Pink

Credit: Peter Kramer/AP

Artists of all genres are joining Team Taylor as Kanye West's outburst at Sunday's Video Music Awards continues to draw condemnation. In the meantime, West has replaced his first rambling apology, which was taken down from his website shortly after posting it, with a more succinct message to Taylor Swift:  "I feel like Ben Stiller in "Meet the Parents" when he messed up everything and Robert De Niro asked him to leave...      That was Taylor's moment and I had no right in any way to take it from her.  I am truly sorry."

To recap: As country darling  Swift was accepting her award for best female video on MTV's annual awards show when West burst forth from the audience, grabbed her mic and declared that fellow nominee Beyonce had "one of the best videos of all time," leaving Swift dazed and confused.  

Here are a few choice comments from artists. Not a lot of love for West right now:

Katy Perry (via Twitter): F*** U KANYE. IT'S LIKE U STEPPED 0N A KITTEN

Pink: (via Twitter and "The Today Show") Pink tweeted that West was "a douche bag" last night. This morning, she  performed "Please Don't Leave Me" on "The Today Show," but not before blasting West a little bit more: " I just think he's an idiot. He's just a waste. He's just a toolbox," she told Matt Lauer. "He's getting exactly what he wants. Peple are talking about him."

John Mayer (via Twitter) Big love to my girl @taylorswift13. A class act.

Kelly Clarkson (via her website) wrote an open letter to West, which we've edited down:  

Dear Kanye,

What happened to you as a child?? Did you not get hugged enough?? Something must have happened to make you this way and I think we're all just curious as to what would make a grown man go on national television and make a talented artist, let alone teenager, feel like shit. I mean, I've seen you do some pretty shitty things, but you just keep amazing me with your tactless, asshole ways. It's absolutely fascinating how much I don't like you. I like everyone. I even like my asshole ex that cheated on me over you... I was actually nominated in the same category that Taylor won and I was excited for her...so why can't you be?? I'm not even mad at you for being an asshole...I just pity you because you're a sad human being.

On a side note, Beyonce has always been a class act and proved again tonight that she still is. Go TEXAS!!

Taylor Swift, you outsell him ....that's why he's bitter. You know I love your work! Keep it up girl!

KC

 Reba McEntire (via Twitter) : So proud of Taylor winning last night at the VMA's!!!! Way to go girl!!!!! Lesson to all of us to keep a firm grip on the microphone ...

Lady Antebellum (via Twitter): I wish people knew when to keep their mouth shut! Love you T!! ~hills

Quite a few folks on Twitter and Facebook have posed the question as to whether the whole imbroglio was staged. Even John Legend had his doubts. Earlier today, he tweeted, "Anybody think this might have all been one big mindfuck and MTV and everybody planned it out like the Bruno/Eminem thing? Prob not, I guess."

Now, as for Beyonce calling up Swift to give her acceptance speech uninterrupted, there does seem to be general thought (and I agree) that Swift wasn't caught unaware there. She was waiting in the wings after all. On that, Legend tweeted, " I think that Ye was serious & the damage cntrl was staged. Taylor came fro[m] backstage on cue w/ mic in hand when Bey called her."

Our colleague Chris Willman had his own hit and run with West when he was writing for Entertainment Weekly and has written a great piece for Yahoo on the history of West's antics that is compulsory reading for anyone who thinks this was anything other than a spontaneous act on West's part.

 As he always manages to somehow do, West may have the last word. In a stroke of tremendous luck for Jay Leno, West is the musical guest (along with Jay-Z and Rihanna) on his first prime time show tonight at 10 p.m. on NBC. However, rumor has it that Swift, who has not tweeted about the incident, will be on "The View" on Tuesday.

Bono of 'U2'

Credit: AP

U2 brought its "360" stadium tour to the U.S. Saturday night, following a successful run in Europe, and according to reviewers, the concert was a mixed bag. The tour is the band's first stadium tour in the U.S. in more than a decade: the last two tours were arena outings.

Rollingstone.com declared Sept. 12's opening night at Chicago's Soldier Field nothing less than a "reinvent[ion]" of  the stadium show, whereas the Chicago Sun Times review (by the often contrarian Jim DeRogatis) called the show an "empty spectacle."  The production boasts The Claw, a round stage in the middle of the field with arms that stretch the expanse of the stadium, that allows the band to get as close to the audience as possible.

