Stuart Sandford Blog

Sunday, April 6, 2014

2014 ACM Awards: Performances & Winners

2014 Academy of Country Music Awards photo tumblr_mx6wvcNVES1t4dypho1_1280.jpg

Nominated for Vocal Group of the Year, The Band Perry kicked off the 2014 Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with a rocking performance of their latest single "Chainsaw".

Other performers included: hosts Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Hunter Hayes, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Florida Georgia Line, Keith Urban and more. Peep all the performances and a list of the winners beneath:

The Band Perry - "Chainsaw"



Opening Monologue: Blake Shelton & Luke Bryan



Florida Georgia Line - "Stay"



Brad Paisley - "Riverbank"



Blake Shelton - "My Eyes"



George Strait - "I Got A Car"



Lee Brice - "I Drive Your Truck"



Eric Church - "Give Me Back My Hometown"



Justin Moore - "Lettin' the Night Roll"



Shakira & Blake Shelton - "Medicine"



Lady Antebellum & Stevie Nicks - "Golden" / "Rhiannon"



Keith Urban - "Even the Stars Fall 4 U"



Kip Moore - "Somethin' 'Bout A Truck"



Luke Bryan - "Play It Again"



Jason Aldean - "When She Says Baby"



Miranda Lambert - "Automatic"



Tim McGraw & Faith Hill - "Meanwhile Back At Mama's"



Florida Georgia Line & Luke Bryan - "How We Roll"



Toby Keith - "Shut Up & Hold On"



Hunter Hayes - "Invisible"



Darius Rucker & Lady Antebellum - "Wagon Wheel"



Merle Haggard Tribute



Dierks Bentley & Sheryl Crow - "I Hold On"



2014 Academy of Country Music Awards : Winners

Entertainer of the Year
George Strait

Male Vocalist of the Year
Jason Aldean

Female Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Lambert

Vocal Duo of the Year Nominees
Florida Georgia Line

Vocal Group of the Year
The Band Perry

New Artist of the Year
Justin Moore

Album of the Year
Kacey Musgraves, 'Same Trailer Different Park'

Song of the Year
Lee Brice, "I Drive Your Truck"

Single Record of the Year
Miranda Lambert, "Mama's Broken Heart"

Video of the Year
Tim McGraw (feat. Taylor Swift & Keith Urban), "Highway Don't Care"

Vocal Event of the Year
Keith Urban & Miranda Lambert, "We Were Us"

Halle Berry Resurrects 'Frankie & Alice' Film

'Frankie & Alice' first made headlines in 2010 when it received a qualifying run during awards season and scored Halle Berry a Globe Globe nomination and a win at the NAACP Image Awards, but then, it disappeared.

This past weekend, the film was finally released by Lionsgate/Codeblack in 171 theaters and it emerged as the highest specialty film of the weekend by pulling with a $350,000 gross and a respectful $2,047 per theater average.

The film, which deals with dissociative identity disorder, was always a tough sell and the final product comes off like a made-for-television move, but Berry once again delivers a powerful performance that was deserving of more accolades. Hopefully, the end reward will be her finally getting projects that are equal to her undeniable talent as an actress. Watch eight clips from the Geoffrey Sax film beneath:

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Artist Of The Month: Pharrell Williams

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It has been a whirlwind year for Pharrell Williams!!! After being featured on hit after hit and turning the Academy Awards into a dancing party, the super-producer once again soared to the top on his own with "Happy" and now, he earns the honor of becoming Celebrity Bug's Featured Artist for April 2014.

The No.1 single is lifted from his latest solo album 'GIRL', which sold over a 100,000 copies in its first week of release and started at No.2 on the Billboard 200.


Sunday, March 23, 2014

Video: Lady GaGa - 'G.U.Y.'

Pop superstar Lady GaGa and her team have severely mishandled her 'ARTPOP' album, but she tries to get things back on track by releasing the video for "G.U.Y. (Girl Under You", the latest single lifted from the album.

In the nearly 8-minute clip, which was directed by GaGa herself and also features "Venus" and the album's title song, the star shows that she is simply the queen of music videos. This is the kind of avant-garde fashion art that I love from GaGa, not the disgusting and unexplainable kind of art that involves the star getting puked on while performing.

