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Latest articlesRihanna to perform 'Stranded' in Haiti telethonRihanna says she will perform a new song called
"Stranded" with rapper Jay-Z
and U2's The Edge and Bono at Friday's "Hope for Haiti"
telethon in London.
During the taping of a Norwegian talk show in Oslo on Thursday, the R&B superstar said she feels drawn to the cause because of Haiti's proximity to her home country of Barbados. "In the Caribbean, we think of ourselves as one big family, one country," Rihanna told the host of the show, Fredrik Skavlan. "We're all together. We all represent each other." She said she felt "great sadness" when thinking about the humanitarian disaster that struck Haiti following a Jan. 12 earthquake. "It's like it happened to Barbados," she said. "Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief" will be an international event. Haitian native Wyclef Jean will anchor the show from New York, while George Clooney will do so from Los Angeles. Coldplay is also to perform from London. The funds raised from the benefit will be donated to several relief organizations, including UNICEF, Oxfam America and Partners in Health. Swift, Kings Of Leon, Beyonce To Share Grammy GloryTaylor Swift has a lot of experience at being "the youngest ever." In November, she became the youngest person ever voted Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Assn. Awards.
Now, she seems destined to become the youngest artist ever to win the Grammy for Album of the Year. The 20-year old country/pop sensation would take that distinction from Alanis Morissette, who was 21 when Jagged Little Pill won the award in 1996.
Beyonce, who led all artists with 10 nominations, has a good chance of winning five awards. That would make her the first female artist ever to win five Grammys twice. She previously took home five awards in 2004.
Lady Gaga would have easily taken Best New Artist, but she was ruled ineligible on the grounds that "Just Dance," the first single from her album, was nominated for a Grammy (Best Dance Recording) last year. (The same rule disqualified Jennifer Hudson a year ago and threatens the eligibility of Drake and Kid Cudi next year, unless the Grammy Trustees change it.) With Lady Gaga out of the running, country's Zac Brown Band is likely to take home the award.
The Caillats wouldn't be the first father and daughter to each win for Album of the Year. Ravi Shankar won as a participant on The Concert For Bangla Desh, the 1972 champ. His daughter, Norah Jones, has taken the award twice, first for her 2002 debut, Come Away With Me, and again as a featured artist on Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters, the 2007 victor.
Here's a preview of key categories.
Song of the Year. Nominees: "Poker Face" (Lady Gaga), "Pretty Wings" (Maxwell), "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" (Beyonce), "Use Somebody" (Kings of Leon), "You Belong With Me" (Taylor Swift). "Use Somebody" has the majestic, anthemic quality of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida," which won in this category last year. Prediction: Kings of Leon.
Shania TwainPublished: Sep 23, 2009 by admin
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OC (pronounced /ʃəˈnaɪə ˈtweɪn/; born Eilleen Regina Edwards, August 28, 1965) is a Canadian country pop artist. Her third album Come on Over is the best-selling album of all time by a female musician and the best-selling album in the history of country music.[2] She is the only female musician to have three albums certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and is also the second best-selling artist in Canada, behind fellow Canadian Céline Dion, with three of her studio albums being certified double diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. Twain has achieved both critical and financial success, having received five Grammy awards, 27 BMI Songwriter awards,[3] and she has sold over 75 million albums worldwide to date including 48 million in the USA alone.[4] She is ranked as the 10th best-selling artist of the Nielsen Soundscan era, with approximately 33,591,000 sales through April 5 2008, based on relatively few releases.[5] [edit] Early yearsTwain was born in Windsor, Ontario, daughter of Clarence Edwards and Sharon (née Morrison). Her parents divorced when she was two, and her mother then moved with Eileen and her sister Jill to Timmins, Ontario, where she married Jerry Twain, an Ojibwa. He adopted the girls, legally changing their last name to Twain. Because of her connection to her stepfather, in the past, people had presumed Twain's ancestry was Ojibwa, but she stated in an interview that her biological father was part Cree.[6] One of five children, Eileen Twain had a hard childhood in Timmins. Her parents earned little, and there was often a shortage of food in the household. At one point, while Jerry was at work, her mother drove the rest of the family 425 miles (684 km) to a Toronto homeless shelter for assistance.[7] She did not confide her situation to school authorities, fearing they might break up the family. In the remote, rugged community, she learned to hunt and to chop wood. Aside from working at an Ontario McDonald's restaurant,[8] Twain began to earn money by singing in local clubs and bars from a very young age to support her family. She was singing in bars at the age of just eight to try to make ends meet, often earning twenty dollars between midnight and one in the morning performing for remaining customers after the bar had finished serving. Although she has expressed a dislike for singing in such a smoky atmosphere at such a young age, Shania believes that this was her performing arts school on the road to becoming a successful singer.[9] Shania has said of the ordeal, "My deepest passion was music and it helped. There were moments when I thought 'I hate this'. I hated going into bars and being with drunks. But I loved the music and so I survived".