Here's a collection of snippets from various reviews:

Rollingstone.com:  Last night at Chicago's Soldier Field they returned to American stadiums with the biggest concert stage ever built. It was, in every way, a huge success and proof that rock & roll can work in venues designed for 80,000 screaming football fans.... After nearly a quarter-century or more in near constant rotation, U2 finally retired concert warhorses "Bullet the Bullet Sky," "New Years Day" and "I Will Follow" - as well as more recent live favorites like "Mysterious Ways" and "Until the End of the World." That left room for not only the majority of the new disc, but rarities like the title track to 1984's The Unforgettable Fire (not played stateside since 1987) and "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)," which hasn't been performed since Zoo TV in 1993. The latter - one of only two tracks from U2's stellar 1990s catalog - was one of the show's highpoints.

Chicago Tribune:  At times, the stage set-up seemed more like a garish, environmentally challenged cover-up, as if to distract from the band's recent, less riveting music. But it also dazzled, especially when a spire of lights shot skyward during "City of Blinding Lights." ... Bono, in fine voice all night, sang with fervor during "Ultra Violet," crooned like a wounded David Lynch lounge lizard in "With or Without You" and then channeled his inner Otis Redding on the hymn-like closer, "Moment of Surrender."

Chicago Sun Times: But in place of the disorienting buzz of Zoo TV, U2 gave us the empty spectacle of the multimillion-dollar stage fans have come to call "the Claw," a ludicrous, fog-belching, crablike mega-structure that primarily succeeds in dwarfing the musicians onstage, recalling David Bowie's equally silly Glass Spider Tour and making recent Stones stages seem modest in comparison. (U2 really ought to talk to the Flaming Lips, who've been building a more impressive UFO stage out of supplies found at Home Depot at a cost of a few thousand bucks.)

USA Today: Over the course of 2¼ hours, the District 9 spectacle does on occasion overwhelm the musicians, but never the music. The Irish quartet works up a sweat pounding out a raw, spirited, briskly paced show built on a transcendent thunderous noise and bold, brash emotions, turning that cold, futuristic hulk into an unlikely transmitter of human passion...No question, concerts at the local football field can be a logistical pain. U2 has fine-tuned the experience with fine tunes pouring from an extraterrestrial jukebox that manages to radiate charisma, warmth and imagination. It's a band that still gives you something you can feel. In a word, liftoff.

Billboard: But unlike previous stadium tours such as 1992's Zoo TV Outside Broadcast and the 1997-98 Popmart trek, neither U2 nor its songs was dwarfed by the visual spectacle. Rather, The Claw and its components enhanced the songs, which included seven from the group's latest album, "No Line on the Horizon" -- four of which opened Saturday's show -- and a careful selection from U2's 29-year recording catalog...The emotional high point, however, was "Walk On;" dedicated, as usual, to imprisoned Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi, it was performed while three-dozen "volunteers" stood on the lower stage ramp holding masks bearing her likeness in front of their faces and was followed by a powerful version of "Where the Streets Have No Name."

Sept. 12's  U2 set list,  courtesy of Billboard.

"Breathe"
"No Line on the Horizon"
"Get On Your Boots"
"Magnificent"
"Beautiful Day"
"Elevation"
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
"Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
"Unknown Caller"
"The Unforgettable Fire"
"City of Blinding Lights"
"I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (Redanka remix)"
"Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"Pride (In the Name of Love)"
"MLK"
"Walk On"
"Where The Streets Have No Name"
(encore)
"One"
"Bad"
(encore)
"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"
"With or Without You"
"Moment of Surrender"

Here are the remaining tour dates. Good luck getting tickets, however, as the tour is sold out.

Kanye West and Amber Rose arrive at the VMAs. Little did he know what would come next.

Credit: Peter Kramer/AP

Faster than you can say Joe Wilson, Kanye West has apologized to Taylor Swift for ruining her moment at MTV's Video Music Awards on Sunday.

In case you missed it (and the million or so Tweets and Facebook postings and links to it), early on in the awards, Swift upset both Britney Spears and Beyonce by snaring the best female video award for "You Belong To Me." She had just started a very sweet (does she give any other kind?) acceptance speech when West jumped on stage and said he was going to let her finish her speech, but "Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time."  Swift stood there like a deer caught in the headlights-they sure as hell don't act this way at the CMAs-until MTV wisely interrupted and went to commercial.

