Whitney Houston had one of the most iconic voices and her soulful music inspired music listeners around the world. Some of her hit songs include ‘I will Always Love you’ and ‘I have Nothing’ which featured in 1992 hit film starring Kevin Costner.

For those of who you are unfamiliar with Whitney’s onscreen outing alongside Kevin Costner, The Bodyguard is a charming romantic drama/ The film centers around a former secret service agent that must protect a pop singer (Houston) who’s journey into fame comes with a certain lifestyles and risks. Directed by Mick Jackson and Lawrence Kasdan, I have to say it is one of my favourite films. Whitney plays an incredible performance, and it’s genuine. Her pairing with Costner was brilliant, and because of her music, this film had such a heart to it. It’s really one of the only films that successfully incorporates the real life of a singer (music career) and the fiction of a Hollywood movie.

Whitney Houston faced challenges in her career, love, and defeat, but she triumphed time and time again. Today we remember her, and only wish the best for the family.

Top 5 Whitney Houston Hits

Whitney Houston: I will always love you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU

Whitney Houston: Run to you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9rCobRl-ng

Whitney Houston:I have nothing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxYw0XPEoKE

Whitney Houston featuring Enrique Iglesias: Could I have this kiss forever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b_yWPdsQXY

Whitney Houston: My Love is Your Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxZD0VQvfqU

Lady Gaga has to come out on top this year for her ‘Born This Way’ music video that just oozed absurdity from the start.

Music videos are superb promotional materials for songs, and by all means they should be up there, but when there’s a 2 minute 30 second prologue to the song, it gets a little annoying to have to wait for it to start. But, for Gaga, nothing is cooler than a futuristic, costume changing, Star Wars opera like introduction that makes no sense and mindlessly introduces an even more absurd 2nd half to her hit single.

Most absurd lines:

“As the wombs numbered and the mitosis of the future began…and thus began the beginning of the new race. A race within the race of humanity”.

Most absurd still shot:

However, technically the video is a great achievement and delivers a highly aesthetic Gaga experience. Why else would we watch it if there wasn’t some creative genius behind it? Lady Gaga’s collaboration with Nick Knight was a winning combo for this song and far exceeds the disappointing ‘Edge Of Glory’ which felt so low budget and unoriginal I was unsure whether it would remain online more than one day.

Born This Way Music Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV1FrqwZyKw

Britney Spears - Femme Fatale

It goes without saying that Britney Spears has been one of the most sensational success stories out of America, with an international singing career, selling millions of records, and having often been at the centre of tabloids and gossip columns. It was in 1999 that Spears became internationally known with her hit single ‘Baby One More Time’. Fans subsequently bought a whopping 13 million copies of ‘Baby’, her first album.

In 2004 Britney Spears married Kevin Federline, a backup dancer for Michael Jackson. The couple had two kids but got divorced after just two years. The battle for custody of their two sons, and media frenzy pushed Britney into a chaotic downspin. It took her several years to recover but she did so to the delight of millions, and is now back in the game having recently released several hit singles from her seventh studio album Femme Fatale and remixed hits.

Earlier this year Spears received the MTV Video Vanguard Award, handed to her by Lady Gaga, honoring her career. As of today, the singer has sold more than 100 million records and continues to inspire many young people to follow suit.

Are you a Britney Spears fan? What’s your favourite song of hers?

Top 5 Britney Spears Music Videos

Hit Me Baby One More Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-u5WLJ9Yk4

I’m A Slave 4U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzybwwf2HoQ

Toxic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOZuxwVk7TU

Till The World Ends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3Lqg-46mDo

Oops I Did It Again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CduA0TULnow

Kafani

Rap videos in the past have often been accused of ‘promoting’ gang culture but at the end of the day, artists are just trying to create a message through their lyrics. Although we can’t comment on the nature of this video, according to the AP report, it would appear that the shootout is unrelated.

Kafani – Faast fr Keak Da Sneak music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CqA082Jbf8

Lady Gaga album artwork

What went wrong for Gaga? A simple fact. The movie was too long. Director James Bobin had to make some tough decisions to bring the final edit down as the movie needed sharpening ahead of its completion. It just goes to show that even if you are a star, sometimes the editing room can be a harsh and unforgiving environment. This is not a personal criticism of Lady Gaga, or her acting abilities. In fact, she was not the only one to be taken out of the final cut of ‘The Muppets’.

Singer Katy Perry was also removed from view, where audiences would have seen her in a musical spoof of her own song ‘I kissed A Girl’. The popular puppets have made a big impact at the box office this holiday season, opening with a strong $42 million.

