Kanye West

Kanye West is officially back. The rapper, who has been on sort of a self-imposed hiatus, is ready to drop a brand new solo album and to launch it, he performed new material on Saturday Night Live’s season finale.

First up, Kanye debuted his new song “Black Skinhead.” Yeezy angrily bounced around the SNL stage and literally screamed the song’s lyrics on parts. In stark contrast, a calmer Ye returned for his second performance of the night with his new single “New Slaves.” This performance was all about the lyrics as the rapper stood still and just let the lyrics (including dropping the N word) speak for themselves.

New Music: Kanye West – New Slaves

Both “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” will appear on Kanye West’s highly anticipated new album “Yeezus.” The set is expected to be released on June 18. Watch Kanye perform as musical guest on the season finale of SNL below.

Kanye West

Leave it to Kanye West to find the most innovative way to premiere his new single. The Grammy-winning rap icon debuted his fiery new track, “New Slaves,” by projecting his image rapping the tune on the side of 66 buildings around the world.

Ye premiered his new track hours before he’d take the stage as musical guest on the season finale of Saturday Night Live.

Kanye is gearing up for the release of his as-yet-untitled new album, the follow-up to 2010′s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, out on June 18.

Listen to “New Slaves” below:

Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne‘s youthful state of mind was very evident this morning when she appeared on the Today Show. The punk-pop princess was super peppy at the early hour while fielding Matt Lauer‘s ridiculous questions (“What are you trying to say in the song” he asked of “Here’s To Never Growing Up.” “Uh, I don’t really wanna grow up…” Avril quipped) and performing her new single.

New Video: Avril Lavigne – Here’s To Never Growing Up

Watch Avril perform on Today below:

Candice Glover and Jennifer Hudson

Before being crowed the winner of American Idol season 12, Candice Glover proved she deserved the title when she performed a stunning duet with Idol alum Jennifer Hudson during last night’s (May 16) live finale results show. The two powerhouses raised the roof with a goosebumps-inducing performance of Natalie Cole‘s “Inseparable.”

While fans loved seeing the two divas perform the classic, Natalie wasn’t impressed. In fact, she was downright offended. “Make no mistake…”Inseparable” was NOT originally recorded by Jennifer Hudson, but by ME….,” Cole said in a post to both her Twitter and Facebook accounts. “American Idol ought to be ashamed of themselves….I am seriously offended!”

Watch the two divas slay the stage together with their performance below:

Candice Glover – FOX

The third time proved to be the charm for Candice Glover, as she was named the winner of American Idol season 12.

The R&B powerhouse, who auditioned for the show two seasons before, beat out bluesy country singer Kree Harrison during last night’s (May 16) finale.

Candice clinched the title after a strong showing on Wednesday night’s performance finale. She blew the judges away with all three of her performances, but left them especially awed with her reprise of “I (Who Have Nothing).”

Video: Mariah Carey Performs Medley Of Hits, “Beautiful” On American Idol Finale

“You’re such a powerhouse singer…it was incredible,” gushed Keith Urban. “What comes across for you is superstar,” Nicki Minaj said. “That girl can plum, flat-out sing…this was a winning performance,” Randy Jackson added. Mariah Carey closed the praise fest with, “What you have is the ability to take any song and turn it into a vehicle for that amazing voice.”

Video: Angie Miller Performs With Adam Lambert And Jessie J On American Idol Finale Results Show

After host Ryan Seacrest revealed the big news, an emotional Candice performed her first single, “I Am Beautiful,” complete with mid-performance winner tears.

Candice is the first female winner Idol’s had since Jordin Sparks in season 6.

Jennifer Lopez

Former American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez returned to the Idol stage tonight (May 16) during the live finale results show to give a performance of her current single with a special guest.

Jlo along with rapper Pitbull stormed the stage to perform their song “Live It Up.” Jennifer worked with stage in a white hot outfit backed by several dancers.

Jlo and Pitbull’s performance ended a jam-packed night of performances for the Idol season 12 finale. Hitting the stage earlier in the night was current judge Mariah Carey, Adam Lambert and more. Watch Jennifer’s performance below.

Angie Miller and Adam Lambert

Angie Miller might have come in in third place during the show but she got winner level duets for her American Idol finale performances tonight (May 16).

Angie started out her two performances on the live finale results show with a beautiful duet featuring American Idol season 8 breakout star Adam Lambert. The two performed a simply gorgeous, piano-driven version of David Guetta and Sia‘s “Titanium.” Adam sweetly sang along with Angie, making sure not to overpower her and let her shine. Their harmonies? To die for!

After her stunning duet with Adam, Angie got the chance to perform with her personal idol Jessie J. The two gave a super cute performance of Jessie’s “Domino.” Since Angie had to forego performing her new single “You Set Me Free” to perform with Jessie, the British pop star invited Angie to sing the song at one of her shows in the UK. Angie accepted the offer of course.

Watch Angie’s duets with Adam Lambert and Jessie J below.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey dipped back into her vast catalog of hits to performance a sizzling hot medley during tonight’s (May 16) American Idol season 12 live results show finale.

