Justin Bieber, the biggest selling artist on Island Def Jam over Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Bon Jovi, was invited to sing Stevie Wonder’s ‘Someday at Christmas’ at the White House for President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. That’s quite an honor for a teenager. The young heartthrob of a singer is also the first artist to have all of his songs from his debut hit Top 100 and his first four singles in the Top 40 before his album actually gets released. Congratulations Justin! 2010 is definitely going to be great for him if he is able to keep all of that up.
Facebook recently released a list of the most commonly used words and themes in users’ status updates for this past year and the princess of pop, Lady Gaga, was mentioned so much that the singer got herself her own category. Facebook data scientist Lars Backstrom said “She was virtually unmentioned until November of 2008 and spike in mentions of her name in September 2009.” Other big mentions for 2009 were the deaths of Michael Jackson, Patrick Swayze and Billy Mays, The H1N1 virus and the Farmville application. I have a feeling that Lady Gaga will be able to be part of this list even after 2010.
Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner have split, and were never all that serious in the first place, sources tell a US website.
“It was never a big deal to begin with. The media made way more out of it than it is,” a source close to Swift says. “They went out on a few dates and realised this was just not going anywhere.”
A Lautner source corroborated that perspective, adding that the fact the two rising stars lived so far apart was a big factor in the low-key break-up.
“They became good friends and then went out a few times, but he lives in LA and she lives in Nashville and their busy schedules kept it from becoming more than it was,” the source told the website.
Representatives for Lautner and Swift had no comment.
The day after Lautner, 17, made a December 12 Saturday Night Live appearance in which he “defended” Swift’s honor, he flew down to Nashville to surprise Swift for her 20th birthday party. Sometime after the party, the pair decided that it made more sense just to remain friends.
Rihanna is getting geared up to perform at a New Years bash in Abu Dhabi and tickets for the singer’s concert in Emirates Palace are selling out like hotcakes! John Lickrish, the managing director of concert organizers Flash Entertainment said “The response from the public has been fantastic since we announced Rihanna would be performing in Abu Dhabi and there is no doubt it’s going to be an unforgettable way to see in 2010 and the beginning of a new decade. There are still tickets available but they are selling fast and we are expecting even greater demand this week heading into the event.”
‘Glee’ star Matthew Morrison recently spoke with Elle magazine to clear up some rumors that are circulating about him. The singer and actor said “I’m not gay. I grew up singing and dancing, so people have been calling me gay since fifth grade. I’ve heard everything you could possibly hear about it. But I do love gay people, so I’m not going to act like I was insulted or angry about it.” With the career that he has, even straight people would be offended if he didn’t like gays. I pretty much understand why the rumors got going on his sexuality.
Another week has passed and Susan Boyle’s ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ is still on top! The YouTube sensation’s record is still at the top of the mountain, for the fourth week in a row, with 661,000 more copies of her album sold, bringing the grand total close to 2.5 million in sales. The singer has definitely surpassed any and all expectations. I hope now she realizes that her dream has come true and there looks to be no end to it at all. I wonder how many kids and parents in America found the Britain’s Got Talent contestant’s album under their Christmas trees this year.
While the marriage of Beyonce’s marriage is on the outs, the singer’s marriage to rapper Jay-Z seems to be getting stronger, especially with the couple’s latest move. The twosome will now be known as Shawn Knowles-Carter and Beyonce Knowles-Carter. A source explains the newly hyphenated names, saying “They want to keep Knowles because Bey’s parents didn’t have any sons and they’re keen to keep the name going strong, especially if they don’t produce any sprogs themselves. Or if they end up just having girls.” Talk about being crazy in love! Here’s to hoping that their relationship indeed lasts the trials of being celebrities.
Carrie Underwood flashed off her new engagement ring as she watched her fiancé, Mike Fisher of the Ottawa Senators, take on the Boston Bruins during an NHL hockey game in Canada earlier this week. A spokesperson from the Diamond Information Center says that the 26-year old country singer’s ring is estimated to be a five-plus carat brilliant round diamond with diamond side stones, worth over $150,000. I guess Mike is a big spender. But when you’ve got Carrie as your soon to be wife, who wouldn’t want to shower her with all the things that you can get your hands on?
After much urging via the internet, Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 hit single ‘Killing in the Name’ now holds the top spot as the UK’s Christmas Number One! The political hard rockers wanted to take Simon Cowell and X Factor winner Joe McElderry down a peg by begging their fans to download the band’s single to prevent the singer from coming out at the top spot. The band’s song was downloaded for over half a million times in the past week while Joe’s song, a Miley Cyrus cover, only sold 450,000 copies. I wonder what Simon has to say about all this. The fans have obviously spoken.
