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A Recreation of Lionel Richie’s ‘Hello’ Using Movie Clips

Natalia Buia — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:06:02 +0000

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Just like that “Born this Way” recreation that used only Obama’s speeches, Lionel Richie’s infamous 80s ballad “Hello” was recreated using movie clips.

Watch and listen as famous movie stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney and Elvis Presley speak the lyric to Lionel’s jam. Other more quirky cameos include Borat, Barbie and Ken, and Na’vi from “Avatar”.

The incredible mash-up was made by Matthijs Vlot.

NBC Finds Its ‘Voice’ For Season Two With New Celebrity Mentors

@coltondaniel — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:36:28 +0000

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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.

Grammys Get More to Join ‘We are the World’

Vanessa Baker — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:21:58 +0000

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Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones used the Grammys to recruit more stars to their project of remaking “We are the World,” reports E! News. Bono and Lady Gaga are the latest to sign on. They will join Usher, Jason Mraz, Akon, Jennifer Hudson, Carlos Santana, Enrique Iglesias and Toni Braxton at the recording Monday in Los Angeles. There may be up to 100 singers.

“It’s like the biggest honour in life to get a call from our father in music, Quincy Jones,” said RedOne, who will help produce the track.

Michael Jackson Tribute Album in the Works

Vanessa Baker — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:28:47 +0000

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Madonna, Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Robbie Williams are just a few of the superstars planning to record numbers for an upcoming Michael Jackson tribute album, reports the Daily Star. Whitney Houston, Usher and 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi of Britain’s Got Talent will also reportedly be featured alongside legends like Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie.

“The idea came from the memorial concert,” said a source. “Many fans asked if cover versions would be released and it seemed a wonderful idea. Some of the biggest stars in the world have indicated they’d like to take part to pay their own respects and tribute to the King of Pop. This cover album is sure to be a massive worldwide hit with fans and could raise a fortune for Michael’s favourite charities.”

Jafargholi, who performed “Who’s Loving You” at the memorial held for Jackson in Los Angeles, will record that track, as well as the song “Ben.” Carey will be singing “I’ll Be There,” while Williams will perform “Man in the Mirror.”

Williams said his new studio album will also pay tribute to the late pop star. “It’s all so very sad,” he said. “I couldn’t get a lyric to fit on one of the new songs, so when Michael passed away I rewrote it with him in mind.”

Williams and Houston have been asked to perform some of the dates planned for Jackson’s 50 day run at London’s O2 Arena. A live concert involving the Jackson family and other guests is being planned at the venue for August 29, which would have been the singer’s 51st birthday.

Lionel Richie: No More Marriage for Me

andPOP Staff — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 13:43:18 +0000

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Lionel Richie never wants to get married again.

The “Hello” singer – who divorced his second wife Diane Alexander in 2004, after eight years – thinks marriage comes with too many responsibilities and he just wants to have a simple life.

He said: “I’m happy where I am. I don’t have to worry about anyone else any more. When you are married you have responsibilities. One track on my new album is called ‘Up All Night’ – you hear me?”

Lionel – whose adopted daughter is Nicole Richie – insists even if he did want to find romance, dating is difficult because he never knows which women he can trust.

He added: “It’s difficult for me to so the dating thing. I would hate all the ‘kiss and tells.’ I like the idea of not being attached.”

Interview: Lionel Richie Trying to Bring R&B Back

Adam Gonshor — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:17:58 +0000

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The first time I heard “I Call it Love,” the new Lionel Richie single, I had no idea who was singing. Apparently, I had the reaction he was looking for.

“The ultimate thing you want to do is catch them off guard,” Richie tells andPOP.

To do this, the R&B legend teamed up with some of the hottest producers in the business — Jermaine Dupri, Raphael Saadiq, Dallas Austin, Sean Garrett and Chuckii Booker — when putting together the tracks for his latest album, “Coming Home,” released last week.

The single was written and produced by Stargate, the hit makers behind Ne-Yo’s “So Sick.” It feels like a song made for 2006, so naturally, I wasn’t expecting the singer to be Richie, who released his first album as part of The Commodores in 1973.

Attempting to make hit records, the producers could have easily tried to make Richie sound like some of the most popular and most played R&B singers of today (Usher, John Legend, etc.) but instead, they just wanted Lionel to be Lionel.

The scenario was somewhat like one that occurred two decades earlier when Richie was working with Diana Ross. Ross’ star was beginning to fade, and the it-girl of the moment was Whitney Houston. Ross told Richie that she wanted to sound more like Houston, but Richie advised her to just be Diana Ross, much like what he heard from today’s producers.

“When they walked into the door, they said, ‘can you bring Lionel Richie to the table, because we can bring exactly what flavour is needed.’ That’s the best marriage in the world,” Richie says. “It was my job to make sure that I didn’t compromise Lionel Richie and I commend them for keeping it so real, where at one point I thought for a minute that I was back in the day.”

Together with the producers, Richie decided that he needed to make music that sounded “believable.” Making music believable in 2006, Richie says, is the same process he took to making music believable in 1975, and is the process that leads to a track’s longevity.

That is why “Hello” and “All Night Long” are still being played on the radio today, while many of today’s new hit songs will be off the play lists forever in a matter of weeks.

“Those are called hit tunes. I’m not into tune writing; I’m into song writing. What you hear is me playing with the writers of today, just like I played with The Commodores, just like I played with David Foster, just like I played with Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson doing ‘We Are the World.’ That’s called a creative play period for writers. I went in and played with Q so you got another hybrid of Lionel Richie. But I kept singing that melody and that’s forever.”

While the album tackles a familiar topic to Richie — namely, love — it also shows a more personal side.

On the track, “I’m Coming Home,” Richie sings, “I can see the things I should have done, could have done/I see so much of my life I let go by.”

The song, he explains, is about the sacrifices he had to make to get to where he is today.

“There is a time in your life when you look over your shoulder and realize, ‘ok, let me add a few things up here. Even though I am Lionel Richie, what were the sacrifices?’

“I’m very happy where I am but you can’t be in two places at the same time. I’m sorry we didn’t have a Commodores farewell show. That’s one of those things where, yes, I made it, but man, it sure would have been great if we had a big Commodores farewell tour. But we didn’t do it. Since then, we’ve been trying to talk about when we would have the reunion tour, but we missed the farewell tour.”

On another track, “Why,” he sings about his daughter, the now uber-famous Nicole Richie: “Now the kids are looking at me like I’m the blame/No longer got their respect for me.”

“In every kind of divorce,” he explains, “especially when you have kids involved, sometimes the parents can be so stupid, and keep the argument amongst themselves, thinking it’s just between the two of them, when actually the kids always think it was their fault. I thought about Nicole when she was going through the divorce between me and Brenda. It was one of those situations where she is trying to manage two grown people.”

Richie was never hesitant to get personal on the album because he hopes by tackling the hard-to-discuss topics, more people will be able to relate to the songs.

“What is so wonderful about getting personal is if you say it truthfully, the whole world is going through the same problem. What people call personal is really group therapy.”