Alright so we’ve read a great deal about gangsta rap and stuff, but you can’t really talk about the genre without talking about 50 Cent. The 32 year old rapper, born as Curtis James Jackson III sold over twenty-one million copies of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2003) and The Massacre (2005). Not only that, but both albums achieved multi-platinum success. And that was just the catapulting factor. Not too bad for a guy coming from South Jamaica, Queens. 50 Cent has had his runs with the law. In fact, he was shot 9 times in 2000.

Aside from a meteoric rise in the gangsta rap scene, 50 Cent is also pursuing a careers as an actor, hip-hopreneur and executive producer. He appeared in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2005, the Iraq War film Home of the Brave in 2006, and Righteous Kill in 2008. Forbes listed 50 Cent second behind Jay-Z as one of the wealthiest artist in the rap industry.

However, a faltering economy seems to make no distinction as to who gets affected by it. In December 2008 50 Cent told the Canadian Press that he had already been hit by the ongoing economic downturn. Apparently, he’s lost several million dollars on the stock market. So, I guess the big question is whether the gangsta rap business is recession-proof or not. I find this hard to believe.

But, 50 Cent has recently launched his second video game, “50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.” In this game, 50 Cent actually give fans the chance to play against him. I wonder if Kanye West was one of the first ones to rush to get a copy of it. Somewhere I read that the video game and online gaming industries are recession-proof. So maybe diversifying his portfolio a bit has been a good move for 50 Cent. Let’see what happens. So far, his new album “Before I Self-Destruct” has gotten pushed back again, which means is not coming out before Eminem’s “Relapse”. Self Destruct was originally due on February 3.

In the meantime and while you wait for the release of “Self-Destruct”, we invite you to sing and record to the music of 50 Cent. So, whatcha waiting for? Give us your best gangsta rap act now!.

Alright, so apparently the presence of Robert Pattinson, the teen idol and hearthrob from the Twilight movie was a smart move from the producers of the Academy Awards. He and Zan Efron from the High School Musical series presented at last Sunday’s Oscars and the ratings went up. It might be because their presence drew a younger demo to the telecast. Hey in the presence of the ongoing economic crunch a lot of TV advertisers want to get their bang for their buck ROI so ratings are crucial.

No matter what the ABC network must be happy about the outcome. This guy is so popular that there are already talks about a future New Moon flick, a Twilight sequel. No kidding. “Twilight” blew the industry by raking in $188 million domestically and $357 million worldwide. Currently, Pattinson is in Japan still promoting the “Twilight” flick. The Japanese teens are crazy about this guy. A new teen syndrome has made it to Japan. Japanese girls are ROB-sessed with, of course, Rob Pattinson. Check out the Japanese trailer for “Twilight.” Rob, Kristen and Taylor participated in a fan event at Ebisu Garden in Tokyo, Japan.

As for what went on after the Oscars, a new rumor has it that actress Natalie Portman showed interest in Rob at the after party. The following is according to E! Online,

“[Portman] seemed really into him, and went right up to say hello once she spotted him,” dished a close Pattinson chum at the exclusive do. N.P. was batting those beautiful eyelashes at Pattinson, and he seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. And there were a lot of minutes. I think Ms. P’s used to getting what she wants, as she dominated R.P.’s attentions most of the evening.

Will we be seeing more of these two together? Good questions. Although the fans might be wondering, so what happened with Twilight co-star Kirsten Stewart who did not walk the red carpet with RB. Well, we don’t know. But she has denied the rumors that point out that they are romantically involved. “If we go out in public, every little detail is scrutinized, like the way I stand next to him. And it’s like, I know this guy really well.” Kristen told ‘Nylon’ magazine.

Alright, but if you can’t get enough of these guys and the Twilight saga, we have new songs from the Twilight soundtrack. Yeah, I am talking about fresh new music from Muse and Paramore. So grab the mic and start singing now!

So, apparently the preliminary ratings measurement for last night’s Academy Awards shows an upsurge of 6 percent compared to last year’s numbers. However, the telecast is still likely to be among the three least-watched Oscars shows ever. A bit premature to be negative about it but overall the show was ok. For all the talk about reinvigorating it wasn’t all that.