For the rest of the evening, whenever West's name was mentioned, he was booed. When Beyonce did eventually win, she graciously called Swift on stage to give her acceptance speech, uninterrupted.

West posted his apology on his website, in all caps, just in case we couldn't hear him loudly enough... He apologized, but still got in a few digs at Swift, in our mind, with the line about "I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I'M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!!"

What the hell does that mean?

As you know, West is no stranger to hopping on stage and griping about not winning, but it's usually when he doesn't win-like when he didn't win best new artist at the Grammys several years ago. Below is his apology in full and in caps. (We're taking this from Entertainment Weekly because West's site strangely went down for routine maintenance just minutes after he posted the apology. Thanks EW.com!)

"I'M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD'VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE'S IN THE BLEACHERS! ........................ I'M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!................. BEYONCE'S VIDEO WAS THE BEST OF THIS DECADE!!!! I'M SORRY TO MY FANS IF I LET YOU GUYS DOWN!!!! I'M SORRY TO MY FRIENDS AT MTV. I WILL APOLOGIZE TO TAYLOR 2MRW. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!! EVERYBODY WANNA BOOOOO ME BUT I'M A FAN OF REAL POP CULTURE!!! NO DISRESPECT BUT WE WATCHIN' THE SHOW AT THE CRIB RIGHT NOW CAUSE ... WELL YOU KNOW!!!! I'M STILL HAPPY FOR TAYLOR!!!! BOOOYAAAWWWW!!!! YOU ARE VERY VERY TALENTED!!! I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME... THAT'S WHAT IT IS!!!!!!! I'M NOT CRAZY YALL, I'M JUST REAL. SORRY FOR THAT!!! I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR TAYLOR AND I'M SINCERELY SORRY!!! MUCH RESPECT!!!!!"

So? Is it enough? How do you feel about West's behavior?

Beyonce Knowles had plenty to smile about at the MTV Video Music Awards

Credit: Peter Kramer/AP

 11:31: Some immediate post-show thoughts: It was a really fast-moving show, to MTV's credit. Russell Brand is a one-trick pony when it comes to jokes...sex, sex and more sex... to the point that it's insulting to the female artists he kept harping on, like Katie Perry, Lady Gaga and Beyonce.  No great peformances, since in my mind, that actually means singing live, but there were three outstanding production numbers: Lady GaGa, Beyonce and Pink.  However, all anyone is going to talk about is Kanye West, which is just the way he wants it. I wonder what would have happened if he had been slated to perform?  I know they weren't nominated, but where were folks like Justin Timberlake and Black Eyed Peas or Miley Cyrus?  MTV is all about marketing, but the "New Moon" trailer and "This is It" promo as part of the show's programming were a bit much.

What are your thoughts?

11:27: Now on to the clip of "This is It," the trailer for Michael Jackson's movie culled from the rehearsals for his tour. It's performance footage, but it's also clips from reheasal of him just hanging out or instructing the dancers. It's clear it was going to be an amazing spectacle. It opens Oct. 28.  Russell Brand points out that Jermaine and Joe Jackson are in the audience.  And we're out.

11: 23: Jay Z is performing now. MTV has followed his motorcade arriving as if he's royalty, which I guess he is. He's performing with Alicia Keys. Her piano line in the first verse sounds like it's taken from the Stylistics' "Love on a Two-Way Street."  They're performing their love letter to New York, "Empire State of Mind." Really, really weak performance although Beyonce seems to be loving it in the way that only a spouse can. Lady GaGa looks like something out of horror movie in her white wrap-around headdress.  It's a really nothing song. 

11:11: Andy Samberg and Jimmy Fallon, looking like the biggest nerds in the place, imitating Boyz II Men,  are presenting video of the year. Will Beyonce finally get a Moon Man tonight? Again, Kanye's name is greeted with boos when "Love Lockdown" is introduced. Beyonce wins. Let's see if she says anything to Taylor Swift--not that she's got anything to apologize for.

