Madonna seeks 'Mercy'

Madonna has confirmed to The Associated Press that she is indeed trying to adopt a little girl from Malawi, this time a girl whose about 4 years old named "Mercy." Here's an excerpt of the story I broke today ...

MCHINJI, Malawi – Madonna said Tuesday that she was following standard procedures in her adoption of a Malawian girl, her first response to accusations that that she is using her fame to speed the process.
The pop superstar also took her 3-year-old adopted son, David, to meet his biological father for the first time since he left Malawi in 2006. She and David later visited the orphanage in Mchinji, a village near the Zambian border, where he once lived.
"Madonna is committed to maintaining an ongoing relationship with David's Malawian roots," said Liz Rosenberg in a statement Tuesday morning.

I can't wait to see pictures of Mercy. David has grown up so much in the last three years! He looks happy ... hopefully Mercy will be happy as well!

Prince on Leno!

His purpleness did night two of his three-night stint on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" ... I think this one is off his new album. Are y'all gonna run over to target to cop that CD?

Madonna getting a Malawian playmate for David

As The Associated Press was first to report on Thursday, Madonna is heading to Malawi to adopt another child, three years after taking home David Banda from the impoverished African nation. Word has it that she's eyeing to adopt a little girl. Here's excerpts from the AP story ...

Rumors that Madonna wanted to adopt a girl from Malawi have been circulating for some time. But the first official hint came from the star herself last week.
In an interview in Malawi's leading daily The Nation, the singer said she was considering another adoption but would only do it if she had "the support of the Malawian people and government."

If the adoption goes through, she would become a single mother of four. She also has an 8-year-old son, Rocco, with Ritchie and a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship.

If she adopts her little child, will she be giving Angelina a run for her money? Angelina hasn't adopted a child in awhile now ... hmmmm ....

Ciara and Justin ... what do you think?

Hopefully this will be the hit she needs to finally get this album released!

Chrisette Michelle at the Canal Room

Chrisette Michelle is coming out with a new CD, "Ephiphany," later this month, and to preview it and hype it up, she performed at the Canal Room at a packed party hosted by Def Jam Chairman L.A. Reid. Chrisette won a Grammy and earned a gold album for her debut CD about a year or so ago, and is getting buzz with this one ... Check the video for her new song. And enjoy my pictures!

The career fates of Chris Brown and Rihanna

People can't get enough of Chris Brown, these days, but unfortunately for him, they're more interested in following the scandal surrounding his arrested for allegedly beating Rihanna than his actual music. He had to bow out of Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards yesterday because of the firestorm and word has it T-Pain is recording a new version of "Freeze" without Brown in it.

But a lot of people are riding Rihanna for reuniting with Chris.

This is part of an article I wrote on the whole saga yesterday:

¶ Rihanna may endure a challenging road herself whenever she finally decides to relaunch her equally white-hot career. Already, she had seen her image transformed from pop's femme fatale to domestic violence victim whose decision to go back to her alleged attacker has been endlessly called into question.
¶ "What I think the caution is she has is not to let this incident define her. And I think that's the biggest risk to her career," said Bragman.
¶ An apparent reconciliation with Brown may only exacerbate that risk. Rap mogul Diddy confirmed he let the couple use his home to "talk about a situation they're in," and producer Polow da Don told the Los Angeles Times he was working with both stars on a duet (however, People.com, citing sources it did not name, said the couple has not yet recorded a duet that was penned for them to be included on Brown's new album.)
¶ "I think people are critical of her, saying, 'Oh my god, you're crazy, what are you doing?" said Cori Murray, entertainment editor for Essence magazine. "Then there are people who are like ... they don't want to pass judgment on her because they don't know the whole situation."

I've included a link to the whole article. It's a mess and it keeps on growing.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2009Mar11/0,4670,MusicBrownRihanna,00.html

Apparently Kanye knows who Keri Hilson is ...

And from the looks of this video it seems like he "knows" her in the Biblical sense. LOL! She may not be Beyonce but she certainly has some high-profile stans ...

Laugh of the Day

I love me some Mariah Carey but ...

... she know she don't know nothing 'bout cornrowing a dude's head!! And she knows she would never let a pit bull inside her mansion in real life! I know this video with The-Dream is trying to prove that she's a down chick, but chill, Mariah _ you don't have to prove your cred anymore! We got you, girl!!!

KANYE WEST IS APPEARING ON IDOL!!!!

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This news will actually make me tune in: Kanye is coming to American Idol on Wednesday's elimination show.

The Associated Press had this info today. Here's a snippet of the story:

¶ NEW YORK (AP) _ Would Kanye West be willing to give Anoop Desai a shot in the studio?
¶ Desai, a contestant on "American Idol," is hoping to meet West _ and talk about a future collaboration _ when West makes his first trip to the top-rated Fox series, performing his hit "Heartless" during Wednesday's elimination show.
¶ On this week's wild card round, Desai snagged the last spot _ lucky No. 13 _ in the finals.
¶ The 22-year-old college student from Chapel Hill, N.C., would appreciate style advice from West.
¶ "I'm definitely going to pick his brain _ we'll see if he has anything to lend me too," joked Desai, who loves R&B music and got the "Idol" audience moving with his performance of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative."

