day 130

beyonce gets creative

beyonce has always been known to bring it on stage, but the current queen of the charts has taken that level of brought-ness to a whole new level.  beyonce kicked off the foreign leg of her "i am..." tour last night in canada and, during her set, decided to honor two of canada's biggest singers.  the vid above shows beyonce rocking the alanis morrisette song "you oughta know" to the sold out crowd.  the song is a bit of a departure for b, but i like it - she should really consider doing an album of rock covers, putting the knowles spin on them.  beyonce also brought down the house with a rendition of sarah mclachlan's "arms of an angel."  click here to check out that performance. what are your thoughts on a beyonce cover album? and, is she going to be honoring each country's big artists in the rest of her shows?  i don't know if croatia, holland, or the czech republic have any pop stars, but if anyone can find something to perform, it's beyonce. the only us tour stop b has announced is in washington on april 1st - the rest of her dates should be sometime this summer or fall.

plea deals are fun

well, for some stars at least. rapper t.i. was sentenced to exactly one year, one day after he negotiated a plea deal today.  t.i. has the next 6 to 8 weeks to turn himself in voluntarily, which he is sure to do - and mtv cameras will probably be there to capture it all.  t.i.'s plea deal in his multiple illegal weapons charge included 1,000 hours of community service prior to today's sentencing (which he completed with the help of mtv's road to redemption series), a $100,000 fine (which is chump change for the star who has racked up millions off his latest album, paper trail), and, finally, another 50 hours of community service once behind bars - say hello to toilet brushes and dish pans, cliff! (t.i. real name is clifford joseph harris, jr.) the one year, one day sentence is probably good for the rapper - it gives him time to work on new material ideas, which he can then record the minute he steps out of jail. most artists take a year or two hiatus between albums, anyway. this little legal scuffle is no more than a smudge in his permanent record - people won't recall it if his music continues to do well.

sound off

time for a newfeature here on dirty laundry.  here are my thoughts on madonna's recent announcement she's adopting again.  why? you already have 3 kids who you probably hire someone to take care of most of the time.  it's great you want to help kids in malawi/abroad, but it seems like you're getting preferential treatment, madge.  the adoption process in malawi is usually a strict one, but madonna is able to pretty much waltz into the african nation and take the child as she pleases.  why not set up a foundation to help other people who want to be parents adopt children from malawi? they seem to like you over there.  oh well, i guess one kid being plucked from squalor and obscurity is better than none.  i just feel bad for people who aren't famous who are on long, long waiting lists to finally get a child over here and who don't have to ability to go abroad and have their pick.