How classy is she? Beyonce just said she remembered being 17 at her first VMAs  with Destiny's Child and it was one of the most exciting moments of her life and she's like for Taylor to come out and have her moment. Really really sweet, although I'm totally distracted by Lady GaGa's new outfit, which is a white bunch of feathers encasing her head. Really? She must have no peripheral vision. Taylor is now giving her thank you speech and Beyonce doesn't give one. I smell a duet coming in the future. Keep it classy, Beyonce. Nicely done, but I'm still pissed at Kanye. I can't imagine this is how his dear departed mother raised him to be.

11:00: Serena Williams comes out to introduce Pink and makes a joke about "stepping over the line." Too soon? Is this bad behaviour evening?  Pink is now performing "Sober" while working through a complete trapeze act without a net (although she has on a harness). Wow. Really impressive, almost asimpressive as the fact that the pasty that she has on her body suit is staying in place despite the fact she's hanging upside down most of the time. Most impressive display of rocking stomach muscles for the night. She's clearly lipsyncing too, based on the amount of panting we heard during a musical interlude.  Does it matter at all any more if people sing?

10:58: Lady Gaga wins best new artist. Her face is completely covered in the red lace get up I mentioned earlier. Remember the outfits Go Van Go or whomever they were wore to the Grammys a few years ago? This is basically the same thing. Oh good, she took off the mask. In a completely restrained and normal speech, she thanks the fans and then says this is for "God and the gaze." Huh? Oh... for the "gays."  No that makes sense.

10:47: Jenny from the block is presenting best hip hop video. Word...Eminem's "We made You" wins. He's sporting very short hair. He looks great. He also points his Moon Man skyward and says "this one's for you Homey." I don't think he means Michael Jackson...cut to an outdoors shot of Jay Z's motorcade, which rivals Obama's... they've got to be kidding...

10:35: Gerard Butler just introduced Muse, who are performing "Uprising" in a Broadway theater down the road from Radio City Music Hall, and just happen to have a new album out Tuesday called "The Resistance." I dig them, especially, the song "Starlight," from their last album. Am I wrong, however, to think that Warner Music Group may have said, "We'll give you Madge if you put Muse on?"

10:40: Another stupid sketch with Tracy Morgan and Eminem ranting about how Morgan wants to be best new artist. Pointless

10:30: I'm loving this. Diddy just came out to introduce an award and he's talking about the lineage of rappers. He mentioned Kanye and the crowd start to boo and then started chanting "Taylor."  I'm not a huge fan of Swift's music, but I've interviewed her a few times and I'm a tremendous fan of how she comports herself and how professional she is. I'm chanting "Taylor" in my apartment. Best male video goes to T.I.... he's in prison, right?  This may be the first time that's ever happened. Looks like they don't get to do acceptance speeches from lock down.

10;20:  Beyonce just came on to perform in a barely-there leotard looking amazing. She's whipping through "Single Ladies." She's holding a microphone but is not attemping to sing at all, just dance. Okay, she's talking every now and then, but basically, she's surrounded by tiers of "single ladies" in leotards going through an exhausting aerobic workout.   Katy Perry just looked at her date and pointed to her ring finger... hmmm. Is there news to be had there?

10:15: Kristin Stewart, Rob Pattinson, Taylor Lautner come out to the biggest screams of the evening to introduce the extended trailer for "New Moon." I love that MTV has basically given "New Moon" completely free ad time. I feel like I'm watching "Entertainment Tonight." Is this MTV's way of admitting that they can't keep people watching, so they have to cede time to "New Moon" to keep viewers or just canny marketing?  MTV Films co-produced "Twilight," so I imagine they have a piece of "New Moon" as well.

10:05: Green Day hits the stage, ripping through "East Jesus Nowhere." Don't test me...Billie Joe's now roaming the audience. I swear he looks like he's 12, despite the fact he's got a kid in high school. Oh, he's calling fans on stage. He totally disappears until they lift him up.

10:00 Oh my God. Now they're showing Lady Gaga in the audience dressed all in red lace, including in something covering her face. Russell just rambled about giving Megan Fox a pill because she's mental. Falls tremendously flat. He's just manic, not funny.

Now Nelly Furtado and Kristin Cavalleri are presenting best pop video. i'm so relieved Taylor Swift isn't nominated, for her sake. Furtado is announcing it in Spanish. It's Britney Spears for "Womanizer," who accepts via remote from her tour site. It's not looking like a great night for Beyonce...

