This Week's Top Pop Stories

Here are the top stories from this week's Day in Pop and the top Day in Pop digest stories

Lady Gaga Eating Disorder?- Lenny Kravitz Working on Michael Jackson Song- T.I. Prison?- Cee Lo Green's F**k You Video- Miley Cyrus Overboard Justin Beiber- more

(ASB) Lenny Kravitz has confirmed he's planning to revive the track he recorded with late superstar Michael Jackson - he's been working on a "new version" of the song. The rocker hit the studio with the King of Pop before his tragic death last year to record "Another Day", with Jackson on vocals and Kravitz playing along. more

(Yahoo) Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was returned to the hospital after slipping into unconsciousness on Tuesday following a series of health-related setbacks since breaking her hip in July. more

(ASB) Instead of planning to release her debut album in November in the same year she graduated from "American Idol" like some of the "Idol" alumni, Crystal Bowersox hopes to drop it next year in spring. "I don't want to rush something out just to hit Black Friday sales," she explained to 101.5 The River. more

(Yahoo) Ohio police say a [drunk] Toby Keith fan named Forrest Frankenstein threatened them and beat his head against a partition in their cruiser after his arrest. more

(Billboard) Just short of two months since releasing his "Thank Me Later" debut, Young Money president Mack Maine is speculating that Drake might be releasing his follow-up set as soon as end of year. more

(ASB) Amid confusion when the first offering from Rihanna's new album will arrive and whether it is "Only Girl" or "Cheers", All Access brought a new report. The publication scheduled to debut the Barbadian singer's new single on September 14 and listed it under the title "Only Girl (In the World)". more

(ASB) Lady GaGa continues showcasing new songs she has recorded. After debuting a fresh material called "You and I" during a live event in June this year, she once again treated her Little Monsters with another new track, this time around called "Living on the Radio". more

(Yahoo) Michael Douglas says he faces an "eight-week struggle" against throat cancer but is optimistic about his chances for recovery. more

Cee Lo Green has released a hilarious official video for his controversial yet addictively funky song "F**k You" check it out here

The Beyonce camp issued the following statement: "Contrary to false rumors online, Beyonce and her manager Mathew Knowles unequivocally have had and continue to have a close personal and business relationship. Mathew Knowles is the sole and exclusive manager of Beyonce."

Usher joined Justin Bieber on stage at Madison Square Garden where the tween haircut was filming his 3D movie. Miley Cyrus then joined Bieber onstage for a track called "Overboard." and they weren't alone. MTV has the blow by blow here. ASB has a ton of pictures here

(Billboard) Asia'h Epperson, a contestant on season 7 of 'American Idol,' is expected to be charged with misdemeanor battery tomorrow (Sept. 2), according to the Los Angeles City Attorney. more

(MTV) Paris Hilton appears to be learning that not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas — especially when you're a globe-trotting, high-profile heiress. more

(Billboard) Kanye West may be working on a "movie companion" to coincide with his forthcoming fifth album, which is set for release Nov. 16. The rapper tweeted that he had been "shooting 16 hour days" while in Prague last week, and photos from the film set arrived online today (Sept. 1) more

(ASB) Big Boi has made public a music video in support of his latest single called "You Ain't No DJ". Directed by Parris, it mostly features the OutKast star rapping to the camera and trading verses with his featured guest Yelawolf. more

Cheese for Christmas anyone? (ASB) Mariah Carey has got a name for her upcoming Christmas studio album. According to Rap-Up, the 40-year-old singer is going to release the effort under the title "Merry Christmas II You". more

(Billboard) Jay-Z admits that he likely would have mugged Coldplay's Chris Martin if he had seen the singer walking on the street before his career took off, according to the Boston Herald. more

(ASB) The mother of tragic DJ AM has lent her support to a new music project she hopes will convince kids to stay sober. Twin brother duo The Rock Star Superstar Project approached Andrea Gross to deliver a message on their new album "Serenity", which is being released in September in conjunction with Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors and to coincide with National Recovery Month. more

(Jam!) Lady Gaga was hospitalized six times in 2009 with the ill-effects of a string of drastic diets, according to her former tour manager David Ciemny, who worked for the superstar from 2008 until last year. more

(Billboard) T.I. who is on three years of probation, was taken into custody with wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle on suspicion of possessing methamphetamines after police pulled over their Maybach in West Hollywood. While charges have yet to be filed, the case has the potential to put one of music's top names in behind bars yet again. more

(Jam!) Bee Gees star Robin Gibb is recovering after emergency stomach surgery, according to U.S. reports. The Staying Alive singer was allegedly rushed to hospital last month after suffering crippling belly aches more

(Yahoo) An appeals court has scheduled a hearing for lawyers for the father of Michael Jackson to argue that he deserves a role in decisions involving his son's multimillion dollar estate. more

