Blog: Idolator

J. Cole 's single "Power Trip" has become inescapable on the radio, but he continues to showcase how masterful it is when performed live. The rapper performed the track last night (May 21) on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon  sans Miguel , who may still be in hiding after that  Billboard  awards smackdown . Backed by The Roots , Cole gave a simple and laid-back performance. Cole's forthcoming sophomore album, Born Sinner , will be released on June 18 — the same day as Kanye West 's  [...]

Paris Hilton , known in certain circles (like "my friends") as "the greatest recording artist of all time," is slated to release her long-anticipated second studio album on Birdman 's Cash Money Records, produced by  Afrojack  (her ex!) and featuring collaborators like  Lil Wayne . "This is a lot different than my first album," she said. "It's really going to be house music." At a party at the Hotel du Cap this weekend (where else?), Hilton told showbiz reporter Roger Friedman that the LP should be due out this summer (although she's been saying that for awhile, [...]

Each month, we take a look at our favorite pop stars gracing the glossy covers of fashion, health, music and lifestyle magazines across the world and ask you to choose the best cover! It's nearly June! And just in time for the approaching summer season, four of our favorite pop princesses are now smoldering on the covers of major fashion, style and fitness magazines across the world. Britney Spears has us begging to seek Amy with her tight, toned physique on the cover of Shape Magazine , Selena Gomez [...]

In this very special episode of My Crazy Beautiful Life , Ke$ha drinks her own pee. Remember how you read about that happening not that long ago? Wondering if the context of this episode will explain why? You're in for a huge disappointment. For those of you just joining us, this is the fifth piece of the six-part series as part of a documentary chronicling the two years of Ke$ha's first world tour. As a reminder, her brother, Lagan , is the voice and eyes behind the camera. This episode picks up [...]

Did you hear?  Kelly Rowland  has an album coming out! Yes, the "Kisses Down Low" songstress' fourth studio album,  Talk a Good Game , is finally getting an official release — and last night, the tracklist was unveiled, which is fine timing for the newly announced X Factor  judge . A collaboration with  Beyonce  and  Michelle Williams  had already been tipped, but there are a few other guests rounding out the roster:  Wiz Khalifa, Kevin Cossom, Pusha T  and  The-Dream . (He's relegated to a bonus track, but still.) Game  drops June 18, but [...]

Is Adam Levine just torturing his fans by going shirtless in his new video, but doing it in a sort of weird way where it's not entirely sexy? Yes! Yes, he probably is. In the video for Maroon 5 's new single "Love Somebody" (which might be my favorite single from Overexposed — it's actually played pretty straight, rather than some overproduced funk-pop monstrosity), Levine uses inverse blue-screen technology (or whatever) with his body (and the body of a sexy model, since it's Adam Levine) covered in a viscous [...]

Oklahoma native  Blake Shelton and his wife, Miranda Lambert , start Tuesday’s episode of The Voice on a somber note. The two sing a moving duet of Shelton’s hit “Over You,” and dedicate the performance to the tornado victims in his home state. As with all of the live performances during the show in this episode, information on how viewers can donate to the disaster relief effort ( redcross.org or 1-800-HELP-NOW) is featured at the bottom of the screen. It’s a classy moment for the show, and for the country coach... ...only to [...]

Did You Hear? :: Beyonce is a "Grown Woman," but even grown women can get sick. The superstar recently postponed a show in Belgium under doctor's orders,  and now we learn before that, while still on tour for the Mrs. Carter Show, she was diagnosed with tonsillitis. Get this gal some chicken soup, stat! [ Vibe Vixen ] :: Speaking of Bey, she recently posted an adorable photo of daughter Blue Ivy Carter on tour with her. The still-only child has her [...]

Before landing a flying scissor kick on two unsuspecting fans at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday (May 19), Miguel hit up the pre-show blue carpet to talk about his next batch of Art Dealer Chic EPs. If you'll recall, the singer first released three free EPs with that title in 2012 ahead of Kaleidoscope Dream , and earlier this year he  promised he'd have three more installments . Speaking with Billboard , he confirmed that the next three volumes will be free, and that they should drop in July, [...]

T.I. and Lil Wayne take Miami by storm in the video for "Wit Me," their new collaboration building buzz for their joint America's Most Wanted tour . The video was directed by  Philly FlyBoy , and finds the rappers cruising South Florida on land and on water in fast cars and fast boats, like a modern day Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice , except without all that distracting cop work. Check it out up top. We know Weezy keeps saying he's fine , but it's good to see him [...]

