Legendary ladies of the past and the future joined forces at last night’s VH1 Divas 2009 concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House. A sleek and spunky Paula Abdul hosted the event, performing a medley of her greatest hits at the start of the show and later doing a hilarious sendup of her American Idol replacement, Ellen DeGeneres.
Posts Tagged ‘Keri Hilson’
PHOTOS: Paula, Liza and the VH1 Divas Do Brooklyn
September 18th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff
PHOTOS: VMA Red-Carpet Style
September 14th, 2009 / Author: Chris MorranFrom the good (Taylor Swift) the bad (Pink) to the downright bizarre (Lady Gaga), here’s a look at what the fashion hi-and-low-lights from Sunday night’s 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
Fashion Week Diary: Charlotte Ronson
September 11th, 2009 / Author: Laura Lane
The Show: Charlotte Ronson
Who Showed Up: Samantha Ronson, Jessica Stroup, Mark Ronson, Nicky Hilton, Keri Hilson, Russell Simmons, Ali Hilfiger
The Fashion: ’80s vibe on simple, solid colors. Greys and light colors. Baggy shirts with light fabric. Short sleeve suits. Braided headbands. High waisted shorts, lots of jeans, shoulder pads, Read more »
PHOTOS: Chris Brown Gets Back to Work
August 20th, 2009 / Author: Mary Beth Quirk
While the details of Chris Brown’s community service for the domestic violence incident involving Rihanna are being worked out, the singer is getting back to work, appearing in a music video for Keri Hilson in L.A. on Wednesday. Singer Melody Thornton also popped in for a cameo.
Keri Hilson: Britney’s Not a “Puppet”
July 24th, 2008
Britney Spears is asking Keri Hilson to give her more hits.
The R&B star, who penned "Gimme More" for Britney has reunited with her to work on the 26-year-old’s upcoming album, a process she dubs "refreshing."
"I got to step outside of what I normally do," Keri tells Rap-Up TV. "I’m not normally this huge pop writer…and Britney, she’s special. I can’t say that she’s guarded, but I understand why she doesn’t want to talk about certain things and I respect that about her."
What’s important to know about the Britster is that she is not a "puppet" strung along and directed by label higher-ups, Keri says.
"She really isn’t the puppet that people make her out to be," she adds. "She has an opinion and she’s a very, very bright girl."
In the studio, the hitmaking duo has never run into any problems as Britney is "a pleasure to work with." You won’t find any diva behavior in there!
"[She] never mouth[s] off," the 25-year-old says. "She’s a very, very sweet person, takes direction very well."
Keri, who’s putting the finishing touches on her own album, In a Perfect World, also has some words for her colleague’s critics.
"Right now she’s dealing with life," she says. "She’s just dealing with life. Leave that girl alone."
Keri Hilson Prepares to Fly Solo
October 15th, 2007
The biggest problem transitioning from songwriter to singer is purely superficial. At least for Keri Hilson it is.
“You have to actually care about what you look like now,” Keri tells OK!. “I think the main difference is that I never had to care if my hair was done this much and if my nails stayed fresh and all that, and I’ve never worn this many heels.”
Fashion and beauty aside, there really isn’t a big difference, Keri says, “other than the fact that now you’re in rehearsal, sitting down and producing vocals and all of that but I’m myself. I’m being myself and I think that that’s the best thing about my project.”
Already a powerhouse songwriter — Keri has penned hits for Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Britney Spears, the Pussycat Dolls and Nelly Furtado to name a few — the 24-year-old is prepping for the launch of her own solo career with In a Perfect World, her debut album set for release later this year.
“It’s something for guys. It’s something for girls, but I have to say you’ll be able to tell how much fun we’re having,” Keri says of her disc. “I don’t take myself too seriously but at the same time I am sharing my inner-most feelings.”
Who’s “we’re”?
That happens to be frequent partners-in-crime Timbaland and Justin, with whom she also performed at the Video Music Awards last month. Citing Justin as her favorite artist, Keri reveals to OK! that she would have loved “to be a fly on the wall during one of his performances” back in the day and can hardly believe that she gets to work and be buddy-buddy with him now.
“Justin is actually very spiritual — a lot of people don’t know that about him,” Keri says. “So we’ve had those conversations where it gets pretty deep and he says, ‘You know you have to hold on to something because it’s easy to get lost in a lot of things.’ It was great [working with him]. He’s actually very quick and if I wasn’t a workaholic I’d be like, ‘Slow down! You’re too quick! Leave me a part.”
The Atlanta native does have a part in their super-secret duet, the title of which she won’t divulge because “it might start a leak thing.”
But before that jam will (legally) see the light of day, her album must hit shelves first so she can’t look too far ahead. “All of my focus is really on getting this one out and seeing this one through to the end and once it’s out and does well and we feel that we’ve done all that we can as far as getting it out and squeezing all the juice out of it, then we’ll go in and work on a second one.”
Keri’s already working hard to generate buzz for it and has taken a page from her idol and former McDonalds’ hawker, Justin. The singer recently participated in the McDonald’s Live Music Tour and hopes fans will cast votes for her on MCDLive.com so she can go down in Golden Arches lore — in a commercial.
“I’m gung ho about that because we actually did the closing show yesterday and I’m very excited, and I would love to be in a McDonald’s commercial.”
Keri Hilson: ‘Gimme More’ is My Song!
October 2nd, 2007
Britney Spears’ personal life may be in shambles, but there’s still some good news in her professional one — her single “Gimme More” is still burning up the airwaves and is seemingly fixed in its No. 1 position on the iTunes charts. But just who is responsible for this hit ditty?
Keri Hilson, that’s who.
“Danja produced the song and I just started singing, ‘Give me, Give me,’ and added a little more in and just having fun and messing around really,” Keri tells OK!. “That’s how everything is. I wrote ‘Gimme More’ with Britney in mind. At this point in my career I am usually in the studio when usually they’re there or sometimes not there, the session is booked, but I definitely have them in mind.”
Like with many of Britney’s biggest hits, the woeful pop star did not put pen to paper for “Gimme More,” leaving the honor to more established songwriters, such as Keri herself. As part of The Clutch, Keri has penned many of today’s hits, collaborating with heavyweights like Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. The 24-year-old wrote not one, but four tunes on Britney’s forthcoming album, dropping Nov. 13, and tells OK! the songs are older than you think.
Although the fallen pop princess was spotted traveling to and from recording studios in the spring, Keri reveals that the 25-year-old actually recorded the tune more than a year ago when she was seven-months pregnant with Jayden. But ever the workaholic — despite the contrary at last month’s Video Music Awards — Brit didn’t let a third trimester pregnancy slow her down — or a birth, for that matter.
“She was so focused,” Keri says. “She gave 150 percent. She had already been recording throughout her pregnancy. We started in Vegas and continued in L.A. and worked at her house. When we worked at her house [she gave birth to Jayden] and it was only three weeks after the baby was born. I mean focused? I don’t know any other mother that would do that.”
However, suffice it to say, a lot has changed since those days. Britney and Keri, who also wrote “The Perfect Lover,” “Out of This World” and “Break the Ice” for the singer, have lost contact and haven’t had a chance to chat about their iTunes triumph.
With their dressing rooms across the hall from each other’s at the VMAs, Keri had hoped to catch up with the mother of two “but I think she just kind of disappeared.”
But the songwriter harbors no ill will against Britney and only wishes her the best. “I’m proud of it, and I would love for people to just leave her alone. She’s going through a lot. This is Britney dealing with life, with real life. Those kids are her whole life.”
