Verizon has announced it is committing $10 million to help up to one million small business through grants.
Small businesses have born the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. Without the deep pockets and resilience of large companies, many small businesses have had to shut their doors. This is especially true of brick-and-mortar businesses that have been heavily impacted by stay-at-home orders.
Verizon is working to help offset the challenges small businesses are facing, committing $10 million in grants through LISC, a national nonprofit organization.
“For small business owners today, we know that opening a digital front door is as important as a physical one,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “This multi-year effort underscores the role financial assistance, technology and training will play in rebuilding small businesses for both short-term and long-term economic recovery.”
The company is using Super Bowl LV as its kick-off event, with The Big Concert for Small Business after the game. The event will be hosted by Tiffany Haddish, and feature Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard, Christina Aguilera, Eric Church, H.E.R., Jazmine Sullivan, Luke Bryan and Miley Cyrus. The concert will be live-streamed on Twitch, Yahoo, YouTube, as well as broadcast on several networks.
“Small businesses are so important and we need to do whatever we can to keep them alive; our communities can’t recover without them,” said Alicia Keys. “I’m excited to be partnering with Verizon and the rest of these amazing artists to not only be able to take the stage and bring that good music and light but to do it for such a meaningful cause.”
Christina Aguilera and blind audition hopeful Joe Maye wowed the remaining coaches and the audience on The Voice Tuesday evening when they spontaneously sang a duet.
Joe Maye already captivated the coaches with his rendition of “I Put a Spell on You,” when Christina Aguilera left her big red chair to sing with the contestant–at the urging of fellow coach Pharrell Williams.
“That is one of my favorite songs in the whole wide world to sing. I’d actually love to sing that with you one day,” she said, prior to Pharrell coaxing her out of her chair.
Joe Maye’s reaction to having sung with Christina Aguilera was as exciting as the duet itself.
“Oh my god!” he screamed, jumping up and down on the stage.
Both Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera turned their chairs for Maye, but after the duet she sang with him, his choice was obvious.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Christina Aguilera said she has high hopes for the singer.
“This could be the season, cross my fingers, that Team Xtina might take it,” she said. “I’ve got some pretty great talents.”
Joe Maye isn’t the first amazing contestant Christina Aguilera scored either. During the first week of the blinds, she gained Alisan Porter. Porter starred alongside Jim Belushi in the film Curly Sue. Her rendition of Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou” that blew the socks off all four coaches.
Did you catch The Voice on Tuesday evening? What did you think of her duet with Joe Maye?
Does Christina Aguilera finally stand a chance at winning The Voice this season?
“It’s poppin’ off!” the “Happy” singer said of Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton. “It’s so beautiful, because being there, I watched both of them go through a lot, you know. You hate to see your friends go through something so heavy, and it’s kind of like a miracle, man–just watching that.”
Pharrell told Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly he was shocked when he first found out.
“I had no idea,” he said. “And then Blake sends me a text message, and I’m like, ‘Whoa!’”
Carson Daly swears he didn’t know Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton were an item for quite some time either.
“We were all like, ‘Whoa!’” he added. “None of us [knew], but we’re glad that it happened.”
Some fans wondered if Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s relationship would last after season nine of The Voice was over. Without Gwen returning as a coach this season–Christina Aguilera has returned–many wondered if things between the two might fizzle out.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. Even Christina Aguilera gives their relationship her seal of approval.
“I’ve known Gwen for a really long time,” she said this fall, when Stefani’s rep confirmed the relationship. “We went to each others’ kids birthday parties, we share the same management, and Blake I know now from the show.”
Blake Shelton announced this past summer that he and Miranda Lambert were divorced. Gwen Stefani announced not too long afterward that she and husband Gavin Rossdale had split.
It seems like fans aren’t the only ones who love seeing Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton together. Even their cohorts at The Voice think they make a remarkable couple.
Do you think Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton are in this for good? Might there be wedding bells ringing for the couple in the future?
The blind auditions are an exciting time on The Voice, with Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton building their teams from them.
“The blind auditions, that’s like Christmas morning,” Blake Shelton said on Monday. “It’s just as exciting as the first season. You never know what’s going to be there behind you.”
Christina Aguilera has thus far lucked out with at least two members of her newly formed team. On Monday, she scored former child star Alisan Porter. Best known for her role alongside Jim Belushi in Curly Sue, Porter belted out her own rendition of Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou” to a four-chair turn. When she chose Christina Aguilera as her coach, Xtina knew she’d landed someone very special for her team.
