Rihanna and Frank Ocean added to packed MTV VMA roster

 

In the world of 21st Century American musical spectacle, the MTV Video Music Awards exists in a category all its own. Way less reserved than the Grammy Awards (but no BET Awards), the VMAs have over the years provided plenty of water-cooler fodder, and this year's upcoming show has just added more bang: Producers just announced the addition of pop singer Rihanna and R&B crooner Frank Ocean as performers.
The performance roster was already pretty thick with superstars: Slated to gig live at the Staples Center during the Thursday, Sept. 6, live broadcast are country-pop princess Taylor Swift, Bay Area punk vets Green Day, resurgent pop star Pink, and Brit boy band One Direction. With the addition of Rihanna and Ocean, the lineup is dense with some of today's biggest-selling artists.
Which isn't to say the music world will necessarily be altered the next day. We know what a Taylor Swift performance is like, and One Direction lacks the heft to cause a commotion, let alone a magical moment. Whether Pink swings through the air on a trapeze is relatively unimportant, and Rihanna will walk the tightrope, careful to be just risque enough to keep the delay button at bay. Green Day will play punk rock like punk rockers do and, based on the show I saw a few weeks ago, will probably be pretty great.
PHOTOS: Best & Worst moments of the 2011 VMAs
But the big question: What will Frank play? Will he be safe and do "Thinkin' About You," his lovely ballad? Or will the Los Angeles-based singer, whose full-length debut, "Channel Orange," is one of the best albums of the year -- and made news when Ocean openly discussed his bisexuality -- push the issue that propelled him into the spotlight and play "Forrest Gump"?
That song, one of the highlights of "Channel Orange," is a first-person account of his relationship with a pseudonymous man and was one of the highlights of his recent sold-out show at the Wiltern. It's as powerful a song as you'll hear this year, regardless of the sexuality of the protaganists. Having that message beamed into households around the globe would send a strong signal of tolerance and would, in fact, alter things the next day.
Whether Ocean plays it is an open question. Chances are he won't; Def Jam hasn't yet released it as a single (though it should, just to see how commercial radio programmers react), and Ocean may be uninterested in pressing the issue, understandably so. But if we're talking water-cooler moments, Ocean would be smart to play the song.

 

Mariah Carey Denies Inviting Rihanna To Move In 'To Save Her'

Mariah Carey Denies Inviting Rihanna To Move In 'To Save Her'

Reports have suggested that diva Mariah Carey has reached out to Rihanna and asked her to move into her Los Angeles home in an attempt to "save" her, a claim that Mariah's camp have denied. 

A recent report from Star magazine has claimed that the 'Where Have You Been' singer is "headed to rehab" because of her hard-partying ways. But the magazine reports that Mariah has stepped in because she's worried about the Bajan singer.
"Mariah has decided to swoop in and rescue the Barbadian beauty before she self-destructs," a source told the magazine.
Before adding that the new American Idol judge "was upset by rumours that Rihanna was reconnecting with Chris Brown", because of her own romantic history and failed marriage to Tommy Mottola.
"She sees a lot of herself in Rihanna and wants to protect her," the insider continued. They also claimed that as well as a roof over her head, Mariah wanted to collaborate on some new music.
The insider said that Mariah had been trying to convince thee 24-year-old "to chill out on the partying" and “suggest RiRi move in with her and that they do a few songs together.”
As if Mariah doesn't have enough on her hands - two young twins, a husbands who has hardly been at the top of health and a new job on top! Mariah's representative has reportedly told Gossip Cop that "there is no truth" to the magazine's story.
While we do believe Mariah's rep. We have to say that Rihanna has been dropping some big hints with her cryptic tweets - as she tweeted some of Chris Brown's lyrics earlier this week, seeming to suggest that she was pining for her former love.