Over the weekend Kanye tweeted “How deep is the scar… I bled hard.. cancelled tour with the number one pop star in the world … closed the doors of my clothing office.  Had to let employees go… for the first time I felt the impact of my brash actions … I felt the recession from an ownership side.”

Both superstars are set to be at the MTV VMA’s this weekend, and Kanye said he hopes to give Taylor a song he wrote for her during them.  ”I wrote a song for Taylor Swift that’s so beautiful and I want her to have it. If she won’t take it then I’ll perform it for her.”

TMZ broke the story reporting that L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies pulled over the multi-platinum selling rapper and his wife in a Maybach on Sunset Boulevard around 10:18PM. When searching the vehicle, cops found a controlled substance. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that the controlled substance was not cocaine, but rather the class of controlled substance that triggered the arrest included methamphetamines and ecstasy.

This new arrest comes at a bad time for the rapper. He’s currently on probation after serving nine months in prison on federal weapons charges. Ironically, he recently told CNN’s Larry King that he was ready to break free of his troubled past. “Well, I’m just ready to put the bad things behind me and look forward to the future and, you know, just move forward and evolve — continue to evolve.”

Both T.I. and Tameka “Tiny” Cottle posted bail early this morning.

Entertainer of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Miranda Lambert
Brad Paisley
Keith Urban
Zac Brown Band

Female Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Reba McEntire
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Male Vocalist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
George Strait
Keith Urban

Album of the Year
“Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum
“Play On” by Carrie Underwood
“Revolution” by Miranda Lambert
“Twang” by George Strait
“Up On the Ridge” by Dierks Bentley

Single of the Year
“A Little More Country Than That” performed by Easton Corbin
“Hillbilly Bone” performed by Blake Shelton
“Need You Now” performed by Lady Antebellum
“The House That Built Me” performed by Miranda Lambert
“White Liar” performed by Miranda Lambert

Musical Event of the Year
“Bad Angel” Dierks Bentley featuring Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson
“Can’t You See” Zac Brown Band featuring Kid Rock
“Hillbilly Bone” Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins
“I’m Alive” Kenny Chesney with Dave Matthews
“Till The End” Alan Jackson with Lee Ann Womack

New Artist of the Year
Luke Bryan
Easton Corbin
Jerrod Niemann
Chris Young
Zac Brown Band

Vocal Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts
The Band Perry and Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Joey + Rory
Montgomery Gentry
Steel Magnolia
Sugarland

Song of the Year
“A Little More Country Than That” by Rory Lee Feek, Don Poythress and Wynn Varble
“Need You Now” by Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Josh Kear
“The House That Built Me” by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin
“Toes” Zac Brown, Wyatt Durrette, John Driskell Hopkinsand Shawn Mullins
“White Liar” by Miranda Lambert and Natalie Hemby.

Music Video of the Year
“Hillbilly Bone” Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins directed by Roman White
“Need You Now” Lady Antebellum directed by David McClister
“The House That Built Me” Miranda Lambert directed by Trey Fanjoy
“Water” Brad Paisley directed by Jim Shea
“White Liar” Miranda Lambert directed by Chris Hickey

Musician of the Year
Paul Frankin
Dann Huff
Brent Mason
Mac McAnally
Randy Scruggs

I have a serious soft spot for a great acoustic song. Making a song acoustic can make or break it. It can bring out the true emotion or lack thereof. On Purely Acoustic, you will be surprised to hear so many bands of varying styles and ages playing music acoustically.

Overall, Purely Acoustic is one of the best mixed albums I’ve heard. A lot of these songs are already available in other places, but if you don’t have them it’s a great way to get to know some of these artists. While I may not particularly like all of the songs, it is only by matter of taste. I don’t like Jason Derulo, Norah Jones or Jordin Sparks on a good day, so I probably am not going to like them here. As a whole though every song on this disc lives up to pretty high standards.

Marianas Trench, Stereos, and Lady Gaga all do excellent renditions of their hit singles. John Mayer does a great live cover of “Free Fallin’.” Nikki Yanofsky pulls off her own cover of “The Heart Of The Matter.”

There are some unexpected songs that you wouldn’t think would work well acoustically. Rihanna’s “Umbrella” actually works.

This is the type of disc that your whole family will enjoy. Kids will love the fact that it’s their favourite artists and parent will appreciate the low key versions of these songs. Even if you don’t care for all of them, it’s a good compilation.

