day 292

leona lewis gets "happy"

it's been over a year since leona lewis broke into the international music scene with her single "bleeding love" and now the most successful x-factor winner is back with a new single, "happy," off her sophomore disc, echo. i was starting to get worried that leona was going to be a one-hit wonder stateside after her second single off her first record, spirit, didn't get radio play. but, now that i've heard "happy," i'm pretty sure leona is here to stay. the song is very much-so in the vain of "bleeding love" - most likely because "happy" re-teamed lewis with the creative force behind "bleeding love," one republic's ryan tedder. it's really catchy and is already stuck in my head after just two listens - so, you've been warned. check out the song in the video above and hear for yourself. the one thing that troubles me is that leona is very much in the real of celine dion, whitney houston, and 90s mariah; that era of music is kind of dead and gone. to really become a pop force, leona is going to have to release something super-upbeat. i hope, for her sake, that she has a track that could compete with kelly clarkson or even miley cyrus on the radio today. because, i don't want her to end up like mariah carey, who really doesn't seem to understand what her career or musical focus is anymore, or like whitney, who has a top selling album right now, but isn't really getting radio play. leona will most likely debut "happy" as part of her vh1 divas performance on september 17th. jordin sparks recently joined the divas showcase, which will also feature adele, miley cyrus, and kelly clarkson. the fact that they booked miley over taylor swift is crazy to me, because taylor easily could have pulled in the young audience just as well as cyrus. paula abdul is set to mc the evening, so i'll be tuning in just to see how much she slurs.

day 175

beyonce has a diva moment

        

if something goes wrong during a beyonce convert, and you're an employee, be ready to face the wrath of lady b. ms. knowles' may 2nd concert had some technical difficulties in terms of the show's lighting set up for "diva."  being the talented artist that she is, beyonce was able to weave some new lyrics into the hit song - "lights! somebody's getting fired." at least we can now confirm she always sings live.  check out the video above and listen for b's diva tantrum around the 40 second mark. i guess some celebs can't be down to earth all the time.  click here to see another pop-diva, britney spears, have a concert freakout of her own when a fan rushes the stage.  brit was obviously not ready for any uncalled for interaction and screams while her voice mysteriously still plays over the loud speakers. interesting right? ha. a frightened brit can be seen around the 2:15 mark. 

jordin sparks is no one-hit-wonder

        

jordin sparks is set to revisit the american idol stage on wednesday, two years after taking home the top title, to perform her new single, "battlefield," off her soon to be released sophomore disc.  jordin had some major success with "no air," her duet with chris brown off her first album, so i'll be interested to see who she collaborates with on this cd.  "battlefield" is a break-up/make-up/love anthem produced by one republic ("apologize") frontman ryan tedder.  listen to the song above and judge for yourself - i'm a fan.  so much music has come out over the past week, meaning record companies are hurting and expecting these songs to bring them out of their depression. the remaining finalists on idol (chris, danny, and adam - the first all-boy final 3) will perform 2 songs this week, a judges pick and a choice of their own. 

justin timberlake pulls a paula abdul 

         

okay, but not in any way you may have thought.  new old footage of jt surfaced today of the former n'sync frontman performing a duet to abdul's opposites attract at the germantown festival in memphis, tennessee sometime in the 80s - prior to his mickey mouse club days.  check it out above. oh, nostalgia.  timberlake's voice has (thankfully) changed quite a bit - the girl overshadows him in the performance, but he sure does have the dance moves down.