(Yahoo) Eminem led Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart for a seventh week on Thursday with "Love the Way You Lie," while Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" moved up one to No. 2 more

(Jam!) Snoop Dogg has teamed up with Alicia Keys' new husband, producer Swizz Beatz, in the studio, and the pair has already recorded 18 tracks for the disc - to be called Doggystyle 2: The Doggymentury. Check out his video announcement from the studio here

(Yahoo) "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" is pulling a smaller number among adults aged 18 to 49, an elusive demographic coveted by advertiser, than when Conan O'Brien hosted the show last year. In fact, this summer is the lowest-rated "Tonight Show" on record more
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The First Round CMA Awards Nominees

(Country Music Association) The first round of nominees in seven categories for "The 44th Annual CMA Awards" was announced this week at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville by Justin Moore and Chris Young. Nominees for the remaining five categories will be revealed this morning on ABC News' "Good Morning America" with Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert.

"The 44th Annual CMA Awards" will be broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov. 10 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network. "Country Music's Biggest Night™" will be hosted for the third time by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood.

"We are continuing a promising trend we saw last year with several artists receiving their first CMA Awards nomination or making a debut in a new category," said Steve Moore, CMA Chief Executive Officer. "The infusion of fresh faces is great for the format and speaks to the strength and future of Country Music." - wanna see the list?

America's Got Talent Winner Kevin Skinner Plans Debut Album

America's Got Talent Winner Kevin Skinner set to release debut album "Long Ride." The release date was not mentioned in the announcement but here is what they had to say:

Skinner saddled up for the ride of his life when the NBC reality series held auditions at Harrah's in Metropolis, Illinois, just across the river from Kevin's old Kentucky home. He answered the call to audition and the rest, as they say, is music business history.

In 2009, Kevin Skinner went from unemployed farmer to overnight sensation. After he sang his first song on America's Got Talent (a cover of Garth Brooks' "If Tomorrow Never Comes"), Piers Morgan said, "That was one of the most emotional, powerful performances I've seen in a long time." Suddenly Kevin Skinner was everyone's favorite "Chicken Catcher" and he brought audiences to their feet. - more on this story

Semi Precious Weapons Getting Dirty Between Lady Gaga Tour Legs

Semi Precious Weapons are taking advantage of the three weeks between legs on the Monster Ball tour with Lady Gaga, to launch their very own headlining tour dubbed the "Dirty Showbiz" tour.

The tour follows the recent release of SPW's album debut with rock world producer-kingpin Jack Joseph Puig (The Rolling Stones, Beck, Black Eyed Peas) and Executive Producer Lady Gaga, YOU LOVE YOU, on Geffen/Streamline/Cherrytree Records (now available in stores and on iTunes).

Semi Precious Weapons frontman, Justin Tranter, explains, "We get our work ethic from Gaga herself and who would want to be at home when you have a mission. Our mission is to bring rock n' roll, REAL ROCK N' ROLL back and we will be bringing it back to audiences all over the country before we head to Europe on the Monster Ball". Tranter continued, "The shows are "all ages" because we want to make sure that every kid gets a chance to experience rock n roll and is able to come and dance, scream and party during our night of filthy glamour on the Dirty Showbiz tour!" Fellow members of the Precious Empire, Breedlove and Lady Starlight will be "Special Guests" on the "Dirty Showbiz" tour. Breedlove will appear on all shows and Lady Starlight from Las Vegas on. - more on this story

Michael Franti & Spearhead Release New Video

Michael Franti & Spearhead have released the first music video from their upcoming album, The Sound of Sunshine!

Shot in Venice Beach by veteran music video director Frank Borin, the new video is for the title track of the album which will be released September 21 on Capitol Records/Boo Boo Wax.

Michael Franti & Spearhead are currently touring through the fall in support of the new album and will be headlining the upcoming Power to the Peaceful Festival in San Francisco from September 10-12. - watch the video here

Katy Perry Goes No. 1

Katy Perry has made a big splash as the summer winds down as her new album Teenage Dream debuts at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart, scanning 192,222 units in its first week of release.

Katy is now one of the top 10 artists with the best-selling debuts of the year and one of only two pop artists to appear on this list. Teenage Dream is the two-time Grammy Award nominee's highest album chart bow yet. Katy's debut album, One of the Boys, scanned 46,767 units in its first week.

Katy has now achieved the highest pre-album street date track sales of all time, with 4.4 million digital tracks sold prior to the album's release — setting a Nielsen Soundscan-era record. 445,746 total tracks were sold during Teenage Dream's first week of release - more on this story

Fantasia's New Album A Big Hit

Fantasia's third studio album, Back To Me, debuts this week on top of Billboard's R&B Albums chart and No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

With over 117,000 units sold since its August 24th release on J Records, Back To Me marks Fantasia's first #1 R&B album (Free Yourself debuted at #2, Fantasia at #3) and her highest Billboard Top 200 chart ranking (Free Yourself debuted at #8, Fantasia at #19).

