COUNTRY MUSIC SUPERSTARS MIRANDA LAMBERT AND CARRIE UNDERWOOD DEBUT NEW DUET LIVE AT THE 2014 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS

Airing Live Sunday, May 18, 2014 From The MGM Grand Garden Arena on ABC at 8pm ET

Country music superstars Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood will perform together live at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards to debut their new duet. The two singers join an already star-studded lineup of previously announced musical performers that includes 5 Seconds of Summer, Florida Georgia Line, Imagine Dragons, Jason Derulo, Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Luke Bryan, OneRepublic and Pitbull. The 2014 Billboard Music Awards will broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on SUNDAY, MAY 18 on ABC at 8pm ET.

The two leading ladies of country will perform "Somethin' Bad," which appears on Ms. Lambert's upcoming album Platinum, available June 3rd. "I'm a huge Carrie Underwood fan," said Lambert. "'Somethin' Bad" is a meshing of our styles and there aren't many female collaborations in our format so I'm really excited to be debuting it on the Billboard Awards."

Lambert, the reigning CMA and ACM Female Vocalist of the Year, will be joined on stage by her friend and six-time Grammy winner, Carrie Underwood, a finalist for the 2014 Milestone Award presented by Chevrolet, given to an innovative artist who has achieved a notable chart milestone over the past year. Fans can vote for their favorite Milestone artist online at Billboard.com/milestone and can enter a contest for a chance to win an opportunity to present the award live at this year's event alongside global music superstar artist Kelly Rowland.

Fan voting for the 2014 Milestone Award presented by Chevrolet will continue through the first two hours of the awards show, ending at 10pm ET. To vote for finalists Ellie Goulding, OneRepublic or Carrie Underwood go to billboard.com/milestone.

The 2014 Billboard Music Award festivities start with the "Samsung Red Carpet LIVE! @ The 2014 Billboard Music Awards," which will live stream on Yahoo at 6:00 p.m., ET / 3:00 p.m., PT. The two hour pre-show, hosted by Lance Bass, Jordin Sparks, Ted Stryker and more, can also be viewed at BillboardMusicAwards.com, Billboard.com, and additional online destinations by embedding the Yahoo Screen media player (available upon request). Fans can check out the full experience at https://music.yahoo.com/programs/billboard-music-awards/.

The 2014 Billboard Music Awards is produced by dick clark productions. Allen Shapiro and Mike Mahan are Executive Producers. Larry Klein, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are Producers. For additional information on the "2014 Billboard Music Awards" visit us at www.billboardmusicawards.com or the Billboard hub at www.billboard.com/bbma.

For additional news and exclusive content, follow @OfficialBBMAs #BBMAs on Twitter, like us on Facebook and join the conversation on Instagram and YouTube.

2014 Billboard Music Awards sponsors and partners include Chevrolet, CITI ThankYou, Cumulus, Guggenheim Partners, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Live Nation, Music Choice, Samsung Galaxy and Yahoo.

ABOUT MIRANDA LAMBERT

Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert is the reigning four-time CMA and reigning five-time ACM Female Vocalist of the Year (the first time anyone has won 5 consecutive years). Her last album, Four The Record, made history when it debuted atop Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, making Miranda the first country artist in the 47-year history of the chart to have each of her first four albums debut at # 1. All four of those albums have also been certified Platinum, which is the name of her fifth studio album, due out June 3rd.

The first single off of Platinum, "Automatic," is Miranda's highest charting first week single to date. Written by Miranda, Nicolle Galyon and Natalie Hemby, the autobiographical song reflects on the days of pay phones, learning to drive a stick shift, driving to Dallas to buy an Easter dress, recording the country countdown on her cassette recorder and more.

In addition to her award winning music, Miranda has designed a shoe line that is available at DSW and other retailers across the country. She also dedicates much of her time to her MuttNation Foundation. The foundation has raised more than $1.5 million to aid organizations and governmental institutions or entities whose purpose is to build animal shelters for better care, increase pet adoption and encourage responsible pet guardianship, rehabilitate sick or unsocialized animals, fund spay/neuter programs, reduce/eliminate euthanasia of healthy animals. She also owns two life style boutiques, general stores she named, The Pink Pistol. The stores are located in her hometown of Lindale, TX and Tishomingo, OK.

