Her self-titled debut album was released May 20, 2008, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Country Album chart and #3 on the Billboard 200 . I had the pleasure of seeing Julianne in concert this year when she opened for Brad Paisley and was greatly impressed.

Although she’ll be missed on the show, I was beginning to think it was unfair to keep a dancing “star” on because her fanbase is probably as big as those she dances with. If you haven’t heard any of her music, you’re missing out!

Below is my favorite song by this rising country star ‘My Hallelujah Song’.

Watch more Julianne Hough videos on AOL Video

B.B. King, Kenny Rogers, Harry Connick Jr. and John Legend are just a few of the incredible artists scheduled…and that’s just the first month! Take a look here at the center and I’m sure you’ll be just as impressed.

Last weekend at a Las Vegas Prop 8 Rally the HILARIOUS Wanda Sykes publically spoke out about her sexual orientation for the first time. When I heard the news, I was relieved my gaydar wasn’t broken after all.

The reason she felt compelled to speak now is because she married her partner on October 25^th in California and felt as if she had been “attacked” when her rights were taken away November 4^th.

 “Now, I got to get in their face,” she said. “I’m proud to be a woman. I’m proud to be a black woman, and I’m proud to be gay.”  If you haven’t seen her speech from the rally, I’ve added it below and encourage you to open your mind and watch it. Wanda is one of the very few black gay celebrities to protest California’s Proposition 8, which has sparked an entirely different debate. Black Community vs. Gay Community. 

ABC News reports exit polls conducted by them found that blacks voted in support of Prop 8 and to ban gay marriage by heavier margins than other ethnic groups. The exit polls indicated that 70 percent of black voters supported Prop 8, while 49 percent of whites and Asian Americans voted for it and 53 percent of Latinos supported the ban.

  Some charged that socially conservative blacks were responsible for the demise of gay marriage. Others said that largely white gay advocacy groups didn’t do enough to persuade them. To read the entire article click here.  

As a country we’ve come a long way, my hope is one day all men and women will truly be treated equal.  

For the third year in a row, Carrie Underwood walked away with the title of CMA Female Entertainer Of The Year award! Her latest album “Carnival Ride” has already produced four,   count em’, four #1 hits. I saw Carrie in concert back in April, and I have to say she sounds just as incredible live as you would imagine, which is very rare for performers. 

She simply sang her heart out at this years CMA awards, if you missed it, you have to check it out and you’ll know why she is once again the female vocalist of the year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYyAtSk_6X4

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has identified onetime American Idol contestant Paula Goodspeed as the female fan found dead in front of Paula Abdul’s home Tuesday evening. E! News has exclusively learned the tragic incident was not Goodspeed’s first attempt at reencountering the TV judge.

Sources say the 30-year-old Goodspeed had been obsessed with Abdul for the past 17 years. Her fixation led her to twice auditioning to appear on American Idol, including her now-infamous, Simon Cowell-maligned 2005 audition in Austin.

Goodspeed’s death Tuesday night, which police suspect was a suicide, was not her first house call to Abdul’s Sherman Oaks abode.

Sources tell E! News that two or three months ago, Goodspeed tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills outside the residence.

Abdul was not home for either incident. She was alerted to Goodspeed’s death Wednesday morning, while at Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre taping segments for Idol’s Hollywood Week.

“I am deeply shocked and saddened,” Abdul said in a statement earlier today.

But according to sources, Abdul was well aware of Goodspeed’s obsession.

Prior to her death, Goodspeed sent Abdul several threatening letters and left her packages. Goodspeed also repeatedly tried to contact Abdul, albeit unsuccessfully.

Abdul was even alerted in recent weeks that Goodspeed may come calling, but they never met face-to-face.

Although she had not updated her MySpace pagesince April 29, 2007, Goodspeed did chronicle her season-five audition and had even posted a photo of Abdul licking her lips under the caption, “My secret crush, shhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!”

After detailing her tryout evisceration by Cowell and Randy Jackson, and noting that the show misconstrued some aspects of her admiration for Abdul, Goodspeed wrote that in hindsight she “wasn’t ready to put [herself] out there.”

“It’s very hard reading such awful things being written about yourself…or hearing things being said…not like a lot of people would understand what it’s like having so many haters, just because I made the mistake of trying out for a singing competition before I was ~even~ ready vocally, emotionally and physically.

“I have to believe there is ~something good about me…”

Neither Fox nor Fremantle, the production company behind American Idol, has commented on the death.

Unfortunately she’s gone through some very tough times, with the whole world watching and holding our breath at that.

 I, like so many people had no idea what would come of Britney a few years ago. Would she go completely crazy? Was her career over?

Thank goodness the best situation happened and Britney ended up on top exactly where she belongs.

 In my humble opinion the paparazzi, not to be confused with “the media” drove her over the edge in the beginning.

Womanizer, Britney’s latest hit single is topping charts and proving she’s back and here to stay!

It seems the best of the best wait until November and December to debut their newest albums, which of course soar in the holiday season. November 18th, can’t seem to get here soon enough, why you may ask?

 Beyonce releases her new cd, I Am…Sasha Fierce!

Featuring my new favorite song, If I Were A Boy. In my opinion if anyone else released this song right now, it wouldn’t be as big of a hit as it is. Check it out for yourself and let me know if you like it also.

    Could Beyonce be performing at soon to be President Barack Obama’s Inauguration? Let’s hope he accepts her offer! Check out the MTV News article below with details on her gracious offer.

‘If they need me to volunteer, they need me to sing, I’m there, and I’m ready,’ the singer offers.

Beyoncé’s putting the word out: She is at President-elect Barack Obama’s service, if he needs her at his inauguration in January.

“I’m there,” she told The Associated Press. “I can’t wait. I feel like all of us, we’re ready to do whatever we have to do. Whatever they want — if they need me to volunteer, they need me to sing, I’m there, and I’m ready. I’ve never been so patriotic! I’m just beyond excited.”

The singer’s husband, Jay-Z, had been actively supporting Obama’s campaign and performed two shows to encourage voter registration in October. And while the president-elect has publicly admitted to being a fan of Hova, his feelings on the 27-year-old singer and actress are unknown.

But B is definitely a fan of his. Though she was scheduled to be in Japan on Tuesday to promote her new album, I Am … Sasha Fierce, she decided to stay home to watch the election results come in. “I said, ‘What am I doing? I’m completely making a bad decision. I have to go home, I’m gonna kill myself if I’m not home in America,’” she said. “I knew I needed to be here.

“I fell asleep crying and smiling at the same time,” Beyoncé said of her reaction on election night. “I woke up with mascara running and a smile on my face!”

She also said she hopes Obama’s win will inspire people to pursue their dreams regardless of their skin color. “My nephew, who is 4, when we say, ‘You can do whatever, you can be whatever,’ it’s not cliché,” she said. “You have no doubt that it’s not true.”

The highlight of the show was the premiere of the new song “Right Now (We Need One Another)”, performed by BeBe and CeCe Winans , Vince Gill and Wynonna Judd . The song is featured below and is available exclusively on iTunes. Enjoy!

I, like many of her die-hard fans was hopeful she would hold true to rescheduling her concert. With expections of a few lucky cities, Janet has canceled the rest of her tour due to “conflicts in the singer’s schedule”.  Say it ain’t so Joe!

I hope I’m wrong but I think this partial tour was the last rockin with anyone Miss Jackson will be doing for a long time…sniffle.

Sadly Yours,

Nique