Today kicks off Memorial Day weekend, and the perfect person to help ring in the summer season is party-meister Pitbull, who performed a handfull of his hits during the Today show’s outdoor concert series. Mr. Worldwide got the crowd cheering with “International Love,” “Give Me Everything”, “I Know You Want Me” and “Back In Time”, the lead single from the Men In Black III soundtrack. Watch him break a sweat below, and look out for his seventh studio LP, Global Warming.

Pitbull – “International Love” (Live On Today)

Pitbull – “Back In Time” (Live On Today)

Pitbull – “Give Me Everything” (Live On Today)

Pitbull – “I Know You Want Me” (Live On Today)

Reality television’s newest singing competition, Duets, premiered on ABC last night (May 24), though chances are you didn’t watch it: the show debuted with an average of 6.7 million viewers. (That’s nearly half of what the debut episode of NBC’s The Voice earned last year.) Are these disappointing figures due to a lack of promotion, or a lack of interest, as TV is already over-saturated with people singing and judging singing? (We wouldn’t be surprised if people need a breather from singing competitions as American Idol ended its 11th season on Wednesday night.)

We’ll have to wait and see how the show builds momentum the rest of the season, but they certainly kicked things off with a bang: judges Kelly Clarkson, Robin Thicke, John Legend and Jennifer Nettles opened the show by performing Robbie Williams‘ “Let Me Entertain You”. It’s a fitting song choice, as the judges really will be pulling double duty as entertainers, since they’ll be performing along with the contestants throughout the course of the show.

Check out one of the series’ first duets — contestant Jordan Meredith performing Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” with none other than Kelly Clarkson. That shouldn’t have been too nerve-wracking for her, right?

Did you watch Duets? Let us know what you think of the show on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below.

robin thicke goes solo on 'gma'

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Phillip Phillips wasn’t the only one realizing his dreams on Wednesday night’s American Idol Season 11 finale. Top 3 finalist — and our not-so-secret favorite from this cycle — Joshua Ledet made a triumphant return to the Idol stage alongside “the biggest inspiration of [his] life” Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino. And whoo boy was that inspiration apparent as the two soul powerhouses let loose on “Take Me To The Pilot”, turning Elton John‘s 1970 B-side into an old-school gospel revival. It was something like a family act, Fantasia in a form-fitting sequin catsuit and Josh in a iridescent cream blazer, screaming in call-and-answer to one another from across the crowd. See if you can’t resist clapping along with Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson, or having a good chuckle at the downright beffuddled-looking Scotty McCreery at the 2:46 mark.

Football player Donald Driver was crowned the winner of the 14th Season of Dancing With The Stars last night, and besides his ecstatic victory dance, the finale’s other must-see moment was Kelly Clarkson‘s performance. The pop star, who is now part of the ABC Family as a mentor on new singing competition show Duets, busted out her singles “Dark Side” and “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” as dancers got busy on the dancefloor. For those wondering if Kelly would ever compete on DWTS, don’t bet on it: “I just couldn’t compete with anyone,” she says, wowed by the phenomenal dancing talent. (As evidenced by her cute-and-dorky moves in her “Stronger” video, she’s not just being modest.)

Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger is out now on RCA. Purchase it on eMusic.

kelly clarkson: Cute at the ABC upfronts

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Gossip‘s new single “Move In The Right Direction” is an positive-minded, and positively catchy, dose of pop perfection, and perhaps their best bet at having a hit here in the US. (Their only previous charting single was in 2009 with “Heavy Cross”, which peaked at #107 on the Hot 100.) We have faith, and the group’s performance of their song on Letterman last night can only help to prove this trio has got the power. David Letterman already seems to think so, as he invites them to perform at his house on Father’s Day. That’s certainly a better gift than another tie.

Gossip’s fifth studio album A Joyful Noise is out now on Columbia. Purchase it on eMusic.

beth ditto moves in the right direction: Towards her fans

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When Justin Bieber hit up The Ellen DeGeneres Show today, he had some very important business to take care of. No, it wasn’t performing “Boyfriend” — though he did do that, as well. The Bieb announced that he’s going on a 45-city trek across North America this coming fall and winter.

