Pharrell, Fergie, Kevin Hart among performers at NBA All-Star weekend

Pharrell Williams and his hip-hop group N.E.R.D. will perform at halftime of next month's NBA All-Star Game, the league announced Thursday, with actor-comedian Kevin Hart opening festivities and introducing teams.

The 67th annual clash of elite NBA talent will be staged February 18 in Los Angeles and also feature pre-game national anthems, the American sung by Fergie and the Canadian performed by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies.

Williams, an 11-time Grammy Award winner, was nominated for his second Academy Award last year as a co-producer of the Best Picture candidate Hidden Figures. The 44-year-old American was also nominated for Best Original Song for his hit "Happy" in 2014.

N.E.R.D. -- short for No-one Ever Really Dies -- released its fifth album last month and the first single, "Lemon" featuring Rihanna, became Williams' 19th song on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Hart, 38, is about to embark on a global comedy tour and stars in the current movie release "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle."

Fergie, 42, is an eight-time Grammy winner while the Barenaked Ladies celebrate their 30th anniversary this year with a tour.

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Celebrities embrace avant-garde challenge at 2017 Met Gala

NEW YORK -- On a night when celebrities can let loose on their fashion choices, pop princesses and Hollywood actress took it up a notch in the avant-garde department at New York's Met Gala.

The 2017 Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute ball was themed "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between," an homage to highly structured creations of the Japanese designer and her avant-garde label.

Pop singer Katy Perry, a co-chair of the ball, lived up to the theme's challenge with a custom Maison Margiela "Artisanal" ensemble by John Galliano, an imperial red tulle dress and a veil embroidered with the word "Witness."

Eric Wilson, fashion news director at InStyle, described this year's theme as "extremely challenging" compared to years past and agreed that Perry's outfit was courageously on point.

"I think she's without a doubt the hit of the night so far," Wilson said. "It's very brave to wear something that disguises who you are so much on the red carpet."

Rihanna was no slouch either, embodying Kawakubo’s penchant for dramatic silhouettes in a custom Comme des Garçons floral dress with cutouts and oversized ruffles. The singer earned the most mentions on social media, said Kellan Terry, an analyst at the social media monitoring company Brandwatch.

"Happy" singer Pharrell Williams in jeans and leather jacket, and star couple Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen in matching silver helped fashion maven and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour host the annual fundraising gala, which is sometimes referred to as "the Oscars of the East Coast."

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian went against the theme, sporting a white dress by Vivienne Westwood with no clutch, no jewelry and no Kanye West, her fashion-loving husband. Sister Kendall Jenner dared to be bare, wearing a sheer slip that left little to the imagination, both in front and back.

Donning a beige Ralph Lauren trench coat gown paired with big silver hoop earrings, actress Priyanka Chopra dropped jaws and turned heads. Tennis star Serena Williams also served up drama with a baby bump under her green Atelier Versace dress.

Actress Zoe Kravitz went with a strapless pink and black Oscar de la Renta gown with an off-the-shoulder train, receiving much praise on social media, where the hashtag #MetGala was top trending.

Wilson said an added plus to Kravitz's dress is that it "looks comfortable."

"Some of these pieces are gorgeous on the red carpet," Wilson said. "But I'm assuming that a lot of these celebrities are going to be changing once they get through that door and sit down to dinner."

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Amy Vachal flips 'Blank Space' on 'Voice US'

MANILA – Filipino-American singer Amy Vachal impressed the judges of “The Voice” on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) when she performed a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” using her distinct style of singing.


According to Blake Shelton, Vachal continues to amaze him with the flips she is doing with every song.

“That may be my favorite vocal from you so far. Here’s why: to hear the bottom register of your voice, I’ve never heard it so clear and so loud and with such presence. Great singing,” he told the singer.

Meanwhile, Pharrell Williams, who was Vachal’s former mentor, urged viewers to buy her version of the song on iTunes.

“Amy, the way that you are doing these songs, the way that you’re flipping them, it frames your voice so well,” he said. “I just want to stress to everybody in America that you need to go to iTunes and go buy this song right now.”

While the two coaches had good things to say about Vachal, Adam Levine said he was the proudest of his ward’s performance.

