Beyonce may have made history by being the first female to take home as many awards as she did at the Grammys on Sunday night, but the one thing from that evening that everyone was talking about and is STILL talking about is Taylor Swift’s performance with Stevie Nicks. To sum it up, it was bad. Taylor was signing like she couldn’t carry a tune, and many wish that the organizers would have just let Nicks sing. Days later, her label’s boss has come to her defense.
Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta told the AP in an interview on Wednesday:
“This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. She is the voice of this generation. She speaks directly to (her fans), and they speak directly back to her. This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”
Borchetta’s pokes at American Idol struck a nerve with the franchise’s most successful winner, Kelly Clarkson, who took to her blog, writig:
Wow…..Dear Scott Borchetta,
I understand defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why its upsetting to read you attacking American Idol for producing simply vocalists that hit ‘the high notes’. Thank you for that ‘Captain Obvious’ sense of humor because you know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well. Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better. I have been criticized left and right for having shaky performances before (and they were shaky) and what my manager or label executives say to me and the public is “I’ll kick butt next time” or “every performance isn’t going to be perfect” ……I bring this up because you should take a lesson from these people and instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your ‘humble’ opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out and that’s okay.
Sincerely,
One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes.
Britney Spears ex-husband Kevin Federline used to be a backup dancer, but in recent years he’s been more known for partying and trips to Vegas. So it’s no wonder that with the stress of his failed marriage and bad habits, he packed on some pounds. But when photos of him emerged last spring in the tabloids, he couldn’t believe them. He thought that they had been Photoshopped to make him look chunkier than he really was.
K-Fat told ET:
“When I saw this picture, I did not think I was this big. I thought it was Photoshopped, you know? And then I realized that I was just letting myself go.”
He admits that he let himself go, and at his peak hit 240 pounds. The 31-year-old admitted that there was a lot of stuff going on in his life that added to his weight gain:
“I went through a lot of things and I definitely say that those things contributed to my weight gaining for sure.”
While he won’t reveal how much weight he has long since joining VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club”, he says that his two sons with Britney – Sean, 5, and Jayden, 4, have helped.
“It was easier to eat more when they were younger because they weren’t as active. Now all of them want to play sports, hit the T-ball and run around the backyard and ride bikes.”
K-Fed joins other celebrity fatties including Sebastian Bach, Bobby Brown and Nicole Eggert on the seventh season of Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp, which kicks-off on VH1 on February 8.
Tiffany Thornton, who stars on Disney show Sonny With A Chance, fessed up that she is engaged walking the red carpet yesterday evening. Here’s what the 23 year old had to say:
I’m a fan of giving back but does anyone else think it’s a bit pathetic that the biggest names in music can’t come up with another anthem for a charitable cause. Anyway, anyone who was anyone in music came out today to support Haiti and re-recorded “We are the World” today in LA. I’d personally take Cyndi Lauper over Celine Dion any day of the week but I digress. Here are some clips from the going-ons today.
Looks like Lily Allen drank herself silly again. The British songstress had a little too much fun performing at Big Day Out Festival in Australia and passed out on the ground. Mind you, it was still broad daylight. Poor Lily is a trainwreck waiting to happen.
Mackenzie Phillips opened up even further on her incestuous relationship with Mama & Papas star John Phillips. In her book, Mackenzie said the sex was consensual but looking back on it she has changed her mind telling Joy Behar on Headline News:
“I’d like to reframe my word consensual,” Phillips said. “As I was writing the book, I thought, this word, it kept sitting wrong with me. But I used it for lack of a better word. Since then, I’ve been schooled by thousands of incest survivors all across the world that there really is no such thing as consensual incest due to the inherent power a parent has over a child. So, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a consensual relationship at this time.”
Haitian-born Wyclef Jean and former bandmate Pras are attempting to reunite the Fugees to raise funds for the earthquake ravaged country of Haiti.
The group, which consisted of Jean, Pras, and Lauryn Hill, split in 1997 and got together again briefly in 2004. The group split for good in 2007, but last month Pras revealed that he would collaborate with his old buddies to benefit the victims of the earthquake that shook his native country on January 12.
Pras said the only way he’d do it is if it were a one-off special concert, indicating little hope for any kind of long-term reunion. Jean has given the idea the thumbs up and now they just have to convince Lauryn to get on board.
Hill played her first public show in nearly three years last month when she made a surprise appearance at the Ragamuffin festival in New Zealand.
fugees
Lost star Evangeline Lilly hasn’t gotten any acting gigs lined up for when the show’s final season ends this year. Instead, she’s shocked fans by revealing that she plans to quit after the series is over.
Lilly says she wants to “drop off the radar”, and that she may not return to Hollywood.
Translation: she wants some time to herself, but she’ll be back one day. She likes acting but doesn’t like the paparazzi and crazy fans that come with it, but isn’t totally ruling out a return.
She said:
“Acting is something I appreciate, and I think it’s been an amazing experience, but I’m not passionate about acting the way you probably should be to call yourself an actor.
I want to have some quiet space… and enjoy a little bit of normalcy again (before deciding what’s next).”
She says her first priority after giving up acting will be to take part in charity work in Rwanda.
Supertramp Madonna has reportedly dumped her most recent boytoy Jesus Luz. Gabby Babble reports:
“The problem with Jesus is as simple as it is obvious. It’s the age difference. He’s 23. She’s 51. How long could it last? How it even lasted a year seems a miracle to a lot of people. He’s perfectly nice, a gentleman and very smart. But they are in such different places in their lives.”
So what does Supertramp Madonna do? She runs off with a guy who is in his mid-70’s. Thank god for Viagra, apparently.
Beyonce may have made history by being the first female to take home as many awards as she did at the Grammys on Sunday night, but the one thing from that evening that everyone was talking about and is STILL talking about is Taylor Swift’s performance with Stevie Nicks. To sum it up, it was bad. Taylor was signing like she couldn’t carry a tune, and many wish that the organizers would have just let Nicks sing. Days later, her label’s boss has come to her defense.
