One thing you hope for when Justin Timberlake agrees to host a party is that maybe some of his friends (like Nelly Furtado, Timbaland, the Black Eyed Peas, etc.) will show. He joined Nelly Furtado for?Promiscuous,? natch, then called Justin back up to the stage for his new single,?Give It to Me.?

The BBC gives the example that Nelly Furtado's song " Maneater" would still be a Top 40 hit, if only digital sales of the track still counted towards its total.

I am pleased to report that Nellie McKay is like a bird -- no, I am not confusing her with Nelly Furtado -- in that she is flying away from Columbia Records, which shelved her second album in January during a nasty artist-label tiff.

Get excited, XM Satellite Radio subscribers! Everyone's favorite poet (and by "everyone's favorite poet" I mean "the only poet 75 percent of Americans can identify on sight"), Maya Angelou, is going to start hosting her own weekly show ! It'll be on Oprah's channel -- just gonna assume if you care, you know which one that is -- and she plans to interview ordinary people about what it means to be ordinary. Or something. I dunno. But I did come up with a kickin' playlist for her first day on the job:
"Caged Bird," Alicia Keys "Bird in a Cage," Old 97's "Promiscuous Girl," Nelly Furtado "I'm Like a Bird," Nelly Furtado "Rusty Cage," Soundgarden "Birdcage," Wallflowers "The Cage," Elton John "La Cage Aux Folles," Original Soundtrack
Got any requests?

You know me: Always trying to restore sweet, sweet balance to your crazy, hectic lives. You spend your day working like an underappreciated pack animal, I try to distract you with (literally) 48 versions of ''The Girl From Ipanema'' (and yet no sign of Crystal Waters' lovely rendition? Is it because she changed it to ''boy''?).
Anyway, in this morning's slice of yin-yang music news, let's start with the happy (that way, those of you who aren't ready to die inside before lunch can stop reading at the end of this paragraph). I am pleased to report that Nellie McKay is like a bird -- no, I am not confusing her with Nelly Furtado -- in that she is flying away from Columbia Records , which shelved her second album in January during a nasty artist-label tiff. McKay now plans to release Pretty Little Head as a double CD, with a 44-page color booklet, on October 31, via SpinART Records. Yay! If you're not familiar with McKay's work, then I urge you (yes, urge , like in an Herbal Essences commercial) to click here and here to hear ''Sari'' and ''David,'' two of the lovely ditties off Get Away From Me , McKay's 2004 debut disc.
On the slightly more chilling side of the coin, 12-year-old Bianca Ryan (pictured), the winner of Season 1 of America's Got Talent , has signed with Columbia/SYCO , and on Nov. 14, will inflict her renditions of (OH) ''I Believe I Can Fly'' (NO) ''The Rose'' (SHE) ''And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going,'' and (DIDN'T) ''You Light Up My Life'' onto an innocent and unsuspecting world. To be fair, the child can sang , as they say ( click here for one of her AGT performances), but her skills are kind of like unchilled Jello: Unless she's locked away in a cool, dark place for a decade or so, my guess is the results of her efforts will be unformed and unappetizing. Doesn't the kid, and the public at large, deserve better?

"Caged Bird," Alicia Keys "Bird in a Cage," Old 97's "Promiscuous Girl," Nelly Furtado "I'm Like a Bird," Nelly Furtado "Rusty Cage," Soundgarden "Birdcage," Wallflowers "The Cage," Elton John "La Cage Aux Folles," Original Soundtrack

This brings artists like Kanye West, Sting, Nelly Furtado and Jay Z to the table, but it doesn't change my point of view.

The Fashion Rocks show had Jay-Z rapping, while Beyonce sung and danced in a mini-skirt that apparently looked like it was made from bananas, and performances from Kanye West, Nelly Furtado, the Scissor Sisters and the Black Eyed Peas.