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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Florence + The Machine will hit up the 2012 Lollapalooza fest this summer before heading out on a full North American tour in the fall. And proving that Ms. Welch is one of the hardest working live performers in the business at the moment, she and the band followed up their recent Coachella and MTV Unplugged gigs by hitting up the Late Show With David Letterman and delivering a knockout rendition of “No Light, No Light”.

Even Dave seemed beside himself after Florence finished. “Please come back early and often,” he told Welch — right after he tried to buy the band’s harp for $20.

Florence stuns at the Met costume institute gala

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Being a “Good Girl” appears to have paid off nicely for Carrie Underwood. The 2005 American Idol winner trotted onto the Late Show last night for a performance of her latest hit in front David Letterman’s crowd, and she woke up this morning to find that her new LP, Blown Away, is the top download on iTunes. But we can’t chalk the album’s initial success all up to Letterman. After all, that PS 22 Chorus gig was pretty sweet, as well.

If you pay close attention to Carrie’s attire, you’ll notice that the 29-year-old Oklahoman is wearing a blinged-out necklace bearing the name of her new album — something Dave points out after the performance while joking that they’re not going to pay the band.

Will you be picking up a copy of Blown Away this week?

Last week we gave you a sneak peek at the making of Train’s video for latest hit “Drive By”, and last night the west coast band hit up the Late Show With David Letterman to give their first live TV performance of the rocking single. Singer Pat Monahan bounced around on stage while belting out the the first offering from California 37 (out April 17), and afterward Letterman quipped, “A lot of guys would come out here and make a big, big deal about it, but they don’t, they’re so cool — on drums, Robert Redford. They don’t say a word about it.” Catch the resemblance below.

Nelly Furtado took another baby step toward coming out of her somewhat reclusive state by hitting up The Late Show With David Letterman last night with her pal K’naan. While performing “Is There Anybody Out There”, the Canadian songstress, whose new album T.S.I. is due out sometime this summer, waved her arms, pumped her fists and jumped around while wearing a bulky blue coat and Lisa Loeb-esque black-framed glasses. Consider us ready for your full-on return, Nelly! Watch her performance with K’naan below.

“Is Anybody Out There” is available on K’naan’s EP More Beautiful Than Silence.

Kelly Clarkson’s favorite contemporary Ellie Goulding swung by the Ed Sullivan Theater yesterday for a Late Show performance of her single “Lights”. Yes, “Lights” — a song that has been around for a year now, but is finally starting to slowly make its way up the iTunes chart. The British singer stood before David Letterman’s audience and banged on a drum before launching into a rousing vocal performance. So, all you folks who have yet to download the tune but have iTunes gift cards laying around after the holidays, and see if this TV gig by Ellie motivates you to show her some love.

J. Cole looked quite sporty in his New York jacket when he hit up last night’s Late Show With David Letterman. The chart-topping Roc Nation MC busted out his current Paula Abdul-interpolating hit “Work Out”, but the real surprise came at the end when Santa Dave handed Cole a huge present for Christmas. Watch J. dash all all the ladies’ dreams as he works it out below.

Cole World: The Sideline Story is out now on Roc Nation/Columbia. Purchase it at eMusic.

Justin Bieber may have cleared up the allegations surrounding the Mariah Yeater baby scandal earlier this week, but that doesn’t mean the “Fa La La” singer is out of the woods just yet. While chatting with his “Uncle” David on the Late Show last night, the pop star had to chat once again about the ordeal. Biebs agreed with Letterman that false (and wildly outrageous) accusations such as this come with being in the limelight. Unfortunately, so does having to talk about said experiences ad nauseum. Catch the budding rapper‘s clip below.

Bieber also confirmed on the show that he did indeed take a paternity test to prove he isn’t the father of Mariah Yeater’s baby. Asked what the test involved, Bieber said the doctors just swabbed his mouth.

Justin seemed confused (or thrown off) by the late night talk show host’s half-joking question regarding the process of the DNA test. “Is there disrobing?” inquired Letterman. The pop star replied, “No, no, I don’t think so!” As he isn’t even sure what disrobing is, of course he was never the father — that should have been the entire paternity test right there.

Now that this baby drama is behind him, it seems like the perfect time for JB ti put out a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, no?

Now that Foster The People’s surprise hit “Pumped Up Kicks” is finally showing signs of cooling off on the Hot 100 (it slid to #5 this week after a month of being lodged at #3, behind “Someone Like You” and “Moves Like Jagger”), maybe their follow-up single “Helena Beat” will start to see some life at Top 40 radio? Frontman Mark Foster brought his trademark moves and scruffy stance to the Late Show With David Letterman last night, where the band knocked out an impressive performance of the Torches tune. Take a sip and watch below.

Coldplay’s fifth album Mylo Xyloto isn’t out for another month (October 25, to be exact), but the band is clearly taking a “no time like the present” tactic to promote the record. Bathed in blue, Chris Martin and his mates took to the Ed Sullivan Theater stage last night for a Late Show With David Letterman performance of “Paradise,” and a Live On Letterman web-exclusive gig that included tracks from their upcoming LP. Watch the former below!

