It is confirmed that Beyonce Knowles, 29, and hubby Jay-Z, 41, are officially expecting their first child.
The R&B Queen glowed as she hit the red carpet for the 2011 VMAs, and shocked the world by revealing her baby bump.
Rumors of Beyonce's pregnancy has been circulating for years. The public has been wondering when the high-profile couple were finally gonna put some beans in the oven. Now that's it's come to be, I can't help but have mixed feelings about it...
I'm really surprised they even let it be known Beyonce was pregnant in the first place, because the couple has always been very "hush hush" on the details of their relationship. I thought if they were to have kids, we wouldn't know til the baby was at least 5 years-old! Of course I am extremely happy for the lovely couple to be expecting. Its exciting to have a baby on the way and make the transition into parenthood.
But what does this mean for Bee's career? With 16 Grammys and over 70 million albums sold worldwide, she's easily one of the most successful and best-selling artists of all time. However, will she be able to keep up this level of success once "mother" is added to her already packed list of jobs?
Balancing a career, husband, and children is already difficult for average women. One could only imagine the level of stress it is for celebrities, since their schedules are extremely packed, and their every move watched by the public. Many choose to give their careers a back seat and go on hiatus to be full time moms and wives. Often, when they return, they don't seem to have the same flare as they had before.
For example, before Britney Spears got married and dropped a couple kids, she was a major force to be reckoned with. Everything she touched went gold like Midas. Though her music is still good and she sells well, you have to admit she's a mere shadow of her former self. I'm still waiting to see how Alicia Keys and her recent marriage and baby will affect her career. She's already fired her long-time manager.
The bottom line is, children change things. Once they're here, there's no going back. How the Queen B will handle this is yet to be seen. I wish the beautiful mother-to-be the best of luck!
Japanese Diva Sowelu, 28, makes a sexy comeback with her new mini album entitled "Let Me..."
The new album is said to encumber all the desires of women today: love, lust, fashion, marriage, and a career, which sounds pretty accurate to me!
Judging from the steamy album jackets, fans could tell this was no longer the girl next door Sowelu they all know and love. However, many are embracing the new sexy image as the album is gaining much attention.
Sowelu is H.O.T! She can pore some sugar on me anytime! This new found image is just what the doctor ordered to revamp her career, as she's been in obscurity for quite some time. Personally, I love it when artists break out of their shells and aren't afraid to push the envelope. Besides, she's 28 now. Old enough to be grown & sexy, yet young enough so it's not weird or trashy, unlike a certain American artist (whom shall be remain nameless) that's in their forties, acts like they're twenty-something, and still prances around in mini skirts. Um, yeah. You know who I'm talking about!
The title track "Let Me," demonstrates lust and getting a piece of that good stuff. With it's upbeat electro dance tempo, I definitely see this song being a hit among party-goers. In the video, Sowelu is fierce from head to toe. I especially adore the skintight black lace outfit. Reminds me of a similar piece Keyshia Cole wore in her I Remember video, which I also loved. With such risque attire, I'm sure many found it hard to blink during this video.
The mini album has a male and female version, with each containing a track only available on that version. I'll be picking up both versions, because in the words of Aerosmith, "I don't wanna miss a thing!"
"Disappointed," was what many had to say after watching the music video of top Korean girl group, SNSD's, Bad Girl.
The single is the latest off of the group's first self-title Japanese debut album, which has recently crossed the double platinum mark in sales.
I don't understand why it was necessary to release another single off an album that has already gone platinum twice over. It seemed to be another greedy attempt of SM Entertainment/Avex to make more money without having to create new music. Unfortunately whenever they try to cut corners, it shows, and it showed "BADLY" here.
Let's take a look at this hot mess of a video and zone in on it's weak areas.
Choreography
This is what bothered me most about this video. In the Korean Pop music industry, having exciting and fun choreography for fans to dance along to is a must. SNSD is more than capable of delivering in the dance department, as the choreo for their mega hit song Gee, is still one of the catchiest dances to date. Here, the dancing is just all over the place! The girl's look extremely awkward and uncomfortable with their arms flapping everywhere and their bodies gyrating and bouncing around like crazy. Nothing about their movements scream sexy or "badass."
Outfits/Styling
Who's ever idea it was to dress the girls in trashy biker outfits needs to be taken outside and slapped around a bit. Played out denim, cut off shorts, leggings, tanks, handkerchiefs, and combat boots; they look like a hillbilly biker gang! Also, several of the girls are wearing cute bows in their hair, which takes away from the supposed edgy look they were going for. There's so many ways they could have dressed to reflect the "bad girl" image, but instead they wore this disarray of clothing. SNSD is known for their chic and classy styling and being absolutely stunning in their MVs. They could have easily given the girls more "attitude" to their looks while remaining true to the SNSD style. We already know they're capable pulling off a tougher image as we witnessed it in the Run Devil Run video.
Overall Concept
The video's look and concept come off as cheesy. I just couldn't take them seriously here. Can you even imagine these girl's actually riding around on motorcycles? Several of the girls were also smiling and giving cute expressions where instead their faces and body language should have been more fierce. Plus, there had to be a better location for shooting other than an empty parking lot.
