Kelly Clarkson, who just released the music video for her new single Already Gone, is spitting mad that folks think that she ripped off the music of her newest single from Beyoncé’s hit single Halo … particularly because she is among the folks who can hear the striking similarity. In a new interview with CBC Radio, Kelly fumes about the fact that co-writer Ryan Tedder (from the band One Republic who penned Already Gone AND Halo) appears to have sold both ladies the same song with different lyrics … and she is pissed!

If you’ve noticed similarities between Kelly Clarkson’s new single “Already Gone” and Beyoncé’s hit “Halo,” well, you’re not the only one. Turns out Clarkson has also noticed, and she’s not too happy about it. In an interview with Canada’s CBC radio network, the former “American Idol” champ said she was unaware of any similarities between her song and Beyoncé’s “Halo” until she heard the two songs side by side (according to Clarkson, her All I Ever Wanted album was finished before Beyoncé’s I Am … Sasha Fierce was released). And she’s not mincing words about who she blames for the similarities: OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, who co-wrote both songs. “Ryan and I met each other at the record label, before he was working with anyone else. He’s from Oklahoma, I’m from Texas; we got along really well and had some of the same influences,” Clarkson said. “We wrote about six songs together, four or five of them made the album. It was all fine and dandy. I’d never heard of a song called ‘Halo’ … [Beyoncé's] album came out when my album was already being printed. “No one’s gonna be sittin’ at home, thinkin’ ‘Man, Ryan Tedder gave Beyoncé and Kelly the same track to write to,’ ” she continued. “No, they’re just gonna be sayin’ I ripped someone off. I called Ryan and said, ‘I don’t understand. Why would you do that?’ ” “Gone” and “Halo” do share some striking similarities, most notably in the backing track, which features somber piano, crashing drums and hand-claps. Clarkson — who clashed with her label in the past — said that she’s upset that “Already Gone” was released as a single without her blessing, but that, at this point, there’s really nothing to do about the situation. “It sucks, but it’s one of those things I have no control over,” she told the CBC. “I already made my album. At this point, the record company can do whatever they want with it. It’s kind of a shitty situation, but … you know, you learn.” At press time, a spokesperson for Tedder had not responded to MTV News’ request for comment on the situation.

To be honest, I didn’t immediately notice the similarity between the songs when I heard them both separately … at different times. But since the release of Kelly’s new single, I thought it sounded very familiar … and then the handclaps cued me in to the Halo recognition. Shoot, if I were her … I’d be pissed, too … especially since despite the fact that Kelly’s album was finished first, Halo was released months ago well ahead of the release of Already Gone. Methinks Mr. Ryan Tedder has got some ’splainin’ to do. After the jump, check out the music videos for both Kelly Clarkson’s Already Gone and Beyoncé’s Halo for a side-by-side comparison …

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Beyoncé, the uncontested queen of R&B/Pop, brought her I Am … Tour to the Staples Center here in downtown Los Angeles, CA last night and absolutely made a believer out of me. Now, I had been a fan of her music with both Destiny’s Child and as a solo performer but I had not been able to see her perform live in concert before last night. I can tell you, without question, that Beyoncé made a big fan out of me:

I managed to snap over 600 photos at last night’s concert … from my vantage point, almost all of them are amazing shots. Since I couldn’t possibly post them all, I selected a few to share with all y’all. After the jump, check out some of the photos I took of Beyoncé’s I Am … Tour and read some of my thoughts on the show …

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It must’ve been hot as Hell in Miami, FL yesterday cuz the heat took a-hold of Beyoncé so fiercely that she had to run her ass into the beach to cool down … and the poor girl didn’t even bother to take off any of her clothing before doing so:

I mean, it’s not like I expect the pop star to go dippin’ in the ocean all nekkid or anything but homegirl couldn’t even be bothered to change into a bathing suit before diving in. Just how hot was it in Miami yesterday? Damn.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin]

Last night the 9th annual BET Awards were handed out at the Shrine Auditorium here in Los Angeles, CA and earlier today we saw video of Janet Jackson’s appearance on the awards show where she delivered a statement to fans of her late brother Michael Jackson. As I noted earlier, the entire BET Awards were a tribute to Michael’s memory. Here are a few photos from the red carpet arrivals from last night’s awards show:

I LOVED seeing the cast of Bravo TV’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta … including alums NeNe Leakes (FTW!), Lisa Wu Hartwell, Sheree Whitfield and new castmember Kandi Burruss. I am really looking forward to the return of the Atlanta Housewives in August :) I also love the photo of Zoe Saldana and Nichelle Nichols (who both portrayed the Star Trek character Uhura) together on the red carpet … beautiful, beautiful ladies. The show itself was very entertaining … in between award presentations and live performances, host Jamie Foxx made sure to remind the audience that this year’s BET Awards was a true celebration of Michael Jackson’s legacy. Here are a few pics from the show itself and a rundown of what went down:

