Carly Rae Jepsen Page 2

From internet phenomenon to Broadway diva – Carly Rae Jepsen is making the coveted transition in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella starting Feb. 4, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Call Me Maybe singer is set to make her Broadway debut, replacing the former lead Laura Osnes, who received a Tony nomination for the starring role.

No more calling her maybe, it's Cinderella now.

Osnes played Cinderella for a year, but Jepsen is going to have a much shorter run – she is currently signed on for 12 weeks. For the Call Me Maybe singer, who was a musical theatre enthusiast in high school, this is a dream come true.

Continue reading: Carly Rae Jepsen To Put On The Glass Slipper In Broadway Production Of "Cinderella"

Carly Rae Jepsen is to make her move back into theatre with her role of Cinderella in the Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, set to hit Broadway early next year. The 28 year-old pop singer, who rose to fame with the catchy single 'Call Me Maybe,' will take the title role in the production that was originally written for television, with Julie Andrews best known for her 1957 portrayal.

Carly Rae Jepsen Will Fulfill Her Broadway Dreams In 'Cinderella.'

"I'm ready to spill my NYC secret," Carly teased on Twitter, following with "I am going to be playing Cinderella on Broadway starting Feb. 4th!" The excited star added "Dream come true" to a deluge of fan support and enthusiasm.

Continue reading: Carly Rae Jepsen Cinderella Broadway Role Excitement: "I Relate To Her Character Completely"

Carly Rae Jepsen will be venturing into stage acting in 2014.

The 'Call Me Maybe' singer will be starring as the princess in 'Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella'.

Producers of the stage production announced the news on Sunday (Dec 29th).

Continue reading: Carly Rae Jepsen Set For Broadway Debut In 'Cinderella' Early 2014

Cookie Monster, everyone's favourite cookie-loving, blue furred hedonist, has dropped the song and video for his latest track, 'Me Want It' (But Me Wait)' - cover of Swedish duo Icona Pop's recent hit 'I Love It.' The video sees the member of the Sesame Street gang practising self-restraint in front of a big bowl of chocolate chip cookies.

"But now me know something//Self-control is something me must learn," he sings, "Me want it! But me wait." Seemingly, the track is being used to promote moderation and self-restraint where food is concerned, as America sees the number of overweight children rise in its obesity epidemic.

Listen To Cookie Monster Singing 'Me Want It (But Me Wait)':

Continue reading: Cookie Monster Covers Icona Pop's 'I Love It' In 'Me Want It (But Me Wait)' Song [Video]

Think of someone currently in the pop music business – no really, anyone – and they’re probably in Bonnie McKee’s new music video for American Girl. If you’re wondering who Bonnie McKee is, you wouldn’t be the first. It’s not that you haven’t heard her music, it’s just that the songwriter has so far stayed behind the scenes, writing music for people like Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Tayo Cruz, Adam Lambert and Carly Rae Jepsen.

Bonnie McKee - we might be seeing a lot of this face in the future.

Coincidentally, all of these people make cameo appearances in her American Girl video. Joining them are other stars, like Kiss (we’re not even kidding), Macklemore, Jewel, Jason Derulo, Karmin, Kelly Osbourne – seriously, it’s pretty much the 2012 Billboard chart squeezed into a single video. Plus an appearance by McKee herself, of course. In the video, she’s eating a cheeseburger and sucking on a popsicle. It’s not as bad as it sounds, though. And to be fair, the song is quite catchy.

Continue reading: "American Girl" Bonnie McKee's Musician Friends Might Help Make Her An International Pop Star

Taylor Swift at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards

The 2013 Billboard Music Awards looked to be one of the most celeb-filled events of the year with some of the music industry's biggest stars making their glamorous arrivals. 

'22' singer Taylor Swift clutched eight accolades to her chest as she posed on the red carpet having won Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Country Album for 'Red', Top Country Song with 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together', Top Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Digital Songs Artist and Top Country Artist. Carly Rae Jepsen was another young female star to land a prize winning Top Digital Song and Top Pop Song for her massive 2012 hit 'Call Me Maybe'. Queen of Pop Madonna scooped up three well deserved awards including Top Dance Album for 'MDNA', Top Dance Artist and Top Touring Artist after her controversial 'MDNA' tour which landed her amidst a handful of lawsuits. There was no sign of letting up on the controversial front either as she donned hotpants, suspenders and fishnets at the Billboard event. Top Streaming Artist, Top Rap Artist and Top Rap Album with 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded' went to Nicki Minaj while Top EDM Artist was none other than David Guetta who brought his wife Cathy Guetta along with him to the awards show.

