Singer/songwriter Sting gave fans a preview of his upcoming Broadway play at the 68th Annual Tony Awards (photo: Huffingtonpost.com)
On a night highlighted with spectacular performances and memorable moments, Sting gave audiences a simplistic, no-frills preview of his upcoming Broadway play. Wreathed in a single spotlight and accompanied by a five-piece band and a choir, the beloved musician launched into the song, “The Last Ship,” with a thick Northern English accent and an acoustic guitar.
The play by the same name (The Last Ship) will mark Sting’s debut as a Broadway composer, yet another accomplishment added to his already prolific career. Last year the former Police frontman released a collaborative album which featured songs from the project and included vocals from such contributors as AC/DC’s Brian Johnson and British actor/singer Jimmy Nail.
The Last Ship will make it’s official stage debut tomorrow (June 10th) at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago before making its way to New York and the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway on October 26th.
As avid supporters of the arts, we would love to wish Sting and the entire cast and crew of The Last Ship good luck… but we won’t due to superstition. So, in an attempt to appease the gods of fate I will simply say “break a leg!” 🙂
It’s a man’s world. That could easily be the slogan for the male-dominated industry of hip hop. As an aspiring female rapper it takes skill, drive, and a certain ‘it’ factor to break through. Consistency, a solid fan base, and surviving the ups and downs of the business keeps you relevant.
In honor of women’s history month, Billboard featured a female MC each day during March. The end result is a list of the 31 greatest female hip hop artists of all time. From pioneers like MC Lyte and Queen Latifah, to women like Lil Kim and Trina who owned their sexuality, to groundbreaking artists like Missy Elliot, they all had an impact on the genre and culture. Through each generation women rappers have offered the female perspective. None have done it quite like Salt-N-Pepa, Lauryn Hill, and Nicki Minaj.
Photo courtesy of arktimes.com
When you think of female rap in the 80’s Salt-N-Pepa should automatically come to mind. Hits like “Push It,” “Shoop,” and “Let’s Talk About Sex” solidified their position as the best-selling female rap group of all time. Their distinctive style, energetic vibe, and empowering female anthems made members Salt, Pepa, and Spinderella icons. They served as a voice for women of their time. They joined forces with R&B group En Vogue on “Whatta Man” for a smash hit collaboration that was true to their essence. They undoubtedly helped pave the way for future female MC’s.
Before we begin counting down the hits (*Casey Kasem’s voice ringing in my head*), I just want to say that we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. And as we begin wrapping up 2013 and moving inexorably toward 2014 we wish you all the happiest of new years!
Earlier this month, Youtube’s KaraokeOnVEVO channel -with content provided solely by DigiTrax Entertainment- released its list of the top-10 karaoke videos of 2013. The story has even been picked up by the Huffington Post and Time Magazine so we’re not talking small potatoes here, folks!
Now, just for you, our loyal readers, we give you the complete rundown. We start with…
#5 – Everything Has Changed (ITSO Taylor Swift ftg. Ed Sheeran): Pretty much anything Taylor Swift touches turns to gold. This duet, the 6th single released from Taylor’s 2012 studio album, Red, received critical acclaim from multiple sources including Billboard and About.com. The song peaked at #32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and took the #8 spot on the US Adult Top 40.
#4 – Counting Stars (ITSO One Republic): Formed in 2003, the American pop rock band One Republic is no stranger to success with their most popular song, Apologize, topping the charts in sixteen different countries including an 8-week stint at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100. Counting Stars is their most successful single since that mega-hit as the song took the #3 spot on the Hot 100 and soared to #1 on several other charts both domestically and internationally.
#3 – Love On Top (ITSO Beyoncé): Let’s face it, pretty much everybody loves Beyoncé. She’s talented, beautiful, hot as hell, and the girl can move! “Love on Top” hit the ground running with its debut at #20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (Beyoncé’s 2nd highest debut) and dominated the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #1 for seven consecutive weeks. The song also won the singer her 17th Grammy Award with “Best Traditional R&B Performance.”
#2 – Listen (ITSO Beyoncé): Surprise, surprise! Beyoncé again?! No waaayy… Yes way! Wow. Anyone else having Wayne’s World flashbacks? The former front-woman of Destiny’s Child dances her way onto our list again with her hit Listen from the 2006 musical Dreamgirls. The song debuted on the soundtrack album “Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture” and was released by Columbia House as the lead single from that album.
#1 – Just Give Me A Reason (ITSO Pink ftg. Nate Ruess): Garnering two 2012 Grammy nominations (Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Song of the Year), Pink‘s Just Give Me A Reason, performed with fun.‘s lead singer Nate Ruess, blew up the charts worldwide! Released as the third single from Pink’s 6th studio album, The Truth About Love, the song dominated at #1 in 20 different countries including the US, Canada, and Australia and sold more than 4 million digital downloads in the US alone.
If you haven’t yet taken your shot at singing these awesome hits we invite you to take a little time and do it now. These and thousands of other hot tracks are available to you anytime on KaraokeOnVEVO and you can access our full library of over 12,000 songs with Karaoke Cloud!
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