Lady Gaga will have to wait to get her monster-creativity into the limelight but we are sure she’s set for a grand opening in an upcoming studio movie.

The Muppets Trailer (Without Lady Gaga )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4YhbpuGdwQ

Further Reading : Lady Gaga news, Lady Gaga sued for making profit with Bracelets, Lady Gaga and Eminem impact on the music industry.

As I write this from Paris, I am watching ‘We Found Love’ online and don’t see how a ban for this song will have any effect at all on users as a majority of people log on to Youtube to watch music videos. The practice of banning content has become less and less effective as we move away from TV diffusion because there are currently few restrictions on online video content.

Rihanna is more than likely to benefit from the ban due to the controversy and publicity that surrounds it. In fact, when you restrict content, or ban it, people are even more likely to want it because it’s ‘forbidden’. So, for that I say, it’s up to you whether you want to see it or not but its daytime, and Rihanna is still appearing on my screen and the motivation behind the ban, to restrict its viewership, has completely failed.

Rihanna We Found Love Music Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg00YEETFzg

How many times have we heard an artist forced to release their latest single or album early because tracks got leaked? It’s almost impossible to not hear about a leaked track or album. Sometimes it’s done on purpose to generate buzz. A leak is far more interesting than a release, but there is a problem. Digital security absolutely ‘sucks’.

Artists like Madonna need to go ‘military’ like Jay Z and Kanye West did for their new album. As soon as a file mix is created, that needs to be locked up, encoded, encrypted and not downloadable or even left on a machine that has access to people outside of the close circuit of producers. Hackers are all over the web looking to make trouble so you have no choice but to make the effort. Today’s news about Madonna’s ‘Give Me All Your Love’ demo on the web is already old and boring. If artists really want to stop their music getting into the hands of hackers, jealous friends, or ‘rogue interns’ then they should review their entire music making process.

Security is after all so important in the music industry it’s crazy to overlook it and just hope no one is going to get access to your music files. Madonna fans are also the ones who suffer because they want to get the original, fresh, 100% unreleased single they’ve been waiting for. That single is ruined in my view. She needs to re-write it to make it an original song now, and no doubt that something personal like that, which took a lot of time, could cause, at least, some weeping, and to Madonna I say, “I want to give you a nice big hug.”

Hello readers! It’s Ceej here. Recently, one of my long-time favorite artists, JoJo, released the official music video for her newest single, ‘Disaster.’ Many of you might know her from her roles in movies like ‘Aquamarine’ and ‘RV’ with Robin Williams or her old song hits, ‘Leave (Get Out),’ ‘Too Little Too Late,’ and ‘Baby It’s You.’ She has come a long way since coming across label trouble for the past couple of years. She has now hit the ground running with her tour mates Joe Jonas and Jay Sean.

JoJo has also established herself as another fellow singer-songwriter and claims to have pulled from personal experience for the video and writing of the single, ‘Disaster.’ Her new music is also accompanied by a new transformation. The once brown-haired singer is now sporting long, jet-black hair with edgier clothing to match her music and maturity.

Stay updated with JoJo and my songwriting with the links below!

Check out the ‘Disaster’ music video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rGNfJmXRc

Checkout my latest music video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRd49Sp4Ytk

Jojo’s twitter / Ceej: Vlog, Youtube, Twitter

Adele's Album Cover, Adele 21

The 23 year old singer has become a global phenomenon with a best selling album and several hits under her belt. Her voice, however, has not managed to sustain the relentless pressure of constant performing, and Adele will have to rest before she is expected to make a full recovery.

Rumours have begun spreading on twitter that she has an early stage of throat cancer. It is unclear at this time whether this is true or just a hoax started on the network. We can confirm that no official statement has been made regarding her current state of health.

This bad news for Adele is a difficult moment for the young star, but unfortunately, often rumours begin to circulate with speculation over the true cause. Let’s hope Adele makes a swift recovery and gets back on to the stage.

While the singer has been in the spotlight for some time it is notable that her videos tend to go viral instantly thanks to her raunchy new outfits, and edgier appearances in each release. This is after all, a Rihanna trademark that gives her audience what they want, but just ahead of it’s launch, it got a lot of attention for another reason. Whilst shooting in Ireland, the singer was told off by a farmer for wearing ‘too little’ in an open field, and the shoot was subsequently moved.

Music videos are more than ever a popular medium because networks like MTV have turned towards reality shows, and audiences are looking online for music videos. Youtube is now the MTV of our generation, and artists are coming up with all kinds of ways to boost viewership ahead of their video releases.

