December 6, 2012

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The VH1 Divas roster just expanded, with the additions of Ledisi, Keri Hilson and Bootsy Collins. They've been tapped to take the stage during this year's "dance party," which will now include appearances from Brandy, La La Anthony, NeNe Leakes and more.

Among the previously-announced performers are Ciara, Kelly Rowland and Jordin Sparks, who will pay homage to the late icons Whitney Houston and Donna Summer.

Melanie Fiona will also perform during this year's event, which will air live from Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, Dec. 16, at 9 p.m. E.T on VH1.

As in the past, the VH1 Divas celebration will benefit the network's Save the Music Foundation.

The billing is so wrong...

How is Bootsy a diva?

He's a divo, but he won't be alone; Pitbull is part of the lineup.

Identity said:

He's a divo, but he won't be alone; Pitbull is part of the lineup.

lmao I saw his name...

Who is the blonde girl and most importantly, how does Keri hilson still have a career?

I'm underwhelmed.

I'm tired of people butchering Whitney songs.

the lineup hasn't been good in what, 10 years now? I stopped watching. The first few years were good but for some reason the big names largely stopped coming (or coming together) after that. Did VH1 stop paying as much or were the big names too much of a hassle with their demands?

.

scriptgirl said:

Who is the blonde girl and most importantly, how does Keri hilson still have a career?

Natasha Bedingfield.

Shard said:

the lineup hasn't been good in what, 10 years now? I stopped watching. The first few years were good but for some reason the big names largely stopped coming (or coming together) after that. Did VH1 stop paying as much or were the big names too much of a hassle with their demands?

.

This. I haven't watched it in years either. And still not interested.

Hot clip of Natasha Bedingfield, Iggy Azalea & Bootsy Collins performing 'Groove is in The Heart'"

"Groove is in the Heart

My favorite Divas show was the Diana Ross one and that's because Donna was on it and she stole the show:) This tribute to Donna was appreciated, but I think everyone sounded just okay. Not necessarily good. Kelly Rowland's "I Feel Love" intro was short, but it was the only part of that tribute that I liked. It all went downhill after that short intro, in my opinion. Whitney's tribute was better, but Whitney always seems to get the better triubutes between her and Donna. Heck! Whitney tends to get more props than Donna. She's probably had fifty tributes to Donna's two or three:) Even Whitney's name was spread across the stage during her tribute. Noboby else's name was, that I recall. Yes, I have issue with that because Donna is better than Whitney. LOL. You can expect me to say that since Donna Summer is my favorite:)

[Edited 12/18/12 3:47am]

Identity said:

Hot clip of Natasha Bedingfield, Iggy Azalea & Bootsy Collins performing 'Groove is in The Heart'"

"Groove is in the Heart

i had to turn the channel after the first verse. natasha was soooo awful. i never really recovered from that. i flipped the channel back after it was over, but i wound up switching again to something else. that perfomance just killed the whole thing for me.

leecappella said:

My favorite Divas show was the Diana Ross one and that's because Donna was on it and she stole the show:) This tribute to Donna was appreciated, but I think everyone sounded just okay. Not necessarily good. Kelly Rowland's "I Feel Love" intro was short, but it was the only part of that tribute that I liked. It all went downhill after that short intro, in my opinion. Whitney's tribute was better, but Whitney always seems to get the better triubutes between her and Donna. Heck! Whitney tends to get more props than Donna. She's probably had fifty tributes to Donna's two or three:) Even Whitney's name was spread across the stage during her tribute. Noboby else's name was, that I recall. Yes, I have issue with that because Donna is better than Whitney. LOL. You can expect me to say that since Donna Summer is my favorite:)

[Edited 12/18/12 3:47am]

I dont care for this show and my days of watching any kind of award show are over unless Prince or Janet made an appearance.

However, I agree with this. Donna is getting SNUBBED big time in the tribute department and she deserves alot more.

