Los Angeles, U.S.A. — After more than 2.4 million votes were cast internationally, ‘Hunger Games’ humble yet fierce Jennifer Lawrence took the number one position on AskMen’s “Top 99 Most Desirable Women” list. In the poll, which surveyed AskMen readers, Lawrence shot up ahead of her Hollywood peers, including Kristen Stewart (No. 7), Jessica Biel (No. 24), Charlize Theron (No.97) and reality TV star Kim Kardashian, who dropped from No. 8 on last year’s list to No. 98 this year.

The 12th edition of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women poll, calls on AskMen readers to elect women who most closely match their ideals. These men were tasked with voting on more than just sex appeal, taking into account character, intelligence, talent, sense of humor, professional success, achievements in 2012 and potential for 2013.

Lawrence’s victory follows an incredible 2012 for the 22-year-old starlet, whose breakout performances in ‘Hunger Games’ and ‘Silver Lining Playbook’ turned the heads of men worldwide and pinned her as the next big thing. Lawrence is followed by ‘TED’ actress Mila Kunis, who has consistently appeared on AskMen’s Top 99 since 2008 a Sports Illustrated turned Vogue model Kate Upton stayed high up on the list, landing at No. 3, dropping only one spot from the 11th edition of the list.

With more than 40% of the women on the list appearing for the first time, it’s fair to say there is a new breed of strong and independent women taking over. Take Lawrence’s No. 1 ranking after her fearless roles, or Claire Danes, who earned an Emmy this year for her standout performance on Homeland, at No. 20. Anne Hathaway shaved her head for her dramatic role in ‘Les Miserables’ and came in at No. 47. Other powerful women on the list include Marissa Mayer, President and CEO of Yahoo, at No. 59, First Lady Michelle Obama at No. 33 and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Russian activist-punk group Pussy Riotat No. 85.

James Bassil , Editor-In-Chief of AskMen, commented, “The top-rated women on AskMen’s 12th edition of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women list speaks to men’s growing comfort with strong and independent partners. While undeniably successful candidates like Marissa Mayer have rocketed up the list, the more ambiguous “career” women — like Kim Kardashian – have plummeted on it.”

The “Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2013″ features a new generation of leading women:

• “Girls” actresses Jemima Kirke (No. 51) and Allison Williams (No. 42), “Mad Men” actress Jessica Pare at No. 9, Beyonce’s sister, singer Solange Knowles, at No. 50, Australian Youth Olympian Michelle Jenneke at No. 10 and newlywed U.S. soccer team goalie Hope Solo at No. 30.
• Music icons have historically pushed boundaries on what’s considered desirable, and this year is no different, with American Idol judge Nicki Minaj dropping off the list and making way for newbies Azealia Banks (No. 49) and “Call Me Maybe” singer Carly Rae Jepsen at No. 75.

For a third year in a row, TV actresses dominated the list, with 24 TV stars claiming spots. “Modern Family’s” Sofia Vergara topped last year’s list, and she continued to hold strong at No. 12 this year. Has dating bad boy Kanye West hurt Kim Kardashian ’s image? The reality tv star dropped to No. 98 on this year’s list. Perhaps not, as “bad girl” Kristen Stewart ’s public infidelity had no impact on her desirability, which resulted in a climb from No. 27 last year to No. 7 this year. Likewise, Scarlett Johansson fell from No. 7 to No. 45. Will her upcoming sultry performance in ‘A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ on Broadway restore her sex appeal?

Votes for the 12th annual list also prove that men are loving women over 40, including Vergara (No. 12), Sarah Silverman (No. 23), Lucy Liu; (No. 69) and Rachel Weisz (No 72). First Lady, Michelle Obama , at age 48, is the oldest woman featured on this list, at No. 33.

For exclusive videos, photos and comments from this year’s honorees, visit www.askmen.com. Up-to-date coverage of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women can also be found on AskMen’s Facebook and Twitter.

Here is what some of the Top 99 women had to say
“Thank you Ask Men for choosing me this year! It’s such an honor and I hope I can continue being park of the AskMen family!” – Jessica Gomes, No. 8

“I love AskMen.com. Thank you for including me amongst these incredible women. Honored!” – Candice Swanepoel, No. 11

“I am hugely flattered to have been voted on to the AskMen Top 99 Most Desirable Women list. Please pass on a sincere thank you to all the readers who voted for me.”- Emilia Clarke, No. 15

“Being on the Top 99 list of askmen.com is extremely flattering! Thank you xx” - Chanel Iman, No.26

“Thank you Askmen.com! It is so amazing to be on your Most Desirable list!”- Olivia Culpo, No.36

“I am honored. I will adore this moment because I fear this title will drop next year because it’s hard to look amazing in bobsled with snot running down your nose” – Lolo Jones, No.41

Image Courtesy : Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

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The release of Rihanna’s ‘Unapologetic’ CD has reached #1 in the U.S. charts this week. This is her seventh album yet the first to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 and according to Nielson SoundScan she sold a total of 238,000 copies in her first week.