Christina Aguilera was very taken with Alisan Porter’s story–one of a mom and a recovering alcoholic.
“Nobody works harder than a mom,” Aguilera told her, adding that “people need to hear that hope” and the music within Porter. “Let a girl win it for once. For once!”
On Tuesday, Christina Aguilera scored Nashville singer Kata Hay. Following her rendition of “Redneck Woman,” Hay’s talent was beyond obvious and shortly thereafter the two women kissed–on the lips.
It’s no secret that Christina Aguilera loves attention. She got it at least twice this week in very big ways.
Might this be the season of The Voice on which Christina Aguilera scores the big win? Gwen Stefani came down to the wire last season, with Adam Levine’s Jordan Smith winning the season instead.
Are you watching season 10 of The Voice? Whose team would you like to see win?
Alisan Porter is back, but unless you’ve already heard this story, you wouldn’t recognize the former child star. Best known for her role as the title character in the 1991 film Curly Sue, in which she starred alongside Jim Belushi, Alisan Porter is now an accomplished singer who brought judge Christina Aguilera to tears on The Voice earlier this week.
“The past 24 hours have been crazy-amazing,” Porter shares of her experience in auditioning for and making it on to The Voice. “I’ve had such an amazing outpouring of support. It’s been really incredible.”
“Any reservations I had got squashed the second I stepped on stage to do my blind audition, and I just feel super comfortable and excited about going forward,” she adds.
It was Monday when Alisan Porter belted out her own rendition of Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou,” resulting in a four-chair turn on behalf of judges. Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton were astonished at her abilities.
“I really wanted to sing a classic,” she says. “I love songs from that era, I love kind of blending folk and rock and country, so I felt like I wanted to sing a classic with all those elements and that was really something I thought would work and I love that song.”
Life hasn’t been easy for Alisan Porter since she starred in Curly Sue. She struggled with alcoholism, which she speaks openly about in her blog.
“I was living in NYC when I realized I needed to get sober. I was miserable and overwhelmed with life. I was heartbroken and realizing that what had always worked for me in the past was NOT working at all. Not even a little bit. I felt trapped, scared, and sad and I was ready to really go for broke or get better. So, I did what every good user does and I prayed to a god I had never believed in… and then called my mom. Days later I was off to treatment, just like that. For the next four years I went to meetings, worked the steps, got a sponsor, found a god of my own understanding, prayed, meditated and basically grew up. Growing pains were inevitable, I felt them often but I continued on the path because unlike my old ways, this way was working,” she writes.
“I got married,” she continues. “I had kids, I got a new house, I re-did the floors (I love my floors), I got a car (that my dad didn’t pay for). I became a better friend, a better daughter, a better artist, better sister… I just got better. I grounded. But, you see, I also got responsibility. Addicts don’t like responsibility. I got responsibility not only in the form of doing the dishes and making my bed. I got PEOPLE. People that look like me, people that need me, people that copy everything I do and learn basically everything from me. I am their mother. THOSE kind of people. I got babies. Two of them in two years. (Possible addict behavior)”
Alisan Porter goes on to say the struggle is still very real, but the positives in her life these days far outweigh the negatives, and so she fights to remain a sober, responsible mom and wife–and now, a singing star, too.
Alisan Porter chose Christina Aguilera as her coach–she got to choose from four sensational names in the music industry–and will appear again on The Voice when the battle rounds begin.
Did you see Curly Sue back in the early 1990s? Would you have even recognized Alisan Porter had her story not been splashed all over TV and in the media?
Christina Aguilera said recently that she’s confident she can pull off a win on the 10th season of The Voice because she has such a strong team. The singer is hoping so, anyway, because there has never been a win before under a female coach’s tutelage and it’s really getting on her nerves.
“I’m most excited, ’cause I think I have the strongest team overall that I’ve had in all the seasons. I’ve done it since the first season. I’m hoping to break the girl curse… no actual girl coach has won it yet, and it’s driving me nuts!” Aguilera told Extra.
The new season will be a chance for Christina to shine amongst her peers because she’s been gone for a while, with Gwen Stefani filling in for her during her maternity leave. Of course, Gwen and Blake Shelton have made headlines for months over their blossoming romance, which began on the set of the show, but this season they’ll have to compete with Aguilera for attention.
