Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, Muse Added To Grammy Show

Usher, Jaden Smith, B.o.B, Janelle Monae and Lady Antebellum will also perform on February 13.
By Gil Kaufman


Justin Bieber and Usher
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

While Willow Smith is the one who made music headlines with "Whip My Hair" last year, it's her brother, "Karate Kid" actor Jaden Smith, who will take the stage at the upcoming 53rd Grammy Awards in a special performance alongside Usher and Justin Bieber, with whom he collaborated on the song "Never Say Never" last summer.

The trio joins a list of new performers added to the show on Thursday (January 20) that will also include another power trifecta made up of B.o.B, Bruno Mars and Janelle Monáe, according to a press release from the Recording Academy announcing the additions to the February 13 telecast from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Also taking the stage next month will be nominees Muse and Lady Antebellum. They will join a roster of previously announced performers that includes Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Arcade Fire, Cee Lo Green and Miranda Lambert. It will be the first time on the Grammy performance stage for Bieber, B.o.B, Lambert, Mars, Monáe, Muse and Smith. Eminem, Green, Gaga, Perry, Usher and Lady Antebellum will be making return visits for the occasion.

While 11-time Grammy winner Eminem leads the pack in nominations this year (with 10 nods), Mars has seven nominations, and Gaga and Lady Antebellum are not far behind with six nods each. B.o.B has notched five, Perry and Green are each up for four, and Arcade Fire and Lambert are vying for three awards. Bieber, Muse, Usher and Monáe are each nominated for two Grammys.

No details of the collaborative performances were released, but the Grammy announcement promised a rare, never-before-seen event for the Mars, B.o.B and Monáe segment.

With the addition of Antebellum, all five Album of the Year nominees (Eminem, Arcade Fire, Gaga, Perry) are now scheduled to perform on the show. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon.

Which Grammy performance are you most looking forward to? Talk about it in the comments!

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Usher 'Got A Good Laugh' From Fan Kicking Him In The Face

'It looked worse than it actually was,' the 'OMG' singer laughs about accidental blow during concert serenade.
By Mawuse Ziegbe


Usher
Photo: Jordan Strauss/ Getty Images

Usher's club-rattling jam "OMG" may "kill it every night" according to tourmate Miguel, but when the Atlanta crooner hit Madison Square Garden earlier this week, he was almost taken out by a clumsy fan.

When the singer touched down in New York on Monday, he indulged a super amped fan's fantasy by pulling her onstage for an intimate flirty serenade of "Trading Places." As Usher and the concertgoer got cozy on a recliner, she swiveled around to face the crooner — knocking him squarely in his mug with her foot. She began apologizing profusely as Usher briefly paused to collect himself. But the superstar took the strike in stride, quipping, "We play rough in the bed. We kick each other in the face and all type of good stuff."

Although Usher brushed off the blow, the moment did make an impression on him.

"In all my years, this is one of the most interesting experiences. I got a kick out of it!" he told Us Weekly. The singer assured fans that the knock wasn't that bad. "It looked worse than it actually was. My audience and I got a good laugh."

As for the fan, the "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" star maintained everything is all good on that front too. "Wherever you are baby, don't feel bad," Usher said. "No hard feelings."

As Miguel has noted, Usher isn't one dwell on drama, whether it's cranking out another hit album or weathering an unexpected hit from a fan.

"He's such a tremendous example of perseverance and determination," Miguel recently told MTV News. "I was there throughout this album, so I've seen the adversity that he's had to overcome perception-wise."

What do you think of Usher's response to getting knocked in the head by a fan? Tell us in the comments!

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Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray To Be Arraigned

Murray to head to trial in death of Jackson following Tuesday hearing.
By Gil Kaufman


Dr. Conrad Murray
Photo: Frederick M. Brown/ Getty Images

Cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray, the only person charged in the June 2009 death of Michael Jackson, will be arraigned on Tuesday morning (January 25) on an involuntary manslaughter charge. Murray, who was serving as the 50-year-old pop icon's personal physician at the time, is expected to plead not guilty in the case.

According to CNN, the hearing in front of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, is only slated to last a few minutes. While Murray has the right to demand a trial within 60 days, it is not expected that a date will be set for one on Tuesday.

After more than a week of testimony, Pastor ruled during a preliminary hearing in early January that there was enough evidence to bring Murray's case to trial. In the meantime, Murray remains free on $75,000 bond, but Pastor blocked the doctor from using his California medical license until the trial is completed.

"Michael is not with us today because of an utterly inept, incompetent, reckless doctor — the defendant Conrad Murray," Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said in his final arguments in the preliminary hearing, where a series of witnesses recounted Murray's actions during the minutes and hours before and after Jackson's death. The King of Pop died as a result of what the Los Angeles County coroner's office called acute propofol poisoning, a reference to a powerful surgical anesthetic that the singer reportedly requested as a sleep aid to combat chronic insomnia.

While prosecutors appear to be building a case that Murray acted recklessly in attending to Jackson in the singer's final hours, CNN reported that the doctor's lawyers appeared satisfied with the results of the preliminary hearing thanks to some testimony they got from prosecution witnesses that might help raise some reasonable doubt about their client's guilt at trial.

"I think the prosecution is going to change their tactics in this case," defense lawyer J. Michael Flanagan said after the preliminary hearing. "It's not the same as what they gave in opening statements." The defense reportedly is set to argue that it was Jackson himself who administered the final, fatal dose of propofol after waking in a panic from a fitful night of sleep. One of the prosecution's expert witnesses in the case admitted under cross-examination that he made a math mistake and that the recalculation supports the defense theory that Jackson may have given himself the dose of propofol that killed him.