After the end of a strenuous 777 promo Tour and the seemingly failed chartered jet exploit filled with disgruntled journalists having no stories to report, this is the light at the end of a “strategically placed marketing” tunnel.

She created a lot of anticipation for this album by using a different strategy. She released a “Diamonds Deluxe Edition” box for $79 and a “Diamond Executive Platinum Edition” box for $250, which contain a plethora of paraphernalia:

Among the gifts in the Diamonds Deluxe Edition box are , A t-shirt featuring a Michael Muller photo of Rihanna taken during her ‘Unapologetic’ album photo shoots, a limited-edition genuine diamond bracelet,  7 Laptop stickers featuring artwork by Mario Hugo, ‘Unapologetic’ album and “Diamonds” single artwork, the Unapologetic Deluxe CD version with a 28-page photo and art booklet featuring Michael Muller and Melissa T. Forde photography, a 20-minute DVD featuring unreleased footage and a Fan Mosaic poster featuring members of Rihanna’s Navy.

The Diamond Executive Platinum box includes the afore mentioned items above along with a special edition collectible colored “Diamonds” remixes vinyl, A Rihanna Unapologetic 2GB Credit Card style USB Flash Memory Drive, 7 Art print 12 x15 lithographs featuring Michael Muller photography, a Magnus Voll Mathiassen illustration and exclusive unreleased  Rihanna ‘Unapologetic’ images, 3 Device Adhesives featuring Rihanna’s ‘Unapologetic’ cover, logo and image, 11×17 Rihanna handwritten personal note to her Navy, A Rihanna 3D experience View-Master, A 40-page custom Rihanna notebook with handwritten notes and lyrics.

While some may consider it too expensive, it is an ingenious idea that was created for those who are affluent shoppers during this holiday season and to help her brand reach sales goals overall.

The affluent shoppers are expected to spend over 20 percent more this year and luxury retailers can expect a splurge in holiday spending according to the 2012 Q4 Annual Survey of Affluence & Wealth in America. Affluent shoppers don’t have to worry about where their money goes so they can afford the Rihanna “experience” and enjoy the commodities.

On a marketing level, people aren’t necessarily buying the music but the promotional excitement that surrounds it. The pitch for the luxury items are something for the affluent consumer and those that love Rihanna the brand want everything it entails.

Her brand is being looked at as a business and according to Ann C. Logue on entrepreneur.com “businesses prefer a larger margin in order to increase profits, so there is a natural desire to find ways to limit competition. In a healthy market, this happens by introducing better products and services, not by cutting prices.” By adding incentives and gifts to increase the value and price point more consumers are drawn in to purchase and she earns her more money.

Logue also said that, “If a product has network effects–if it becomes more valuable the more people use it–then a low price can get it into the hands of more people and help your business set the standard. On the other hand, a high price can enhance the positioning of a product as a unique or luxury item.” So those that can’t afford the luxury can just get the album for $9.99 at iTunes and Amazon while the high prices of the boxes makes her brand a luxury.

Both the “Diamonds Deluxe Edition” box and the “Diamonds Executive Platinum Edition” box will be released in limited quantities and will be available December 11 on the rihanna.fanfare.com official site.

Image Courtesy : Rihanna

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New York, U.S.A. — The subject of global speculation shrouded in secrecy for one solid month is finally revealed as worldwide superstar Rihanna announces the routing of her unprecedented “777″ tour, marching toward the November 19 release date of “Unapologetic”, her 7th studio album in seven years on Island Def Jam. ”Unapologetic” is arriving on the wings of the chart-dominating #1 global hit “Diamonds,” named the fastest-rising single of Rihanna’s career.

The “777″ tour will proceed as follows:  Wednesday, November 14 in Mexico City; November 15 in Toronto; November 16 in Stockholm; November 17 in Paris; November 18 in Berlin; worldwide release date, Monday, November 19 in London; and Tuesday, November 20 in New York City. Rihanna will announce the venues directly to her fans when she arrives in their city.

“I am so excited about the 777 Tour,” said Rihanna. “We are turning this jumbo jet into our tour bus. We’re practically living on this thing for a week: sleeping, partying, all together. Me, my fans, the press…it’s going to be a wild ride. I wanted it to be a rock n’ roll adventure, and I think when it’s over it will be the coolest thing I’ve ever done. I’m that excited about it.”