9:47: Pete Wentz and Cobra Starship's Gabe Saporta introduce Lady GaGa. She's doing a medley of her hits and looking more and more like Barbara Stanwyck every day. "Love Game" went into "Paparazzi." As she's done several time before, she's reinventing the songs. This time as mid-tempo ballads. Out comes a girl in the "Paparazzi" wheelchair. Nice... Now she's at the piano, with one leg on the keys. Okay, now she's crying, as blood flows down her body.. fake blood. She's taking this way into Grand Guignol territory. Now she's ascending into heaven with blood smeared all over her.  This is clearly her statement on fame. I didn't think she could shock me, yet she did..

 9:37: Two Disney kids from Wizards of Waverly Place just came out. The little boy, who at way less than Kayne's age has double his common sense and manners, says "Give it up for Taylor Swift" before teasing to a taped performance piece of Swift performing "You Belong with Me" in a subway car. It's more of a video than a performance..... check that, it's completely a video. She's holding a mic, but she's lip syncing. Smart move and an unintended plus so she doesn't have to perform right after that debacle, but, and I want to go easy on Swift tonight, it also helps because she's not the best live singer.

Oh, now she's live...kind of proving my previous point, but I just want to salute her right now... I'm still so appalled by Kanye's actions.

9:32: "Do remember what we're celebrating is love," says Brand, as a way to diffuse the situation. Of course, he then goes into a joke about "having" both Beyonce and Taylor Swift. Out come Jack Black, in a fake body suit. he looks basically like an avatar, and Leighton Meester to present best rock video. Black is praying to Satan to give music artists continued success. I have a feeling that may be going over people's heads. Green Day wins for "21 Guns." Far from the best video in the lot, but they're riding a wave and I love them, so no complaint. Billie Joe just called on MTV to play more videos. That's so 1994.

9:22: Shakira and Taylor Lautner are presenting the first award. She looks great, but it's not that flattering an outfit. Lots of jokes plugging  her song "She Wolf" fall flat. They're presenting best female video, one of the tightest races of the evening.  Winner: Taylor Swift for 'You Belong With Me." That is a shock and finishes the coronation of her overall domination.

Kanye West just hopped on stage and grabs her mic and says he's going to let her finish her speech, but  Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. Nice. Not only is he a horrible loser when the envelope doesn't have his name, he's a horrible loser when someone else he supports loses. Really, really unbelievable. It's the Serena Williams moment of the VMAs. Just as tennis fined Willams today, West should be fined for unsportsmanlike conduct. Really, really repugnant and offensive in every single way.

Swift looks a little stunned, as people clap and show their support for Beyonce, but as Swift stands there looking aghast, the support turns into a standing ovation for Swift, who stands there for a few more seconds as the VMAs cut to a canned skit of Tracy Morgan rambling about best new artist. They sure as hell don't act rude like that at the CMAs. My heart goes out to Swift who will have to answer questions about this for months to come. Nice way to ruin her moment, Kanye. Asshole. I want to lock him and Joe Wilson in a room together.

9:19: First shot of Lady GaGa. Holy cow... she has some feathered contraption; some kind of Phantom of the Opera mark. Now he's going after the rumors that she's a hermaphrodite. She's laughing, but I doubt she's amused. It looks like Katy Perry got off easy when he make some joke to seeing her privates.  He just got in a plug for health care reform. I'm beginning to love him. 

9:14:   Katy Perry is rocking out to "We Will Rock You," as Russell Brand appears on a rier.  That would appear to be Joe perry goig the ferocious guitar solo. Brand is in a very tightly fitted black suit with a black top hat. Katy just grabbed her crotch and stuck out her tongue. Not a good look

9:12: Janet is dancing  along with Jackson's video image to "Scream,"  which is really pretty cool.  I think that must be so difficult for her emotionally and I give her credit. She's still mourning her brother. However, that tribute belonged much more to Madonna than it did to Janet. Don't know how I feel about that... kind of like Madonna bogarted Janet's moment...

9:10: We're up to "Scream," which means Janet is about to make her entrance.

9:06 p.m.: The tribute begins with Jackson's "Thriller" video playing on a huge screen as various MJ impersonator's from different eras in his career dance in front of the screen.