Yeah, bringing in Hugh Jackman as host was a sort of fresh move since it was expected to capture the attention especially of the female 25-44 demo group. And what about the inclusion of teen hearthrob Zac Efron (High School Musical dude) as well as Twilight star Robert Pattinson. They both made their Oscar debut. Undoubtedly, the Academy was trying to capture a younger demo of tv viewers. I am looking forward to seeing how the effort panned out.

But, hey come on Sean Penn stole the night with the most important acceptance speech of the awards. “We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone” were Penn’s words when referring to the passing of Prop. 8 banning gay marriage rights.

As for the award ceremony, let us give you the lowdown. Here’s the list of winners at the 81st annual Academy Awards,

BEST PICTURE “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) A Celador Films Production, Christian Colson, producer

LEAD ACTOR Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)

LEAD ACTRESS Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

DIRECTOR Danny Boyle for “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM “Departures” — Japan (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film Partners production

SUPPORTING ACTOR Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS Penelope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Dustin Lance Black for “Milk” (Focus Features)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Simon Beaufoy for “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)

ANIMATED FEATURE Andrew Stanton for “WALL-E” (Walt Disney)

ANIMATED SHORT FILM Kunio Kato for “La Maison en Petits Cubes” (A Robot Communications Production)

ART DIRECTION Donald Graham Burt for art direction and Victor J. Zolfo for set decoration on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros)

COSTUME DESIGN Michael O’Connor for “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathe and BBC Films)

MAKEUP Greg Cannom for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros)

CINEMATOGRAPHY Anthony Dod Mantle for “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)

LIVE ACTION SHORT FIRM Jochen Alexander Freydank for “Spielzeugland (Toyland)”, a Mephisto Film production

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE James Marsh and Simon Chinn for “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures) A Wall to Wall production

DOCUMENTARY SHORT Megan Mylan for “Smile Pinki”, a Principle production

VISUAL EFFECTS Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros)

SOUND EDITING Richard King for “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros)

SOUND MIXING Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty for “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)

FILM EDITING Chris Dickens for “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)

ORIGINAL SCORE A.R. Rahman for “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)

ORIGINAL SONG “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), music by A.R. Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar

It was just last summer when Kingston, Gwen and Gavin Rossdale welcomed the newest member of their family- Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale. Well, it seems like the Orange County-native Gwen and her Brit hubby Gavin have taken parenthood really serious as it should be. Apparently, Gavis Rossdale will be taking 2 1/2 year-old Kingston on tour in April. As for 6 month old Zuma, I'd think it'd be better for the little guy to stay home with mommy Gwen. What do you think?

Crazy thing though is that Gwen will also be touring over the summer with No Doubt after a 4 year hiatus. It'll be interesting to see them together again. Hopefully, they are not too rusty. The Summer Tour details have not been revelead yet. But we promise we'll keep you in the loop. The 39 -year old continues to be a fashion trendsetter. Aside from her L.A.M.B. clothing line she put out the Harajuku Lovers style, based on Japanese culture and fashion. Of course, she endorses her own clothing line by performing and appearing with four back-up dancers known as the Harajuku Girls.

And for those of you who can wait to see No Doubt and Gwen back together it was announced recently that No Doubt would be headlining the Bamboozle 2009 festival in May, along with Fall Out Boy. So I guess you won't have to wait until the summer to see them live on stage. But, you're always welcome to sing to their music here on Red Karaoke. We have smashing hits such as Harajuku Girls, Hollaback Girl, 4 in the Morning, Orange County Girl, Rich Girl, The Sweet Escape, Cool, What You Waiting For, and many more. Grab the mic and sing now!

She's only 20 years old and has already taken home two Grammy trophies home for the Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the single "Chasing Pavements". Reportedly, the week after the Grammy Awards aired, the album rose to a new peak of #10 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 61,000 copies.

Back in England, Adele was nominated for three 2009 Brit Awards in the categories of Best British female, Best British single, and Best British breakthrough act. As for the smashing hit "Chasing Pavements", Rolling Stone has it that the song was inspired by a bitter breakup that soaks into the fiber of 19: After discovering her boyfriend was cheating on her, Adele punched him in the face at a pub and promptly got thrown out. "As I was running away, the phrase 'chasing pavements' came to me," Adele remembers. "I sang it into my phone, went home and got three chords together."