With the ease of Justin Timberlake, Mike Posner has burst into the music scene as the next big thing. On his debut album, 31 Minutes To Takeoff, Mike Posner will make you laugh, smile and probably fall in love with him.

Mike Posner’s photos make him look tough, but 31 Minutes To Takeoff is a disc full of smooth, soft sung ballads and pop tracks. Like I said before, his delivery is very reminiscent to the likes of Justin Timberlake. While Mike Posner’s voice is smooth, he has an edgy side to his music. He tells it like it is even if it’s that he should have cheated on his girlfriend and isn’t such a nice guy after all.

Overall 31 Minutes To Takeoff is a fun ride. He takes the middle of the road never getting too poppy or too slow. Somehow he manages to make the safe route interesting. I imagine on his next cd we will see some interesting things. He has the potential to be more creative in his delivery in the future.

My only fear for Mike Posner is that with a single as catchy as “Cooler Than Me,” he has the potential to be a one hit wonder. I really don’t want Mike Posner to be ‘the guy who sang that song,’ but without the right support it’s bound to happen.

Here is the music video for “Cooler Than Me”:

There’s a good chance that unless you were in on the Myspace phenomenon you have never heard of Secondhand Serenade. Led by singer John Vesely, Secondhand Serenade was one of the first artists that really became huge because of the social networking site. After getting millions of fans and selling his album independently online, Secondhand Serenade was signed to a record label. It goes to show the power of the fans that Hear Me Now is the third Secondhand Serenade cd.

The music is acoustic/piano driven pop music. Many people will brush them off immediately as music for kids, but after a few albums and years, their music has developed into something more. This is a band that knows how to write a good song, it doesn’t matter that they got popular on Myspace. Their songs are timeless and ageless. In the end songwriting is the key to music and Secondhand Serenade have it.

The soft, romantic music is definitely for the ladies. Secondhand Serenade is going to make hearts melt with their ballads. These are the kind of songs young girls dream of having someone writing about them in high school. When you get a little older you can see the cheesy factor, but it still touches the youthful part inside of you that wants to believe in true love.

Much of the music on Hear Me Now is repetitive. It’s the same idea over and over. That said there are gems on this album. The final track, “Hear Me Now,” is stunning! I listened to the song over and over again to feel the emotion and hear every word. I wish every song on the album was of that caliber and every band had a song that good.

Here is the video for the first single “Something More” by Secondhand Serenade:

Drake and Florence + The Machine have also been announced as performers.

Nicki Minaj, Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Trey Songz, Selena Gomez and Ne-Yo are the first presenters MTV has confirmed for the show.

Lady Gaga broke the record with 13 nominations which includes 2 nominations for Video of the Year. For a complete list of nominations check out MTV’s official 2010 VMA website.

This morning Alanis Tweeted “Yes, happy news … I’m pregnant.  :) We’re so excited to start our family… xo a”

It was only in May of this year that the 36 year old Morissette married Mario ‘Souleye’ Treadway, and now the pair are expecting their first child.  Congratulations to both of them.  It is unknown at this time when the due date is.

Alanis last released the song “I Remain,” back in May for the “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” soundtrack.

Barrino has been the subject of much internet discussion over the past 24 hours. Yesterday, news broke that Paula Cook, a North Carolina woman, filed court papers last week alleging that her husband and Barrino were having an affair and had made a sex tape.

In a statement released yesterday, Barrino’s lawyer didn’t deny an affair took place, but did state that “Fantasia is certain that she is not responsible for the deterioration of their marriage. Fantasia will weather this storm with the dignity and grace that she has exemplified throughout a life in which she has repeatedly overcome obstacles and challenges.”

In just five songs, Lights has made me understand her music more. On this acoustic cd she shows off her raw talent. This pint sized Canadian singer has some power behind her voice. Her music actually translates to the acoustic guitar well. Her cover of punk rock song “Fall Back Down” by Rancid is surprisingly good for a singer whose music is so different.

If you are a Lights fan than this cd will be a real treat for you to experience a new side to her music.

Here’s a video of Lights performing her hit song “Saviour” acoustic:

To start off the music for the night opener Ry Cuming serenaded us with ballad driven pop music. Ry Cuming may have a nice voice, but he is too sleepy for 8 pm. It’s the type of music that would be nice for a relaxing Sunday morning. At a concert though, it was hard not to drift off while listening.

