New York, U.S.A. — VH1′s beloved franchise ” VH1 Divas “ caught dance fever at the L.A. Shrine Auditorium Sunday night for a live, concert event filled with performances, theatrics, and a roster of musicians and actors ready to boogie down to benefit The VH1 Save The Music Foundation. The star-studded affair incorporated performances from today’s biggest hits and dance classics by host Adam Lambert, Ciara, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Kelly Rowland, Jordin Sparks, and was accompanied by House DJ Havana Brown.

The evening included an incredible line-up of performers ready to shake their groove thing for a good cause, including  Natasha Bedingfield, Kelly Clarkson, Ledisi, Melanie Fiona.

VH1 “You Oughta Know” Artist Metric, Paloma Faith, Pitbull, Iggy Azalea, and Bootsy Collins. Special appearances by L.A. Reid, Amber Riley, Ellie Kemper, Elisha Cuthbert, Kat Graham, Kelly Osbourne, NeNe Leakes, Stacy Keibler, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Brandy, Paula Abdul, Sheila E. and La La Anthony rounded out the disco-themed night.

Adam Lambert kicked off the night with a cabaret themed “Let’s Dance,” followed by a special introduction to Kelly Clarkson’s latest single “Catch My Breath.” With a genuinely enthusiastic Kelly Osbourne introducing one of her favorite groups “Blondie,” VH1 You Oughta Know artist Metric brought the house down with their rendition of “Heart of Glass.” Donning a studded jacket and rocker attitude, Miley Cyrus commanded the room with her vivacious delivery of “Rebel Yell” by rock god Billy Idol.

Newly inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, diva legend Donna Summer created some of the biggest dance hits guaranteed to get the crowd going. Kelly Rowland, Adam Lambert, and Keri Hilson paid tribute to one of the greats with a musical medley of “I Feel The Love,” “Bad Girls,” “She Works Hard The Money,” “Love To Love You Baby,” “Hot Stuff,” and “Last Dance.” An emotional Brandy introduced Jordin Sparks, Ledisi and Melanie Fiona for a power-driven tribute to the late Whitney Houston. The trio dazzled with an electric performance of “I’m Every Woman,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,”  “It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay,” and “How Will I Know.”

After two hours of non-stop dancing and entertainment, Pitbull closed the show in style with his hit “Don’t Stop The Party,” leaving the night on a high note.

As in previous years, this edition of “VH1 Divas” will benefit the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping music education alive in American public schools. To date, VH1 Save The Music has provided more than $49.5 million in new musical instruments to 1,850 public schools in more than 128 school districts around the country, impacting the lives of over 2.1 million children.

This year’s sponsors for “VH1 Divas” include: AT&T, Burger King, CoverGirl, Fiat, The Hershey Company and Old Navy.

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Winners have been announced for the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, a star-studded ceremony broadcast Live on the CBS Television Network from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Fans named Taylor Swift, Entertainer of the Year, the evening’s biggest honor.

This is the second consecutive year that Taylor Swift has been named Entertainer of the Year. This year marked a record breaking year with nearly one million fans casting their vote for Entertainer of the Year and New Artist of the Year categories, combined.

Swift is the youngest and seventh solo female to take the award in the 40 year history of this category; previous winners include Loretta Lynn in 1975, Dolly Parton in 1977, Barbara Mandrell in 1980, Reba in 1994, Shania Twain in 1999, Dixie Chicks in 2000 and Carrie Underwood in 2008 and 2009.

Miranda Lambert won Female Vocalist of the Year and Blake Shelton won Male Vocalist of the Year. This is Lambert’s third consecutive win as Female Vocalist of the Year and Shelton’s first win as Male Vocalist of the Year.

Lambert also took the prize for Album of the Year, making her the only female to have three consecutive albums win the category. Lambert previously won Album of the Year in 2007 for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and in 2009 for REVOLUTION.

For the third consecutive year, Lady Antebellum won Vocal Group of the Year. Thompson Square won Vocal Duo of the Year, their first ACM Award win. Scotty McCreery was honored as New Artist of the Year in tonight’s broadcast, marking his first ACM win in the fan-voted category.

Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson won two awards tonight in the categories of Single Record of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for their song “Don’t You Wanna Stay.” This marks a first win in both categories for Aldean and Clarkson.