[10] Twain wrote her first songs at the age of ten, Is Love a Rose and Just Like the Storybooks which were fairy tales in rhyme.[11] As a child, Twain has been described by a close childhood friend Kenny Derasp as "a very serious kid who spent a lot of time in her room. The art of creating, of actually writing songs, was very different from performing them and became progressively important".[11] In the early 1980s Shania spent some time working on her father's reforestation business in northern Ontario, a business that the family was heavily involved in and employed some 75 Ojibwe and Cree workers. Although the work was very demanding and the pay very low, Twain has spoken of her experience, "I loved the feeling of being stranded. I'm not afraid of being in my own environment, being physical, working hard. I was very strong, I walked miles and miles every day and carried heavy loads of trees. You can't shampoo, use soap or deodorant, or makeup, nothing with any scent; you have to bathe and rinse your clothes in the lake. It was a very rugged existence, but I was very creative and I would sit alone in the forest with my dog and a guitar and just write songs".[12] [edit] Music career[edit] Career as Eilleen TwainAt 13, Eilleen Twain, the future "Shania" Twain, was invited to perform on CBC television's Tommy Hunter Show. While attending Timmins High and Vocational School in Timmins, she was the singer for a local band called "Longshot" which covered Top 40 music.[citation needed] After graduating from Timmins High in July 1983, Twain was eager to expand her musical horizons.[13] After the demise of her band Longshot, Twain was approached by a covers band led by Diane Chase called "Flirt" and toured all over Ontario.[13] She began taking singing lessons from Toronto based coach Ian Garrett and often in not having the money to pay for her lessons would clean his house in payment.[14] In the autumn of 1984 Twain's talents were noticed by a Toronto DJ Stan Campbell who wrote about her in a Country Music News article, "Eileen possesses a powerful voice with an impressive range. She has the necessary drive, ambition and positive attitude to achieve her goals".[14] Campbell happened to be making an album by Canadian musician (and present-day CKTB radio personality) Tim Denis at the time and Twain featured on the backing vocals on the song Heavy on the Sunshine.[15][16] Campbell later took Twain to Nashville to record some demos, which Twain found particularly difficult to finance. Around this time Twain became acquainted with a regional country singer Mary Bailey who had had some country chart success in 1976. Bailey had seen her perform in Sudbury, Ontario, saying "I saw this little girl up on stage with a guitar and it absolutely blew me away. She performed Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". Her voice reminded me of Tanya Tucker, it had strength and character, a lot of feeling. She's a star, she deserves an opportunity".[17] Bailey later said "She sang a few songs that she had written, and I thought to myself, this kid is like nineteen years old, where does she get this? This is from a person who's lived sixty years".[18] 
Mary Bailey bought the contract from Stan Campbell and Twain moved into Bailey's home on Lake Kenogami where she practiced her music every day for hours. In the fall of 1985, Bailey took Twain down to Nashville to stay with a friend, record producer Tony Migliore, who at the time was producing an album for fellow Canadian singer Kelita Haverland and Twain featured on the backing vocals to the song Too Hot to Handle. She also demoed songs with Cyril Rawson but without success, partly due to Twain's wish to become a rock singer, not a country artist and after five months she returned to Canada and moved in with Bailey in a flat in downtown Kirkland Lake.[19] There she met a rock keyboardist Eric Lambier and drummer Randy Yurko, whom Twain was now dating and they formed a new band, moving three months later to Bowmanville, near Toronto. In late summer 1986 Mary Bailey had arranged Twain to meet John Kim Bell, a half Mohawk, half American conductor who had close contacts with the directors of the Canadian Country Music Association. Bell recognised Twain's ability as well as looks and the two began secretly dating, despite their clash of backgrounds.[19] In the fall of 1986 Twain continued to express her desire to be a pop or rock singer rather than country, which led to her falling out with Mary Bailey for two years and was not met with any success. Her first break came on February 8, 1987 when Bell staged a fundraiser for the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation at the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto where Twain performed with Broadway star Bernadette Peters, jazz guitarist Don Ross and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Her performance received little acclaim but it convinced Bell, who loathed pop music, that Twain should stay well away from it and concentrate on country music.[20] On November 1, 1987, Twain learned that her mother and adoptive father had died in a car accident.[21] She took care of her family, moving with her half-brothers Mark and Darryl and half-sister Carrie Ann to Huntsville, where she supported them by performing at the nearby Deerhurst Resort. [edit] 1993-1994: Shania TwainAfter Twain's siblings moved out on their own, she assembled a demo tape of her songs, and her manager set up a showcase for Twain to present her material to record executives. Twain caught the attention of a few labels, including Mercury Nashville Records, who signed her within a few months.[22] During this time, she changed her name to Shania [Sha-nye-uh] an Ojibwa word which means "On my way". Twain's self-titled debut album was released in 1993 in North America, gaining her audiences outside of her own country. The album only reached #67 on the US Country Albums Chart; however, it gained many positive reviews from critics.