Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton hit the stage with their teams, while Maroon 5 premiered ‘Payfone’ with Wiz Khalifa. By John Mitchell Jesse Campbell on “The Voice” Photo: NBC Things were shaken up Monday night (April 16) on “The Voice” with the surprise introduction of “instant eliminations,” a new rule forcing each judge to send one of their team members home at the end of the episode. The first judges forced to send one of their own packing were Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton , whose teams took the stage Monday. An additional member of each team will be voted off by the public on Tuesday. Each of the superstar judges — with the notable exception of Cee Lo Green — also hit the stage to perform, with Levine’s band Maroon 5 even debuting a new song with Wiz Khalifa . First to hit the stage was teenage country girl RaeLynn. Before performing, she and her coach Blake bonded over being “real country.” I’m a real country artist,” RaeLynn boasted, and Blake suited her up with the perfect song, hitmaker Jason Aldean’s “She’s Country.” RaeLynn’s performance of the song won over all the judges. “Man, I’m gonna say, you make me want to sing country,” Christina championed. But Blake had the biggest words of praise. “This is the most proud moment I’ve had of any person on my team,” Blake said of RaeLynn’s performance. Next up was fan and judge favorite Jesse Campbell, who delivered an expectedly excellent rendition of Beyonc
‘We still love and respect each other as friends,’ model says in a statement. By Kara Warner Anne Vyalitsyna and Adam Levine Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images Adam Levine is on the market again, ladies. The Maroon 5 frontman and “Voice” judge and his girlfriend of two years, model Anne Vyalitsyna have reportedly gone their separate ways. According to People magazine, Levine and Vyalitsyna ended their relationship as friends. “Adam and I have decided to separate in an amicable and supportive manner. We still love and respect each other as friends,” Vyalitsyna told the magazine in a statement. “I wish him all the best.” The Russian-born 26-year-old, also known as Anne V, met Levine, 33, at a Sports Illustrated swimsuit-issue release party in early 2010, where Maroon 5 performed. Vyalitsyna has appeared in the last eight of the mag’s celebrated swimsuit editions. Levine was once known as a playboy of sorts, having been linked to a slew of lovely ladies like Jessica Simpson, Cameron Diaz and Natalie Portman, but he has seemed to settle down in recent years. His star has definitely been on the rise since landing the gig on “The Voice,” and he was recently nominated for a Grammy for Maroon 5’s catchy hit “Moves Like Jagger.” Levine is also reportedly up for a role on FX’s horror soap opera “American Horror Story.” Since it seems as though the breakup was amicable, we hope Levine isn’t suffering from too much heartbreak. Though if he is, he can always turn to fellow “Voice” judge Blake Shelton for a shoulder to cry on. Shelton has joked about their friendship in the past, going as far as to admit wanting to kiss Levine. “All I have to say is, it’s true: I have a man crush on Adam,” Shelton admitted to MTV News last month. “It blows me away people can pick up on that just by watching that on television. I want to kiss him. I want to kiss him so bad. I don’t care if it’s mutual or not. Can you honestly tell me that you don’t have a little bit of a crush on Adam? He’s sexy, is the word I’m using.” Related Photos Former Flames: Adam Levine And Anne Vyalitsyna Related Artists Maroon 5
It’s episode four of The Voice’s blind auditions, with Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton back in their red-spinning spaceship chairs yet again. How much fun is this show? American Idol likes to tout its star-creating power, and The Voice may not have an answer to that until it produces its own Kelly Clarkson … or even a Scotty McCreery. Still, it remains a far more entertaining show in many respects, from the diversity of the vocalists trying out, to the rapport between the judges and the unique format.
Update on MTV’s popular app has cool new features including a local concert-finding tool. By MTV News staff The MTV Music Meter 2.0 app Photo: MTV MTV Music Meter , the mobile music app that has generated more than 1 million downloads since kicking off in 2011, is getting a major update. Music Meter 2.0 will bring the experience of MTV’s popular app, while adding brand-new features like the ability to track down concerts happening right in your city. Music Meter 2.0, in partnership with MTV Hive , works as a customizable experience where users rank artists based on social buzz; they can also listen to song samples and read articles and biographies about their favorites. With the 5 Gum-sponsored 2.0 update, MTV Music Meter adds several options, including the power to filter artists by genres like up-and-coming, rock, hip-hop, indie and EDM. Users will also have a quick and easy way to discover when and where their favorite band is coming to town. “With today’s music fan having immediate access to millions of artists and songs, there’s a strong need for curation,” said Dermot McCormack, executive vice president at MTV Music and Logo Digital. “The meter helps solve this problem by cutting through the clutter and providing fans an easy-to-use discovery tool to connect artists and fans.” MTV Music Meter 2.0 will be available on the iOS App Store and the Android Marketplace as a stand-alone download or a free update. (The release spans all Android and iOS platforms, as well as the Web.)
Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton have all re-signed with the singing competition. By Kara Warner “The Voice” judges Cee Lo, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton Photo: Getty Images With its second season already a certified hit, it’s no surprise that “The Voice” is coming back for a third season. Rumor had it last week that Christina Aguilera had already signed her contract to continue working as a judge for a third season, and now there’s word that the rest of the gang — Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton — have all re-upped their deals as well. According to The Wrap , all four judges re-signed with the show and will receive substantial salary increases for doing so. Aguilera will reportedly bank around $10 million, while Green, Levine and Shelton are expected to bring in $6 million. The next step in moving forward with the third season will be to lock down a time slot and premiere date; NBC is expected to make a formal announcement very soon. Insider sources claim the show will be back in the fall to compete directly with Fox’s “X Factor.” “The Voice” has proven to be a major hit for NBC. The season-two premiere following the Super Bowl on Sunday earned NBC’s best ratings for an entertainment show in six years and after airing only three episodes, the singing competition has the highest averaging ratings on television. No mentions or announcements have been made about the show’s other on-air talent, host Carson Daly and new social-media correspondent Christina Milian , but given the current popularity of the show, we wouldn’t expect NBC to shake things up the way Fox has with “X Factor,” which lost judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones after its debut season. Are you happy all four “Voice” judges will be back? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Christina Aguilera Cee Lo Green Adam Levine Blake Shelton
The Grammy Awards really tested the tear ducts of its viewers last night. We had Adele return from throat surgery to belt out a version of ” Rolling in the Deep ;” Jennifer Hudson honor Whitney Houston with a pitch perfect rendition of “I Will Always Love You ;” and Blake Shelton team with The Band Perry to pay tribute to Glen Campbell. The country music legend was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last summer, but that didn’t prevent him from taking the stage and performing “Rhinestone Cowboy,” a performance that brought all attendees to their feet, most notably Paul McCartney, who the camera caught numerous times singing and dancing to the artist. Watch Campbell and company in action now: Glen Campbell Grammy Awards Tribute
Judges Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green kick off second episode with a Prince medley. By John Mitchell Cee Lo Green on “The Voice” Photo: NBC The blind auditions continued on Monday night’s (February 6) two-hour episode of “The Voice,” with each judge picking up two more contestants to fill out the 12-person teams they’ll take to the battle phase later in the season. The episode opened with a flashy medley of Prince hits “1999,” “Little Red Corvette” and “Kiss” performed by judges Christina Aguilera , Cee Lo Green , Adam Levine and Blake Shelton , before the crew got right to business with the auditions. Team Christina Aguilera picked up two acts, including the evening’s first performers: platonic duo the Line. The pair’s rendition of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” got all four judges’ attention, but despite much protest from Shelton, they picked Aguilera. Shelton later told the camera he thought they were “fooled by flash and boobs.” She also scored an interesting choice in chanteuse Lindsay Pavao, who got Shelton and Cee Lo to swivel their chairs too. In one of the more unique performances of the night, Pavao transformed a Trey Songz tune into a ballad that Green compared to Fiona Apple. It was that uniqueness that won Christina over, and Pavao chose to join the “Beautiful” singer’s team. Team Adam After being denied by two different singers, the Maroon 5 frontman picked up his first team member of the night in 50-year-old Kim Yarbrough — who revealed during an interview segment that one of her many past odd jobs was working security for the Dave Matthews Band. Her soulful rendition of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Tell Me Something Good” had all the judges dancing in their seats, but Adam won her over after asking for her name. When she said “Kim,” he corrected, “No, your name is Chaka Khan, baby.” Which is probably what any aspiring diva wants to hear after an audition. Levine also added the night’s final contestant, 23-year-old Angel Taylor, to his team. The Los Angeles native grew up in an abusive household and turned to music to get through the tough times. Her performance of Adele’s “Someone Like You” packed an emotional punch. Team Cee Lo The night’s two most compelling stories came from Jamar Rogers and Angie Johnson, both of whom opted for team Cee Lo. Rogers is a 29-year-old former drug addict from New York who was also featured on “American Idol” during season eight alongside his best friend and eventual finalist Danny Gokey. During his addiction, he contracted HIV. Now that he is clean and sober, Rogers volunteers for food-delivery services for the disabled in the Bronx. He also idolizes Cee Lo, so it’s good that the “Forget You” Grammy winner turned his chair around for Rogers’ performance of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” Cee Lo