“I think that what you’ve done, to me, the way you’ve won this season is taking your own approach to songs. Because really, we are kinda stuck doing cover songs. You can’t do your own material. Within the perimeters of that, you have completely triumphed and created like this album of different kinds of versions of these songs. To me, that is the artistry that I love, that I am looking for. I am so proud,” he said.

Based on the latest performances of the Top 11, America will decide on which contestant to send home on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).

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Fil-Am Amy Vachal in 'Voice US' shocker

Filipino-American singer Amy Vachal lost in the first Knockout Round of the US version of “The Voice” on Monday night (Tuesday in Manila) after going head-to-head with Madi Davis.

Vachal decided to do a cover of Etta James’ “A Sunday Kind Of Love,” while Davis chose Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.”




While their coach Pharrell Williams thought both of them were amazing, he chose Davis as the winner of the Knockout Round.

Immediately both Adam Levine and Blake Shelton pressed their buttons to steal Vachal.

Shelton reminded the Filipino-American singer how he begged for her to join his team since the beginning because he really believes in her talent. Levine, on the other hand, told Vachal that they could join forces in winning the competition.

Left with a hard decision to make, Vachal eventually picked Levine.

Aside from Davis and Vachal, the contestants who are moving to the live Playoffs round are Blaine Mitchell from Team Adam, Braiden Sunshine from Team Gwen, Barrett Baber from Team Blake, Ivonne Acero from Team Blake, Jordan Smith from Team Blake and Viktor Kiraly from Team Gwen.

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Sam Smith, Beyonce, Pharrell top Grammy nominations

NEW YORK - Newcomer Sam Smith joined Beyonce and Pharrell Williams on Friday to lead in nominations for the Grammy Awards, with the music industry's annual picks weighted toward R&B-influenced artists.

Smith -- the British blue-eyed soul singer who emerged in force this year with "Stay With Me," a ballad about a one-night stand -- was tied with Beyonce and Williams for nominations in six categories at music's most-watched awards.

"What is going on! 6 Grammy nominations. Dear Lord," Smith wrote on Instagram as he posted a picture of his face somewhere between tears and a grimace.

Smith's debut album "In the Lonely Hour" was nominated for the most prestigious Album of the Year along with the prolific Williams' "Girl," which features the globally viral anthem "Happy."

Beyonce, who won six Grammys in 2010 in one of the awards' biggest-ever hauls, was also tapped for Album of the Year with her latest, self-titled album, which includes her tune of marital bliss "Drunk in Love" sung with husband Jay Z.

One Grammy surprise was Beck, whose collage-like and sometimes ironic songs have won him a passionate following over two decades but who has often been considered outside the mainstream.

Beck was nominated in four categories including Album of the Year for his introspective "Morning Phase."

British songwriter Ed Sheeran, who has collaborated with superstar pop acts such as One Direction, was also nominated for Album of the Year for his second studio album "X."

- Nods to new artists -
The Grammy winners will be announced at a gala ceremony in Los Angeles on February 8.

The nominations, announced throughout the day on US television and Twitter, showed a shift in direction after French electronic duo Daft Punk won last year’s top Grammys. All but one of the nods for Record of the Year, which recognizes songs, went to a white artist heavily influenced by R&B or hip hop.

Smith was the only male artist tapped for Record of the Year. Other nominees included fellow new artists Meghan Trainor for "All About That Bass" and Australian rapper Iggy Azalea for "Fancy," which features British singer Charli XCX.

Sia, another Australian influenced by R&B, was in contention for "Chandelier" in the biggest nomination of her two-decade career.

Country-turned-pop superstar Taylor Swift got a nod for Record of the Year with "Shake It Off" from her chart-topping album "1989." The album as a whole, which last month enjoyed the biggest single-week sales for a US album in 12 years, came out too late for Grammy eligibility.

- One for U2 -
U2, the most nominated group in Grammy history, received a nod for Best Rock Album for "Songs of Innocence" but the Irish superstars were passed over for Album of the Year.

The album was controversially released for free on iTunes in September but U2 rushed out a limited-edition vinyl in time to be Grammy eligible.

Women took three of the five nominations for Country Album, despite the prevalence of male-dominated "bro-country" on the radio.