Christina Aguilera doesn’t have any trouble being the center of attention; recently she wiggled into some tight white pants for a sketch on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell, playing the wife of a small-town guy vying for best style. The sketch was a new version of an older one that they guys have done before, but Christina added her own flair to it.
Aguilera revealed recently that Patti LaBelle will be joining her on The Voice this season as a mentor, saying the music legend was so kind and even brought one of her iconic pies to share.
“When you have such amazing vocal talent that is legendary come on the show, it was like, all hail Patti, we actually had a really special moment…We did have a lot of laughs, a lot of fun and she was just, you know, she was so sweet and complimentary too,” Christina Aguilera said.
Called “Make Me Like You,” the song is from Gwen Stefani’s upcoming third solo studio album–a follow-up to “Used to Love You.”
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton ended their marriages last summer–his to Miranda Lambert and hers to Gavin Rossdale. The two started dating this past fall, and it’s plain to see they’re very much in love.
In the lyrics to “Make Me Like You,” Gwen is clearly falling hard for “her cowboy,” as she often refers to Shelton.
“I was fine before I met you / I was broken but fine / I was lost and uncertain / But my heart was still mine / I was free before I met you / I was broken but free / All alone in the clear view / But now you are all I see / Hey, wait a minute / No, you can’t do this to me / Hey, wait a minute / No, that’s not fair / Hey, wait a minute / You’re running back to me / I really like you, but I’m so scared / Why’d you have to go and make me like you? / Yeah, this is a feeling I’m not used to / Why’d you have to go and make me like you? / I’m so mad at you, ’cause now you got me missing you.”
Even though Christina Aguilera is taking Gwen Stefani’s place as coach on the upcoming season of The Voice, fans will still get to see her working alongside Blake Shelton on the singing competition show. She will serve as advisor to Team Blake during the show’s battle rounds.
Christina Aguilera gave the Lip Sync Battle audience a dose of pure diva presence when she made a cameo appearance during Hayden Panettiere’s performance of her hit, “Lady Marmalade.”
In a brief video clip of the show, Panettiere can be seen delivering a pretty impressive rendition of the famous 2001 medley, which featured Aguilera, Li’l Kim, Mya, and Pink. Decked out in a super tight corset, thigh-high boots, jewels, and giant hair, the 26-year-old Nashville star struts her stuff onstage while expertly mouthing the words to the song.
Panettiere captures the “Dirrty” singer’s sass and attitude perfectly as her rival Eva Longoria watches on. Later on in the performance, the real Christina Aguilera appeared from behind a huge black feather fan and proceeded to sing her part of the song. Wearing a black long-sleeved peplum top, matching skintight pants, a sparkly silver bustier, and silver open-toe heels, Aguilera belted out the high notes as Panettiere mimicked her provocative dance moves from the music video.
Christina Aguilera Helps Out Hayden Panettiere on ‘Lip Sync Battle’
Hayden Panettiere seems to have bounced back from her previous struggles with postpartum depression. The actress, who is married to Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko with whom she has an 11-month baby girl, spent some time in rehab to recover from her illness. She is due to return to the set of Nashville and will appear in the 14th episode of the current season.
Meanwhile, Christina Aguilera is also set to return as one of the coaches on The Voice when it launches its tenth season at the end of this month. The Grammy Award-winning star took two consecutive seasons off the show to spend quality time with her family. She welcomed her daughter Summer Rain with her fiancé Matt Rutler in August 2014 and has also been working on two new albums that will reportedly be in English and Spanish, respectively.
Christina Aguilera is set to make her return to The Voice at the end of February. The mom of two is engaged to longtime beau Matt Rutler. Will talk of wedding plans filter into her banter on this upcoming season of The Voice?
During a recent interview with Women’s Health, Christina Aguilera didn’t sound like she’s in much of a rush to get married.
“We discuss it when we’re snuggling in bed,” she said, “but it’s a casual conversation.”
It’s coming up on two years since Christina Aguilera and Matt Rutler got engaged–Valentine’s Day 2014. The following August the couple welcomed daughter Summer Rain into their lives.
“I swear if I hadn’t called her Summer I would’ve called her Joy because she just lights up a room and she illuminates brightness and happiness,” she said of their little girl.
