The British songbird was chosen to sing the theme song to the epic, 3D film Avatar, directed by Titanic director James Cameron. The song, “I See You”, was composed by James Horner, the brains behind the epic Titanic love theme “My Heart Will Go On”, which was sung by one of the ultimate divas, Celine Dion.

As you expect from both Lewis and Horner, “I See You” is a sweeping, intricate ballad, fitting the epic thematic elements of the highly-anticipated film. The composition is absolutely rich, yet not utterly overwhelming. It is clear that Horner is a master of interpreting visuals into score, and his absolutely stunning arrangement fit perfectly with the lushness of Pandora, the planet that the film is set in.

As for Lewis’ vocal performance, her voice was made for songs like this. Kudos to Horner for challenging her abilities with such a complicated song, which she pulls off in her standard excellence. Her lower register is getting stronger, but the money is with those power notes, especially with the crescendo at the end of the middle eight. Lewis is effortless with her vocals, and continues to cement her status one of the best vocalists of her generation.

The Avatar soundtrack comes out on December 15th, and the movie on December 18th.

“Louboutins” is being serviced to radio next week and her new album Love? will be out next year.

Check the performance out below!

Pixie Lott is an 18 year-old from Essex, England who has been burning up the UK charts this year with hits like “Mama Do” and “Boys Like Girls”. Her album, Turn It Up, was released in September and has gone Gold so far. Further cementing her success was her first award win at the MTV Europe Music Awards as Best UK & Ireland Act.

Now, right in time for the big Christmas number-one battle, Pixie is releasing her third single, “Cry Me Out”. She switches things up with her latest release, going for a ballad instead of the soulful uptempos like her first two singles. The choice shows off a completely different side to the bubbly teen; the girl’s got some serious fire.

With the help of a soul-drenching, booming voice, Lott drops some serious kickers of lyrics, like “I got your emails, you just don’t get females”. For an 18 year-old, she is full of confidence, which allows her to carry such a difficult genre of music. “Cry Me Out” is a modern twist on 60s R&B, and like Duffy and Amy Winehouse, Pixie pulls off the sound extremely well. She has a very impressive range, which she isn’t afraid to show off, especially in the chorus. The lyrics don’t bring anything new to the idea of a jilted lover, but with a voice like Lott’s, originality isn’t too necessary in order to be convincing.

Pixie Lott does have a record deal in America, so hopefully her British success will call for some Stateside love. The American pop scene could use some more confident, talented young women. Or at least someone to give Taylor Swift a run for her money.

Cry Me Out – Pixie Lott

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

At last night’s Grammy nomination concert, Nick Jonas, a third of Disney teen sensation Jonas Brothers, premiered the new single from his side project, titled Nick Jonas and the Administration. Today, “Who I Am” was released to iTunes, and as 2:13pm, sits at #8 on the chart. You can say that it is proof that the Jonas brand is still a bankable one, even after the disastrous flop that was their latest album Lines, Vines, and Trying Times.

But is the song any good?

A pretty standard pop-rock song, “Who I Am” is very John Mayer-esque, right down to the song’s message. It happens to be one of Jonas’ most relatable; he simply wants to be loved for he is as a person, not anything else. With just the music and lyrics considered, it’s a surprisingly solid effort with some nice sentiments.

Then, we hit the roadblock, which is Nick Jonas’ voice.

As I have written in previous posts reviewing his music, Nick’s voice is a serious problem that, I believe, is stopping him from reaching the levels of fame that his predecessor Justin Timberlake did when he first broke out. He just doesn’t have the range for the songs that he writes. His upper register, which he regrettably uses throughout most of the song, is irritating to listen to, even if he is singing earnestly. When he aims to growl, he almost squeals his desperation for love, which is quite embarrassing, especially for an 17 year-old.

With all of that said, “Who I Am” will most certainly regain the fans he lost with his last album. It it mature, while being appropriate for his age. His voice probably won’t add any converts, but let’s be honest here: his fans weren’t that concerned with that anyway, were they?

