Bark + Bite

Lady Gaga doesn't mind the Madonna comparisons

Ever since Lady Gaga came out with her "Express Yourself"-sounding single, the comparisons to Madonna have run rampant. And at times, Gaga and her team have come off pretty defensive about the whole thing.

But in an interview with Stephen Fry for the Financial Times, Gaga said she is flattered and honored by any of the comparisons to Madonna and she freely admitted that Madonna influenced her latest album, Born This Way.

"[The Madonna comparison] does not annoy me at all. You know what does annoy me? When journalists try to make it look like it annoys me. I genuinely love her so much. I think she is so amazing, she could never be replicated.

She's wonderful and inspiring and liberating. And she certainly inspired my album, as did David Bowie, as did Prince, as did Michael Jackson, as did Grace Jones. So there's my mission statement. If anything, thank you from the bottom of my heart for comparing me to these legendary people."

And there you have it. Gaga has paid sufficient homage and she's cited all of her influences. Can the "Lady Gaga just steals from XYZ artist" complainers have a seat now?

The fact that Gaga is still paying homage to Grace Jones, despite Grace's numerous public attacks on her is also a classy move on Gaga's part. Kill 'em with kindness, as they say.

Rihanna livens up 'Today' with sexy Loud preview

What a morning for New York City.

Things got a little loud this morning in Rockefeller Plaza as Rihanna stopped by to kick off the Today Show’s Summer Concert Series.

The sexy, scarlet-haired starlet sauntered down the streets of New York City in high waisted black booty shorts and a blue and black striped midriff sweater singing "S&M" with a flock of dancers dressed in suits, flouncy skirts and sunglasses.

The performance and brief interview came one week and one day before the start of RiRi’s Loud Tour, which kicks off in Baltimore on June 4.

While the Grammy-award-winning singer’s awkwardly placed (and rather large) pin curls were a little distracting, the performance was hardly a disappointment as Rihanna humped, dipped and body rolled all over the lit up stage.

Rihanna gave the Rockefeller Plaza audience and the millions of at-home viewers a taste of things to come on her tour, singing “S &M,” “Only Girl in The World, “ “What’s My Name” laced with island flavor and giving a heartfelt live rendition of  “California King Bed.”

There’s no doubt that this performance was toned down for the morning show audience, but it was a satisfactory tease of things to come.

Watch the performances from the Today Show concert below

Top 10 Songs in the US

1 ADELE / ROLLING IN THE DEEP
- Adele has the best and baddest struggle tears in the music industry. Hell hath no fury...

2 KATY PERRY FEAT KANYE WEST / E.T.
- So does the longterm reign of this song mean most Americans believe in aliens?

3 PITBULL FEAT NE-YO, NAYER / GIVE ME EVERYTHING
- Let's face it, there isn't a club on the face of this earth that doesn't have a VIP table reserved for Pitbull at this point.

4 BLACK EYED PEAS / CAN'T GET ENOUGH
- What if the wiring in will.i.am's plastic wig short circuited and caused him to start producing Renaissance music?

5 JENNIFER LOPEZ FEAT PITBULL / ON THE FLOOR
- So radio and everybody is just gonna ignore "I'm Into You" and its love controller, huh?

6 BRUNO MARS / THE LAZY SONG
- Some days you just feel so lazy that even blinking feels like an effort. You've given a voice to our struggles, Bruno.

7 BRITNEY SPEARS FEAT NICKI MINAJ AND KE$HA/ TILL THE WORLD ENDS
- Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha should get community service credit for propping up the disabled on this record. *runs*

8  LMFAO / PARTY ROCK ANTHEM
- America is really in love with trance/house music co-mingling with hip hop. Soulja Boy better wake up and smell the coffee if he wants to win.