Artists Lee Brice, Kelly Clarkson, Eli Young Band, Scotty McCreery and Thompson Squarereceived their first time Academy of Country Music Awards.

Tonight, the Academy of Country Music sold-out two of the largest arenas in Las Vegas, the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards hosted by Reba and Blake Shelton , and the Mandalay Bay Events Center for the 2nd Annual ACM Fan Jam, hosted by the Zac Brown Band.

Following is the list of winners in the 11 categories voted on by the membership (excluding the Entertainer of the Year and New Artist categories, which were voted on by a combination of professional ACM members and fans):

Entertainer of the Year: Taylor Swift

Male Vocalist of the Year: Blake Shelton

Female Vocalist of the Year: Miranda Lambert

Vocal Duo of the Year *(Off Camera Award): Thompson Square

Vocal Group of the Year: Lady Antebellum

New Artist of the Year: Scotty McCreery

Album of the Year[Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company]: Four The Record – Miranda Lambert (RCA)

Produced by: Chuck Ainlay, Frank Liddell, Glenn Worf

Single Record of the Year [Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company]: Don’t You Wanna Stay – Jason Aldean With Kelly Clarkson (Broken Bow Records)

Produced by: Michael Knox

Song of the Year [Award to Composer(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)]: Crazy Girl – Eli Young Band

Composers: Lee Brice, Liz Rose
Publishers: Cake Taker Music (BMI), Mike Curb Music (BMI), Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI), Sweet Hysteria Music (BMI)

Video of the Year [Award to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)] *(Off Camera Award): Red Solo Cup – Toby Keith

Producer: Mark Kalbfeld
Director: Michael Salomon

Vocal Event of the Year [Award to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Record Company] *(Off Camera Award): Don’t You Wanna Stay – Jason Aldean With Kelly Clarkson (Broken Bow Records)

Produced by: Michael Knox

For a complete list of past and present wins and nominations, please visit www.acmcountry.com and search the ACM Awards Database located on the Homepage.

Getty Images is the official photographer for the Annual Academy of Country Music Awards and photos can be accessed at www.gettyimages.com.

Image Courtesy of   Amy Nichole Harris / Shutterstock.com

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P!nk has announced that she has began recording on her sixth studio album, the follow-up to 2008′s ‘Funhouse’. The 32-year old singer/songwriter has taken a brief hiatus from the music scene while she started a family with her husband Carey Hart.

The couple, whose on/off relationship has been the subject of some of P!nk’s biggest hits, welcomed a daughter last June and have stayed largely out of the limelight in the months since. However, P!nk now appears to be focusing on her career and on reclaiming her title as one of the world’s biggest touring artists with the release of her first studio album in 4 years.

Her return to the music studio has been eagerly anticipated by her fans, as the four-year period since the release of ‘Funhouse’ marks the longest gap between studio albums in P!nk’s 12-year career. Few details are known about the album, expected to be released later this year, although hit maker Dan Wilson confirmed on Twitter that he has been in the studio writing songs with P!nk in recent weeks.

Wilson most notably collaborated with Adele on her multi-platinum LP ’21′, co-writing two tracks – including the Grammy-winning ‘Someone Like You – and has also written songs for such artists as Keith Urban and The Dixie Chicks.

For P!nk, a partnership with Wilson would mark a departure from her last two studio albums, on which she collaborated primarily with pop guru Max Martin (Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, and Katy Perry), country songwriter Billy Mann (Mary J. Blige, Sting, and Celine Dion), and rocker Butch Walker (Fall Out Boy, Avril Lavigne, and The Donnas).

Since releasing her first studio album, ‘Can’t Take Me Home’, P!nk has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has made a name for herself as a a must-see live performer. ‘The Funhouse Tour’ spanned 10 months and broke several records in Australia, and was then followed up with P!nk’s first ever stadium tour, playing at over 30 outdoor venues across Europe in the summer of 2010.

Following the success of the ‘Funhouse’ era, P!nk was ranked #27 on Forbes’ 2010 Celebrity 100 List with earnings of $44 million from the previous 12 months. She capitalised on this career momentum by releasing a compilation CD, titled ‘Greatest Hits … So Far!!!” to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of her debut album.

