Choices..

American Idol is considering Jessica Simpson as Simon Cowell's replacement. At first glance, some may question it or immediately write it off. I don't. I think it'd be brilliant and give the show an extra pick up it needs after dismal seasons, with even more dismal ratings. She's in the industry. She's young, beautiful, and goofy. I would watch this season, even after swearing it off when hearing of Simon's departure. Now, its time to hear that Ryan Seacrest will be Larry King's successor, not Piers Morgan. Ugh.

Decision Time

Lebron James, go to Chicago. If you look at his style play, Derrick Rose & Joakim Noah compliment it so well. With Derrick Rose being one of the premiere point guards in the league & Noah improving yearly, maturity and skill wise, Lebron & the rest of the team has real potential to be championship contenders within the next year or 2. The ridiculous idea to get Bosh, Wade, & Lebron together is as absurd as there is not enough to even make the deal possible. Not only because of their egos, but they're habits on the court, ball handling, and skills levels do not mesh to be championship material. As every knowledgeable sports analyst has harped on, it takes roll players, the Derrick Fishers, Robert Horrys, & Kendrick Perkins type players to win a championship, these mega stars aren't the solution to the frustration of no rings. Lebron James never really had a coach whom he could respect and truly guided him. Its unfortunate, but Mike Brown let Lebron tell him how much he would handle the ball, who would take that last shot, who would drive & kick. He wasn't coached. Now, we'll see his true potential and ability to be a team player wherever he decides to go, because even if he stays with Cleavland, Byron Scott is a coach. But, Lebron, go to Chicago, do what's best for you. You cannot babysit your mother for the rest of your career/life.

Sincerity

..He finally showed it. The Larry King interview, the teleprompter inspired public address, the song, Crawl, none of it seemed sincere, a sincere apology to not only Rihanna, but to his fans who lost regard for him. Last night's BET Awards '10 performance was though. As the most appropriate current artist to do a Michael Jackson tribute, Chris Brown was invited to do so. I'm sure BET envisioned this as somewhat of a momentous redemption, but not in the way it was. Singing Man in the Mirror, appropriately titled, Chris Brown could barely utter words through his tears, not of crying, but bawling. I believe it was bigger than Michael, unfortunately, but necessarily. Chris felt love from the audience, his peers, his mentors, for the first time in nearly 16 months. His premature attempt at a comeback with Graffiti failed and he could book no appearances, so this, this was a big deal & he needed it. He needed it along with his acceptance "speech" stating he'd let us down before, but "Won't do it again." As upset and unforgiving as I was, its time to move on & let an artist bloom to his full potential. Good for you, CB.

Come On!

When will artists get that they only have a certain "window" of opportunity open for them? Maybe this isn't deserving or necessarily "fair" but its the way of the world. Whitney Houston's return was widely anticipated. Her Oprah interview was widely regarded. Although having some lackluster performances on GMA and ridiculed during the first leg of her world tour, she released ONE single. One meager single, Million Dollar Bill. The title track was never released although it got some radio play, but only because she is..Whitney Houston. Come on, ride what you have, your CD went to number one, people wanted to listen. Monica. Another widely anticipated, way too long of an absence artist. One single, a very powerful single, but one single nonetheless. She's been riding this for nearly 3 months now & there's talks of a her second single now being released but its another mid-tempo R&B joint. No, we heard that. We got the vocal powerhouse, we know you're back with a vengance. Give us something catchy, something like Stay Or Go, NeYo's track. Something that can make an impact on the Hot 100 charts, not just R&B charts, take a que from Beyonce & know you don't have to lose your base or core to be a staying force in the industry, but you do have to stay relevant & popular, Love All Over Me isn't gonna do it, Monica. Artists, know your fans, know your timing, know the record industry.

The N Word

Its not ok for anyone to use. African Americans seem to believe that because it was used as a derogatory word to oppress them, they can now use it as a term of endearment..? I don't quite understand how that makes sense. It is always easy for some to say, we're striving for equality, we are all equal, we have a black president. But, how can we all be equal when a certain race can use a word and another cannot? How are those lines distinguished? If its a "bad" word, its a bad word, no special qualifications or requirements to be met. Wake up and realize that having such double standards makes "The Dream" that much harder to truly attain.

Nikki&Rich

Listen. I can't wait for their CD to be released later this month. Their sound is "Lauryn Hill meets The Supremes while hanging out with Alicia Keys listening to Outkast 'Hey Yah'" Excited to see what they have in store for us.

Christina Aguilera?

She's been around since about '99 and I've listened and enjoyed several tracks. But, now I draw the question, who is she? What is her genre? What does she excel in? Who is her audience? Pop/Soul? Pop/Rock? With her new disk, Bionic, hitting stores today (June 8th), I listen and I enjoy some tracks, most, but not all and this is totally different than anything I've ever heard before. She's auto-tuned in so many, the powerhouse vocalist is unrecognizable. I have no idea how I feel about Christina Aguilera the artist and what her legacy will be. I'm all for reinvention, but with this being her 4th studio album, how many times can she truly reinvent herself, her sound, and her image? After hearing her rendition of This Is A Man's World at the 2007 Grammy's, I can never deny her talent. But, I still question, who is Christina Aguilera?

It Hurt, Serena, It Really Hurt

I wake up at 5 A.M. I'm excited to see the world's number 1, Ms. Serena Williams versus this seemingly newly emerged singles talent, Samantha Stosur, whom beat the 4 time French Open champion, Justine Henin. The match starts off slow, in regards to Serena. She picks up her serving in the second set and stays close throughout. She then gets broken. I've seen Serena fight, fight, fight. But I had my doubts about this one, Stosur had not been broken and her serving was unmatchable. But, Serena being the fighter she is, she broke back, held & pulled it to a tiebreaker in which she one handily. The 3rd set then rolls around. Announcers, Martina Navertalova and her colleagues, all spoke as if Serena had the match in the bag. "Stosur let her hang around too long." In the back of my mind, I wanted to believe them, because this is usually the case. But, no, I really thought SERENA let Stosur hang around too much. When Serena's on a roll, she doesn't let up. Although her serve remained consistent, Stosur stuck around & I knew the first person to let up on their serve would be the loser. Serena then had a match point, I was elated. I was praising her fighting mentality and spirit. She lost it. She then got broken by 2 magnificent shots by Stosur. Stosur held serve. Serena Williams was knocked out of the French Open in the Quarters. I'm still hurt. It cut me real deep.