Did you just read that? She punched her boyfriend in the face. Hello Rihanna! Did you just catch that? I don't know how many guys are gonna want to date her now. Throughout her young life she's proved to be tough and resilient. Adele recalls her detractors saying about her: "She's not going to get anywhere — she's a fat girl." Good for you Adele. You proved all those suckers wrong. I dig Adele. Do you? Leave us your comments below and don't forget to grab the mic and sing to Chasing Pavements.

Yeah, I know I read about it. Jennifer Aniston is taking boyfriend John Mayer to the Oscars as her date. Apparently, Mayer seems to be excited about it. John said: “It’s my first Oscars. And it’s my first being an Oscar boyfriend.” So it seems like it’s a big deal for him to show up next Sunday with Jennifer. I guess things must be going well for them. Or maybe she just wants to ruffle some ex-husband Brad Pitt feathers. It is said that Brad and Angelina will be there since they are both nominated. In fact, Brad Pitt’s movie “The Case of Benjamin Button” is up for 13 awards.

But going back to our topic here, John Mayer’s career is kicking. He was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone back in February 2007. Moreover, he was named as one of the “New Guitar Gods,” and the cover nicknamed him “Slowhand, Jr.,” a reference to Eric Clapton. Additionally, he was selected by the editors of Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2007 and was listed among artists and entertainers. Recently, on the L.A. Times it was said that John Mayer is developing a variety/sketch show pilot that will air on the CBS network sometime this year. So yeah he’s gonna be on tv pretty soon. Let’s see if the pilot takes off. So what do you think, will you watch John Mayer’s TV show?

As for the paps rumor that John and Jennifer spent Valentine’s Day together in the Bahamas. It’s all true. They celebrated both Valentine’s Day and Jen’s 40th birthday with a tropical vacation. In fact, he even wrote Jennifer a song for her b-day. Isn’t that sweet? No wonder, she’s taking him to the Oscars. So, before I take off, I just wanted to remind you all that we have a large number of John Mayer karaoke tracks for you to sing to. Songs such as Say, Waiting On the World to Change, Something’s Missing, Heart of Life, No Such Thing, Back to You, Come Back to Bed, and many more. So yeah grab the mic and repel us with your voice and talent.

Lots of stuff has been said lately about the break-up and fracas episode between teen idols Chris Brown and Rihanna. Rihanna has reportedly claimed Chris Brown choked her until she was unconscious during an alleged assault on Sunday (02.08.09). Rihanna is apparently fully co-operating with police - who booked Chris on suspicion of making criminal threats - and has also alleged he threatened to kill her during the attack.

Rumor has it that the reason for Chris Brown to hit Rihanna (not that justifies violence against women) was because she gave him herpes and that she was jealous and overpossesive. And all this happened after the couple left Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy party on Saturday Feb. 7. Photos of Rihanna taken after the alleged assault “clearly show contusions on the face, swollen eyes, cut lip, bloody nose, bite marks on fingers and arm,” TMZ said.

So what happened at the end? Well, Brown lost his Doublemint gum endorsement — turned himself in while the Grammys went on without him (Al Green stepped in for the duet with Justin Timberlake). Brown was released after posting $50,000 bail, but he is due in court in March. So the drama hasn’t ended yet. Too bad for these two teen idols. Their images have -no doubt about it- faltered.

Well, I guess no one except them knows for sure what really went on that night. No matter what a domestic violence episode is hard one to live with. Although we must be hold on judgment until the facts are revealed, an alleged assault of a woman can have potentially devastating implications for the 19-year-old heartthrob. I am talking about Chris Brown. After all, it blemishes the charming, wholesome image that fans know and love. So much for the Chris Brown brand. I am sure he must be having a hard time doing some spin control. Closure seems to be hardest thing when unfortunate events like this occurred. But hey don’t get all bogged down in the drama. They are young and I am sure they’ll bounce back. In the meantime, get on the groove and sing to their music now!.

Who hasn’t seen that American movie classic entitled “Jerry Maguire”? Remember that part where Jerry (Tom Cruise) is driving on a freeway beating himself up about the misfortunes of his career fate as a slick sports agent? Well, Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” is that song in the background that Jerry sings to. Classic scene! As for Tom Petty, the 58 year old troubadour is the frontman of “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.” Last year, he and his band were actually featured at the Superbowl’s Halftime Show. During the halftime-show Petty played “American Girl,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’,” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” in that order.