While swaying the conversation away from a possible wedding date, Christina Aguilera dished on motherhood, and how she hates the idea that women are expected to do it all.
“Mothers are constantly expected to be the nurturers, the givers, the providers of a comfortable home. We’re expected to be pregnant, have the kids, breastfeed once we have the babies. And we’re expected to look amazing after baby, right? Keep our husbands and boyfriends interested — because we’re supposed to get back to sexy and keep things exciting in the bedroom. There’s such a long list,” she said.
“Having children is the ultimate joy, and I love my kids, but women have to find time to nurture themselves,” she added. “If someone has a baby, the first thing I’m like is, ‘OK, are you taking care of you?’”
Do you think Christina Aguilera is avoiding setting a wedding date with Matt Rutler? Perhaps she’ll think more seriously about it after this upcoming season of The Voice concludes.
Tori Kelly is coming to The Voice. The 23-year-old singer, who is up for Best New Artist at next month’s Grammy Awards, will join Adam Levine’s team on the singing competition show.
There’s a bit of irony in Tori Kelly working on The Voice. When she was just 16 years old, she auditioned for American Idol, but was eliminated quickly. Now American Idol is in its last season, and Tori Kelly is shining brighter than bright.
Other advisers for season 10 of The Voice–that premieres on February 29–are Sean “Diddy” Combs, who will join Pharrell Williams’ team. Patti LaBelle will serve as adviser for Team Christina, as Christina Aguilera makes her return as coach this season.
Christina’s return means there’s no chair for Gwen Stefani to turn, but rumor has it she is coming back as Blake Shelton’s adviser. Since the two started dating this fall, they’ve been spotted together frequently. Maybe Blake could just duct tape Gwen to his chair, so she could ride the turn with him each time he hits his button. Producers might frown upon that, however.
Season nine of The Voice ended in December, with Jordan Smith blowing everyone away with his amazing vocals. With Tori Kelly advising Team Adam (Jordan Smith was on Adam Levine’s team), two of music’s best will guide his team.
Could the presence of Tori Kelly give Adam Levine an edge in this season’s competition? Gwen serving as Blake’s adviser means the bromance/competition between the two men is on.
Christina Aguilera taught daughter Summer Rain this week that mermaids don’t spend much time out of the water. So the mother and daughter watched The Little Mermaid while luxuriating a sudsy bubble bath.
The Voice coach took to Instagram to show her followers how she and her baby girl–now a year old–spend their Friday evenings.
“Me and my little mermaid! ???” Christina Aguilera captioned the post.
Christina Aguilera’s passion for Disney films might come in part from her time as a cast member on The All New Mickey Mouse Club in the 1990s. Aguilera isn’t the only singer to get her start there, either. She worked alongside Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and even actor Ryan Gosling.
Christina Aguilera will soon be back on TV as a coach on season 10 of The Voice. She’ll join coaches Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams, and Blake Shelton.
Some people think Blake Shelton is trying to replace Christina with Gwen Stefani on The Voice, but it’s far more likely that’s fiction over fact.
OK! Exclusive: Blake Shelton Tries To Blacklist Christina Aguilera From The Voice! Inside His Sneaky Plan https://t.co/MrbEyuo8kq
Daughter Summer Rain is Christina Aguilera’s first child with fiance Matt Rutler. She and ex-husband Jordan Bratman are parents to her eight-year-old son, Max.
Now that you’ve seen this shot of Christina Aguilera and her baby girl watching The Little Mermaid while in the bathtub, will you be able to get the film’s song “Under the Sea” out of your head?
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton are joined at the hip these days. In fact one rumor even says Gwen Stefani is expecting Blake Shelton’s baby girl. That’s nothing but sheer speculation, but there is one recent rumor about Gwen that almost rings true, and that has to do with her return to The Voice.
As all fans of The Voice know, Gwen Stefani was one of season nine’s coaches. Christina Aguilera is returning for season 10, leaving no chair for Gwen to turn. A recent conversation between E! News and NBC presidents Bob Greenblatt and Paul Telegdy indicates Gwen might not be absent from the singing competition show for very long.
Following a confirmation from NBC that Gwen Stefani will, in fact, return to The Voice, Greeblatt answered, “Maybe,” when asked if it would be as an adviser.
“We’re announcing those advisers in the next couple of weeks but she’s very close to the show,” he added.