9 LUPE FIASCO / SHOW GOES ON
- The protests have finally paid off. Lupe's back in the mainstream's good graces!

10 CHRIS BROWN FEAT BUSTA RHYMES AND LIL' WAYNE / LOOK AT ME NOW
- Diplo is cashing in big time off of this, and probably fielding calls from thirsty pop stars like Nicole Scherzinger who's in search of a hit.

SOURCE: Billboard Hot 100

Hamilton Park: An R&B group with conviction

It all started in a park. Anthony, Mr. Marcus Lee, Chris Voice and Royce P used to play basketball together in Hamilton Park and their bond as brothers has sustained them as they embark on their journey into the music industry. And they've got one of the best heads in the business guiding them: Andre Harrell.

Andre Harrell teamed up with Radio One's "Superstar Soul Search" in a bid to find new talent, which brought him to Atlanta. The boys, unfortunately, missed the registration deadline, but fate still brought them together, as word about the upstart R&B group reached Harrell's ears. When they finally did audition for the legendary record executive, he felt that they reminded him of Jodeci, and he soon signed them to his label Harrell Records.

Now, Hamilton Park is on a promo tour promoting their first single "Thing Called Us" and we had the opportunity to ask the guys a few questions about life, music and their faith.

Lady Gaga scares your children, performs "Edge of Glory" on Idol

Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory" is a rather optimistic song about life inspired by the death of her grandfather. After roughly two years of doom and gloom from Gaga, it's a bit of a breath of fresh air, really, even if it does follow the worn out path of "love yourself, believe in yourself" anthems that all the pop divas (Katy Perry, Pink, Ke$ha, etc.) have been trotting out.

But for her performance of the song on Idol, Gaga bathed the stage in darkness and perched herself atop a faux mountain, overdecorated in glittered studs, black leather and other biker wear. The weirdness factor really hit the roof when Gaga and a male dancer engaged in an interpretive dance break during the sax solo. It was like a community college theater performance, crossed with The Dark Crystal and Kanye's BET Awards performance of "Power." As always with Gaga, the end result was fascinating in a "I-don't-know-what-I'm-seeing-but-I-can't-look-away" kind of way.

Can we love Beyonce till the world ends?

All Hail Queen B.

Last night on the star-studded American Idol finale,which featured almost as many big names as the Oprah farewell, Queen B proved that she herself runs the world with the performance of her newest single “1+1.”

Yes, Lady Gaga belted out "The Edge of Glory" atop a cliff that she jumped off of at the end, yes, Carrie Underwood and Lauren Alaina tried to one-up each other in a  "Before He Cheats" duet, and yes, Judas Priest, U2 and Steven Tyler all performed. 

But...did ya'll see Beyonce? 

Justin Bieber lives out teenage dreams in perfume commercial

It smells like teen spirit. And apparently, teen spirit makes a flighty Justin Bieber appear, planting kisses on your neck and whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

Did you hear that? That’s the sound of a million teeny-boppers squealing.

A couple days ago, the teen- king-of-all-things-pop announced that he would be launching a women’s fragrance and on Tuesday a 30-second commercial for the scent went viral.

Every time the doe-eyed blonde with flowing waves sprays a hint of “Someday” onto her elongated neck the Biebs appears; holding hands with her as they float among iridescent clouds, kissing her neck in the exact spot she sprayed the perfume, gazing into her eyes through the mirror on her vanity.  This commercial is a fairytale Justin Bieber fantasy.

The YouTube revolution for Beyonce's "Run The World" has begun

After Beyonce unveiled the simple but powerful video for "Single Ladies" back in 2008, she unwittingly sparked a YouTube revolution. Thousands of people uploaded their own takes on the superstar's iconic choreography resulting in millions of views on YouTube and launching the "careers" of a few demi celebrities who got 15 minutes of fame.

While Beyonce's latest single, "Run The World (Girls)," got off to a slow start, after the video premiered in full and delivering eye-popping performances of the song at the Billboard Awards and on Oprah, the YouTube goodies are starting to trickle in.

Watch three YouTube videos paying tribute to Beyonce's latest jam