Taio Cruz Takes A "Dirty Picture" With Ke$ha

It's a British up-and-comer Taio Cruz's naughty tune, who teams up with the always misunderstood, Ke$ha, premiered a music video to support his next single "Dirty Picture," which first appeared on his second album "Rokstarr." It's being released in the UK as a single this month, and a new mix of "Dirty Picture" prominently features pop's latest wildcat, Ke$ha on Myspace UK a few days ago! The party animal Ke$ha balances on the the rim of a public bathroom toilet seat in British newcomer Cruz's new "Dirty Picture" video.
"Dirty Picture," a catchy song nonetheless, was produced by Cruz and written by himself and Ke$ha, as the third single comes from Cruz's upcoming second album "Rokstarr," will be released on April 25 digitally and on April 26 physically, and will no doubt be used as the follow up to his US No.1 "Break Your Heart." Although it has been suggested that Cruz originally wanted Lady GaGa on his song "Dirty Picture," Ke$ha makes a suitably filthy replacement. "I went to a meeting with Dr. Luke and he was telling me about this new girl he was working with. She hadn't done 'Tik Tok' or anything like that at that point. But I just thought she sounded really cool. A very unique-sounding voice," Cruz confessed to MTV.
The music video, pretty standard-fare. was shot partly in East London sometime in February. The pair filmed the remaining club scenes in Los Angeles the week beginning in March. "There are some very sexy party scenes though, full of the coolest looking people, and Ke$ha's performance is amazing," Cruz said as quoted by the Daily Star. "There's a scene in a public bathroom and we had to throw in a sports car. I'm driving through the desert for no reason." The clip will be released on April 26 in the UK!

Norah Jones Premiered "Young Blood" On iTunes

The Grammy Award winning singer Norah Jones debuted The Fall's fairly non-rock "Young Blood" at Apple's "Rock And Roll" product conference in last September. Now iTunes offered the world premiere of her music video for "Young Blood" featured on her 2009 release critically-acclaimed, platinum-selling fourth studio album "The Fall" on digitally only. The video was directed by Toben Seymour, a British fantastical director and puppeteer who has also worked with Moby, will.i.am fan site, and Kanye West.
Jones is one of the most popular contemporary jazz and jazz-influenced singers of our time. Unlike the one-woman-and-her-sailing-brownstone vibe of "Chasing Pirates," these frames include Mondrian-like screen divisions populated with plenty of extras and set pieces literalizing the lyrics. The video makes creative use of split-screen storytelling by splicing in footage of Ms. Jones, alongside a literal interpretation of the songs lyrics.
Jones will be making her first-ever appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show on April 22. A performance on PBS Soundstage will air later this spring. Jones is currently on a North American tour in support of "The Fall," and has been receiving rave reviews all along the way. She has added several major festivals to her schedule throughout the summer including Celebrate Brooklyn, Bonnaroo, and Lilith Fair, as well as a run of European tour dates beginning in late June. NPR Music just simulcast Jones' performance at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia yesterday. The concert will be streamed live, podcast and archived at NPR Music, and will be broadcast live on WXPN.

Green Day Debut "Last Of The American Girls"

As promised by the band, the alternative rock trio Green Day's back and debuted the video on MTV for "Last of the American Girls," a standout track on band's eighth studio project "21st Century Breakdown." The song was released as the fifth single to follow up to the title track of the album, and is a great '60s-inflected, straight-ahead slice of power pop. It makes you want to put on your go-go boots and dance. Green Day must have been inspired by turning their Grammy-winning "American Idiot" into a Broadway musical, because the video for their newest mid-tempo rock ditty single is kind of 'all' jazz hands and box steps. After all, it's probably the most theatrical and retro-leaning song on the album, a sort of revved-up take on something from "Bye Bye Birdie" or "West Side Story." And the video directed by frequent collaborator Marc Webb, the same person who helmed the band's other videos, is in much the same style.
Since the band's latest album is a concept effort, this music video is also featuring the story of Gloria who is played by actress Lisa Stelly, and her boyfriend Christian. Put as the titular character, Gloria is portrayed as a bored girl doing routines before she found out pleasure in blowing things up. Gloria's boyfriend is not featured in this new video, but Gloria appears to have relocated her remaining possessions to the desert, where she is living a glamorously desultory life, complete with television and manicure supplies. Then she decides to blow up her car. Also, there are blond go-go dancers/American Apparel employees following her every move, while the ageless Billie Joe Armstrong and his punk band friends stand nearby and serenade her individuality. At clip's end, as flames erupt from the hood of the vehicle, she cracks a satisfied smile. The narrative is wrapped about a performance by the band, which, by this point, is pretty standard issue for Green Day.
The bassist Dirnt has expressed his belief that "Last of the American Girls" was written about lead vocalist Armstrong's wife Adrienne, who he claimed is steadfast in her beliefs and assertively defends them. Out of all the post-Nirvana alternative bands to break into the pop mainstream, the California based rock trio were second only to Pearl Jam in terms of influence. At their core, Green Day were simply punk revivalists who recharged the energy of speedy, catchy three-chord punk-pop songs. Rolling Stone states the band bridge the gap between their punk-rock operas and their upcoming American Idiot Broadway musical. The band has sold over 22 million records in the US. They have won three Grammy Awards, Best Alternative Album for "Dookie," Best Rock Album for "American Idiot," and Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

