Tony Bennett’s comeback season has been luring for several years, it continues to reign with his John Mayer collaboration on “One For My Baby (And One More for the Road)”

It’s a tasteful cover of a classic,  but what is most fascinating is their mutual love and respect for the music and eachother. The clip is a part of Bennett’s upcoming DVD special that also features his duets with Aretha Franklin, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson, Michael Buble and many others.

Bennett’s follow up to his triple-Grammy winning “Duets I” album is closer to his jazz and classic repertoire and also features one of the last recordings and music videos from Amy Winehouse, “Body and Soul,” before her death on July 23, 2011. It has plenty of surprises like Lady Gaga taking on “The Lady is a Tramp.”

“Duets II: The Great Performance” DVD is set for release on March 6.

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In order to preserve Amy Winehouse’s memory, Mitch Winehouse plans to hold a star filled concert every year in Amy’s honour. The concerts will be used to raise money for the Amy Winehouse foundation.

“We need to make sure the money keeps coming in,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying.

“We are definitely planning a memorial concert for this year. We are hoping to have one here and in America and we’ll do that every year and alternate doing it in LA and New York,” he said.

“I’d love to have Tony Bennett on the bill as he is a friend of the foundation and has donated $100,000 dollars which is incredible… We’d also love to have Lady Gaga there,” he added.

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1. Most memorable story of 2011: The passing of Jack Layton

The charismatic leader of the NDP passed away from cancer on August 22, leaving a deep void in Canadian politics.

2. Best pop album: Cher Lloyd “Sticks + Stones”

This album from X Factor contestant Cher Lloyd has a bit of everything: rap, pop, 80s samples and even dubstep.

3. Best movie: Bridesmaids

I can’t remember the last time I laughed like a hyena in a movie theatre. Kristin Wiig and the rest of her female cast members made this movie the success it is today.

4. Best t.v. show: Parks and Recreation

This show has some of the most eccentric characters on television: The bacon obsessed Ron Swanson, the overly optimistic Leslie Knope and the sarcastic and dark April Ludgate.

5. Best dressed: Florence Welch

The lead singer of Florence + the Machine always manages to look like she came straight out of a Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino painting.

6. Best blog (other than our own, of course!): Cute Overload

www.CuteOverload.com

7. Which male and female celeb owned 2011: Justin Bieber and Zooey Deschanel

Justin not only escaped the hyped baby mama drama, he dropped a hit Christmas album and countless of music videos, won a ton of awards for his musical efforts, and got a haircut! He was literally everywhere this year. Zooey Deschanel finishes much of 2011 as a single lady but she can celebrate her new sitcom “New Girl” being a huge enough success to warrant her a Golden Globe nomination. Take that, Ben Gibbard!

8. Shocking celebrity moment: Amy Winehouse found dead

When the 27 year old was found dead from a drug overdose in July, it made a lot of people rethink their choices for doing drugs and drinking alcohol. If her death has taught us anything, it’s that we’re not alone in overcoming our demons.

9. Biggest surprise of 2011: Lindsay Lohan didn’t go to jail

We all thought a little time in the slammer would do Lindsay some good. Although she did complete her community service hours at a morgue, she escaped being placed behind bars for all her wrong-doings. Then she posed for Playboy!

10. Who to watch in 2012: Lana Del Rey

The gangster version of Nancy Sinatra made a big splash in late 2011 with her songs “Video Games” and “Born to Die”. With her debut album finally out in 2012, we’ll be seeing a lot more of the buxom blonde.

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Three of the biggest divas (and I use this word as a compliment, not an insult) in music have gotten together to pay tribute to their fallen colleague, Amy Winehouse.

Sharon Jones, of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings joined rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson sing “You Know I’m No Good”. Then, ginger goddess Florence Welch graced the stage to sing “Back To Black”, taking our breath away.

Florence, Sharon and many, many other outstanding female singers performed for the annual VH1: Divas television special last night. Perez Hilton is the source for the video we’ve posted below.