The Believe Tour kicks off on September 29 at Glendale, Arizona’s Jobing.com Arena and will progress through early December. Then Bieber has almost a month off for the holidays before his jaunt picks back up in Salt Lake City on January 5. Things will finally wrap up on January 26 at Miami’s American Airlines Arena.

Watch Justin perform “Boyfriend” above, then catch the full list of Believe Tour Dates (which makes us tired just glancing at it), plus Justin’s high school graduation on Ellen, below.

Ellen surprises Justin with a graduation ceremony.

Justin talks about the car he received for his birthday and announces his North American tour.

The Believe Tour — North American dates

9/29 – Glendale, AZ (Jobing.com Arena)
9/30 – Las Vegas, NV (MGM Grand)
10/2 – Los Angeles, CA (Staples Center)
10/3 – Los Angeles, CA (Staples Center)
10/5 – Fresno, CA (Save Mart Center)
10/6 – Oakland, CA (The Oracle Arena)
10/8 – Portland, OR (Rose Garden)
10/9 – Tacoma, WA (Tacoma Dome)
10/12 – Calgary, AB (Scotiabank Saddledome)
10/15 – Edmonton, AB (Rexall Place)
10/16 – Saskatoon, SK (Credit Union Centre)
10/18 – Winnipeg, MB (MTS Centre)
10/20 – Minneapolis, MN (Target Center)
10/21 – Milwaukee WI (BMO Harris Bradley Center)
10/23 – Rosemont, IL (Allstate Arena)
10/24 – Rosemont, IL (Allstate Arena)
10/26 – Kansas City, MO (Sprint Center)
10/27 – St. Louis, MO (Scottrade Center)
10/29 – Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center)
10/30 – Houston, TX (Toyota Center)
11/1 – Memphis, TN (FedExForum)
11/2 – Louisville, KY (KFC Yum! Center)
11/4 – Philadelphia, PA (Wells Fargo Center)
11/5 – Washington D.C. (Verizon Center)
11/9 – East Rutherford, NJ (IZOD Center)
11/10 – Boston, MA (TD Garden)
11/12 – Brooklyn, NY (Barclays Center)
11/20 – Pittsburgh, PA (Consol Energy Center)
11/21 – Auburn Hills, MI (The Palace of Auburn Hills)
11/23 – Kanata, ON (Scotiabank Place)
11/26 – Montreal, QC (Bell Centre)
11/28 – New York, NY (Madison Square Garden)
12/1 – Toronto, ON (Rogers Centre)
1/5 – Salt Lake City, UT (EnergySolutions Arena)
1/7 – Denver, CO (Pepsi Center)
1/9 – Tulsa, OK (BOK Center)
1/10 – N. Little Rock, AR (Verizon Arena)
1/12 – San Antonio, TX (AT&T Center)
1/15 – New Orleans, LA (New Orleans Arena)
1/16 – Birmingham, AL (BJCC Arena)
1/18 – Nashville, TN (Bridgestone Arena)
1/19 – Greensboro, NC (Greensboro Coliseum)
1/22 – Charlotte, NC (Time Warner Cable Arena)
1/23 – Atlanta, GA (Philips Arena)
1/25 – Orlando, FL (Amway Center)
1/26 – Miami, FL (American Airlines Arena)

As a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today, Katy Perry was in the presence of one her idols: Alanis Morissette, who was on the set to perform her new single “Guardian”. Ellen wrangled in Katy, who apparently didn’t need much coaxing, to introduce the Canadian pop-rock icon. “Ellen’s next guest has sold over 60 million albums and is one of the reasons why I became a songwriter,” Perry said. After Alanis’ performance (which was flawless, we might add), Katy ran up and hugged her, and the two shared a kiss. Awww — we just love pop comaraderie.

Morissette’s eighth studio LP Havoc And Bright Lights is due out in August.

Mere days after Katy Perry‘s ex Russell Brand sat across from Ellen DeGeneres and talked about how he was very happy being married to the “Wide Awake” singer, Katy herself hit up The Ellen DeGeneres Show to promote upcoming 3-D film Katy Perry: Part Of Me.

“I thought it was important for me to show everything in between,” Perry, who got married during the making of the documentary, told DeGeneres. “I think sometimes people think we’re perfect. And we know we’re not perfect at all. I think it’s important to start breaking down the idea that to achieve your dream you have to always be perfect or flawless or live in some kind of fantasy world. So that’s why I decided to put everything in the film, in the most tasteful way.”