The compilation featured all of her major hits from the previous decade, as well as three new songs, the first of which – ‘Raise Your Glass’ – topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the second – ‘Perfect’ – garnered P!nk her 11th Grammy nomination.

Despite a brief hiatus from the entertainment industry during her pregnancy, P!nk kept her name in the headlines with a starring role in the 2011 animated feature ‘Happy Feet Two,’ for which she also provided the soundtrack single ‘Bridge of Light’.

Around the same time, P!nk filmed a role in the upcoming drama/comedy film ‘Thanks For Sharing’, co-starring Mark Ruffalo and Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow, and paid $5,000 to fund life-saving surgery for a stray dog after learning of the story in late last December.

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In our everyday lives, we have loved ones that go through many emotional hardships, some of them romantic. A song does little except express the emotions that rages within us as we struggle through our day to day lives. This small collection is about forgiveness and growing strength, not hopelessness and despair.

Kelly Clarkson: Dark Side

Many fans of Kelly Clarkson vocally support “Dark Side” as the single that should have been released on Clarkson’s 2011 Album “Stronger.” Featuring her powerful vocals, the song itself talks about the dark side of someone’s personality and how it affects their relationship. In part, the song talks about showing a loved one a secret that could potentially hurt them while another part asks ‘please accept me for me’.  The true heart of the song asks the other partner to stay, and accept all that they are and build a beautiful life together.

The appeal of the song is universal in the sense that each and every one of us has a dark side to ourselves. The song could be talking about a personal and private disorder, an addiction or an obsession, it does not matter. All it needs to do is ask that question that is universal to every relationship, that is, will you stay here with me despite knowing my secret or will you run away?

SafetySuit: Get Around This

In every relationship, there are mistakes that are made and songs that sing about tackling these obstacles and rising above them. “Get Around This” is the titled single for the 2012 release from SafetySuit. Relatively unknown, this Nashville-based band has the vocal chops to hang with the top artists in the rock genre as they make powerful ballads and rock anthems.

“Get Around This” is a song about mistakes and forgiveness. It’s a song about moving past the events that have damaged a relationship and going back to square one. The rise and fall of the vocal and the instrumental serve to elevate the song as well as provide much needed energy to an otherwise straight forward set of lyrics.

Kelly Rowland: Rose Colored Glasses

“Rose Colored Glasses” was one of two lead singles off of Kelly Rowland’s summer 2011 album “Here I Am.” With nearly six Million hits on her Vevo page, fans are recognizing that the former Destiny’s Child singer still has plenty to offer.

This R&B song with a splash of pop thrown in speaks to relationships and female empowerment. The song starts off talking about the perception of friends and family on the outside looking into a seemingly perfect relationship. The song awakens the memories in all of us about looking at relationships through rose colored glasses.

Whether helping a friend through a tough breakup or trying to heal ourselves, this song makes the listener see that the real face of a relationship is nothing like what we expect. The song makes us realize that sometimes, reality and fantasy collide and those glasses shatter.

Daughtry: Spaceship

For the dreamer and the young at heart in all of us, “Spaceship” by Daughtry is a ballad for the modern man about getting back the girl of his dreams after a break up. Somewhat whimsical with its theme of throwing bottles at the moon and going into outer space and leaving everything behind, this song asks the question ‘won’t you come away with me’ in that Romeo and Juliet sense.

The hopeful and romantic tone of the song is marred by the apparent loneliness of the lyrics. He mentions how it’s his fault for putting thoughts into her head and how he needs a sign from her that she cares.

The ‘let’s run away’ mood of the song coalesces into a hearty guitar solo that is so authentically rock that hearts will soar and air guitars are sure to break out. With great energy this song is great for road trips or just a walk in the park. The rest of the “Break the Spell” album is similarly full of powerful songs that are sure to please fans of any romantic sentiment.

David Guetta ft Sia: Titanium

By now fans will know that despite not singing one word in any of his music, David Guetta is a bona fide superstar. “Titanium” features the same head-nodding beats that Guetta is known for with the unmistakable voice of Sia, who was also recently featured on Flo Rida’s song “Wild Ones.”

With every major artist from Jessie J to Chris Brown on this album, it’s no wonder his summer 2011 album “Nothing But the Beat” was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song echoes that of the childhood theme ‘sticks and stones’ and matures it into words where verbal bullets that hit but cause no pain.

