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By Michael Lopez

Sadly, the music business has been struck with another untimely death. We are still mourning the murder of Facundo Cabral and now news has broken that Amy Winehouse was found lifeless in her London apartment today.

London's Metropolitan Police received a call asking help for a woman. Paramedics were called to the apartment, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death is still unknown but not suspicious, according to police.

Tags Amy Winehouse, Back to Black, Celebrities, Music

By Maria Corina Marrero

So Lady Gaga has done it. Got herself to be banned!... The true measure of a true controversial artist success!

It turns out the Lebanese government found her album "Born This Way" to contain lyrics way too offensive  to allow the album to be sold in stores.

According to The Huffington Post the Lebanese government "impounded shipments of 'Born this Way" due to its alleged insults to Christianity and because of its all around bad taste".

Although Lebanon is an Arab country, a big chunk of its population is Christian. The Lebanese government has proved no to be too crazy for Gaga, as they banned her song “Judas” from the airwaves earlier this year.

They insist Gaga uses these strong songs against Christianity as a stunt to grab attention.

In fact, in the United States, Catholic league President Bill Donahue said in a statement:

"This is a stunt... Lady Gaga tries to continue to shock Catholics and Christians in general: she dresses as a nun... she swallows the rosary. She has now morphed into a caricature of herself".

Well, if the Lebanese government or Mr. Donahue knew a thing or two about celebrity and public relations, they would know that by criticizing her publicly, talking about her, and banning her music, they're bringing about exactly the opposite of what they're trying to accomplish.

According to reports, her song was also banned from Malaysia.

"What I would say is for all the young people in Malaysia that want those words to be played on the radio, it is your job and it is your duty as young people to have your voices heard", declared Gaga to her fans.

But don't feel bad for Lady Gaga just yet!

Just as it happened to Madonna back in the eighties when her videos got banned, even from MTV… The prohibitions only made people want to see her and listen to her even more.

"Born This Way" has sold over 1.5 million albums just in the United States and went platinum in the first week of its release.

In Lebanon, and thanks to Twitter, fans have alerted each other that although they won't be able to find the album in stores, they can still download it via Amazon!

Tags Born This Way, controversy, Judas, Lady Gaga, Madonna, MTV, Music

By Maria Corina Marrero

According to Bossip.com murder sells….weight loss, not so much. It seems that writers at the website should have chosen their wording a little bit better when they published a headline that read:
“Publishers Would Rather Try To Make Money from the Hudson Family Murders than J.Hud’s Slimmy Trimmy-Dom.”

Immediately after, a very upset Jennifer Hudson posted  on Twitter:

"Everyday I wake up I’m constantly reminded how cruel n heartless the world is."

A rep for the site claimed Hudson had misunderstood the headline, which apparently was just trying to bring attention to the fact that murder sells more than diets when it comes to marketable stories. To prove his point, the rep went on to say:

"Hudson has been shopping a book about her weight loss for four years, and while publishers are interested, they're not convinced it's worth the $1 million she's reportedly asking for, without her talking about her family."

The comments have proved incredibly hurting for the actress whose mother and 7-year-old nephew were brutally murdered in 2008.

Although many publishing companies and shows have approached Hudson for exclusives on the tragedy, Hudson has kept mum, not ever commenting about the murders at length with any outlet. Instead,  she has been focused on her career and health goals, as well as on her dream to publish a book about her dramatic weight loss transformation.

Hudson tweets included a demand "Bossip, you owe me an apology" and a well deserved “F*ck u!

The controversy comes at the heels of Hudson's own apology to her fans, due to the cancellation of the promotional tour for her album "I remember me" which was previously announced for this Summer and then postponed due to "scheduling conflicts".

The singer posted a heartfelt tweet saying:

"Hey guys! I just want to apologize to all who were looking forward to seeing me on tour this summer. Due to my upcoming projects, the tour has to be rescheduled. I would never cancel a chance to meet my fans! I love all of u n cant wait to see u!"

That's the way it's done, Bossip!