The video was just an overall fail that lacked inspiration and that "wow" factor. It was a huge disservice to a really good song. But we all know SNSD will definitely bounce back from this and blow us away the next time.
Hip Hop superstar, Kanye West, 34, falls while performing in Bergen, Norway.
It appears the rapper got a little bit too excited and ended up falling.
I nearly fell out my seat watching this! Mr. West, seriously, drink some milk and calm your behind down! You've been making headlines for all kinds of weird and crazy things....again.
During the Big Chill Music Festival in England, West decides to go on another one of his rants. This time he wants everyone to know how misunderstood he is. He stated how people look at him as if he's Hitler, then moments later, he says how he yearns to be the "Micheal Jordan of music."
First of all, why would you bring up Hitler why performing in England or ANYWHERE in Europe? If there is anyone that may feel some kind of way about Hitler other than the Jewish people themselves, it's definitely the Europeans. If you can still find African Americans upset about slavery, then there's no doubt there's still people upset about the Holocaust, as it's more recent. I understand he didn't bring Hitler in a malicious manner, but it's just better not to mention his name at all.
As for you wanting to be the MJ of music, it's this kind of arrogance that gave people a bad taste in their mouth about you in the first place. You're assuming there isn't one already. What makes you qualified? Humility is your friend. Call them sometime.
We love Kanye's music, but it's getting harder and harder to like him as a person.
X Factor Judge and former Destiny Child's member, Kelly Rowland, 30, has a wardrobe malfunction while performing in New Jersey.
During the show, Rowland's "barely there" top shifted upwards as she waved her arms, ultimately exposing her nipples.
It must be Girls Gone Wild week among celebrities, as this incident takes place just mere days after Nicki Minaj's nip slip on Good Morning America.
If you're gonna wear a ridiculously skimpy outfit that consists of a small piece of material with a bunch of wires and straps to hold that bad boy together, then make sure you can move freely in it BEFORE you start dropping it like its hot in front of an audience.
Besides Kelly's top, the upside to this is she doesn't have to apologize to any disgruntled parents since the performance took place in a lounge.
After the show Rowland tweeted, "New Jersey crowd was amazing!! hope you enjoyed the show and didn't mind the peekaboo LOL."
Japanese R'n'B/soul songstress Jasmine, 22, is back with her latest single, "Only You."
In normal Jasmine fashion, the single is a smooth and passionate slow jam about a person's love giving her strength.
I've been following Jasmine's career since I first heard her debut track, "Sad to Say," back in 2009, while living in Japan. The single was a hit and became certified platinum for full cellphone downloads. However, 3 years later, it still doesn't seem like she's making much of an impact in the Japanese music industry. None of her releases following have managed to reach the top 10 on the Oricon.
There's no denying that Jasmine is talented as she has the ability to sing (and sing well), write, and take part in the production of her music. She's also easy on the eyes, which is a plus in this industry.
Jasmine showed so much promise in the beginning. She was said to be the next Utada Hikaru, which is a huge honor. However, by Utada's third single, she was taking Japan by storm. So why aren't j-music lovers raving about Jasmine yet?
Here may be some reasons:
A) Music Lacks Variety.I remember playing several of Jasmine's singles for my cousin one day, and she said each song sounded like the one that just went off. Jasmine sings the same way in most of her songs. Add that to the same slow to mid tempos and song construction, and each track definitely will "feel" the same. Just because you are classified as an RnB singer doesn't mean all your music has to be straight up RnB. She needs to dab into some different sounds and play around with her voice a bit. You don't need to belt it out on every track to prove you can sing. The general public is probably starting to think she's incapable of doing anything else besides sappy RnB songs, which is a genre not extremely popular in Japan.
B) Poor Music Video Quality. If there's anyone in need of a music video budget, its definitely her. I've seen more interesting videos shot in front of a green screen. Jasmine's videos usually have a color concept where she's dressed up in some sort of costume. They mostly consist of her standing somewhere, walking somewhere, singing into the camera, and that's about it. Uninspired and uninteresting. Even if you love the song, you'll find it hard to sit through the entire video. You can't blame her completely as most artists don't direct their own videos, but whoever has been directing hers need to be fired.
C) Her Lack of Personality. Though Jasmine dresses up in outlandish outfits, you can't help but notice her blank stare and stiffness. Her expressions are the same regardless of what she's singing about. Just look at the picture above and you can see what I mean. Different outfit but same look. She just needs to loosen up and do something different because it gives the impression she's not completely comfortable on camera. It's your song, your video, OWN IT!
D) Little to No Promotions. Getting your name out there and letting your voice be heard is important in an industry saturated with musicians. I have yet to hear of Jasmine doing anything major in the promotions department. She needs more public appearances, fan meetings, variety shows, and of course performances. This is how artists make their money and increase music sales.
As you can see, Jasmine is in desparate need of a new sound, image, and a video budget above $100 if she wants to keep her singing career afloat. I still have faith in her because not everyone hits it out the park from the time they debut. Sometimes it takes a few years. At just 22 years old, there's plenty of time to turn things around.