Needless to say, he rocked the house. I actually kinda liked it better than this year’s Superbowl’s Halftime Show with Bruce Springsteen. Hey but that’s my opinion. You’re entitled to yours. As for his career trajectory and accolades, Tom Petty has been honored with 19 Grammy Award nominations. His most recent win was for the Peter Bogdanovitch documentary, “Runnin’ Down a Dream” at the 2009 Grammy Awards for “Best Long Form Music Video.” In addition, in 1999 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their contribution to the recording industry.

Recently, Rolling Stone reported that the Heartbreakers’ tour was the summer’s # 1 grossing tour in the U.S. And when asked about as to what is it that the Heartbreakers are delivering that people are going out to get, Tom Petty said, “rock and roll. It’s hard to find. But we deliver the real thing, quality rock and roll from what I think is one of the best rock and roll bands in the world.”

So, we bring you some Tom Petty karaoke classics for you to belt it out. Wanna give it a try? We have “Free Fallin’” and “I Won’t Back Down.” Start singing now!

Alright you watched the Grammys and saw Coldplay and a bunch of Brits take Gramophone trophies home. The fact is that “Viva la Vida or Death and All of His Friends” is an album that marks a change in direction for the group in terms of production and sound of the finished product. I can see why these guys did well in the Grammys. Overall, their recent production is a more cohesive whole than their earlier works. In fact, in the music circles this new production has been considered to be an ‘experimental’ production.

This 4th new album titled “Viva la Vida or Death and All his Friends” has 10 tracks with a total of 46 minutes of music. Although some initial reviews do not place it as a masterpiece as previous Coldplay productions, other can’t seem to get enough. Some of the highlights of the album are tracks such as “Cemeteries of London” that has sort of a mellow and dreary touch between the lyrics and composition. The guitar sounds are timely. This new experimental composition is sort of a hybrid of hippie and celtic sounds, not to mention the wardrobe…straight out of Berkeley if you ask me.

As for “Viva la Vida” that song featured on that iPod commercial with the cool lights, it is a fresh new sound with a mix of classical instruments. According to Yahoo Music blogs, this song became so popular that has become the most paid-for downloaded album of all time. Needless to say, the piece is quite eclectic and really makes you feel like getting down and boogie all night long. Another highlight is “Violet Hill”, which has a strut feeling to the music composition alone. The lyrics are commendable and catchy.

So…be a critic and let us know you comments. We’d love to hear from you. And if you feel like singing, recording and sharing some Coldplay material, Red Karaoke invites you to do so here. We've got a bolstered library of new Coldplay karaoke with tracks such as Viva la Vida, Violet Hill, Lovers in Japan, High Speed, Speed of Sound, Don't Panic, and many more.

Lionel Richie, the singer, songwriter, record producer, and occasional actor with a success story over nearly 30 years is the stuff only legends can pull off. He's sold over 100 million albums; won countless awards including an Oscar, a Golden Globe, 5 Grammy Awards and the Crystal Award for Humanitarianism. In adddition, he's written some of the best lyrics for love songs and pop and continues to sell-out arena and stadium shows around the globe.

Yeah, that's Lionel Richie for you. To everyone's surprise Lionel Richie is not only big in the US, Europe and Asia. He is HUGE in the Arab world. Reportedly, Richie has become a phenomenon in various Arab states and has performed in Morocco, Dubai, Qatar and even Libya.

As ABC News reported: "Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. "I love Lionel Richie," they say. Iraqis who do not understand a word of English can sing an entire Lionel Richie song. He has performed in Morocco, Dubai, Qatar and Libya. There is obviously something up there. The more we talked, the more he theorized as to the reasons his music might be so popular here. He thinks it is because of the simple message in his music: Love.

His most recent work, "Just Go", will be arriving in stores next March 10. Akon and Ne-Yo share in the writing duties for the new album. "Just Go" will also have contributions from songwriter Johnta Austin and The-Dream.

So, in light of the next Lionel Richie's release, we thought of sharing with you our large database of Lionel Richie karaoke files for you to sing and have fun. Help yourself and sing to classics such as "All Night Long", "Dancing on the Ceiling", "Say You Say Me", "Hello", "Truly", and many more.