Thursday, November 8, 2012

Mariah Carey Ft. Rick Ross & Meek Mill —Triumphant (Get ‘Em)

Exclusive: Sneak peek at Mariah Carey's new music video.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Cheer Up, Republicans

You’re going to have a moderate Republican president for the next four years: Barack Obama.

By

Dear Republicans,
Sorry about the election. I know how much it hurts when your presidential candidate loses. I’ve been there many times. You’re crestfallen. You can’t believe the public voted for that idiot. You fear for your country.
Cheer up. The guy we just re-elected is a moderate Republican.

I know how stupid that sounds. Barack Obama is the head of the Democratic Party. For five years, conservative politicians and media told you he was a raving socialist. In the heat of the campaign, when you’re trying to beat the guy, it’s hard to let go of that image of him, just as it’s hard for Democrats to see past the caricatures of Mitt Romney. But now that the campaign is over and you’re staring at a second Obama term, the falsity of the propaganda may come as a relief. By and large, Obama’s instincts are the instincts of a moderate Republican. His policies are the policies of a moderate Republican. He stands where the GOP used to stand and will someday stand again.

Yes, Obama began his presidency with bailouts, stimulus, and borrowing. You know who started the bailouts? George W. Bush. Bush knew that under these exceptionally dire circumstances, bailouts had to be done. Stimulus had to be done, too, since the economy had frozen up. A third of the stimulus was tax cuts. Once the economy began to revive, Obama offered a $4-trillion debt reduction framework that would have cut $3 to $6 of spending for every $1 in tax hikes. That’s a higher ratio of cuts to hikes than Republican voters, in a Gallup poll, said they preferred. It’s way more conservative than the ratio George H. W. Bush accepted in 1990. In last year’s debt-ceiling talks, Obama offered cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in exchange for revenue that didn’t even come from higher tax rates. Now he’s proposing to lower corporate tax rates, and Republicans are whining that he hacked $716 billion out of Medicare. Some socialist.

Yes, Obama imposed an individual mandate to buy health insurance. You know who else did that? Romney. You know where the idea came from? The Heritage Foundation. Personal responsibility—insisting that people carry private insurance so we don’t have to bail them out in emergency rooms and hospitals—was a Republican idea. Same with Wall Street reform: There’s nothing conservative about letting financial institutions gamble with other people’s money in ways that would force us to bail them out again. Even Obama’s cap-and-trade proposal echoed the market-based emissions-control policies of the 1990 Bush administration and the 2008 McCain campaign. And last year, when the EPA proposed a new air-pollution limit, Obama ticked off environmentalists by killing it on the grounds that it might jeopardize the recovery.


Remember how Democrats ridiculed George W. Bush’s troop surge in Iraq? Obama copied it in Afghanistan. He escalated the drone program, killing off al-Qaida’s leaders. He sent SEAL Team 6 into Pakistan to get Osama Bin Laden. He teamed up with NATO to take down Muammar Qaddafi. He reneged on his pledge to close Guantanamo Bay. He put together a globally enforced regime of sanctions that is bringing Iran’s economy to its knees. That’s why Romney had nothing to say in last month’s foreign policy debate. No sensible Republican president would have done things differently.

Obama’s no right-winger. You might have serious issues with his Supreme Court justices or his moves on immigration or the Bush tax cuts. But you probably would have had similar issues with Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, or Gerald Ford. Obama’s in the same mold as those guys. So don’t despair. Your country didn’t vote for a socialist tonight. It voted for the candidate of traditional Republican moderation. What should gall you, haunt you, and goad you to think about the future of your party is that that candidate wasn’t yours.







How Obama Won Four More Years


He became a street fighter. And he had a better team that ran a first-rate campaign.


In the end, it wasn't close. Barack Obama won re-election handily over Mitt Romney with 303 electoral votes (so far), well more than the 270 electoral votes needed. Of the nine battleground states that were up for grabs, Obama won seven of them, losing only North Carolina (Florida remains to be called). But while Obama won those states, he didn't crush it; he won instead, a string of precise narrow victories. He didn’t win because his leadership during Hurricane Sandy blew all those swing votes his way (though it may have helped). The president won because he ran a permanent campaign, keeping his offices open in the battleground states from his 2008 campaign, tending his coalition assiduously, and because he relentlessly defined his opponent. His was the better campaign. The Democratic candidate of “hope and change” beat the big business Republican in the trenches, in one state after another.
President Obama’s tactical victory is clear when you look at the election returns. He has no grand mandate that comes out of Tuesday’s numbers. He has been re-elected, but his policies did not win the day. Voters didn't turn their faces up to the vision he painted the way they did in 2008. When voters were asked which candidate had a vision for the future, Romney won that question in exit polls, 55 percent to 43 percent. Asked about Obama's signature achievement, health care, voters did not approve. Forty-nine percent said they wanted it repealed in part or whole. Voters also said the federal government was too large.