Janet Jackson Premiered New Video "Nothing"

I'm very excited to bring you the world premiere of R&B-pop legend Janet Jackson's music video for her new single "Nothing," which is the theme song for her fourth feature motion picture "Why Did I Get Married Too?" offering a compelling performance in this highly anticipated sequel, hits theaters nationwide Today!
Jackson will reprise her role in Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married? sequel, "Why Did I Get Married Too?" is a new self-help book penned by Jackson, her first book "True You," providing an intimate look at her life and how she has dealt with issues of self-esteem, is due soon. Jackson will reveal aspects not known before about her uniquely successful career not only in music but in television and motion pictures.
In new film, Jackson co-starred with actor Tyler Perry and actor/singer Jill Scott. It was written and produced by Jackson, Johntá Austin, Bryan-Michael Cox, and Jermaine Dupri. The video for soundtrack was filmed on March 24, and Miss Jackson teams with director-photographer Tim Palen, and produced by Bryan-Michael Cox and Jermaine Dupri.
In "Nothing," Jackson seems to briefly summarize the problems plaguing the couples during their latest marriage-saving retreat. Featuring the soft, ethereal quality that has just about become the hallmark of a Jackson ballad, the song sounds like an open letter from WDIGM characters Patty, Sheila, Dianne and Marcus to their respective spouses. See how each pair handles their issues when "Why Did I Get Married Too?"
After losing older brother Michael, Miss Jackson is on the verge of a serious comeback. As an icon, a trendsetter, a businessperson, a multi-gifted artist, Miss Jackson burst onto the scene with her record setting album, "Control." Today she possesses an unprecedented list of achievements, and remains in the forefront of her craft, a true inspiration. Summarizing her career and her incredibly raw albums, she has said, "Here I am. I'm coming on. Musically, I have it. You want it. And I'm giving it to you." Continuing her growth as an artist and as a person Jackson intriguingly states, "I'm proud to have stayed in the game and survived. And I’m proud that I've remained true to myself. But if you go back and listen to the music, you'll hear how that self is always changing."

Boyzone's "Gave It All Away" Tops Single Charts

Irish boy band Boyzone are back on top of the Irish charts with their first release for new single "Gave It All Away" since the loss of their bandmate, Stephen Gately. "Gave It All Away" is the lead single, features Stephen in a recording made last summer, from the Irish boy band's latest fourth studio album, "Brother," which pays tribute to Gately. The success of single is particularly poignant for Boyzone as it features a vocal from their departed friend who died suddenly last October while on holiday in Majorca. They also managed to top their album, dedicated to their late former colleague for the UK chart.
The song was written by London-based pop star Mika, and was originally meant to be Boyzone's comeback single after their 2007 reformation, however Mika did not allow it. The song includes lead vocals from Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately. After Gately's death, Mika allowed the song to be released as a tribute to the singer. He said "I was shocked and saddened when to hear about Gately's passing. He touched so many people's lives both with his music and with his wonderful personality. It's an honor to hear him sing my song. I wish all the best to the rest of the boys. I'm proud of the song and proud of their version." The song received its first airplay on January 17 on Keating's radio show.
The Irish boy band had popular mainstream success during the 1990s. The group were most successful in Ireland, UK, Australia and New Zealand. They also had differing levels of success in parts of Europe. The group have released six No.1 UK hit singles, and four No.1 albums with sales approaching 30 million records as of 2008. Following disappointing chart positions for Boyzone's previously recorded new material (Love You Anyway and Better) "Gave It All Away" reached No.1 in the Irish singles chart, knocking Jedward's Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby) off the top place. Given Boyzone haven't had that much out recently, this is still a fantastic result. It shows once again just how broad their appeal is and how loyal their fans are. I'm sure many fans are also buying the single directly because of him and to demonstrate how much they still care for and miss him.
Boyzone's new video may just tip you over the edge. The band said of the filming, "We found it really hard to make this video and the footage is incredibly raw and tough to watch at times. But we didn't want it being too mournful all the way through. There's a nice scene of us four brothers sat around a table at the end with Stephen's favorite picture hanging up behind us. It's us reminiscing about the good times and the laughter we had with our other brother and again Phil just filmed us fly-on-the-wall for that so it's just us as we are."

