The Round Table

Friends know I’m a sucker for Vh1’s “Behind the Music” specials and the latest artist profiled was Jennifer Lopez, aka J.Lo. Now, admit it, if you listened to mainstream radio and watched a little known show (sarcasm) called TRL back in ‘00-’01, then you had J.Lo fever.

Catchy songs, great hooks, and thanks to her acting chops, videos that you could watch without squirming. Let’s all sit back and remember 2001, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing,” off Ms. Lopez’s sophomore album appropriately titled J.Lo.

Shout out to my boy Mack at Sound Savvy for starting the J.Lo love fest with “I’m Real” featuring Ja Rule. Bark+Bite, where you at?

It’s starting to look like an American Idol alum takeover at the upcoming 2009 American Music Awards. Most recent American Idol finalist, Adam Lambert was previously announced as a performer at this year’s show, well, now it turns out that he’ll be joined by other AI stars including Kelly Clarkson (the original AI winner), Carrie Underwood, and Chris Daughtry.

Clarkson, Underwood, and Daughtry add to the already star-studded lineup of performers including Alicia Keys, The Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z and Jenifer Lopez. Wait, what? Jennifer Lopez is relevant again in music? Did we turn the clocks back to 2001? Is Ja-Rule performing too? I digress.

There’s also a rumor that Rihanna who had the internets all abuzz with her latest single, “Russian Roulette,” will also perform. Guess you’ll have to tune in to ABC on November 22nd to find out. One thing is for sure, Simon Fuller and Simon Cowell are laughing all the way to the bank. Keep an eye on the AMA’s official site for more announcements.

Why Middle Jonas, why?! – My crush on middle Jonas aka Joe, took a bit of a hit since last we bantered guys. For those that don’t know, he and his bros, Big Jonas and Lil Jonas, have been releasing weekly youtube clips in an attempt to promote their forthcoming album. Last week’s treat was Joe doing his rendition of Beyonce’s Single Ladies video, leotard and all. The whole thing left me a bit creeped out. You sir, are no Justin Timberlake and the internet is not. your SNL stage. Let’s just call it a ‘Single Ladies fail’ and keep it moving.

And as an fyi to everyone else, can we please move on from re-enacting this video. Beyonce has released four more vids since then. Pick something else already! May I suggest Ego, its current and just as provocative, if not more. Is your “ego” big, wide, strong and tough enough to try it?

Wait, I don’t get it – It seems Taylor Swift will be performing with T-Pain (thanx for the heads up JayVee) at this year’s CMT Awards. Ummm… huh? This is a SMH moment if ever there was one. Now of course there have always been zany collabos, Eminem/Elton John or the upcoming 50 Cent/Justin Timberlake duet(didn’t see this one coming either), but this just makes me uncomfortable. Is she trying to get street cred or is he trying to sell out as much as humanly possible. Though truth be told, those ‘Big Ass Chains’ aren’t gonna pay for themselves, so I guess he’s up for any and everything. What I want to know is who co-signed this ish?! Who at the label actually went into the meeting and presented this idea to the team and how much moonshine were they drinking to then agree to it. This sounds more like a belated April Fools joke and not a very good one at that. What’s next? A single, an album, a tour together?! Just the thought of it makes me shudder. Let’s all tune in to CMT June 16th and watch this go down.

Evil Nation has a heart – Hold on to your hats kids, Live Nation is helping us through the recession by offering a summer ticket program that eliminates service fees on amphitheatre tickets. This comes behind the highly successful “No service fee Wednesday” where they dropped the fees on lawn seats. Apparenty, sales during the first Wednesday set a record for a 24 hour span by increasing six-fold. Service fees on tickets usually range from $10 – 15 depending on the seat. While thats not a huge hit, when you’re already spending top dollar to see a show, every little bit helps. Way to be a team player Live Nation.

You Got Served! – Rihanna has been subpoenaed to testify against Chris Brown by the Los Angeles Prosecutor’s office in the preliminary hearing against the singer. According to her attorney, “If the preliminary hearing indeed goes forward, she is now legally required to be there, she will be there, and will answer all questions truthfully.” Prosecutors are trying to garner evidence to see if they should go to trial. That’s a lot for Rih Rih to think about, and with the added pressure of cross-examination looming, lets hope she can hold it together and present the facts. The hearing is scheduled for June 22, his attorney’s attempt to have it delayed was denied by the court on June 9. Stop whining Chris, time to face the music, HA!

He Did What? – After being off the grid for the last few years, mega-hit producer Scott Storch has resurfaced. The man behind the monster hits Lean Back by Fat Joe, Beyonce’s Baby Boy, Ja Rule’s Clap Back and 50 Cent’s Candy Shop, to name a few, has been fighting a severe cocaine addiction. So severe in fact, he claims to have blown $30 million in a six month span. WTF?!!! Now I know addiction is serious but damn! How is it that this man is still alive let alone still has a nose after that much blow? Scotty, you seriously need to count your blessings on this one.