Sponsored by HTC Corporation and co-sponsored in the UK by River Island and in Paris by Microsoft, the “777″ tour will take a group of die-hard fans and a traveling international press corps of over 150 journalists representing 82 countries, aboard a chartered Boeing 777 twinjet to 7 concerts in 7 days in 7 countries.  The “777″ tour will host an intimate gig in each of 7 cities in 7 different countries.

Rihanna - the “#1 Person On Facebook” with over 62 million Likes – has sold over 37 million albums and 146 million digital tracks worldwide, and currently holds the record as the top-selling digital artist of all time. The recipient of six Grammy Awards and seven Billboard Music Awards, she was named the world’s #1 social media star by Forbes, with over 2.9 billion views on YouTube/VEVO, the most ever for any female artist, and over 26 million Twitter followers. In addition to her 11 Hot 100 #1 singles and now, with “Diamonds” 23 Hot 100 Top 10 singles, she also has 18 #1 singles on the Billboard Dance Club Song Charts.

Image Courtesy : Rihanna

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New York, U.S.A — Grammy Award-winning artists Rihanna and Bruno Mars, and Grammy Award nominated artist Justin Bieber will perform on The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, to be broadcast Tuesday, December 4 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Victoria’s Secret Angels Miranda Kerr, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Doutzen Kroes, Candice Swanepoel, Erin Heatherton, Lily Aldridge, Lindsay Ellingson and a bevy of other Supermodels will star in this lingerie runway show.

The special will also include pink carpet interviews, model profiles and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the world’s most celebrated fashion show. The runway looks will include over-the-top lingerie embellished with Swarovski Elements, as well as iconic Angel wings.

From Rihanna’s Caribbean roots to the top of the charts, the runways of Paris and Milan and some of the biggest stages in the world, the 24-year-old, Barbados-born beauty has already won six Grammy Awards, five American Music Awards and 18 Billboard Music Awards, among many others. Since her breakthrough multi-platinum album ”A Girl Like Me,” which included her global smash ”Umbrella,” in just a few short years, Rihanna helped redefine the path of popular music for a new generation.

Rihanna’s latest album, ”Talk That Talk,” had worldwide sales of more than 5.5 million units and brought Rihanna’s worldwide album sales to more than 37 million. Rihanna has logged 146 million digital tracks sold worldwide, establishing her as the top selling digital artist of all time. In addition, she has broken a record at Top 40 with the most #1′s in the chart’s 18 year history. Her new single “Diamonds” off of her next album reached number one in 26 countries within five days. Rihanna kicks off her “Diamonds” World tour in March 2013.

In 2009, Bieber became the first solo artist in history to send four songs from a debut album into the Billboard Hot 100′s Top 40 prior to the album’s release. Three years later, his latest album, “Believe,” also has four songs in the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Believe’s” premiere single, “Boyfriend,” hit #1 at iTunes immediately after it was released. The “Boyfriend” video has shattered all YouTube records since its MTV premiere.

The clip generated eight million views in its first 24 hours and has built up to over 86 million views. With worldwide album sales in excess of 15 million units, Bieber has dominated pop culture and social media for more than two years. He has over 46 million Facebook fans, more than 28 million Twitter followers, and over three billion YouTube views. Bieber has received numerous awards, including Artist of the Year at the 2010 American Music Awards, and was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2011 Grammy Awards.

Mars is a singer, songwriter, producer and musician whose solo single, “Just the Way You Are,” hit #1 in multiple countries across the world and won the artist a Grammy Award for “Best Male Pop Vocal Performance” in 2011.  Bruno’s debut album, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” has been certified 39 times Platinum worldwide and has claimed two additional hit singles, “Grenade” and “The Lazy Song.”

Mars is a 13-time Grammy Award nominee who has now sold over 45 million singles worldwide and has over one billion views on YouTube. His second album “Unorthodox Jukebox,” featuring the new single “Locked Out Of Heaven,” will be in stores December 11th.

These performances will mark the artists’ first appearances on The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Last year’s show garnered the best ratings ever in adults 18-49 and women 18-34 and averaged 11.5 million viewers.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is being produced by done and dusted, inc. Edward G. Razek, Monica Mitro, Ian Stewart and Hamish Hamilton are the executive producers.  Hamish Hamilton is the director.

Image Courtesy of   Anton Oparin / Shutterstock.com

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Washington, U.S.A. – The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) closes its 25th Anniversary year by saluting women’s contributions to rock and roll in “Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power.” Organized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the exhibition highlights the flashpoints, the firsts, the celebrated, and the lesser-known women who have influenced the genre from its inception through today. The only east coast venue, “Women Who Rockopens” Friday, September 7, 2012, and closes January 6, 2013.

