Hot Music Beat

Leona Lewis has recently been tapped to perform at the Michael Jackson tribute show which is set to be held at London’s O2 Arena. The 24-year old British singer will reportedly be joined by the likes of Justin Timberlake, Usher and Ne-Yo in performances to honor the late King of Pop. The producers are even said to be talking about having a hologram of the iconic Michael projected onto the stage. A date for the tribute show has yet to be finalized but the promoters are hoping to put it on by the end of the summer. I wonder who else will be on the show and how many times it will be put on.

A star-studded Michael Jackson tribute is expected to be announced at London’s O2 Arena featuring a hologram of the star, it has been claimed.

Reports claim stars including Justin Timberlake, pictured, Leona Lewis, Usher and Ne-Yo have been approached to perform at the concert by AEG Live and sing cover versions of Jacko’s tracks.

The gig will reportedly be held on August 29, on what would have been Jacko’s 51st birthday. It is claimed producers are hoping to project a hologram of the star onto the stage.

A source at AEG Live said: “There has been frantic activity both in AEG’s London and LA offices.

“It will be a celebration of Michael Jackson’s life through his music. The producers want to avoid a sombre memorial tone.”

Source: Splash News

A mere two years ago, Esmée Denters was just a pancake house waitress with a webcam and a dream. An aspiring singer who fell in love with her father’s Stevie Wonder albums as a child, Esmée was 17 when she began posting videos of herself on YouTube singing her favorite hits by Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, P!ink, and Natasha Bedingfield.”I had seen all these videos of amateur singers, which gave me the idea,” she says. “I was just interested in what other people thought of my voice.” Within nine months, Esmée’s videos had racked up 21 million views, and she became the number one most-subscribed musician in the history of the popular video-sharing website.

Esmée’s clips soon caught the attention of Justin Timberlake – one of her musical idols – who was drawn to her silky, soulful voice, natural charisma and songwriting talent. He then signed her to his label Tenman Records, an imprint of Interscope, and began executive producing and co-producing the majority of her debut album. They lined up an impressive list of noted songwriters and producers to collaborate on the project including Polow Da Don (Usher, Ciara), Stargate (Rihanna, Ne-Yo), OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder (Leona Lewis, Natasha Bedingfield), and Toby Gad (Beyoncé, Fergie). The result is an edgy, soulful pop-R&B set that Esmée says truly reflects who she is as a person.

Relatability was something that was important to Esmée on her debut outing, which is why she was thrilled for the opportunity to co-write the majority of the songs. Her first single, “Outta Here,” sends a message of female empowerment through a hybrid of urban beats, pop lyrics and rock attitude. Sneak a peek into the studio to learn more about the Dutch beauty when she recorded the track with Justin Timberlake and Polow Da Don.

Video:

Justin Timberlake made a very public display of affection with his girlfriend Jessica Biel during a basketball game last week. The singer explained himself when he stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live saying “I have to clarify that one. We’re not that much of exhibitionists in front of 18,000 people. They do the ‘kiss me’ cam, and they were playing Sonny and Cher’s ‘I Got You Babe,’ and we were watching all these kind of elderly people kiss, and it got kind of weird there for awhile, I’m not gonna lie; but it was endearing. And then they cut to Dustin Hoffman and his wife, and he planted an open-mouth kiss on her and it was kind of award-winning in its own way. And then they cut to us and I was not to be outdone. So, yeah. So I mounted my girlfriend in front of 18,000 people.”

Saturday Night Live regular guest, clothing designer, singer, actor, producer, writer and everything else Justin Timberlake is once again expanding his brand to the tequila business. Page Six reports that the 28-year old pop star recently toured a Mexican distillery where he was caught on video tasting different tequilas. A rep for Justin confirmed the news saying “This was one of his many meetings over the last two years in development of his tequila business.” I wonder what he’s going to call his brand of tequila. Moreover, I wonder if anyone is going to buy it once it comes out.

Andy Samberg took the lead in another great SNL Digital Short entitled ‘J—In My Pants’. He reunites with Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, fellow members from sketch comedy group Lonely Island. Former ‘Las Vegas’ actress Molly Sims and former ‘Sopranos’ star Jamie-Lynn Sigler made cameos as the hot girls. Justin Timberlake was also called in to o clean up on aisle 3. I wonder if Justin helped with the lyrics to the song. Here’s a sample: “Don’t tell your friends or I’ll say your a s—/Plus it’s your fault, you were rubbing my butt/I’m very sensitive, some would say that’s a plus/Now I’ll go home and change/The next day my alarm goes off and I/J— IN MY PANTS/Open my window and a breeze rolls in and I/J— IN MY PANTS/When Bruce Willis was dead at the end of Sixth Sense I/J—ED IN MY PANTS”.

TRL held its final show inside the MTV Times Square studio in New York City. The finale of the show was called Total Finale Live and was hosted by TRL’s original host Carson Daly along with Damien Fahey. The show also featured performances from some of the most notable names from the past decade including Beyonce, Fall Out Boy, 50 Cent and the Backstreet Boys. Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, JC Chasez, Taylor Swift, Kid Rock, Hilary Duff, Diddy and more were also at the studio in support of the finale.

Britney Spears was seen stopping by Conway Recording studios in Los Angeles last week. Do you remember a piece of news last year about Britney recording with her ex Justin Timberlake? I wonder if that can still be done. It would be hot if it happened. The former couple was actually supposed to work together and record a duet for her ‘Blackout’ album but the then troubled pop star failed to show up. The piece of news even said that it would be her comeback if it did happen. Well, she’s more poised to make a comeback this year. Maybe it can still happen.