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2011, like any other year, was full of sex, drugs, violence and even some dancing monkeys. Music videos from such artists like Bruno Mars and Britney Spears have kept us entertained from January until December. Here at andPOP, we can’t wrap up a fantastic year without discussing our top ten music videos.

10. Dr. Dre and Eminem – “I Need a Doctor” 

Dr. Dre’s first official single in over a decade and we love how the video walks us through the rapper’s life.

9.  Beyonce – “Countdown”

This video would have been much higher on the list if the song wasn’t so brutal to listen too, not to mention a blatant rip-off of over music videos from the past.

8. Bruno Mars – “The Lazy Song” 

We love how this dance sequence with the monkeys was all done in one shot. It must have taken Bruno and the gang a few tries before getting it perfect.

7. Britney Spears – “Criminal” 

We see Britney in a whole new light with this video. We also see her in some compromising positions with her real-life fiance, Jason Trawick. Hot, hot hot!

6. Cher Lloyd – “With Ur Love” 

This gets placed in sixth for being incredibly cute and PG.

5. LMFAO – “Party Rock Anthem”

What song makes us want to dance out in the streets than this one by LMFAO? They definitely put the ‘party’ in ‘party rock anthem’ with this wild dance video.

4. Lady Gaga – “Marry the Night”

The first video Gaga directed independently may not make much sense but damn, you just can’t take your eyes off of it.

3. Katy Perry – “Last Friday Night”

This music video reminds us of all the cheesy romantic comedies from the ’80s. This is also the only place you’d ever see Katy rockin’ a neck brace and neon spandex.

2. Rihanna – “We Found Love”

We found lots of controversy surrounding this Rihanna video. It’s quite ironic how similar the actor in the video looks to her ex, Chris Brown.

1. Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett – “Body and Soul”

Seeing as it’s the last video we’d ever see from the soul singer, it takes the cake for best video of 2011. Amy’s collaboration with Tony Bennett sounds incredibly beautiful and is a great way to remember her.

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As mentioned in a recent article, a record of unreleased songs by the late Amy Winehouse will be released before the year’s over.

The lead single, Like Smoke is a duet the singer did with rapper Nas. It’s a soulful retro song produced by Amy’s longtime friend and collaborator, Salaam Remi.

This song is incredibly beautiful and listening to it will only make you miss AMy even more. Yes, she was troubled and had a lot of addictions to conquer but you can’t deny she was one of our generation best singers and she could have been a living legend if her life wasn’t cut short.

Her final album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures will be out a month from now. Listen to Like Smoke here.

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When jazz & soul singer Amy Winehouse passed away last July, she only had two studio album under her belt. When the 27-year-old died due to alcohol poisoning, it was clear her record label would put out an album of her unreleased material.

E! reports the new album, appropriately titled Lioness: Hidden Treasures, is hitting shelves December 6. The 12-track album will include original songs written and recorded before her death, cover songs and a duet with Tony Bennett.

Lioness was produced by Amy’s long-time friend and collaborator Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi. Amy’s family gave them heir blessing when approached with the idea.

“If the family had felt that this album wasn’t up to the standard of Frank and Back to Black, we would never have agreed to release it and we believe it will stand as fitting tribute to Amy’s musical legally,” her father Mitch Winehouse told E! Entertainment.

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London coroner Suzanne Greenaway has finally revealed Amy Winehouse was 4.5 over the legal alcohol level when her body was found at home in July.

Amy’s parents have released a statement saying “It is some relief to finally find out what happened to Amy…It underlines how important our work with the Amy Winehouse Foundation is to us, to help as many young people and children as we can in her name.”

The foundation was set up by the Winehouses in their daughter’s memory to help young people dealing with addiction.

The singer had been battled substance abuse for many years before she died at the age of 27.

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Mitch Winehouse is saying that Amy’s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil was “scared” of him and the Winehouse family.

He told RTE’s Late Late Show: “He [Blake] was scared of me and the family, he wanted to keep control. The first time I met him he was charming and the next time not so charming.

