Grammy nominations concert on CBS tries to find its rhythm

It's not a true trophy show (no awards are handed out) nor is it a pure prime-time concert special (the music stops every few minutes as envelopes are unsealed), so viewers aren't to blame if they can't quite get a bead on the breathlessly named "Grammy Nominations Concert Live: Countdown to Music's Biggest Night" which airs Wednesday on CBS.

This is the fourth edition of the spinoff show and executive producer Ken Ehrlich concedes that the show is still searching a bit for its identity, although the network is plenty happy to have an all-star music event to break up the post-Thanksgiving leftover diet of weeknight repeats.

"It's still establishing itself, it's a little different of an animal," Ehrlich said. "Essentially, with the Grammys show that airs every February, people know they want to watch to see what people do. We're trying to head this show in that direction and I don't think we really did it in the first three years. I think we were trying to find ourselves. I really believe with this year's show we're headed on that road."

Last year's program drew just 5 million total viewers, down 20% compared with the previous year's telecast, according to Nielsen. The show clung to barely half the viewership from its lead-in, a repeat of the drama "Criminal Minds." The Grammy noms telecast has dropped significantly in each of its three airings since it started in 2008.

This year's show will again be hosted by LL Cool J and it features performances by Lady Gaga, Usher, Ludacris, Rihanna and Sugarland. The vibe will be quite different in the room — the show will be staged at the 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre and open up to the public (tickets are $35 to $75) after two years at adjacent Club Nokia, which had only 2,200 seats that left limited room for anyone outside the music industry.

The show's great challenge is the obvious anti-climactic nature of reading out nominees and then reminding the audience that they can find out who wins by tuning in … next year. The "real" Grammys are Feb. 12, and while that is a long way off, the show this Wednesday will offer a glimpse into the story lines to expect.

One of the big names on Wednesday night will be a star who won't be in the room — expect to hear the name Adele over and over after the cross-genre and cross-generational success of the 23-year-old British singer-songwriter. Many observers believe she could be poised for an avalanche of awards not unlike the historic romps by Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones, each of whom left the Grammy stage with bouquets of gramophone trophies for their breakthrough solo albums.

Adele underwent throat surgery on Nov. 7 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to stop bleeding on a benign polyp on her vocal cords, and Grammy producers hope that the Feb. 12 broadcast will be her big return to the public spotlight — but they are also privately anxious that some medical setback might give them a star who can't sing on her spotlight night. Ehrlich (who is celebrating his 30th anniversary with the Grammys) and his team are already in contact with Adele's managers and keeping tabs on her recovery.

For the nomination show this Wednesday, the big draw is Gaga, whom Ehrlich compares to a Madonna or David Bowie as far as being a shape-changing creature of fashion and music trend.

The nomination concert is now an established part of the award-show circuit and falls less than two weeks after the American Music Awards. While the AMAs are veering further toward the MTV model of anything-goes in the name of product and project promotion (during her AMAs performance this year Jennifer Lopez brought a Fiat on stage with her), the producers of the Grammy nomination concert are aiming for more gravitas.

In an effort to expand the nomination show's mission — and perhaps signaling that it will become a mini-Grammys at some point — the Wednesday night broadcast will feature a tribute to songwriters who died this year. With two facing pianos, Usher will perform with Valerie Simpson of the duo Ashford and Simpson, and Mike Stoller of the songwriting team Leiber and Stoller, as a tribute to their recently lost partners. The number will feature "You're All I Need to Get By" and "Stand by Me."

Also, in another nod to the past, LL Cool J, Common, Lupe Fiasco and Rick Ross will perform the rap classic "The Message" with Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and Scorpio, a hip-hop moment that ties into the 1982 track being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

'So You Think You Can Dance' recap: The edge of glory

First of all, I would like to apologize to those I offended Wednesday night by suggesting that Lady Gaga is anything but a genius in anything she does. Might I suggest that you bestow upon me the same gracious point of view that Gagus Christ proffers in her music: God makes no mistakes. Even when it comes to humble TV

critics. 

Anyway, Lady Gaga performed, and those who read me regularly know I’m a fan of anyone who actually sings when they sing and whose talents seem like they’d be evident even without the aid of costumes, intricate lighting and backing tracks. Actually, I was a little surprised that Lady Gaga’s performance was as straightforward as it was. She performed part of "The Edge of Glory" and "You and I" (the song Haley Reinhart debuted on "American Idol") without much ado in terms of gimmickry or unusual props. In fact, I was kind of coveting the bottom half of her leather-studded dress. Lady Gaga's persona may make me roll my eyes sometimes, but when it comes to talent, she’s the real deal.