CNN reported that Dr. Richard Ruffalo, an anesthesiologist hired by the prosecution, was the last witness to take the stand and his admission about making a mistake on the calculation of the level of propofol in Jackson's stomach fluid reportedly elicited gasps from the members of Jackson's family who were sitting in the hearing room.

Murray's lawyers have suggested that a frustrated Jackson may have poured the anesthetic — which is administered intravenously — into his juice bottle while the doctor was out of his bedroom. "Now it doesn't make sense unless he ingested it orally in a huge amount," Ruffalo testified. The anesthesiologist added that Murray could still be at fault for leaving dangerous drugs near a patient who was allegedly addicted to sedatives and sleep aids.

"It's like leaving a syringe next to a heroin addict," Ruffalo stated. "If he's not getting what he wants, when you leave the room he might reach for it himself ... Either way, it doesn't matter. He abandoned his patient and didn't resuscitate appropriately." Ruffalo said Murray should have anticipated that Jackson, who had previously asked to inject himself with the drug, might potentially administer it to himself. "He gets upset if he doesn't get his milk," he said, explaining that Jackson often referred to propofol as his "milk."

In addition, the pathologist who conducted Jackson's autopsy acknowledged it was possible, though improbable, that the singer gave himself the fatal propofol dose. Speaking to police two days after Jackson's death, Murray told investigators that a sleepless Jackson had begged him for more propofol on the day he died. The King of Pop was in the midst of a grueling series of rehearsals for his planned "This Is It" comeback shows at London's O2 Arena at the time of his death.

A civil lawsuit filed last year by Jackson's mother against the producer of the concerts, AEG Live, alleged that the company had warned the entertainer several weeks before he died that if he missed any more rehearsals they were going to "pull the plug" on the gigs, which the cash-strapped Jackson was depending on to revive his stalled career.

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Michael Jackson Wrongful Death Suit Vs. AEG Can Proceed, Judge Rules

Katherine Jackson and family are pursuing a claim against concert promoter.
By Gil Kaufman


Michael Jackson

When he was alive, Michael Jackson was forever embroiled in a series of complex and expensive-sounding lawsuits. But even in death, the late King of Pop is the subject of major legal action. None could potentially be bigger than the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the pop icon's mother, Katherine Jackson, against concert promotion giant AEG Live.

Reuters reported that a Los Angeles judge ruled on Wednesday that the civil lawsuit can go forward. It will proceed in parallel with the criminal case against Jackson's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Jackson's June 2009 death from an overdose of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol. Murray is the only person charged in Jackson's death and he is currently awaiting trial in that matter.

Katherine Jackson's lawsuit — filed in September on behalf of her and Jackson's three young children — accuses AEG of being responsible for the medical decisions made by Murray, whose salary was paid by the touring company behind Jackson's attempted "This Is It" comeback shows in London. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos denied a motion on Wednesday by AEG to dismiss Katherine Jackson's suit, but warned Jackson's attorneys that they would need to show evidence of "fraud, negligent infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy" in order to win the case.

The judge has already said she doubts they can prove the latter charge, because the suit does not detail any agreement between Murray and AEG to break the law in providing medical care to Jackson.

"If the object was to get him to rehearsals, I don't see that as a wrongful or illegal act," the judge said. A lawyer for AEG told the judge that the company could not have predicted beforehand that Murray's medical decisions would result in Jackson's death. Court papers also show that AEG "did not choose to hire Murray" and had only participated in negotiations to bring him on as an independent contractor. Michael, who had previously been treated by Murray in Las Vegas, was reportedly the one who suggested the cardiologist serve as his personal, on-call physician during the "This Is It" rehearsals and shows.

Katherine Jackson's attorney recently dropped choreographer Kenny Ortega from the lawsuit based on new information they received about his actions. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 22, just six days before Murray is due back in court for his trial. Jackson's father, Joseph, has twice attempted to file a wrongful death suit in the matter, though his is focused on Murray and the Las Vegas pharmacy that supplied the propofol, not AEG Live.

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Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray's Trial To Be Televised

Judge rules that camera will be allowed in the courtroom for manslaughter case.
By Gil Kaufman


Conrad Murray
Photo: AFP/ Getty Images

For what promises to be one of the most bizarre and riveting legal proceedings in years, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Monday that a television camera will be allowed in the courtroom when Michael Jackson's doctor goes on trial for involuntary manslaughter.

Reuters reported that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, approved the presence of a camera in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray as long as it does not interfere with the proceedings in the closely watched case.

The judge asked for the "absolute least-intrusive placement" of a TV camera in the courtroom, but blocked cameras from documenting jury selection.

Pastor also announced that he would bump up the opening date of the trail by four days to March 24, at which point jury selection will begin. Murray, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the trial is expected to last around six weeks.

Cardiologist Murray was hired to be Jackson's personal physician in the run-up to the King of Pop's planned 50-date comeback series of shows at London's O2 arena in the summer of 2009. The doctor told police that he provided Jackson, 50, with sedatives and the surgical anesthetic propofol in order to combat the singer's chronic insomnia. He said he did so on the morning of June 25, 2009, when Jackson died of what a coroner deemed acute propofol poisoning.

TMZ reported on Tuesday (February 8) that Murray's lawyers plan to argue that Jackson was already in weak health before he died and that it's unfair to blame propofol for his passing. Unnamed sources close to the case told the gossip site that at the time of his death, Jackson's body was already failing him in part because concert promoter AEG Live had "driven [him] over the edge" with a rigorous rehearsal schedule for the shows.

Murray's lawyers reportedly plan to call witnesses to say that Jackson was not showing up for rehearsals and when he did he showed "clear signs" of frail health. They also reportedly plan to argue that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of propofol to himself while Murray was out of the room.

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