar are you most excited to see performing on the Billboard Music Awards? Let us know in the comments.
Related Photos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1661691/rihanna-jennifer-lopez-billboard-music-awards.jhtml
Singer Faith Evans and husband split
Source: http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/24/singer-faith-evans-and-husband-split/
05/24/2011
Scotty McCreery's Hometown Enjoys Spotlight
Garner, North Carolina, rallies behind 'American Idol' season 10 finalist.
By Gil Kaufman
Scotty McCreery visits his hometown
Photo: Steve Exum/ Getty Images
Like Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery had been plugging away for years before getting his big break on "American Idol." Both of the teenage season 10 "Idol" finalists had charmed friends, neighbors and local townspeople with their precocious talent since they were old enough to hold a microphone.
The favorite to win it all, McCreery hails from the small town of Garner, North Carolina (population 27,000), and when he wasn't singing in his school's vocal ensemble or amassing a 10-1 pitching record for the Garner Magnet High School team during his starts on JV and as a junior, McCreery was busy winning local singing competitions like last summer's "Clayton Idol."
WQDR DJ Janie Carothers first heard of Scotty after he'd won "Clayton Idol," and the hometown morning show personality said the first time she heard him sing, she could tell he was something special. McCreery participated in the QDR "hometown tour" last summer, an annual event in McDonald's parking lots to raise money for the North Carolina Children's Hospital.
"It's a big deal, and when we went to Garner, we heard about this kid Scotty who wanted to sing in the parking lot," Carothers said. "He sang 'Ol' Red' by Blake Shelton and 'Your Man' by Josh Turner in a McDonald's parking lot before he went to school that day and you could just tell."
Nearly a year later, Garner has become ground zero for the McCreery phenomenon, with the entire town buzzing with excitement on performance and elimination days.
On "Idol" performance Wednesdays, QDR becomes "Scotty 94.7" to help rally the local population, which Carothers said has gone crazy for their hometown hero. "I honestly don't think he has a clue how big he's gotten," she said. "I think when people think of the South, they have certain judgments, and one of the things we're known for is our hospitality and our ability to rally together, and Garner has proven that. You walk down the streets and you can see people with stuff written on the back of cars, on storefronts, there's banners ... everyone is supporting him."
It also helps, she added, that Scotty is a good ol' country boy and all-American kid who plays baseball, sings in the praise choir in church and is just known as a sweet kid. He further enhanced his Southern gentleman cred last week when he won the coin toss for performance order in the finale and deferred to rival Lauren.
That squeaky-clean reputation is one of the reasons screen-printing business owner Paulette Disbrow turned her PKD printing shop into a virtual Scotty McCreery campaign headquarters over the past few months. With more than 1,000 people cramming into Garner Historic Auditorium every week for the past two months to cheer Scotty on, Disbrow has been supplying them with T-shirts, yard signs and buttons to help spread the word and keep the votes coming.
In keeping with Scotty's reputation as a good kid, all the money that comes in after expenses on all of Disbrow's items is going to charities of the singer's choice, including the youth mission group at his church, uniforms for his high school baseball team and cash for his high school chorus.
"He is exactly as he appears on TV," she said of the humble singer. "There's not a pretentious bone in his body. I was talking to him and his family when I did the original T-shirt design and I said, 'Do you understand where this could go and what happens if you get into the top five? You could go from being a hometown Garner boy to being famous.' And he was like, 'Aw shucks.' "
And Disbrow knows what she's talking about, since she printed the T-shirts for former "Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken when the nearby Raleigh, North Carolina, native made his run on season two.
Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams has joined the weekly viewing parties, which have swelled from a few dozen supporters to more than 2,000 over the past two months, and he's seen the town come together in a major way to support Scotty. "The majority of people here don't know him, but they know about him, and he's caused a bright spotlight to be on Garner, and ultimately he'll see it when he returns," Williams said.
He pointed to another small-town North Carolina "Idol" finalist, season five sixth-place finisher Kellie Pickler, whose hometown still sees traffic from fans who want to see the school or church she went to. "People will come looking for something to touch and feel to get a bit of Scotty McCreery, and in the process, they will stop and get a meal or a tank of gas, and in that regard, Scotty has helped contribute to the success of our local businesses."
In fact, Williams has already dubbed McCreery the "unofficial economic development coordinator" for the town while noting that the attention the singer has brought to the town of 27,000 is the most they've seen since the local high school won the state championship in 1987.
And the best part? "You can dig all day long and find no dirt on him," Williams said proudly, pointing out that the tabloids have descended looking for dish and left empty-handed. "He's a good Christian boy, who is talented and polite and energetic. We're proud of Scotty and proud of our town."
Don't miss a special edition of "Idol Party Live" Thursday at noon on MTV.com for analysis, finale red-carpet coverage and the last "Idol in 60 Seconds" of season 10. Get in the conversation by tweeting with the hashtag #idolparty! In the meantime, get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
Related Videos Related PhotosSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1664503/american-idol-scotty-mccreery-hometown.jhtml
'Love & Hip Hop' Stars Talk Fabolous, Jim Jones, 50 Cent
Emily, Chrissy and Olivia spill all to MTV News before the Monday night premiere of their brand-new reality series.
By Rebecca Thomas
Olivia Longott, Chrissy Lampkin and Emily Bustamante
Photo: MTV News
Hip-hop is a lot like the title of Jim Jones' "Blow Your Smoke." For all of us ardent followers of this rhyming circuit of storytellers who weave aspirational fantasies about Bentleys and shopping sprees, it doesn't matter much that the German luxury car is a loaner or that the fresh-from-the runway Lanvin frock is going back to a publicist. To paraphrase the Diplomat boss, sometimes it's just about blowing smoke.