She was in good company because all the performances were wonderful. I haven’t been loving the group numbers that much this season but I really enjoyed Tyce Diorio’s circus-themed opening number. First, the costumes, makeup and set were gorgeous, but I especially loved that he decided to really show the people in the circus, including their romantic relationships, instead of just making the piece creepy and weird. It was imaginative and romantic and I liked how it ended as if the lid was being gently closed on a music box. 

Can we talk about LXD though? Wow. Their "Bernini’s Angels" dance may have been my favorite guest performance thus far of the season. Everyone was so crisp and cool and I loved how each dancer had something unique to do, from the guys who twined round each other like puzzle pieces to the girl who came out on stage helicoptering her arms. And the flipping! And the guy who slid out across the stage on his head!  It also didn’t hurt that everybody in the group was extraordinarily good-looking. It was an amazing display of talent that just happened to be badass to boot.

When it came to the results, there wasn’t as much drama. It’s no surprise that Melanie and Sasha made the Top 4. I also wasn’t shocked that Marko made it either, although I must be so used to Ricky having to perform a solo that I didn’t expect him to be safe.  

I agreed with Nigel that I wasn’t that impressed by Caitlynn’s or Jordan’s solo (Jordan had to live up to "Nutbush City Limits" from the night before). Both Jess and Tadd’s solos were impressive in their own way, Jess’ for the sheer number of moves he crammed into it and Tadd’s because he somehow hung from a pole, parallel to the floor. 

When it came down to who was eliminated, I think the judges went more with the spirit of the competition than who necessarily "deserved" to be there. I think Jordan and Caitlynn were pretty well-matched in terms of talent, but I see Caitlynn being a bit more of a chameleon and that works better for the show. In terms of ability and training, I think there’s no question that Jess was superior to Tadd, but Tadd’s more of the fan favorite, and the competition is about America’s favorite dancer, lest we forget. 

Did you agree with the decision? And who would you love to see as a guest performer on "SYTYCD"? I’m still holding out hope for Robyn.

Top 10 all time favorite iOS apps

Apple, over time, has introduced different apps for different uses and some of them have stayed on top forever. Here is a list of the top 10 iOS apps:

Pocket God: The app places you as the God to a small set of worshippers in an isolated land. The game has additional mini-levels with new storylines. The graphics of the game is enhanced and has a gripping gameplay. It costs $0.99. 

Angry Birds: Angry Birds is a must in any list, be it iOS or Android or Maemo. The gripping and addictive gameplay the app offers has seen enormous popularity since its launch. The graphics is simple yet enhanced with challenging levels. When the game became popular, the developers brought out plush toys and costumes. The best thing about the app is that you get regular updates of levels and additional versions. The app costs $0.99.

Movies By Flixster: This free app gives you access to local movie times and movie theatre locations and has seen great popularity with iPhone users. The app is also popular with iPad users.

AppBox Pro: One app which brings all other gadgetry app under one section for just $1.99. It has a flash light, a currency converter, calculators, alarm clock and a wide list of other useful features in one single pack which is just under 20MB.

Skype: Skype, initially, started off slow but reached popularity soon. In the beginning the app did not allow calls over 3G in the US, but still became a favorite with its web audio and video calling options. Later this free app introduced the feature over Wi-fi and 3G.

Paper Toss: One of the silliest games, but still gripping and challenging where your aim is to toss a piece of paper into a waste bin. The game was made free because in-game advertisements were introduced on the top of the screen.

Shazam: A free app for identifying songs that you liked on the radio. Shazam was one of the first few apps to introduce such a feature. It has been one of the most downloaded apps since its launch.

Tap Tap Revenge 3: The app was available for $1.99. The game integrated great tunes with rhythm tapping. The app has introduced a new top chart song every week from Coldplay, Lady Gaga or Taio Cruz. Tap Tap Revenge 4 was later introduced and made free for download.

Pandora Radio: a customized Web radio was an instant success with iPhone users. The free app made its presence felt when Apple introduced multitasking for iOS.

Facebook: One of the most popular free apps ever downloaded from the App Store. Over a 100 million use the app from their phones to stay connected and socialize. The app evolved over time with improved additions and features.

Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' sells 1.1 million in first week of release

Welcome to the one million club, Lady Gaga. As was announced today by album-sales tracker Nielsen SoundScan, the pop act’s latest album Born This Way, which was released just over a week ago, succeeded in selling a extremely healthy 1.11 million albums during its first full week at retailers. The feat is a rare one, indeed, as Born This Way is just the 17th album to reach the one-million-copies benchmark in a week since SoundScan began in 1991. The stellar sales are the highest since rapper 50 Cent’s

The Massacre sold 1.14 million copies in March 2005. More recently, siren Taylor Swift joined the elite one-million club when her latest album, Speak Now, sold 1.05 million records last November. The overall record remains held by ‘NSYNC, whose No Strings Attached sold a massive 2.42 million records during its debut week in 2000. Leading up to its release, there was much discussion about how many copies of Born This Way would sell. Early estimates were conservative — below even 500,000 — but the label began ratcheting up its guesstimates as the May 23 release date got closer and buzz for the album exploded. Of course, Amazon.com’s controversial (and intially botched) decision to sell the record for just 99 cents no doubt helped goose the numbers, as it’s estimated that the online retailer sold upwards of 440,000 of the album at the cheap price. Online purchases in general helped fuel Lady Gaga’s success, though: Digital sales totaled 662,000, a robust 60 percent of the album’s first week total. It is the biggest week for a digital album in SoundScan history.

Lady Gaga’s ‘Little Monsters’ Are Pissed At Amazon (Video)

Behold, the power of Lady Gaga. The pop superstar’s new album, “Born This Way,” managed to crash Amazon.com’s servers soon after the retailer offered it on sale for only 99 cents. Consumers, initially wowed by the discount, quickly became peeved by the dragging download speeds, and took to the album review section to complain not of Gaga’s music but of their ridiculous experience using Amazon—one fan I know said it took upwards of six hours to download the CD. 

For outsiders, it might be easy to chalk up complaints to spoiled Gaga fans (aka her “Little Monsters”), who arguably should be happy that they’re even getting “Born This Way” for under a buck. But for Amazon, the deep discount wasn’t a random bout of charity—it represented a huge opportunity to present consumers with an alternative to iTunes, and to introduce its cloud-based music service, which was recently overshadowed by Google’s entry to the digital locker space. Yet with such an opportunity on the line—Lady Gaga’s last release, “The Fame Monster,” was the best-selling album of 2010—Amazon crumbled under the pressure of its own marketing. Indeed, several hours after the servers went down, Amazon refused to elaborate beyond a brief and unapologetic statement. “We have been experiencing high volume on today’s Deal of the Day and downloaded have been delayed,” Amazon said. “All customers who order today will get the full [album] for $US0.99.” But many questions remain. Were high volumes not expected for today’s best-selling artist? Is Amazon not designed to handle high volumes? Does this say anything about the strength of Amazon’s cloud service, if servers crashed from one release alone? Requests to Amazon for answers were not returned. An Amazon spokesperson had earlier declined to give the number of downloads for Gaga’s album, and did not return subsequent requests for comment. In other words, Amazon’s strategy appears to be: Stay quiet and this will all go away. But that strategy seems at odds with the high bar of customer experience expected by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Only several weeks ago, Bezos appeared at a Consumer Reports event, where a moderator described how a recent CR study revealed that “people are livid over their inability to connect with a live person” at Amazon for customer service. In response, Bezos talked at length about the importance of customer experience and support at Amazon. According to Bezos, Amazon prides itself on eliminating the causes of most calls to customer service. “The best customer service is when the customer doesn’t need to call you,” he said. “The number one [reason for] contact has been, ‘Where’s my stuff?’ We have driven that contact down so far, and the way we’ve done that is by delivering everybody’s stuff.” Here, Bezos is referring to physical delivery, but the same holds true in the current context—Amazon has failed to deliver Gaga’s album digitally, and has left numbers and numbers of fans wondering, “Where’s my stuff?”

Scotty McCreery Wins 'American Idol'

Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Bono perform on star-studded season 10 finale. Either way, a teenage country singer was going to take home the season 10 "American Idol" crown Wednesday night (May 25), it was just a matter of whether it was Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina. After Tuesday night's final performance episode, Fox announced that more than 122 million votes poured in, marking a new record in "Idol" history, bringing the season total to more than 730 million votes. And while Scotty looked like the unbeatable favorite, there was some doubt going into the finale, thanks to Lauren's gutsy performance just 24 hours before and her knockout delivery of what could have been her "Idol" coronation tune, "Like My Mother Does."