Moving through the rock and roll eras beginning in the 1920s, the exhibition highlights 70 artists and more than 250 artifacts ranging from photos, performance videos, and album covers, to more personal memorabilia such as costumes, instruments, and set lists.

From rock-and-roll foremothers such as Ma Rainey and Billie Holiday, to pioneers such as Wanda Jackson and LaVern Baker through 60s girl groups, 70s disco, 80s punk, and contemporary stars including Lady Gaga and Janelle Monae, “Women Who Rock” illustrates the essential roles women have played in moving rock and roll and American culture forward.

Visitors of all ages have a chance to see iconic items—handwritten lyrics by Janis Joplin, Patti Smith,Janet Jackson and Madonna, alongside clothes worn by Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Cher, Melissa Etheridge, and Rihanna among many others—demonstrating women’s musical creativity and power to inspire through rock and roll.

In addition to being the writer and/or voice of some of our favorite songs, many women rockers were also playing instruments in their bands. “Women Who Rock” features guitars played by Wanda Jackson,Nancy Wilson, Bonnie Raitt and Taylor Swift, a drum played by Meg White and Lady Gaga’s childhood piano.

Founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, NMWA is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing and literary arts. The museum’s collection features 4,000 works from the 16th century to the present created by more than 1,000 artists.

Image Courtesy of  Lady Gaga

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Among the powerhouse summer movies of 2012 like ‘The Avengers’, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, and ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’, ‘Battleship’ came along seeking to break through to the big leagues. Unfortunately, a terrible script, titanic-sized plotholes, and awful characterization has left it floating upside down and ready to be flushed down the toilet.

‘Battleship’ was not shy about its origins or its intentions in its advertisements. Hasbro proudly left its mark on the film and promised a glorious battle with special effects that attempt to rival Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise.

However, while Michael Bay is one of the most heavily criticized filmmakers in the business, the man does his homework and ‘Battleship’, whose producers share this film and Bay’s films, obviously tried to emulate him. Despite your opinion on the quality of Bay’s work, he is good at two things: one, excellent action sequences; two, genuinely funny dialogue. ‘Battleship’ tries to pull these things off and fumbles magnificently at both.

For those who may not know the so-called plot, ‘Battleship’ is about a race of aliens from a planet codenamed G who have come to Earth to conquer it. The government discovered Planet G and sent out a signal via satellite to analyze its surface to see if it could possibly have life or be hospitable for human beings.

Apparently, this signal attracted the aliens and they sent five enormous ships to Earth. One of them, the communication ship, crashed into Hong Kong, meaning that the aliens could not communicate with their brethren in space. Therefore, they took over the command center in Hawaii that sent the first signal and planned to use it to contact reinforcements.

Meanwhile, three other battle cruisers engaged the U.S. Navy and Japanese Navy in combat for unknown reasons. These ships are where the main protagonist, Alex Hooper (Taylor Kitsch), and his brother, Stone Hooper (Alexander Skarsgard), struggle to survive as they are woefully outmatched by the alien’s technology and weaponry.

It is hard to pinpoint all the reasons why this movie is lousy, but we’ll start with the obvious one—the plot. There are plotholes the size of canyons in this film. We can start with the fact that the aliens are never identified nor do they even speak to each other. Thus, they are painted as barbarian monsters with only one purpose in mind—conquering the world. However, the way they go about trying to conquer the world is perhaps the most illogical thing I’ve seen since ‘Cowboys & Aliens’.

The aliens only attack three ships and it is never explained why they target these vessels, nor why they decided to use missiles when the gigantic orbs they possess can sink a ship in mere minutes. They are also implied to use some sort of analysis similar to the Predator where they only attack things that present a threat, but that is immediately contradicted because they attack the Earth and its inhabitants’ military with no provocation.

The next major problem is the inept characterization of our main character, Alex Hooper. He is not a likable fellow and he barely develops by the end of the film. Taylor Kitsch is a decent actor, as is shown in the woefully underrated ‘John Carter’ (2012), but he has almost nothing to work with due to a cliché-riddled script that even ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ (2009) would laugh at.

Most of his character traits are told through other characters instead of shown and so they have little impact on the audience. The character is so predictable, irrational, and unlikable that we feel no real concern for him as he gets kicked around by the aliens.

The third problem lies in the characterization and actions of the U.S. Navy. The real-life Navy cooperated with the filmmakers and somehow was blind to the fact that they made the entire branch seem like a bunch of idiot children. Through the course of the film, we are led to believe these are trained professionals and yet they make rookie mistakes at every turn.

