On Thanksgiving, the NFL Halftime show will be featuring a tribute to the 50th Anniversary of Motown with performances by: Melanie Fiona, Vita Chambers, Kem, Hal Linton, Forever the Sickest Kids and Shontelle. It is the future of Motown performing the history of Motown!

The most quintessential of American holidays, Thanksgiving, is the setting for a special celebration of a quintessentially American musical treasure: the classic songs of Motown. NFL fans will be dancing in their seats at home and at Ford Field in Detroit during the 2009 United Way Thanksgiving Day Halftime Show: A Motown 50th Anniversary Tribute.  The Motown tribute will take place during halftime of the first game of the NFL’s Thanksgiving tripleheader when the Detroit Lions host the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, November 26 at 12:30 PM ET on FOX.

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Barcelona may get their name from the beautiful city in Spain but they hail from the beautiful city of Seattle right here in the U.S.

Coming out with their debut album on Universal/Motown records  (April 28, 2009) entitled “Absolutes”, Barcelona has created a beautiful collection of songs that may spark you to fall in love with the band upon first listen.

Listen to their single “Come Back When You Can” here:
http://umrg.edgeboss.net/qtime/umrg/932-eli_young_band/token/_video/comebackacoustic.mov

http://umrg.edgeboss.net/wmedia/umrg/932-eli_young_band/token/_video/comebackacoustic.wax

Tour Dates after the jump….
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Estelle
House of Blues – Chicago, IL
February 25, 2009

I don’t know how the girl does it, but Estelle somehow can pull off wearing five-inch stiletto heels on stage for an entire hour without sitting down. She can even pull off dancing in them without showing any signs of unbalance. Estelle is the queen of “real talk,” which for those of you who don’t know London slang, is the equivalent for the phrases “for real” and “I’m serious” here in America. In between every song of the 60-minute set, British hip hop/soul/r&b star Estelle shared intimate stories from her past that served as inspiration for each song on her sophomore album Shine. Although Estelle’s appearance is stylish and polished, this girl has quite the sailor mouth when it comes to cussing. But given the circumstances of performing on stage to a crowd of 500 fans all 17+ years old, I see nothing wrong with Estelle’s use of profanities to embellish her story-telling. After all, Estelle wouldn’t be around if her experiences hadn’t motivated her to write songs and put those words to melody. Besides singing songs from Shine, Estelle also performed a cover of “Get Ready” by The Temptations. That was awesome. I mean, who doesn’t like The Temptations? Furthermore, who doesn’t like that song? Here is a list of songs from Estelle’s set (in no particular order):

Wait a Minute (Just a Touch)

No Substitute Love

American Boy

More Than Friends

Magnificent

Come Over

In the Rain

Back in Love

Pretty Please (Love Me)

Shine

I Wanna Live

Get Ready (The Temptations cover)

More photos of Estelle from the Chicago House of Blues show after the jump…

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Today marks the official 50th anniversary of Motown Records and members of some of the label’s greatest acts are in the Motor City to help kick off what will be a year-long celebration for the famed label. The Four Tops’ Abdul “Duke” Fakir and members of the Miracles, Martha & the Vandellas and Rare Earth will spend the week at the Motown Historical Museum, housed in the original Hitsville Headquarters. Plus, today was officially named Motown Day in the city of Detroit.

It was 50 years ago that Motown founder Berry Gordy first borrowed $800 with the hopes of starting his own label and founded Tamla Records, which would be incorporated as Motown in 1970 and produce its first hit a year later. Berry will not be on hand for the festivities, but said in a statement, “Motown music was for everybody, and it grew out of love. It has spread around the world and has become part of the culture and consciousness in all seven continents, and it all started right here.”

To honor the anniversary, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will house the exhibition “Motown: The Sound of Young America Turns 50,” plus Gordy has a documentary about his famed label in the works along with a Broadway musical and a Marvin Gaye exhibit. All in all it will be a busy year for Hitsville USA. Congratulations Mr. Gordy!

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