Paul Telegdy sang Gwen Stefani’s praises.
“We’d love to see Gwen back. She’s a great friend of this network, we love her, the audience loves her, lots of people love her,” he said.
A reporter recently told Telegdy that Blake Shelton loves Gwen Stefani, too, to which he replied, “He does.”
When asked if Gwen might return for the fall season of The Voice, Telegdy said he didn’t know yet.
“We know what we’re doing in the spring, because the diva’s back, Christina’s coming back, and for the fall, we’ve got the Olympics, so I would only tease that yes, there will probably be some familiar faces. As I say, we like to switch it up, so I think there will be some fresh faces too,” he said.
Supermodel Behati Prinsloo is the very sexy wife of The Voice and Maroon 5 star Adam Levine. That means she’s privy to the goings-on of Adam’s fellow Voice coaches. It wasn’t all that long ago that Prinsloo made a very specific prediction–and now that prediction has come true.
It was on a recent episode of Watch What Happens Live with host Andy Cohen that Behati Prinsloo claims she saw the romance between Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani coming.
“Only because they were both kind of going through a moment, and they’re so different but so perfect for each other,” she added. “I didn’t know, but I felt it.”
That “moment” Behati Prinsloo referred to is the end of Blake Shelton’s marriage to country sweetheart Miranda Lambert, and Gwen Stefani’s divorce from Gavin Rossdale. Blake announced his split in July (his divorce was already final when he made the announcement) and the No Doubt singer said in August that she, too, was getting a divorce. No one is really sure when the romance bloomed, but bloom it did.
Seth Meyers was a guest on Andy Cohen’s show along with Behati Prinsloo. He weighed in on Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s relationship, too.
“It’s true love… [They’re] terminally in love,” the Late Night host said.
Wouldn’t you love to ask Behati Prinsloo to predict whether or not Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani’s romance will stand the test of time? Will the two still be an item when season 10 of The Voice premieres in February? Blake has already made noise about the need for a fifth coach on The Voice, since Christina Aguilera is set to return, meaning there’s no spot for Gwen Stefani.
What might Behati Prinsloo say if asked that question?
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton seem to be doing just fine even though The Voice has ended for this season. On Tuesday night, Adam Levine’s contestant Jordan Smith won season nine of The Voice.
Some speculated Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton might not continue their relationship once this season ended, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all.
The two were spotted at the show’s after party on Tuesday, and the PDA was strong. On Wednesday Blake and Gwen were seen out for a drive together.
Season 10 of The Voice will premiere on February 29, but Gwen Stefani won’t be among the coaches. Since Christina Aguilera is returning, there is no spot left open for Gwen.
Blake Shelton recently spoke with Extra about Gwen leaving the show–at least for season 10.
“I don’t [want] Gwen to not be on the show–why can’t we have a fifth coach?” Shelton said. When the interviewer suggested the show could have two female coaches, Blake was all for it.
“Why can’t there be? I vote for that!” he said.
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani began dating some time this fall after they split from their respective spouses over the summer. Blake announced his divorce from Miranda Lambert in July. Gwen Stefani announced in August that she and Gavin Rossdale were divorcing.
Do you expect Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s relationship will survive her going on tour with No Doubt and him staying in L.A. to do another season of The Voice?
Gwen Stefani is hoping against hope that her one remaining contestant, Jeffery Austin, is crowned Tuesday night’s season 11 winner of The Voice. Blake Shelton has two contestants–Barrett Baber and Emily Ann Roberts–vying for the title. Even though this season hasn’t yet officially ended, Blake is already working to bring Gwen Stefani back as a coach for season 11.
Christina Aguilera is set to return to The Voice for season 11, but Blake Shelton is putting pressure on host and executive producer Carson Daly to add a fifth chair to The Voice lineup, so Gwen Stefani can return.
As most everyone knows, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani began dating some time this summer. Blake announced his divorce from Miranda Lambert in July, and in August Gwen, too, announced the end of her marriage to Gavin Rossdale.
“We’ll just address that we love Gwen, we love our coaches,” Carson Daly told reporters ahead of the live show on Monday, evading the question as best he could. “We’re like Iron Chef around here. Once you’ve been in the kitchen, you’re always welcome back in the kitchen.”
“Anytime you want?” Blake Shelton asked pointedly.