Maybe it's time for a change in management. She's currently signed Sony Music Japan. Even though they are one of the largest record labels in the world, they're gaining the reputation of sleeping on their artists and not pushing them to reach their full potential.
This song is okay like her previous songs, but I'm still waiting to be blown away.
Hip Hop sensation Nicki Minaj, 28, has a wardrobe malfunction, exposing her left breast live on Good Morning America.
The rapper was performing her hit single, "Moment 4 Life," when the unfortunate unveiling occurred.
At one point during the performance, Minaj was on all fours singing to the audience, and when she stood up, BOOM! THERE IT WAS! The camera quickly cuts away and when Nicki finally realizes one of the "girls" got loose, she adjusts her shirt and finishes performing.
GMA producers claimed to have in placed a 5 second delay to prevent such an incident from airing, however this happened to "fall through the cracks."
Parents are in an uproar and are stating the network needs to take more efficient precautions to prevent children from seeing such things.
The whole ordeal lasts only a few moments if you weren't there in person to see it. You either had to have the eye sight of Legolas from Lord of the Rings or Tivo so you can rewind and pause it, in order to get a good look of Nicki's goods.
I understand parents' concern for their children, but it's not like they aired an hour of porn. Accidents like this happen from time to time. The networks can't always control what guests do or say while on their shows. Have we forgotten Janet Jackson's breast exposure on the Super Bowl show during the half-time show? Or Kanye West's anti-bush speech following Hurricane Katrina? I doubt any of the producers in those cases saw those incidents coming and could have prevented it.
As for Nicki Minaj, keep your head up girl! It happens to the best of us. Think of it this way. You may have upset a handful of soccer moms for a little bit, but there are probably plenty more men that went to work happy and in a good mood that day!
Minaj and the network both apologize for the incident.
It's confirmed that the young wife,Courtney Studden, of hit series Lost actor, is indeed 16 years old.
Dough Hutchison, 51, appeared alongside Studden on E News for an exclusive interview. During, Studden held up an official copy of her birth certificate, which showed that she is, in fact, just 16 years old.
The couple claimed to have met through a mutual acquaintance of Studden's mother. Courtney says she was interested in pursuing an acting career and looked to Hutchison for advice, then as time went by, their friendship bloomed into a romance. Now the two are happily married.
I know you are probably disgusted, but honestly I'm not surprised. The hot younger woman has always been a man's kryptonite. Hugh Hefner, George Clooney, James Woods, and Donald Trump have been dating them for years. However, their young lovers were at least grown woman in their 20s. This relationship brings a whole new meaning to robbing the craddle.
Let's begin with her....
Isn't Courtney just the perfect model daughter any parent would love to have? I mean, look at her! She's so mature for her age, with a face full of makeup and a full bust-line she flaunts oh so gracefully! She's not doing the corny stuff average 16 year olds do, like focusing on school, playing a sport, or hanging out at the mall. Oh noooo! She's doing cool stuff like shooting cheesy music videos for youtube, taking raunchy photos, and banging a guy old enough to be her dad. Any parent would be proud! Hers sure seem to be, because they approve of the whole thing!
Courtney says she's never done porn and has no intention of doing porn, but why stop now? There's already half nude pics of you floating around the internet. Plus you already have the look of a porn star that just walked of the set of Barney and Friends with Benefits. So why not go all the way and just let it all hang out!
Many people assume Courtney is a classic bimbo that doesn't know her ass from her elbow, while her parents must be smoking several types of crack to allow their daughter to date, let alone marry someone that's even older than them. (Doug is 4 years older than her biological father) However, I feel it's all part of a master plan to skyrocket Courtney to stardom. These people may not be as stupid as you think.
Yes, its taboo, but young women with dreams of becoming rich and famous are often willing to trade their bodies in order to do so. It's part of the darker side of Hollywood. The difference in this instance is that it's out in the open for everyone to see. Trust me, this girl knows what she's doing. She's playing the game. Sleeping with the right person can give you fame and fortune. Courtney Studden was virtually unknown to most of us before the scandal broke, and now she has national attention. Doug Hutchison isn't that big of an actor, as he's only had a few parts here and there. Unless his career suddenly takes off, she'll more than likely divorce him, take half of whatever he has, and run off with a football player or something. Next thing you know, she's the new Kim Kardashian! It may not all be morally acceptable, but who needs morals when you have money?
If anyone is dumb or made a bad decision, its definitely Doug. He has everything to lose. He'll always be known as that pervert that married a child. Good luck getting any major roles or endorsements with that over your head. He fell for the things many old lonely men fall for all the time: a pretty face and a big pair of tig-o-bitties. Many guys will high five him for getting a hot young girl to willingly sleep with him, but those same guys would give him a huge thumbs down for walking down the aisle with her. The public will label Courtney as "young and dumb," and ultimately forgive her, especially if she turns out to be a great actress. However in Doug's case, he is supposed to be the "adult" in the situation and should have exercised better judgment. How this circus of a relationship plays out would be interesting to watch. Reality show anyone?!