Rihanna and Calvin Harris – We Found Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg00YEETFzg

I tend to find that the more successful videos in terms of viewership are the ones that have hype built up ahead of their release. Are you about to feature in a music video or shoot your next production? Why not try to build some momentum for it before you release it, and you might find your video becoming a much bigger success.

The rapper has been in the spotlight for over a decade, but drugs have been a major part of his musical thinking. It’s no secret that people in society struggle with addictions whether its using vicodin, in Em’s case, or other drugs, and alcohol. There is no perfect human being, but Eminem reveals that his ‘humanity’ over the course of the last 10 years evolved. His addictions had a direct effect on his mood, his tone, and he blames prescription medication such as valium and ambien as reasons for his album ‘Encore’ turninh out the way it did.

‘Recovery’ was his comeback album after taking on the problems head on, and turned out to be a huge success. The fact that Eminem has been so public about it gives others the comfort that they are not alone, and that they can be honest with themselves about it. I hope this will give sufferers a message that there is a way out, but you need outside help to achieve it.

Eminem:

“I wish I was wired like a regular person and could go have a f****** drink. But that’s the biggest thing about addiction: When you realize that you cannot—for f***** sake, you can not—**** around with nothing ever again. I never understood when people would say it’s a disease.”

– GQ interview

For Rihanna fans, getting up close and personal to her is a dream come true, but when it comes to getting on stage with her, in the middle of her act, that’s almost unthinkable to most. But, she took matters into her own hands. Well, it just so happens that Rihanna decided to give ES Magazine editor Lotte Jeffs the best night of her life. The superstar invited her onstage only to place her on a circular bed and ‘grind’ on her to the music she sang. Literally, how good is that?

You think of the life of a journalist / reporter, someone who goes to interview people, write about the latest trends, but to actually live the trend, that’s a journalist’s dream. Good for her.

Jeffs :

“It was a night I will never forget. Global superstar Rihanna dragged me on stage and gave me a lap dance in front of 20,000 screaming fans,”

– Report

Beyoncé Knowles’ new Countdown music video has been beaten in online viewership ratings by none other than Avril Lavigne. With over 650,000 views in just 2 days, ‘Countdown’ has had an impressive ‘youtube opening’, but far from the likes of Avril Lavigne’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ video which was averaging 1+ million views a day after its launch.

The quality and direction of Beyonce’s ‘Countdown’ is far superior to Lavigne’s video, with a higher production budget (we think) and a large diversity of costume changes, and some stylish editing. There is no criticism to bare on Beyoncé at this point, but why is her video, which is technically better than Lavigne’s less viral? Beyoncé as an artist is also more mainstream than Lavigne, but web audiences have preferred Lavigne’s latest music video.

It just goes to show that, the power of the video concept doesn’t mean it will go viral. In fact, it’s more likely that Avril Lavigne’s song has more wider appeal, and repeat viewing than Beyoncé’s Countdown. In this instance, it’s too early to tell whether ‘Countdown’ will start to gain a large daily viewership, but it’s off to a slow start.

Which do you prefer?

Beyonce Knowles – Countdown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XY3AvVgDns

Avril Lavigne – Wish You Were Here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT1-sitWRtY

Just a year ago, West took the film industry for a spin when he released a 35 minute musical film ‘Runaway’ which was a daring attempt at mixing music with a narrative structure. It was well received despite its technical flaws because it attempted something new, it evoked a new sense of musical style, and no one had really tried to do it on that level before. Of course, critics will always exist in every department, including those who disliked Kanye’s new creations last night.

I can’t criticize Kanye for his fashion choices because like everything, different people can interpret fashion differently. Although his fashion line Pastelle was not a success, West still continues to come up with different ‘exports’ of his artistic vision. Others have mixed fashion and music in the past, but none more overtly controversial than West, it would seem.

So whether you like Kanye’s new blend of spring fashion wear, or just think its totally ridiculous, why not give his artistic determination a good grade?

There is no question that I would be more than happy to see Rihanna dance in my field, if I owned one, but sometimes revealing slightly too much can cause others to be nervous. Irish farmer Alan Grahman reportedly put a halt to the shoot of ‘We Found Love’ as he objected to Rihanna wearing so little clothing in public. It was subsequently moved to another location. Why is it that music videos are becoming so controversial before they even reach the editing stage?

From Britney Spears’ recent gun possession to Selena Gomez film crews spraying horses pink, there seems to be no end to on set troubles, but there is a bonus. It generates some early buzz for their singles ahead of time, and viewers are more intrigued to check them out after the incidents.

Aren’t you more intrigued to watch Rihanna’s new video now than before?