also picked up Staff Sergeant Angie Johnson, who was discovered and pushed to audition for “The Voice” after her fellow soldiers uploaded a video to YouTube of Johnson singing Adele on a military base while deployed in the Middle East. The video eventually tallied over a million views, which gave Johnson the confidence to hit the stage with a gutsy rendition of Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker.” “I love a girl with guts and confidence,” Cee Lo told the singer. Team Blake Blake’s first choice of the night fit firmly in his country wheelhouse: North Dakota native Gwen Sebastian, a musician who agreed with her drummer husband to hold off on having kids so she could take a go at being a performer. After her performance of “Stay,” Shelton remarked, “You are a great country vocalist … and I’m a country guy. I’m your man.” A more surprising choice for the country superstar came late in the show, when he promised he’d do everything he could for Jermaine Paul, a backup singer who has toured the world with Alicia Keys. Keys even sent Paul a video message wishing him good luck. He made a surprising song choice in Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated,” which also earned props from Cee Lo, who told Paul he could “hear the swag” in his voice. And even though it looked like Paul was favoring Cee Lo, he opted to move out of his R&B comfort zone and into Shelton’s country/rock genre. Four singers got the ax during the show when no judges swiveled around to offer a spot on their team. The judges went back and forth over country crooner Neil Middleton and pop singer Dez Durmon and ultimately regretted their decisions to pass on the singers. Durmon in particular had the judges all worked up, and when they turned around to see a handsome Yale football player standing in front of them, they practically slapped themselves across the head. “And it’s a good-looking guy,” Shelton sighed. Such is the point of “The Voice,” though. Durmon would have been a sure thing if the judges had gotten a look at him beforehand, but it’s all about the pipes — at least for now — on NBC’s reality hit, which kicked off its season to some pretty great post-Super Bowl ratings . Who was your favorite singer on the latest “Voice” episode? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Christina Aguilera Adam Levine Blake Shelton Cee Lo Green
Christina Aguilera And Adam Levine Spar As First Round Of “The Voice” Blind Auditions Gets Underway By John Mitchell Christina Aguilera on “The Voice” Photo: NBC “The Voice” returned to NBC for its second season immediately following Super Bowl XLVI and got right to business, kicking off the first round of blind auditions with coaches Adam Levine , Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton each picking up one team member and Christina Aguilera scoring two. Seven hopefuls stepped in front of the judges’ revolving chairs, each hoping at least one would turn and ask them be on their team. Two contestants got all four judges’ approval, but one, 24-year old Daniel Rosa from Riverside California, didn’t get a single judge to turn their chair and offer a spot and was sent home packing. The Players: Rae Lynn A teenager raised on a Texas farm, Rae Lynn entered the competition with one thing in mind: to win over judge Blake Shelton, who is married to country singer Miranda Lambert, a big hero of Rae Lynn’s. She decided to sing Lamberts “Hell on Heels” despite being warned that last season Shelton didn’t respond well when a contestant auditioned with one of his wife’s songs. But confident in her choice, she did it anyway and wowed Shelton and Levigne. Ultimately, she chose to stick with her roots and keep things country. Team Blake Jesse Campbell One of many inspiring stories told during the show, we were introduced to 42-year-old homeless father Jesse Campbell and his family. He’d barely uttered a few notes before Aguilera, Green and Levigne swiveled around (Shelton followed soon after). “You followed through above and beyond my expectations,” she told Campbell, promising to fight for him along the hard road to the “Voice” finals. Trusting that Aguilera knows a thing or two about how to get the most out of strong vocalists, Jesse picked the “Not Myself Tonight” singer. Team Xtina Juliet Simms Simms has been living the rock-and-roll life since she was a teen and is now, at 25, looking to take that next step. Simms tackled a big song too — “Oh! Darling” by the Beatles — but brought a rough, throaty edge and rocker swagger to the track that immediately attracted Levigne and Cee-Lo and, eventually, Aguilera. “You brought the house down,” Christina said to Simms. Competing over the singer’s affections even devolved into a bit of mudslinging between Aguilera and Levigne, who bickered back and forth over who could better serve Simms in the contest. She decided to go with neither and picked the most eclectic guy on the panel. Team Cee Lo Chris Mann Another of the night’s tear-jerker back stories came from Mann, a talented classical musician working in Nashville, TN, whose mother is fighting pancreatic cancer. The 29-year-old Wichita, Kansas, native was the second contestant of the competition to bowl over the judges with a big, classic voice. “Now that’s a voice,” Xtina proclaimed, “I love it!” Her enthusiasm led him to pick the “Beautiful” Grammy winner, and in the first night of competition she nailed down the two best voices in the game so far. Team Xtina Tony Lucca Hey, that guy looks familiar! Lucca was at one time a Mousketeer alongside