Unfortunately the popular Owl City had to cancel his performance due to kidney stones. So instead we got to get straight to the good stuff that is Maroon 5.

After what felt like forever, Maroon 5 finally hit the stage bursting with energy. Starting with their new single “Misery” from their upcoming album, Maroon 5 weren’t going let a little heat wave get in the way of them rocking out.

And rock they did! Maroon 5 have had a lot of downtime since their last record; they seem to have spent that time perfecting their music craft until they could really rock a stage. Long guitar and drum solos in their poppy music were a delightful surprise. At points you could almost call them a jam band for how long they drew out the songs like the big finale of “This Love.” The band played music off of all of their albums, including three new songs, so the set pleased everyone from long time fans to those who just wanted to hear the singles.

Since we have all heard their singles a thousand times, it was nice of them to change it up for us and themselves. Songs like “Harder To Breath” and “Wake Up Call” were still recognizable, but Maroon 5 brought a different beat to the music.

The highlight for probably everyone was when they slowed things down for an amazing cover of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” and then their own huge hit “She Will Be Loved.” Finishing off the night with an encore of “Makes Me Wonder” and “Sunday Morning,” Maroon 5 had the whole amphitheatre singing and dancing.

Whether you go for the music, the dancing or to see singer Adam Levine take off his shirt, Maroon 5 are pretty much a guaranteed good time. Many people dismiss them as a pop band, but they have been playing music for years. You can see the dedication and hard work in their stage show.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here is the new Maroon 5 video for their latest single Misery.

[photo via Tango Mango 68]

“Do you remember we were sitting there by the water?/ You put your arm around me for the first time/ You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter/ You are the best thing that’s ever been mine,” are a few lines of the chorus.

Swift’s third album Speak Now is set for an October 25th release date, but the first single was scheduled to come out in the middle of August.  Sometimes things can change in an instant however and Big Machine Records obviously was prepared.

You can listen to Mine here.

Look out parents, all star weekend are coming to transform your daughters into pack of rampant screaming girls.

In the same tune as so many other bands Allstar Weekend are a poppy boy band aimed right at preteen girls with their fun weekend songs and ballads. In their first EP, Suddenly, the music is instantly catchy and fun. Girls are going to instantly love Allstar Weekend for their sound.

As far as these typical young pop bands go, Allstar Weekend are actually fairly talented. They have elements of a lot of the poppy bands I listened to when I was younger that eventually opened me to my adult faves. This is a good music starting point for kids.

I just wish Allstar Weekend would stop trying so hard. They name drop bands that are way too old for them and try to put on a big face. It gets painfully cheesy at times. I know that is a part of being young, but I want kids to be themselves.

I expect young girls will soon be singing “Hey Princess” out loud and fighting over the cute lead singer. You might as well be prepared.

Here is the music video for “Different Side of Me” by Allstar Weekend:

The art features Perry lying naked in a cloud of cotton candy, and was painted by LA-based artist Will Cotton.  The reveal online was the first time Perry had seen the piece of art herself, and her reaction was  ”Oh my God, what will my mother think?”

Katy added during the event that “I have decided for this to be just the album cover — no print, no nothing, no ‘Katy Perry’.  Hopefully they know it’s me by the actual picture.”  She also informed us that the album insert will smell like cotton candy.

Katy also announced that her next single will be Teenage Dream and it is expected to hit the airwaves on July 26th.  The other remaining songs on the 12-track disc will be announced on Friday, but they include Firework and Peacock.

Matt Morris (much like Justin Timberlake) is a Mickey Mouse Club alum, who went on to become a songwriter behind the scenes. When Everything Breaks Open is his time to take the spotlight himself.

Matt Morris does have an amazing voice. He has a range unlike most singers. There is so many parts of his voice that he is using that it actually hurts his cd. It’s like Matt Morris doesn’t want to just show you one side of him, so he shows you everything piece by piece. The cd ends up sounding disjointed even if you do think he’s talented.

There is a poppy side of Matt’s music, which is his strongest musically. These songs are catchy while still showing off his talent. His pop almost has a jazz feel to it. Then there is the more serious side to his music. At times Matt’s vocals are reminiscent of great singers like Rufus Wainwright. He has a soulful and almost spiritual side to his music.

Matt Morris could develop into one of this generation’s great songwriters. He has the skill as a writer and as a singer, but right now there is just too much going. When he pinpoints who he wants to be it should be interesting.

Watch Matt Morris’ music video for “Live Forever.”