Rock the Bells Celebrates 10th Anniversary With Hologram Performances

The annual multi-city hip-hop festival Rock the Bells returns to celebrate hip-hop’s past and present for its 10th anniversary. Murs and Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg will host with a line-up of performances that include the Black Hippy crew, Kid Cudi, Big K.R.I.T., Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Common, Wu-Tang Clan, Tyler, the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, Juicy J, Jhené Aiko, and Hit-Boy, and many more.

To add to the celebration, Rock the Bells will follow in the footsteps of last year's Coachella and will have virtual hologram performances by the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Eazy-E.













The 4-city Concert Dates

Sept. 7-8:  San Bernardino, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater
Sept. 14-15:  Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater
Sept. 28-29:  Washington, D.C. @ Festival Grounds at RFK
Oct. 4-5:  Rutherford, N.J. @ Meadowlands Racetrack


Click here for ticket info

New Release Tuesday: 5/21/13

The Brand New Heavies - Forward

Preview album here




To find out what albums are dropping this year, visit New Album Releases

The Voice Season 4: Top 10

Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/9c on NBC

Last night, Maroon 5 opened the show with their new song Love Somebody.  Can't wait for the next album.  Adam looked extra sexy man!!




And now for the favorites. . . .

Contestant:  Amber Carrington

Song: Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
Team: Adam

Amber lands on the favorites list this week.  Adam nailed it picking a Kelly song for her because it fit Amber perfectly. This was her breakthrough performance where I actually saw her as a star.

Contestant:  Sasha Allen

Song: Next to Me by Emeli Sande
Team: Shakira

Even tho I'm tired of hearing that song, I'll let Sasha slide because she rocked it!!  Great song choice by Shakira to show Sasha's ability to sing a current song.  As Shakira said, it's hard to take a song that is so current in people's heads and make it your own, but mission accomplished.

Contestant: Danielle Bradbery

Song: Heads California, Tails California by Jo Dee Messina
Team: Blake

I still can't believe she's only 16.  Her voice is so mature and like Blake said the performance was so carefree.

Contestant: Sarah Simmons

Song: Mama Knows Best by Jessie J
Team:  Adam

She took the night with this performance.  Sarah did radiate sexy and turned the corner musically like Blake said giving us Rock N' Roll and SOUL!


Overall

I was going into this show automatically knowing that Judith would once again make the favorite list with another great performance but unfortunately, her MJ performance of The Way You Make Me Feel didn't do it for me.  Adam really slipped with this one because this wasn't a great song choice.  I get that maybe they wanted to show that she was capable of doing an uptempo song but I think Human Nature or The Lady in My Life would've been a better option for her to show out even though they are slow songs.  This won't hurt her chances of moving forward though.  I had SOME hope for Josiah with Clocks by Coldplay because I've always said he had that Sting vibe so this was close.  However, Sharika said it best, it's like a mission impossible.  It's hard to top Chris Martin. 

S/O to Kris Thomas for his Adorn performance.  I loved the arrangement of the song, especially since I'm tired of this song.  He has such a great voice but I agree with the judges in that he was thinking too much.  I think he will be voted off tonight.  And I'm not sure who the 2nd person to be voted off will be.

Who do you think will get voted off?

The Voice Season 4: Top 12

Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/9c on NBC

In case you missed it, check out the favorites made up of this season's Usual Suspects from last week's Top 12 to prepare you for tonight's Top 10 performances . . .

Contestant:  Sarah Simmons

Song: The Story by Brandi Carlile
Team: Adam

Sarah continues to be consistently great.  Blake and Adam said it best, she shows the extremes and has this refined diversity within her voice.  It's just amazing the way she can switch from grit to soft in such a smooth and effortless way.  

Contestant:  Sasha Allen

Song: Alone by Heart
Team: Shakira

Another consistent performance by Sasha.  She demonstrates such control and power when she holds those high notes.

Contestant: Josiah Hawley

Song: The Man That Can't Be Moved by The Script
Team: Usher

As Adam said, Josiah found a place for his voice and this performance showed that.  Is it me or do you get a Sting vibe from him?

Contestant: Judith Hill

Song: You've Got a Friend by Carole King
Team: Adam

Word Judith, you wanna perform at the piano??!!!  What can this chick NOT do????  I mean seriously, that was awesome. . .giving me Alicia Keys vibes.  Yes Adam, she gave the purity of talent right there!

Overall

After an amazing performance during the start of the playoffs, I was really disappointed that Michelle didn't keep up that momentum.  E for effort to Garrett in his rock/pop interpretation to Backstreet Boy's I Want it That Way but unfortunately, it didn't help him stay as he was voted off along with Vedo.

And so tonight we move to the Top 10!!  #letsgo

2013 Billboard Awards, a Night of Backing Tracks and Musical Confusion

Performances


21351927 by YardieGoals
Bruno is a true artist and performer in every way!!  Many artists out there need to go ahead and take out their smartphones and TAKE NOTES!  Can't wait to see him (and that fine trombone player) this summer so that I can truly testify. 

21351925331 by YardieGoals
As Taylor wore a T-shirt that said "Haters Wanna Hate," she gave us another great performance.  Not sure why people hate on her because seriously, she's an example of a true artist. . . she sings, writes, dances, and most of all you can tell she just loves music.  Just like with this awards show, you always see her dancing and having fun like any regular music lover.  I don't consider myself a fan nor do I own any of her music but I have much respect for her as an artist.  Extra bonus was seeing the Jabbawockeez out there!!