[23] The album yielded two minor hit singles in the United States with "What Made You Say That" and "Dance with the One That Brought You". It was more successful in Europe, where Twain won Country Music Television Europe's "Rising Video Star of the Year" award.[22] The album failed to sell significant copies initially, although Twain's future success generated enough interest for the album to be certified platinum six years later by the RIAA, denoting sales of over a million. That same year, Twain sang harmony vocals on Sammy Kershaw's "Haunted Heart" album. [edit] 1995-1996: The Woman in MeWhen rock producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange heard Twain's original songs and singing, he offered to produce her and to write songs with her. (Twain's manager, Mary Bailey initially had no idea who he was.) After many telephone conversations, they met at Nashville's Fan Fair in June 1993. Twain and Lange became very close within just weeks. Lange and Twain either wrote or co-wrote the songs that would form her second studio album, The Woman in Me.[22] The Woman in Me was released in the Spring of 1995. The album's first single, "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" went to #11 on the Billboard Country Chart. This was followed by her first Top 10 and #1 hit single, "Any Man of Mine." Twain had further hits from the album, including the title track which peaked at #14 and three additional #1 hits: "(If You're Not in it for Love) I'm Outta Here!", "You Win My Love", and "No One Needs to Know".[22] As of 2007, it had sold more than 12 million copies.[24] The album was a quick breakthrough. Shania performed selected international venues and television shows with Nashville guitarist Randy Thomas (co-writer of the song "Butterfly Kisses") and Stanley T., formerly with the Beach Boys. Mercury Record's promotion of the album was based largely upon a series of sexy music videos.[25] The Woman in Me won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album as well as the Academy of Country Music award for Album of the Year; the latter group also awarded Twain as Best New Female Vocalist. [edit] 1997-2000: Come on OverIn 1997, Twain released her follow-up album, Come on Over. This was the album that would establish her as a successful crossover singer. Slowly, the album started racking up sales. It never hit the top spot, but with the multi-chart hit single "You're Still the One", sales skyrocketed. Other songs like "Don't Be Stupid", "Honey, I'm Home", "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!", "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "From This Moment On" joined the 12 songs that eventually saw release as singles. The album stayed on the charts for the next two years and Come on Over went on to sell 20 million copies in the United States and over 34 million worldwide, making it the biggest-selling album of all time by a female musician. It is also the eighth biggest-selling album by any type of artist in the US.[24] Songs from the album won four Grammy Awards over the next two years, including Best Country Song and Best Female Country Performance (for "You're Still the One" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!") for Twain. Lange won Grammys for "You're Still the One" and "Come on Over". Despite the album's record sales it wasn't able to top the Billboard 200, reaching a peak of No. 2. In 1999, the "Come on Over" album was remixed for the European market as a pop album with less country instrumentation and actually gave her the big breakthrough in Europe she and her producer husband were looking for. "Come on over" went to No. 1 on the UK album charts for 11 weeks. It became the biggest selling album of the year in Great Britain and a bestseller in other big European markets as well, selling more than one million copies in Germany and nearly 4 million in the UK alone. The songs that had finally drawn European attention to the album were the pop remixed singles "That Don't Impress Me Much", a No.3 in the UK and Top 10 hit in Germany in the summer of 1999, and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" which peaked at No. 3 in both the UK and France in autumn of that year. Additionally, the album set the record for the longest ever stay in the Top 20 of The US Billboard 200, remaining in the Top 20 for 99 weeks. Twain's mainstream pop acceptance was further helped by her appearance in the 1998 first edition of the VH1 Divas concert where she sang alongside Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and Aretha Franklin, and by VH1's 1999 heavily-aired Behind the Music treatment of her, which concentrated on the tragic aspects of her early life as well as her physical attractiveness and Nashville's early resistance to her bared-midriff music videos. In 1998, Twain launched her first major concert tour, aided by her manager Jon Landau, a veteran of many large-scale tours with Bruce Springsteen. The Come on Over Tour shows were enthusiastically received by audiences around the globe and answered critics[who?] who speculated that she could not perform live. In 2000, Twain was initially scheduled to release a Christmas album, but plans to release one was cancelled later in the year.[26] [edit] 2002-2004: Up!After a two year break, Twain and Lange went back into the studio, along with a management change (QPrime replacing Landau), and recorded her latest CD. Up! was released on November 19, 2002. About a year later, Twain kicked off the Up! Tour in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 2003. Up! was released as a double album, with three different discs—pop (a red CD), country (a green CD), and Indian film music (a blue CD). For North American markets, the pop disc was paired with the country disc and in international markets, the pop disc was paired with the world music disc. Up! was given four out of five stars by Rolling Stone magazine, and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart, selling 874,000 in the first week alone. It charted at the top for five weeks. The success of the album's pop version outside the US was equally amazing when "Up!" reached No.1 in Germany, No.2 in Australia and the Top Five in the UK and France. Especially in Germany it became a real long seller, certified quadruple platinum and stayed in the Top 100 for one and a half years. The blue, world music disc was remixed with Bollywood-style orchestral and percussion parts recorded in Mumbai, India. The new versions were produced by Simon and Diamond Duggal, brothers from Birmingham, England. They were originally invited to contribute parts to the red, pop version of "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" which retains the Bollywood influence.