For instance, after destroying part of the alien ships, the crew pulls one of the aliens on board. Alex decides to pull off its helmet to see what they’re dealing with and yet none of them think to ready their weapons in case the alien is still alive. Predictably, it wakes up and causes havoc that they are unable to stop because none of them are armed. This is basic common sense and these people do not utilize it at any point in the film.

The only things of merit in this movie are the special effects, which feature enough explosions to make Michael Bay blush, and a few decent action sequences. The acting ranges from okay to downright terrible, the dialogue is stuffed to the gills with clichés, and the plot is ridiculous at best and trite at worst.

Furthermore, there are two things that add insult to injury. First, the amazing Liam Neeson is advertised non-stop in the trailers and yet only has about ten minutes of screen time in the entire film. Second, no one says, “you sunk my battleship.” For a movie that claims to be self-aware and does not take itself seriously, that is criminal.

The low quality of ‘Battleship’ comes as no surprise, though. It opened second at the box office on May 18 with a measly $25 million and will sink to the depths of the movie theater in the coming weeks. Good riddance.

Grade: 2/5

Image Courtesy of   Battleship

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Current Grammy nominee Adele will make her much anticipated return to the live stage on the 54th Annual Grammy Award. This will be her first time performing live in nearly five months since being forced to cancel a sold-out U.S. tour to undergo surgery on her vocal cords.

Music’s Biggest Night— hosted by two-time Grammy winner LL Cool J — 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 Dial Global, and covered online at Grammy.com and CBS.com, and on YouTube.

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 immensely proud to have been asked to perform at this year’s Grammy Awards,” said Adele. “It’s an absolute honor to be included in such a night, and for it to be my first performance in months is very exciting and of course nerve-racking, but what a way to get back into it all.”

Two-time Grammy winner Adele has six nominations: Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Short Form Music Video for “Rolling In The Deep”; Album Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for 21; and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Someone Like You.”

Previously announced performers for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards include Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson ; Glen Campbell with The Band Perry and Blake Shelton ; Coldplay and Rihanna; Foo Fighters; Bruno Mars ; Paul McCartney ; Nicki Minaj; and Taylor Swift . Aldean, The Band Perry, Minaj, and Shelton will perform on the Grammy telecast for the first time, while Adele, Campbell, Clarkson, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Mars, McCartney, Rihanna, and Swift are returning to the Grammy stage.

LL Cool J has hosted “The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night” since its inception in December 2008, and this is his first time hosting the annual Grammy Awards telecast.

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, and David Wild and Ken Ehrlich are the writers.

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Multi-platinum selling group Far East Movement (aka FM) on January 20 premiered the much-anticipated music video for ‘Jello’ through VEVO. The hypnotic high-energy hard-hitting ‘Jello’ (co-produced by The Stereotypes and FM and featuring Rye Rye) serves as the first song off ‘Dirty Bass,’ FM’s hot sophomore album out this spring.

Far East Movement’s maverick exploration of the bass end of the spectrum and pioneering club sound has incurred the wrath of self-described ‘music purity advocacy group’ Ban Low-frequency Oscillating Woofers or B.L.O.W.  The B.L.O.W. (http://www.bloworg.org) organization has filed a petition denouncing FM’s low-frequency-powered music.

Cherrytree Records released an official statement in response: “While we respect B.L.O.W.’s right to their opinion, we at Cherrytree… support Far East Movement’s right to create in the low frequency spectrum and appeal to everyone to please join us in opposing B.L.O.W.’s stance by backing Far East Movement’s right to artistic, sub-bass expression, banging new track ‘Jello’ and forthcoming new Cherrytree album ‘Dirty Bass.’”

The ‘Jello’ music video, directed by Matt Alonzo, shows FM infiltrating a press conference for the B.L.O.W. organization. FM, in disguise, sneak into the conference and turn it into a ‘Dirty Bass’ celebration demonstrating why a ban on Low-frequency bass is absurd, and convert the B.L.O.W. organizers into bass supporters. The video features cameos from comedian Andy Milonakis and multi-talented Jay Park along with the song’s guest vocalist, dance-rap sensation Rye Rye.

2011, was an amazing breakthrough year for FM with two Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 songs (‘Like a G6,’ ‘Rocketeer’), multiple award nominations, national TV performances and big tours with superstars Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Lil Wayne, LMFAO and cutting edge acts La Roux, Robyn and Kelis.

2012, the band returns with ‘Dirty Bass,’ a dynamic universal party sound that furthers the ’808′ heavy bass, dance and electronic blends that bring booming trunk bass to international dance floors. FM shaped the ‘Dirty Bass’ sound with producers The Stereotypes and assistance from RedOne, David Guetta, Bangladesh, Dallas Austin and Martin “Cherry Cherry Boom Boom” Kierszenbaum.

