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'X Factor' Celeb Mentors: How Did Rihanna, Pharrell Fare?

Posted 10/14/11 7:04 am EST by in Television


By James Dinh

It's clear "X Factor" isn't scared to tack on some star power to their much-hyped talent competition; just take a look at the judging panel. And after catching Thursday's night's delayed episode, which featured Rihanna, Pharrell, Enrique Iglesias and Mariah Carey (sort of), it's even clearer.

In an episode that sent all 32 contestants around the world to their assigned judges' homes, Simon Cowell (mentoring under-30s girl acts), L.A. Reid (mentoring under-30s boy acts), Paula Abdul (mentoring group acts) and Nicole Scherzinger (mentoring over-30s acts) took the wannabes under their wings, calling on their very famous friends to help out.

We here at the MTV Newsroom thought we'd take a closer look at the celeb mentors and their words of wisdom. Here's how they fared:

Rihanna
Partnering with L.A. Reid, the record bigwig who discovered her, Rihanna was open to voicing her opinions on contestants' vocal talents, confidence and commercial relatability. Right off the bat, the pop titan compared young rapper Brian Bradley (also known as the Astronomical Kid) to the likes of current industry MCs like J. Cole. Score: 8/10

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Kelly Ripa Lets It Rip At Madonna's NYC Concert: 'Give It 2 Me!'

Posted 10/13/08 12:33 pm EST by in Madonna


By Joe DeShano

The last time I saw Madonna, I was in eighth grade and she was gyrating on a bed. Well, when her Sticky & Sweet Tour hit New York's Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, the show was a little tamer — and by little, I mean a lot, but that doesn't mean there weren't a few surprises. Pharrell came out early in the show for "Beat Goes On" — of course, it's supposed to be Kanye West accompanying her for that song, but OK, I'll go with it.

Big stars like Madonna bring out the celebs not only onstage, but in the audience too: And there were Chris Rock and Kelly Ripa, front and center. Kelly seemed to enjoy the show a bit more than Chris, who looked like he was serving some kind of sentence just being there.
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Pharrell's Stroke Of Genius: Producer Wants To Work With The Strokes

Posted 7/16/08 5:52 pm EST by in Pharrell, the-strokes


By Jordan Upmalis

For most artists, rumor control typically means shooting gossip down. For Pharrell, it seems to mean picking rumors up and running with them.

When we asked him this week about who he'd like to collaborate with on upcoming projects, Pharrell went right to the rumor mill, saying, "I really wanna do the Strokes. I keep hearing whispers about it in the press, so I'm like, 'Really?!?' You know, 'cause I really wanna do it."

Sure, he's one of the most eclectic artists in the industry, writing, producing, and singing with artists from Kanye to Gwen. But the Strokes? Isn't their sound a little rough around the edges for the super-smooth rapper/producer? Well, Pharrell has already collaborated with Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas (along with Santogold) on a song used by Converse to commemorate the company's 100-year anniversary. "It's almost like it's a commissioned artwork ... that was done, painted and crafted by us," he explained.

When asked whether Julian was interested in making these whispers come true, Pharrell left us in suspense. With a sly smile planted on his face, Pharrell said, "I mean, we've been talking about it. I don't know. We've been talking about it."

So what do you think? Would Pharrell be a good fit for the Strokes? Let us know!

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For The Record: Dr. Dre, Phish, Lindsay Lohan & More

Posted 6/27/08 10:56 am EST by in For The Record



· It looks like Dr. Dre might beat Axl Rose in the race to release the most frequently delayed album of the decade. After 10 years of work, one-time protégé Snoop Dogg revealed that Dre's Detox is "on and poppin' " and that the tracks he recently heard "knocked my head off." Oh, and Dre's producing Snoop's next album too.

· Fire up your Hacky Sacks, y'all. It sounds like Phish might be planning a reunion! Keyboardist Page McConnell has hinted at a get-together after four years away from fronting the jam-nation juggernaut and said the boys are getting along better than they ever have.

· Lindsay Lohan has reportedly wrapped work on her third album, Spirit in the Dark, and it will feature tracks produced by Pharrell, Akon, StarGate and Bloodshy & Avant.

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Solange Knowles: Being Beyonce's Kid Sis Doesn't Guarantee A Foot In The Door

Posted 6/12/08 5:40 pm EST by in Beyonce, Pharrell, Solange


(by Dan 'Monty' Montalto)

It's not easy being the younger sister of a mega-famous-the-world-over pop icon.

No, seriously. Just ask Solange Knowles, Beyoncé's 21-year-old kid sis. Let's face it, when your sister is so famous that she practically owns the rights to the second letter of the alphabet, it's pretty hard to convince anyone that based solely on your artistic merits, some of the biggest and most creative names in music helped out with your record. But when we sat down with her earlier this week, Solange told us that it took some pretty serious convincing (and even a little stalking) to get names like Cee-Lo, Pharrell and Mark Ronson onboard for her latest record. As she puts it, when they first heard she wanted to work with them, they had no way of knowing if she was a serious artist or "someone's little annoying sister trying to do a record."