[27] Twain's popularity in UK was reflected by numerous appearances on the long-running music show Top of the Pops, performing singles from Come on Over from 1999. In 2002 an entire special show was dedicated to her on sister show TOTP2, in which Twain herself introduced some past performances of her greatest hits and new singles from Up! The first single from the album, "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" became a top 10 country hit in the US, after debuting at an impressive No. 24 after only five days of airplay; but only made the Top 40 on the pop charts. It was a much bigger hit on the other side of the Atlantic, released in a pop version, the single hit the Top Five in the UK and Australia as well as the Top 15 in Germany and France. The follow-up single "Up!" reached the Top 15 in the US country charts but failed to reach the pop Top 40. The second European single became the mid-tempo song "Ka-Ching!" (which was never released as a single in North America) with lyrics where Twain was criticizing unchecked consumerism. The song eventually became another smash hit in the important European markets, reaching No. 1 in Germany and Austria and other European countries, the UK Top 10 and the Top 15 in France. The third single from the album would be the most successful in the US. The romantic ballad "Forever and For Always" was released as a single in April 2003 and peaked at No. 4 on the country chart and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and made as well the Billboard Top 20. Again success was even bigger on the other side of the Atlantic with "Forever and For Always" again reaching the Top 10 in both, the UK and Germany. Further singles were "She's Not Just a Pretty Face" a country Top 10 hit, while the last US single, "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing", made the Top 20 on both Country and AC. Due to the enormous European success of Up! and its first three singles, two more singles were released in the second half of 2003 with up-tempo "Thank You Baby" (No. 11 in the UK, Top 20 in Germany) and just before Christmas the romantic, acoustic ballad "When You Kiss Me", at least a minor hit in both territories. The title track "Up!" also saw a single release in a limited edition of European countries, such as Germany, in early 2004. In January 2008, Up! had sold 5.5 million copies in the U.S. (Certified by the RIAA as 11 times platinum due to the organization's rules regarding double albums, which are counted as two units for certifications).[24] In 2003, Twain participated in the Dolly Parton tribute album Just Because I'm a Woman, covering Parton's classic "Coat of Many Colors", with backing vocals by Alison Krauss. The cover peaked at No. 57 on the Hot Country Songs charts as an album cut. During the Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show Twain performed two songs, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "Up!" [edit] 2004-2005: Greatest HitsIn 2004, she released the Greatest Hits album, with three new tracks. As of 2008, it has sold over four million copies in the U.S.[24] The first single, the multi-format duet "Party for Two", made the country top ten with Billy Currington, while the pop version with Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath made top ten in the United Kingdom and Germany. The follow-up singles, "Don't!" and "I Ain't No Quitter" did not fare as well. The former made Top 20 on Adult Contemporary, while the latter did not gain enough airplay to crack the Country Top 40.[28] On November 19, 2004, she appeared on the BBC charity telethon Children in Need.[29] In addition to performing "Up!", she also acted as one of the celebrity assistants in an "all-star" magic act, in an illusion called "Clearly Impossible", in which she was sawed in half inside a clear-sided box. In August 2005, she released the single "Shoes" from the Desperate Housewives soundtrack. It only peaked at No. 29 on the country chart and therefore, a video, which was scheduled to be created, was cancelled. [edit] 2006-presentAt the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 16, 2007, Twain said she was currently writing songs for a new album, and was doing a "lot of soul searching" and "indulging in the writing." Twain joined Canadian singer Anne Murray on the song "You Needed Me" on Murray's Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends album released November 13, 2007 in Canada, and on January 15, 2008 in the U.S.[30] On November 12, 2008 Twain made her first television appearance since her split from ex-husband Robert "Mutt" Lange, where she appeared as a surprise presenter at the 42nd CMA Awards.[31] In early January 2009, Internet forums were reporting that Twain was planning to make an announcement regarding her new album on January 26, 2009 but on the 22nd a spokesperson from Mercury Nashville told Country Weekly that no new album would be coming "anytime soon". In June 2009, Twain released a letter to her fans explaining the delays in the release of her next album.[32] In August 2009, at a conference in Timmins, Ontario, a spokesman for Twain's label said a new record from the singer is still "nowhere in sight".[33] On August 17, 2009, EW announced that Twain would be a guest judge on American Idol in Chicago, for the show's August 30 and 31 episodes.