Voters are deeply divided by race and age. The president can credit strong support from women. He led by 11 percentage points among women, while Romney led by 7 points among men. There was also an Obama advantage among younger voters. He grabbed a majority of those under 45. Older voters broke for Romney. Obama lost the white vote by a larger margin than in 2008 when he got 43 percent of the vote. On Tuesday, he got just 40 percent of the white vote. They represented virtually the same share of the electorate as before. But Obama made up for that deficit by winning handily with minorities, which represented an ever-so-slightly larger share of the vote.

The best news the president can find in the exit polls was that he fought the economic question to a tie. Voters who cared about the economy picked Romney by only one point over Obama, 49 percent to 48 percent. Still, Obama simply neutralized his opponent; there's nothing in that number that suggests a mandate. Sixty percent of voters backed Obama's call for tax increases for those with incomes over $250,000. But that’s a proposal that will have no life beyond the campaign trail. Polls show that voters have long supported this idea. It doesn’t happen because the proposal will never shake loose enough of the partisan opposition to make it real.
Now the candidate of “hope and change” must bind up his wounds and prepare himself for another round. Half of the country is going to be upset by this outcome, and the president, who once knew how to make the music of reconciliation, will have to whip up some kind of stirring message in the months to come.
The White House knew what tone to strike when it released its first post-election photograph, which was a vision not of jubilation but of almost relief. In his remarks, Obama immediately moved to start the reconciliation. "We rise or fall together as one nation," he said. He then praised Romney and his family: "From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, they give back through public service and that is a legacy that we honor and applaud tonight." He promised to sit down with Romney in the coming weeks to "talk about moving this country forward." He said the vote was a vote for action to focus on jobs and that in the weeks and months ahead he would work with the other party. "Whether I earned your vote or not ... you have made me a better president. I return to the White House more determined than ever."
What was ratified on election night was the benefit of a permanent campaign and the talent of the Obama team. The much vaunted Obama ground game appears to have been a real thing. (David Axelrod's candidate won by more than a whisker, and Axelrod got to keep his; he'd pledged to shave off his mustache if Obama lost Pennsylvania, Michigan, or Minnesota.) His campaign team was so formidable that it made up for all the inadequacies, vulnerabilities, and missteps (remember that first debate?) of a weak incumbent president in a sputtering economy. He pulled out every stop possible: Bill Clinton, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and Katy Perry in a dress that was as tight as Obama’s margin in Florida.
A few theories of political science were upheld. Debates didn't change the outcome, and late-deciding voters don't break for the challenger. Nine percent of voters said they made up their mind with three days to go, and they broke for the president, 51 percent to Romney’s 44 percent.

In the end, Romney was right. It was all about the economy. But Americans seemed to want more than someone who cares about fixing the problem; they want someone they think cares about them. It was the empathy, stupid. When voters were asked which candidate cared more about then, Obama won more than 80 percent of those voters.
The president won among African-Americans, who were 13 percent of the electorate, by 93 percent to 6 percent. He won among Hispanics, 70 percent to 30 percent. Romney's poor performance with Hispanics, in particular, is likely to start a wave of soul-searching in the party about how to reach out to the country’s fastest-growing minority group.

That's not the only conversation that's going to take place in the Republican Party. With Romney's loss, Republicans will start positioning for the future by winning the argument about the last campaign. There are three possible reasons for Romney's defeat that will be floated. First, he was a bad candidate. Second, the party is out of step with the demographic changes in the country. Third, the hurricane stopped Romney's momentum. The truth is likely to be some combination of all three. Romney was a flawed candidate, out of step with his party and sometimes himself. His shift in the final weeks to a more moderate tone seemed to be a late-in-the-game reversion to a truer self.

