Bark + Bite

Blast from the Past: Mya gets recognized

Mya, surprisingly, attracted paparazzi attention recently when she walked in to a New York to get her hurr did. Mya hasn't been a high profile celeb in the spotlight since her collaboration with Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim and Pink on "Lady Marmalade." That's not to say she didn't release music, she did. But the albums flopped hard and now she's a Japan-only artist. FAIL.

Watch the video below.

Can some talented producer resurrect Mya's career?

Anoop Desai talks life after Idol

Anoop Dogg may have been shown the door when he was voted off of Idol last week, but the Indian-American R&B crooner is hoping that other doors will open for him in the music business. Anoop says that he would like to fall into an R&B/Pop style like that of Ne-Yo. Watch Anoop talk about Idol, his musical influences and the idea of doing a collabo with Snoop.

The Ne-Yo sound will definitely work with Anoop, but isn't that sound sort of on its last legs? Think about it, Ne-Yo's "Closer" was a hit but it was a slow burner. And his current single "Mad" isn't exactly burning up the charts. Then there's the issue of race, will black audiences embrace an R&B singer who's Indian-American? Will Anoop be able to connect with the audience without having to resort to cringe-inducing, forced slang and ill-fitting guest rap features? Black audiences have taken to white rappers and singers before but an Indian one would be new and groundbreaking.

After the irreparable damage William Hung did to Asian-Americans looking to pursue a career in showbiz, Anoop is turning out to be a great example of the talent in the Asian-American community. Reach for the stars, Anoop Dogg. Whatever you do, just don't sign to Bad Boy.

Diddy is looking for assistants again

Do you like to be defecated on, mistreated, overworked, insulted, yelled at, underfed, underpaid and underappreciated? Then you should go work for Diddy. Last year, Diddy launched a bid for a new assistant with his VH1 reality show, "I Want to Work for Diddy." The show wasn't a massive success but it did spawn two new reality celebrities, Poprah, a self-proclaimed "personal Oprah," and LaVerne, a male-to-female transexual. In the end, when Diddy was supposed to make a decision between Suzanne, the Ivy League MBA grad, and Mike, the young "hustler" upstart, Diddy was "kind" and chose both as his assistants. We haven't heard from them since.

Well, judging by the ad looking for new assistants for the SECOND season of "I Want to Work for Diddy," it looks like Mike and Suzanne were either fired or laid-off. Or maybe, just maybe, like Diddy's other reality show, the whole thing was fake and these two never worked for Diddy once the cameras stopped rolling. I wouldn't put it past Diddy.

The unemployment rate may be at an all-time high, but at least one person is hiring...DIDDY.

VH1 and Sean P. Diddy Combs are now accepting resumes for potential candidates to compete for the position of P.Diddy's Personal Assistant on the reality TV show, "I WANT TO WORK FOR DIDDY 2."

Diddy will once again hold a nationwide search for an Assistant with the mental and physical stamina it takes to work for one of the world's most high profile CEOs.

A batch of new hopefuls will once again be put through the rigors of what it takes to win one of the toughest, but most rewarding jobs in "the business."

Rewarding? Only if you consider 90-hour work weeks, no sleep and cleaning up the Diddy twins' poopy diapers to be rewarding. If you're a glutton for punishment and want some facetime on VH1, you can apply to be a slave for Bad Boy here.

The judges left Mary J. Bland in tears

Lil' Rounds was given the boot last week with Anoop Desai and homegirl is still stinging from the judge's barbs about her lackluster performance on Idol. Mary J. Bland still believes she made the right song choices and that her run on Idol was successful. The only thing that hurt her in MJB's wacky world, is the judge's unfair and harsh critiques of her. She thinks the judges turned America against her. Take some responsibility Lil' Rounds, your narcolepsy-inducing karaoke sessions are what made America send you packing.

Watch Mary J. Bland spin and gripe about the judges.

Simon needs to come and karate chop this hen in the throat. If she's lucky, she can be Fantasia's understudy on the off-Broadway version of "The Color Purple."

Did you know Kara DioGuardi can sing?

You probably heard that Kara DioGuardi is an accomplished songwriter, having worked with the likes of Pink, The Pussycat Dolls and Kelly Clarkson, but did you know that she also can sang? Kara showed off her vocal prowess at the ASCAP awards. Watch.

Well, she certainly blows Paula Abdul out of the water, doesn't she? Everyone had Idol on the brain at the ASCAP awards with Adam and Allison being cited as Fergie's favorites. Who are you rooting for?