“Absolutely,” Daly replied, giving Blake the answer he wanted
“I’ll see you next season, Gwen,” he said with a laugh, ignoring Adam Levine’s “whoop.”
Blake Shelton is clearly head-over-heels crazy about Gwen Stefani. He even predicted her contestant will win this season of The Voice–over his own two contestants.
“You’ve left me no choice here but to say Gwen, because it’s my goal in life to beat Adam or to see somebody beat him,” he joked. “So I’m going to pick Jeffrey. That’s who I would pick to win.”
“I also would have to say Jeffrey,” Levine added in a rare moment of agreement between the two. “He’s a great singer, [and] he’s not on Blake’s team.”
Fans are no doubt (get it…”No Doubt?”) dying to know how Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s relationship endures once this season of The Voice is over.
Will you be tuning in tonight to see if Blake Shelton’s contestants (Emily Ann Roberts and Barrett Baber), Gwen Stefani’s contestant (Jeffery Austin, or Adam Levine’s contestant (Jordan Smith) wins this season of The Voice? Poor Pharrell Williams was knocked out of the competition last week, but still lends plenty of support to the finalists.
Christina Aguilera chatted with Access Hollywood recently, and since she is among the original coaches on The Voice, the talk naturally turned to Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani. Aguilera is happy for the new couple.
Learning that Blake and Gwen were truly dating came as a surprise to Christina Aguilera, however.
“I think there was starting to be rumors about it, and I was like, [laughs] ‘Yeah, right, Blake!’” she says. “It was just funny. We were just palling around, joking around. And then it became real.”
Xtina believes the two make a great couple.
Blake Shelton is “a barrel of laughs, and has been like a brother to me,” she says.
“She’s an awesome girl. She’s such a dedicated mom,” she adds.
“Happiness deserves happiness. They’re good people. I just know that divorce is tough and so they deserve some laughs and happiness and if it’s [with] each other, then they deserve each other,” Christina Aguilera says.
Has Christina had a chance to speak to Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani since that proverbial cat came out of its bag?
“I just saw them yesterday, actually, and I got the chance to tell [Gwen] in person … ‘You get that cowboy, girl!’” she says.
That sounds about right for Christina Aguilera. She’s nothing if not just this side of raunchy. That’s actually a rather tame statement for the “Beautiful” singer.
Christina Aguilera will return to The Voice next season, meaning Blake Shelton won’t have Gwen Stefani by his side. In fact, Gwen will be on tour with No Doubt.
Do you expect Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton will still be a couple when Christina Aguilera returns to The Voice?
According to Page Six, the 29-year-old actress blew into New York City to lend a helping hand to her childhood friend Dorie Golkin Smith.
Emmy Rossum’s friend is co-owner of new Flatiron clothing shop Of Mercer and Rossum made a quick trip to the big city to help her friend get ready for her store’s opening last week.
“[Emmy] painted the walls of the store — the doors — everything that needed finishing,” said a source. “She went methodically through each letter on the sign with a Q-tip to make sure it was neat.”
When celebrity make-up artist Jake Bailey reportedly took his own life last week, Emmy Rossum posted a heartfelt message about her friend, revealing that she had recently spent time with Bailey.
I am gutted to hear of my friend Jake's passing. I saw him on Sunday, we flew together on a plane. He made me laugh as always. @ByJakeBailey
According to Entertainment Tonight, Bailey worked with celebrities including Lea Michele, Christina Aguilera, Angelina Jolie, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Katy Perry and, most recently, Selena Gomez.
After giving birth to daughter Summer Rain, Christina Aguilera took a break from being a coach, but now she’s ready to turn that chair again for aspiring artists.
Aguilera will be back for The Voice Season10 this coming February to join the original set of coaches, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, who both have not missed a season, as well as Pharrell Williams who started in season 7.
Previously, Aguilera’s spot had been filled in by Colombian artist, Shakira and currently by Gwen Stefani, who is rumored to be dating Shelton after their respective divorces. Some speculate that the rumors are just a publicity stunt to drum up ratings for the show, and Shelton has dropped hints on his Twitter page that the rumors are not true.
“Everyone knew she was coming back once she left,” an insider said about Christina’s return. “It was always the plan.”
Paul Telegdy, president of late night and alternative programming at NBC Entertainment said in a statement, “The coaches on The Voice continue to bring incredible energy, unrivaled musical expertise, and a want-to-win attitude that makes for the perfect ingredients of a two-time Emmy-winning show. We can’t wait to see what season 10 will bring.”
