The 54th Grammys are on tomorrow night and is hosted by none-other than hip-hop legend LL Cool J – and if you can’t be there, might as well stalk those who are via Twitter.

We pulled together a little list of musicians, music critics, comedians and other accounts that are essential to give an inside look at music’s biggest night. Check them out below:

THE MUSICIANS:
@AdamLevine: Maroon 5′s frontman and The Voice judge is performing with the freakin’ Beach Boys and Foster The People.
@BlobTower: Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon – a Twitterholic and up for two major awards.
@BrunoMars: He’d catch a grenade for you and he snagged a few nods.
@CoryMonteith: That Canadian dude from Glee tweets as much as sings.
@Deadmau5: Toronto’s DJ with a nod and a performance this weekend.
@Drake: Stay tuned for lonely thoughts at the after parties.
@JustinBieber: An up-and-coming tween sensation that has some potential.
@KanyeWest: He’s up for seven awards and he likes to talk. A lot.
@KatyPerry: She’s performing, up for a few awards – and she’s Katy Perry.
@LadyGaga: Mother Monster is performing, up for a few awards.
@LLCoolJ: Host for the evening; stay tuned for a snapshot or two from behind the scenes.
@TheLonelyIsland: Everyone’s favourite SNL-group headed by Andy Samberg.
@LupeFiasco: Nominated for Best Rap Performance.
@MileyCyrus: She will be in attendance.
@NickiMinaj: She’ll be performing, nods for her collab with Drake and Best New Artist.
@Questlove: The Roots’ drummer that is “your favourite twitterer’s music critic.”
@Rihanna: She likes to Tweet That Tweet – let’s see what she has to say about Chris Brown’s performance.
@Skrillex: 24-year-old producer is up for Best New Artist.
@TaylorSwift13: No doubt this nominee will be Instagraming all night long.
@WizardCud: Kid Cudi might not be as philosophical since quitting weed, but remains vocal.
@ZooeyDeschenel: Fresh from her SNL-hosting gig Saturday, she’ll be all adorkable at the award show.

THE MUSIC CRITICS:
@AlanCross: Canadian music-history icon will keep us confirmed.
@GerrickKennedy: Music writer for the Los Angeles Times likes to tweeter.
@JianGhomeshi: Canadian radio personality loves his music.
@RobSheff: Rolling Stone’s resident music critic – knows a thing or two about the industry.
@RyanSeacrest: This guy is so addicted to hosting things that he’ll likely tweet as if he is hosting the damn show.

THE COMEDIANS:
@JimmyFallon: The Late Night host that’s a fan of everything – especially music.
@NealBrennan: New York comedian that is worth following year-round.
@RobDelaney: He tweets like breathing – why aren’t you following him already?

THE OTHERS:
@TheGrammys: Pretty self-explanatory
@Fave: One of the official Grammy bloggers.
@KickKickSnare: An official blogger for the Grammys – been snapping a lot of candid pics of the parties thus far.
@RedCarpet: E! Channel’s official red carpet twitter account with photos and commentary for every major red carpet event.

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Following Madonna’s stint at this year’s Super Bowl, a variety of artists have been pitched for next year’s prestigious halftime show – even famous parodist, Weird Al Yankovic.

“This is a serious case to be made,” writes spearheads Paul and Storm. “All the elements are there: lights, video, costume changes, general spectacle. And given a stadium-sized budget? It would be awesome in every sense of the word.”

In all seriousness, let’s look at the facts: he has been doing shows and putting out albums for three decades, 2013 will mark the 30th anniversary of his self-titled debut and he has parodied every major artist under the sun. Over his 30 year career, he’s left his mark on nearly every genre: Queen, Madonna, Nirvana, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus – just to name a few.

It would be a clean, entertaining, family-friendly show that meets all of the NFL standards.

You can sign the petition that currently holds 2,500 signatures and the #WeirdAlSuperBowl trend has started to surface across all those social media outlets. It’s time for change and we want it now.

Check out Weird Al’s substitute for Madonna and watch ‘Like A Surgeon’ below:

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There’s a fine line between sampling a song and straight ripping off someone else’s artistic integrity. Imitation is recognized as the highest form of flattery – but at what point does it go too far?