[Edited 12/18/12 10:19am]

i dont think donna is getting snubbed, she was no where on whitney's level so of course you will see more tributes for whitney.im a big donna summer fan but she peaked in the 70's with disco.

lowkey said:

i dont think donna is getting snubbed, she was no where on whitney's level so of course you will see more tributes for whitney.im a big donna summer fan but she peaked in the 70's with disco.

Well of course but she doesnt deserve half ass tributes either.

The reason Donna isn't highly regarded is simply because she wasn't a pop artist like Whitney.

Pop artists are always given more shine. MTV is going to have a million Madonna tributes when she dies.

Once again, we get that Whitney is a pop star but I think the Donna tributes could be better. They dont necessarily have to be the same amount as Whitney but it just seems some of the tributes were half done for her.

mjscarousal said:

Once again, we get that Whitney is a pop star but I think the Donna tributes could be better. They dont necessarily have to be the same amount as Whitney but it just seems some of the tributes were half done for her.

Agreed. There was so much to Donna than the obvious hits that she was known for during her disco era. The tributes that they've done for both Whitney and Donna have been half-assed, but I'm not particularly surprised.

As for this show, HORRID! Last year's show was way better. The best Divas shows will always be the Aretha one and the 1999 one with Whitney. Speaking of these VH1 showcases, whatever happened to Men Strike Back?

Terrib3Towel said:

The reason Donna isn't highly regarded is simply because she wasn't a pop artist like Whitney.

Pop artists are always given more shine. MTV is going to have a million Madonna tributes when she dies.

Pretty much.

Didn't watch but I'm not surprised that's how the tributes went. Donna wasn't really on a lot of people's radar pre-May 17th.

The reason Donna isn't highly regarded is simply because she wasn't a pop artist like Whitney.

Pop artists are always given more shine. MTV is going to have a million Madonna tributes when she dies.

I think it simply had to do with the fact that Whitney simply had a more recent string of hits and videos than Donna so she's remembered better. In her day Donna was just as big of a pop star as Whitney, there just wasn't MTV and 24/7 media coverage then like there is now, and the internet didn't even exist. As far as Madonna and MTV is concerned, of course she's going to have a big tribute since she helped put them on the map, but even she basically picked up where Donna left off, careerwise.

[Edited 12/19/12 3:15am]

I think it's also because of the way they died. Whitney died a lot younger than Donna, over something that many thought (including I) she was leaving.

UnderMySun said:

The reason Donna isn't highly regarded is simply because she wasn't a pop artist like Whitney.

Pop artists are always given more shine. MTV is going to have a million Madonna tributes when she dies.

I think it simply had to do with the fact that Whitney simply had a more recent string of hits and videos than Donna so she's remembered better. In her day Donna was just as big of a pop star as Whitney, there just wasn't MTV and 24/7 media coverage then like there is now, and the internet didn't even exist. As far as Madonna and MTV is concerned, of course she's going to have a big tribute since she helped put them on the map, but even she basically picked up where Donna left off, careerwise.

[Edited 12/19/12 3:15am]

There are many factors regarding this, but I agree with UnderMySun. Donna was a pop artist before Whitney was a pop artist. Whitney was a bigger pop artist, I'd say, but I would credit her being a movie star for that popularity as well. Donna's years of absence on the music scene is also applicable here. They are two different vocalists. I just prefer Donna's voice more so than Whitney's because Donna's voice is more versatile and can sound different artistically. I love that in vocalists and there aren't many like that. Donna also had far less drama than Whitney and was hardly ever in the news. The more coverage you get. The more popular you can become. As UnderMySun makes mention of, today's media is much unlike yesterday's media. I like both artists, but in my mind, Donna Summer tops the rest. It's all just a matter of preference and opinion though. Donna deserves a tribute on the same level as Whitney has recieved. Before there was Whitney, there was Donna Summer. Up until she passed, Donna sounded great live and on recordings. She took care of her instrument. That's one thing I admired about her as an artist/person.

[Edited 12/19/12 15:58pm]