Lil’ Bit Country:

Riff-rockin’ balladeer Kenny Chesney took the 47th annual Country Music Awards by storm thus far, as the Academy released nominations this morning. Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, are three of the nine total nods Chesney received, heel-stomped around the artist’s 14th record, Hemingway’s Whiskey. Behind Chesney, Jason Aldean follows with six nods, with Lady Antebellum closely behind with five nods. While Taylor Swift trumped the female set, notching three nods, including a combative underdog spot against Chesney for Entertainer of the Year, the latter of which has won the award four times since 2004. The award show proper will take place on April 1st at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

Madonna’s Halftime Spectacular:

Zombie Dancepocalypse breakouts LMFAO are slated to shuffle alongside Madonna during Superbowl  XLVI on February 5th, confirmed via Will.i.am during an interview with the UK’s Capital FM. As signees of Will.i.am’s  Music Group, the Black Eyed Peas star and last year Super Bowl Halftime show alum told the british radio station, “I’m going to the Super Bowl this year to see my group LMFAO perform with Madonna,” later chest-pounding a comment about how he’s two-for-two, representation-wise. Meanwhile, both M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj are rumored to be part of the spectacular considering their appearance on Madonna’s forthcoming M.D.N.A. single, “Give Me All Your Love.” Billboard‘s got a fine roundup of perspective tunes to be played. Any thoughts?

 

So Sick of Love Songs:

Universal Music announced yesterday the deck-shuffling of R&B fixture Ne-Yo from its own Def Jam recording artist roster to its Motown label, naming the 32-year-old producer/artist Senior VP of A&R. Taking stock in his ability to scout new talent while dropping records simultaneously, Ne-Yo has some large shoes to fill, with the iconic Motown imprint’s VP alumni listing Smokey Robinson, among others. Paying respect to his predecessor, Ne-Yo said in a statement that he’s all at once “terrified” and “honored,” but he has “trust” that he “can handle it.” In the interim, the “So Sick” wailer is readying his fifth effort The Cracks In Mr. Perfect.

 

 

Post-At Last:

The untimely passing of Etta James, as death unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on how you look at it – tends to do has seen a 378% increase from last week’s Billboard numbers at 6,000 copies of The Best of Etta James – 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection to over 300,000 copies this week, climbing from 162 to 46 on album sales charts. While single digital copies of “At Last” shot up 63,000 from the previous week, an over-all jump up 1,091%. Etta was of course wordily acknowledged. But it can’t help us think about this Onion article about death and artistry.

Lyricapsule:

In other Super Bowl news, the iconic ’85 Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots  – the current hopefuls for this year – on this day during the 20th edition of the sports spectacular, spawning Ditka, Da Bears and the greatest run to the Bowl in the game’s history following one of the first ever songs created for such a thing, the Super Bowl Shuffle. Others have tried. But they’re not as relevant. Full disclosure: we’re Bears fans. Nevertheless: “We’re not here to start no trouble/We’re just here to do the Super Bowl Shuffle.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=draiscAGt-k&feature=related