Did the storm matter? It’s hard to imagine that it did, but 64 percent said the president's response to the hurricane was a factor in their decision. Forty-two percent said it was important to their vote for president. Political scientists will help us determine whether those responses have anything to do with the 9 percent who say they decided in the last three days to vote for Obama.
The president’s team always said he had multiple paths to the presidency. That’s because he started with 237 electoral votes from safely Democratic states that are a part of what seems like a permanent Democratic wall. This campaign affirmed that New Mexico is a Democratic presidential stronghold and probably did the same for Nevada and Wisconsin. Obama won with a combination of those paths his aides had outlined. He won Nevada and Virginia and Colorado with a mix of minorities and white working-class voters, as well as upscale white suburban voters. In Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa, Obama won in states that didn't have big minority populations but he got enough of the white vote to survive. The Obama campaign’s Midwest firewall held, though the exit polls were a little hard to read. In Iowa, Obama won among white women, with 58 percent of the vote, but in Ohio he lost among white women, 52 percent to 47 percent. In some states, the president fared even worse. In Virginia, Obama lost white women 58 percent to 41 percent. (This is what was so amazing about the strength of his "new coalition" in states like Virginia, where he could make up for that deficit with other kinds of voters.)
It will take some time to pull through the exit polls, but in Ohio, the state that was the focus of so much attention and that put Obama over the top, he prevailed for two reasons. First, he was able to run on the auto bailout, a tangible economic result voters could feel. (More than half of Ohio voters approved of the bailout.) Second, Obama also won in Ohio because he turned Romney into a symbol of the economy that had put them in an economic fix. In Ohio, on the question of "who cares about you," Obama won the support of 84 percent of the state's voters.
What did voters ultimately decide about Mitt Romney? They didn't think that he was enough of an economic fix-it man, and his favorable rating was just 47 percent. Fifty percent viewed him unfavorably.
The verdict on the Paul Ryan pick seems to be that he neither helped nor hurt. Obama won Ryan's congressional district in Wisconsin (based on a preliminary count of the votes, which could change), so his place on the Republican ticket not only didn't help Romney carry the state, it didn't seem to have helped him carry the portion he represents. Then again, Paul Ryan's Medicare plan was supposed to cost Romney the state of Florida. Those fears were wildly misplaced. Romney-Ryan actually clobbered the president with Florida’s seniors. On the specific question of which candidate would better handle the issue of Medicare, Obama lost by a lot. Fifty-four percent of the state’s seniors said they trusted Romney on Medicare over Obama, who only earned 40 percent of the vote.
Regardless of what happens in the second term, the president won an enormous victory by protecting his first term’s achievements, particularly the Affordable Care Act, which Romney had promised to repeal. Although he won by slimmer margins, he held on to all but two states he won in 2008. That’s an incredible accomplishment when you consider the economy he has governed over for the past four years. (And the two states he gave back—North Carolina and Indiana—were always expected to fall back into the GOP column.) Politically, there is no reason to believe his second term will be easier than his first. Republicans will call it a tactical victory and look at the close national vote tally to convince themselves that there’s nothing in this election that should cause them to concede ground during the coming budget fight.
Barack Obama won in 2008 as a man who floated above the vast great nation. In 2012, he remade himself into a determined, street-level fighter for the middle-class. During his first campaign, Obama quoted Martin Luther King Jr., who said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." He was the first African-American president in the nation’s history. Now he is the first African-American president to be re-elected. Now that he is freed of the constraints that come from having to get re-elected, the president who put his grand visions on hold to survive, can get back to working on that bend.
By .

Check out this great MSN video - Obama: `We have picked ourselves up,' fought back

Obama wins second term in the White House!



The president rolled to a second term over Romney, winning more than 300 electoral votes. Obama told supporters "the best is yet to come."

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the American people have "picked ourselves up" and fought back during tough economic times, declaring after winning re-election that the "best is yet to come."
Obama says he wants to meet with Republican rival Mitt Romney to discuss how they can work together. He says they may have "battled fiercely, but it's only because we love this country deeply."
The president rolled to a second term over Romney, winning more than 300 electoral votes. Only one state's electoral votes hadn't been called by The Associated Press as of early Wednesday morning. In Florida, Obama has a 46,000-vote lead, with 100 percent of precincts reporting. But Florida historically has left as many as 5 percent of its votes uncounted until after Election Day, making the race too close to call until state officials complete their count, the AP said.