Continue reading: Star Frenzy At The 2013 Billboard Music Awards With Arrivals From The Likes Of Taylor Swift To Jennifer Lopez [Photos]

Madonna called on the Boy Scouts to lift its ban on gay members in a speech at the GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday night (March 23, 2013). Wearing a replica of the organization's uniform, the pop superstar said the scouts should "change their stupid rules," and allow gays to sign up. Her comments come shortly after Carly Rae Jepsen and Train pulled out of the organization's summer Jamboree over its discrimination. Replacements have yet to be announced.

Later in the speech, Madonna spoke about young people who take their own lives after suffering from bullying. As a mother of teenage kids, the singer said the situation is "an atrocity to me and I don't accept it." She also called on the star-studded audience to join her in a "revolution" to change the world, before smooching with gay television host Anderson Cooper after presenting him with GLAAD's 'Vito Russo' award. Cooper came out as gay last year.

Elsewhere, at the gay advocacy group's annual awards, film director Bret Ratner was honored with the Ally Award, despite joking that "rehearsing is for fags" at a press conference last year. The NBC drama 'Smash' and CBS's reality series 'The Amazing Race' also won prizes at the ceremony in New York.

Continue reading: Madonna Slams 'Stupid Boy Scouts' (Kisses Anderson Cooper For The Hell Of It)

The Canadian pop star Carly Rae Jepsen has explained her motives behind pulling out of a planned performance at a Boy Scouts Jamboree. When she learned that the Boy Scouts organization banned gay people from joining, she no longer felt that it was an organization that she wished to support. Speaking to MTV News, Carly explained “It was sort of one of those things that I kind of have my opinions about, and everyone's entitled to their own, but it wasn't necessarily something that I felt comfortable backing once I learned more about it. Here's hoping they make the right decision and I'm praying that moves like this will help.”

A spokesperson for the Scouts insisted that they understand her decision to stick by her principles. “We appreciate everyone's right to express an opinion and remain focused on delivering a great Jamboree programme for our Scouts.” It looks as though they might struggle to get that high quality jamboree they’re after, though, as the second headliner, Train, has also cancelled their performance.

The ‘Call Me Maybe’ singer had previously agreed to perform at the annual National Boy Scouts jamboree but petitioners pleaded with her not show her support for the organization and made her aware of their homophobic membership policies. As a result, she cancelled the appearance, which was planned to take place in West Virginia in July. 

Continue reading: "Praying" For Change: Carly Rae Jepsen Explains Cancelling Show For 'Homophobic' Boy Scouts

Justin Bieber performed at the Pavilhao Atlantico in Lisbon, Portugal, on Monday evening (March 11, 2013) despite already having cancelled a show at the same venue for Tuesday. The 19-year-old has endured the worst week of publicity of his short career after a series of gaffes and hiccups in the United Kingdom and he cancelled a second date in Lisbon, reportedly owing to bad ticket sales.

Justin Bieber Performs In Lisbon, Portugal, Despite Cancelling His Second Date In The Capital

Plenty turned out for the first show on Monday, though it seems the Baby hit-maker was unable to sell-out a second date in the same arena. "Due to unforeseen circumstances we have been forced to cancel the show scheduled for March 12," a rep for the venue said in a statement. "Justin looks forward to playing for his Portuguese fans on March 11. Refunds for ticket holders on March 12 are available from point of purchase."

Continue reading: Justin Bieber Performs In Lisbon, Portugal, Despite Cancelled Show (Photos)

Carly Rae Jepsen has officially pulled out of a huge concert for the Boy Scouts of America, claiming she wants no association with an organization that doesn't support gay rights. The 'Call Me Maybe' Billboard chart-topper had been booked to perform at the National Scout Jamboree in Mount Hope, West Virginia, along with the band Train, however, she's since pulled out.

