Empire’s Ratings Reign Continues

 

Nielsen’s reported last week over 16 million people turned in live to watch the season premier of Empire. (see our review)

But new updates show that  4 million more viewers recorded Empire to watch at a later time bringing their total to a massive 20 million viewers!

 

 

BET Awards: And the Winners are…

 

Best New Artist
Dej Loaf
Fetty Wap
Rae Sremmurd
Sam Smith – WINNER
Tinashe

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist
Azealia Banks
Nicki Minaj – WINNER
Tink
Iggy Azalea
Trina
Dej Loaf

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist
J. Cole
Drake
Common
Kendrick Lamar –  Winner
Big Sean
Wale

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist
Beyoncé  – WINNER
Janelle Monáe
Jhené Aiko
Ciara
Rihanna
K. Michelle

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist
The Weeknd
John Legend
Trey Songz
Usher
August Alsina
Chris Brown – WINNER

Best Group
A$AP Mob
Migos
Rae Sremmurd  – WINNER
Rich Gang
Young Money
Jodeci

Best Collaboration
Chris Brown – “Loyal (feat. Lil Wayne & Tyga)”
Big Sean – “I Don’t F**k with You (feat. E-40)”
August Alsina – “No Love (Remix) [feat. Nicki Minaj]”
Common & John Legend – “Glory” – WINNER
Chris Brown – “New Flame (feat. Usher & Rick Ross)”
Mark Ronson – “Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars)”

Best Actress
Gabrielle Union
Kerry Washington
Taraji P. Henson – WINNER
Tracee Ellis Ross
Viola Davis

Best Actor
Anthony Anderson
Idris Elba
Jussie Smollett
Kevin Hart
Terrence Howard – WINNER

Best Movie
“Annie”
“Beyond the Lights”
“Selma” ** WINNER
“Think Like a Man Too”
“Top Five”

Best Gospel Artist
Deitrick Haddon
Erica Campbell
Fred Hammond
Lecrae – WINNER
Mali Music
Michelle Williams

Video of the Year
Beyoncé – “7/11″ – WINNER
Chris Brown – “New Flame (feat. Usher & Rick Ross)”
Chris Brown – “Loyal (feat. Lil Wayne & Tyga)”
Big Sean – “I Don’t F**k with You (feat. E-40)”
Nicki Minaj – “Anaconda”
Common & John Legend – “Glory”

Video Director of the Year
Benny Boom
Beyoncé, Ed Burke & Todd Tourso – WINNER
Chris Robinson
Fatima Robinson
Hype Williams

Sportswoman of the Year
Brittney Griner
Candace Parker
Serena Williams – WINNER
Skylar Diggins
Venus Williams

Sportsman of the Year
Chris Paul
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Lebron James
Marshawn Lynch
Stephen Curry – WINNER

Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice Award
Beyoncé – “7/11″
Dej Loaf – “Try Me”
Kendrick Lamar – “i”
Nicki Minaj – “Only feat. Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown)” – WINNER
Rae Sremmurd – “Throw Sum Mo (feat. Nicki Minaj & Young Thug)”
The Weeknd – “Earned It”

Centric Award
Avery Sunshine – “Call My Name”
Jazmine Sullivan – “Dumb (feat. Meek Mill)”
Mark Ronson – “Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars)”
Sam Smith – “Stay with Me (feat. Mary J. Blige)”
The Weeknd – “Earned It” – WINNER

Producer Scott Storch Files for Bankruptcy: After $70 Million, All He has Left is $100?

Damn, the so called mighty (music wise anyway) has truly fallen down on his luck. Former mega producer Scott Storch, who produced mega-hits for artists like Beyoncé, Chris Brown and 50 Cent, is now in the poor house after his $70 million dollar fortune has now dwindled down to $100 in cash on hand.

TMZ reports that Storch filed bankruptcy yesterdayclaiming he has a grand total of $3,600 of assets to his name — $100 in cash, $500 in clothing and a $3k watch. Most shocking … his music companies are valued at $0.

Storch produced some of the biggest records in music history, including Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” and Aguilera’s “Fighter.”

He claims in bankruptcy docs he made a grand total of $10,000 last year.

As for how Storch lost his money, he reportedly blew through $30 mil in a 6 month span on drugs.

He also spent a fortune on cars, houses and other extravagances.

The White House Goes Purple: Prince and Stevie Wonder Jams for President Obama for Private Concert

 

Who knew the Commander-in-Chief was a fan of His Purple Majesty? Insiders gave the scoop to The Washington Post, which stated that a private VIP performance with Prince and his band 3rdEyeGirl at the White House last Saturday night was not on the president’s public schedule. ABC News added the White House confirmed the president and first lady hosted a private party that night, but declined to comment on the musical entertainment.