In victory, Obama spoke to thousands of cheering supporters, praising Romney and promising that better days are ahead. "While our road has been hard, though our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up. We have fought our way back and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come," he said.

Romney made a graceful concession speech before a disappointed crowd in Boston. He summoned all Americans to pray for Obama and urged the night's political winners to put partisan bickering aside and "reach across the aisle" to tackle the nation's problems. Romney said earlier he called Obama to congratulate him on his victory, adding that he prays "the president will be successful in guiding our nation."
Obama triumphed despite a weak economy that plagued his first term and put a crimp in the middle class dreams of millions.

After the costliest - and arguably the nastiest - campaign in history, divided government seemed alive and well. Democrats retained control of the Senate with surprising ease. Republicans did the same in the House, making it likely that Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Obama's partner in unsuccessful deficit talks, would reclaim his seat at the bargaining table.

At Obama headquarters in Chicago, a huge crowd gathered waving small American flags and cheering. Supporters hugged each other, danced and pumped their fists in the air. Excited crowds also gathered in New York's Times Square, at Faneuil Hall in Boston and near the White House in Washington, drivers joyfully honking as they passed by.

With votes counted in 75 percent of the nation's precincts, Obama held a narrow advantage in the popular vote, leading by about 25,000 out of more than 99 million cast.

But the president's laserlike focus on the battleground states allowed him to run up a 303-206 margin in the competition for electoral votes, where the White House is won or lost. It took 270 to win. Obama captured Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Hampshire, Colorado and Nevada, seven of the nine states where the rivals and their allies poured nearly $1 billion into dueling television commercials.

Romney won only North Carolina among the battleground states. Four years ago, Obama had carried the state.

Florida remained too close to call, a state where long lines of voters kept the polls open in some areas well past the appointed poll close time.

Here’s how it shaped up for the candidates.

Barack Obama won:Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Oregon, Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico, California, Hawaii, Washington, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Vermont, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Illinois .

Mitt Romney won:Montana, Alaska, Alabama, Missouri, Idaho, North Carolina, Arizona, Utah, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, Kentucky, West Virginia, South Carolina, Indiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Georgia.

The election emerged as a choice between two very different visions of government - whether it occupies a major, front-row place in American lives or is in the background as a less-obtrusive facilitator for private enterprise and entrepreneurship.

The economy was rated the top issue by about 60 percent of voters surveyed as they left their polling places. But more said former President George W. Bush bore responsibility for current circumstances than Obama did after nearly four years in office. That bode well for the president, who had worked to turn the election into a choice between his proposals and Romney's, rather than the simple referendum on the economy during his time in the White House.

Unemployment stood at 7.9 percent on election day, higher than when he took office. And despite signs of progress, the economy is still struggling after the worst recession in history.

About 4 in 10 said the economy is on the mend, but more than that said it was stagnant or getting worse more than four years after the near-collapse of 2008. The survey was conducted for The Associated Press and a group of television networks.




Tuesday, November 6, 2012

MAROON 5 TO PERFORM EXCLUSIVE CONCERT FOR GUESTS ATTENDING "THE GRAMMY® NOMINATIONS CONCERT LIVE!! COUNTDOWN TO MUSIC'S BIGGEST NIGHT®"

Post-Show Event Will Immediately Follow the One-Hour Live Broadcast


CBS Entertainment Special — Airing at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT — Will Announce Nominations for the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards® Live for the First Time Ever from

Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Nov. 5, 2012)—Three-time GRAMMY®-winning group Maroon 5 are set to perform an exclusive concert for guests attending "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night®." The concert will immediately follow the one-hour live nominations special — which will feature performances by Luke Bryan and Maroon 5, and will be co-hosted by two-time GRAMMY winner LL COOL J and six-time GRAMMY winner Taylor Swift. The show— which will announce nominations in several categories as well as feature performances by past GRAMMY winners and/or nominees— will take place live for the first time ever at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network (www.cbs.com) from 10 – 11 p.m. ET/PT (9 p.m. Central). Additional performers and presenters will be announced shortly. For updates and breaking news, please visit www.grammy.com, and The Recording Academy®'s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys.

Tickets for "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" and exclusive post-show concert with Maroon 5 are on sale now and are available online at www.ticketmaster.com or via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at 800.745.3000.