Christina, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears on “The Mickey Mouse Club.” But it was more important here that he tore the roof off the joint with a rocking rendition of “Trouble” that earned a swivel of approval from every judge on the panel. All pleaded with him to join their team, but Aguilera seemed oblivious to the fact that she knew him as a child (a lot has happened since then, we’ll give her that). He went with Shelton, probably hoping a little of the country-rock cool that’s kept him at the top of the charts for the last few years rubs off. Team Adam After he left the stage, Aguilera realized who Lucca was and ran backstage to greet him, his wife and young daughter. She also revealed, “Britney had the biggest crush on you!” Oh, what could have been.. Did you catch “The Voice” tonight? Which contestant was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below Related Artists Adam Levine Cee Lo Green Blake Shelton Christina Aguilera
Swift performs Speak Now track ‘Ours,’ as the Band Perry and ‘Voice’ coach Blake Shelton are also honored Wednesday night. By Jocelyn Vena Taylor Swift accepts award for Entertainer of the Year at the 2011 CMA Awards Photo: Rick Diamond/ Getty Images Taylor Swift nabbed her second Entertainer of the Year award at the 2011 CMA Awards on Wednesday night in Nashville, Tennessee. She beat out all the boys, including fellow country music superstars Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and Keith Urban. The singer also took the stage in a pink sweater to perform her Speak Now track “Ours,” a simple ballad about love. Swift kept the performance simple, sitting on a big, comfy couch, strumming her guitar. She recently teased on Twitter that she shot a music video for one of the songs off her chart-topping album, with the performance leading to speculation that she was referring to “Ours.” Swift’s win and performance wasn’t the only headline of the night. Nashville’s latest crossover darlings the Band Perry — who recently appeared on Justin Bieber’s holiday album, Under the Mistletoe — were also big CMA winners , nabbing a number of awards including New Artist of the Year as well as Song of the Year and Single of the Year for ” If I Die Young .” “The Voice” coach Blake Shelton won the male vocalist award, while his wife, Miranda Lambert, won for best female vocalist. Sugarland nabbed the prize for vocal duo, and Lady Antebellum took Vocal Group of the Year. Jason Aldean won not only Album of the Year for My Kinda Party , but also for Musical Event of the Year, thanks to his duet with Kelly Clarkson, “Don’t You Wanna Stay.” The show, hosted by Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, also included wins for Kenny Chesney with Grace Potter for their as well as Mac McAnally for Musician of the Year. Related Artists Taylor Swift
She can rap , she can pose tastefully for a fragrance ad and she can definitely cross genres. It was announced today that Taylor Swift, one of the most beloved pop stars of her generation, has been nominated for five Country Music Awards. Among them? Entertainer of the Year! Swift will go up against five men in that category – Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton and Keith Urban – while she’s also among the nominees for Female Vocalist of the Year along with Sara Evans, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Martina McBride. Taylor is the only female to have scored five nominee for the ceremony, which will air on November 9. We’ve listed all the categories/nominated artists below. Entertainer of the Year Jason Aldean Brad Paisley Blake Shelton Taylor Swift Keith Urban Female Vocalist of the Year Sara Evans Miranda Lambert Martina McBride Taylor Swift Carrie Underwood Male Vocalist of the Year Jason Aldean Kenny Chesney Brad Paisley Blake Shelton Keith Urban New Artist of the Year The Band Perry Luke Bryan Eric Church Thompson Square Chris Young Vocal Group of the Year The Band Perry Lady Antebellum Little Big Town Rascal Flatts Zac Brown Band Vocal Duo of the Year The Civil Wars Montgomery Gentry Steel Magnolia Sugarland Thompson Square Single of the Year Sara Evans, “A Little Bit Stronger” Zac Brown Band, “Colder Weather” Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson, “Don’t You Wanna Stay” Blake Shelton, “Honey Bee” The Band Perry, “If I Die Young” Album of the Year Blake Shelton, All About Tonight Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party Taylor Swift, Speak Now Brad Paisley, This Is Country Music Zac Brown Band, You Get What You Give Song of the Year Zac Brown Band, Wyatt Durrette, Levi Lowrey and Coy Bowles, “Colder Weather” Brantley Gilbert and Colt Ford, “Dirt Road Anthem” Kimberly Perry, “If I Die Young” Taylor Swift, “Mean” Matraca Berg and Deana Carter, “You and Tequila” Musical Event of the Year Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson, “As She’s Walking Away” Loretta Lynn, Sheryl Crow and Miranda Lambert, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson, “Don’t You Wanna Stay” Brad Paisley featuring Alabama, “Old Alabama” Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter, “You and Tequila” Music Video of the Year Blake Shelton, “Honey Bee” The Band Perry, “If I Die Young” Taylor Swift, “Mean” Brad Paisley featuring Alabama, “Old Alabama” Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter, “You and Tequila” Musician of the Year Sam Bush, mandolin Jerry Douglas, dobro Paul Franklin, steel guitar Dann Huff, guitar Mac McAnally, guitar
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