Katy Perry & Her Grandma At The Billboard Music Awards

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Now isn’t she just a total inspiration, folks? Fingers crossed we get to see Katy’s grandma — who she called “the original rock star” at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday — once more when Part Of Me hits the big screen on July 5.

Do you plan on seeing Perry’s movie in theaters? Let us know below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter.

Before Cee Lo Green and his reunited Goodie Mob crew physically took to the MGM Grand Stage during their “Fight To Win” performance at the Billboard Music Awards, a one-legged dancer in military garb arrived on crutches and proceeded to wow the audience with jaw-dropping moves. Then a wall was lifted and the quartet, decked out in all white, belted out their new inspirational new single.

Afterwards — and keeping with the “fight” theme — Cee Lo yelled, “Yo, Billboard Awards — get your asses up and celebrate the life of MCA!” The group then launched into a rowdy cover of Beastie Boys‘ breakthrough hit “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” as a tribute to the late Adam Yauch. (Really, it’s all about Carrie Underwood singing along to every word in the audience.)

Nelly Furtado wows in white on the red carpet

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On one hand, we were glad to see Donna Summer honored at last night’s Billboard Music Awards following the disco diva’s death at age 63 last week. But unlike the Beastie Boys and Whitney Houston tributes, the one for Summer was cut way too short by a commercial break. (Even Bee Gees member Robin Gibb, who passed away yesterday, got a full moment of silence.)

At any rate, click play above to watch a clip of Natasha Bedingfield singing Donna’s Academy Award-winning Thank God It’s Friday soundtrack hit “Last Dance” as photos of the disco legend are flashed behind her.

Jordin Sparks hits BBMA red carpet ahead of Whitney tribute

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Duets cast member John Legend and Jordin Sparks, star of the upcoming film Sparkle, paid tribute to Whitney Houston at the Billboard Music Awards this evening. The late singer, who passed away in February at the age of 48, was honored with the Billboard Millennium Award at the Las Vegas ceremony. Her sister Pat Houston and daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown were on hand to accept the statue.

Legend performed Houston’s version of “The Greatest Love Of All”, a #1 hit on the Hot 100 for her in 1986, while Sparks, who will feature alongside Whitney in Sparkle, sang “I Will Always Love You”.

Jennifer Hudson also paid tribute to Houston by singing “I Will Always Love You”, at the Grammy Awards in February. This evening the audience at the Billboard event showed their approval of Sparks’ take on the song, which was originally written and recorded by Dolly Parton, by giving her a standing ovation amid a roar of cheers.

“I just really want to say thank you to everyone who supported us through it all — not just when it was good, but when it was bad too,” an emotional Bobbi Kristina said on stage, following the musical tribute to her mother.

Were you moved by the tribute to Whitney at the Billboard Music Awards? Let us know your thoughts below, or by hitting us up on Twitter and Facebook.

Were you glad The Wanted came to Las Vegas’ MGM Grand to perform at the Billboard Music Awards this year? Did Justin Bieber have you wishing he was your boyfriend when he took to the stage? Were you wide awake to see Katy Perry swinging and singing from the rafters? We could go on and ask if you turned up the music for Chris Brown or were blown away by Carrie Underwood, but we’ll just can the corniness and let you get to the performances below. (And catch Bieber above!)

LMFAO — ”Party Rock Anthem” / “Sorry for Party Rocking” / “Sexy and I Know It” at the Billboard Music Awards

The Wanted — “Chasing The Sun” / “Glad You Came” at the Billboard Music Awards

Chris Brown — “Turn Up The Music” at the Billboard Music Awards

Kelly Clarkson — “Dark Side” at the Billboard Music Awards

Usher — ”Scream” at the Billboard Music Awards

Carly Rae Jepsen — “Call Me Maybe” at the Billboard Music Awards

Carrie Underwood — “Blown Away” at the Billboard Music Awards

Linkin Park — “Burn It Down” at the Billboard Music Awards

Katy Perry — “Wide Awake” at the Billboard Music Awards

Nelly Furtado — “Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)” at the Billboard Music Awards

Stevie Wonder & Alicia Keys — “Higher Ground” / “Overjoyed” / “Empire State of Mind” / “Join Our Love” / “Superstition”

Who gave your favorite performance at the Billboard Music Awards? Let us know your thoughts below, or by hitting us up on Twitter and Facebook.