Pharrell dialed into smooth '70s disco with Daft Punk on two  Random Access Memories   tracks, " Get Lucky" and "Lose Yourself to Dance." But for his new solo track, "Happy," Mr. Williams digs back a little bit further, to the '60s. The result is a soulful, catchy little jaunt reminiscent of Cee Lo Green 's recent work – all handclaps and singalongs and retro pop simplicity. "Happy" is off the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, which Pharrell co-produced with composer Heitor Pereira (Pharrell also helmed the music for [...]

• Pharrell Williams - "Happy"

Ahoy! Let's go around the world, shall we? As per usual in this week's round-up of  Pop Goes the World , I've lassoed some Scandinavians (no surprise there) — the lovely  Oh Land  from Denmark, Eurovision contestant  Margaret Berger  (spoiler alert: she didn't win; spoiler alert 2: she's amazing) and Swedish alt-popsters  Kate Boy — as well as the ultra-hip  Sinead Harnett  (via the UK) and an Australian DJ named  Lancelot  who's positively royal. Passports out? Cool. Let's do it.

Last week, Diplo posted a string of tweets offering up his unflattering thoughts on Daft Punk 's Random Access Memories . We felt they were pretty entertaining, even though they were lightly jabbing an album which we enjoyed quite a lot. Daft Punk diehards didn't find the comments so funny, though, and apparently stormed Diplo's Twitter and Facebook to the point that the DJ-producer felt the need to respond. Today (May 21), Diplo posted a letter clarifying his thoughts on RAM . "My all time favorite daft [...]

We're not gonna pretend like we know the difference between Miss USA and Miss America, but now we have a handy device to distinguish the two (for this year, at least): Miss USA is the one that will have a  Jonas Brothers  performance. The JoBros will try to get all the contestants at this year's Miss USA pageant to put their pom poms down on June 16, and Nick Jonas is co-hosting the whole broadcast with Giuliana Rancic . This performance comes about a month before the Bros head on a national [...]

Carrie Underwood , Lady Antebellum and Keith Urban have joined the roster of country superstars performing at this year's CMT Music Awards. Underwood adds this to her list of upcoming marquee TV appearances ( The Sound of Music special and the Sunday Night Football theme song, both for NBC), while Lady Antebellum was recently seen performing on The Voice . Darius Rucker , Florida Georgia Line , George Strait and J ason Aldean  are confirmed [...]

In our own review of Daft Punk 's much-hyped and uber-buzzed-about fourth album, we noted that " Random Access Memories is many things: a gamble, a Genesis scroll of Daft Punk’s musical DNA, a mesmerizing summation of their career to this point and a dynamic jumping-off point for the next phase of their creative evolution. Oh, and also, it’s fun." And for the most part, online critics seem to agree that by abandoning the use of samples and digital technology this time around, the arbiters of French electro-pop have presented us with [...]

Robin Thicke has dropped another Blurred Lines song, but unlike the bouncy, breezy title track or the buzzing "Give It to You," this one is has no guest spots and no dance beats. "4 the Rest of My Life" is a blue-eyed soul ballad, the chorus riding along with a '50s-style canned orchestra and eventually building to a guitar solo, as Thicke celebrates his (love) life sentence. So, yeah, time to break out those Justin Timberlake comparisons again. It's not as exciting as Thicke's two prior cuts, but damn [...]

Well, a version of  Beyonce 's  Timbaland -produced five-minute Pepsi jingle "Grown Woman" leaked last night, and it's definitely good if you like tribal beats and the absence of a chorus (personally, I do), but not so great if you were expecting a big commercial single with a big commercial hook. Then again, it's Beyonce, so she's not really playing by anyone's rules but her own. Maybe this is what commercial sounds like in 2013. Who knows. Our own Carl Williott wrote that the song is "a frenetic, globetrotting dance track with a tribal rhythm, chants and a descending [...]

This is really shaping up to be  Kelly Rowland 's year, isn't it? She's going to be judging  The X Factor !  Talk a Good Game  is finally coming out ! Everyone loves "Dirty Laundry" ! "Kisses Down Low" is available on iTunes! Yes, I think 2013 is going to belong to Miss Kelly. Bow down, as it were. (Sorry.) The latest feather in the "Stole" songstress' cap is a nice, seductive performance on  The Tonight Show With Jay Leno , where she joined  The-Dream  to perform their duet "Where Have [...]

Bay Area duo The Limousines try to resist temptation with "Love Is A Dog From Hell" — the new single we're excited to premiere from their upcoming sophomore album, Hush.  The track is an '80s-inspired New Wave gem about the temptations of falling in love. Interestingly enough, the song's title is borrowed from a book by poet Charles Bukowski that discusses the darker side of love. Heady stuff! The track's shimmering, dream-like synths are paired with lyrics about cigarettes, kisses and heaven, and it'll surely leave you reminiscing about the one who got away. Head below to hear "Love [...]

• TheLimousines - Love Is A Dog From Hell