9 p.m.: So Madonna is introducing the Michael Jackson tribute. I don't know I've ever seen her in so many clothes. Wow, she's talking about how she lost her mother when she was so little, yet she thinks Jackson got "the short end of the stick" by not having a childhood.  I don't know about that. I also don't know if I'd call Jackson a "hero," as she just did. Her speech, now about a dinner they had in 1991, is deeply personal and touching. She also refers to "the witchhunt," clearly a reference to the sexual molestation charges. Now she's seeking  some kind of absolution since "most of us had turned our backs on him." Oh please. He was not a saint. He was one of the most talented performers of our generation, of any generation, whose death was tragic, but also, as with any addict, some of his own doing.  This deification is stomach-churning.  I go on the record declaring myself totally blameless in Michael Jackson's death.

 8:55 p.m. E.T: The MTV Video Music Awards start in five minutes.  We already know the opening will be a tribute to Michael Jackson, the icon who, in our mind, singlehandedly did more to make MTV the cultural force that it became.

The bigger question is how will this year's show unfold? Last year, British comedian Russell Brand, who returns this year, insulted the Jonas Bros. about their purity rings We'll see at whom he aims his slings and arrows tonight.

There are also some fierce battles shaping up between Lady GaGa, Beyonce and Britney, as well as between Eminem and Kanye West, the sorest loser ever. All we know is that Beyonce looked [sasha] FIERCE on the red carpet.

The remastered Beatles

Credit: AP

 Almost 40 years after their break up, the Beatles remain close to our hearts...and wallets.

The remastered Beatles CDs that were released on Wednesday sold more than 235,000 total copies in their first two days of sales, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Among the 14 titles, "Abbey Road" is the top seller. Billboard predicts that nine of the top 10 albums on its Top Pop Catalog Albums chart next week will be from the Fab Four. The lone exception? Michael Jackson's  "Number Ones."

Hits Daily Double predicts that the Beatles titles, including the individual releases and the mono and stereo boxed sets, could sell as much as a cumulative 600,000 copies by the time the charts close on Sunday night.

So let's think about this. Earlier this week, Billboard stated that the Beatles could be the top selling artist of the decade with the release of these remastered sets (when that is combined with their existing catalog and the super seller,  "Beatles 1," which featured 27 charttoppers). Right now, that honor belongs to Eminem.  In terms of the top seller of 2009, we've already declared that we believe it will be Michael Jackson.

What does that say about the state of today's music and how it is sold?  The surge of both album and individual single digital sales for Jackson following his death was a rare case where fans were willing to buy both in almost equal measure. The  Beatles have no allowed their music to be sold digitally, and that's one reason we're seeing this rush to purchase the CDs.  There are some artists that are selling large amounts of CDs still:  Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood come to mind, both of which are further proof that country fans, even younger ones, are still willing to buy full CDs on artists they feel loyalty to.

Kurt Cobain avatar in "Guitar Hero 5" (Check out the Daniel Johnston tee)

Credit: Activision

The battle over Kurt Cobain's "Guitar Hero 5" avatar wages on with his former Nirvana band mates now weighing in.  

To catch you up to speed, game manufacturer Activision included Cobain in the latest rendition. At first, Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, protested that Activision had not received permission to use Cobain's likeness. Activision told TMZ that it had, indeed, legally obtained all rights necessary to feature Cobain's avatar.

But the plot thickens.

Today, Love's attorney allowed that Love did sign off on permission to use Cobain's image to TMZ, but now says the Love's upset about the song choices.  Her lawyer, who is unnamed in the TMZ story, says, "Activision is exploiting Kurt's image in a manner anathema to the very essence of his music, spirit and essence...I along with Ms. Cobain hope those who love Kurt's music strongly voice their sentiments to Activision and demand his image not be debased by singing the songs of Bon Jovi."

Now, Billboard is reporting that Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic are appealing to Activision that Cobain's avatar be used only with Nirvana's two featured songs, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Lithium" and not on the game's 83 additional songs.

Of course, Love has been tweeting about the situation. Here's one of her tweets, posted late Thursday night. We didn't correct the punctuation: "I'm really grossed out that the people who forced me to do a 'deal memo:' with these assholes at Activision would lie well wait for my esq." In a tweet from earlier yesterday, she writes, "I told [Guitar Hero] their avatar was a joke."