Nelly Furtado is poised for quite a comeback — the bigger the better, we say! Thus the bird-like songstress brought her new single to chatty man Alan Carr, wearing appropriately large earrings and otherwise flashy apparel, to strut her musical stuff before performing “Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)” at the Billboard Music Awards tomorrow. With its references to late 80′s/early 90′s pop and hip hop songs including “No Diggity,” “Express Yourself,” and “Let’s Talk About Sex,” as well as its similarities to Furtado’s Top 40-friendly Timbaland-era, “Big Hoops” is aiming to elevate Nelly above the competition the same way she towers above us on stilts in the video (sadly, absent from this performance).

Lady Gaga‘s episode of The Simpsons on the show’s season finale (airing this Sunday May 20 on Fox) has been previewed and hyped up so much, we feel like we’ve practically seen the whole thing already. Apparently not, as today comes two more sneak peeks at what we can expect during Gaga’s ep: in the above clip, the pop star has a heart-to-heart with Marge, and ends up engaging in a full-on smooch. And below, Lisa denounces the “Born This Way” singer, leaving her in tears (or should we say, jewels).

“Are you crying glitter?” asks Lisa to a heartbroken Gaga.

“Tiny diamonds. Hurts like hell,” she replies. See? It’s not easy being Mother Monster, not at all.

Will you be watching Gaga’s star turn on The Simpsons this weekend? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below.

Russell Brand appeared on Ellen DeGeneres‘ daytime talk show this morning, and in between promoting his new movie Rock Of Ages and making Ellen squirm by commenting on current events like the breastfeeding TIME cover, the comedian spoke fondly of his ex-wife, Katy Perry.

“I love her as a human being, but sometimes when you’re in a relationship I suppose it doesn’t work out, does it? But that doesn’t mean I regret it or anything… I was very happy to be married to her, she’s such a beautiful human being, and I only have love and positivity for her.”

Nice to see Russell remaining a gent after such a public breakup. Making us love him even more was his bonding session with Ellen’s co-hosts (basically, at this point) Sophia Grace and Rosie, who hail from the same town as Brand. Watch the three Brits have a ball in the clip below!

“Oh, my little Essex friends! We all escaped!” exclaimed Russell, to the girls’ delight.

The highlight of the entire episode has to be when Russell asks Sophie Grace to “express everything you’ve ever thought”, and she immediately shouts out, “PINK!”

Get this girl her own ABC sitcom, STAT.

During his MTV First chat with Sway last night, Usher showed some footage from his recent takeover of Fuerza Bruta. What, exactly, is that, you ask? You can read about it here, or listen to Usher explain it: “It’s a play — it’s not necessarily a play in the standard sense of the word. But down at the Daryl Roth Theatre they put on these shows. They take you through range of emotions. It’s not spoken word, but there are these sounds and also these elements that kind of give you the ultimate feeling that is conveyed by this person.”

Uh, sure Ush. Whatever you say. The singer showed three clips from his recent Fuerza Bruta performance — “Scream”, “Climax” and new song “Twisted”, which comes in at about the 3:07 mark in the video above.

Later in the interview, Usher went on to describe Looking 4 Myself track “Twisted” like this:

“Twisted” is more of a nostalgic record, so when you think about the classic R&B record, we managed a way to modernize it, even though that’s very relevant,” the singer said. “You hear records like Cee Lo, you hear Bruno Mars and also Andre 3000, and that sound is very relevant in this time. So this was kind of our way to tie it all together and give you something different that you probably wouldn’t normally get from me.

It’s hard to get a true sense of the song from the short clip played in the video above, but we’re digging the James Brown-esque vibe we’re hearing so far.

What are your thoughts on what you’ve heard of Usher’s new song “Twisted”?

It’s fitting that the artist who had a #1 hit with “Live Your Life” is showing his support for President Barack Obama‘s endorsement of same-sex marriage. In an interview for MTV’s RapFix Live, T.I. echoes Jay-Z‘s sentiments from the other day about marriage rights for gays — somewhat.