What the New York Post Page Six described as “a highly secretive event” was planned to celebrate African-American Music Appreciation Month. Prince reportedly played hits including “Kiss” and “Purple Rain” during the two-hour concert.

Twitter was ablaze with live tweets of the event:

Dancing at The whitehouse to Prince & Stevie Wonder w/ my lady @Ciara Thanks Mr. President & First… https://t.co/BxyKfV4yeT

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) June 14, 2015

President Obama, his wife and two daughters were reportedly joined by about 500 guests. The audience got a musical surprise as part of the show, when Prince brought Stevie Wonder onstage for a duet, with the two Hall of Fame musicians singing “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours.”

Leaving the White House party w/POTUS and FLOTUS. Awesome to see Prince and Stevie Wonder on keyboards together. Unbelievable experience.

— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) June 14, 2015

Included on the guest list were former Attorney General Eric Holder; Education Secretary Arne Duncan; White House National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and his date, singer Ciara; entertainers Jon Bon Jovi, James Taylor, Tyler Perry, Connie Britton and Angela Bassett.

True story: I met Michelle Obama for 5 seconds in 2010, asked if she’d ever invite Prince to the White House. She said “Ooh, I LOVE Prince.” — Chris _ _ Richards (@Chris__Richards) June 15, 2015

It ain’t The White House no more. #Prince #ThePurpleHouse pic.twitter.com/W3wRWiABLD

— FunkCat Brown (@FunkCatBrown) June 15, 2015

 Source

 

 

Jay Z’s Alleged Son Talks to the Media

 

21-year-old Rymir Satterthwaite, the man who recently claimed that he was fathered by Jay Z and petitioned the court to force Jay to take a DNA test, is now speaking to the media after his request was denied.

Rymir tells Radar Online:

“There was a whole lot of running around. We didn’t have enough information to push the case, to keep the case going.”
“I try not to get frustrated. I really try not to think about it and go on with my life — anything could happen but I still got to live for myself ”
“At the end of the day I still gotta work and bring income in for me. I just take one day at time and plan my life.”

Source

Prince Does Benefit Concert for Autism in Dubai

The Purple Majesty himself , Prince, recently performed in beautiful Dubai, in support for research in curing autism.

 Timeoutdubai.com reports that The Purple One descended on Dubai in typically mysterious fashion. Reminiscent of 2014’s guerrilla gigs around London, where he turned up at small venues at short notice and wowed crowds with two-hour sets filled with hits from the last 35 years, his gig at Pacha was a bit of a conundrum.

This was a fundraiser gig, tickets were sent out once a donation had been made to Autism Rocks. The organisation must have been delighted with the turn out because excitement in the run-up to the show was at fever pitch, and the intimate venue was packed with people eager to get a glimpse of the artist now known as Prince again at close quarters.

 

Joined by his latest band, the all-female 3RDEYEGIRL, he started with Let’s Go Crazy, the opener from classic album Purple Rain. And crazy we went, and stayed that way for the next two hours. Most of the songs were transformed by the tight band into a slow, groovy funk – with some sublime organ and guitar solos from Prince himself, and lead guitarist Donna Grantis.

With a back catalogue spanning more than three decades, there will always be some songs that don’t make the set list (no Where Doves Cry!) but hearing Prince perform Nothing Compares 2 U (which he wrote for a side project before Sinéad O’Connor made it famous) at touching distance will be more than enough for most fans.

With a strict no-cameras policy, the heavies at either side of the stage created their own light show by shining torches at people who tried to flout the rules – which caused a slight annoyance from time to time. But to moan about that would be churlish.

We witnessed one of music’s real legends, close-up. A songwriting genius, a virtuoso musician and a born showman, Prince didn’t let the elevator bring us down. His second (and final) encore comprised of a 15-minute Purple Rain, which brought the house down.

Gigs don’t get much better than this.

 

Is Bobbi Kristina’s Husband Nick Gordon Banned from Her Bedside at the Hospital?

 

There are reports coming out of Atlanta from ATL based hip hop website The Hip Hop Enquirer stating that Bobbi Kristina, who is on life support in a hospital in GA after being found unconscious in a bathtub (see here) has tight security around her room. Along with that tight security is a particular ban on her husband Nick Gordon.

‘Tyler Perry and Bobby Brown along with Bobby’s wife arrived at the hospital at around 7:30pm and have been by bedside with aunt Pat Houston. Sources are also telling us that husband Nick Gordon is not welcomed at the hospital and there is a current restraining order preventing him from being around Bobbi Kristina. Armed security is posted outside her 2nd floor room while Roswell Police are posted around the perimeter of the hospital.’