“He spoke about how he introduced her to drugs and said she took to it like a duck to water. A nice thing to say about his wife.

“I got the news in New York and it was like an icy cold calm came over me. In my mind was the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

“We have good days we have bad days. It comes in waves.

“I can look at photos of Amy’s but I find it difficult to listen to the music, that’s the grieving process.

“If you have a day when you don’t cry is a good day. Today is not a good day.”

Mitch also says that Amy was becoming tired of performing towards the end of her life.

He said: “Certain things she was uncomfortable with. She was kind of moving away from the stage work, she did not enjoy it all actually.”

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Prior to her death, Amy Winehouse was planning to marry boyfriend and film director Reg Traviss.

Reg told The Sun newspaper: “We had spoken about getting married. She had spoken to members of my family about it. It is something that was going to happen.”

The day of Amy’s death, Reg was supposed to attend a wedding with Amy.

He added: “I had appointments on Saturday morning – normal things. A haircut, pick up shoes and my suit for the wedding. I was thinking it was a bit strange she hadn’t called.

“As I left the hairdresser, I saw I had a missed call from Amy’s security guy. She was always misplacing her phone, so I thought she had probably just borrowed his. When I got to the office I rang and spoke to the security guy. He just said, ‘Reg. Something terrible has happened.’ You could tell in his voice. He said, ‘You better get here straight away’. And that was it. I dropped everything and went.”

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In a recent interview, Mitch Winehouse blames Amy’s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil for her drug addiction. Mitch claims it was Blake who introduced Amy to hard drugs like heroine.

While talking to Anderson Cooper, Mitch explains however he doesn’t blame Amy’s death on Blake. Blake is also serving time in prison for a burglary and firearm offense. Nevertheless, Mitch is adamant Amy’s life starting getting out of control when Blake hit the scene.

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Mitch Winehouse, Amy Winehouse’s Dad, has suggested Amy died from an overdose of an anti-anxiety drug and suffered a seizure.

Mitch explained to Anderson Cooper that the autopsy found traces of Lithium in her body. She was also trying to beat her alcohol addiction.

“Everything Amy did, she did to excess,” Winehouse said during the taping of Cooper’s new show, Anderson, debuting Monday. “She drank to excess and did detox to excess.”

Amy apparently was also having seizures from alcohol withdrawal prior to her death.

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Anderson Cooper has a new daytime talk show called Anderson, and his first guests on September 12th will be Amy Winehouse’s family.

He tweeted on Tuesday, “On @anderson sept 12. Amy Winehouse’s family – her dad, mom, stepmom, boyfriend – speak for the 1st time since her death.” He added, “I’m really looking forward to speaking with Amy Winehouse’s family. They’ve been through so much, and her talent was so great.”

He told the Hollywood Reporter, “We want it to be a look at what happened to her and the struggles that she was facing and the struggles that the family was facing in trying to get [her] help and her incredible talent and career.”

This interview is the first time Amy’s family has spoken since her tragic death.

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Fred Perry has released his Amy Winehouse collection. The late singer’s retro designer duds became available for sale on the British fashion hub’s website, reports E! Online.

“Amy’s new Fred Perry collection out now,” her father, Mitch Winehouse, tweeted Thursday. “It is fabulous. All profits to Amy’s foundation.”

Perry posted a similar statement on the collection’s website, saying, “After much consideration and with the blessing of Amy’s family, we have decided to release the AW11 Amy Winehouse for Fred Perry Collection. Amy was passionate and dedicated to the collaboration and her signature style is clearly stamped across each piece. In such circumstances, the usual royalties and fees from the collection will be donated to the soon to be established Amy Winehouse Foundation.”

What do you think about the line?

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It’s kind of like Amy Winehouse is more successful dead than she was alive. Amy’s album “Back To Black” is the U.K.’s top selling album of the 21st century, reports Billboard.

Reports say her second album has sold 3.26 million copies in the U.K.

Although her album has performed well since its 2006 release, sales have surged since her death.

The exact cause of her death is still under investigation.