Tags bossip.com, Gossip, Jennifer Hundson, Music, slimdown, Weight Watchers

By Larry Yepes

The launch of the Heineken TransAtlantic Festival was on fire this past weekend, as the Colombian band Bomba Estereo sparked up the fest with an explosion of Electro-Cumbia, Rap, House  and Hip-Hop beats.

The crowd in the downtown Miami loft was shaking their booty to the unique sounds of these groundbreaking artists, a mix of all kinds of people from the hipsters to the yuppies and even some funky 50+ music lovers, some representing with typical Colombian sombreros vueltiaos but all jamming to the same vibe.

Bomba E's singer Liliana Saumet is captivating to watch, her energy radiates as she passionately sings her soul out in a beautiful classic cumbia voice and then all of a sudden, effortless and seamless, she breaks out and turns into a hardcore, in-your-face rapper!

True raw talent at its best, along with catchy cosmic dance beats was the perfect combo for a great show that built up as the crowd favorites pumped up the energy, and certainly the loft was pumping when 'Ponte Bomb' -  Bomba's new single, a take on Technotronic's classic 'Pump Up the Jam'-, rocked the house.

But when the roof really went on fire…or better yet, on fuego, was when Bomba brought the house down with their biggest hit 'Fuego'.  And with that  burning, Bomba Estereo Ignited the Ninth Annual Heineken TransAtlantic Festival that will be going on until Saturday April 30.

Tags Bomba Estereo, Festival, Heineken, Miami, Music, TransAtlantic

By Sharmaine Jones

With “Michael Jackson: The Experience” hitting stores next week and his first posthumous album “Michael” having a release date the week before Christmas, MJ's estate pretty much has the last two months of the year on lock down!

Image : Breaking News

To get the anticipation ball rolling, yesterday, Michael Jackson's official website posted the lead single “Breaking News” for our listening pleasure. The track – an obvious stab at the tabloids that preyed on his idiosyncrasies – starts with one reporter saying “The plot begins to destroy Michael Jackson” followed by numerous reporters saying what appears to be introduction lines to controversial stories about the “King of Pop”.

The beat then begins and the melody sounds like a combination of “Remember the Time” and “You Rock my World”. It really get's your dancing juices going and then here's where the controversy begins. MJ belts out the first line: “Everybody wanting a piece of Michael Jackson”

Fans and critics, as well as TJ Jackson, (Tito's Son) believe that the vocals are not Michael's. TJ took to twitter to voice his very strong opinion on the matter:

“There's many MJ vocal impersonators. Some better than others. But there is only ONE Michael Jackson. Deceptively merging shady vocals with MJ samples (from prior MJ records) will never fool me. Why they would ignore the obvious, look the other way and rush a suspicious track that was NEVER on my Uncle's radar is beyond me. I'm disgusted, disappointed and saddened. And before the media starts to smear our name, just remember we are COMMITTED (as our Uncle Michael always knew) to protect his name and his amazing legacy he worked his whole life for. We have nothing to gain and we know they will try to drag our name through the mud. But we know how much he valued his legacy and his fans. And cheating either is unacceptable. "Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons”

Wow! Even WE raised an eyebrow when we heard the vocals but TJ seems to be 100% convinced. According to “Sony”, the record company responsible for releasing “Michael”, the track was recorded in New Jersey in 2007 and was “recently bought to completion.”

Hhhmmm, sounds sketchy. “Recently bought to completion” could mean a variety of things. Sony goes on to try to ease our minds:

“We have complete confidence in the results of our extensive research, as well as the accounts of those who were in the studio with Michael, and the vocals on the new album are his own.”

I guess we'll never really know without a shadow of a doubt whether or not it's entirely MJ's vocals on the track but what we DO know is that Sony better get this controversy under control. With a $250 million deal with his estate to oversee the release of 10 albums – “original” and reissue collections – if his fans have the slightest inclination that the vocals on the albums are manufactured, Sony is set to lose unimaginable amounts of moolah. They say “all publicity is good publicity” – uh, not in this case.

“Michael” is set to hit store December 14, 2010.

Do you think it's Michael Jackson’s vocals on the track or the act of a “Smooth Criminal”? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3!

