Tag: "taylor swift"

With all those Grammys she won in early 2012, it comes as no surprise that powerhouse soul/pop singer Adele has been dubbed Entertainer Of The Year by Associated Press. Not just singer of the year, or musician, but entertainer. That means she even beat out that guy down the street with the flaming hula hoop and the unicycle! And let me tell you, that guy is one hell of an entertainer. AP readers and staff rated her far above other major entertainers and celebrities such as Taylor Swift, E.L. James (author of Fifty Shades of Grey), PSY, and the entire Twilight cast. Now that’s some high praise.

While she did not release a new album or do a world tour this year, Adele’s singles from 2011 still remain among the most highly played tracks on radio, television, in movies, and more. We seemingly can’t get enough Adele. Her most recent accomplishment, apart from delivering a baby, of course, is the single “Skyfall,” written to be the title theme of the new James Bond film. According to Billboard, “The song recently received a Golden Globe nomination. No Bond theme has ever won the best original song Oscar, but given Adele’s awards success thus far, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think she has a chance of changing that.” Regardless of whether she wins or not, Adele has still achieved more in one year than most entertainers do in their lifetime.

If you like Adele, then check OurStage artist Brittany Campbell.

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There’s been a lot of hype around the release of Taylor Swift’s latest music video, “I Knew You Were Trouble.” After MTV’s 30-second teaser Thursday morning, we finally got a peak at the video during Thursday night’s premiere.

Tattered clothes, messy hair, parties, and escapades all make an appearance in this video, which although not unique to the music scene itself, is a first for Swift.

“I had just gone through an experience that made me write this song about knowing the second you see someone like, ‘Oh, this is going to be interesting. It’s going to be dangerous, but look at me going in there anyway,” Swift told MTV News’ Sway Calloway.

Featuring Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark star Reeve Carney as Swift’s love interest, the video is a fast-paced look into the world of troubled love.

Although the spoken word intro airs on the side of dramatic, seeing Swift outside of her element is a refreshing change. Check out the video for yourself right here and let us know your thoughts on Swift’s latest approach.

If you like Taylor Swift, check out OurStage artist Angela Everwood.

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• Taylor Swift Performs “Begin Again” On CMA Awards

Just the other day, we promised you a Taylor Swift video that would catch the pop country sweetheart out of her element and exploring new terrain. Wednesday night, as part of their Big & Best of 2012 live stream, MTV aired a short clip of Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” music video.

The video is short, and in truth most of the 30-second clip is MTV advertising the music video premiere. However brief, the clip shows a confused Swift lying in the dirt, hair tousled and clothes ripped, while flashbacks of a party the night before flood the screen.

We had been told this video would document the more poisonous side of relationships and by the looks of it, Swift wasn’t kidding.

“We knew we wanted it to be [about] some sort of corruption — good girl is living her life, going on about her life … and all of a sudden she runs into this force. This guy is just like a force,” Swift said. “She’ll do anything to fit into his world, including change about herself.”

Check out the video right here and catch the premiere Dec. 13 at 4:40pm ET on MTV.

If you like Taylor Swift, check out OurStage artist Devin Belle.

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When you’re turning 23 and on top of the world, what better way is there to celebrate than by releasing your 23rd music video? For Taylor Swift, Thursday will not only mark a new age, but a brand new music video for “I Knew You Were Trouble.”

Directed by Anthony Mandler (Rihanna, fun., Lana Del Rey), and featuring Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark star, Reeve Carney as Swift’s troubled love interest, the video is a different approach for Swift, departing from her typical videos and by the looks of it giving way to a little more edge.

“As soon as I started writing this song, I knew it was different from anything else on the record, so I knew I wanted the video to be different from anything we’d done ever done,” Swift told MTV. “I wanted to tell the story of a girl who falls into a world that’s too fast for her, and suffers the consequences.”

The video will air on MTV at 4:40pm ET, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Can’t wait? Check out some behind the scenes photos from the shoot over at MTV.com.

If you like Taylor Swift, check out OurStage artist Jessica Lynn.

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Forbes has released their annual Top 25 list for the highest-paid musicians in 2012. While we may wish that it was swarming with OurStage artists (all in due time) we’re certain you’ll recognize and love more than a few of these names.

Topping the list this year is Dr. Dre with $110 million in earnings, to which he owes a great deal of thanks to his Beats headphone line. You’ll also find long time favorites Elton John ($80 million) and U2 ($78 million) among the list, with the fresh faces of Taylor Swift ($57 million) and Justin Bieber ($55 million) not far behind. Check out the full list after the jump. Continue reading ‘Top 25 Highest-Paid Musicians: Do Your Favorites Make The List?’