Lady Gaga was recently named MTV News’ Woman of the Year and beat out the likes of Taylor Swift, Britney Spears and Beyonce. As they put it, “There’s no one who challenged, provoked, entertained and, well, titillated us over the past 12 months quite like she has.” There’s no argument from me! The princess of pop deserves it so very much! However, if any of the other three singers won the award, they pretty much deserve it too because they fit the bill. It’s just that if you rank them all, Lady Gaga is clearly at the top of the mountain.
Pop star Christina Aguilera was involved in a minor car accident in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening.
Aguilera, 29, was a passenger in a white Range Rover which was being driven by a female assistant when her SUV rear-ended a silver Range Rover driven by a woman in West Hollywood.
The police were not called to the scene and there were no major injuries for Aguilera and the other passengers involved in the accident.
Aguilera left the scene shortly after the accident with her bodyguard while her assistant stayed with the damaged SUV.
Leona Lewis lent her voice to be part of the soundtrack of the movie ‘Avatar’. The 24-year old singer’s theme ‘I See You’ has also been nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. She’ll find out if she takes home the award at the show on January 17. How amazing would it be if Leona won that award? I wonder if the song is also part of the list which is up for an Oscar nod. Talk about making a girl’s dreams come true! I wish her the best of luck with the Golden Globe nod! I really hope that she wins.
No complaints, no foul – that’s what Toby Keith and his camp are saying about his eye-stretching performance at a Nobel Peace Prize after party last week. The insensitive gesture occurred during Will Smith’s rendition of ‘Rapper’s Delight’, when Toby slanted his eyes as Will rapped the word “yellow”. According to the country singer’s rep “No one at the concert thought Toby was out of line. Everyone was impressed with his rapping skills and that’s it … all of the artists liked each other, hung out, and it was a very friendly, genuine, and supportive atmosphere.” I bet that the woman who sued Miley Cyrus over the same gesture would disagree.
Country singer Garth Brooks has filed a half million dollar lawsuit against Oklahoma hospital after hearing a donation that he made to create a new building was spent on renovations instead. The money was intended to build a new facility in honor of his late mother, who passed away from cancer. However, there are no signs of new plans for a building on the property and it was reported that the hospital spent $27 million this year on renovations. Garth believes that this is where his money went and he isn’t happy about it. A spokesperson for the hospital said that it was just a misunderstanding and they are optimistic that it will come to a swift and amicable end.
Simon Cowell is said to be furious over what he believes is the BBC’s promotion of Rage Against The Machine over Joe McElderry for the Christmas No.1 charts spot as revenge for the X-Factor’s success over Strictly Come Dancing.
A source close to Cowell said: “At the moment, it just looks like a massive case of sour grapes from the BBC. Strictly was smashed in the ratings by X-Factor. Now someone at the BBC seems to have an agenda and that has made Simon and people working on The X-Factor furious.”
The source added: “Most of the radio phone-ins and coverage on the chart battle seems to be about Rage. Simon is not upset about losing money or anything like that. He just wants Joe to have a fair chance and an opportunity to get a debut No. 1.”
McElderry, who won The X-Factor after a nail-biting season, was behind. His single The Climb had sold 216,795 copies while Killing In The Name was in the lead with 253,476.
But some fans were reportedly buying the Rage song because they were sick of a perceived X-Factor domination.
Carrie Underwood shows off her casual beauty on the January 2010 cover of Self magazine. The 26-year old American Idol alum talked about her biggest pet peeves, her ways to blow off some steam, and wanting to start a family. The singer, who is dating hockey player Mike Fisher, talked about family, saying “Not that I have a husband to have one with yet, but someday I’d like a family—not a big one, but not a small one either. Two kids is good; three is fine. Four? Somebody’s getting something done, because we ain’t having five!” The fact that she’s already talking like that makes me think that she’s ready to settle down with Mike.
Jennifer Lopez is on the January 2010 cover of Allure Magazine which will hit stands on December 22. The 40-year old singer and actress talked about the paparazzi, her talent, the pressures in Hollywood and trying to get her husband Marc Anthony to quit smoking. When talking about her talent, JLo said “It wasn’t like it was with Marc, who opened his mouth at age three and was blessed with a voice from God. That wasn’t me. I had to work at it, but I knew that once I had achieved it, people would respond to me in a certain way.”
Kelis recently sat down for an interview with HoneyMag.com to talk about her music, motherhood and the end of her marriage to rapper Nas. The 30-year old singer talked about her 5th album, saying “As far as music goes, if I’m not a little bit nervous, then I’m not doing what I should be doing. You gotta be nervous because it means you’re actually taking a chance and going towards something better. Nerves are important. Secondly, I feel fantastic. I just turned 30 and it’s been amazing. Being a woman in your 30s, things just start to make sense. You’re as sexy as you’ll ever be and you just feel really good. I love where I’m at in my life right now.”