Brandy Clark was nominated for "12 Stories," which was released on a Dallas label after Nashville would not touch it, with established stars Miranda Lambert and Lee Ann Womack also in the running.

- Major electronic, reggae artists -

Clark was separately nominated in the closely watched Best New Artist category, along with Azalea and Smith. Also in the category were Haim, the Fleetwood Mac-inspired California band featuring three sisters, and British rockers Bastille.

Azalea was nominated as well for Best Rap Album along with veteran Eminem, who recently threatened her in a song. Others in the category are the successful actor and poet Common, marijuana-loving soloist Wiz Khalifa and television star Childish Gambino, as well as Schoolboy Q, who released his major label debut.

The cutting-edge British artist Aphex Twin was nominated for Best/Dance Electronic Album with "Syro," his first album in 13 years. Also in the category was "Do It Again," a mini-album collaboration between soon-to-be-defunct Norwegian electronic duo Royksopp and Swedish singer Robyn.

The reggae category was dominated by veteran acts with dub pioneer Lee "Scratch" Perry receiving his latest nomination at age 78.

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Pharrell Williams new video features former TFC talent

HOLLYWOOD - A former Kapamilya is featured in the latest music video of a multiple Grammy winner and one of the most in-demand recording artists and producers, Pharrell Williams.

One of the music industry's biggest success stories has a new music video that follows the infectious sound of his previous hit, "Happy".

"Come Get It Babe" features another hit-maker, Miley Cyrus, grooving with Pharrell.

Also in the video is actress-model Jaja Bolivar, a former host of TFC's Adobo Nation. Bolivar is based in Los Angeles. She also appeared in a high profile 2013 Super Bowl commercial.

In "Come Get It Babe", Bolivar plays one of the dancers auditioning for Pharrell. He later gets up and grooves with Miley Cyrus and the dancers.

Released just days ago, the official video is now entering towards five million hits.

Pharrell's mega hit song "Happy" is now triple platinum with 1.8 million sales. Only three other songs have gotten the triple platinum status in the 20 years.

"Happy" has become a worldwide hit and spawned many covers on YouTube by people all around the world including the Philippines.

The Philippine version showed Filipinos singing despite typhoon Yolanda's devastation.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Pharrell cried when he talked about how he was touched by the "Happy" videos from around the world.

Pharrell was also part of the music team of the Amazing Spider Man 2.

The singer-writer-producer started in the business with Filipino-American talent Chad Hugo as a partner in the Neptunes. The duo produced many hits from the 90s to 2000s.

Read more from Balitang America

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Nyong'o, Pharrell Williams among new Academy members

LOS ANGELES - Kenyan Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, Somalia's Barkhad Abdi, "Happy" songster Pharrell Williams and Irish-German star Michael Fassbender are among 271 actors newly invited to join Hollywood's Oscar-bestowing Academy, organizers said Thursday.

Other non-US invitees include Britain's Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan, as well as Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki and Israeli-born Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad.

Italy's Paolo Sorrentino, whose "The Great Beauty" won this year's foreign-language Oscar, will also join the illustrious Hollywood body, as will Canadian "Dallas Buyers Club" director Jean-Marc Vallee.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invites a new batch of actors, filmmakers and related professionals every year to join the ranks of its 6,000 or so members who vote on the Oscars.

"This year's class of invitees represents some of the most talented, creative and passionate filmmakers working in our industry today," said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

"Their contributions to film have entertained audiences around the world, and we are proud to welcome them to the Academy."

Nyong'o won the best supporting actress Oscar in March for her role in harrowing historical drama "12 Years a Slave." Fassbender was also nominated for his role in the film by British director Steve McQueen.

Hawkins was nominated in the same category as Nyong'o for her role in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine," while Coogan was shortlisted this year as writer for true-story based "Philomena."

Williams, whose ubiquitous hit "Happy" took the Internet by storm with copycat dance videos from around the world, was nominated for his work on "Despicable Me 2."

Other nominees included comic Chris Rock, actress June Squibb (Oscar nominee this year for "Nebraska"), "Hunger Games" star Josh Hutcherson and "Veep" TV star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The full list of new members is at: www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2014/20140626.html

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