A lot of viewers will be looking forward to Aguilera’s fashion ensembles and candid opinions again, and her fans will surely be excited about her comeback.
Aguilera has skipped other seasons in the past. She passed on the fourth season to focus on her music career; the sixth and seventh seasons to prepare for Summer Rain’s birth and another new album.
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert got divorced this summer, with their split hitting the news in July. In early August, Gwen Stefani announced she and husband Gavin Rossdale were divorcing, too.
Since this season of The Voice has gotten underway, rumors of flirtations between Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani have run rampant. Some of the rumors have the two already in the deepest throes of love.
Sources close to both Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani say there’s no truth at all to those rumors.
“It’s total bulls—,” one source says. “There’s nothing there. They’re nothing more than friends.”
Shelton and Stefani have a lot of fun together on The Voice. That much is definitely true.
“I don’t think anybody’s more covered up than Gwen, from just raising three boys and balancing a TV show and a solo record or a No Doubt record and touring and her clothing line,” Blake Shelton said of his fellow coach earlier this summer. “Every day in the compound, you see her having a meeting with people you’ve never seen her having a meeting with before. It’s crazy.”
Gwen Stefani thinks Blake Shelton is great, too.
“He’s such a fun, funny guy. He just seems like such a good person. I love being around him,” she says.
A source close to Blake Shelton says he’s not ready to enter the dating world just yet, claiming he’s “focusing on himself” right now.
“He’s open to another relationship in the future, but just not now,” the source says.
Gwen Stefani barely has time to sleep–let alone enter into another relationship.
Those who hoped to see an instant couple made from Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani during this season of The Voice will be a bit disappointed to learn it simply isn’t going to happen.
That doesn’t mean fans can’t enjoy their hilarious banter–along with that of Adam Levine and Pharrell Williams, too.
Next season Christina Aguilera is taking Gwen Stefani’s place. Maybe by then Blake will be ready to start dating.
Do you think he’ll set his sights on someone from the country music world or simply wait to see who comes along?
Christina Aguilera is returning as a coach on The Voice for season 10 of the singing competition show. Set to air in February, Aguilera will replace Gwen Stefani, and join coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Pharrell Williams.
One of the original four judges on The Voice, Christina Aguilera’s return will no doubt throw a wrench at the recent flirtations that have cropped up between newly divorced Blake Shelton and also newly divorced Gwen Stefani. Sources say things appear to be heating up between these two.
“They’re a real thing,” the source says.
Season nine of The Voice is airing now, with the blind auditions wrapping up earlier this week.
Christina Aguilera has taken every other season off from the show for the past few years. In addition to Gwen Stefani, she has also been replaced by Colombian singing sensation Shakira.
What’s your take on Christina Aguilera’s return to The Voice? She is no doubt popular because of her questionable attire and her candid critiques of the singers.
Would you prefer to see Gwen Stefani stay in her role as coach or have Shakira replace Christina Aguilera on a permanent basis?
Do you think there is really something going on–or something in the very early stages–between Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani?
Christina Aguilera visited her father’s homeland for the first time as part of the Yum! Brands’ initiative to reach out to poor and hungry children in the region. Aguilera serves as a volunteer spokesperson for Yum’s World Hunger Relief program.
The award-winning pop diva has already visited Rwanda, Haiti, and Guatemala but her recent trip to Ecuador was special to her in many ways. “This particular trip was sort of extra-special for me because it is my blood and heritage. My father was born in Ecuador and my grandfather was born in Quito,” Aguilera told the Associated Press in an interview on Monday. There she saw how the people in refugee areas were struggling to survive. According to her, she especially chose to visit Ecuador because she has always wanted to see where her father came from since she did not have a “consistent relationship” with him all her life.
Aguilera visited schools and launched a feeding program as part of Yum’s relief efforts, and witnessed how kids have to travel far to get to their schools.
In line with this, the singer filmed a public service announcement to raise hunger awareness, which is set for release next month.
Yum! Brands Inc. said they have amassed $600 million in cash and food to be donated to the UN World Food Programme and other humanitarian organizations. Aside from the Public Service Announcement, Aguilera has also been disseminating information through World Hunger Relief posters in well-known food establishments like Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC and through the website HungerHope.com.