While Hova came right out and compared discrimination against the GLBT community to discrimination against the black community, T.I.’s comments were a little more laid back. “Just to speak honestly, and being frank, I don’t care. I think that if a matter doesn’t affect your daily life, you shouldn’t take a hard stand on it if it’s not something that directly affects you,” Tip told Sway.

T.I. continued: “If it doesn’t affect you, then what difference does it make what other people are doing with their lives? I think that you should be able to do whatever you want to do. I don’t see how it matters one way or another.”

The Atlanta MC is currently still on probation through September, and will be unable to vote until then. But lucky for him, the Presidential election is in November. “I don’t think that’s a hard question,” T.I. joked when Sway said he wasn’t going to ask which candidate he’d be throwing his vote to.

As mentioned, earlier this week Jay-Z said the following on the matter during a sitdown with CNN: “You choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination, plain and simple.”

And two years ago, fellow hip hop king Eminem made this rather Slim Shady-like comment to the New York Times: “I think if two people love each other, then what the hell? I think that everyone should have the chance to be equally miserable, if they want.”

What are your thoughts on the latest wave of support for gay marriage coming from the hip hop community? Let us know below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter.

Well, it only took three full seasons (almost), but — spoiler alert for those who’ve yet to sit down and click “play” on their DVR list — New Directions finally won at nationals on Glee. The episode, aptly-titled “Nationals”, was notable for two particular performances during the staged competition in Chicago — William McKinley High’s brightest voices tackling Meat Loaf’s rock classic “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” and cross-dressing newcomer Unique belting out Elton John‘s Tommy jam “Pinball Wizard” along with the rest of Vocal Adrenaline.

At one point during the episode, Unique told Mercedes and Kurt that he may be transferring to a new school next year. (Gee, wherever could that be, we wonder?)

“Paradise By The Dashboard Light” on Glee

The show’s tiresome penchant for stunt casting continued with “Nationals”, as Lindsay Lohan, Perez Hilton and Rex Lee were wrangled in as judges at the competition. (Lohan and Hilton played themselves — and exchanged some ho-hum barbs about “comebacks” and Perez’s handling of Lindsay on his site — while Lee was cast as city councilman Alderman Martin Fong, a sort of show choir championships junkie.)

Another guest was Whoopi Goldberg, who reprised her role as NYADA dean Carmen Tibideaux. She drops in to nationals just in time to catch Rachel rocking Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” and “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”. And after New Directions’ most featured soloist flubbed her initial audition for the school a few episodes back, this seems to conveniently tie up whether or not she’s getting in. Or does it?

Guess we’ll just have to wait till next week’s Season 3 finale, “Goodbye”, to find out.

Bobby Brown has followed up his sitdown with Matt Lauer on the Today Show with the news that The Masterpiece, his first album in 15 years, will arrive this summer. Naturally, this provides a great opportunity for other talks shows to invite Brown on to talk about his late ex-wife, Whitney Houston.

For instance, Bobby chatted with Ellen DeGeneres today about the fact that he chose to go on with a scheduled New Edition gig in Mississippi upon finding out about Whitney’s death in February. “Of course I tried to get a flight [to Los Angeles], I tried to rent a jet,” he said. “But it was impossible.”

Ellen suggested that people perhaps didn’t understand how he could go on performing after finding out the news. But the singer, who is now engaged to be married again, explained that going forward with the concert is exactly what Whitney would have wanted him to do.

Whitney's great moments in time

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“We are performers,” Brown said. “That’s what we did. That’s what we do. She would want the best for me.”

Bobby told Ellen the thing he’ll miss about his ex-wife is her voice. “We get to hear it every day, but just to see her sing was amazing,” he said. “Because where she came from with it was amazing. That’s what I’m going to miss.”

Brown’s full interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show airs later today.

Carrie Underwood isn’t just blowing the competition away on the album chart, she’s also been hitting the TV show circuit for the past two weeks and performing her latest single to cheering crowds. Yes, we know — you’ve seen one performance of “Good Girl” with Carrie wearing a skintight dress and heels, you’ve seen them all. But when she hit up Dancing With The Stars last night, there was extra electricity in the air.

Maybe it was the crew of DWTS dancers who were shuffling and twirling around American Idol alum as she stood above them on that glowing platform in that crazy webbed, glittery get-up? Watch and see if you agree that this good girl gave a pretty badass performance.