Dawn is in bed with the Filthy Currency clique

As Dawn and Diddy announced at the Making the Band finale, the only chick Diddy is riding with from DK is Dawn Richard, Que's main squeeze. Dawn also revealed that she is now a member of Dirty Money, which consists of her, Diddy and some other chick named Keelena. First off, I'm stunned that Diddy is basically SHARING his solo album with two low budget chicks. Diddy doesn't like to share anything, especially not the spotlight, so wow. Maybe he's turning over a new leaf?

I'm curious to hear what "The Last Train to Paris" will sound like but damn, Dawn sure squashed her former bandmates to get a spot in that group. Basically, all of the backbiting that Dawn was accused of by Aubrey and D. Woods was true. Dawn was being prepped to be plucked out of DK for Diddy's special project all along, and Aubrey and D were resentful of that. The whole thing melted and erupted like lava from a Hawaiian volcano, leaving DK and their fans in the messy situation they're in now.

This makes me wonder if the whole "break up" of DK wasn't organized by Diddy to pull Dawn out for this "Paris" album to begin with. It's clear Diddy didn't have much faith in the girls that were selected for DK. He barely put the money in to promote them and even when they succeeded against the odds, ("Damaged" top ten Billboard Hot 100 single) Diddy and Bad Boy never made the girls their top priority. Diddy is and remains Bad Boy's top priority. Day26, I hope you're ready to be released back in the wild soon too.

In addition to Dawn rolling with the Dirty Currency gang, she also "hopes" to have a solo album released. I think that'll depend on whether or not Dusty Change works as a group. If not, Dawn will get the boot with the rest of the girls. But imagining Dawn as a solo artist is a tough pill to swallow. Yeah, she can sing, but she seems pretty dull personality-wise and her looks certainly don't have Rihanna or Beyonce sweating her. And if both those projects tank, Dawn seems to have a DK reunion as a backup.

Congratulations to Dawn for stepping on her bandmates to get where she is today, but I'm still Team Aubrey O'Day!

Kanye of the Jungle

Kanye is the modern king of music videos in an era where music video budgets have been slashed and burned. Yeezy puts as much thoughts into his music videos and he does in conceiving the concepts for his albums. "Jesus Walks" was deep. "Stronger" was breathtaking. "Touch the Sky" was hilarious. But "Amazing," Ye's newest video is just straight up perplexing.

Kanye teamed up with music video's Yoda, Hype Williams, yet again for the clip. As the video starts we're greeted by the spare percussion and a set of hands drumming. Then we cut to a bonfire and Kanye's shadowed face growling through the first few lines of the verse. The mood is dark, moody and ominous and then the chorus breaks and we see tropical paradise and the vast ocean. Shot after shot we're treated to stunning shots of nature, filtered through Hype's trademark fish eye lens shots, but I'm not connecting what the hell this has to do with the song. The next set up has Kanye in the jungle and the formula repeats. The only effective part I thought was the last 30 seconds of the video, when the instrumentals plays on and Kanye's riding on the boat with the ocean behind him as the piano plays him out. It speaks to the loneliness and self-examination that the song touches on.

Watch Kanye West's "Amazing" video, brought to you by National Geographic....

This concept could've been much more effective if Kanye and Yeezy didn't look so out of place. Why is Kanye is the wild in a designer jean jacket? What is Young Jeezy doing in the jungle with Kanye? Why don't their verses tie in together more in the video? Who was the tribal woman? So many questions, yet no clear answers. Also, this environmentally-focused video isn't the first one Hype has done. He did a winter version of this for Mary J. Blige's "Stay Down," which was equally disastrous.

Denzel and Travolta make riding the metro scary

As if the crowds, high ticket prices and funny smells aren't enough to make people wary of the metro, Denzel Washington and John Travolta team up to make the metro an even scarier place by imagining a hostage situation on the subway. The basic plot is: Denzel plays a subway transit operator, managing the metro system of NYC, and John Travolta plays a maniacal  criminal who hijacks a subway train and holds the passengers hostage, threatening to kill them off unless he gets paid within the hour.

Watch the trailer.

Nail-biting stuff, right? The movie doesn't strike me as being terribly original, it's essentially Speed 3: Metro Melee. But that doesn't mean it won't be a good time. Definitely seems like a great group movie where you can laugh, cover your eyes, grip your seat or cop a feel on your date during the boring parts.

I have to wonder though, why does John Travolta do crazy so well? Is it the Scientology blessings? Cause Tom Cruise handles wacky quite aptly too.