Mary J. Blige and Usher are joining forces with TNT to ring in the holidays in musical style with its annual presentation of “Christmas In Washington”, set to air on December 20^th at 8 p.m. (ET/PT). This year’s concert will be hosted by funny man George Lopez and other musical guests include Neil Diamond, Sugarland, and Rob Thomas. “Christmas In Washington” is attended annually by the President and First Lady and other Washington VIPs. According to Michael Wright, executive vice president/head of programming for TNT, TBS and TCM,

“We take pride in presenting “Christmas In Washington” each year as we bring together musical artists from a variety of genres for a fantastic holiday concert. This year, we’re especially thrilled to welcome a lineup of top-name performers and an equally amazing host, George Lopez. Together, they will make this a holiday celebration to remember.”

Last night’s episode of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” sure didn’t disappoint! Not only is my girl Mya still in the running to being crowned champion of DWTS, but Grammy-Award winner Alicia Keys and Leona Lewis blessed the audience and TV viewers with their beautiful voices as well. Alicia sang her new single “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart” off her new album The Element of Freedom, due in stores December 15th. Leona Lewis sang her latest song, “Happy” from her just-released album, Echo. Mya is up against Kelly Osbourne and Donny Osmond, as they’re the final three finalists vying for the coveted trophy.

In case you missed Mya’s stellar performance last night, we’ve got you covered!

I don’t think Mya has anything to worry about, she’s bringing that trophy home!

ANY THOUGHTS?!

While rehearsing for “Dancing With the Stars”, singer Mya realized that her meat-free diet just wasn’t working out for her. So the  reality TV star/singer said “Peace” to her vegetarian ways and converted back to being a meat eater. She tells OK! magazine,

“I am eating more protein now – I used to be a vegetarian! Adding, “So I’m eating lots of chicken and beef. I splurge on carbs like mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, rice and gravy, bagels – the list goes on!”

You can catch Mya on ABC’s hit series “Dancing With the Stars” on Monday’s at 8 p.m. ET –she’s one of four celebrities still dancing in this season’s competition. And in case you missed last week’s episode of DWTS there’s no need to worry ’cause we’ve got you covered with Mya doing the Quickstep.

Wondering what Ashanti’s been up to? The R&B singer has been keeping herself busy by helping a Buffalo, NY family’s dreams come true! Ashanti will make an special appearance on an episode of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” which will air next year, however taping for the episode took place yesterday. Buffalo’s Eyewitness News cameras caught up with the songstress who was  in a hurry to get on the set to get her hands dirty.

Peep the clip below of Ashanti surprising the “Extreme Makover” family at a high school football game.

Glad to see Ashanti’s keeping busy by giving back!

]]> http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/14/ashanti-set-to-appear-on-extreme-makeover-home-editions/feed/ 0 http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/11/rihanna-chris-brown-head-to-head-in-promo-2/ http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/11/rihanna-chris-brown-head-to-head-in-promo-2/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:18:34 +0000 J'More http://str8nyc.com/?p=27937 RIHANNA & CHRIS BROWN HEAD TO HEAD IN PROMO…IS THIS ALL A STUNT?

Rihanna is making it clear that although her ex-boo, Chris Brown whooped her ass eight months ago, he won’t be beating her in album sales! The Bajan beauty is set to premiere the video for her single “Russian Roulette” off her new album Rated R on Friday on ABC. Ironically, Chris Brown will premiere his new video “Crawl” off his upcoming album Graffiti during his appearance on “The Wendy Williams Show”. I highly doubt this is all just a mere coincidence, if ya ask me this  has PR stunt written all over! I wouldn’t be surprised if these two are actually still seeing each other and cooked up a scheme to sell records.

Check out pics of Rihanna’s promo shoot at MTV Studios yesterday.

Looks like New Year’s Eve in NYC is going to be crazy! Diva Mariah Carey has announced that she will be ringing in 2010 with a special performance at Madison Square Garden.  Tickets for members of the songstress’ Honey B. Fly fan club go on sale tomorrow, meanwhile tickets for the rest of the public will be available on November 14th. In the meantime, you can catch Mariah on the “Late Show with David Letterman” on Friday, November 13th at 11:35 p.m. ET.

“Mariah Carey, the #1 most successful female recording artist of all time will be live at New York’s famous Madison Square Garden for a special New Year’s Eve performance! Join Mariah as she bids farewell to 2009 in superstar style and gets ready to ring in 2010!”

Since the tragic death of the King of Pop, lil’ sis Janet Jackson hasn’t really been in the spotlight. Well, all of that is about to change with her first indepth interview since his passing with ABC’s “Good Morning America’s” host Robin Roberts scheduled to air on the network November 18^th at 10 p.m. Janet is also releasing a new compilation album which will include her Number Ones on November 17^th as well her new single “Make Me” produced by her and Rodney Jerkins.

Now that both Rihanna and Chris Brown are making comebacks after their tumultuous relationship came to an end earlier this year, it’s only right that their teams go hard with heavy promo. Right? But something tells me that the ex-lovebirds are going head to head in a battle over album sales. Surprisingly after months of keeping mum about the incident, Rihanna has finally decided to break her silence about that tragic night in February which turned her world upside down. But why now? From a candid interview with Glamour Magazine and an in depth interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer scheduled to air on Thursday and Friday on GMA at 7 a.m., followed by an extended interview Friday on 20/20 at 10 p.m. ET.–is Rihanna really trying to get some closure by becoming a “spokeswoman” of some sort for victims of domestic violence or is she simply trying to sell some records? Meanwhile, her abuser’s interview with MTV is set to air on Friday as well at 6 p.m. ET. Is this all just a coincidence? I don’t think so!

“My thoughts [when I look back on it now] is like, why did it happen?” he told MTV News correspondent Sway during an hour-long, one-on-one interview that took place in Brown’s native Virginia. “Like, what was I thinking? What is wrong with you? That’s what I’m thinking with myself. That’s what my thoughts are, basically, now. It’s like, how do we get past it? How do you, Chris — talking to myself — how do you go from point A to point B? How do you learn from your mistakes, turn it into a positive and help other people with the situation and at the end of the day become the person that you want to be?”

Check out the promo clip for Rihanna’s GMA interview!

“The more in love we became, the more dangerous we became for each other. This happened to me… and it can happen to anybody. He was definitely my first big love.”