ABOUT CARRIE UNDERWOOD

Carrie Underwood has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide and placed 18 singles at #1, with nine of those as co-writes, all within four albums since winning American Idol in 2005. She has won a vast array of awards including six GRAMMYs(R) and three female vocalist awards from both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM). In 2010, when Carrie garnered her second win as ACM Entertainer of the Year, she became the first female artist to win the award twice. Carrie has won a total of 11 ACM Awards, 5 CMA Awards, 7 American Music Awards, 6 People's Choice Awards, 9 CMT Music Awards, 12 American Country Awards, 9 BMI Songwriter Awards, and is a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry. In the spring of 2013, Carrie wrapped her highly successful headline arena tour, "The Blown Away Tour," where she performed a total of 112 dates in 110 cities, in 6 countries across 3 continents, playing for more than 1 million fans and selling out every concert in 2013. This past December, Carrie starred as Maria Von Trapp in NBC's three-hour live broadcast of The Sound of Music, based on the original musical, delivering a ratings bonanza as the show ranked #1 across all half hours of the broadcast. More than 44 million viewers saw some or all of the groundbreaking December 5 event and Dec 14 re-airing. Carrie is also the voice of primetime television's #1 program, Sunday Night Football on NBC, singing the opening theme song, "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night." She was recently named one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

ABOUT BILLBOARD

Billboard is the world's most influential music brand, built on the most complete and well respected database of charts across all music genres. The Billboard charts define success in music. From the iconic Billboard magazine to Billboard.com which is the ultimate consumer-facing destination for millions of passionate music fans, to the industry's most elite conference series and influencer events including the Power 100 and Women in Music - the Billboard brand has unmatched authority among fans, artists and the industry alike.

ABOUT "2014 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS"

The "2014 Billboard Music Awards" are set to return to ABC and will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 18 at 8:00pm ET/PT. The show will showcase this year's hottest and biggest music stars. Billboard Music Awards finalists are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, VEVO, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements are tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the reporting period of March 11, 2013 through March 9, 2014. The "2014 Billboard Music Awards" is produced by dick clark productions. Allen Shapiro and Michael Mahan are Executive Producers. Larry Klein, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are Producers.

ABOUT dick clark productions

dick clark productions (dcp) is the world's largest producer and proprietor of televised events. dcp produces perennial hits such as the "American Music Awards," "Golden Globe Awards," "Academy of Country Music Awards," "Hollywood Film Awards," "Billboard Music Awards," and "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest." dcp also produces popular weekly television programming, including "So You Think You Can Dance," and owns one of the world's most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with more than 55 years of dcp's award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. In 2014, dcp will debut "The PEOPLE MAGAZINE Awards" on NBC and joint venture Keshet DCP will premiere the weekly television series "Rising Star" on ABC. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

Music reconnects people with Alzheimer's, dementia Experts: music only stimulus known to activate the entire brain

His name is David O'Dea. His daughter, Colleen Potter, paid him a visit on an April day, but he can't always remember her.

"The relationship has changed because now I'm acting as the parent and he's more like my charge. But he spent many years taking care of me and I'll spend however many years I need taking care of him," said Potter as she sat on a hospital bed next to her father who was sitting in a recliner.

O'Dea has Alzheimer's disease. This means there are days he has trouble waking up or is very quiet and reserved. This was not one of those days.

Potter said she appreciates the times she can see her dad's personality again.

A former radioman who served in World War II, O'Dea also played the organ, the recorder and sang in the church choir with his wife Dorothy.

His daughter said with him music was the last thing to go, but at 94 years old the music is coming back.

O'Dea is 1 of 15 residents at St. Mary's Care Center with an iPod and a personalized playlist of music. The iPod came from the Wisconsin Music and Memory Program, part of a national effort in which nursing home staff are trained to personalize playlists for people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or other related dementia.

It is not music therapy because it does not treat the disease. Instead, the program takes advantage of the benefits of music,

As a certified nursing assistant helped O'Dea turn on his iPod, the faint sound of Frank Sinatra filled the room. O'Dea began humming along, seemingly happy.

