Six Degrees Of Nick Lachey And Vanessa Minnillo

Once upon a time in 2002, there was a little show on MTV called "Newlyweds." Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson shared their lives as a newly married couple with the world, and we learned a great deal from them. If it weren't for this show, would we know for sure if it was chicken or tuna in our cans of Chicken of the Sea? No. Unfortunately, the pair did not last the test of time and eventually divorced in 2006.

After her split with Nick, Jessica began an on-again-off-again relationship with serial dater John Mayer. The two dated for about nine months, from the summer of 2006 to the spring of 2007.

Following his relationship with Jessica, John started dating Minka Kelly. The pair did not last long and split after only a few months.

Minka did not stay single. She started dating Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter in 2008, and now the two are engaged to be married! The nuptials are rumored to be sometime during the Yankees off-season this year.

Before he met Minka, though, Derek found comfort with Vanessa Minnillo. The pair dated for a couple of years during her reign as one of our "TRL" hosts.

After they split, Vanessa starred in Nick Lachey's music video for "What's Left of Me," which marked the beginning of their relationship. And now, closing the full six-degree relationship circle, Nick and Vanessa are engaged to be married.

Phew, what a journey. Congratulations, you two!

Check out our entire flipbook illustrating the couple's six degrees!

(source:mtv.com)

Grammys producer on Sunday's Michael Jackson tribute: 'He is looking down and saying...they are doing right'

During Sunday’s telecast of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, the show will feature the never-before-seen 3-D mini-movie for Earth Song that was created by Michael Jackson for his This Is It tour. Grammys executive producer Ken Ehrlich talked to EW.com about the decision to air the film, and how he tried to persuade Jackson to appear on the awards show last year.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell us about your decision to pay tribute to Michael Jackson.
KEN EHRLICH: Last year at this time, it was the 25th anniversary of Thriller and I was talking about having Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown – before the troubles – and Ne-Yo do a whole thing that ended with Michael. It would have started with two or three of them pretending to be Michael, and then Michael would be revealed. I pitched it to him, and I thought I had him. And he just said, “I’m not ready.. .I’ll be with you next year.” It wasn’t to be.

I came to Michael’s last rehearsal for the live show to meet about another project and coincidentally, he was watching the 3-D film for Earth Song. I could see what it meant to him. He told me it was as important or more important than anything else in the concert show because there was the message about preserving the earth. After we did his memorial service and started thinking about what to do for the Grammys, I did think about what (tributes) were done on other shows. Whenever I worked with Michael he’d say, “Kenny, let’s do something that no one has ever done before.” This is something that no one’s ever done before – certainly not on an awards show. I’m an old guy, kind of emotional. There is a part of me that thinks he is looking down at this and saying they are doing right by me.

Will there be song and dance with the footage?
The way it was going to go on the tour was that it would be shown, then a bulldozer would come out and Michael would perform the song with dancers. What I decided to do was have five people who Michael would have liked – Smokey Robinson, who was his Godfather, Usher, who was his disciple, along with Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson perform. I didn’t want to do a Natalie and Nat King Cole kind of thing, but you’ll hear Michael singing part of a verse, and then one of these artists singing another part of the verse. I think it has the potential to be one of those things that people will remember for a long time. There are four or five of these moments in the show that I don’t think I’m going to get through emotionally.

What are some others?
Last night about midnight I got a track that was done long distance by Andrea Bocelli in Italy and Mary J Blige. They put together “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Ron Fair, the head of Geffen Records, came to me and wanted to do something on the show for Haiti. I remembered that 40 years ago, “Bridge” won record and song of the year. I called Paul Simon and asked him if he would bless it. That’s how it started. People can download the song after the show and all the money will go to the Red Cross. Wyclef Jean is coming to introduce it.

With so many other music award shows out there, is it getting tougher to create water cooler moments on the Grammys?
Nope. We’re the at end of the road. The artists have already done the stuff they are going to do on the other shows so by the time they get to us, they are really looking for something. We are still the Grammys. They know we reach higher, we set the bar higher, and when they come to us, they want to do better. We’re not interested in doing the latest hit. We’re more interested in finding something that gives them a little more creativity.

Give us a little intel on the tribute to Bon Jovi.
The fans are voting for one of three songs on CBS.com (that Bon Jovi will perform; they are “Livin on a Prayer,” “It’s My Life,” and “Always”). He won’t know which song that won until 30 seconds before he finishes the second song and then boom, he’s on it. He’ll do “We Weren’t Born to Follow,” and then Jennifer Nettles will come on and join him, and then he’ll go into one of three songs.

How do you contain Lady Gaga on what’s supposed to be family-oriented telecast?
You work with her. We started in December. I have a tremendous amount of admiration for her. She’s really inventive. That’s the fun of it. There are people who come back year after year — the U2s and the Bruces — but the first-timers are not only a challenge but as much fun as anyone else.