Jay-Z

Jay-Z easily moves into the penthouse next week as "The Blueprint 3" tops all CD sales. The title could sell as many as 400,000 copies, predicts Hits Daily Double, making it the best opening frame since Dave Matthews Band's "Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King" surpassed 400,000 in June.

Whitney Houston, who debuted at No. 1 this week with sales of more than 300,000, drops to No. 3 with estimated sales of 80,000 (Don't despair, Houston fans, she'll see a bump up again after her "Oprah" appearances Sept. 14-15.)  On Hits' chart, the Beatles' remastered "Abbey Road" "Sgt. Pepper's,"  "The Beatles" and "Rubber Soul" all look to be strong enough to enter in the top 10. Those titles will not be on Billboard's Top 200 as it does not include catalog; instead they will be on Billboard's comprehensive chart.  

Raekwon's "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II" will also come in the top 5, with sales of around 65,000.

Whitney Houston in the video for "I Look to You"

Although most radio stations have already moved on to "Million Dollar Bill," Arista has just released a video for "I Look to You," the first single and title track to Whitney Houston's new album.

Deceptive in its simplicity (meaning we bet it cost a few hundred thousand dollars), the video  features Houston singing against a plain backdrop. The bucks come in the gorgeous photography and the photo shopping. Houston, dressed in a flowing, silk white gown, looks positively angelic, which is appropriate, given one possible interpretation of the song is that she's singing about God.

Her make up and hair are impeccable. She moves from a chair to standing, but not until a heavenly spotlight shines down on her when as sings "I look to you." Ooh... special effects!

In another near literal interpretation, when Houston sings "my walls have come crumbling down on me/the rain is falling,"   petals begin falling, softly as snowflakes.  It's a beautiful cinematic effort that puts the focus exclusively on Houston. It's too slow paced and there's not enough action for the ADD-addled MTV set, but Houston's main audience long ago aged out of MTV onto VH1 anyway. Nicely done.

Mariah Carey

Credit: NBC

On the face of it, the idea of Mariah Carey remaking Foreigner's 25-year-old cheesy (and we mean that in the best possible way) power ballad "I Want to Know What Love Is" sounds perfect. She's covered other songs before to good effect, such as the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There," which she took to No. 1.

It's reasonably faithful to the original, down to the click track (which sound more like finger snaps and then claps here) and the choir -- although her version opens with a solo piano intro and she's added an echo that doesn't serve her well.  Like Foreigner's then-lead singer Lou Gramm, Carey starts slow and subtle, singing in a lower register than we're used to.

As she goes into the chorus, she sounds appropriately vulnerable, and, dare we say, like a little wounded lamb. Like Gramm's, her performance builds emotionally and is bolstered by a choir (is there any song that isn't made better by the addition of a choir?). She saves the vocal pyrotechnics until the end. 

The production is grandiose (and a little retro, but that could be an an homage to the original). She even uses some of the same adlibs as Gramm, which I guess wouldn't make them adlibs...

"I Want to Know What Love Is" is the second single from Carey's Sept. 29 set, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," and is a good counterpoint to first single, the Enimem-dis,"Obsessed."

Here's the original so you can compare for yourself. Which version do you like better?

Taylor Swift prepares to watch the CMA nominations announced live on "Good Morning America"

As professional as 19-year-old Taylor Swift often acts, almost preternaturally so, there are also times when instead of her usual 19-going-on 40 she's 19-going-on-15 and it's adorable.

Watch here as she reacts to her four CMA Awards nominations as they are announced this morning on ABC's "Good Morning America."  She couldn't be that surprised by some of them, but her reaction to her Entertainer of the Year nomination is touching as she hugs her mom, who is lounging on a hotel bed with her, and calls her dad.

Entertainer of the year remains a boys club: only six female acts have won the trophy since Eddy Arnold snared the first one in 1967. The last to do so were the Dixie Chicks in 2000.  Should she win, she will be the youngest country artist  to do so.

Brad Paisley, who will repeat as co-host with Carrie Underwood, topped all nominees with six nods. The 43^rd annual CMA Awards will air Nov. 11 on ABC.

Watching the CMA Announcements! from Big Machine Records / The Valory on Vimeo.