THURDAY'S BIG R&B SCOOP

Hi guys. I was watching MTV today and they showed Beyonce's new video Irreplaceable. It looks like it's going to be just a UK release. Once I get hold of the video I'll put it up but it was cute, nothing too dramatic or anything. Anyway, just wanted to say that Etienne has joined forces with me, so he's not gone. He'll be doing updates on here and I'm really excited about that. He will be bringing you his movie and TV reviews as well as music. Tonight, he is going to see a movie called BORAT so look out for his review of the movie. I think my blog will be a lot more insightful now that it goes outside of music which is a good thing. Welcome back Etienne!

MORE JANET MAYHEM ....

Whilst Janet lives it up in Paris this week (above), things aren't going so well on the business front back home, where her album sales spell trouble not just for herself but for her boyfriend Jermaine Dupri who had a heavy hand in producing the project. Peep this:

Backstory: A lot of industry insiders are disappointed that Janet Jackson's latest release "20 Y.O." failed to debut at number one because it's the final release in her Virgin Records contract which allegedly pays her between $8-$10 million dollars prior to the release of each album, regardless of sales and she's technically a free agent. Virgin makes their money back on "all" of the record and CD sales. Due to the failure of Jackson's last album "Damita Jo," Jackson allegedly made off like a bandit and the record company was left holding the bag. If "20 Y.O." fails to catch steam (because neither of the singles from the album has cracked pop formats and is making little impact on R&B/hip-hop stations) Janet will "not" be able to negotiate a lucrative contract from any record company. Also, Fox News is reporting: Jermaine Dupri produced a lot of the album without allowing input from Virgin. Dupri is also the head of the urban music division at the label. If "20 Y.O." sinks, his own position might also be in jeopardy.

Could things get any worse? Poor Janet.

MORE NEWS

I was really sad to hear that Toni Braxton's youngest son Diezel was diagnosed with autism. Toni has made an attack on the doctor who failed to spot it earlier. She says: "They dismissed me. I don't know if it would have made a difference or not for him to be diagnosed earlier, but they had a 'wait and see' attitude. "It makes me so angry because a mother knows when something is wrong with her child." Keep your head up Toni and I hope your little boy makes a speedy recovery as soon as possible.

PLEASE SAY IT AINT SO ....

I hope it's not true that Kelis and Nas will be having a Newlyweds style type reality show. They should learn from Nick and Jessica that the reality show could end up being the ultimate curse to their marriage. I don't doubt it would be interesting but sacrificing your marriage just for more dollars and popularity isn't worth it in the end. If I want reality, I'll just continue to watch shows like Making The Band, America's Next Top Model, X-Factor and American Idol. We have enough of those already. Save your marriage Kelis!

CANDIDS & EVENTS

Beyonce looking cool at Heathrow airport

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Amerie and her fella. Personally, I don't find him attractive but whatever floats her boat.

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Christina Aguilera in LA. Even though the shoes look kinda funky, I'm actually feeling them.

Tatyana Ali looking curvacious and sexy!

MAGAZINES

Justin Timberlake on the cover of Citizen K, whilst Fergie takes the cover of Rollingstone magazine.

Rihanna's Teen People Spread

PROMO

Here's the cover for Ciara's fantastic new single Promise.

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MUSIC: YOUR LATEST SINGLES REVIEW

And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going - Jennifer Hudson *REMOVED*
It's been a hot minute since I've written a singles music review but when I heard this a couple of days ago, I had to write about it. The American Idol vocalist absolutely KILLS IT being the absolute powerhouse that she truly is. What a voice, wow. I even listened to the original and Jennifer really did put her own spin on the record. This song is taken from the Dream Girls soundtrack. I don't even think Beyonce would've been able to do this song the way Jennifer did it. I can't wait to watch Dream Girls and I don't even like Beyonce's movies but I'm actually anticipating this one.

Thanks For The Misery - Monica [download: full]
Thanks for the joy *lol* This is a bonus track from Monica's brilliant new album The Makings of Me and it's great. I love it. Monica has been doing big things this week appearing on all the big shows as her album got released this Tuesday. I am really pushing for Monica to do well. She is a wonderful person and has a beautiful personality judging by her appearance on BET's Blueprint yesterday (which I've added to this post). Don't forget to pick up your copy of The Makings of Me this week.

Stop - Mila J [download: full]
Another unappealing track by Mila J, taken from her new album which is now set for a November release. The song is rubbish. Crap flow too. Her sister Jhene had better music in my opinion. Chris Stokes acts don't really do great these days and as she's a TUG artist, they don't really go far. Well, I still look forwards to Marques Houston and Omarion.

Go - Mario [download: full]
This is a new track taken from Nostrils new album and I love it. *cough* Sorry, I mean Mario. The beat is quite mesmerising. And he says the "f" word constantly, so since he's all grown up now he wants to start cursing all over the music but that's cool. The song is siiiick. It sounds like something Usher would do and I can see him doing some cute choreography with some girl or some video like MJ's The Way You Make Me Feel where he's chasing after the girl and then they start dancing together. I was listening to the song and that image just came to mind, I don't know why. *lol*

MORE MONICA APPEARANCES!

Monica was on BET's Blueprint yesterday so check out the interview and hot performances. I love her personality!



Part 1: Monica sings "Why I Love You" and then sits down for the interview



Part 2: Monica sings "So Gone"



Part Three: Interview