The rap star interrupts the country singer’s acceptance speech for ‘best female video’ award to say Beyonce should have won

Rap star Kanye West has apologised to teenage country singer Taylor Swift after he interrupted her acceptance speech at last night's MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) for 'best female video' to say Beyonce should have won. Swift, who won for her single You Belong With Me, was in the middle of talking about the difficulty country artists face in crossing over to the MTV audience when West leapt on stage and snatched the microphone out of the 19-year-old's hands.

"I always wondered what it would be like to maybe win one of these someday, but never actually thought it would happen," Swift was saying, when West interrupted.

"Taylor, I'm really happy for you," said West, "and I'm gonna let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time." The rapper was referring to Beyonce's video for Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It). The crowd at New York's Radio City Music Hall began to boo, and Beyonce was clearly embarrassed.

Swift eventually got the chance to finish her acceptance speech when Beyonce won video of the year and called Swift back onstage saying, "I'd like Taylor to come out and have her moment". Russell Brand, the flirtatious British comedian who hosted the event, offered Swift a "shoulder to cry on" as he closed the show.

West, who was jeered each time his name was mentioned during the rest of the ceremony, was later ejected from the awards show. He had been spotted drinking at the start of the night, swigging Courvoisier as he made his way up the red carpet.

Last night Kanye West used his blog to issue an apology to Swift and her mother, who had given the rapper a dressing-down backstage. In his signature all-capitals style, West wrote: ""I'M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM... I'M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!"

West has 'lost it' at previous music events, taking umbrage at losing out on awards at the Grammys, the American Music Awards and a previous VMAs night. This is the first time he has complained on someone else's behalf.

Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Green Day dominated the awards, winning three 'moonmen' each. Madonna opened the show with a Michael Jackson tribute, and Janet Jackson was later joined on stage by her brother's tour dancers to recreate some of Jacko’s most memorable music videos, including Thriller, Bad and Smooth Criminal.

The fan voting notwithstanding, West declared that Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time, even as a horrified Beyoncé looked on in utter disbelief.

Not surprisingly, he was vociferously booed by the audience and, not surprisingly again, he gave the audience the finger on the way back to his seat.

If Swift was upset by West's rude interruption, it wasn't evident in her subsequent performance of her hit song You Belong With Me.

Considering MTV's proclivity to rig such seemingly spontaneous but scandalous moments, evident from the Bruno / Eminem stunt at MTV Movie Awards in June, it is moot if there was a cause for Swift to be offended.

Earlier the Country music hottie made jaws drop as she arrived at the event in New York riding a horse-drawn carriage wearing a asymmetrical silver sparkle gown. The glamorous singer joked that her horses' names are "V" and "MA."

Shakira and Taylor Lautner presented the award to 19-year-old Swift who competed for the honor against Beyoncé's Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), Katy Perry (Hot n Cold), Kelly Clarkson (My Life Would Suck Without You), Lady Gaga (Poker Face) and P!nk (So What).

Beyoncé is inviting her fans to create their own versions of her phenomenal "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" clip for the official "Single Ladies" dance video contest.
Contestants should adhere precisely to the iconic "Single Ladies" dance routine performed by Beyoncé and her two dancers in the original clip - no new choreography should be added.
The grand prize winner of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" dance video contest will receive $2500.00 (US) and have the winning video shown during Beyoncé's "I Am..." World Tour 2009.
The "Single Ladies" dance video contest is open to all Beyoncé fans 18-and-older in the United States, the UK and Japan as well as the following territories: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excluding Quebec province), Hong Kong, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland

Contestants should include their full name(s), address, and phone number and address submissions to:
Single Ladies Contest
8033 Sunset Blvd. #948
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Submissions must be received no later than March 6, 2009

]]> http://liveconcertonline.com/597/beyonce-single-ladies-upcoming-worldtour/feed/ 0 http://liveconcertonline.com/418/51-st-grammy-awards-2009/ http://liveconcertonline.com/418/51-st-grammy-awards-2009/#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:00:12 +0000 Billy Ross http://liveconcertonline.com/?p=418 The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will take place on February 8, 2009. It will be broadcast on CBS in the United States at 8PM EST. Nominations were announced on December 3, 2008. For the sixth year in a row, the ceremony will be held in the Staples Center. The nominations were announced on a special concert airing on CBS on December 3rd, 2008, and were posted on the official website afterwards.^[1]

To be eligible for an award a recording must have been commercially released between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008. This is for all recordings released in the 2008 recording year. After the nominees are announced on December 4, 2008 final voting ballots will be sent to the academy members. This is when they will vote for one of the nominees to win the award. Each category has five nominees. More than five is the result of a tie in the nominating process. Members are allowed to vote in the General field and up to nine other fields on their final voting ballots. All ballots are tabulated by the independent accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. There are about 7,000 people who vote in the nominating and final voting process. These people are artists, producers, engineers, mixers and mastering engineers. Academy members are to vote based upon quality alone. They are not to be influenced by mass sales or personal friendships. The acceptance of gifts is prohibited and can result in termination of membership.

After the nominations are announced the recipients of all special awards such as lifetime achievement awards will be announced. In addition performers and presenters will be announced. Neil Diamond will be the recipient of the MusiCares Person of the Year award. Lil Wayne topped the nominations with eight, Coldplay garnered seven , and Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West each earned six nods. Radiohead, Alison Krauss, John Mayer, Robert Plant, Jazmine Sullivan received five, and Jennifer Hudson, Adele, Danger Mouse, The Eagles, Lupe Fiasco, George Strait,Metallica and T.I. each received four nominations.

Confirmed Performers

• Adele
• Chris Brown
• Kenny Chesney
• Four Tops tribute featuring original member of the Four Tops Duke Fakir, Jamie Foxx, and Ne-Yo^[2]
• Foo Fighters with Paul McCartney^[3]
• Jennifer Hudson
• Jay-Z
• Jonas Brothers
• Kid Rock
• Lil Wayne
• Miley Cyrus & Taylor Swift^[4]
• Katy Perry - On the January 30th episode of Chelsea Lately, Katy said she was going to descend from the ceiling during her performance.
• Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
• Radiohead
• Rihanna
• T.I.
• Justin Timberlake
• Carrie Underwood
• U2^[5]
• Estelle & Kanye West^[6]