Far East Movement are kicking off the year on the CherryTree Pop Alternative tour visiting Canada the beginning of February before hitting Europe to tour through March.

Image Courtesy of    https://www.facebook.com/fareastmovement

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Coldplay’s fifth studio album, “Mylo Xyloto,” is the group’s third album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart.  Coldplay’s previous two albums, “Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends” in 2008 and “X&Y” in 2005, both debuted at No.1. Their single, “Princess Of China,” which features Rihanna also made a debut this week at No. 20 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The album’s sales were significantly less compared to the previous two albums which debuted on the chart with 721,000 and 737,000 albums sold. According to Nielsen SoundScan, “Mylo Xyloto” is the third biggest debut this year, selling 447,000 physical and digital copies.

Only Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne have managed to sell more in one week this year. Gaga’s “Born this Way” sold 1.1 million albums, and Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV” sold 964,000. Kelly Clarkson’s new album, “Stronger,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 and sold 163,000 copies.

This is the American Idol winner’s fifth studio effort as she stands as the most successful artist to come out of the popular show. The Canadian singer, Michael Buble, finds success in his holiday album, “Christmas,” which sold 141,000 copies and debuted at No. 3 behind Coldplay and Kelly Clarkson.

Rihanna had a big week, too, as her new single, “We Found Love” in which she collaborated with the Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Rihanna takes the crown from Adele’s “Someone Like You” who held the No. 1 spot for four weeks in a row.

This marks the Barbadian’s eleventh No. 1 ranking on the chart since her career began in 2005. She now ties with Whitney Houston, but surpassed Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson, both of whom had 10 No. 1 hits. Her sixth album titled “Talk That Talk” is due to be released later this month, just a year after the release of her successful fifth album “Loud.”

Justin Bieber’s holiday album, “Mistletoe,” is set to debut at No. 1 next week, though the single of the same name dropped in rank from 11 to 73 in just one week on the Billboard Hot 100. In the meantime, a young woman by the name of Mariah Yeater hit the Canadian singer with a paternity suit claiming they had a sexual encounter after a concert last year in Los Angeles.

A California court will have a hearing next month, but Island Def Jam records have publicly denied the accusation and stated they will do everything they can to protect the young singer.

Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

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We are used to hear about Rihanna’s latest drama but this time we’re not talking music — the songstress is fighting legal issues. Her main rival:  Prudential California Realty. In 2009 Rihanna moved to a Beverly Hills mansion valued at 6.9 million dollars, a value that, according to the singer, has gone down due to waterproofing defects caused by a rainstorm in January last year.

The singer states: ”The actual value of the property at the time of purchase, taking into consideration the extensive construction defects… was millions of dollars less”

This phrase summarize all the big issue. The artist is considering that due to structural problems and several defects found in the property, it was overvalued and claims that she was defrauded. The singer will also sue the inspector involved by the real estate agent with the sale along with the engineers who worked on the house.

However, the 23-year-old ‘Loud’ hit machine is not spending all of her time crying over lost investments; Rihanna is about to join the league of celebrity fashion collaborations. Armani advertising campaigns are widely known for their cool and exquisite features.

Both David and Victoria Beckham, Chrstiano Ronaldo and Megan Fox have graced the expensive brand and now the time has come for one of the youngest Billboard chart rulers to make a name for herself as an ambassador of fashion. Sexy, strong, feminine and showing lot of skin — That is how Rihanna has presented herself in the brand new Emporio Armani campaign.

She is the new face of Armani Jeans and Emporio Armani Underwear and it is a role that Rihanna plays perfectly. The campaign takes place in a garage somewhere in New York City, invoking the overall industrial and urban theme of this season’s collection, combining vintage visual elements in a black and white atmosphere.

“I just feel sexy. My body is comfortable, and it’s not unhealthy, so I’m going to rock with it,” said the Grammy-winning beauty. The campaign film is directed by Johan Renck, the same man who directed some of Madonna’s most amazing videos. He introduces us to Rihanna, seated in the back seat of a car with a leather bag and an atmosphere of mystery ambient.

The direction is very elegant and fits well with the Armani brand – so does Rihanna who sports a classy blond pixie cut, making her almost unrecognizable. The usually colorful young superstar has been re-vamped into a film noir vixen. Do you want to see for yourself? Check out the rest of Rihanna’s video below

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/techyourpicture/

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Once again Twitter becomes the official source of legitimate information about our favorite celebrities. Hunted by rumors, Rihanna took it to her Twitter account to confirm, much to everyone’s surprise, that she is in fact working on a new album that will drop sometime this fall.