Coldplay — ”Paradise” (on the Late Show)

Lady Antebellum barely had time to get over the utter ecstasy of their upcoming album Own The Night being featured in our Fall Preview yesterday before they had to make an appearance on the Late Show. The Grammy-winning Nashville trio offered up a pitch-perfect rendition of their hit single “Just A Kiss” — and it’s great that Hillary, Charles and Dave are finally getting out there and doing some TV promo for the song, since we’ve been jamming to it pretty much non-stop since early May! Watch Lady A turn it out below.

Christina Perri will be just one of many performers at this coming weekend’s annual Lollapalooza fest in Chicago, but ahead of that, the Pennsylvania songstress hit up the Late Show With David Letterman last night to belt out her current single “Arms.” It’s a much more upbeat tune than Christina’s recent hit “Jar Of Hearts,” and so it’s nice to see the singer-songwriter flash her pretty smile while performing on TV for a change. Watch below!

You guys gave us your say for You Be The Judge pick Porcelain Black, and it looks like you’re digging the goth-rock-pop singer’s black-and-white vibes. Her style is already drawing comparisons to Lady Gaga — so welcome to the highly-populated club, lady! Check out Black making her very first late night TV appearance, performing her single “This Is What Rock N Roll Looks Like” on David Letterman.

Cee Lo Green is the man of the moment: he recently rocked Glastonbury, wrapped up the first successful season of The Voice, launched his own Fuse talk show Talking To Strangers, posted stellar mid-year sales for his single “F**k You!” and revamped his current single “Bright Lights, Bigger City.” Watch Green perform the latter below while backed by a trio of backup singers, a string section and Paul Shaffer on The Late Show.

PS Is it just us, or does all this success having Cee Lo looking a bit leaner and meaner these days?

When we heard Justin Bieber would be doing yet another Top 10 list on the Late Show — one dealing with little-known facts about the recent MuchMusic Video Awards winner, no less — we echoed what host David Letterman said last night: “You’d think that everything had been covered by now.” Apparently not! For instance, did you know the Biebz did time for siphoning gas? Or that he owns a four-slice toaster? Didn’t think so. All is revealed below, Beliebers.

Check out JB looking preppy in pink on the way to the Ed Sullivan Theater for the taping of the Late Show yesterday.

The other day we caught Jennifer Hudson ducking into the Ed Sullivan Theater for her taping of the Late Show With David Letterman, and her spirited performance of I Remember Me number “No One Gonna Love You” on the show aired last night. Thankfully J-Hud overcame her recent bout of food poisoning in time for her gig. Unfortunately, several of her upcoming tour dates have either been postponed or canceled altogether. Watch Jennifer on the Late Show below.

David Letterman and first-time Late Show guest Lady Gaga, who’s out in full promo force behind just-released album Born This Way, basically spent a full 15 minutes ribbing each other on air last night. “You and I are very different,” Dave said to the “Heavy Metal Lover” singer at one point. “I have never thought to myself, I’m just going to wear my underpants.” Gaga quipped back, “Why not? I’m sure you’d look nice if you just took your pants off.” Wow. Excuse us while we go take an ice-cold shower. Watch the playful one-on-one below.

We already caught a preview clip of Gaga gnawing on Dave’s list of questions (the topic had turned to rumors about her at that point). But earlier, Letterman tried to obtain some background info on the 25-year-old singer.

“Did you finish high school?” he asked innocently enough. “Does that mean that you’re a bad kid if you don’t finish high school?… Don’t be judgmental,” she retorted, pretending to scold him.

Gaga then mentioned that, while having a high school diploma, she did not finish college, and that she wouldn’t be interested in going back to get a degree. “In my line of work, I don’t know that they can teach you how to ride disco sticks,” she deadpanned.

Oh, you two…

As Lady Gaga continued to make the rounds in New York today for the world-wide release of Born This Way, she made a stop at the Late Show With David Letterman. The pop star entered the Ed Sullivan Theater donning a different ensemble than the black dress she sported for the ladies at The View earlier today. And she came hungry: after Dave quizzed her about biting the head off a Barbie doll, Gaga lost patience (or pretended to) and chomped on Dave’s note cards. Check below to see Mother Monster literally feed on media attention.

After the taping, the heavy metal lover was spotted exiting the studio having completely changed her outfit again — down to her shoes! The only thing remaining the somewhat consistent today, was the “Judas” singer’s new lopsided double-wig hairdo. Head below to peep what Gaga’s post-show Lone Ranger-inspired getup and tell us which look you dig the most.

“Hi-yo Silver! Away!”

When it comes to a Top 10 list dealing with tips for aspiring singers, who better than The Voice coach Christina Aguilera to read it live on the Late Show? (Besides, uh, other coaches Blake Shelton, Adam Levine or Cee Lo Green, that is…) We won’t spoil it by giving away any of the Bionic diva’s wise/snarky tips. But will note that she belts out a few runs. And then she meows. Brilliant! Watch below.

Meanwhile, while Xtina was doing the rounds on the Late Show, Cee Lo Green hit up Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and spoke about an unreleased track he and Aguilera collaborated on that may be finally seeing the light of day soon.

That alone has us meowing.

You didn’t think Lupe Fiasco was done promoting his #1 album Lasers just yet, did you? As his current single proudly states, the show goes on—and so it did on the Late Show With David Letterman last night. Lupe seemed more upbeat than ever as he bounced around the stage, and he beamed brightly when Dave told him, “That was great! … Good to have you back. Congratulations on everything.” Watch below!