To be honest, I don't even know who these contestants are ... I haven't really watched all season. I need to get my "Idol" on eventually though, so I am going to check it out. Wonder if Kanye's performance will equal his performance on "VH1's Storytellers"?

Comeback week continues ...

This time, it's MJ putting on shows. He appeared in London today to announce a series of concerts at the famed O2 venue, and he told a screaming crowd that after those July shows, they wouldn't hear a "hee-hee" from him anymore.

This from the AP story on Thursday:

"This is it," Jackson said in a brief statement punctuated by the squeals of fans who gathered inside the massive O2 Arena in southeast London on Thursday. "And when I say this is it, I mean this is it."

Somehow, I doubt "it." Performers never stop performing until they're dead. But a Jackson performance is still a huge deal, so ... I may be making plans to go across the pond this summer.

Britney's Back!

Britney Spears' first tour in five years is officially titled "The Circus" tour, but it really could be called the "Rehabilitation Project," because it's yet another attempt to rebuild the image and career of the former pop queen.

So far she has a platinum-plus album with "Circus" and at least two hit singles, but how did she do as far as her performance? Well, it looks like it was a good effort, but not great.

Here's a sampling of the reviews:

People's Chuck Arnold wrote:

Don't call it a comeback quite yet. Britney Spears still isn't all the way there. At least not from the standpoint of the kickoff concert of her much-anticipated Circus tour – her first trek in five years – at the New Orleans Arena Tuesday night. While she avoided the train wreck that was her 2007 MTV Video Music Awards appearance, a visibly nervous Spears, performing in front of enthusiastic fans near her Kentwood, La., hometown, never really hit her old stride.

The Los Angeles' Times' Ann Powers wrote:

Her singing was dominated by a backing track. Her moves were nothing special -- defined by much strutting and stripper-like shimmying, with the minimum amount of acrobatics to prove her mettle as a dance-pop queen. Her physical form, still beautiful, didn't take one's breath away the way it did when she was 17.But on Tuesday's opening night of her "Circus" tour at the New Orleans Arena, Britney Spears, the mighty Aphrodite with the troublesome tawdry streak, nonetheless renewed her claim as one of the world's most adept manipulators of the public interest.

And even Perez Hilton, part of the show via a video sequence, said:

Now, let's get our biggest gripe/problem with the show out of the way. Yes, she lipsynchs during the entire concert. There is no live singing. None!. She recorded vocals to "sound like" live, but they were all canned, pre-taped.
However, it's a Britney Spears show. You expect that!
Even though you expect it, though, it would be nice if at least a handful of the almost 20 song set were live. But, that's not gonna happen.
In exchange for the miming, you do get Spears doing what she does best, dancing. And she's got the moves again!

Based on those reviews, it looks like she would get a B-? It may not have been spectacular, but we're still looking forward to seeing her in Newark next weekend!

Prince hits the Target

Target rush! Prince is releasing new music at the boxstore giant ... and here is the AP story I wrote about it. ...

NEW YORK – Prince is coming to a Target near you.

The superstar is releasing a three-disc CD set through the retailer at the end of this month. The set will include two new albums — "LOtUSFLOW3R" and "MPLSoUND" — as well as a third by his new artist, Bria Valente, for the price of $11.98.

Prince is just the latest music legend to release new music exclusively through a major retailer. AC/DC and the Eagles were among the acts who sold millions of CDs through their partnership with Wal-Mart.

Prince has released his recent CDs through major labels, but they were one-album deals that gave him the flexibility to go elsewhere when the project was done. Last fall, he released a coffee table book of photos titled "21 Nights" documenting his record-breaking, 21-night run at London's 02 Arena in 2007. The book also included a CD of live performances.

"Prince has long been renowned as one of the world's most original and iconic musical artists," said Mark Schindele, Target's senior vice president of merchandising. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share his most recent work with our Target guests."

The CD set will be on sale at Target and its Web site on March 29.

____

Check it out!!

Whitney Houston's return ...

OK, I know I am crazy crazy crazy late updating this blog, if anyone follows ... but the Grammys, and its craziness kind of prevented me from getting back to my beloved blog, so ... apologies! but I have some pretty lovely pics to make up for it. I was lucky enough to cover the annual Clive Davis pre-Grammy party, which brings out the A-list celebs from all walks of life (Paul McCartney, Prince, Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brothers, and Chris Brown and Rihanna _ pre-fight _ were in attendance.

There are performers every year (this year Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson and others were on the bill) but it was Whitney who was the star of the show, and she did not disappoint. She doesn't sound like 1989 Whitney, but she still sounds dang good.

Here are some pics of the performance!