This concert special marks the fifth time nominations for the annual GRAMMY Awards® will be announced live on primetime television. Last year's airing of the nominations special helped lead to increased ratings for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which attracted 39.9 million viewers, the largest GRAMMY audience since 1984 and the second largest in history. The telecast was also the biggest social event in the history of television at that time, drawing 13 million social media comments with the conversation on Twitter reaching a record high at 160,341 tweets per minute during the live telecast.

LL COOL J has hosted "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" since its inception, and also hosted the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast for the first time earlier this year. Swift co-hosted the first GRAMMY nominations special with LL COOL J in December 2008.

The road to Music's Biggest Night begins with "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!" and culminates with the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards, live from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, and broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

"The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" is produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures, LLC. Ken Ehrlich is the executive producer. LL COOL J is producer.   Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards —the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music —The Recording Academy is responsible for ground breaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for thewell-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, GetGlue, and Instagram.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

TAYLOR SWIFT TO CO-HOST "THE GRAMMY® NOMINATIONS CONCERT LIVE!! — COUNTDOWN TO MUSIC'S BIGGEST NIGHT®" ON DEC. 5

LUKE BRYAN TO PERFORM ON THE ONE-HOUR TELECAST


CBS Entertainment Special — Airing at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT —Will Announce

Nominations for the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards® Live for the First Time Ever from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Oct. 29, 2012) —Six-time GRAMMY® winner Taylor Swift will co-host "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night®," along with two-time GRAMMY winner LL COOL J. Additionally, country singer/songwriter Luke Bryan has been added to the lineup for the one-hour special, joining previously announced three-time GRAMMY-winning group Maroon 5. The show — which will announce nominations in several categories as well as feature performances by past GRAMMY winners and/or nominees — will take place live for the first time ever at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network (www.cbs.com) from 10 – 11 p.m. ET/PT (9 p.m. Central). Additional performers and presenters will be announced shortly. For updates and breaking news, please visit www.grammy.com, and The Recording Academy®'s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys.
Following the one-hour live telecast, guests will experience a one-hour exclusive concert by one of the evening's performers. (Artist to be announced shortly.) Tickets for "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" are on sale now and are available online at www.ticketmaster.com or via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at 800.745.3000.
This concert special marks the fifth time nominations for the annual GRAMMY Awards® will be announced live on primetime television. Last year's airing of the nominations special helped lead to increased ratings for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which attracted 39.9 million viewers, the largest GRAMMY audience since 1984 and the second largest in history. The telecast was also the biggest social event in the history of television at that time, drawing 13 million social media comments with the conversation on Twitter reaching a record high at 160,341 tweets per minute during the live telecast.
LL COOL J has hosted "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" since its inception, and also hosted the annual GRAMMY Awards telecast for the first time earlier this year. Swift co-hosted the first GRAMMY nominations special with LL COOL J in December 2008.
The road to Music's Biggest Night begins with "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!" and culminates with the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards, live from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, and broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
"The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" is produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures, LLC. Ken Ehrlich is the executive producer. LL COOL J is producer.
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, GetGlue, and Instagram.







