November 17, 2011

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul Preview: Jennifer Hudson

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul is set to premiere on Monday, December 19 at 9 p.m. ET. That day is a full month and some change away, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not already doing backflips of excitement about this year’s lineup, which will feature Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine, Kelly Clarkson, Jessie J and Jennifer Hudson. Regarding the latter, we’re excited to reveal this new promo image of the Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer/actress J. Hud! We haven’t heard any advance word about what songs she’s planning on performing that night, but seeing as how one of the featured soul-music capitals we’ll be spotlighting is her hometown of Chicago, we’re sure she’s got some exciting tricks up her sleeve about how to best honor the rich musical legacy of the Windy City.

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul will air exclusively on VH1 on Monday, December 19 at 9 p.m. ET/8 CT. Stay tuned to these pages for more updates as they come in!

RELATED: VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul On December 19 With Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson And More [VH1 Blog]

Tags: , , Jessie J, Florence and the Machine, Jill Scott, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul

November 10, 2011

Win A Trip To See VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul In New York City!

This year’s lineup for VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul is outstanding, and we’re fully confident that you’re going to love seeing the likes of Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine, Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J perform when the special airs on VH1 on Monday, December 19. However, wouldn’t it be even better if you were there seeing it live and in person?

Well, let us be the first to tell you that that person could be you! We’re excited to announce our 2011 VH1 DIVAS Tweetstakes, which is open today through November 23. Entering could not be any easier: Simply tweet a message about who you think has “real” soul to @VH1 and include the hashtag #VH1DIVAS and you’ll be entered in the contest, where we’ll eventually choose a winner at random. Yes, really, it’s as easy as that! Now, get those thumbs warmed up and start tweetin’.

(For those of you who delight in reading legalese, here’s the complete list of rules.)

Tags: , , , VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul, Jessie J, Florence and the Machine, Jill Scott, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson

October 27, 2011

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul On December 19 With Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson And More

Hot off the presses, we’ve got some exciting news to share with you! We’ve been able to convince an outstanding array of wildly talented vocalists, including Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine, Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J, to participate in the latest entry in our long-running series, VH1 DIVAS. This year’s theme will be VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul, which will enable each of our performers to pay their respects to the cities where soul music originated and ultimately flourished, places like Chicago, Detroit, London, Memphis and Philadelphia. We’ll have more details on this amazing show in the coming days and weeks, but for now, here’s the full press release that just hit the wires.

 

VH1 DIVAS Celebrates Soul with Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + the Machine, Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J

VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul Pays Tribute to the Great Cities of Soul Music Including Chicago, Detroit, London, Memphis and Philadelphia

The Roots Confirmed to Perform as House Band

Special will air Monday, December 19 at 9 PM/8c on VH1

 

NEW YORK – October 27, 2011 – VH1’s beloved, popular franchise, VH1 Divas, returns and will pay tribute to the cities where soul gave birth to music’s most powerful classics and inspired today’s divas. Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence + The Machine, Kelly Clarkson and Jessie J will pay homage to these cities and soul music’s timeless classics at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom. VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul premieres Monday, December 19 at 9 p.m. ET/8 CT on VH1.

The full press release continues below…

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Tags: , , , , , The USO Presents: VH1 Divas Salute the Troops, Jessie J, Florence and the Machine, Jill Scott, The Roots, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Big Morning Buzz Live

October 26, 2011

Last Lap: Fat Joe’s “Tales From The Darkside” Includes A Jaw-Dropping R. Kelly Story

Fat Joe Tells A Story About R. Kelly Beating People Up
If you can grasp what actually happened as Fat Joe recounts R. Kelly beating someone up between all the expletives and sound effects, let us know. Otherwise, it’s still pretty funny, if not worryingly inappropriate. [The Awl]

Odd Future’s Syd Remixes Lana Del Rey’s “Blue Jeans”
As if you didn’t already love Lana Del Rey enough, Odd Future have remixed her haunting track, “Blue Jeans.” Keeping with her grand, emotive sounds, Odd Future’s remix is just as good as the remix. [Pitchfork]

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Tags: , , , , , , , Karl Lagerfeld, Lana Del Rey, Odd Future, Florence and the Machine, R. Kelly, Fat Joe

September 14, 2011

Last Lap: Wednesday’s Odds And Ends In Music News

50 Cent Changes His Movie’s Name After Chinua Achebe Protests
50 Cent‘s new movie just got a namechange thanks to a critically lauded Nigerian novelist. Chinua Achebe, author of 1958′s English-language riposte to Joseph Conrad, Things Fall Apart, threatened legal action against 50 Cent, whose new film has the same name, and turned down a $1 million settlement offer. Considering that the idiom comes from a Yeats poem, the novelist’s case isn’t necessarily that strong, but “Got sued by Chinua Achebe” is probably not something 50 Cent wants on his resume, so the movie is now titled All Things Fall Apart. (Sidenote: Does this mean Achebe is a Roots fan?) [The Guardian]

Kelly Clarkson, Florence And The Machine Album Details Surface
Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger has a tracklisting (and at Popdust, Katherine St. Asaph speculates which tracks might correspond with which leaked demos). Florence & The Machine also have an official tracklisting and album art for sophomore album Ceremonials, and second track “Shake It Out” has apparently leaked.
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Tags: , , Lil Wayne, The Beatles, Florence and the Machine, Drake, 50 Cent, Kelly Clarkson

June 9, 2011

Helping You Make The Tough Decisions At Bonnaroo 2011

Festival season continues this weekend with Bonnaroo‘s 10th anniversary in Manchester, Tennessee, so we’re here again to help guide the 80,000 wristband holders through the tough choices of the weekend’s lineup. (Don’t have a ticket? You’re in luck! Some of the big-tent performances will be webcast at VEVO.) As always, we recommend checking out at least one band you haven’t heard before; might we recommend country-rocker Hayes Carll, (who plays one set each today and tomorrow)?

Jam-band and bluegrass aficionados have a plethora of options all weekend—perhaps too many tough choices. For the more pop-minded among us, here are five big intersection points to break down for you:

FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Choices: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (3:15 p.m., What Stage) and Matt & Kim (3:15 p.m., This Tent)
Decision: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Both groups are embarking on summer tours in midsize venues with reasonable ticket prices, but Matt & Kim, though they showed at the OMAs that they can play bigger, do have a certain energy that’s amplified when it’s contained in a club full of kids that are ridiculously hyped up. You Oughta Know artists Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, on the other hand, don’t lose any of their power from midday open-air big-tent staging.
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Tags: , , , , Dr. John, Dan Auerbach, Explosions In The Sky, Beirut, Band of Joy, Bootsy Collins, Loretta Lynn, Wiz Khalifa, Ray LaMontagne, Mumford & Sons, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Florence and the Machine, Matt and Kim, The Strokes, Robert Plant, Big Boi, Lil Wayne