Beyonce, Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' rings loud

The sizzling hot phenomenom which is for henceforth called BeGaga has altered space and time as we know it with their 9-minute epic video for "Telephone".
Beyonce, at her Sasha'ing best, brings the muscle; Lady Gaga the wired brains as two of music's biggest females debuted their hit song to enormous results on the Web. Some music TV channels have banned the video due to suggestive and downright odd sensual scenes.
But not Youtube. The clip is on pace to become the most-watched video on the Internet. Ever.
Talk about girl power.
Watch.



Share

With divorce, Matthew knowles' dream starts to fade

In 1980, a sharp-talking Q-Dog from Gadsden, Alabama, married a Texas hottie with Louisiana roots, there was even then a glimmer of promise in the couple. Matthew Knowles was a Fisk graduate and a man-about-town in a small city. Tina Beyincé was a stallion of a woman, with a quiet strength about herself. The couple had their first child within a year, Beyonce, and the second one, Solange, a few years after.
Matthew was seen as a hard working businessman, reportedly earning six figures with IBM. But he had other plans: Nurturing the entertaining talents of his first born and her girlfriends into a powerful singing group.
The young couple almost split early on due to Mathew's singular drive to turn his babies into superstars, but Tina bought into it: She let her husband handle the management end while she began to design clothes for the girls.
In 10 years the girls were superstars, riding the tails of the couple's oldest daughter, Beyonce, while Solange tinkered with a solo project.
After the hard work and tears, Solange got pregnant and had Juelz. Four years later, Bey got married. What would the Matthew and Tina do now?
They had spent the previous 25 years honing, coaching and training their girls for entertainment.
On Nov. 11, 2009, divorce proceedings got under way. In October, a paternity suit was filed against Matthew by Alexsandra Wright, an actress that has starred in a handful of films.
Tina Knowles has reportedly stopped wearing her wedding ring. The Knowles family released a statement last week, saying in apart, ''If anyone is expecting an ugly, messy fight, they will be sadly disappointed.''
Beyonce has flocked to her mother's side to console her, nurture her.

Beyonce Closes Out 'Dream' Decade

If a little girl from Houston, Texas, closed her eyes and dreamt that she could, in 10 short years, pdisband the top-selling girl grou in music history, invent at least one dance craze per album, and have millions of fans -- male and female -- imitate her very essence, then that little girl still wouldn't sum up what Beyonce Giselle Knowles has done in the 00s.
As Bey's place as Top Female Artist of the Decade is considered, what needs no consideration is the fact that from 2000 - 2010 will most definitely be viewed as a time of savage war, depressed economy, and yet, when it comes to entertainment only one woman has shouldered the brunt of the burben: Bey.
Stardom actually came three years before the millennium, in 1998, when Destiny's Child released "No No No", which became the group's first hit. The group replaced members twice, but the centerpiece remained Bey, who who's stirring vocals were undeniable in black R&B at the time.
It was all a dream, but became a "Sweet Dream" in 2008 when Bey married rapper Jay-Z and the two released platinum albums that same year.
|As 2009 comes to a close, Bey is the consummate female artist, combining acting, dancing, singing, even rapping into the Beyonce Experience.
What will she do from 2011 to 2020?

Beyonce to do Thanksgiving Special on TV

In a case of network television bringing superstardom to your living rooms, ABC says it will broadcast Beyonce on Nov. 26 for a Thanksgiving special.
The special is geared to promote the deluxe edition of Beyonce's album "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" and a live CD/DVD.
The fact that "I Am" was released in 2008 shows you that Bey is serious about not producing any new material until she gets her long-awaited hiatus from the business.
But the burning question is, who exactly will America be sharing their Thanksgivings with? the newly married star-singer Beyonce (and Jay-Z)? or the booty-shaking, Mama-afraid-to-let-their-schoolgirls-watch Sasha Fierce?

Celebrity Style: Bey

Do You Have An Alter Ego?

The success of Beyonce's "Sasha Fierce" album brings to mind the question of alter egos.
Do you have an alter ego, a side of you that allows yourself to do things you normally wouldn't do?
Many people use alcohol or other drugs to become less inhibited and, loosen up, when they are socializing. Others simply tap into a dormant side of themselves, a side that few people get to see, when they want to.
Is it beneficial to do so? I've long ago thought that some people have split personalities, but there seems to be benefits to becoming "another person" when the time is right.
What about you? Do you have an alter ego?

Honestly, Is Beyonce the Best Ever?

For argument's sake, let's say you could build a female super-artist: This person would be physically attractive, have a platinum voice.
You would start her off young, preteen and get her accustomed to being in a group and performing at events.
You would put her in a girl group and if you were her mother or father, you and your spouse would put your careers on hold and hone the skills of the group and your daughter in particular.
Let's say this female super-artist embodies skills of all the greats: the house-rattling voice of a Mahalia Jackson, the looks of Diana, the legs of Tina, the drive of Janet.
Let's say the girl group blows up and shatters all kinds of records, and then, she starts a solo career and works nonstop for 10 straight years.
(Whew).
Even if you did all of that, you still wouldn't have Beyonce Knowles, who, since her marriage to Jay-Z, has started to rap on her tracks now.
Is she the best ever?
She's certainly a candidate.

Beyonce calls for "Single Ladies" dance contest

Fearing sales for her album stagnate, Beyonce has started an online dance contest for "Single Ladies." The problem is, though, that the song is too old, and not getting the airplay it once was. I know she's "Fierce" and all, but can she pull this off?

Beyonce's "Fierce" Goes Platinum ... How?