Any procedural changes to the ceremony this year?
This year we’re gonna do the comedy album award. We haven’t done that in a long time. [This year's nominees are Back From The Dead, Spinal Tap; A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All, Stephen Colbert; Internet Leaks, "Weird Al" Yankovic; My Weakness Is Strong, Patton Oswalt; Suckin’ It For The Holidays, Kathy Griffin; and Tall, Dark & Chicano, George Lopez.]

Source:hollywoodinsider.ew.com/

Rihanna Plots Grammys Return 1 Year After Chris Brown Assault

Rihanna has a theory on why producers didn't ask her to perform hits from her comeback album "Rated R" at Sunday's Grammys.

"We messed their show up pretty bad last year," the R&B star told Carson Daly's Amp Radio show this week, referring to her assault by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, which caused both performers to pull out at the last minute.

"They might be a little mad at me," she added, BET reported.

In separate interview Thursday, Rihanna said she's still "excited" to return to the Grammys, where she's up for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with Jay-Z and Kanye West for “Run This Town.”

But don't count on any plus-ones -- Rihanna says she always travels solo to the pre-eminent music awards show.

"Even when I was in a relationship, I always have gone alone," the 21-year-old singer explained, Usmagazine.com reported.

Speaking of which, don’t let photos of her cavorting with Dodger’s baseball star Matt Kemp on a recent trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico fool you.

"I'm still single, if that's what you really want to ask!" Rihanna told the radio hosts.

In other Rihanna news, the singer released a statement late Thursday expressing her “heartbreak” over the passing of Jasmine Anema, a 6-year-old with leukemia whom she had grown close to.

"She was such a brave and special child,” Rihanna said her New York City pal in the statement to Us. “She showed me more strength and spirit than many adults I have met. I feel blessed that I was able to have her in my life, and know that through her example she has saved many lives. She was truly an angel on earth.”

Source:nbcchicago.com/

Rihanna Says She's 'Going To Grammys Alone'

While Rihanna has been hanging with Los Angeles Dodger Matt Kemp in recent weeks, she said she'll be going stag to the Grammys on Sunday.

"I'm going to the Grammys alone, as always!" she said Thursday on 104.3 MY FM's "Valentine in the Morning" show, according to UsMagazine.com. "Even when I was in a relationship, I always have gone alone."

However, "I'm still single, if that's what you really want to ask!" she added.

She was then asked about photographs that circulated online earlier this month of her and Kemp getting close in Mexico, and she only said, "It was a blast!"

Of course, she'll have plenty of company at the show: She's nominated for a Grammy, with Jay-Z and Kanye West, for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Run This Town."

"This was actually the first piece of music we did since the last Grammys," she said. "It's exciting that it's nominated." She was presumably referring to that particular tandem team, since she released her Rated R album late last year and also recorded "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)" with Jay and U2 members Bono and The Edge, which they performed on the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon and is also available on the album of the same name.

"We cannot wait," she added. We hope we bring home the bacon, but if not, it's great that it was nominated."

Rihanna's scheduled appearance at last year's Grammys was abruptly canceled after then-boyfriend Chris Brown assaulted her the night before the show. Brown later pleaded guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to five years of probation

Source:mtv.com/

Grammy Nod Adds Leverage to Melanie Fiona's Career

Melanie Fiona still cries when she thinks about her ex-boyfriend. He is the main reference in her R&B smash, the haunting ballad "It Kills Me."

Recording artist Melanie Fiona poses for a portrait Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010 in New York. (AP Photo/Jeff Christensen)
(AP)"I hope he's happy," Fiona said with a laugh in a recent interview.

"I was with somebody that wasn't necessarily right for me, and I really went back and forth between my heart and my head — should I stay? Should I leave?" she wondered. "And everybody relates to that."

Her ex may be the one crying now.

The tune, which has spent its fifth consecutive week on top of Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart, is up for best female R&B vocal performance at Sunday's Grammy Awards.

Though other nominees include Jazmine Sullivan, Ledisi and Lalah Hathaway — it's Beyonce's rousing anthem "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" that will be Fiona's top competitor. "Single Ladies" is also up for song of the year.

"I could say, 'You know what, yeah, she's going to win.' And also at the same time, I could be like, 'I had no idea I'd be Grammy-nominated,'" Fiona said.

"If I don't win the Grammy, that's OK 'cause the company I'm in feels like a Grammy (win) already. And that's Beyonce — like I have to pay a lot more dues before I get to Beyonce's status," she added.

Andrea Martin, a songwriter and producer who worked on Fiona's album, says the emotions in "It Kills Me" could be compared to that of the trying economy — and that's why the song resonates with listeners.

"With the recession and everything right now there's more pain than happiness right now and I feel like that's the reason why 'It Kills Me' is happening," Martin said, who's written hits for Toni Braxton, Monica and Leona Lewis.

"When you don't have money, you lose your job, you break up with people ... I feel like 'It Kills Me' explains it all," she added.

Fiona's debut CD, "The Bridge," was released in November, though its initial drop date was planned for the summer. The delays caused the album to miss the Grammy eligibility date ("It Kills Me" was released before the cut off). She possibly lost out on best new artist and album nominations. But Fiona says she plans to fuel her current buzz throughout 2010 — and gun for those trophies in 2011.

Source:abcnews.go.com/

Neil Young's peers happy the Canadian rocker finally getting due from Grammy

LOS ANGELES — When Grammy gives its person of the year award to Neil Young this weekend, a star-studded cast of performers will be on hand to serenade the Toronto-born rock legend.

Sheryl Crow, Elton John, James Taylor, k.d. lang and John Mellencamp are just a few of the names who will perform at Friday's MusiCares gala, and who will presumably have a chance to meet the elusive singer/songwriter.

Many Canadian artists who hold Young up as a Canuck icon still haven't had the pleasure.

"I've always wanted to meet him," Stompin' Tom Connors told The Canadian Press in a recent interview.

"He's got a great name for himself throughout the world and he's well thought of back here in Canada. I'm looking forward to meeting him someday.

"If you see him before I do, let him know that I'd be willing to meet him, sit down and have a few beers."

He's not the only one.

Vancouver singer-songwriter Dustin Bentall was thrilled when he nabbed a coveted spot in Sarah McLachlan's benefit concert, Summer Sessions at Ambleside, last summer.

Bentall was particularly tickled that he would be sharing a bill with Young, who was set to perform in the second-to-last slot of the evening.

"We went backstage and it was so heavy," Bentall recalled. "I was sitting there and all of a sudden I could hear a little faint noise of a Wurlitzer, an electric piano, not plugged in. I could hear those notes, and I looked over, and the door of (Young's) trailer was open and he was sitting there, playing his piano, warming up.

"It hit me like a tidal wave. I could not believe I was that close to him, you know? And he was so cool.

"Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend one-on-one time with him, because he's probably my biggest idol, my biggest inspiration as far as getting into music and writing. But I did get to make eye contact with him and come within 10 feet of his presence."

This has been a particularly fertile in time in Young's long career. Over the past year, the first volume of his oft-delayed archives collection hit stores, along with "Fork in the Road," an album of new material. Meanwhile, a new Jonathan Demme-directed concert flick, "Neil Young Trunk Show," debuted at the South by Southwest film festival last March.

That film also came to the Toronto International Film Festival in September, along with a touted public appearance from Young. It didn't happen, with Young ultimately telling reporters he never knew about the supposed gig.

He also didn't make it out for a June tribute concert in Toronto that featured Cowboy Junkies, Issa, Steven Page and Carole Pope.

Next month, Hal Willner will bring his Neil Young Project to Vancouver, as Lou Reed, members of Broken Social Scene and Ron Sexsmith celebrate Young's catalogue with a concert during the Olympics.

Count Sexsmith among the Young fans who has never had the pleasure of shaking his hand.

"I've met a lot of my heroes, but I haven't met Neil and I haven't met (Bob) Dylan," Sexsmith said in a phone interview.

"I don't really set out to meet people. ... But the year that I won my Juno in Winnipeg (in 2005), Neil was supposed to perform and I was really excited about possibly getting the chance to meet him but that was when he got sick, you know, and had the close call. If it happens, it happens."

Still, he says he loves Young's work.

"When I started out playing bars, I had to learn an awful lot of Neil Young songs, because that's pretty much all anyone wanted to hear," he recalled.

"I'm sure if you went to any bar in Ontario or across Canada, you'd still hear it. ... He has this strange place, anyone can pick up an acoustic guitar and play one of those songs. As a songwriter, that's something you kind of aspire to."

Randy Bachman, who grew with Young in Winnipeg, echoed that sentiment.

"You could go to any street corner in the world, and I mean in the world, and play a cassette or CD or whatever of Neil Young and (people) will say '(That's) Neil Young," he said.

"He has a voice like no one else, he plays guitar like no one else and he writes these songs that are so honest and ... first takes, if you know what I mean. He doesn't really polish up anything. It's whatever comes out."

Young's peers are pleased that he's being honoured by Grammy - especially considering he's never actually won one of the trophies (he's nominated for two going into Sunday's show).

Norah Jones will perform at the MusiCares function for Young. A fan since she was in college ("I bought 'After the Gold Rush' and I just fell in love with him," she recalls), Jones says she's met Young after performing at his Bridge School Benefit.

"He's just so open and giving and just such an amazing musical force," Jones said. "He's really sweet."

Added Jeff Tweedy, whose Chicago band Wilco will perform at the MusiCares event: "He's right up there in terms of a constant in my musical life as an influence and as a mentor. He's kind of just a force of nature. And I take him for granted sometimes like I take the sun for granted ... I'm really happy the sun comes up every day and I'm happy Neil Young keeps making records."

"He's always been a really gracious guy, a really down-to-earth guy," added Tom Cochrane.

"That's what impressed me the most about him, outside of obviously his prodigious songwriting talents and the fact that he's a lot like John Lennon. He's like our Canadian John Lennon. He always wrote songs from his heart and never pulled his punches. He's been a great role model for me and countless numbers of other artists and I'm very proud to say that he's a Canadian singer/songwriter.

"Good for Neil. He's a big influence."

Source:AFP