It's been a busy few days in the world of Kelly Rowland. Her new single "Motivation", currently #1 on the Billboard chart, continues to explode on American radio and sell consistently week after week - all this without a single promotional performance or the support of Pop radio stations. It is THE hottest record of the moment and EVERYONE and their mama is talking and buzzing about Kelly. Having presented an award at the Billboard Awards, she has now been confirmed as one of the main attractions of this year's BET Awards, where she will be performing "Motivation" on TV for the first time.
Meanwhile in the UK, Kelly has finally been confirmed as the new judge (with a whopping $1 million pay check) on the UK X-Factor, replacing (former?) darling Cheryl Cole (who had migrated to the American version of the series, before being unceremoniously fired). As one fourth of the judging panel Kelly will be broadcast to million of homes every week, being assured a high profile promo slot during the top-rated TV show's live shows - which in turn assures big, big sales for whatever single she promotes and her album. More immediately, "What A Feeling", her collaboration with DJ Alex Gaudino released this week, has already shot up to #6 on iTunes and looks likely to become another huge European hit for her.
Furthermore, Kelly is featured on possible future singles by Tinie Tempah and Pitbull and on the new singles by Run RK ("Free Fall"), Verse Simmonds ("Boo Thang") and Lonny Bereal ("Favor", which will also feature Chris Brown & Teyana Taylor on the remix) - guaranteeing her a steady stream of both dance and urban hit records throughout 2011.
Kelly's third studio album "Here I Am" is slated for a September release, with the possibility of different track listings on each side of the Atlantic. For the project Kelly enlisted the help of almost every A-list producer out - everyone from Dr Luke and StarGate to RedOne, Jermaine Dupri, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Tricky Stewart and David Guetta. Rumored collaborations include Chris Brown, Pitbull and Akon; Kelly has also reached out to Nicki Minaj and Fergie for them to be featured on the project - which shouldn't be hard to achieve, considering both have collaborated of late with Kelly's own "discovery", French powerhouse DJ David Guetta. Confirmed tracks on the set include singles Commander & Motivation, as well as Geronimo (co-written by Chris Brown) and I'm That Chick (produced by Tricky Stewart).
FINALLY - after so many mis-haps and let-downs (not from her or her music, but from management, promo..etc etc.) it seems things are coming together for Miss Kelly. Almost a decade on from "Dilemma" and FINALLY it seems like she is stepping out as the global superstar she deserves to be.
FINALLY - after so many mis-haps and let-downs (not from her or her music, but from management, promo..etc etc.) it seems things are coming together for Miss Kelly. Almost a decade on from "Dilemma" and FINALLY it seems like she is stepping out as the global superstar she deserves to be.
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Listen to the leaked version of the Ester Dean-penned "I'm That Chick", which seems likely to be released as a single sometime in future:
Watch Kelly and Tricky Stewart talk about her new album on Access Hollywood:
