Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has just announced that they will be renewing Mariah Carey’s contract in an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement. The diva is sure to make millions by signing the contract with the company which will continue to publish Mariah’s songs and future records. In a statement, the Chairman and CEO of UMPG David Renzer said “Mariah Carey is well known for her incredible voice, but we also celebrate her incredible strength as a songwriter and the fact that she has co-written most of her best known songs.” He also mentions how honored they are that Mariah agreed to renew her contract.

America’s most famous trio of virgins, The Jonas Brothers, performed for 750 shrieking fans at Kimball Middle School in Elgin, Illinois on Friday morning. 15-year old Nick, 18-year old Joe and 20-year old Kevin want kids to eat healthy so they announced their new breakfast initiative with Breakfast Breaks. One lucky winner will get the chance to get to star with the brothers in a national commercial. Kevin says “Breakfast Breaks is an awesome product that is a nutritious way to make sure kids eat breakfast every morning so we are really excited to be working together with them on this initiative. Our fans always surprise us with how creative they are, so this contest will be awesome. We can’t wait to meet the winner.”

Much like John Mayer, country singer Carrie Underwood is aware of the power of YouTube. The American Idol alum has launched her very own YouTube page at YouTube.com/CarrieUnderwood. Check the page every so often for more updates which may include some footage from backstage at the Opry from last Sunday.

And unlike Oprah who prevents embedding on her YouTube channel, Carrie’s videos are embeddable-friendly. That is how you win fans over – when you give them what they want. Carrie is such a sweetheart for doing that! I wonder if she’ll be posting any personal videos and video blogs too. Now that will be something.

A lot of celebrities chose to party the night away in celebration of 2008 but Madonna chose to celebrate it differently. The singer has been enjoying a low-key holiday since she and her family arrived in India from the Maldives on a chartered jet on December 31.

On Thursday, Madonna and family went on a two-hour horse ride in the Rajasthani desert. “Madonna spent New Year’s Eve with her family at a wilderness camp in the desert,” said Siddarth Singh, whose family owns the nearby Rohetgarh Fort and helped organized the entertainment which included traditional Rajasthani dance, folk music and even a dancing horse show.

Disney’s newest singing sensations comprised of 20-year old Kevin, 18-year old Joe and 15-year old Nick, collectively known as the Jonas Brothers, know no rest. After rocking in the New Year on Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve Party the night prior, they get mobbed by dozens of fans on Tuesday as they make their way to their limo outside New York City’s Trump Hotel at Columbus Circle. What a way to spend New Year’s Day.

The trio of brotherly singers actually left New York to catch a flight to California as they are going to be in Sacramento for a Verizon in-store signing and performance at the Verizon Store.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. And that’s what singer Shakira and her long-time boyfriend Antonio dela Rua did when they chose to spend a romantic holiday on Saturday in Rome. The lovely couple hired a guide to show them around the city. They saw Popolo Square, Campidoglio, the Forum ruins, the Pantheon, Hadrian’s Village and the Capitolini and Barberini Museums.

Shakira is a UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) Goodwill Ambassador and visited Bangladesh recently and met with women and children whose lives have been affected by Cyclone Sidr. She deserves the romantic vacation that she’s on.

Jonas Brothers will be taking the stage at Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve! Nick, Kevin, and Joe are set to join Miley Cyrus and Carrie Underwood during this year’s bash live in Times Square. The party ushering in 2008 will be hosted by Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest.

Rihanna’s hit single ‘Umbrella’ has been the biggest single of the year which merited a lot of covers from different artists representing different genres. It’s actually the most covered single of 2007. It’s so big that even Rihanna has done her own cover of her own song!

Rihanna actually went back in to the studio and recorded an amazing acoustic version of the song. Her acoustic version features a new arrangement and even a few added lyrics. It’s incredible! Maybe this would be the end of the ‘Umbrella’ covers. It’s already gone back to where it all started – Rihanna herself.

Youtube: youtube.com/watch?v=DV3tLQ2uGzs

Fans now have the opportunity to follow Ashley through an intimate behind-the-scenes look at the making of Headstrong. These 45 minutes of exclusive nonstop footage give a glimpse into Ashley’s hectic life including promoting her album and touring with the High School Musical cast. The DVD also contains a three song video trilogy featuring songs the “He Said She Said”, “Not Like That” and “Suddenly” from her album Headstrong. Ashley has been busy promoting the DVD with a cross-country mall tour sponsored by Red by Marc Ecko.

The video for the first single off of Headstrong, “He Said, She Said,” has become a Youtube sensation with nearly 5 million views. It also reached #1 status on MTV’s TRL countdown thanks to the support of Ashley’s fans.

“He Said, She Said” video:

Beyonce was snapped giving a warm hug to a hanbok-clad (traditional national costume) girl who brought her bouquets of flowers at Incheon Airport on Thursday in Seoul, South Korea.

The singer is scheduled to play her first set of concerts ever in Korea on the 9th and 10th of November as part of her B’Day World Tour. Before jetting off to Korea, Beyonce also performed at a concert in the Philippines where she played to a sold out crowd at the Fort Bonifacio Open Field in Metro Manila.

I’m guessing that the only reason people are still fawning over her in other places is because she’s from some place other than theirs and their not being saturated with her stuff.

The Plain White T’s new video for “Our Time Now” makes its premiere today on MySpace. The follow up to international smash hit “Hey There Delilah” from Every Second Counts can be seen Here:

You can also catch Plain White T’s on tour with Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes and Cute Is What We Aim For on the Young Wild Things tour.

Check out Armor for Sleep’s new video for “Williamsburg” off of their new album Smile For Them that hit stores today. Fans can rock out to the stand-out track while getting a lesson in Hipster 101 from the band. “Williamsburg” is currently available for voting on MTV’s TRL at mtv.com/ontv/dyn/trl/TRLvoting.jhtml.
Smile For Them is out now on Sire Records.

YOUTUBE LINK:

URL: youtube.com/watch?v=JA4W1EwtyRM

The Plain White T’s along with 30 other bands across the country will Rock for Darfur in an effort to aid the United Nation’s effort in what’s said to be “the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis.” A portion of ticket sales from the Plain White T’s November 10th show in Bridgeport, CT will go directly to the Rock For Darfur cause. To see what you can do to help, find a concert near you to go to on November 10th. Go to myspace.com/rockfordarfur for more information.