"As an artist who believes in equality for all people, I will not be participating in the Boy Scouts of America Jamboree this summer," Jepsen tweeted. "I always have and will continue to support the LGBT community on a global level ... and stay informed on the ever changing landscape in the ongoing battle for gay rights in this country and across the globe."

Her comments refer to the Boy Scout's ban on openly gay members and scout leaders.  A spokesperson for the BSA said: "We appreciate everyone's right to express an opinion and remain focused on delivering a great Jamboree program for our Scouts," said Boy Scouts' spokesman Deron Smith in a statement to The Guardian.

Continue reading: Carly Rae Jepsen Says 'Thanks, But No Thanks' To Homophobic Boy Scouts

Albums of Note... Dave Grohl managed to rally a group of rock’s big players together to record an album designed to accompany his Sound City documentary – about the legendary LA recording studio of the same name. Amongst the stars making an appearance on Sound City: Real to Reel are Sir Paul McCartney, Josh Homme and Stevie Nicks; the latter of whom provides one of the album’s highlights:

“[The] tracks that do command attention… are worth wading through the mire for. One can only assume, for instance, that Lindsay Buckingham and the rest of Fleetwood Mac will be kicking themselves upon hearing 'You Can't Fix This,' because this is simply the greatest Fleetwood Mac song that never was.”

Continue reading: A Week In Music - Stevie Nicks Stars In Sound City: Real To Reel, Palma Violets Can't Match The Hype, Kendrick Lamar's Slick New Video For 'Poetic Justice'

Two rising stars in pop music, 'Call Me Maybe' star Carly Rae Jepsen and Australian youngster Cody Simpson performed together at Birmingham's NIA. Cody is only 16 but despite his tender years not only does he look a lot older, but his mature voice steps up to the mark of his 26 year old colleague, Jepsen.

Cody Simpson and Carly Rae Jepsen performing together at the NIA

Continue reading: Cody Simpson And Carly Rae Jepsen Perform Together In Birmingham (Pictures)

Great news for the music industry! It’s growing! Like, making money! For the first time in ages! Whilst we’re pretty sure this isn’t trickling down to the musicians too well (Spotify are in talks to reduce their payment of royalties to artists even further, for instance), but for everyone surrounding the musicians it’s a cautious positive step in what’s been a long – really long – battle.

Let’s not go nuts; the figure given by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry was a rise of 0.3% for global revenue, not exactly earth-shattering. However, given the trials and tribulations the industry has had in battling piracy, the fall in physical music sales – not to mention the larger economic situation as a whole – in recent years, any improvement should be taken with open arms. "It is hard to remember a year for the recording industry that has begun with such a palpable buzz in the air," said IFPI chief executive Frances Moore, according to The Hollywood Report. The improvement was helped by the continuing surge in digital music, with MP3, subscription and advertisement services revenue increasing 9% on the previous year to $5.6 billion, contributing to a total figure of $16.5 billion.

Another load of figures, released by the NPD group, suggested a 26% fall in the illegal downloading of music, although we’re not sure how they’ve managed to arrive at such a definitive figure given the widespread and un-marshaled availability of it. Only 11% of those 13 years old and older were estimated to have downloaded from a P2P service last year too. So is the music industry winning? Perhaps, but it still looks a little top-heavy to us, with Carly Rae Jepsen and Adele the big sellers of 2012, 21 selling another phenomenal 8.3 million units. The issue is that for the last few years the industry has seemingly relied on one or two huge stars to carry the bulk of the sector, if that dries up anytime soon, then the dark days could intensify again.

Continue reading: Recorded Music Industry Announces Profit; Is That Thanks To Adele?

Channel 4 must be breathing a huge sigh of relief that they didn’t decide to invite Frankie Boyle on this year’s Big Fat Quiz show, because they’ve managed to cause enough controversy, without having the sharp-tongued Scotsman on board. This year, the damage has been done largely by Jack Whitehall and James Corden, who were openly drinking a bottle of red wine throughout the show and made a number of crude jokes about The Queen, as well as Barack Obama and Susan Boyle.