[34] [edit] Personal lifeTwain married music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on December 28, 1993, and they have a son, Eja D'Angelo (pronounced "Asia") who was born on August 12, 2001. On May 15, 2008, a spokesperson for Mercury Nashville announced that Twain and Lange were separating.[35][36] She resides in a chateau in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland and on a high country 42,000-acre (170 km2) sheep station near Lake Wanaka, New Zealand. Twain practices Sant Mat, which calls for daily meditation and vegetarianism.[37] Twain's commercial ventures outside the music industry included a series of cosmetic ads in 1999 based on "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" for Revlon. She also starred in ads for Candie's shoes and Gitano jeans, who also sponsored her 1998-1999 Come On Over Tour. Despite the Revlon cosmetic ads and venturing into the perfume market, Twain has stated that she is uneasy about being a sex symbol and has often felt uncomfortable and stressed during photo shoots where she believes it is music that will last forever, not an image. "When I began singing I wanted to be a backing singer for Dolly Parton or Stevie Wonder,[38] I didn't sign up to be a model or actress and didn't want fame", she has said. "For me it's all about music. Music is when I feel at my best, spiritually, emotionally, and physically".[39] According to Twain, one of her beauty tips is using ointment known as Bag Balm which is applied to cows' udders during winter months to protect them from harsh weather. Twain says she uses it on her legs and face for softer skin.[40] In January 2005, Twain joined Scentstories by Febreze to create a limited edition scent disc with the proceeds going to America's Second Harvest.[41] Late in 2005, Twain partnered COTY to produce her namesake fragrance "Shania by Stetson". A second fragrance was released in September 2007, called "Shania Starlight".[42] [edit] Awards and honoursMain article: List of Shania Twain awards
In addition to her various awards for her singles and albums, Twain has received a number of personal honors:
[edit] DiscographyMain article: Shania Twain discography
[edit] Albums
[edit] Top five singlesThe following singles reached the top five on the charts in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989)Published: Sep 23, 2009 by admin
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Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress. In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", which peaked at number six on the Billboard country charts. Later in October 2006, she released her self-titled debut album, which produced five hit singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and was certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA. The New York Times described Swift as "one of pop's finest songwriters, country’s foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults".[3] According to Nielsen SoundScan, Swift was the biggest selling artist of 2008 in America with combined sales of more than four million albums. Swift's Fearless and her self-titled album finished 2008 at number three and number six respectively, with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million.[4] She was the first artist in the history of Nielsen SoundScan to have two different albums in the Top 10 on the year end album chart.[4] Fearless has topped the Billboard 200 in 11 non-consecutive weeks.[5] No album has spent more time at number one since 1999-2000. It also was the first album by a female artist in country music history to log eight weeks at #1 on The Billboard 200. In mid-January 2009, Swift became the first country artist to top the 2 million mark in paid downloads with three different songs.[6] As of the week ending February 8, 2009, Swift's single "Love Story" became the country song with most paid downloads in history and the first country song to top the Mainstream Top 40 chart.[7][8] Swift then subsequently went onto replicate the feat, reaching #1 again on the Mainstream Top 40 in September 2009 with "You Belong With Me", making it just the second country song in the chart's history to reach the top. [9] According to the 2009 issue of Forbes, Swift is ranked as the 69th most powerful celebrity with over $18 million in earnings this year.[10] Early lifeSwift was born in the borough of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Scott, a stock broker, and Andrea Swift, a homemaker. She has a younger brother, Austin.[11] When she was in fourth grade, Swift won a national poetry contest with a three page poem entitled "Monster In My Closet".[12][13] At ten, Swift began writing songs and singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs around her hometown. During one summer, Swift devoted herself to writing a 350 page (unpublished) novel.[14] She was a member of Kirk Cremer's SNL-inspired kid's sketch comedy group, TheatreKids Live!, where she was a natural comedic talent. After seeing her karaoke performance at one of the cast parties, it was Cremer's mother who first suggested that Swift seemed more of a natural to pursue a career in country music, rather than theatrical performing. Cremer soon leased space at a local mall and began to showcase his young protégée in weeknight performances of country songs with karaoke backing tracks. Emboldened by her performances and growing audiences, she began to perform in other local open mike and karaoke nights. Her first major show was a well-received performance at the Bloomsburg Fair, arranged by local performer Pat Garrett.[15] Songwriting interestSwift first learned to play guitar from a computer repairman who showed her how to play three chords. After learning those three chords, she wrote her first song, "Lucky You". She began writing songs regularly and used it as outlet to help her with her pain from not fitting in at school. Other kids would react badly to her so she wrote songs about them.