If anyone knows that rap is as much caked-in grime as it is glossy surfaces, it's the cast of VH1's brand-new docu-series "Love & Hip Hop," officially premiering Monday night (March 14) at 10:30 p.m. ET. On Friday, MTV News caught up with three of the principal castmembers — Chrissy Lampkin (longtime lady of Jim Jones), Emily Bustamante (mother of Fabolous' son) and Olivia Longott (ex-G-Unit songstress) — and they spilled details about their lives and the show.
"For me, the struggle is mostly the image struggle, keeping up with the image," Emily said, when asked what the biggest challenge was about being in a relationship with a famous rapper.
In the weeks since the "Love & Hip-Hop" teaser trailer hit the Net, viewers have been chirping about the women behind the MCs. But the biggest surprise for many fans is that these rappers have been in serious relationships at all. Seeing iconic or veteran rappers on shows like MTV's "Run's House" or E!'s "Snoop Dogg's Father Hood" is one thing, but the idea of a domesticated Fab, whose legion of female fans get worked up over his chipped tooth, is another.
"Me as a wardrobe stylist, I dress these guys, when they put on their bling and their clothes and their shades, they turn into a character," Emily explained. "So that's the biggest struggle for me, the image thing, having to deal with that."
Emily, who describes herself as Fab's "secret" in the premiere episode, recalled being approached by the execs behind "L&HH." She was sold on the chance to brand herself as wardrobe stylist "Emily B." So was Loso supportive?
Emily paused for a moment. "Was he supportive? ... He said, 'Eh, I don't know if that's a good idea.' ... He said, 'I'm not gonna tell you not to do it, but I don't know if it's a good idea.' So maybe he was right," she laughed, adding quickly, "For him!"
Meeting Chrissy helped cement the decision, and though Fab and Jim traded barbs on Twitter last April, their female counterparts proved fast friends.
"In the beginning, it was a pilot about me and Jimmy ['Jim and the Family Jones'], and he wasn't really comfortable with that," Chrissy explained. VH1 producers volunteered to bring in "some more females, make it more interesting," and eventually Emily, Olivia and aspiring rapper Somaya Reece were added to the cast; Emily's close friend Mashonda Tifrere (ex-wife of Swizz Beatz) also appears.
"If I don't have to work with Jimmy every day, I'm with it!" the ever-bouncy Chrissy, who actually proposes to Jim on the show, laughed. "He didn't want to be bothered with the cameras every day."
According to Olivia, best known for her turn on 50 Cent's G-Unit roster, including a feature spot on her ex-boss' hit "Candy Shop," the series is also about re-charging her music career.
"A lot of people don't really know the real Olivia. I felt like I was kind of sheltered being in the Unit, so this was a way for everybody to see my personality and see how I really am, especially when you see me with these two women," she said gesturing at Emily and Chrissy. " 'Cause we have a lot of scenes together. So you get to see the relationships and how we bond. ... It's a big deal for me because a lot of people also don't know that really I can sing, sing."
With fame in the balance — and all the negative press that can come with it already rearing its head — the ladies said they're just beginning to adjust to the media glare.
"I'm not really in the belly of the beast when it comes to the industry. I've been playing a supporting role to somebody who's going through all types of pitfalls, losses and gains," Chrissy said. "So I can see what it does, but I don't know what it truly feels like — until now, but this is very new, it's premature."
Will you be watching "Love & Hip Hop"? Tell us in the comments!
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1659863/love-and-hip-hop.jhtml
Photos | Nicki Minaj's Barbie Birthday
'In My Head' Director Braved Blizzard To Shoot Jason Derulo Video
'You'll probably have to direct this video by Skype,' Kai Crawford recalls being told about Justin Timberlake-inspired Best Male Video nominee.
By Jayson Rodriguez
Jason Derülo in his "In My Head" music video
Photo: Warner Bros. Records
Jason Derülo turns up the heat in his steamy video for "In My Head," but the mercury was plummeting when production on the upstart singer's visual was slated to begin. With temperatures on the East Coast falling, L.A.-bound director Kai Crawford nearly had to oversee the clip via satellite as snow blanketed New York City.
Not the way he planned on handling the video, which has been nominated for Best Male Video at this year's VMAs. (Derülo is also up for Best New Artist.)
"It was like the coldest day of the year, it seemed like," Crawford explained to MTV News. "It's funny. I traveled from New York and I got snowed in, 'cause it was a blizzard, like, four or five days before Christmas, which for me, was two days before the shoot. I got snowed in. The [video's] commissioner got so scared, she told me, 'You'll probably have to direct this video by Skype.' "
Crawford's flight to Los Angeles was postponed and the airport in New York was just about shut down. But the director made the trip to JFK International Airport anyway in the hopes of catching a flight. His determination was rewarded when after a few hours Delta Airlines re-opened and Crawford was able to book another flight. With his old ticket refunded, the director bought a new ticket ASAP and headed to California.
Crawford and Derülo then sought to create an homage to Justin Timberlake's Diane Martel-helmed clip for "Like I Love You." According to Crawford, the concept of Derülo's clip was the "party after the party" in the parking lot. With the Miami singer's moves and his crooning, they were able to accomplish that goal.
The only problem?
"It was like the coldest day in L.A.," Crawford recalled, laughing.
The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday. The party starts with MTV News' VMA Pre-Show at 8 p.m., followed by the main event at 9 p.m. ET. Fans can go to VMA.MTV.com (or text VMA to 97979 if they are Verizon subscribers) to vote for Best New Artist from now through Sunday.
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