Dressed in a diva dressed that only she could rock, MC stood center stage and started off the medley with “Vision Of Love.” She then performed painfully short snippets of hits like “Make It Happen,” “My All,” “Hero,” and “We Belong Together.” Finally, she ended things with a taste of her new single “Beautiful” but sadly, sans its featured singer Miguel. She received some assistance from fellow Idol judge Randy Jackson who played along on guitar.

“Beautiful” leads Mariah’s highly-anticipated new album, due this summer. Watch her performance below.

Candice Glover and Kree Harrison – FOX

The American Idol season 12 finale is finally upon us. In a matter of hours, we’ll find out who will walk away with the Idol crown. Will it be Candice Glover, the R&B diva with the powerhouse voice? Or will it be Kree Harrison, the bluesy country belter with the heartbreaking back story?

Kree and Candice made their case during last night’s live performance show. They battled it out in three rounds. The first consisted of songs chosen by Idol creator Simon Fuller; round two featured what would become the winner’s first single; and round three gave the girls a chance to reprise one of their favorite performances from the season.

Both girls are extremely talented. We haven’t had a finale this well-matched in awhile. But, if we’re being completely honest *Simon Cowell voice*, Candice totally edged Kree out.

Here’s a rundown of how the final two did:

Round 1 -  Simon Fuller’s Choice

Kree Harrison – Angel: Simon started Kree off with Sarah McLachlan’s heartstrings-tugger “Angel.” Kree delivered a beautiful vocal and gave the song her country stamp. But we couldn’t help feeling as if it was a little blah. When it ended, we were surprised because nothing really happened. There was no “wow” moment.

Candice Glover – Chasing Pavements: Candice got right into the game with Adele’s breakout single, “Chasing Pavements.” It’s so easy for contestants on these shows to copy Adele when they sing her songs, but Candice didn’t at all. Her take was decidedly more jazzy and she used her falsetto voice a lot. Gorgeously done.

Judges: Mariah and Randy were asked for their opinions on the first round.”Wow. Beyond,” said Mariah. “They were both kind of sleepy,” said Randy of the songs. But she gave round 1 to Candice for trying to take the song to new heights.

Round 2 – Winner’s Single

Kree Harrison – All Cried Out: It’s a good ol’ country ballad for Kree’s potential single. “I’m all cried out/I let it run like a river/But it’s empty now/And the only consolation is I can lie here in this bed and put these memories to rest somehow/’Cause I’m all cried out,” she belted (in a quite pitchy manner) over the chorus. The song isn’t as schmaltzy as past Idol winner singles, but sheesh. Kree needs better material for her voice.

Candice Glover – I Am Beautiful: Like Kree’s song, Candice’s song was also a cheesefest. The big chorus goes, “He says I am beautiful/And when I fall, it don’t matter that I’m not perfect/I am beautiful/I’m not alone/And in his eyes I’m so worth it/I’m worth every tear/And every scar/And even when you say I’m not/He says I’m beautiful.” But regardless of the corny material, Candice sang the hell living out of it.

Judges: Keith and Nicki were asked for their thoughts. “I love her composure and this song made her reach down in her gut more than she’s ever done before,” said Nicki of Kree. “This is soul vs soul,” Keith added. Keith gave round 2 to Kree, Nicki gave it to Candice.

Round 3 – Favorite Song Of The Season

Kree Harrison – Up To The Mountain: Kree saved the best for last. Her reprise of “Up To The Mountain” reminded us of why we loved her so much in the beginning of the competition. She has a powerful country voice with a world of soul behind it. This was the best she sounded all night. A great way to end her part of the competition.

Judges: “That was beautiful,” said Keith. “I loved that even more than the single performance,” Nicki said. “That was a winning performance,” Randy added. “You gave us power here… you have something special,” Mariah closed with.

Candice Glover – I Who Have Nothing: Not to be outdone, Candice revisited her best performance of the season and did it even better the second time. She started off hauntingly singing the first verse acappella before inviting the band (including that amazing strings section!) to help her bring the song home. Simply incredible! We got chills!

Judges: “You’re such a powerhouse singer…it was incredible,” gushed Keith. “What comes across for you is superstar,” Nicki said. “That girl can plum, flat-out sing…this was a winning performance,” Randy added. Mariah closed the praise fest with, “What you have is the ability to take any song and turn it into a vehicle for that amazing voice.”

Predictions: Based on last night? Candice is the winner. Based on the entire season? Candice is the winner!

Ciara‘s “Body Party” has been remixed.

The R&B star gets an official feature from her boyfriend, Future, a verse by fellow ATL-repper B.o.B. and another sampling of the beat from Ghost Town DJ’s “My Boo” for a new upbeat version of the sexy hit.

New Video: Ciara Heats Things Up With Future In “Body Party”

“Body Party” is the latest track taken from Ciara’s oft-delayed, hotly-anticipated new self-titled album, due July 9.