[citation needed] Early workSwift's greatest musical influence is Shania Twain.[16] Her other influences include her grandmother, LeAnn Rimes, Tina Turner and Dolly Parton. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer,[17] Taylor's tastes always ran more toward country and she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton at an early age.[18] She also credits the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain for demonstrating how much impact can be made by "stretching boundaries".[19] At age 11, Swift made her first trip to Nashville hoping to obtain a record deal by distributing a demo tape of her singing with karaoke songs. She gave a copy to every label in town.[20] Swift faced rejection, not just from record labels, but also from her peers.[21] After Swift returned to Pennsylvania, she was asked to sing at the U.S. Open tennis tournament; her rendition of the national anthem received a lot of attention.[22] Swift started writing songs and playing 12-string guitar when she was 12. Swift began to regularly visit Nashville and wrote songs with local songwriters. By the time she was 14, her family decided to move to an outlying Nashville suburb.[23] When Swift was fifteen, she rejected RCA Records because the company wanted to keep her on a development deal.[24] Swift then performed at Nashville's songwriters' venue, The Bluebird Café, catching the attention of Scott Borchetta[25] who signed her to his newly-formed record label, Big Machine Records. She also became the youngest staff songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Tree publishing house at 14.[26] Music career2006–2008: Taylor SwiftSwift's first single, "Tim McGraw", was released to radio in mid-2006 and reached number 6 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart during the week of January 27, 2007.[27] Swift said, "I wrote the song in my freshman year of high school. I was dating a guy who was about to go off to college. I knew we were going to break up so I started thinking of all the things that I knew would remind him of me. Surprisingly, the first thing that came to mind was that my favorite country artist is Tim McGraw."[18] Her self-titled debut album Taylor Swift was released on October 24, 2006.[28] Swift wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album, which debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 and sold 39,000 copies during its first week.[29] It later peaked at number one at Billboard Top Country Albums and number five on the Billboard 200.[30] It also spent eight consecutive weeks at the top of the Top Country Albums charts[31] and remained at the top for 24 out of 91 weeks.[32] The only other country artists this decade to achieve the number-one sales position for 20 weeks or more are The Dixie Chicks and Carrie Underwood.[33] As of November 2008, Taylor Swift has sold over three million copies and 7.5 million single downloads.[34] Swift has surpassed the 200 million mark for music streams on MySpace. She is currently ranked in the Top 10 for the most MySpace visits for all genres of music, and is MySpace's current top-ranking Country artist.[35][dead link] Swift is the most searched musical artist on MySpace in 2008.[36] The music video for "Tim McGraw" set a record by appearing for 30 consecutive weeks on GAC's fan-voted weekly Top 20 music countdown show, and reached number one on CMT's video charts. The video also won Swift an award for Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2007 CMT Music Awards.[37] Her pursuit of country music stardom was the subject of "GAC Short Cuts", a part-documentary, part-music-video series airing since the summer of 2006 on the country music channel.[38] On May 15, 2007, Swift performed "Tim McGraw" at the Academy of Country Music Awards. She sang the song to Tim McGraw in the audience, and introduced herself for the first time to him. Swift has been an opening act for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on their Soul2Soul 2007 tour. She has opened in the past for George Strait, Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts as well.[39] On August 21, 2007, Swift performed live on the season finale of America's Got Talent.[40] The second single from the Taylor Swift album, "Teardrops on My Guitar", was released February 24, 2007. The song originally made its peak positions in mid-2007, peaking at #2 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was re-released to the Hot 100 and Pop 100 in late 2007 with a pop remix that brought "Teardrops on My Guitar" to #13 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Pop 100. In October 2007, Swift's songwriting peers at the Nashville Songwriters Association International honored her with their Songwriter/Artist of the Year Award, making her the youngest artist ever to win the award.[41] On November 7, 2007, Swift won the 2007 CMA Horizon Award and also performed "Our Song," the third single from her album, which would go on to become her first #1 song the week of December 22, 2007, where it leaped up from the #6 spot. This was the biggest jump to Number One since January 1998, when Tim McGraw's "Just to See You Smile", also jumped from #6 to #1.[42] "Our Song" spent six weeks at #1 on the Country charts and also peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #24 on the Billboard Pop 100. Swift also recorded a holiday album, Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, which was released October 16, 2007, exclusively available at Target stores. The album, which was not as successful as her self-titled debut, featured both holiday classics such as "Last Christmas" and original songs written by Swift. Swift was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best New Artist, but lost to Amy Winehouse. Swift's successful single, "Picture to Burn" was the fourth single from her debut album. The song debuted early in 2008 and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Country Chart in the spring of 2008. 