Leading the way for the album's chart-topping debut is the hit single "Bittersweet" which currently claims the #1 position on the Urban Adult Radio Airplay chart for three consecutive weeks. - more on this story

Shakira Makes History with Waka Waka

Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)" has become the biggest selling World Cup song in history.

"Waka Waka" will be available on her forthcoming album Sale el Sol/The Sun Comes Out, scheduled to be released on October 19th. After selling an astounding two million singles, "Waka Waka" is the biggest World Cup song ever released, however its success goes far beyond its popularity as a song, the song and accompanying dance has become a cultural and viral phenomenon.

The official video for "Waka Waka" has seen over 170 million YouTube hits making it the #4 most watched video of all time and the #3 most watched music video. Including unofficial "Waka Waka" videos, the total cumulative views are over 350 million. - more on this story

Little Big Town Top Album Chart

Little Big Town's fourth studio album's, The Reason Why, debut this week at No 1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart and No 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart after selling 41,940 albums its first week in stores-- making The Reason Why the highest debuting album of the country band's career.

In addition, the band is celebrating a 2010 CMA Awards nomination in the Vocal Group of the Year category--marking Little Big Town's eighth nomination and fifth in that category from the prestigious organization.

"This will be a week we never forget," says Karen Fairchild, "and we owe that to the incredible fans, country radio, and our new label Capitol Records." "We are so blessed to have our album debut at the top of the charts, and to have news of this nomination in the same week is just amazing," adds Kimberly Schlapman. -

Das Racist Releasing New Mixtape and Video

Das Racist will release a new mixtape called 'Sit Down, Man' on Tuesday, September 14. And premiere their video for "Who's That? Brooown!" on Thursday, September 2, for the track culled from their prior mixtape, Shut Up, Dude.

Inspired and designed in the style of an 8-bit Nintendo game, the adventure for "Who's That? Brooown!" is not merely a video but actually parallels a corresponding interactive game version where viewers can enter the Das Racist world and play as Hima or Victor. Directed by Thomas De Napoli for Enter The Fancy productions, the plot chronicles the duo battling myriad of hostile antagonists to find their third member, Dap, in order to headline a show.

A second video premiere will follow on Tuesday, September 7, when MTV Iggy exclusively unveils the Weird Days-directed clip for "Ek Shaneesh," another track from Shut Up, Dude. - more on this story

M83's Morgan Kibby Launches White Sea

M83's Morgan Kibby sets sail as White Sea, who's debut ep, This Frontier, will hit on October 5th.

Morgan Kibby captured hearts and eardrums as the beautiful, spectral voice on M83's near universally acclaimed LP, Saturdays = Youth. White Sea emerges out of Kibby's creative endeavors with French electronic-pop guru M83. Having started as a co-writer, including the runaway anthem "Kim & Jessie," Kibby went on to contribute vocals and synthesizers on stage, stepping into a more collaborative role and soaking in all there was to learn in her rousing setting.

"While on tour with M83, I was exposed to so many new things," Kibby explains. "When I returned home, I sat down and taught myself Pro Tools, and how to produce. I've really spent the last year figuring out what music I'm excited about making." - more on this story

Your Chance To See Nicki Minaj's MTV VMAs Pre-Show Performance In Person

How would you like to be in the front row as Nicki Minaj kicks off this year's MTV VMAs? MTV announced Minaj's first-ever televised solo performance at the "2010 VMA Pre-Show" on Sunday, September 12 at 8pm (Live ET/Tape Delayed PT.) Plus 10 fans will win a chance to be there. Read on for details:

Nicki Minaj will perform her hit single "Your Love." Beginning Tuesday, September 7th, MTV & Nicki Minaj will launch a Twitter contest in which ten lucky fans will win a front row spot to watch her performance. For detailed information on the contest, follow both @NickiMinaj and @MTVTJ. Winners will be announced on Friday, September 10th.

"I am truly honored to be a part of this year's VMAs. Just yesterday I was an underground female rapper. See Barbz? Dreams do come true," says Nicki Minaj. - more on this story

Time Warner Cable and Disney Come To Terms

Time Warner Cable sent customers a notice early Friday morning announcement that they have reached "a new long-term agreement with Disney/ABC and ESPN" but it also looks like part of the agreement means more Disney content on Time Warner Cable.

Here is part of their message: There will be no interruption of ESPN or Disney channels, as well as WABC in New York, KABC in Los Angeles, WTVD in Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville and WTVG in Toledo. They'll stay right here on Time Warner Cable. In fact, our agreement means more networks and services for you, including the following*:

• Disney Junior - a new 24-hour basic channel for preschool-age children, parents and caregivers launching in 2012. - more on this story

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