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The toxicology report shows that Amy Winehouse wasn’t using illegal drugs when she died? But what about prescription drugs?

TMZ reports the family isn’t commenting on prescription drugs. However they do acknowledge she was drinking.

Quite possible if Amy mixed the wrong medication with alcohol, that could have killed her…

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Amy Winehouse’s family have revealed the toxicology report from her death. It proves that Amy wasn’t on any drugs when she died, but she had been drinking.

TMZ reports they have not determined if alcohol played a role in her death.

This is understandably shocking as it was common knowledge that Amy had a drug problem, and everyone assumed drugs played a role in her death.

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The Amy Winehouse Foundation is currently on hold, with all the donations being returned.

Amy’s Dad Mitch announced he was starting the organization in memory of his daughter. However someone has registered the Amy Winehouse Foundation name, and now he cannot cash cheques made out to that name.

Mitch tweeted, “We all have to bombard the tabloids websites to put pressure on this d**k head who stole our foundation name.

“Instead of concentrating on allocating funding I am having to send cheques back cos (because) we haven’t got (a) bank ac (account) in that name.

“Our solicitors are all over this, but it takes time. Meanwhile we can’t get on with (the) foundation.”

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Natalia Kills has been slowly murdering her way through the music industry by working with industry heavyweights (Will.i.am, Akon, LMFAO) and her debut album “Perfectionist” debuted on North American shelves this past Tuesday.

Born Natalia Keery-Fisher, the 25-year-old singer-songwriter was signed onto Interscope’s Cherrytree Records label in 2008, after the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am heard her “Wommanequin” EP. The demo was self-written and produced by Kills, showcasing talent that catapulted her into a promising direction that landed a feature on LMFAO’s single “Champagne Showers” and her debut EP.

Although she may be the best female-singer-you-haven’t-heard-of-yet, her single “Mirrors” has already cracked the top ten in Austria, Germany, Poland and the United States. A change of pace from her past-life as an actress.

Her sound is a pinch of Lady Gaga with a fiercer-punch of Kate Bush, and it has been labeled as ‘revenge-pop’, electropop and ‘synth-pop’, but she describes it as “pop with an opinion”. In other words, she delivers a much needed refreshing dose of attitude that the Christina’s and the Britney’s have faked.

“I’m a perfectionist. It’s the source of all my ambition, desire and drive. But, it’s also what destroys me sometimes.”

Her stage-name “Kills” defines that passion and mentality to commit herself entirely to her music. And as a singer-songwriter, that commitment to her art has drawn inspiration out of every aspect of her life.

“I wrote ["Free"] when I was broke and writing songs in my tiny apartment, trying to figure out how to pay the rent,” says Kills of penning her single, which she also notes as her favourite song to play live. “But, I was still happy. When I went out I felt fabulous and I wanted everyone to know that style is not dictated by how much money you have or where you shop. We should be free from our possessions and not let material things own us or effect our happiness.”

Kills has come a long way from that tiny apartment, going on tour with big names like Bruno Mars, Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas and will be supporting Katy Perry on her California Dreams Tour later this month.

When we spoke with Kills, the sudden passing of Amy Winehouse was fresh and she felt a strong connection to the pop-singer.

“I’ve always been a huge fan, and not just because I’m English. She’s truly one of the greats, and I relate to all other artists like myself who write about personal afflictions and deeper darker places. I know from experience that when you write about your true pain it has to be because you battle with it. We were lucky to have her, and at least she gets to escape her pain now.”

Her album “The Perfectionist” can be streamed on her website and is also available in stores and on iTunes now.

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Kanye West is paying tribute to Amy Winehouse by recording a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” reports the Daily Mirror.  A source says Kanye is working on the track now, and hopes to debut it in London next month.

“It’s pretty emotive,” the source said. “It’s Kanye singing from the heart — with synthesisers.”

West paid tribute to Winehouse, who died in July, by playing her songs “Tears Dry on Their Own” and “Back to Black” at the Big Chill festival.

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