GALLERY LINKS:
CAPTURES > TV Performances > Saturday Night Live – January 7, 2012

Right in the thick of awards season, we get a little respite from pretending we’ve seen all 10 of the Oscar-nominated films (and by association, the 10 films the other 25 awards ceremonies use as a catalogue for their similar ceremonies) and we get a little foray into the world of pop music. The Grammys offer us a chance to root for all those songs we heard on the radio, or in Forever 21, or – if we’re more judicious about our music consumption – on Spotify. It’s mostly about this biggest names in music rocking up to celebrate their year of success, and a huge part of that is a hefty slate of big-name performers to go along with all those tiny gold gramophones.

Now, we’ve got a list of names to look forward to when the awards ceremony takes over the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 12. The list of nominated artists celebrating their honors with musical performances are:

Kelly Clarkson with Jason Aldean
Foo Fighters
Bruno Mars
Nicki Minaj
Taylor Swift

Clarkson has been all over television, from commercials to SNL, so it will be no surprise to get another dose of her during the Grammys, but this even will mark Minaj’s first turn on the hallowed stage. The “Super Bass” songstress garnered four nominations; Clarkson nabbed one for “Don’t You Wanna Stay” with Aldean; Swift has three noms; and Foo Fighters and Mars both have six chances to take home a trophy. There’s a bit of a lack of variety in the performers this year – especially when we had folks like Bob Dylan and Mumford and Sons taking the stage minutes before Lady Gaga emerged from her egg and Cee-Lo sang with Muppets. Granted, this is just round one of the performer announcements; let’s hope round two offers a few more voices to get excited for.

Source: Hollywood.com

So did Kelly Clarkson’s comments about Ron Paul help sales of her album Stronger? Given that her endorsement of the Republican presidential candidate came right on the end of the holiday sales season, it’s hard to tell.

On the one hand, weekly sales of Stronger fell 40% last week, from 41,000 to 25,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But almost every album saw its sales drop last week, some by a smaller percentage than Kelly’s but most by a greater amount. And Kelly did make a nice jump on The Billboard 200, moving from No. 39 last week to No. 17 this week.

That makes Stronger the week’s best-selling album from an American Idol act, followed by Scotty McCreery’s Clear as Day, which saw its weekly sales drop 74%, enough to take Scotty out of the top 20. Also, her iTunes Session debuted at No. 85, selling 9,000 downloads.

So did an influx of Paul-loving buyers give Stronger and iTunes Session better weeks than they could have been playing online bingo? Or did an unlikely coalition of Democrats and Rick Santorum supporters suddenly remove the albums from their shopping carts and instead use their iTunes gift cards on Michael Jackson’s Number Ones, which saw a 79% increase for the week?

Draw your own conclusions.

Idol albums

Kelly Clarkson, Stronger (25,000 weekly, -40%, 451,000 total) (#17 Billboard 200)
Scotty McCreery, Clear as Day (22,000, -74%, 856,000) (#21 BB200)
Daughtry, Break the Spell (18,000, -69%, 316,000) (#31 BB200)
Kelly Clarkson, iTunes Session (9,000, debut, 9,000) (#85 BB200)
Lauren Alaina, Wildflower (6,000, -55%, 221,000) (#124 BB200)
James Durbin, Memories of a Beautiful Disaster (4,000, -66%, 74,000) (#181 BB200)
Mandisa, What If We Were Real (2,000, -81%, 136,000)
Daughtry, Daughtry (2,000, -46%)

Idol-related albums

Various, Now That’s What I Call Music 40 (41,000, -53%, 550,000 total) (#10 Billboard 200)
Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party (25,000, -67%, 2.263 million) (#18 BB200)
Tony Bennett, Duets II (15,000, -72%, 720,000) (#41 BB200)
Various, Now That’s What I Call Music 39 (12,000, -52%, 545,000) (#60 BB200)
David Guetta, Nothing but the Beat (11,000, 0 change, 180,000) (#68 BB200)
The Civil Wars, Barton Hollow (10,000, -15%, 257,000) (#78 BB200)
Brad Paisley, This Is Country Music (6,000, -70%, 613,000) (#122 BB200)
Various, Now That’s What I Call Country, Vol. 4 (5,000, -57%, 243,000) (#147 BB200)
Big Time Rush, BTR (4,000, -59%, 653,000) (#173 BB200)

Source

Kelly Clarkson is getting political.

The American Idol champ voiced her support for Republican Ron Paul Wednesday via Twitter, and says that should the Texas politician snag a 2012 presidential bid, he’s got her vote.

“I love Ron Paul. I liked him a lot during the last Republican nomination and no one gave him a chance,” Clarkson, 29, who considers herself to be a Republican but supported the Democrats in the last election, Tweeted Wednesday. “If he wins the nomination for the Republican party in 2012 he’s got my vote. Too bad he probably won’t.”

When Clarkson’s Twitter followers accused the politician, 76, of racism and homophobia, the singer was forced to clarify her endorsement.

“I love all people and could care less if you like men or women,” she replied to one Twitter follower after fans cited articles published in a Paul newsletter from the late 1970s until 1990. “I have never heard that Ron Paul is a racist or homophobe?” (Paul has denied he wrote the commentary and said he does not agree with the statements.)

“I am really sorry if I have offended anyone. Obviously that was not my intent. I do not support racism. I support gay rights, straight rights, women’s rights, men’s rights, white/black/purple/orange rights,” an under-fire Clarkson continued. “I like Ron Paul because he believes in less government and letting the people (all of us) make the decisions and mold our country. That is all. Out of all of the Republican nominees, he’s my favorite.”

Iowa voters will begin the process to select 2012′s Republican presidential nominee next week.