Two hours into the final show, Seacrest finally got the golden envelope, and McCreery and Alaina gave each other a playful, youthful shove in anticipation of the news. To almost no one's surprise, the name inside was Scotty's, and the Garner, North Carolina, baseball star and church choir member burst into tears, bending over with his hands on his knees as the giant screen behind him flashed "Scotty Wins!" A smiling Alaina gave him a warm kiss, and the two pals embraced as judge Jennifer Lopez walked over to present a microphone-shaped trophy to the 17-year-old country crooner who never wavered from his signature, deep-voiced delivery throughout the competition. The rest of the season's finalists engulfed Scotty in a group hug as Seacrest brought him center stage and raised his hand like a boxing champ after a 12-round brawl to end it all. "It's been a year since me and Lauren Alaina tried out, and me and her have been together since day one and we're gonna stay together. ... Never in my wildest dreams," said a shell-shocked McCreery. "I gotta thank the Lord first, he got me here." Handing the platinum microphone off to James Durbin, McCreery moseyed out to the audience to hug his folks and his family (but not disappointed actor Jack Black), as he sang his coronation tune, "I Love You This Big," stopping along the way to hug each finalist and tell them he loved them while sparks and confetti rained down on his big moment. As the song ended, he crumpled into a heap center stage for a good cry and then a few more embraces for the rest of the cast. The performance-packed two-hour finale opened with the season's top 13 -- dressed in white and silver lamé -- taking a peppy, Broadway jukebox musical-style run at Lady Gaga's "Born This Way." Speaking of Gaga, Mother Monster returned to the "Idol" stage for a surprisingly sedate performance of "The Edge of Glory." Standing at the top of a rocky crag while wearing an elaborate diamond-shaped headdress and black cape that she tossed aside to reveal a metal-studded leather bikini, Gaga mostly stood in place until a male dancer approached to engage her in a hip-to-hip ballet interlude that ended with a lover's leap. He wanted to bring metal back, and fourth-place finisher James Durbin got his chance. Slipping into some studded metal duds to rock the stage with hard-rock legends Judas Priest on their classics "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law," Durbin traded snarling vocals with singer Rob Halford and unleashed some of his signature rebel howls to the likely confusion of many in the audience and at home. Jacob Lusk hooked up with gospel great Kirk Franklin and R&B legend Gladys Knight for Franklin's sanctified "I Smile"; bearded lover-man Casey Abrams threw down with "Kung Fu Panda 2" star Black on a greasy, scat-tastic romp through Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls"; and the ladies of "Idol" (minus Lauren) did a sassy medley of Beyoncé songs, including "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," "Irreplaceable," "Get Me Bodied" and "If I Were a Boy." Things were seeming a bit long until B herself showed up to show the girls how it's done, with a fierce, heel-stomping "Crazy in Love." Queen B got another chance a bit later, debuting her emotional new ballad "1+1," from her upcoming album 4. With composers Bono and The Edge in tow, Reeve Carney, star of the troubled Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark," sang the meditative beat-rock ballad "Rise Above," capably trading vocals with the Irish rock icon in a pleading voice that was eerily reminiscent of Bono's own plaintive wail. The top 13 guys also got a chance, singing Prince's "Kiss," which allowed Stefano Langone to break out his squeaky falsetto and Paul McDonald to do his scarecrow dance once more for Tom Jones' "She's a Lady," before Sir Jones himself came out to bring it home with "It's Not Unusual." Haley Reinhart got to show off her jazz roots during a duet with musical icon Tony Bennett on a finger-snappin' "Steppin' Out," which included a bit of soft-shoe and fancy dance moves from the duo. One of the night's biggest surprises was the reunion of the two remaining members of 1990s girl group TLC with rapper Lil Jon and the top 13 girls for "Scrubs" and "Waterfalls." Finally, it was time for McCreery to get the spotlight, sharing a microphone and holding his own with Tim McGraw on "Live Like You Were Dying." Also getting a chance to shine after mentoring the "Idol" contestants behind-the-scenes all season was Latin star Marc Anthony, who brought some salsa fire with "Aguanile," during which he was joined by wife Lopez, who showed off her dancing assets during a Sheila E. timbale breakdown. In keeping with the judges' sharp use of the biggest platform in TV to plug themselves, Steven Tyler took the spotlight to sing an abbreviated version of Aerosmith's "Dream On," though, curiously, not his new debut solo single. Alaina also got her time to shine, singing a grinding version of Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats," with a California-beach-babe-looking Underwood sauntering out to trade sassy verses, with the two Southern gals making beautiful music together. And so season 10 ended with the coronation of the first country "Idol" winner since season four's Underwood, who just happens to be the biggest star in the show's history. So Scotty's got that going for him. Don't miss a special edition of "Idol Party Live" Thursday at noon on MTV.com for analysis, finale red-carpet coverage and the last "Idol in 60 Seconds" of season 10. Get in the conversation by tweeting with the hashtag #idolparty! In the meantime, get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" Best Buy Party

Pushing her non-stop promotional efforts into the night, Lady Gaga turned up for an appearance at a Best Buy store in New York City on Monday night (May 23).