Tags breaking news, King of Pop, michael jackson, Michael Jackson: The Experience, Music, Remember the Time, Sony, Tito Jackson, TJ Jackson

This year’s MTV Video Music Awards promises to be an epic event! Tienen dudas? Well, adding to the already heavily armed line-up, we’ve got Mr. OMG himself, Usher, coming through to really set it off!

Photo via Getty Images

Usher se une al elenco de grandes artistas who will be performing at the 2010 VMAs, including Kanye West, Drake, Justin Bieber, Paramore, B.o.B, Florence and the Machine, and Eminem. If this isn’t a powerhouse of music superstars, we don’t know what is! You can watch it all go down live on September 12 @ 9pm on MTV.

Y no se olviden, this year’s award for Tr3s Latino Artist of the Year is up for grabs! Choose and vote for your favorite nominee from Aventura, Camila, Daddy Yankee, Pitbull, Shakira, and Wisin y Yandel. You can cast your votes now, y verán el resultado on September 18 @ 5pm when the VMAs will air on Tr3s.

Así que apoyen a su artista favorito, and go cast your votes now!

Excited about catching Usher’s performance at the VMAs? Share your thoughts in the comments below or @MTV3!

Tags 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Aventura, B.o.B., Camila, Daddy Yankee, drake, Eminem, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Music, Paramore, Pitbull, Shakira, Tr3s Latino Artist of the Year, Usher, VMAs, Wisin y Yandel

By Michael Lopez

Taio Cruz is officially on our summer radar. Back in February, his “Break Your Heart” track literally broke records by becoming one of the largest chart jumps ever for a debut artist (from #53 to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100). With his new song “Dynamite,” he’s got yet another Top 10 single he can brag about.

“Dynamite” is perfect “get-ready” music to amp you up before a hot night out. You can tell Taio had a big budget to back this one up; there’s fireworks, phat motorcycles, tons of beautiful people dancing in the club, and, of course, Taio blinged out in black shades.

The junkyard theme is original and very sexy (what guy doesn’t love seeing half naked hotties working on cars?). There are no actual dynamite explosions, but he does have some cool imagery of a car spark shower from behind the stage (kudos, Mr. video director). We’ve got to give Taio some big props on this one. “Dynamite” lived up to the hype!

Source: [MTV News]

What do you think of Taio Cruz’ “Dynamite”? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3!

Tags Dynamite, Música, Music, Taio Cruz, Video

By Erika Ramirez

Enrique Iglesias is unstoppable! Fresh from filming the video for "I Like It" with MTV's "Jersey Shore" cast, the singer has reached another milestone: the first single off of Euphoria, "Cuando Me Enamoro," is #1 on Billboard's Latin Songs chart!

"Cuando Me Enamoro" is Iglesias' twenty-first #1 song on Billboard's Latin Songs chart. The Spanish hottie takes the reign for Latin artist with the most #1 songs. He's even beaten his own record!

Read more...

Tags Billboard, Cuando Me Enamoro, Enrique Iglesias, Music, New Musica

By Sandra Roldán

Que qué?  You heard us right.  The Kings of Bachata, Aventura, are expanding their kingdom to embrace new(er) technologies by launching a new iPhone app, called Aventura Open Mic.  The karaoke game, which is now available through iTunes for a cool $1.99, allows you to sing along con tus canciones favoritas de los bachateros.

Feeling brave?  The app allows you to turn off Romeo and the boys, and flex your own vocal muscle on "Su Veneno" y "Un Beso."  Y si necesitas un motivo para tener una fiesta, how about plugging your phone into your speakers, and competing with your closest amigos to see who can score the most difficulty points?  Listo, pass the Brugal con Coca-Cola y a cantar!

Will YOU be buying this app?  Tell us in the comments! [Billboard]

Photo via AppShopper

Tags Aventura, Aventura Open Mic, bachata, iPhone, Music, Su Veneno, tech, Un Beso

Selena Gomez is currently working on a slightly harder follow-up to her 2009 debut album, Kiss & Tell. The album, which she released with her band The Scene, was a pop record and Gomez recently said she wants to go a bit funkier and a bit edgier with her sophomore effort. (MTVNews)

Tags Kiss and Tell, Music, reggae, Selena Gomez, The Scene