Source

“VH1 Divas” red carpet will be live streamed as a web-exclusive on VH1.com on Sunday, December 18 from 5-7pm ET (#VH1DIVAS). Sponsored by Samsung and hosted by VH1 personality La La Anthony, the live stream will provide fans an unfiltered front-row seat to all the red carpet action and will feature real time interviews with entertainment’s biggest stars.

Slated to appear on the red carpet live stream: Mary J. Blige, Dolly Parton, Chaka Khan, Kelly Clarkson, Queen Latifah, Nas, Florence + The Machine, Jennifer Hudson, Jessie J, Jill Scott, Common, Terrence Howard, Erykah Badu, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, Wanda Jackson, Travie McCoy, Ledisi, Boyz II Men, Estelle, and Marsha Ambrosius.

Kelly Clarkson, 29, says her footwear is a lot like her music: “There’s a little bit of everything!” She’s got the diva shoes, the Converse Chuck Taylors, the cowboy boots—but she likes performing in her bare feet. As for her musical mix of pop, country, R&B, and rock, the Texas native says, “I incorporate all those elements because, honestly, I’d get bored otherwise.” The first American Idol winner spoke to Kate Meyers about life on and off the road.

PARADE Your new album is called Stronger. Is that how you feel after nine years in the music business?
Definitely. I actually picked that title, and most of the songs I wrote or selected are very much about empowerment and strength. Really great things have been happening during these years, but at the same time it’s been quite the roller coaster. I’ve loved my 20s, but I would never repeat them. I feel like I’m more grounded, more stable.

You got your start on a reality talent show; do you watch them now?
I’m a sucker for them! I love The Voice. Blake [Shelton] is a friend of mine, and he’s one of the judges, so I watched it for that, and then I fell in love with the show. I still watch Idol [season 11 begins in January], and it’s still the No. 1 show, so obviously I’m not the only one who loves to sit at home and be entertained.

Your first Idol audition is on YouTube, and on it you say, “I was so happy ’cause the British man didn’t make me cry.”
Yeah, because the girl before me came out bawling. I could hear him light into her and I thought, “I don’t want him to be mean to me—that’s my only goal.”

Has your view of Simon Cowell changed?
He’s been my biggest supporter, but I would never be Simon’s first pick. I don’t really exude that “it” factor. He’s the perfect example of how you have to take being in the public eye with a grain of salt. If you think there’s truth in what someone says, learn from it, and if not, just brush it off, because everybody’s gonna have their two cents.

What are your Sundays like?
It’s the one day my phone isn’t ringing off the hook. I’ll catch up with calls and emails with my friends and family, maybe go have a nice Italian dinner. Just relax. And I always have a book in my hand.

I hear you have a book club with your band.
It’s not official—we’re not as cool as Oprah—but we definitely read together. When people [are on the road] with us, they’re like, “This is the geek tour!” The last book we all read was One Second After—it’s really scary.

What was your first big indulgence when you started to make money?
My land and my house in Texas. I just love land. They don’t make it anymore! I grew up in an apartment, so 60 acres is a lot to me. We have rescue horses, goats, and donkeys. It’s my little oasis.

Tell me some things about you that are totally Texas.
My mouth—and, my mom would say, not in a good way. I’m loyal and I think most Texans are very loyal, but I’m also stubborn.

What’s going on for you relationship-wise?
Man, I just keep going on horrible dates. I’m like, “There’s not enough wine in the world for me to enjoy this.” I actually had a guy say to me—and I hope he sees this because he is so ridiculous—he said, “I can’t believe I’m on a date with Kelly Clarkson.” And under my breath I was like, “Wow, I can’t either.” Some days I think, “I’ll meet him. Everybody finds somebody,” and other days I’m like, “Maybe I won’t. Maybe I just missed the memo.”

What would we be surprised to know about you?
People think I’m a jeans-all-the-time girl, but I adore dresses. Let’s face it, if you have a butt, then it’s just much easier to wear a dress!

Source

“VH1 Divas” is back and ready to celebrate some soul.

On Thursday (October 27), it was announced that Mary J Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Florence and the Machine and Jessie J will serve as the star-studded lineup for the long-running concert event, which airs December 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on VH1.

This year, VH1 is paying tribute to prominent birthplaces of soul music, including Chicago, Detroit, London, Memphis and Philadelphia. Blige and company are expected to pay homage to these cities and the genre through their own soulful tracks as well as some of the genre’s classic tunes onstage at New York’s iconic Hammerstein Ballroom.

And it’s not just women who are in on the celebration, but also the Roots, who have been confirmed as the event’s house band. ?uestlove is set to pull double-duty during the concert as musical director too.

In a press release for the ceremony, VH1′s Lee Rolontz shared her thoughts on the 2011 theme. “This year’s telecast will showcase the vast impact soul music has had on the 21st century’s music and pop culture landscape as our talented and diverse lineup will attest,” she said. “This year’s Divas offers a modern twist on soul music, all while tipping its hat to the legacy of key cities that created this musical heritage.”

Additional announcements regarding even more performers, presenters and special guests are to be expected in the coming weeks.

Clarkson took to Twitter shortly after the announcement to share her excitement. “Super stoked to announce that I am performing at #VH1DIVAS!!” the songstress tweeted. “VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul” marks the former “American Idol” alum’s second appearance on the series. The singer appeared on the event’s comeback ceremony in 2009 alongside Adele and Miley Cyrus.

Source

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of STRONGER in stores today!

GALLERY LINKS:
PERFORMANCES > Sunrise Taping – October 2, 2011

GALLERY LINKS:
PERFORMANCES > iHeartRadio Music Festival – September 23, 2011