A recipe for Departures: take equal parts ’90s emo and melodic hardcore, swirl, and let age for several years. Then sip lightly; you might burn your tongue. Brooding guitars, ragged vocals, and pounding drums jostle for space within the UK band’s darkly emotive songs of loss, aging, and mistakes. Last month, the band signed with the fast-growing No Sleep Records and their debut full-length Teenage Haze is out today. We caught up with guitarist Daniel Nash to chat about growing up in a band, touring in continental Europe, and their eclectic listening tastes.

OS: What’s the meaning behind the title Teenage Haze?  Does the album art have anything to do with the title as well?

Teenage Haze is a phrase taken from the song “The Home Stretch.” The song is about going back to your home town and experiencing that weird nostalgia, rose-tinted (or not) memories of growing up. There’s a lot of it in the album so we thought it fit pretty well. Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Departures Talk Time, Age, and T-Swift’

These last few weeks it seems like we’ve been posting more celebrity performances than not, and with the wave of awards shows recently, that’s not likely to stop any time soon.

Though there was a ton of performances on last night’s American Music Awards, we wanted to bring you our top five, in no particular order. Check out performances by PSY, Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, Ke$ha and Christina Aguilera after the jump.

First up, PSY and MC Hammer. Though the pair was the final slot on the American Music Awards, , it was a killer performance that has since gone viral. Sporting the famed ”hammer pants,” PSY and MC Hammer nail it in this performance of “Gangnam Style.”

After promoting her latest album, Red, you’d think Taylor Swift would be a little exhausted. After all, she’s been appearing on every talk show and awards show for over a month now. However, right after accepting her award for Best Country Female, Swift launched into her masquerade themed performance of “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Though we love “Never Ever Getting Back Together” as much as the next site, it was nice to see a shift in performance choice.

Following up Taylor Swift in our performance list, comes the equally adored Carly Rae Jepsen, taking home the New Artist of the Year award and performing on a stage that featured colorful old-school phone booths, and plenty of glitter and glam. Jepsen stole fan’s hearts with “This Kiss” before and “Call Me Maybe.”

Ke$ha lived up to her reputation, with a wild performance of “Die Young,” featuring a light show, tribal drummers and even a drum performance by Ke$ha herself.

Speculated as one of the best performances at this year’s American Music Awards Christina Aguilera took to the stage Sunday night to perform a few songs from Lotus, including the title track, “Army Of Me” and “Let There Be Love.” Not only does this performance showcase Aguilera’s incredible vocal range and multitude of talents, but we catch her smiling once or twice throughout the performance, proving once again the passion she has for the stage.

If you like Christina Aguilera, check out OurStage artist Shianne Mariah Phillips.

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Thursday night’s CMA Awards was without a doubt, a star studded event. With acts like Kelly Clarkson and co-hosts Carrie Underwood, and Brad Paisley gracing the red carpet and sharing the stage, audiences waited in anticipation for not only the night’s winners, but also the event’s highly anticipated performances. Among them, Taylor Swift.

Performing “Begin Again,” off her latest release, Red, Swift’s set mimicked the song’s French-inspired music video.

Though Swift did not receive awards for nominations in Vocalist of the Year and Musical Event of the Year for Safe & Sound with The Civil Wars, she did receive a standing ovation for her performance. Check out the performance right here and let us know-how did she do?

If you like Taylor Swift, check out OurStage artist Ria.

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• Taylor Swift Drops New Track: “I Knew You Were Trouble”
• Exclusive Q and A: Easton Corbin Comes Back with ‘All Over the Road’

Risa Binder not only lives in Nashville, she revels in it.

The country-pop singer songwriter may have grown up in Columbia, Maryland, but her heart was in Music City, after she found Loretta Lynn and then other icons such as Alison Krauss. Little wonder that the reality of living and working in Nashville — not to mention actually having Krauss drop by the studio in which Binder was recording her debut “Paper Heart” — still takes her breathe away.

“I just go and sit in the Bluebird Cafe and soak everything up,” said Binder. “Nashville is so crazy. It’s so exciting to be hear and hear a song come to life and play it and know others hear it. It’s all about everyone creating music.” Continue reading ‘Your Country’s Right Here: Risa Binder Makes Country Pop’

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• Happy Halloween from Diplo.