Rihanna’s words have caught everybody by storm, given that her latest album was released less than a year ago. ‘Loud’, which is also the name of her international tour, came out last November to immediate chart success, topping the music lists with singles like ‘Only Girl’, ’What’s My Name?’ and the controversial ‘S&M’.

After 44 weeks on the charts, ‘Loud’ is still way ahead of records released around the same time last year, selling strong and delivering new singles while Rihanna’s hectic tour schedule keeps her busy. But some people are wondering, why rush a new album out when the current one is doing so well?

After a not-so-successful record, some artist put out new music to prevent fans from ditching them for fresher musical options, especially in the era of internet where record sales are declining and Youtube is the best promotional window. But this doesn’t seem like a problem for RiRi, as their fans lovingly refer to her, whose songs keep going through the roof.

Concerts, merchandising products and endorsements have replaced album sales as the main chunk of a popstar’s salary. The more hits you score, the more entertaining the repertoire, the bigger venues and pricier tickets. Artists like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry or Rihanna herself played to small venues and opened for bigger acts until they had cooked up enough hits to build up an arena set-list.

On the other hand other performers take long breaks in between records to focus on other not-less-profitable adventures such as Gwen Stefani, whose 150$ million clothing empire has become a fashion reference, or Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lopez who re-engaged audiences as the diva-in-the-room on The Voice and American Idol.

Rihanna’s many business ventures include the creation of her first perfume, an endorsement with Nivea and a role in the upcoming science fiction naval war movie where a fiercer side of the Barbadian songstress will be shown. In 2010, the artist and her manager parted ways and a new company ,Rihanna Entertainment, was founded to also represent side projects.

It has been six years since Rihanna rose to fame and her hectic career has so far been full of controversy. While she is the youngest performer to ever place 10 songs at number one in the US charts, her performances have been labeled as raunchy and her videos always stir up criticism, making the most conservative audiences steer away from her sexy moves.

But it was her rocky relationship with fellow R&B musician Chris Brown that put Rihanna in a very vulnerable place. After it was made public that Chris beat up his famous girlfriend, headlines stalked the Umbrella singer to the extreme. It was one of her toughest moments, as she later revealed, but she overcame the traumatic incident and unleashed her most heartfelt and personal emotions through her music.

When asked about the album’s style by one of her fans on Twitter, Jay-Z’s protégé responded that the record would be gangster so we’ll probably enjoy some hot collaborations with her peers Kanye West and Eminem, or even a long-awaited duet with BFF Katy Perry. Whether she goes gangster or stays dance-hall queen, there’s one thing clear about Rihanna, she’ll be taking no breaks.

Her new single ‘We Found Love’  is supposed to hit radio stations soon.

 
Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

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The rapper Eminem has finally released a video for “Space Bound” that co-stars porn actress Sasha Grey. This latest release from his album Recovery was directed by Joseph Kahn and shot over three days in Los Angeles.  The video is the fourth single from Recovery, following ‘Not Afraid’, ‘Love the Way You Lie’ and ‘No Love’.

As it happens with his video “Love the way you lie” with the singer Rihanna, this one also features an intense love story line with a bad ending. This time Eminem portrays two opposite versions of the same character, one is self-controlled and the other is completely mad.

In the video, one of the Eminem´s character decides to pull a gun to his head when he realized that his girlfriend has been cheating on him. That bullet later travels through the other Eminem’s head as well.

The song producer Jim Jonsin, who also has produced songs for Beyoncé, Lil Wayne and others, has recently admitted at the MTVnews website that his collaboration with Eminem was unlike any of the Detroit MC’s previous tracks.

“We touched on something that I haven’t done anything like that before,” Jonsin told MTV News last year. “It’s unique in a way for myself. It’s a place I’ve been wanting to go, and I’m so happy he allowed it to go down. He played a huge part in the record. Without him on it, it’s not the same. I don’t wanna give up too much about what it is and what direction.”

In addition, the hip-hop artist has just become the first artist ever to sell one million digital copies in the U.S. of an album. The singer´s website has just posted that the “Grammy Award-winning Recovery surges past the one million mark this week”.

“Recovery selling one million digital albums is an incredible achievement by an incredible artist,” says Interscope Records’ Vice Chairman Steve Berman in the Eminem´s official website. He also adds, “I have had the pleasure of working with Eminem throughout the course of his career, and I’m delighted to be a part of yet another milestone on his amazing journey.”

Recovery debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart (Eminem’s sixth album to do so), as well on as the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap Albums charts, marking the beginning of a triumphant comeback for the artist. The best-selling album of 2010 in the U.S. and the best-selling digital album of all-time, Recovery has now sold more than 5.7 million copies worldwide Propelled by its No. 1 singles “Not Afraid” (which earned Eminem a Grammy Award for “Best Rap Solo Performance”. and two MTV Video Music Awards, it has sold more than 3.4 million downloads in the U.S.)Also “Love The Way You Lie,” featuring Rihanna, which spent seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and has sold more than five million downloads in the U.S. and 9.3 million downloads worldwide.