Michael Jackson’s sister Janet thanked the crowd at the BET Awards Sunday night for paying tribute to her late brother. “My entire family wanted to be here, but it was just too painful,” she said, holding back tears. “To you Michael is an icon. To us Michael is family. And he will forever live in all of our hearts.” The star-studded BET Awards was an appreciation of Michael Jackson, who died Thursday at age 50. He was “the greatest star in the world,” Joseph Jackson, father of the late entertainer, said on Sunday night. “I wish the world had recognized him when he were living,” Joseph Jackson told CNN’s Don Lemon outside the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. “Right now he’s bigger than ever. But I wish he was here to see all this, to hear all this.” When asked about circumstances surrounding his son’s death, he said, “I have a lot of concerns but I can’t get into that. … I don’t like what happened.” The awards opened with a fleet-footed New Edition, with Bobby Brown, performing an energized version of the Jackson 5 hit “The Love You Save,” to raucous praise. Host Jamie Foxx wore a red, leather “Beat It” jacket for his opening monologue and did his best to imitate Jackson’s backward glide across the floor. In addition to Foxx, presenter Jeremy Piven mixed praise for Jackson with comic relief. “If it wasn’t for Michael Jackson, people like Justin Timberlake would be selling curly fries in the valley,” the actor said. “I mean that with love.” This year’s performers included, Beyonce, Keyshia Cole and R&B artist Neyo who performed a hard-hitting tribute to the 1990s with appearances by acts Keith Sweat, Guy and Bell Biv Devoe. The presenters included the past and present Uhura of “Star Trek”: Zoe Saldana, who starred in the film, and Nichelle Nichols of the TV show. The show also honored the soulful Ohio trio, The O’Jays, who were presented the Lifetime Achievement Award. Tevin Campbell performed a rendition of The O’Jays classic “Forever Mine.” Johnny Gill, Tyrese and Trey Songz performed a rumbling, soulful medley of The O’Jays hits that had some in the audience wondering if Songz was older than his years. Among the award winners, Atlanta, Georgia-based singer Keri Hilson, who was nominated in four categories, received best new artist and Beyonce won best female artist. Debra L. Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of Black Entertainment Television, said Jackson’s death both saddened and energized the awards organizers. “When we heard the news of Michael Jackon’s passing we knew immediately we’d have to change the nature of this show,” she said. “We put the show together in a matter of three or four days. It’s truly been a labor of love for us,” Lee said.

I was able to watch the show myself and it really was a very celebratory event. Except for a few touching moments, it really looked like everyone was having a great time. To be honest, I think that is the best way to honor someone’s passing. It was said many times during the BET Awards show last night — Michael Jackson was directly responsible for last night’s awards show. His trailblazing legacy as an African American performer paved the way for all of the African American artists who are enjoying successful careers today. I think it was right that his contributions were honored … and celebrated. Congrats to all of this year’s winners of BET Awards.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin, Wireimage; Source]

Beyoncé, the artist sometimes known as Sasha Fierce, brought her new concert tour I Am … to Madison Square Garden in NYC to kick off the US leg of her tour. B shocked the crowd by bringing her hubby Jay-Z on stage for their duet of her megahit song Crazy In Love and, by pretty much all accounts, brought the house down with their hot performance. Because I am seeing this show here in LA on July 13, I’m desperately trying to stay away from too many tour spoilers but since I doubt that B-Jay will be on stage together for the rest of the tourdates, I think it’s safe to share. Here are a few photos from Beyoncé’s concert last night along with a review of the show (Be Warned: the review offers some show spoilers):

Beyonce has finally sorted out her split personality. Feeding both the flashy hip-hop side and the sensitive balladeer is something she has struggled with since stepping out of Destiny’s Child and out on her own. It came to a head on last year’s “I Am . . . Sasha Fierce” double album, but it wasn’t until her Madison Square Garden show Sunday night, the first on the American leg of her world tour, that she consistently integrated them both successfully. (She plays the Garden again Monday night.) See, Sasha Fierce has the booty roll in “Crazy in Love,” which featured hubby Jay-Z who got a response so loud his verses were lost in the roar. She has the “Freakum Dress” and the trapeze act during “Baby Boy” on her side. Can balladeer Beyonce compete with just her big ol’ voice? Well, she spices things up during the ballads now – assembling a wedding gown onstage for “Ave Maria” and throwing Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” into “If I Were a Boy.” It’s no big surprise – after all, “Irreplaceable,” which infuses a Beyonce ballad with Sasha Fierce-ness, is her biggest success. Another combination was equally impressive – as she proved that hot choreography and strong vocals don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Beyonce is an amazing, unique dance-pop and hip-hop artist, arguably the best around, as “Diva” and “Radio” showed. She’s only a good balladeer, though she continues to improve, as her powerful take on “At Last” proved. Not only is she irreplaceable, but now Beyonce may be unstoppable, too.

OOOOOOOH man … the show sounds so good! As I’ve mentioned before, I have yet to see Beyoncé live in concert so I am very excited for all the fierceness in store. David and I will be seeing the show from the Diva Stage so I’m hoping our vantage point will get us close enough to the fierocity so that we may imbue some of it into our beings. Beyoncé has brought her show the US … I hope all y’all are ready.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Beyoncé’s new concert tour gets underway here in the US on Sunday night when she plays the first date of her I Am … Tour at Madison Square Garden in NYC … but right now we get a sneak preview at some of the photos that will appear in B’s tourbook. While the woman can look ridic sometimes, she really does look fierce most of the time:

Hahahaha … the glasses are the WORST … but I do like the photos that allude to wedding pics. They may be the only wedding pics of Beyoncé that we’ll ever get to see. I am very excited that I’m seeing B live in concert on July 13 here in LA. I will deffo be picking up one of these tourbooks … Sasha Fierce, indeed.

[Source]

Beyoncé took a break from touring in Europe this week to spend some time at a beach in Monaco with her mother Tina Knowles and some friends. It doesn’t look like B is a fan of the water because she stayed as far away from the water as possible … tho, at one point, she deigned to let her feet get wet in the surf:

Beyoncé never struck me as the timid kind of person … I wonder if the water was just too cold or something. She did keep fully covered even outside of the water. I know the woman is fiercer than she appears in these photos. Just dive in, B … you can always buy a new weave anytime you like.

[Photo credit: Splash News]