Big Machine Records announced the release of "Should've Said No" on Monday, May 19. The song is the fifth and final single from Swift's debut album. She performed it on the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.[43] The performance started off with her dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans, but soon after a short black halter dress was revealed. In the last minute of the song, she went backstage to perform the final verse under a cascading waterfall. Swift had wanted to do that performance on stage with the water and the change of clothes since she was ten years old.[44] "Should've Said No" became her second Number One single for the chart dated August 23, 2008. In June 2008, at the CMA Music Festival held in Nashville, Swift signed autographs for nearly eight straight hours. It was the longest autograph-signing session since Garth Brooks' 23-hour marathon in 1996.[45] In Summer 2008, Swift released Beautiful Eyes, an EP sold exclusively at Wal-Mart.[46] In its first week of release, the album sold 45,000 copies, debuting at #1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and #9 on the Billboard 200. With her self-titled debut album at #2 the same week, Swift became the first artist to hold the Top 2 positions of the Top Country Albums chart since LeAnn Rimes did so in 1997.[47] Swift plays a custom-made Taylor acoustic guitar made of koa wood.[48] 2008–present: FearlessSwift's latest studio album, Fearless, was released in the United States on November 11, 2008.[49] The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. Its sales of 592,304 were the highest debut of any country artists in 2008. This is also the largest opening U.S. sales week in 2008 by a female artist in all genres of music, and the fourth biggest overall behind Lil Wayne, AC/DC and Coldplay.[50] Its lead single "Love Story" became a hit on both the country and pop charts. During the first week of release, more than 129,000 of Swift's sales were sold digitally. This gives Swift the best online start for any country album in history.[51] It also makes Swift the fourth biggest week for a digital album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking them in 2004.[52] Through its eighth week of release, Fearless has sold more than 338,467 paid downloads, making it the bestselling country album in digital history. In second place is Swift's debut Taylor Swift with sales of 236,046 downloads as of April 18, 2009.[53] In its debut week, seven songs in total on Fearless were charted on Billboard Hot 100, tying Swift with Hannah Montana for the most by a female artist in a single week. With "White Horse" charted at #13, this gave Swift her sixth top 20 debut of 2008, a calendar year record for any artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. Of the 13 tracks on Fearless, 11 have already spent time on the Hot 100.[52] "Change", a song from the album, was selected as part of a soundtrack supporting Team USA's efforts in the 2008 Summer Olympics.[47] The song was also featured as part of the soundtrack of NBC's broadcast package of the Olympics. She also released the lead single from the album, "Love Story", on September 12, 2008. The song is accompanied by a music video that is based on Romeo and Juliet. The song has reached number 2 on iTunes Store Top Downloaded Songs and number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It is also called as Taylor Swift's signature song. Fifteen weeks after being added to pop radio, "Love Story" also became the first country crossover recording to hit number one on the Nielsen BDS CHR/Top 40 chart in the 16-year-history of list, as well as number one on the Mediabase Top 40 Chart.[54] The second single from Fearless, "White Horse", was released on December 8, 2008. The music video for the song premiered on CMT on February 7, 2009. Though it missed the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot Country Songs as of the week April 11, 2009, "White Horse" claimed the #1 spot atop the USA Today/Country Aircheck chart (powered by Mediabase) in that week.[55] "Forever & Always", another song from the album, was based on Swift's relationship with singer Joe Jonas.[56] Swift is Billboard's Top Country Artist and Hot Country Songwriter of 2008; she is also country music's best-selling artist of 2008.[57] Swift ranked seventh on Nielsen SoundScan Canada's top-10 selling artists across all genres in 2008. Fearless and Taylor Swift took the #1 and #2 slots on 2008 Year-End Canadian Country Albums Chart.[58] Swift sang the Star-Spangled Banner at game three of the World Series in Philadelphia on October 25, 2008. On January 10, 2009, Swift made her first musical guest appearance on Saturday Night Live, making her the youngest country singer to appear as a musical guest on the show in its 33-year run.[59][60] Swift's show achieved SNL’s highest adult 18-49 rating and overall viewer total since the November election (in 2008). It was tied for the #7 rating of that week among all broadcast and cable entertainment programs on all networks and outscored all its telecasts of last season in 18-49 and total viewers.[61] On February 8, 2009, Swift performed her song "Fifteen" with Miley Cyrus at the 51st Grammy Awards. Since the release of Swift's second album, Fearless, she has released one new song "Crazier" for the soundtrack of the feature film Hannah Montana: The Movie. At the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, Swift picked up Album of the Year honors as a performer and producer for Fearless. She is the youngest artist in history to win Album of the Year award. Swift was also awarded the Academy's Crystal Milestone Award, given for Outstanding Achievement in Country Music. The Academy lauded her for career achievements including selling more albums in 2008 than any other artist in any genre of music, the breakthrough success of her debut album (which spawned five Top 10 hits, more than any in history for a female artist's debut CD), and the worldwide crossover success of her #1 single "Love Story". The Academy also cited Swift's contribution to helping country music attract a younger audience.[62] As of late April 2009, Swift has sold more than 14 million downloads, as well as three Gold Mobile Ringtones.[63] In June 2009, Swift performed "Thug Story" with T-Pain at the CMT Music Awards. She went on to win two awards for Female Video of the Year and Video of the Year.