Strength is the message in this song as the beat charges forward with lyrics that continue to send encouragement to the listener. This song over all should appeal to those that are having a tough time with love. In a similar vein to ‘I am woman hear me roar’, ‘shoot me down I am titanium’ is an ‘I dare you’ to the world that has hurt us all.

Image Courtesy of   John Steel / Shutterstock.com

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Two-time GRAMMY winner LL COOL J is set to host the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards, marking the first time in seven years that the music industry’s premier event will have an official host. Music’s Biggest Night takes place live on Sunday, Feb. 12, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in high definition and 5.1 surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

The show also will be supported on radio worldwide via Westwood One/Dial Global, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, and on YouTube at  www.youtube.com/thegrammys. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon. For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy’s social networks on Twitter and Facebook.

“I’m thrilled to be part of Music’s Biggest Night,” said LL COOL J. “I will always have fond memories of my first GRAMMY Awards and to now be hosting the GRAMMY show, in the company of so many other incredible artists, is a dream come true. Great performances and great music — it’s gonna be a great night!”

LL COOL J has hosted “The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night” since its inception in December 2008, and this will be his first time hosting the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast. Recent past hosts include Queen Latifah at the 47th GRAMMY Awards and Jon Stewartfor the 43rd and 44th GRAMMY telecasts. Over the years, additional GRAMMY hosts include Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell, among others.

LL COOL J joins previously announced performers and current GRAMMY nominees  Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift. Aldean and Minaj will perform on the GRAMMY telecast for the first time, while Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Mars, and Swift are returning to the GRAMMY stage.

The 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards are produced by John Cossette Productions and AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer,  Louis J. Horvitz is director, andDavid Wild and Ken Ehrlich are the writers.

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VH1′s beloved, popular franchise, ”VH1 Divas,” has announced a special tribute to Amy Winehouse at this year’s “VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul” with performances by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine) and Wanda Jackson. ”VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul” premieres Monday, December 19 at 9 PM/8c on VH1.

The tribute will reflect Winehouse’s contribution to modern, London soul music. Some highlights of the tribute will include Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings performing “You Know I’m No Good,” and Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine) and Wanda Jackson will perform her song “Back to Black.” The Dap-Kings contributed a number of tracks for Winehouse’s Grammy Award-winning album “Back to Black.”In addition, Nas, who collaborated with Winehouse on the first single of her current posthumous album, will introduce the tribute medley.

“VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul” will bring together some of the best singers across the globe, men and women alike, to honor the soulful cities that inspired these divas and their art.  The headlining “divas” were announced at an earlier date including: Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Florence + The Machine, Jennifer Hudson Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Florence + The Machine, Jennifer Hudson, Jessie J., Jessie J. and Jill Scott.

Previously announced performers include: Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Boyz II Men, Estelle, Marsha Ambrosius, Travie McCoy , Anita Baker, Mavis Staples , Wanda Jackson and Ledisi. Previously announced presenters include: Dolly Parton, Queen Latifah, Terrence Howard, Nas, Common and La La Anthony . In addition, Martha Reeves (Martha & The Vandellas) has just signed on as a performer and Archie Panjabi and Sherri Shepherd have signed on as presenters.

The cities honored include: Chicago, Detroit, London, Memphis and Philadelphia. Accompanied by one of the most exciting groups of modern soul, The Roots, with Questlove and Adam Blackstone as musical directors, each ‘diva’ will pay tribute through not only their own soul-inspired songs, but some of the greatest classics that have shaped a genre.

In addition, for the first time, the “VH1 Divas” red carpet will be livestreamed on VH1.com on Sunday, December 18 from 5-7pm ET. Sponsored by Samsung and hosted by VH1 personality La La Anthony, the livestream 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. Beginning Monday, December 19, fans can view a curated red carpet highlights video on VH1.com.

As in previous years, this edition of “VH1 Divas” will benefit the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of music education in a child’s life. VH1 Save The Music Foundation is auctioning special “Divas” ticket packages on leading charity auction site, charitybuzz.com.

Fans will have an opportunity to watch the sound check, walk the red carpet and more, all available online through December 15. Proceeds from these exclusive packages benefit the Foundation’s mission to equip students with the tools to lead, innovate and create in the 21st century.  For more information, please visit www.vh1savethemusic.org.

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