Watch the full work of art, which features cameos from 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' stars Kyle Richards, Lisa Vanderpump, Kim Richards, Yolanda Foster and Carlton Gebbia, as well as, Bravo TV personality Andy Cohen, beneath:


Saturday, March 22, 2014

'A Dream Come True': Kim Kardashian Stuns On First 'Vogue' Cover With Kanye West

Kim Kardashian has saw another one of her dreams come true!!!

The reality superstar and her rapper fiance, Kanye West, have landed the cover of the April 2014 issue of Vogue magazine, which means she has gained the approval of Anna Wintour.

The couple, who will reportedly wed on May 24th, give readers an inside look at their glamourous lifestyle and their gorgeous daughter North also appears in the spread, which was shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Love her or hate her, there is simply no denying that Miss Kardashian looks absolutely stunning on the cover and as Wintour, the queen of fashion, pointed out in her statement, both she and West (#WorldsMostTalkedAboutCouple) have pretty much conquered every avenue of media available to them (and might I add, very successfully). Unlike others, I do not believe this hurts the magazine's brand or credibility, in fact, it makes sense because both have constantly expressed their love for fashion, both have their own clothing lines and their polarizing status in the world will only bring more attention to issue, which I think will end up as one of their best-sellers. Peep the Vogue editor-in-chief's statement defending her decision to put the duo on the cover and go behind-the-scenes of the shoot beneath:

"Part of the pleasure of editing Vogue, one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it. I think we can all agree on the fact that that role is currently being played by Kim and Kanye to a T. (Or perhaps that should be to a K?)

As for the cover, my opinion is that it is both charming and touching, and it was, I should add, entirely our idea to do it; you may have read that Kanye begged me to put his fiancĂ©e on Vogue’s cover. He did nothing of the sort. The gossip might make better reading, but the simple fact of the matter is that it isn’t true.

There’s barely a strand of the modern media that the Kardashian Wests haven’t been able to master, and for good reason: Kanye is an amazing performer and cultural provocateur, while Kim, through her strength of character, has created a place for herself in the glare of the world’s spotlight, and it takes real guts to do that."

- Anna Wintour

Kim Kardasian & Kanye West : Vogue (April 2014) photo vogue_kim-kardashian-and-kanye-west-s-behind-the-scenes-video-from-their-april-cover-shoot.jpg

Jennifer Lopez Wows 'Idol' With 'I Luh Ya Papi'

With the overall star quality of the current 'American Idol' contestants in the negative column, Jennifer Lopez hit the stage on the latest results show to give the final nine a tutorial of what it takes to be a bonafide superstar.

After a perfectly harmonized intro with former contestants Jessica Sanchez, Pia Toscano and Allison Iraheta, the 44-year-old stunner unleashed some fierce moves for her debut performance of "I Luh Ya Papi", the newest single from her forthcoming studio album.

One of the marks of a truly great performer is when they can take a song as lackluster and repetitive as this Detail-produced number and so fully enthralled the audience with their showmanship that they actually find themselves enjoying and singing along. Beyonce and Usher do this time and time again, and so does Lopez. Watch it beneath:

New Music: Keyshia Cole - 'Rick James' & 'Next Time (Won't Give My Heart Away)'

After a short hiatus from the music scene and amid continued rumors of her marriage falling apart, Keyshia Cole is back in action with not one, but two new singles from her sixth and final studio set for Interscope Records.

The first offering, entitled "Rick James" and featuring Juicy J, she sings, "Why does it matter now? / Who can do you better? / Feet up on your couch / Yeah, bitch, I’m Rick James / Slap a bitch like Rick James", as she reaches her boiling point over her unfaithful man.

The record is quite lackluster and if you are longtime fan of Cole, it will probably leave you scratching your head in confusion and disappointment, especially since she has a pretty solid track record of delivering on her first releases (even when she doesn't fully satisfy you on the subsequent album). This is simply not it and will do little on the charts.



On the second record, "Next Time (Won't Give My Heart Away)", she more of her pain instead of the anger displayed on her first record as she possibly reveals the reason behind her split with NBA husband, Daniel Gibson.

"Seem kinda crazy saying you love me so much / How could you bring that woman into our home", she sings, before continuing by unleashing, "The crazy part about it is I took you right back / I thought you were a changed man / I tried to work it out for the sake of my family / But you took my kindness for weakness and my love for granted".

The record is one of six songs that she freestyled for her upcoming album and while it is certainly an improvement on "Rick James", it is still lacking. Instead of taking the freestyle and using it as a first draft, she simply released it and it shows in more ways the one.