[64] On July 14, 2009, it was confirmed Swift would perform at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. "I'm so excited that MTV and the VMAs have invited me to perform, because I think this year's show will be unlike anything they've ever done!" Swift says. "I love incorporating theatrics into my performances, and the VMAs have always allowed artists to run with that," Swift says. "MTV has been so good to me, and I could not be more excited about this year's VMAs." This will be Swift's first ever performance on the VMAs. The show airs September 13 on MTV, with British comedian Russell Brand hosting for the second year in a row.[65] In addition to having three of her songs featured, Swift will appear as a playable character in Band Hero.[66] Swift announced September 6 on her Myspace blog that Fearless will be re-released on October 27 with six new songs. It will also include a DVD with her tour footage and pictures.[67][68] In January 2009, Swift announced her first headlining tour. Swift is taking her North American Fearless Tour 2009 to 52 cities in 38 states and provinces in the US and Canada over the span of 6 months. Opening acts include Kellie Pickler and Gloriana, a new group in country music. The tour features a theatrical presentation of graphics, sets and visual elements designed by Swift; Swift plays guitar as well as piano. Multiple costume changes and a fairy-tale castle are some of the elements of the three-act show.[69] The tour kicked off April 23 in Evansville, Indiana. On February 6, 2009, tickets went on sale for the May 22 date at Los Angeles’ Staples Center and sold out in two minutes.[70] Tickets for several dates and venues, including Madison Square Garden, went on sale the following week and sold out in one minute.[71][72][73][74][75] On April 28, 2009, Swift gave a free, private concert to students at Bishop Ireton High School, a small Catholic school in Alexandria, Virginia after the school won a national "TXT 2 WIN" contest from Verizon Wireless.[76] The students sent over 19,000 text messages to Verizon during a roughly one month long contest. Swift played for about an hour during the school's field day, an annual day-long recess with games and activities. 2009 Video Music Awards incidentFor more details on this topic, see 2009 MTV Video Music Awards#Kanye West controversy and debated incidents.
Fans divided about Ellen DeGeneres as 'Idol' judgePublished: Sep 18, 2009 by admin
Filed under:
Gossip & Rumors
LOS ANGELES – Ellen DeGeneres wants to represent the people on
"American Idol," but the people are split about the talk show host's
role as the Fox singing competition's fourth judge.
Fans took to the Internet after Wednesday's announcement to express either pleasant surprise or total shock that DeGeneres was picked to replace Paula Abdul.
"I mean, really? Ellen DeGeneres?" wrote popular "Idol" blogger MJ Santilli at mjsbigblog.com. "She guest judged 'So You Think You Can Dance' last season, and her critiques were comic relief. So is she going to be a real judge or some kind of joke? She's a comedian, not a singer or a musician. I'm kinda flummoxed here." Others on the Internet, including posters on the AmericanIdol.com forums, said they were pleased that DeGeneres, who admittedly has no formal music experience, just a passion for tunes, would join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi on "Idol." Andy Dehnart, a reality television blogger at realityblurred.com, praised the "somewhat random" decision. He called it a 90-degree turn that would give the aging singing contest new life and may prompt more viewers to tune in when DeGeneres first appears during the semifinal rounds, which tend to be the snooziest part of the season. "Hopefully, I'm the people's point of view because I'm just like you," DeGeneres said on her syndicated talk show Thursday. "I sit at home and I watch it, and I don't have that technical ... I'm not looking at it in a critical way from the producer's mind. I'm looking at it as a person who is going to buy the music and is going to relate to that person." DeGeneres' hiring as the show's fourth judge all but seals the departure of Abdul, the original third judge who announced she was quitting amid a contract dispute in July. Abdul had served as judge alongside Cowell and Jackson since the show's debut in 2002. Producers shook up the franchise last season by adding songwriter DioGuardi as a fourth judge. Since departing "Idol," Abdul has gone diva, filming a cameo for Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva" as a gavel-banging, glammed-up version of herself and signing on to host the live "VH1 Divas" concert on Sept. 17. Abdul has yet to announce a steady job to replace her role on the Fox singing contest, but she told TV Guide last week she'd like to host a talk show. Abdul had been replaced by a succession of guest judges across the country as "Idol" started next season's auditions, which will air in January. Among them: former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas, Neil Patrick Harris, Katy Perry and Shania Twain — but not the 51-year-old DeGeneres, who will join the ninth season following the show's tryout rounds. It won't be DeGeneres' first time in a reality TV judge's seat — or on "Idol." She served as a guest judge earlier this summer on "So You Think You Can Dance," critiquing the dancing competition's top eight finalists. In 2007, she was the co-host of "Idol Gives Back," the singing contest's charity event. She returned the next year in a pre-taped segment. DeGeneres has enjoyed a successful reign as the host of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" for the past six years, although her four-year streak as the Daytime Emmy winner for talk show host ended this year when Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd and Barbara Walters from ABC's "The View" were awarded the prize for the first time. Idol producers backed their pick of DeGeneres. "Beyond her incredible sense of humor and love of music, she brings with her an immense warmth and compassion that is almost palpable," said "Idol" executive producer and FremantleMedia North America CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz in a statement. "She is one of America's foremost entertainers, and we cannot wait to have her join our team." ___ AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report. ___ Fox is a unit of News Corp. ___ On the Net: "American Idol," http://www.americanidol.com/
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