This was the first time Potter saw and heard his reaction to the iPod. 

"I was amazed because in the past he hasn't had much of a reaction to music. He wasn't singing. He had completely forgotten music although it was the last thing he forgot. Now all of sudden he's remembering again and that's giving him happiness," said Potter.

The reason why patients react the way they do to the music can be found at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Professor Dale B. Taylor, who's on the Board of Aging and Long Term Care and the Wisconsin Music and Memory Advisory Group, has helped lead research into music and neuroscience for more than two decades.

"It's not magic, it's very scientific," said Taylor when asked why people with dementia react to familiar music.

He went on to say music is the only stimulus known to activate the entire human brain.

"It can access connections that have been made that haven't be used for a while, and if a part is damaged the brain has the ability to reroute through making new connections on damaged parts of the brain itself," explained Taylor.

The video of a functional MRI he shared shows in real time one person's brain as they hear music.

"When that's happening those neural connections, which we call neuroplasticity or brain plasticity, that's just the process of making those connections and that happens throughout life. Even in for a person with dementia in the undamaged parts of the brain it's still capable of making new connections," said Taylor.

Taylor said his work began because of his frustrations studying music therapy and belief there was another reason behind its inner workings. On a more personal level, Taylor was put in a coma and suffered severe brain damage from a car accident in college.

"But I made a full recovery and I wanted to know why. Now I understand part of it was because I was a music major," explained Taylor.

Currently, Alzheimer's disease has no cure.

Potter will continue to visit her father and remind him of who she is. But she said that is okay, and the music helps.

"Really it doesn't matter if he remembers or doesn't remember as long as he's happy," said Potter.

The Wisconsin Music and Memory Program was first announced in late January. Nursing home staff had to go through training before working with residents to create playlists.

Backstage At Radio Disney Music Awards 2014

Those darned Disney stars keep getting younger and younger, which is why I needed help reporting this weekend’s Radio Disney Music Awards at NokiaTheatre downtown Los Angeles. In addition to big names like Austin Mahone, Ariana Grande, Kelly Osborne, Jason Ritter and Cody Simpson, a few up-and-comers needed a little introduction. My 10-year-old son, Sebastian, came in handy there, joining me for the first time on a red carpet, and later at the awards show itself. Here’s how things went down at what’s billed as “the biggest night in music for kids and families.”

Think of the RDMAs as Grammys with mouse ears. Disney’s music acts compete in 11 categories. To see the full list of winners of the Radio Disney Music Awards 2014, look here.

Red-carpet arrivals came fast and with the magic expected of Disney. A solemn parade of Star Wars Storm Troopers led the way — all carrying the gold “Ardy” awards featuring a mouse atop a DJ’s turntable — followed by stars of Disney Channel shows and music. Sebastian pointed out some of his favorite people: Calum Worthy from Austin & Ally and Coppertop Flop; Dov Cameron from Liv & Maddie (who plays both Liv & Maddie, much to my surprise); Francesca Capaldi from Dog With A Blog, who plays neither the dog nor has a blog, but is two years younger than Sebastian. Jason Ritter voices nerdy Dipper on Gravity Falls (“He can’t get the girls,” Sebastian told me) and is also on Parenthood.

Ultra Festival Guard in Extremely Critical Condition After Gate Crash : 22 people arrested at Miami music festival

A security guard for Ultra Music Festival was hospitalized with severe brain hemorrhaging after being trampled by fans crashing the fences around the Miami event on Friday night. The Miami Herald reports that the 28-year-old private guard is in "extremely critical" condition.

"A mob of people came and started rushing the gate and started pushing it," Miami Police Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll told the Miami New Times. "She was doing what she was supposed to do, telling them to stop, when they pushed it down and it fell on top of her. . . They just trampled her." 

The 50 Most Important People in EDM

Carroll noted that the fans did not have tickets to the event and were trying to get in without paying. "There must have been a whole lot of people. We found her on the ground, screaming in pain."

Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado condemned the festival's promoters, saying they "acted irresponsibly" in their failure to secure the perimeter of the fence that marked off the event. Two hours before the gates opened to the public on Friday afternoon, police had noted that additional fencing was needed in the spot where the guard ended up trampled, but none was added.

"I think we should not have Ultra next year here," Regalado said. "This incident should never have happened."

The Miami police homicide unit is seeking witnesses to the incident. Police also reported that 22 people were arrested on Friday night, 15 of them on felony charges, six on misdemeanors and one for a traffic violation. 

At a 2012 EDM Halloween show in Madrid, three girls were killed and two left in critical condition when they were crushed by the crowd. Concerns over unruly gate-crashing crowds also became an issue at SXSW earlier in March when Tyler, the Creator was arrested for allegedly exhorting fans to push through the gates at one of his performances. 

Ultra Music Festival's organizers are expecting more than 165,000 people at the event, which featured Friday sets by Kaskade, Eric Prydz, Waka Flocka Flame and Tiësto, among others.

Jennifer Lopez’s Music Video for “I Luh Ya PaPi” Objectifies Men — And Maybe Women, Too

Yesterday, when Jennifer Lopez premiered the video for her new single “I Luh Ya PaPi,” she introduced more than a clip of singing and dancing. In an intro scene, the video concept is up for debate; Lopez vetoes proposals to film at a carnival or a zoo, especially after it’s noted that if she were a guy, the conversation would be about yachts and half-naked girls. “Why do men always objectify the women in every single video?” asks one of her friends. “Why can’t we for once objectify the men?”

Then, things get weird.

What follows seems at first to be a fantasy of the video the women propose: a run-down of music-video tropes — and past J. Lo incarnations — with the genders reversed, all set to the super-catchy track. She walks through a mansion morning-after scene strewn with underwear-clad men, is waited on by speedo-wearing pool boys, watches shirtless dudes wash her car and dances on a yacht full of sunbathing hunks. The camera lingers on their abs, and one car-washing guy even (hilariously) scrubs his crotch with a soapy sponge. That’s pretty much what music videos full of half-naked girls look like, and it deftly underlines the point about ladies wanting to have fun (of the looking at sexy people variety) too.

But pause the video around 3:55.

What’s weird is that during the verse contributed by rapper French Montana, all the tropes Lopez set out to mock come right back. The part where he stands there (fully dressed, unlike the speedo dudes) while Lopez struts around him in short shorts is one thing; it’s her video, she’s choosing what to wear, she’s supporting the featured artist on her track, and presumably she wants to look sexy — so that’s how she does it. It’s a little bit of a strange choice considering the video’s theme, but, sure. The thing that really stands out is that there are also two backup dancers who act as decorative objects for his appearance. They don’t play characters, they don’t really show off any particular dance skills, you can barely see their faces — it’s pretty much a textbook case of the “video vixen” objectification that’s derided in the video’s intro.

This isn’t the first time in recent memory that an artist has tried to satirize the video status quo and not gone all the way. In November,Lily Allen’s “Hard Out Here” video went in a parallel direction and was roundly criticized for — in her detractors’ view — making a point about objectifying women by inadvertently objectifying people of color. Lopez’s video is more fun and less biting, but they’re pretty similar situations: in both cases, good intentions were obvious, but the artist didn’t go quite far enough.

In Lopez’s case at least, a video that doesn’t have any women objectified would be the result of seeing her idea through — but she could even go a step beyond that. If she and her girlfriends are upset enough about women being objectified in music videos to make a whole video skewering that tradition, why respond by objectifying other people? Yes, objectifying men does make a satirical point — and that car wash scene is pretty funny, because car wash scenes arealways funny — but not objectifying anyone would be a more sophisticated solution to the problem they identify. Still, Lopez is a pro at music videos, so perhaps she’s identified something about the state of that industry that explains why she didn’t take it to that logical conclusion. For now, if “I Luh Ya PaPi” is any indication, even the almost-equality she references is destined to remain a fantasy.

Oscar 2014 Winner!!!

The Oscar 2014

Everybody is now talking about The Oscar 2014 and same goes to me who had following such event every year. I supposed, Captain Phillips will be my all times choice and surprisingly Tom Hanks (Yes, hes is my favorite actor) not even nominated for the Best Actor. Thus, below are the details of the winners of The Oscar 2014. I just re-write from the Entertainment Weekly for over all. Check it out guys!!!

