RIHANNA SUCKS - I give you what you want. YOU insist on comparing Rihanna to Beyonce :-) so be it!: rihaha

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Monday, April 4, 2011

Rihanna Falls Flat, Underwood Steals Show At 46th Annual ACM Awards

Posted Sun Apr 3, 2011 9:32pm PDT by Wendy Geller

Although the 46th annual Academy of Country Music Awards Sunday evening boasted an unusually rich list of interesting moments/personalities/collaborations, there were two performances that took up the majority of preshow chatter. One of these was non-country superstar Rihanna dueting with Sugarland frontwoman Jennifer Nettles. The other, Carrie Underwood with a tantalizingly unnamed "surprise" partner on stage.

Needless to say, only one performance lived up to the considerable hype.

I won't keep you in suspense. It wasn't Rihanna's. Unfortunately, the pop diva's duet with Nettles--a rendition of Rihanna's ballad "California King Bed"--felt leaden at worst, overwrought at best, leading mostly to a sense of wondering who on earth thought this would be a good idea.

Nettles has dueted out of her home genre before (most recently with artists as diverse as MC Lyte and Keri Hilson) to good effect. There's no apparent reason the broadly appealing Rihanna would not be able to match wits with a country artist or audience. The song wasn't even performed at the awards show proper; it was part of a new "fan jam" feature of which highlights were fed into the ACMs telecast.

And yet...thumbs down. Nothing much else to say except a shrug of the shoulders; likely the duet would have been better if they'd attempted Sugarland's bubbly "Stuck Like Glue"--a song that seems made for a pop artist to cavort with--instead.

What did work: Carrie Underwood's surprise, which consisted of her morphing into a pink-haired rock chick opposite none other than Steven Tyler. The pair wrangled it out, stamping their respective boots fiercely, on Underwood's "Undo It" and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."

The result? The evening's unexpected and undisputed highest point. Underwood may have walked away empty-handed in terms of awards (after scoring big last year, winning the coveted Entertainer of the Year award)--but she hands-down stole the entire show anyway.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Beyonce and Jay-Z at All Star Game... winners & loser

WINNER. BEYONCE. In the All-Star audience. Jay-Z is lucky lucky lucky man.

LOSER. RIHANNA. Admittedly The Unabashed not all that familiar with her complete repertoire. But is she ever convincing in a live setting? First, the Grammys, then the ASG. Minus the studio enhancement – just not that impressive. Her performance, not that impressive. The signing portion of her performance, not that impressive

Rihanna+Leniency= All-Star Game Halftime Show

Last night, Rihanna performed at the NBA All-Star Game in L.A. Before she went on, I had tweeted, “Am I wrong for laughing at her and she’s not even out yet?” Clearly I wasn’t wrong. From the moment the strings started playing, it was evident that the show would be a big spectacle to mask Rihanna’s mediocrity.

She opened the show with her most successful single, “Umbrella,” which proved to be a struggle for her. The song is nearly 4 years old. One would think that she would have mastered performing the song by now. Such was not the case. Surprisingly (or not?) she kept singing ahead of the music. She has nobody to blame but herself for that. If you can’t handle live instruments, then don’t use them. It further proved that Rihanna is more of a recording artist than a performer. I’m guessing that the audio crew knew this too, because her mic was turned down embarrassingly low. Most would have considered it necessary due to her lack of vocal talent. Every other note was flat or wavering, and what’s humorous is that Rihanna most likely thinks that her live singing is admirable in an era when lip syncing is the norm. Someone who loves her needs to inform her that her vocal cords are NOT the business, and she needs to keep her singing to herself.

She then segued into “Only Girl,” which left me dumbfounded. Songwriter Makeba Riddick once said about writing for Rihanna, “it is important to consider that Rihanna has a unique, low tone and doesn’t do a lot of technical vocals. So write a song that’s straightforward without rhythmic acrobatics.” This should have been taken into account. Rihanna is notorious for releasing songs that she can’t pull off live. The performance of “Rude Boy” which followed was the perfect example. Then again, it was being performed by someone who smokes a cigarette before every performance to get her voice raspy. Incredible, right?

The saving graces of the halftime show were Drake and Kanye. Drake switched up his “What’s My Name” verse to wish Rihanna happy birthday, which was cute. Their onstage chemistry is really strong, and I think he helped bring out the best in her, because she showed the most charisma during that performance. It would have made more sense for Rihanna to have saved that song for last, because she sure was outshined by Kanye in their performance of “All Of The Lights.” The order of the songs made it seem like she was being put in her rightful place as a hook singer. Those types of songs are where Rihanna seems to flourish the most, which is a damn shame for someone who’s had 5 albums out since 2005.

At this point, shouldn’t we just give up on Rihanna? There has been no growth whatsoever in her performing skills. her stage presence is -____- and her vocals are O_o, to put it in layman’s terms. The Rihanna phenomenon is actually quite interesting, though. She sells singles effortlessly, then struggles to sell albums and tickets to see her on tour. Most of her money comes from touring, but as we saw both last night and at the Grammy’s a week ago, her live performances aren’t worth the money. It doesn’t seem like she’s worth keeping around as an entertainer. Sure, she can put out a good song, but none of that is due to her input. People are beginning to see through her façade, and if Rihanna hopes to continue performing live and touring, she’ll either have to invest in some singing lessons or just give up and lip sync. In Rihanna’s case, I wouldn’t be mad at all if she chose the latter.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Photographer sues Rihanna over video images

David LaChapelle says singer copied his work for use in 'S&M'

NEW YORK — Pop star Rihanna's lurid and brightly colored music video "S&M" was "directly derived" from pictures taken by prominent U.S. fashion photographer David LaChapelle, he said in a lawsuit made public on Monday.

LaChapelle, who has shot celebrities for magazines such as Rolling Stone, GQ and Vanity Fair, said "the music video is directly derived from and substantially similar to the LaChapelle works."

Rihanna, 22, has sold over 25 million albums worldwide and dominated music charts in the U.S. with singles such as "Umbrella" and "What's my name." The single "S&M", however, has fizzled on the charts, and the video has been banned in some countries for its sexual content.

In the suit, LaChapelle said Rihanna had appropriated eight of his images into the video, such as a shot where she is shown in profile against a blue background with a piece of candy on her tongue.

LaChapelle said Rihanna's video copied the "composition, total concept, feel, tone, mood, theme, colors, props, settings, decors, wardrobe and lighting" of his work.

He is suing for unspecified damages. A spokeswoman for Rihanna did not immediately respond to a request for comment.