 Hip Hop Enquirer

Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of the late singer Whitney Houston, was found unresponsive in a bathtub in her Georgia home last Saturday. Brown’s husband, Nick Gordon, and a friend found her in the tub in the morning and started CPR, the Roswell Police Department said in a statement. Police and rescue personnel arrived at the home, north of Atlanta, at 10:25 a.m. and performed “life-saving measures” before Brown, 21, was brought breathing to the nearby North Fulton Hospital.

 

Chris Brown Shut Down By Authorities on VA Tour with Trey Songz

R&B singer Chris Brown and Trey Songz was supposed to kick off their Between the Sheets Tour tonight in Hampton, Va  tour tonight, but the long arm of the proverbial law has put an end to that quick.

Following the verdict handed down earlier this year by a judge revoking Chris’s probation in his assault case with Rihanna back in 2009, Chris has now been prohibited in kicking off hs appearance with trey tonight in VA. Chris did not get approval from the judge because his community service hours have not been completed.

Check out Breezy’s Instagram post below:

 

Tiger Woods’ Front Tooth Knocked Out

 

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Tiger Woods has another reason not to like cameras — it cost him a tooth.

Woods made a surprise visit to Italy on Monday to watch girlfriend Lindsey Vonn capture her record 63rd World Cup title. The photo that generated all the buzz was Woods missing his front tooth.

The culprit, according to his agent, was a camera.

“During a crush of photographers as the awards podium at the World Cup event in Italy, a media member with a shoulder-mounted video camera pushed and surged toward the stage, turned and hit Tiger Woods in the mouth,” Mark Steinberg of Excel Sports said in an email. “Woods’ tooth was knocked out by the incident.”

Woods had been wearing a scarf with a skeleton pattern over the lower part of his face, sunglasses and a stocking cap. The photo was taken when the scarf was lowered.

Steinberg was traveling and did not say when Woods would have the tooth replaced. Golf’s biggest — and most photographed — star returns to competition next week in the Phoenix Open, and his smile is sure to produce a stream of shutters from the cameras.

Woods has a long history with cameras, often frustrated when shutters go off in the middle of his swing. One notable episode came during the Skins Game in 2002 when a corporate photographer clicked his camera as Woods was hitting a shot from the bunker on the final hole. His former caddie, Steve Williams, took the camera and set it on a steep bank of a pond so that it tumbled into the water.

Another time, Woods was on the verge of his first bogey-free tournament at a World Golf Championship in Ireland when a camera clicked at the top of his tee shot. He made bogey, but still won.

Fox’s ‘Empire’ Renewed for 2nd Season after only 2 Episodes

 

After only 2 epsiodes aired in its first season. Fox’s hit new TV series ‘Empire’ featuring Academy nominated actors Terrance Howard and Taraji P. Henson, has been renewed for a second season.

“What you’re seeing is that shows with people of color can make money, they can be successful,” series star Taraji P. Henson said Saturday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, when asked about the (already renewed) freshman drama’s cast, which is atypically diverse for a broadcast offering. “And when things make money, people get interested. People want to be a part of it.”

TV Line reports that Henson’s middle TV son, Jussee Smollett, echoed those words, saying: “People want to see people that look like them, and they want to see people that do not look like them.”

So why has it taken this long for a broadcast network to serve up a primetime soap opera centered on an African-American family? “It was time,” series cocreator Lee Daniels said plainly. “[Cocreator] Danny [Strong] came at me with this idea after [we did the 2013 film] The Butler, and it was just time.”

Empire also has been lauded for bringing to the fore the touchy topic of homophobia in the African-American community, through hard-to-watch sequences in which family patriarch Lucious Lyon (played by Terrence Howard) verbally and physically abuses his closeted gay son, even when Jamal was but a tyke.

“Homophobia is rampant in the African-American community, and men are on the DL — they don’t come out,” Daniels observed. “And I wanted to blow the lid off [that].”

As for the at-times rough language and epithets that come with the derision of Jamal, “We are not doing PC [politically correct] shows,” Howard explained. “We are behind closed doors in a family situation, telling it as honestly as possible. Because that [homophobia] is what’s taught in most [African-American and Latino] households throughout the world.”

By depicting the truth of those despicable dynamics, “We’re giving people the opportunity to see what they’re doing is painful,” Howard said. “I hate that I have to carry that mantle [as Lucious, but] I’m glad I could show the African-American community, ‘This is what you’re doing to yourself.’”