There is definitely something about Mary, I mean Mary J. Blige. She’s sings from the heart and wears her feelings on her sleeve and because of all that raw honesty she has developed an unparalleled fan base, that is almost cult-like, especially in New York. At her sold out performance at Radio City Music Hall last night, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul didn’t even have to sing a few songs at all because it seemed like the entire audience knew all the words by heart. This is the closest thing I’ve seen to a call and response exchange in a secular venue. That’s why Mary’s shows are not for the casual fan, if you don’t know Mary and her music you’ll probably feel out of place. And plan on standing, as we did, for at least 80% of the show. Read the full story

Janet Jackson’s Discipline Tour is not going so well. Her brief (and mysterious) hospitalization earlier this week caused her to cancel at least two shows. Other bloggers speculated that she was either pregnant or simply old. At 42, she may have a couple of decades on Rihanna, but she is not the oldest chick in the game. And these days, old certainly doesn’t mean incapable.  Read the full story

It seems like we’ve been waiting for this day forever. Jennifer Hudson is finally releasing her first CD! And unlike some other stars, we don’t have any doubts that she can really sing. But can you believe that it has been just about four years since we first heard her powerhouse vocals (along with Simon’s snide comments that included telling her that cruise ship singing was probably all she could do)? Read the full story

There was a time when an award show wasn’t complete without a hot female hip-hop artist being called up to the podium. If we were to judge by the lineup of VH1 Hip-Hop Honors or the nominations for BET Hip-Hop Awards, there are no sisters worthy of this honor.  Just the usual suspects Kanye, Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z. Margeaux Watson provided the scoop in this week’s Entertainment Weekly. Read the full story

Tonight was the premiere of the third season of Ugly Betty. I don’t know if the reason I enjoy this show is because I worked at a magazine named MODE for four years (and howl at how the ‘glamourous’ magazine world is depicted) or that I delight in the combination of campiness and earnestness. Well after watching today’s show I know it isn’t Betty’s fish-out-of-water story alone that keeps me coming back. Actually, it is Vanessa Williams’ devilishly over-the-top portrayal of Wilhemina Slater. Read the full story

A few weeks ago I heard that Michigan Republicans were going to have officials at polling places to make sure that anyone who is facing (or already experienced) foreclosure didn’t try to use their current (or old) address to vote. According to today’s The New York Times this is not is not an isolated incident. In fact, this is an issue in all the other so-called swing states too like Ohio, Florida and Colorado. But I am sure that it won’t stop there. Read the full story

On Sunday evening, when the Living Single Reunion Show was scheduled to air on TV One, I had a house full of people and I was disappointed that I didn’t get to watch it. Later I tuned to that deadly boring telecast on the Emmy’s (grumbling to myself that I should have recorded the Living Single reunion instead.) Well tonight, I abandoned my attempt to support Toni Braxton and watched reruns of the comedy instead until a repeat of the reunion show came on. Read the full story

Tonight, those of you who watch reality tv will be glued to your sets for the three night premiere of Dancing With the Stars. Among the celebrity dancers will be six-time Grammy winner, Toni Braxton. When I watched the promo for the show and I heard that this sister had indeed one that many awards, all I could think was ‘Girl what happened to your career?’ Read the full story

There are about two weeks before Jennifer Hudson’s debut CD hits stores. But yesterday I heard her duet with Fantasia on a another blog. It’s nice to hear these two sisters with powerful lungs work together on a song. Read the full story

I don’t think that any of us judge how successful a singer is by her place on the Billboard chart. In fact, most of us don’t know how hot someone is until they go platinum (or we’ve heard their single a million times and its repeats in our head over and over). But I was surprised when I took a look at Billboard’s list of the top 100 songs of the last 50 years and found only six sisters listed among all those slots. Sadder still, not one of our girls were among the top 20 album list by the magazine for the same time frame. Read the full story