21351921245 by YardieGoals
This was the best lip-synced performance of the night!!  However, Bieber actually made me forget this was him.  I kept on saying to myself "why Biebs, why you, why you doing this to me"  I wasn't made to jam to his music and I thought since I didn't fall for Boyfriend that I was safe. . I guess not.  The Biebs got me on this one cause I was diggin this song hard, making me wanna be his lil lady, lol.  And his choreo was ON POINT!!  I won't be mad at Selena if she got herself some Biebs after this performance #imjustsayin



21351224452 by YardieGoals
PRINCE!!!!!!!!!!!!! ICONIC!!!!!  Sidenote:  I'm all about going natural, I mean I am myself but I feel some type of way that Prince has gone down this road. . .Prince = heels and perms #imjustsayin


Ed Sheeran performs Lego House - I love some Ed Sheeran and this was a great acoustic set and the lights in the audience really brought the performance together.  And it's okay that he didn't comb his hair, lol.

Pitbull and Christina perform Feel This Moment - S/O to Xtina for looking 110% fab.  Maybe she finally got the memo. . .dress to your body type, even though she did loose some weight.  Damn shame that most of those young bucks had no idea who Ah-Ha was or why he came out during the performance (his song Take On Me was the sample used in the song).  Catch the random black guy in the audience with a look of confused disgust either toward Selena who was jammin or by Ah-Ha (2:44) #classic.

Chris Brown performs Fine China - Not the best live performance by Chris as he struggled to hit all of his falsetto notes.  I give him a point for at least singing live for the most part. 

Awards

I'm still confused as to how you have Flo-Rida, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and freakin Psy in the Top Rap Song Category. . .how does this happen????  Either Billboard has it totally wrong or this is just a sign of the direction music is going in . . .. dwn dwn dwn!!

View the full list of winners here.

Highlights/Overall

For the life of me I couldn't figure out why we never covered this awards show and last night I was quickly reminded.  Definitely not a show worth emailing your mom about!  What's the point of performing live if you're gonna relying solely on a backing track? Most of the show will be remembered by it's random blooper moments. 

In case you missed Miguel fly into the air and land on a girl's neck, click here. 

Tracy Morgan has issues.  Who was responsible for teaching him how to read a teleprompter or host in general??

I wish they did a performance tribute for Madonna but maybe Billboard just doesn't do that.  S/O to Madge who took off her shades as she started her speech.  Ya'll know shades shouldn't be worn indoors.  Still hating that I have yet to see her in concert!!

Then Bieb getting booed as he went up to accept the Milestone Award and thanked Jesus Christ (which I think is a first) and talked about how people need to understand he's a real artist that needs to be respect for his craft . .blah blah.

S/O to NE-YO who actually sung live.

New Release Tuesday: 5/14/13

Eve - Lip Lock


Preview album here



PJ Morton - New Orleans

To find out what albums are dropping this year, visit New Album Releases

The Voice Season 4: Live Playoffs

Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/9c on NBC

Last week started the 1st round of live performances.  In case you missed it, check out the favorites . . .

Night 1 - Team Adam & Team Usher

Contestant:  Sarah Simmons

Song: Angel by Sarah McLachlan
Team: Adam

Like Adam said, when the audience doesn't make a sound it's either a really bad sign or really good and her performance was the latter.  It was simply breath taking and emotional.

Contestant:  Michelle Chamuel

Song: True Colors by Cindy Lauper
Team: Usher

This was the breakthrough performance of the night.  So far, we have known Michelle to be playful and a bit quirky.  But this was the perfect song that allowed her to shine as she showed a side of vulnerability. 

Contestant: Amber Carrington

Song: Stay by Rihanna
Team: Adam

Wow!  This was an amazing performance for Amber.  Her voice was controlled with every breath she took, especially towards the end.

Contestant: Judith Hill

Song: Feeling Good by Nina Simone
Team: Adam

Of course you would end the show again with Judith.  Loved how she opened the song a capella.  This chick can really do no wrong at this point #theonetobeat

Night 2 - Team Blake & Team Shakira

Contestant:  Justin Rivers

Song: Meet in the Middle by Diamond Rio
Team: Blake

I never paid him any mind until this performance.  He shined and showed us he's a natural on that stage how he interacted with the audience.  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save him and he was eliminated.

Contestant:  Karina Iglesias

Song: Let's Stay Together by Al Green
Team:  Shakira

I like Karina!  She adds this grit and rawness to her songs that I love.  Unfortunately, she was eliminated.

Contestant:  Sasha Allen

Song: Oh! Darling by The Beatles
Team:  Shakira

Even though I'm not a fan of the song choice, Sasha sang the yell out of it.  She made it so soulful and put so much emotion into it from her facial expressions to her body movements.

The 1st night, Team Adam definitely out shined Team Usher in performances.  A clear sign of being a rookie coach, Usher made poor song choices for his team, which was clearly evident like having Cathia sing "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston.  The 2nd night of performances was good but didn't live up to the previous.  But I'd have to give it to Shakira based on variety because I'm a bit tired of Blake's countryfest.  In the end, the only person I'm upset that was sent home was Katrina. . . I don't understand how Shakira could pick Garrett Gardner.

Get ready for tonight's live performances as we move on to the Top 12!!  #letsgo