Lord Burns, the chairman of Channel 4, declined the opportunity to speak to the Daily Mail about the show, but the British newspaper is up in arms about its distasteful content. The outrage has spread beyond the press, though, with Tory MP Conor Burns – a member of the Commons’ culture media and sport select committee – demanding to know why the show was aired as early as 9pm. “I actually watched some of the broadcast because we are staying with family for the holidays and I found it quite distasteful,” said the MP. “It was base, unfunny comedy and in some ways I thought its greater crime really was that it just wasn’t funny.”

At one point during the show, James Corden and Jack Whitehall attempted to cover up one of their answers, aware that it was inappropriate, but eventually revealed what they had written on the screen anyway. A sample of the ‘vulgar’ comedy on display during the quiz was Whitehall’s comment about Cary Rae Jepsen: “If you had given your number to someone like Carly Rae Jepsen and discovered how annoying she was, you would suck someone’s c*** to get rid of her.”

Adele has topped off yet another remarkable year by being named Billboard's top artis of 2012, whilst her second album, the hit 21, was named top album of the year in the music magazine's annual review.

The Brit singer, who also won six Grammys in February this year, was also crowned female artist of the year by the magazine too, with Canadian R&B artist Drake taking the male equivalent home. Meanwhile, fellow Brits and former X Factor contestants One Direction rounded off their phenomenally successful year by being named top new artist, but were beaten to the post of top group by Maroon 5.

In the singles department, the magazine deemed that Gotye's 'Somebody That I Used to Know,' Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe' and Fun's 'We Are Young' as the top three tracks in that order. Each of the lists are based on chart performance, as well as streaming and social data.

Continue reading: Adele Named Billboard's Top Artist Of 2012

Buzz Lightyear ready for take off in New York's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Around three million people are expected to line the streets of New York for Macy’s 86th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. The event kicks off at 8am and already, teams of workers have been hard at work setting up for the parade, with giant inflatables being set in place for the huge yearly event. An enormous Buzz Lightyear was blown up last night, along with an enormous Hello Kitty figure and Sonic the Hedgehog will be showing his face, too.

Continue reading: Sneak Peek! New York Prepares For Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Family Affari: Justin Bieber and his mother Pattie at the AMA Awards in Los Angeles

"The next Justin Bieber" has been a phrase bandied around the music industry for the past couple of years. Who would take the Canadian superstar's pop mantel once he moved onto more mature things? British X Factor stars One Direction have had a phenomenal 12 months and for a short time it looked as though the pop buying masses may be growing a little tired of young Mr Bieber.

The 18-year-old split from his long-time girlfriend Selena Gomez last week, citing their respective working schedules as the reason. Nobody would have blamed Bieber had he decided against attending the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday evening (November 18, 2012), though there he was, a huge smile on his face, his mother by his side. The Canadian took home all three of the major awards, beating Rihanna, Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Drake to be crowned Artist of the Year. He dedicated the win to his mother Pattie Mallette, who was instrumental in getting her son noticed during the early days. "This is for all the haters who thought that maybe I was just here for one or two years, but I feel like I am going to be here for a very long time," later adding, "It's hard growing up with everything going on, with everyone watching me. I wanted to say that as as long as you guys keep believing in me, I want to always make you proud." Bieber also won best pop/rock male artist and best pop/rock album for Believe. It was a peculiar awards' evening, with One Direction expected to dominate. They left empty handed after nominations for pop/rock band, pop/rock album and new artist of the year. Carly Rae Jepsen was the surprise winner of the latter award. 

Continue reading: Justin Bieber Reminds One Direction Who's The Boss At AMA Awards

Justin Bieber arrives for the AMA Awards in Los Angeles

THe 40th anniversary of the American Music Awards brought out all the big names that you'd expect from the US music industry and more, with stars past and present rubbing shoulders at a truly star-spangled gathering at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles yesterday (November 18, 2012). However, despite the presence of Youtube sensation Psy - who closed the evening by being joined by MC Hammer for his huge hit 'Gangnam Style' - the US biggest selling artist of the year Taylor Swift, and pop royalty Usher and Christina Aguilera, there was only name on everybody's lips. Justin Bieber took home the top award of the evening, Artist Of The Year, and his mom Pattie Mallette was there to celebrate it with him. 

Continue reading: PICTURES: Justin Bieber Wins Big At The American Music Awards 40th Anniversary