After an initial burst, Beyonce's latest album "I Am ... Sasha Fierce," has slowly reached the platinum status, months after its release. The album, which we said sounded like a Rihanna LP yielded two strong singles out the gate, "If I Was a Boy," and "Single Ladies [Put a Ring on it]".
Usher's 2008 album "Here I Stand" has been certified Platinum according to the RIAA as well, but they all trail Kanye West's quick platinum certification of "808s & Heartbreak" which came out last month.

Kelly Rowland Denies Home is in Foreclosure

Former Destiny's (step)Child Kelly Rowland says media reports that her Miami crib is in foreclosure proceedings are far from real.
Rowland, who bought a home in London last year, is said to be cutting loose the property because she's simply not there. Unlike many celebrities, Rowland has publicly cut back on her expenses during the economic downtown, including cutting Matthew Knowles loose as her manager.
Rowland has been trying to sell the house for a minute now, and has slashed half-a-million dollars off the $1.9 million house.
If she is having "foclo" difficulties, she won't be the only one.

The State of Female R&B

Ashanti isn't even in the building.
Neither is Eve.
But those that do make it inside, and into the diva room, are there precariously.
Music sales are just that bad.
Used to be a time when a viable female singer could be counted on to debut with 800,000 units sold. Some of them were one-hit wonders (Tweet?), others were riding off their producers (Amerie?), but now even that has eroded.
The top female music seller this year?
Well, you could have thought that Beyonce would own that, but it was only a short-lived victory.
Britney Spear's "Circus" album moved 505,000 units in its debut two weeks ago. Spears is the only act in Nielsen SoundScan history to have four albums debut with 500,000 or more in sales.
"I am ... Sasha Fierce" sold a respectable 482,000 in its debut three weeks ago.
Respectable, but nowhere near the numbers these artists are used to.
To be far, Bey's album sales have trumped Rihanna's, but RiRi has a bright future with longer legs in the business.
Now that the tallies are in, Alicia Keys (who in 3 months sold almost 3 million copies of her "As I Am" LP last fall) is the new standard-bearer for female R&B.
Not only has she brought artistry and live instrumentation back to music, but she has somehow managed to keep her clothes on (Cue Ciara Vibe cover right ... here.)
Rihanna is the artist with the biggest upside: Her latest album "Good Girl Gone Bad" has sold 6.2 million copies worldwide and has gone 2x Platinum in the Usa, 4x Platinum in the UK and Canada, 5x Platinum in Russia, and 6x Platinum in Ireland; helped by the deluxe LP "Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded".
One can't forget about the British Beehive, Amy Winehouse. Troubles aside her "Fade to Black" album is an instant classic, all the more spectacular by her Jewish soulfulness and apparent lack of refinement. Although her off-the-stage problems may well get the best of her, she is No. 1 when it comes to world acclaim and buzz (even if ASCAP doesn't see it that way).
Ciara is the only one that seems to be ready to accept the digital trends in music, opting for the voice coder that has made T-Pain an overnight success. Still, her album is in trouble before it can even get off the ground.
Of course, the portrait in the room would be Ms. Lauren Hill, with her prototype solo album, "The Miseducation of Lauren Hill," the holy grail of hip-hop/soul debuts. Although she could'nt duplicate her success sales-wise, Hill's album has quietly remained a best-seller among soul enthusiasts. With sales past 17 million and respect far surpassing that, she is the goal of today's R&B singer. And to think "Miseducation ..." was released 10 years ago.
But good music has staying power.

The Cute Couple Award for 2008: Who is it?

Who would have thought that in 2008 Chris Brown and Rihanna would dominate the headlines for a physical confrontation instead of matrimony? Wow, the way things were.

She is ... Rihanna ... Fierce

Beyonce's new album "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" is eclectic only in the alter ego that she supposedly allows to come to the fore for this album.
Beyonce prepped her fans to hear a different Bey, a more courageous (read: experimental) Bey but what she delivered was a Rihanna album.
Sasha Fierce is ... Rihanna.
That's the verdict from even her ardent record-buying customers.
Amazon has 41 customer reviews and a full 80 percent of them are negative or on the fence.

Bey's first single "If I Were A Boy" is a bonafide hit, but in the Rihanna style. For "The Baddest Chick in the Game," we expect more depth and texture. The dual single "Single Ladies" is more of the same that she has put out in the past ("Check up on it," "UpGrade Me,") so the premise that the album would be a great departure was highly exaggerated.
Also, many fans are not happy about a double CD that has a total nine songs on it.
This is what a double album is, not a hodgepodge preview of studio outtakes.
Final verdict, "Sasha Fierce" is neither Sasha, nor fierce. It's just Beyonce. And unfortunately (and it's not just me it's the record-buying public), I don't think that's enough anymore.

Are they Dating Already?

They are the cute couple of 2008, singers Chris Breezy and Rihanna.
That their relationship blossomed so quick is a testament to young love, which knows few boundaries and is not easily stifled only by distance.
Rihanna had previously been linked to Jay-Z but the whole thing seemed a farce to sell records; and Chris Brown was drawing the attention of one Southern pop star (Ciara) and an American Idol (Jordin Sparks) before being swooped up in the Caribbean flavor of Rihanna who hails from the Bahamas.
What will the future hold for these two bashful love birds, who knows? They are awfully young (remember the quick fizzle of Ciara and Bow Wow?).
Whatever is in store, it seems these two can make a longtime go of it, if the papparazzi just leaves them be.
To Chris Brown, we say, Run It.