“In a way I think the consolidation is a good thing because there are so many categories,” said Larry Fitzgerald, president of Fitzgerald-Hartley Management in Nashville, which represents Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, LeAnn Rimes, Colbie Caillat and Randy Houser, among others. “But I think it's kind of weird: It puts people in a category that probably shouldn't be in a category together. I understand what they're doing, but only time will tell how it shakes out.”
ADELE – La sua voce ha incantato tutto il mondo e ora per Adele arriva il momento della consacrazione. Adele che tornerà sul palco a dicembre, dopo aver subito l’intervento alle corde vocali, ha ottenuto sei nomination ai Grammy Awards, gli Oscar della musica, tra cui miglior registrazione, canzone e album dell’anno “21″ in cima alle classifiche mondiali. La sua vittoria potrebbe essere insidiata da Kanye West con sette nomination, tra cui canzone dell’anno per “All of the lights”. La cerimonia di premiazione si terrà allo Staples Center di Los Angeles il 12 febbraio 2012.
By Steve Knopper December 1, 2011 2:15 PM ET 
Kanye West attends the 'Reed Between The Lines' VIP screening in New York. Johnny Nunez/WireImage
We read this year's Grammy nominations news as blah blah blah blah blah Common, Lupe Fiasco and LL Cool J performed a tribute to Grandmaster Flash last night blah blah blah blah. It's about time Flash got some respect! Could Melle Mel be next? Or Roxanne Shanté? We can only hope. As for the nominations themselves? We haven't subscribed to the old “Grammy voters are stupid” wisdom for years –certainly not after witnessing last year's dramatic Arcade Fire victory. So mostly, these are on target: Brace yourselves for a lot of (deserved) teary Adele moments. But Kanye West continues to be the Rodney Dangerfield of awards shows, and (news flash!) nobody at the Grammys seems to listen to a great deal of metal. Oh well. despite all that, it isn't a bad list this year at all.
Short but sweet is the only way to describe Chico DeBarge’s first ticketed show in his hometown Saturday night at The Intersection. after numerous warm-up groups and multiple intermissions, the Grand Rapids native finally took the stage at 11:35 p.m. “What’s up, hometown?” the singer asked, looking relaxed as he played his keyboard. The relaxation didn’t last long, as DeBarge faced some technical difficulties with his keyboard. “Hang on a minute while I fix this,” he said. after getting rid of the bugs in the instruments, DeBarge embraced being at the center of a super tight band (the John Gist Band) and being backed by the richness of four background singers, including his nephew, also named Chico DeBarge. Superb bass and saxophone players added a deluxe layer of sound. Though the show was billed as a Motown Revue, DeBarge mostly performed his own tunes, such as “Trouble Man,” “love Still Good,” and “No Guarantee” with its luscious bass line. “I can’t stand up here on stage without paying homage to my roots,” he said. The 45-year-old alumni of Ottawa Hills High School and Creston High School added that Jermaine Jackson first discovered Switch, the funk band featuring his older brothers Bobby and Tommy, and then later DeBarge, made up of five more of his siblings, including El DeBarge. “A lot of luminaries come from here,” he said, “including Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar, the Reverend Al Green, and the Mayweathers.” REVIEW: 2 1/2 OUT OF 4 STARS
On Saturday afternoon, as is often the case, we found ourselves walking the lonely aisles of our local no Frills supermarket in search of cheap ginger beer. If you haven’t been, we highly suggest you take a moment and acquaint yourself with the many wonders of this strange grocery chain from the eastern reaches of Canada. with its yellow packaged, no-name line of processed foods, skeleton crew of cashiers, which often leads to Soviet-era foodshortage lineups, and 1980s high school dance soundtrack pumping over the loudspeakers, no Frills is a shopping experience unto itself.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — Pencipta lagu, pemain musik, aranjer, dan produser musik kawasakan dari Kanada, David Foster, tetap mampu merebut hati para penonton di Jakarta pada konser Hit Man Returns: David Foster and Friends Asia Tour 2011, pada Jumat (28/10/2011) malam, yang berjarak satu tahun saja dari konser Foster sebelumnya.
USMagazine, Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 6:09am (PDT)
Mom is moonstruck by her dancing baby!
As anticipated, Cher was in the audience at Monday’s “Dancing With the Stars” to cheer on her son, Chaz Bono.
PHOTOS: The entire cast of this season’s DWTS
Winners of the outstanding contribution to music award at the Mobos last week, Boyz II Men are well primed for their comeback. But despite sampling Beyoncé’s latest single, what is most striking about their first new material in a decade is how oddly out of time it sounds. This is partly because Boyz II Men make admirably few concessions to updating themselves: Twenty is a ballad-heavy album in the vein of similar efforts in the past year by contemporaries El DeBarge and R Kelly, with old-school producers such as Teddy Riley and Jam & Lewis contributing soft-centred slow jams (Not Like You) and cuts that sound like lost new jack swing classics (Believe). the album’s throwback feel is also bittersweet: Boyz II Men’s comeback is a reminder that the tradition of R&B male harmony groups has, for now at least, all but died out. the lively creativity with which they put their vocal skills to use is a rare sound in 2011, from the overlapping, aqueous harmonies on So Amazing to the barbershop-inspired shoo-be-doo backing vocals on the irresistible Benefit of a Fool. enjoy it while you can.
The sixth annual BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta, Georgia was broadcast last night, where rap’s biggest heavyweights all came out to put on a show. Troubled rapper DMX made a storming return to the stage alongside fellow Ruff Ryder Swizz Beats, as they ran through three classics – ‘Get at me Dog,’ ‘Ruff Ryders’ Anthem’ and ‘Party up.’ Maybach Music Group were represented by Rick Ross and Wale, who ran through ‘That Way’ and ‘I’m a Boss’ with specially invited crooner El DeBarge. along with stage performances were the traditional freestyle cypher battles, which were torn down by the Shady Records team: Slaughterhouse, Yelawolf and Slim himself. Watch all three performances below…
Maybach Music Group’s biggest artists — Rick Ross, Wale and Meek Mill — graced the stage of the 2011 BET Hip-Hop Awards, which were held earlier this month (Sat. Oct 1st) in Atlanta at the Civic Center, and aired last night (Tue. Oct 11th) on BET.
Yawn….I’m pretty sure that the folks who have Tupac’s sex tape in hand feel as though they’re sitting on bank. and while I must admit that I’m curious to see what’s going on on the tape, I’m rolling my eyes at these grainy, dickless shots. I never doubted that the video existed; he was a rap superstar with many groupies, I’m sure. But come on, son….
Watching the American premiere of Simon Cowell’s creation the X Factor is kind of like watching American Idol, back in the day when Idol was still Idol. only better. I will straight out admit to being a huge Simon Cowell fan. I always have been. Love his honesty, brashness, hilarious insults, and his very real ability to find and market unique and raw talent. To me, he was the heart and soul of American Idol. sure, the auditions were always funny as hell; watching all the freaks and the people who can’t sing, but those auditions didn’t seem quite so fun last season, did they? Without Simon on the panel, we were left with no biting commentary. It was the “kinder, gentler Idol.” So what did Simon do? He did what Simon does best; he packed up his white tight t-shirt and his British moodiness and he got to work on bringing his hit British show over here to America, with a few important tweaks, of course.