Most recently, Madonna finally spoke out about her insane influence of Lady Gaga, with focus on ‘Born This Way‘ and it’s similarity with Madge’s 1989 hit ‘Express Yourself’. And in the spirit of that buzz – we’re delighted to bring you a little sampling, thirteen songs that famously ripped off others (and were pretty successful in their own right). Some of which dealt with court settlements and others were able to slip through the legal cracks. For those arguing that the likes of Hammer and Vanilla Ice had the right to sample – both were busted by the predecessors for their use. Ice even argued in an episode of VH1′s ‘Behind the Music’ that it was completely original and the sampling accusations were bogus.

Tell us what you think! Below are thirteen examples, first being the song that ripped off the following song:

Jennifer Lopez “On The Floor (Ft. Pitbull)” VS. Los Kjarkas “Lloranda se fue”

MC Hammer “U Can’t Touch This” VS. Rick James “Superfreak”

Sean Kingston “Me Love” VS. Led Zeppelin “D’yer Mak’er”

Sum 41 “Pieces” VS. Coldplay “The Scientist”

Ray Parker Jr. “Ghostbusters” VS. Huey Lewis “I Want A New Drug”

Red Hot Chili Peppers “Dani California” VS. Tom Petty “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”

Flo Rida “Right Round” VS. Dead Or Alive “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)”

The Offspring “Why Don’t You Get A Job” VS. The Beatles “Ob La Di Ob La Da”

Vanilla Ice “Ice Ice Baby” VS. Queen & David Bowie “Under Pressure”

Avril Lavigne “Girlfriend” VS. The Rubinoos “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”

Coldplay “Viva La Vida” VS. Joe Satriani “If I Could Fly”

Green Day “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” VS. Oasis “Wonderwall”

Fergie “Fergalicious” VS. J.J. Fad “Supersonic”

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NBC’s ‘The Voice’ has announced that they’ve enlisted more celebrity talent for their upcoming season – this will surely challenge those over at ‘American Idol’ the most watched show on television.

According to Rolling Stone, each of the show’s panelists will now be joined by two celebrity advisors from the music industry. Cee-Lo Green will be joined by other R&B heavyweights, Ne-Yo and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds. Maroon 5′s frontman Adam Levine will have some help from Alanis Morissette and Robin Thicke while mentor Christina Aguilera will be joined by Jewel and industry-icon, Lionel Richie.

“I trust the show more than I trust the record industry at this point,” said Levine about reality show singing contests, in a recent Reuters interview. “It is a very tired format, but in a way this is a very fresh way of doing it.”

Another mentor, country-star Blake Shelton is pulling in two reality-show veterans – his wife, Miranda Lambert and Kelly Clarkson. That’s right, Seacrest.

“I chose Miranda and Kelly because they both survived reality television shows,” Shelton told reporters at an annual gathering of TV critics. “I just wanted somebody who could talk to them about what they were going through.”

Executive producer and reality show innovator Mark Burnett admits that the show’s success hasn’t yet fulfilled its expectations. Last year’s winner Javier Colon (who?) released his album and peaked at no.134 on the Billboard 200 album chart. That doesn’t even come close to the success of “Idol” winners in the vein of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.

It’s impossible to predict success in the ever-changing music industry and even making a name for yourself in the Billboard chart is a huge feat. Though this season could change everything, again.

The new season of ‘The Voice’ premieres February 5 on NBC.

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Demi Lovato is trading her Mercedes for a horse – okay that was a tad over exaggerated. However, Lovato is definitely going country. She posted on Twitter that she is experimenting with country music.

“Wrote my first country song today. ” she wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

“I like to experiment with my music,” she told MTV News. “Someday, I joke around, but I’m actually pretty serious about coming out with a country album. I want to do everything. I love music and I love all types of music.”

Her latest album “Unbroken” has been a smash hit. If she starts going country, Taylor Swift better watch out.

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The outrageous pop singer joined forces with acclaimed country band Sugarland last night.

Gaga had the opportunity to open and close the Grammy Awards nominations concert, held at the Nokia Theatre in L.A.

