Celebs react to the BostonMarathon bombings

Terribly sad news coming out of Boston yesterday. Two explosions went off near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, killing three people including an 8 year old and injuring scores more. I was just about to get into bed when I heard about this and seeing some of the visuals coming out of Boston was unbelievable, scary and just so horrendous. Celebs are reacting to the news:

What kind of person comes up with a plan to bomb a marathon of innocent civilians? Sickening.

— Gareth Cliff (@GarethCliff) April 16, 2013

Such a senseless and tragic day. My family and I send our love to our beloved and resilient Boston.

— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) April 15, 2013

Heartbreaking. #PRAY4BOSTON instagram.com/p/YJHc0TBM0D/

— Rihanna (@rihanna) April 15, 2013

So sad I am at loss for words. My heart goes out to everyone in Boston.#PrayForBoston

— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) April 16, 2013

What sad news to wake up to. “@cindypoluta: #BostonMarathon 3 people dead including an 8 year old boy and 144 people injured”

— samantha cowen(@samcowen) April 16, 2013

#PrayForBoston folks… Pray for those injured in this senseless and barbaric attack! So, so sad!

Rihanna Diamonds World Tour

Rihanna heading to SA

It has been a couple of years since singer, Rihanna was last in South Africa. The last time the starlet was here she was a lot younger, she’d just broken onto the scene and people were loving her track, Umbrella with rapper Jay-Z. At that stage Rihanna was touring with Jigga, and performing as a support act to the megastar. Since that tour, the Diamonds singer has gone on to sell millions more albums, scored herself loads of number one singles and her recent album, Unapologetic hit the top of the charts in November.

She is, next to Gaga and Beyonce, one of the biggest names in the game and now ladies and gents you will get to see her headlining two shows in South Africa this October, can I get a whoop whoop! Super, super stoked for this one!!!!! The tour details are as follows:

13-Oct                         Johannesburg, South Africa                FNB Stadium

16-Oct                         Cape Town, South Africa        Cape Town Stadium

The Rihanna Diamonds World tour is brought to you by Big Concerts and Live Nation. Tickets for the Diamonds World Tour in South Africa will go on sale for Johannesburg on Thursday 11^th April at 9am priced R330 – R930 and in Cape Town on Friday 12^th April at 9am priced R275 – R820.

Shine bright like a diamond, Stay, Take a Bow, What’s My Name, SOS, Hate that I love you… and so many more. Bring it Rih Rih, I’m ready!

Chris Brown releases Fine China

Chris Brown is working on new music and a sample of the new offering has just been released. It’s his new single called Fine China and you can see the video above. Funky track… Hopefully he’ll be making good music like this to heal his ‘broken heart’, in light of his recent split from Rihanna

Watch: Rihanna’s Stay music video

Rihanna you can Stay!!! Wow, absolutely beautiful.

Countdown to the 2013 Grammys

We’ve got just a few days to go until the 55^th Annual Grammy Awards take center stage – and no doubt #TheWorldIsListening. Music’s Biggest Night^® will honour some of the biggest, the best and the most successful stars we’ve all come to love and adore. The ceremony is set to take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and trust you won’t want to miss this.

Get this, artists like Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert, The Black Keys, FUN., the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Jack White, as well as Elton John and current nominee Ed Sheeran will all be on stage come the 10^th of Feb. While that list is WELL IMPRESSIVE, I’m looking forward to Justin Timberlake’s performance. The news about him performing at the Grammys was announced yesterday and this will be the first time we’ve seen the six-time Grammy winner perform in over four years. He’ll be putting on his (Tom Ford?) Suit & Tie and rocking the stage. Barring Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance on Sunday, this will easily be one of the most talked about and highly anticipated performances of the year.

The Grammys online:

@TheGRAMMYs on Twitter,

“The GRAMMYs” on Facebook,

Google +,

Instagram,

Pinterest,

Tumblr,

YouTube.

I’m going to be up, watching and blogging live on Monday morning (the usual deal). If you’re up with me, it’s on from 3am on Channel O, DStv channel 320. The repeat is on Vuzu (116) at 19:30.

Rihanna performs new single, Stay on SNL

Rihanna performed her new single, Stay on SNL recently. It’s taken off her number one album, Unapologetic. The album has really grown on me and I find myself choosing this one over Ne-Yo, Taylor and Alicia if I’m honest. I’m surprised that this was the second single off the album, but it really shows a different side to the star and I’m liking it. Plus, for all the haters who believe she can’t sing, the video above proves otherwise.

Rumours are doing the rounds that Rihanna is the next star who will be gracing South African shores this year. Let’s hope so. It will be her first tour as a headliner, so I look forward to hearing more from the promoters.

Rihanna’s new album, Unapologetic drops November 19th

Another year… another album. World superstar, Rihanna will release her new album, Unapologetic on the 19th of November. This will be her seventh studio. She certainly knows how to make hay while the sun shines. The first single off the album is called Diamonds. It debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 at number sixteen, which isn’t great for the star, but the song is slowly but surely gaining momentum, airplay at traction in the market, so watch out for it. If you haven’t heard the song yet, have a listen below:

Is the album shamelessly an admission of her reuniting with Chris Brown? Well while the couple/ she is keeping mum about the ‘romance’, we’ll be sure to hear all about it on the 19th of November

2012 VMA winners list

The annual MTV VMAs took place at the Staples Center in LA last night. Unfortunately we didn’t have a live stream in South Africa, but if you were able to watch the awards in your part of the world, let us know what the show was like. I hear Rihanna’s performance was superb and a great way to open the show. She performed her song Cockiness alongside A$AP Rocky. Taylor apparently closed the show with her hit, “We Are Never Getting Back Together”, which by that point everyone was like uh, whatevs Taylor imma drink myself stupor… Na’mean Ha! Here’s a list of the winners from this year’s VMAs:

Video of the Year: Rihanna, “We Found Love”
Best New Artist: One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful”
Best Female Video: Nicki Minaj, “Starships”
Best Hip-Hop Video: Drake, featuring Lil’ Wayne, “HYFR”
Best Male Video: Chris Brown, “Turn Up the Music”
Best Pop Video: One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful”
Best Rock Video: Coldplay, “Paradise”
Best Video With a Message: Demi Lovato, “Skyscraper”
Best Electronic Dance Music Video: Calvin Harris, “Feel So Close”
Most Shareworthy Video: One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful”
Best Choreography: Chris Brown, “Turn Up the Music”
Best Editing: Beyonce, “Countdown”
Best Visual Effects: Skrillex, “First of the Year (Equinox)”
Best Cinematography: M.I.A., “Bad Girls”
Best Art Direction: Katy Perry, “Wide Awake”
Best Direction: M.I.A., “Bad Girls”

2012 Billboard Music Awards – full nominations list

The 2012 Billboard Award nominees list is out and leading the pack are the ever-great Adele, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and then Lil Wayne. The awards take place tonight (20 May) in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. I’ll be up in the early hours of Monday morning watching the awards live from my couch. The show can be seen on Channel O, DStv channel 320 from 2AM. Do join me… For now, find below the full list of nominees:

Top Artist:
Adele
Lady Gaga
Lil Wayne
Katy Perry
Rihanna

Top New Artist:
Bad Meets Evil
Big Sean
Foster The People
Scotty McCreery
Wiz Khalifa

Top Male Artist:
Justin Bieber
Chris Brown
Drake
Lil Wayne
Bruno Mars