12 Years a Slave won the big prize of the night, but Gravity took home the most awards overall with seven.

Meanwhile, Gravity earned honors for Alfonso Cuaron (Best Director), Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects.Slave, the historical drama based on the true story of Solomon Northup, took home Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (for Lupita Nyong’o), and Best Adapted Screenplay (for John Ridley).

Including Nyong’o, the acting awards went as predicted, with Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), and Jared Leo (Dallas Buyers Club) won for Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

Complete winners list below:

Best Picture
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave – WINNER
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actor
Christian Bale, American Hustle
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club — WINNER

Best Actress
Amy Adams, American Hustle
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine – WINNER
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club – WINNER

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave – WINNER
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska

Best Director
David O. Russell, American Hustle
Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity – WINNER
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay
Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, American Hustle
Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine
Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, Dallas Buyers Club
Spike Jonze, Her – WINNER
Bob Nelson, Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight
Billy Ray, Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, Philomena
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave – WINNER
Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Animated Feature
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen – WINNER
The Wind Rises

Best Original Song
“Happy,” Despicable Me 2; music and lyrics by Pharrell Williams
“Let It Go,” Frozen; music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez — WINNER
“The Moon Song,” Her; music by Karen O., lyrics by Karen O. and Spike Jonze
“Ordinary Love,” Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; music by Paul Hewson, Dan Evans, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen, a.k.a. U2; lyrics by Paul Hewson, a.k.a. Bono

Best Original Score
John Williams, The Book Thief
Steven Price, Gravity – WINNER
William Butler and Owen Pallett, Her
Alexandre Desplat, Philomena
Thomas Newman, Saving Mr. Banks

Best Production Design
Judy Becker (Production Design); Heather Loeffler (Set Decoration), American Hustle
Andy Nicholson (Production Design); Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard (Set Decoration), Gravity
Catherine Martin (Production Design); Beverley Dunn (Set Decoration), The Great Gatsby – WINNER
K.K. Barrett (Production Design); Gene Serdena (Set Decoration), Her
Adam Stockhausen (Production Design); Alice Baker (Set Decoration), 12 Years a Slave

Best Film Editing
Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten, American Hustle
Christopher Rouse, Captain Phillips
John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa, Dallas Buyers Club
Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger, Gravity – WINNER
Joe Walker, 12 Years a Slave

Best Cinematography
Philippe Le Sourd, The Grandmaster
Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity – WINNER
Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Phedon Papamichael, Nebraska
Roger A. Deakins, Prisoners

Best Sound Editing
Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns, All Is Lost
Oliver Tarney, Captain Phillips
Glenn Freemantle, Gravity – WINNER
Brent Burge, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Wylie Stateman, Lone Survivor

Best Sound Mixing
Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro, Captain Phillips
Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro, Gravity – WINNER
Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland, Inside Llewyn Davis
Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow, Lone Survivor

Best Foreign Language Film
The Broken Circle Breakdown, Belgium
The Great Beauty, Italy — WINNER
The Hunt, Denmark
The Missing Picture, Cambodia
Omar, Palestine

Best Documentary — Feature
The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom – WINNER

Best Documentary — Short
CaveDigger
Facing Fear
Karama Has No Walls
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life – WINNER
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall

Best Live Action Short
Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)
Helium – WINNER
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)
The Voorman Problem

Best Visual Effects
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould, Gravity – WINNER
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick, Iron Man 3
Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier, The Lone Ranger
Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton, Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Animated Short
Feral
Get a Horse!
Mr. Hublot – WINNER
Possessions
Room on the Broom

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews, Dallas Buyers Club – WINNER
Stephen Prouty, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny, The Lone Ranger

Best Costume Design
Michael Wilkinson, American Hustle
William Chang Suk Ping, The Grandmaster
Catherine Martin, The Great Gatsby – WINNER
Michael O’Connor, The Invisible Woman
Patricia Norris, 12 Years a Slave

This coverage I credited to ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY (click here to the page)