Rating: 6 out of 10

Beyonce scored an astonishing ten nominations, including the Big Three (Record, Album, and Song of the Year). Also nominated in that category are Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, who landed eight and five nominations respectively.

There was a minor controversy regarding Gaga’s lack of a nomination in the Best New Artist category. Her nomination in the Best Dance Recording category last year for “Just Dance” prohibited her from getting nominated as a new artist.

Maxwell, Black Eyed Peas, and Kanye West garnered six nominations, while David Guetta and Jay-Z bagged four.

One of the most noticeable snubs this year was of Canadian rapper Drake. Despite his immense popularity, he only scored two nominations, for Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song. “Day ‘N’ Nite” rapper Kid Cudi received three nominations.

Despite having a major comeback record in “All I Ever Wanted”, Kelly Clarkson received only one nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album, alongside Pink, who is also nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal for “Sober”.

To see the full list, click here

In a move that will most likely stun the country, the New York State Senate has voted against a measure that would legalize gay marriage. The bill needs 32 votes to pass, but only 24 senators supported the bill, with 38 senators opposing.

The failure to pass a gay marriage bill in New York, believed to be one of the most open states to gay marriage, deals another blow to the fight for marriage equality in the United States. Right now, only Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont have legalized gay marriage. New Hampshire’s gay marriage laws will go into effect next year.

In a devastating twist of irony, TV actress Meredith Baxter just came out on The Today Show. During her interview, she decided that she wouldn’t come out during the Prop 8 controversy because she thought it would be opportunistic.

Actress Meredith Baxter, most popular for her role as Michael J. Fox’s mom on 80′s sitcom Family Ties, has come out as a lesbian this morning.

The 62 year-old went on the Today Show with Matt Lauer and revealed that she has identified as a lesbian for the past seven years, calling a “later in life recognition”. When asked about her three marriages, she explained that the woman she fell in love with was unexpected, and helped her realize why she was unlucky in love in the past. Her family, including her five children, were very supportive of her when she first came out to them.

Baxter is believed to have come out after the National Enquirer and Perez Hilton reported that she attended a gay cruise with a female companion. The companion was Nancy Locke, who has been Baxter’s girlfriend for the past four years.

Meredith Baxter became immensely popular in her role as Elsye Keaton, Alex P. Keaton’s liberal mother on Family Ties, which ran from 1982 to 1989.

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Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle has topped the Billboard 200 album chart, selling over 700,000 copies of her debut album titled I Dreamed a Dream. She easily topped Eminem’s Relapse for the biggest first-week sales of the year, and the biggest since last year, when AC/DC sold 780,000 copies of their comeback album.

With only her US and UK sales combined, Susan Boyle has sold more than 1.1 million copies. It was announced Sunday that Susan sold 400,000 copies in the UK, giving her the title of fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history.

Congrats Susan!

In celebration of that, I went back into Houston’s impressive performance catalog and picked this festive-like appearance on The Rosie O’Donnell Show in 1998, where she sang “There’s Music In You”. The song is from the Cinderella TV movie, where Brandy was Cinderella.

This clip shows why, even today, Whitney is a force to be reckoned with.

Check it out below (and P.S., Whitney is nominated for eight BWU Awards, so don’t forget to vote for her if your a fan):

“I.Y.A” can be best described as the chilled-out cousin of “Forever”, Brown’s best single. It is a mellow, synthy jam with the standard romantic sentiment of wanting to be the one you love. Brown’s voice is AutoTuned to death (you can argue whether he needs it or not), but it works in an understated way with the slick production, courtesy of Free School. As I wrote in the review, its very reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys, which is never a bad thing since they happen to be brilliant masters of synth-pop.

“I.Y.A.” (coupled with “Crawl”) should have been the backbone for the album he should have made; a fun, but mature R&B/pop record that shows that, like his female counterpart who shall not be named out of respect for Breezy’s fans, he has an artist’s ability to grow with every experience.

While the album ultimately failed in that pursuit, this song seems to show that it is possible.

Rating: 8 out of 10