Justin Bieber Finds Love For "Never Let You Go"

Days after performing at 2010 Kids' Choice Awards with Ludacris-featuring hit single "Baby", the 16-year-old Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber gives his fans another treat by releasing new music video on VEVO for single "Never Let You Go," taken from his recently-released sophomore album, "My World 2.0 LP," which was released in the U.S. on March 23.
"Never Let You Go" was originally released as the first digital-only single from latter half of Bieber's debut album, "My World 2.0" on March 2, and is anticipated to be the second single from the album. Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone said that "the ballads, often a weak spot on pop/R&B records, are fully realized, mixing love-struck lyrics with big, lovable choruses." Lauren Carter of The Boston Herald stated that, "While it's hard to buy into so much angst coming from a 16-year-old, the promises of forever (see "Never Let You Go," for starters) will undoubtedly delight the young girls who dream of spending eternity with pop's newest heartthrob."
The up-and-coming actress Paige Hurd portrays Bieber's love interest in Colin Tilley-directed video, was filmed at The Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, is a really nice take on the innocence of young love, full of flirting, dancing and air-touching. The pop's newest sensation Bieber is seen walking through some sort of dark underground cavern/temple space, and hanging out and frolicking with Hurd in the catacombs of Bahamian aquariums, and they eventually make their way out of the aquarium and out into the world where they share glances. Bieber is definitely growing up a lot in this video, sharing near-kisses, touching and nuzzling with his girl. Shots of the pair in silhouette holding hands play into the video's plot of two young teens falling in love in a very exotic locale, and Bieber continues his knack for Michael Jackson-esque dance moves in an age-appropriate fashion. A big sting ray swims by.
The tune is a slow pop love song, sadly and the video has a suitably muted tone. In addition to "Never Let You Go" video, Bieber has also filmed another video with Sean Kingston for their duet track "Eenie Meenie". "Wrapped the EENIE MEENIE video," the teen singer wrote on Twitter. "This video is gonna be amazing."

Kelis Out Of Fashion In Her New "Acapella" Video

R&B artist Kelis premiered a music video for the apparent lead single "Acapella" from her fifth studio album "Flesh Tone," Kelis' first album in nearly four years, will arrive overseas on May 17 and is slated to hit U.S. shores in June. The song is a departure from her past singles in that it is a dance/electronica track rather than hip hop, produced by David Guetta, about her son, Knight. The track, wrote it with love and life in singer's mind, which has topped on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart!
Kelis and David Guetta is an odd pairing. With the rising profile of club producer David Guetta, Harlem-bred vocalist Kelis jumped on board, yet has managed to record a track that sounds both timely and reasonably novel. "Acapella" is a smooth, Donna Summer-style track with Kelis as an icy electro queen, a robotic embrace of house's metronomic bliss. Kelis' chameleonic adaptation to the times exemplifies her artistic flexibility, that she knows how to adjust to a changing pop world without losing her ability to stand out, to make her competition seem banal. "Acapella" displays Kelis' seemingly preternatural understanding of pop history, the dynamics at play in today's pop music, and ironically, a sense of personality in frozen performance.
The single has received a positive reception. Pitchfork Media gave the song a positive review, saying: "'Acapella' is a smooth, Donna Summer-style track with Kelis as an icy electro queen, a robotic embrace of house's metronomic bliss." About.com's "Dance Music" section reviewed the track favorably, calling the song "majestic" and named it its "Song of the Day". Entertainment Weekly called the song a "feathery dance-floor delight" and placed the song on its "The MustList" for 2010 whilst Billboard magazine added the song to its 2010's "Best Bits" listing.
Grammy-nominated singer Kelis is known for setting trends, but the fashionista won't be flaunting any avant-garde threads in her new music video. The singer shot the video for her David Guetta-produced single "Acapella" in the first week of March, with a British production team consisting of portrait and fashion photographer John "Rankin" Waddell and musical director Chris Cottam. Kelis wanted to go in a different direction after seeing an abundance of fashion in today's music videos. "I think everything is over-fashioned up that it just becomes uninteresting, and when every artist has access to every designer and vice versa, it's no longer exciting or fun."