Cee-Lo, who co-wrote three of the songs on Solange's album, didn't exactly jump all over the opportunity when Solange first came calling. Initially, she couldn't even get him on the phone, and seemingly endless "scheduling conflicts" on the part of the Gnarls Barkley vocalist kept her from meeting with him. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but as Solange told us herself, "no one can be that freakin' busy." But she wasn't about to get blown off. She decided to take matters into her own hands — by essentially stalking Cee-Lo and forcing him to listen to her album.

Solange tells us how she stalked Cee-Lo (with the help of an MTV alum) in this video.

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For The Record: Beyonce, Pharrell, Madonna, Lynne Spears, M.I.A. And More

Posted 6/12/08 10:43 am EST by in For The Record


Beyonce

· Of course, Oprah Winfrey would come in at #1, as usual, but some young turks made the annual Forbes magazine Celebrity 100 power list as well: Beyoncé is at #4; hubby Jay-Z follows at #7; Justin Timberlake made it to #12 (his pal Madonna is #21); #26 50 Cent edged out #27 Kanye West; Miley Cyrus came in at #35; Alicia Keys hit #65; the Jonas Brothers locked in #89; and Lauren Conrad just made the cut at #97.

· That ain't right! N.E.R.D. mastermind Pharrell Williams recently admitted that he made Madonna "cry like a baby" during the heated sessions for her Hard Candy album.

· The memoir from Britney's mom, Lynne Spears, that was on and then off a few months ago is back on. Now that Brit has begun working on her personal issues and Jamie Lynn is about to give birth to her first child, the book is being eyed for a September release.

· We get that "production issues" caused Coldplay to reshuffle their U.S. tour dates. But M.I.A. has cited a novel issue behind the cancellation of her European tour: "losing a sense of ... reality."

· A sexual-harassment lawsuit was filed Wednesday against New York radio personality Wendy Williams, claiming that the "Wendy Williams Experience" host's husband repeatedly propositioned an employee at the station and physically abused Williams in the workplace.

· We already knew "Hairspray" star Nikki Blonsky could sing, so naturally she's prepping her debut album, which she'll co-write. What will it sound like? She says a mix of Stevie Nicks, Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow.

· Remy Ma might be behind bars, but that's not stopping her from releasing a new mixtape. The 17-song BlasRemy tape will contain verses from her fiancee, Papoose, as well as Chingy, Jackie-O and Shawnna.

· One good cover deserves another. After Gnarls Barkley did a take on the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone" on their St. Elsewhere album, the veteran indie-rock band has decided to record their own version of Gnarls' smash "Crazy." Available on limited-edition blue vinyl, no less.

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For The Record: Hayden Panettiere, Warren G, Pharrell, Led Zeppelin & More

Posted 6/9/08 1:51 pm EST by in For The Record, MTV News, Music


Hayden

· First she was tapped to save the world, now "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere will try to bail out the music biz. The pintsize actress' reggae-flavored debut single, "Wake Up Call," will be promoted heavily by Candie's in an ad campaign due to kick off in July.

· "Regulate" rapper Warren G was arrested in Hollywood on Sunday after the car he was riding in was stopped by police for allegedly running a red light. When cops pulled the car over, they say they found enough marijuana in the vehicle to arrest the pair for possession with intent to sell.
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For The Record: Metallica, DMX, Pharrell & More

Posted 5/20/08 5:45 pm EST by in For The Record


MetallicaFTR

· Metallica is going to join Ozzfest for a day, in Dallas.

· Investigators in Arizona are looking into claims that DMX tried to defraud a local hospital.

· Pharrell, Santogold, and Julian Casablancas have all gotten together to record a tune for Converse.

· Even Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla has opinions about “Gossip Girl.” Sort of.

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Kanye, Pharrell, Pete Wentz Love Them Some Pricey Hoodies

Posted 4/24/08 4:25 pm EST by in events, Fashion


kanyebape

Last night, the suddenly legendary Japanese clothing line A Bathing Ape (that's BAPE to you) opened their LA store. And it was packed with folks who can afford to put down that kind of cash for, well, sweatshirts. That means Pharrell, Kanye, Jermaine Dupri, Pete Wentz, and...

...Mike Tyson. Truly.

The photo evidence is all here. And yes, we all agree that Tyson would look ridiculous in one of those hot-pink camouflage hoodies. No argument there, people.

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Madonna Fans Are Really Pissed At Us

Posted 4/21/08 11:37 am EST by in Music, New Music Update


HardCandyResponse

So last week we posted a track-by-track reaction to the online leak of what we called "chunks of all [Hard Candy]'s completed songs." And boy, did the Madonna fans out there go ballistic.

Yes, we understand that the entire album has not leaked online. So let's really spell it out: these were reactions to the intro's and hooks of each track. So that means we listened to about one minute of every track and gave our "free-associative" response. Not an "official review," Madonna diehards. Dag, people!

And look, if you've heard the same snippets and disagree that much, write in and tell us why.

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