MUSICARES® ANNOUNCES RELIEF RESOURCES FOR MUSIC PEOPLE AFFECTED BY HURRICANE SANDY

MusiCares® Emergency Financial Assistance Will Be Offered


For A Wide Range Of Critical Needs
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Nov. 2, 2012) — MusiCares® (www.musicares.org) announced today the establishment of a fund to support members of the music community affected by the recent devastation of Hurricane Sandy. The MusiCares Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund has been set up so music people in crisis can quickly get help. Assistance includes basic living expenses such as shelter, food, utilities, and transportation; medical expenses including doctor, dentist and hospital bills, and medications; clothing; instrument and recording equipment replacement; relocation costs; home repairs; debris removal; and more.
Music people seeking assistance and individuals interested in supporting MusiCares’ relief efforts should visit www.musicares.org, where they can find a downloadable application, toll-free contact numbers, a list of other resources, and a donation link.
"Hurricane Sandy has been devastating and life-altering for its victims, their families, and their communities," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy® and MusiCares. "As we demonstrated with our rapid and effective responses to natural disasters ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the Nashville flood, MusiCares is able to take action to provide immediate assistance to members of our music family in times of crisis. This instance is no different, and MusiCares’ safety net of resources really mirrors the generosity of the music industry at large."
Throughout the year, the MusiCares Foundation® offers programs and services to members of the music community including emergency financial assistance for basic living expenses such as rent, utilities and car payments; medical expenses including doctor, dentist and hospital bills; psychotherapy; and treatment for HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, hepatitis C, and other critical illnesses. MusiCares offers nationwide educational workshops covering a variety of subjects, including financial, legal, medical, and substance abuse issues, and programs in collaboration with healthcare professionals that provide services such as flu shots, hearing tests, and medical/dental screenings.
The MusiCares MAP Fund® allows access to addiction recovery treatment and sober living resources for members of the music community. Staffed by qualified chemical dependency and intervention specialists, MusiCares Safe Harbor Rooms, supported by the Bohemian Foundation, offer a support network to those in recovery while they are participating in the production of televised music shows and other major music events. MusiCares holds weekly addiction support groups for people to discuss how to best cope with the issues surrounding the recovery process. The MusiCares Sober Touring Network is a database of individuals across the United States who can take music people to recovery support meetings while on the road.
Established in 1989 by The Recording Academy, MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares' services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly impact the health and welfare of the music community. For more information, please visit www.musicares.org. For breaking news and exclusive content, please like "MusiCares" on Facebook at www.facebook.com/musicares and follow @MusiCares on Twitter at www.twitter.com/musicares.

Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, GetGlue, and Instagram.





PEDRO FERNANDEZ, JUAN LUIS GUERRA, JUAN MAGAN, DANIELA ROMO, AND ALEJANDRO SANZ ARE THE LATEST PERFORMERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE XIII ANNUAL LATIN GRAMMY AWARDS®

 PEDRO FERNANDEZ, JUAN LUIS GUERRA, JUAN MAGAN, DANIELA ROMO, AND ALEJANDRO SANZ ARE THE LATEST PERFORMERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE XIII ANNUAL LATIN GRAMMY AWARDS®

Ninel Conde, Ana Brenda Contreras, Marcelo Córdoba, Galilea Montijo, Gabriel Soto, Mark Tacher, and Zuria Vega Are the First Presenters Announced for the Biggest Night in Latin Music
The Latin Music Industry's Premier Event Takes Place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and Airs Live on the Univision Network Nov. 15

MIAMI (Nov. 01, 2012) — Current nominees Pedro Fernández, Juan Luis Guerra, Juan Magán, and Alejandro Sanz, as well as 2012 Latin Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Daniela Romo, are the latest performers added to the lineup for the XIII Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards® (#LatinGrammy), it was announced today by The Latin Recording Academy®. Confirmed to present are actors Ninel Conde, Ana Brenda Contreras, Marcelo Córdoba, Galilea Montijo, Gabriel Soto, Mark Tacher, and Zuria Vega. The biggest night in Latin music is set for Nov. 15 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and will air live on the Univision Network (www.univision.com) from 8 – 11 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. Central). For updates and breaking news, please visit www.latingrammy.com or www.univisionlatingrammy.com, as well as The Latin Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/latingrammys (@LatinGRAMMYs) and www.facebook.com/latingrammys.

Twelve-time Latin GRAMMY® and two-time GRAMMY® winner Juan Luis Guerra leads this year's nominations with six: two in Record Of The Year for "En El Cielo No Hay Hospital" (as artist/producer) and "Azul Sabina" (as producer); Album Of The Year for Juanes' MTV Unplugged (as producer); two in Song Of The Year for "En El Cielo No Hay Hospital" and "Azul Sabina" (songwriter on both); and Producer Of The Year.

DJ/Producer Juan Magán has two nods: Best New Artist and Best Tropical Fusion Album for The King Of Dance.