The singer sat by the piano, in her typically dark clothes and makeup as the more laid band country duo, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, played guitar. The three artists on stage sang Gaga’s “You and I”, which already has a bit of country twang to it.

Half way through the song, Gaga yelled “everybody put your drinks up!” to liven up the crowd. Lead singer of Sugarland, Jennifer Nettles looked really happy to be collaborating with an artist so opposite of her. As much as pop suits this mother monster, Lady Gaga could totally have a seperare career in country music if she really wanted to. Trust.

Check out their performance below.

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Taylor and her dance partner at the AMAs, Selena Gomez, reunite once again to perform on stage.

During a concert at Madison Square Garden last night, Selena joined her best friend Taylor to cover her song “Who Says?”.

Taylor’s Speak Now Tour is a massive success and because of that, she’s been able to have some amazing artists appear on stage with her, throughout several cities. From Justin Bieber to Jimmy Eat World to James Taylor, Taylor’s never a lonely girl when on stage.

Check out the video of Taylor and Selena rocking out to “Who Says” posted below.

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When hitting up notable states on her North American tour, Taylor Swift has been covering songs from local artists. Rolling Stone posted all 35 cover songs on their website.

When she was in New Jersey, Taylor did a rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark”. You can watch the video below.

When in the Grand Rapids, the country star got her rap on by covering Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”. It’s a pretty cool cover, and the crowd certainly seemed to agree. Watch the video below.

At her L.A. show, special guests jumped on stage to help Taylor sing the cover songs. First, it was Justin Bieber and together they sang “Baby”. Watch the video posted below.

The next star to make a cameo at Taylor’s concert in L.A. was Nicki Minaj. She graced the stage to help Taylor out with her hit song, “Superbass”. It was the most fun performance out of all the covers. The two should definitely get together more often. Watch the video below.

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Well now, this definitely makes me feel like the world is a safer place!

Just months after having been arrested at the 2011 Juno Awards held in Toronto, Giovanni Palumbo, the lonely stalker who sent Shania Twain love letters and flowers, has been released from prison.

Palumbo was released on Tuesday and given three years of probation. According to the Toronto Star, during the testimony Polumbo looked “ pale, gaunt, disheveled and was unshaven.”

“He hung his head and even took to lying on the bench in the prisoner’s box, curling up in a fetal position,” described journalist Curtis Rush. “Even when freed at the end of the day, there was no joy on his face.”

Since the beginning of this debacle a few years ago, Polumbo has been ordered to not come within half a kilometer of the country singer, and had his license to practice medicine revoked. He also lost contact with his family over the years.

It’s a wonder what will happen to Polumbo next. Whatever it is, we definitely hope it’s away from Shania. Who knows what compelled him to do all of this. We know Shania is very talented, but his creepy actions might have pushed it just a bit too far. We wish the best for both of them.

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Get your barf bangs out, everybody!

Newlyweds Nikki Reed and American Idol contestant Paul McDonald are so in love they had to record a cheesy song to let it all out.

The couple premiered their song “Now That I Got You” on Ryan Seacreast’s radio show this morning. She told Ryan she attends a lot of open mic nights with her hubby and plans to record more songs with him.

You can listen to the song posted below.

Nikki and Paul aren’t the first couple to record music together but they definitely should be the last. Before you know it, Gwyneth Paltrow can be found on every Coldplay song! The gesture is nice but incredibly cheesy and unnecessary in my opinion. Let’s separate business from pleasure, shall we? Here are some other couples who should never make music together.

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel

We all know Justin’s a triple threat. Jessica’s only known for her acting – for now! Let’s hope Justin doesn’t convince her to sing harmonies for his next album.

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon

She can belt a note like no other, but Nick should stick to making an ass of himself on television. The R&B diva is doing fine on her own.

Fergie and Josh Dumel

Fergie’s one fly babe when she’s on stage with the Black Eyed Peas, but could you imagine Josh Dumel booty-popping with her on stage? That’s an epic fail waiting to happen.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin

Gwyneth have have sang in that Country Strong movie and duetted with Cee Lo Green at award shows, but if she ever summons Chris Martin into a song, all hell will break lose. She should stick to mediocre acting and raving about organic food.

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Hot off her big win at the Country Music Awards, Taylor Swift posted a photo on Twitter of her new cat, Meredith.

In the photo you can see writing on her arm. Taylor says it’s part of her acceptance speech that she gave the other night, when she won Entertainer of the Year at the CMAs. You can see she wrote names of all the artsits she worked with on her album Speak Now.

It’s cool Taylor posted a twitpic of her cat instead of bragging about all her awards. We’ve had enough of celebrities gloating for one week. Thank you for sparing us, Taylor!

Posted below is the medley of all of Taylor’s acceptance speeches at the CMAs. You can see for her last award, she invited her entire band out on stage with her. Again, Taylor never fails at letting the world now she’s the biggest sweetheart.

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We wish her a quick and full recovery!

After canceling her U.S. tour in October because of hemorrhaging due to a benign polyp in her vocal chord, proving the throat cancer rumors untrue, Adele has had laser surgery on Monday to stop the bleeding. The singer is expected to make a full recovery.

From her singles, “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You,” alone, it is easy to see what a talented gift this British singer-songwriter has. We hope that Adele is back on her feet in no time, making her third record which is sure to be filled with her heartfelt lyrics and soulful melodies.

Adele isn’t the only singer that will be put on vocal rest due to a polyp.

It  was announced at the beginning of November that country singer Keith Urban is also set to undergo throat surgery later this month due to a polyp on his vocal chords. Following his surgery, Urban says that he will be forced to postpone or cancel any of his appearances which require him to sing more than one song, and will be rescheduled in 2012.

Singer John Mayer also underwent surgery in October, due to a granuloma just above his vocal chord, and will be on vocal rest for the rest of he month.

“I should be frustrated but I can’t seem to stop thinking about beautiful things… I never thought I’d be wishing I could do what I love again,” Mayer posted on his blog the day of his surgery. “The only difference between now and when I was 18 is that now I have this beautiful, meaningful record waiting for me when I can sing it.”

We can’t wait to see all three back on the music scene very soon!

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Hunter Hayes is getting his own special on Great American Country which will chronicle his life. Hunter is only 20 years old, but he has been playing since he was 17.

“When I was young my parents noticed me taking a liking to music, “ Hunter said. “Music was my soccer game, it was just what I did.  I think I started so young, I didn’t know what nervous was.” By the time he was six years old, he was regularly sitting in with bands and gaining a following.

“As I started to grow up I started to take in a lot of different music, primarily country,” he said. “I was playing music long before I was writing it. I think I started writing it because I got tired of playing everybody else’s stuff and wanted to say my own thing.”

Introducing: Hunter Hayes premieres November 1 at 10/9 CT on GAC.

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Taylor Swift is teasing the world that she has some surprise projects stored up for 2012, but she isn’t going into any real detail.

She told MTV News she’s working on “some surprise projects that may or may not happen, and possibly some acting.”

“I’ve just been so excited about what’s gonna happen in the next year,” she said. “I’m also really excited about [the next album]. I’ve been writing all the time. I’ve been writing so much for the new record. I can’t believe I’m saying that already: It comes out in a year, but I’m already excited about it.”

What do you think her 2012 plans are going to be? Is it acting?

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Some really exciting things are happening to American Idol’s Scott McCreery. He has his debut album coming out, and it’s been announced that he is touring with Brad Paisley.

“It’s really humbling that somebody like him would invite me to tour w/ him,” he tweeted. “I just hope i’m ready for any pranks he throws my way.”

Scotty McCreery’s debut album, “Clear As Day” comes out October 4th.

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American Idol alumnus Carrie Underwood called into Ryan Seacrest to update him on life and her new album.

She said about her new album; “I’ve been writing quite a bit and been in the studio a little bit so I have half an album done right now and trying to fill in the gaps and try to figure out what pieces of the puzzle are missing, but it’s a fun time right now just figuring everything out.”

And now that she’s married, she said; “We started out being married, he was still living in Ottawa and I was living in Nashville and now we actually live together under the same roof so that has changed.  It’s really nice having him around.”

To listen to the full interview, see below:

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What tragic news!

According to People Magazine, early Monday morning singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw was attacked in the East Village in New York City at about 4:30 a.m. Following the attack, DeGraw, 34, who was alone at the time, stumbled into the middle of the street and was hit by a taxi cab. The singer was taken to Bellevue Hospital after a man, who police say had blood on his shirt and seemed to be intoxicated, called 911 with a report that a male was in need of assistance, located at the corner of 1st Ave. and 19th St.

DeGraw, who is currently on tour with Maroon 5 and Train, is believed to have suffered  a broken nose and cuts to his face, and remains in stable condition.

In a statement, DeGraw’s representative said, ”Gavin DeGraw was assaulted … and was taken to the emergency room at Bellevue Hospital by ambulance. He is currently under observation. We have no additional information at this time.”

We wish DeGraw a full and quick recovery!

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Named after a lyric from her song Enchanted, Hollywood Reporter announced that Taylor Swift is ready to launch her first perfume, Wonderstruck, this fall.

The country pop star said “a fragrance can help shape someone’s first impression and memory of you…It’s exciting to think that Wonderstruck will play a role in creating some of those memories.”

Swift described Wonderstruck as a “flawless beauty of freesia, apple blossom and raspberry” with “a sweet surprise of blissful vanilla … airy, sun-drenched honeysuckle and white hibiscus … golden amber and sandalwood … with lush peach.”

Sounds intriguing doesn’t it? But will this fragrance do well on the market? We’ll have to wait and see.

Swift, who had to cancel a few shows due to her illness, is back on schedule with her Speak Now tour and has her second show tonight at the Air Canada Center in Toronto.

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The CMT Music Awards took place last night in Nashville, and among the many winners were newcomers Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber.

Swift won ‘Video of the year’ for her single ‘Mine,’ beating out heavyweights like Kenny Chesney and the Rascal Flatts.

Teen superstar Bieber also took home a hefty prize, taking home ‘Collaborative video of the year’ for his partnership with Rascal Flatts in ‘That Should Be Me.’

Blake Shelton also took home two awards last night, one for ‘Male video of the year’ and another for ‘Best web video of the year.’

Check out a full list of winners below!

2011 CMT Music Awards Winners

Video of the year: Taylor Swift, ”Mine.”
Male video of the year: Blake Shelton, “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking.”
Female video of the year: Miranda Lambert, “The House That Built Me.”
Group video of the year: Lady Antebellum, “Hello World.”
Duo video of the year: Sugarland, “Stuck Like Glue.”
Breakthrough video of the year: The Band Perry, “If I Die Young.”
Collaborative video of the year: Justin Bieber and Rascal Flatts, “That Should Be Me.”
CMT performance video of the year: Jimmy Buffett and Zac Brown Band, “Margaritaville.”
Best web video of the year: Blake Shelton, “Kiss My Country Ass.”
Video director of the year: Trey Fanjoy, “The House That Built Me” and “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking.”

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Shania Twain is taking up residency in Las Vegas, reports CTV.

After a long hiatus from singing, Twain plans to perform a two-year residency at Caesars Palace beginning in 2012.

“I will call Celine (Dion) — somebody should warn her now,” Twain joked at a news conference in Las Vegas. ”I think Celine will be very insightful and very helpful.”

Since  taking up residency in Vegas is always a great boost for careers and proved so with fellow Canadian singer Dion, Twain is hoping it will help her kickstart her singing as well. Her career came to a halt after her marriage ended with producer Robert Lange.

Tickets will reportedly range from $55-250 and went on sale Wednesday evening.

“I’m beyond excited,” said Twain. ”I feel like I’m on the top of the world. Honestly, I feel like I’ve climbed a very giant mountain and I’m just standing right on top with my arms open wide.

“This is really beautiful, really lovely, I’m very excited today.”

Good for her! I always said taking up residency in Vegas would be great for her, so I’m glad she made the smart decision. Not only can she spend time with her family on a stable schedule, but she will routinely get back into performing. I look forward to her return.

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