Scantily clad in a an all-black bondage inspired ensemble, the "Judas" singer was on-hand for the launch of her new album, Born This Way, which was released worldwide earlier in the day.

As for how Gaga managed to record new music for the album all the while being constantly touring on the road, "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest revealed the answer on his radio show earlier today.

"She recorded most of the album in a studio — on wheels," Seacrest explained. "After her shows she’d hop into a converted bus, that had a studio in it, and record tracks all night as they rolled down the highway to her next stop, and then early in the morning, they’d pull over and she’d get out of that converted bus and onto her sleeping bus and rest as much as she could until rolling into another city for another show.”

Lady Gaga topples Oprah Winfrey on celebrity power list

Lady Gaga has knocked talk show host Oprah Winfrey from the top of Forbes' annual celebrity power list.

The US singer, who headlined Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle at the weekend, moved up four places this year in the top 100.

Justin Bieber goes in at number three and Taylor Swift is at seven.

The Forbes Celebrity 100 list measures power by entertainment-related earnings, media visibility and social media popularity.

Forbes editor Dorothy Pomerantz said: "Lady Gaga beat Oprah this year because of her social media power.

"She can use Twitter and Facebook to work the 'little monsters' into a frenzy that leads to record sales and media attention.

"She's the best example of how celebrities will need to manage their careers in the coming years."

Forbes rated the American singer/songwriter number one, estimating her earnings in the past 12 months as $90 million (£55m) and she also has 34 million Facebook fans and more than 10 million Twitter followers.

Also making the top 10 are golfer Tiger Woods, rock bands Bon Jovi and U2, Elton John plus X Factor judge Simon Cowell and US basketball player LeBron James.

Other newcomers in the list include singer Katy Perry (12), British director and producer Christopher Nolan (47) and Hollywood actress Natalie Portman (75).

Britney Spears and Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe move out of the list.

The total earnings of the top 100 dropped this year from a collective $4.7 billion (£2.9bn) to $4.5 billion (£2.7bn).

IDOL 411: James Durbin Stops 'Believin'; Haley 'Reinharts' Into Next Week

Is anyone else fuming right now?

"American Idol" revealed its top three finalists for Season 10 on Thursday night, and sadly, rocker James Durbin will not be a "hometown hero."

We knew Scotty McCreery would (rightfully) be in the top three after his perfectly timed 9/11 tribute, but the verdict doesn't seem fair. James, who basically gave a rock concert every single week and who never once landed in the bottom three as far as we can recall, was sent home, while Haley "Reinharted" into next week after "losing" round one on Wednesday.

That's not to say we don't like Haley. She has a cool rock 'n' roll vibe, and her second performance was Broadway-worthy this week. And while Lauren Alaina has been a little inconsistent throughout the season, she gave an especially beautiful performance of Martina McBride's "Anyway" on Wednesday, which she tastefully dedicated to victims of the storms in the South.

But James really deserved to be in the top three. In fact, it was only a week or so that Randy said the competition was "his to lose."

Lady GaGa: "Judas Video Is Not A Biblical Lesson"

GaGa has previously been slammed by religious groups over her decision to play New Testament icon Mary Magdalene in the video, but Lady G has now stated that the eagerly awaited promo does not attack any religion.

Speaking to E! ahead of Judas' premiere at 7pm EST, the Bad Romance star told interviewer Giuliana Rancic: "I don't view the video as a religious statement. I view it as social statement. I view it as a cultural statement.

The eccentric star added: "It's a metaphor. It's not meant to be a biblical lesson."

In other Lady GaGa news, the Poker Face hitmaker has unveiled a new song from her forthcoming sophomore LP, Born This Way.
Lady GaGa: "Judas Video Is Not A Biblical Lesson"

GaGa performed album track Americano during a show in Guadalajara, Mexico earlier this week, featuring the lyrics: "Mis canciones son de la revolucion/ Mi corazon late por mi generacion," which translates to "My songs are of the revolution/ My heart beats for my generation."

We can't wait to hear GaGa's new album, which is expected to be released later this month.

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