Eminem is going to return to the UK in August to headline V Festival that will take place on two sites, one in Chelmsford and one in Staffordshire. Artic Monkeys, Rihanna, Plan B, Dizzee Rascal, Kaiser Chiefs, Manic Street Preachers and Pendulum will also play at the August event.

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Rihanna recently made headlines for her controversial new music video for her song, “Man Down.” The video opens with a shot of Rihanna hiding above a crowd in a train station, appearing nervous yet determined. She spots a man, pulls the trigger, and leaves. Then the song begins.

At first, the plot is unclear as most of the video involves Rihanna walking around a small Caribbean community, playing with children and kissing the elderly on the cheek. This is the video that’s been making everyone furious?

Near the end of the song, she is dancing at a party and spots the man who she will eventually shoot. He approaches her and is very persistently groping her. She then pushes him away multiple times and she finally leaves the party alone, but does not realize that he is following her. When she does turn around, he pushes her into an isolated area and she tries to escape, but it does not work. The song fades out with him leaving the scene with his shirt ripped and Rihanna is crying on the floor, implying that she has been raped.

The final shot is Rihanna searching frantically through her drawers in her home, until she finally pulls out a gun.

The outrage that has followed the release of this video is due to the fact that Rihanna has had a very public history of domestic abuse from singer Chris Brown. He was seen beating her in a car, and then photos were released of Rihanna’s face, swollen and bruised.

Melissa Henson, director of communications and public education for the Parents Television Council, said in a press release that: Rihanna’s personal story and status as a celebrity superstar provided a golden opportunity for the singer to send an important message to female victims of rape and domestic violence.” Additionally, the PTC is calling for television stations BET and MTV to ban the video.

On June 1, Rihanna responded to the criticism by tweeting, “I’m a 23 year old rockstar with NO KIDS! What’s up with everybody wantin me to be a parent?”  She went on to say, “U can’t hide your kids from society, or they’ll never learn how to adapt! This is the REAL WORLD!”

Though she got a restraining order from Brown, Rihanna has never been an avid spokesperson for domestic abuse, and has received a lot of criticism for not speaking out about the issue. Additionally, her previous single “S&M” includes the line “sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me.”

It is very confused how this song received virtually no outrage (aside from the video being quietly banned from many television stations), but Rihanna taking revenge on someone who hurt her is creating such a strong divide among the public.

On the one hand, women who look up to Rihanna may take this as encouragement to take revenge on those who have hurt her. On the other hand, the anger festering within victims of abuse is often bottled up, and ignored.

This video could also be an artistic expression of those feelings that Rihanna held inside during the period of time. Even the lyrics “I didn’t mean to end his life, I know it wasn’t right” are far better than other songs on the radio, which are also about murder and other not-so-friendly themes.

While Rihanna could probably use a better PR team, there are far worse music videos featuring misogynistic themes, and vulgar lyrics that the PTC could spend time criticizing, instead of this one.

Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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Rihanna’s new music video gave everyone something to speak about. The music video featuring the song “Man Down” which was aired on May 31st brought too much controversy.

As the video starts, it already grabs the viewer by showing an atmosphere of poverty, where people are walking through the street, following by the image of a girl (Rihanna) coming out from the shadow and shooting a man on the head. The end of the video, puts all the pieces of the puzzle together, and helps answer the question, why did she shoot him? And it basically demonstrates that the man abused her, so she did this as a revenge action.

Paul Porter, co-founder of Industry Ears, described the video’s violent scene as “a cold, calculated execution of murder in prime time.”

The intention of the video was mainly to re enforce the woman figure, and to evoke a strong feminine figure. Rihanna shared these words on Twitter to all her fans: “Young girls/women all over the world…we are a lot of things! We’re strong innocent fun flirtatious vulnerable, and sometimes our innocence can cause us to be naive! We always think it could NEVER be us, but in reality, it can happen to ANY of us! So ladies be careful.”

The Parents Television Council, the Enough is Enough campaign, and entertainment think tank Industry Ears called on BET and its parent company Viacom to stop airing the video. Melissa Henson of the Parents Television Council said, “Instead of telling victims they should seek help, Rihanna released a music video that gives retaliation in the form of premeditated murder the imprimatur of acceptability.”

Rihanna, a victim of violence herself,  has already reference domestic violence in other situations before, when she recorded the song “I love the way you lie, which featured Eminem.

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