Fifteen-time Latin GRAMMY and three-time GRAMMY winner Alejandro Sanz also has two nominations: Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for "No Me Compares."
Latin GRAMMY winner Pedro Fernández is nominated in the Best Ranchero Album category for No Que No….
Previously announced performers are current nominees Sergio Dalma, Lila Downs (with Totó La Momposina and Celso Piña), Jesse & Joy, Victor Manuelle, Gerardo Ortiz, Pitbull, Michel Teló, and 3Ball MTY. Actors Cristián De La Fuente and Lucero once again will co-host the Latin music industry's premier event.
The XIII Latin GRAMMY Awards will be supported on radio via Univision Radio (the official Spanish-language radio network of the Latin GRAMMY Awards), and highlighted on the Internet at www.latingrammy.com and www.univisionlatingrammy.com, including video interviews and photos, an extensive archive of past shows, a live blog, and dedicated forums for fans to share their excitement leading up to the live broadcast. For the first time ever, fans can connect to the UVideos companion app, accessing extra content, polls and more on their mobile device. Additionally, the telecast will be distributed internationally to more than 100 countries.
For the second year in a row, LatinGRAMMY.com will feature Latin GRAMMYs en Vivo, which will offer live coverage of the XIII Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards and interviews from various locations including the green carpet arrivals, the Pre-Telecast Ceremony, backstage, and the media center, beginning at 1 p.m. PT.
Preceding the Awards telecast, Univision will present exclusive "Noche De Estrellas" ("Night Of Stars") coverage of the celebrity arrivals direct from the Latin GRAMMY Awards green carpet starting at 7 p.m. ET/PT (6 p.m. Central). Hosted by Univision Network personalities Giselle Blondet ("Nuestra Belleza Latina") and Galilea Montijo ("Hoy"), "Noche De Estrellas" will feature live interviews and commentary on the stars and their fashions, and will provide viewers an intimate and up-close look at Latin music's most glamorous gala event. And for the first time, there will be a live performance on the green carpet with current Latin GRAMMY nominee Fonseca. Fans will also be able to join the conversation on Twitter via @UnivisionMusica (www.twitter.com/univisionmusica) or using #LatinGrammy as well as comment with fellow fans on Univision Musica's facebook (facebook.com/univisionmusica) page.
The Latin Recording Academy is an international, membership-based organization comprised of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking recording artists, musicians, songwriters, producers and other creative and technical recording professionals. The organization is dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for Latin music and its makers. In addition to producing the Latin GRAMMY Awards to honor excellence in the recorded arts and sciences, The Latin Recording Academy provides educational and outreach programs for the Latin music community. For more information about The Latin Recording Academy, please visit www.latingrammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, join the organization's social networks as a Twitter follower at www.twitter.com/latingrammys, and a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/latingrammys.






The Envelope Please...

2012 Oscars red carpet (84th Academy Awards)

84th Academy Awards Nominations Announcement

Winning the category Achievement in Makeup

84th Academy Awards

Winning the category Achievement in Makeup for "The Iron Lady", artist Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland pose backstage with the Oscar® for the media during the live ABC Televison Network broadcast of the 84th Annual Academy Awards® from the Hollywood and Highland Center, in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 26, 2012.

Oscar®-winning documentarians, Dan Lindsay, TJ Martin and Rich Middlemas,


Oscar®-winning documentarians, Dan Lindsay, TJ Martin and Rich Middlemas, winners for Best Documentary Feature for work on "Undefeated," pose backstage with Sean Combs during the live ABC Television Network broadcast of the 84th Annual Academy Awards® from the Hollywood and Highland Center, in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 26, 2012.

Oscar®-winning actress Octavia Spencer

84th Academy Awards


Oscar®-winning actress Octavia Spencer, winner for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in "The Help", poses backstage with Christian Bale for the media during the live ABC Television Network broadcast of the 84th Annual Academy Awards® from the Hollywood and Highland Center, in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 26, 2012.

Oscar®-winning actress Meryl Streep



84th Academy Awards


Oscar®-winning actress Meryl Streep, winner for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her role in "The Iron Lady", poses backstage at the 84th Annual Academy Awards® are broadcast live on the ABC Television Network from the Hollywood and Highland Center, in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 26, 2012.

Official Winners Portraits

84th Academy Awards

Oscar®-winning actor Christopher Plummer, winner for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in "Beginners"; Oscar®-winning actress Octavia Spencer, winner for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in "The Help"; Oscar®-winning actress Meryl Streep, winner for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her role in "The Iron Lady"; Oscar®-winning actor Jean Dujardin, winner for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his role in "The Artist", pose backstage. The 84th Annual Academy Awards Awards® is broadcast live on the ABC Television Network from the Hollywood and Highland Center, in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 26, 2012.

Billy Crystal : 84th Academy Awards Host | The Academy

Billy Crystal : 84th Academy Awards Host | The Academy

Winners for the 84th Academy Awards | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences

Winners for the 84th Academy Awards | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences