Shakira

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Shakira

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Latin Grammys Backstage Report

There were a couple of big winners at last night’s Latin Grammy’s ceremony, namely Juanes and Gloria Estefan. You heard their acceptance speeches, now find out what they said backstage. The night’s big winner was, of course, Juanes, who took home five awards, making him the winner of th ... More >>

Saba: Jidka

There were a couple of big winners at last night’s Latin Grammy’s ceremony, namely Juanes and Gloria Estefan. You heard their acceptance speeches, now find out what they said backstage. The night’s big winner was, of course, Juanes, who took home five awards, making him the winner of th ... More >>

Lil Wayne and High School Musical

The former UH undergrad gears up for a Non-Stop Dance Party

Patricia Vonne

Firebird www.patriciavonne.com

On set with Weird Al Yankovic

The remaking of "Beautiful Liar"

Low Note

Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore do not make sweet, sweet music

Español Sung Here

Crossing over -- who's doing it, who's not

My Hips Don't Lie...But Mariah Carey's Do!

Shakira vs. Mariah, head-to-blond-head

Hip-hop as She Is Rapped

Translating the German Wikipedia entries of Houston's top MCs

Cat Scratch Fever

The Pussycat Dolls

One Step Forward

OmTown (Higher Octave)

Division of Laura Lee

Monday, October 28

Simon Shaheen & Qantara

Blue Flame (Ark 21)

Manena's Magic

The Argentinean deli serves great sandwiches and empanadas — but leave room for dessert.

What Do Your iPhone Apps Say About You?

When you're an iPhone owner, not only are you better than everyone else (obvs), but the lifeblood of your technological slice of gadget heaven is your applications, or "apps," if you're nasty.  An integral part of your holy iPhone identity really shines through the apps you choose to rely on wh ... More >>

He Said She Said: Our Top Ten Girl-Crushes

Ask any musician: there is something basically and viscerally masculine about the industry itself, and that masculinity can seep into the most feminine of rocker chicks and indie music queens. That swagger, that attitude, that confidence coupled with soft hair, a pair of soft lips and a softly lilti ... More >>

Dancing With the Stars: Bad Luck, Chuck

If you watch this, you're going to need to explain yourself​The arrival of another Dancing With the Stars results show always fills me with a queasy mix of relief and dread. Relief, because it's only an hour long instead of two, and another couple will be eliminated, bringing us all that much ... More >>

He Said She Said: Our Christmas Musical Wishlists

​She Said's music listening habits have become so lazy thanks to the Internet. She can barely bring herself to pay for a full CD any more when there's so much awesome music for free online. She can't even remember the last time she bought a full CD in the concrete, plastic wrap and all. That said, ... More >>

For Hip-Hop, Brown Could Be the New Black... or the New Wetback

​ For anyone following the Houston Latino rap theme as of late and are wondering why Rocks Off might be telling more of a cultural story than a hip-hop one with our artist profiles, it's because amongst the traditional hip-hop following in America, Houston's Latino rappers may very well be looked ... More >>

Blow Out

Yes, the harmonica is a real instrument, insists Pocket Full of Soul director Marc Lempert.

El Arte de la Elegancia: The Best Latin Records of 2009, Part 1

​It's been a year of surprises in Latin music. Reggaetón continues fading, albeit slowly, and the industry's mainstays aren't garnering the attention they used to. Case in point: Don Omar's summer release iDon (no relation to your phone), which remained quiet after its first single, "Virtual Diva ... More >>

3rd Annual Houston Tango Festival

It's five days of dancing, dancing, dancing

Rocks Off Exclusive: Things Beyonce Will Be Doing on Her Break from Music

​ On top of everything else this week, sadly the news has come out that our beloved Beyonce is taking a break from music. Just when we need her the most, right? We miss B and Ms. Fierce already, and we're already speculating what she might get up to while taking her sabbatical away from the public ... More >>

Most Downloaded "Hope For Haiti" Texan? Although She Killed, Not Beyonce

Between fighting crime, reducing global warming, mending our socks and, you know, everything else Rocks Off does when we're away from the office, we caught a good bit of Friday evening's "Hope for Haiti" telethon. We didn't have much choice, because the George Clooney-organized, celebrity-packed fu ... More >>

The Hot Seat: Lee-Coc, Richmond Revolutionary

Every Friday, Rocks Off will beam hip-hop artists into our demented, imaginary, incredibly witty, fantasy world of pretend scenarios. We predict it'll soon be known as a feared interrogation of hip-hop artists, revealing their most-inner thoughts and desires. In reality, it's just a fucking cool Q&a ... More >>

Idol Beat: So Long, Siobhan

​I think last night's American Idol was supposed to be country-themed, to go along with the Shania Twain songs the contestants sang on Tuesday, but as I should have known, any organization that thinks of Shania Twain as country is going to have some weird ideas about genre. Rascal Flatts stopp ... More >>

American Idol: So Long, Siobhan

​I think last night's American Idol was supposed to be country-themed, to go along with the Shania Twain songs the contestants sang on Tuesday, but as I should have known, any organization that thinks of Shania Twain as country is going to have some weird ideas about genre. Rascal Flatts stopp ... More >>

Shakira, Tool, Kings Of Leon, Roger Waters All On Sale Within A Week

​This morning, Live Nation announced more huge roadshows hitting Houston soon (enough), adding Shakira and prog-rockers Tool to Toyota Center's 2010 roster. On-sale information for Kings Of Leon and Roger Water's in-concert production of Pink Floyd's The Wall was also released; see the end of this ... More >>

Stefani Vara's Operation Musical Rewrite

​ Wednesday, just a few minutes shy of 4 p.m., Stefani Vara was driving from Corpus Christi back to her home in Houston after a quick day trip. It had been a while since she heard Tejano music. It's what she grew up with and she realized she missed it. She realized it was part of her roots...part ... More >>

Top 5 Songs On Jacob Black Of Twilight's iPod

​Well, today is the day Twilight: Eclipse is released, and a million voices are screaming, "Honey, do we hafta?" Since Gothtopia already runs a column on vampires - and may we add that Bill Compton would put some serious maim in Edward Cullen's sparkle motion? - today we're gonna talk about w ... More >>

Ranch Style Beans

Local folk hero is well-rounded, to say the least.

FAIL: Lady Gaga, Spain

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Oh No, Not Lady Gaga, Too: Get ready, kids. We've got some truly shocking, devastating news for you. Are you sitting down? Okay, good, now listen closely. Lady Gaga - the whacked-out pop singer you've been listening to for the past couple of years - has ... More >>

Kennedy Bakery: 30 Seconds With Erin Rodgers

Kennedy Bakery at Rudyard's, July 2010​Rocks Off sat down with guitarist and vocalist Erin Rodgers of Kennedy Bakery to find out what we could learn about her in 30 seconds. RO: What is the worst song in the world? ER: I'm a lyrics girl, so I'm going to go with "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakir ... More >>

Shakira

Kennedy Bakery at Rudyard's, July 2010​Rocks Off sat down with guitarist and vocalist Erin Rodgers of Kennedy Bakery to find out what we could learn about her in 30 seconds. RO: What is the worst song in the world? ER: I'm a lyrics girl, so I'm going to go with "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakir ... More >>

Shakira And Music's Eight Other Hottest Bellybuttons

​Shakira shimmies into town tonight at Toyota Center, and frankly, she's pretty much the only artist Rocks Off regrets having to miss while we're in Austin covering ACL. Say what you will about her caterwauling voice and her corny foreign-ness. There's something so playfully goofy about Shakir ... More >>

Friday Night: Shakira At Toyota Center

Photos by Daniel Kramer​Shakira Toyota Center October 8, 2010 From the moment Shakira took the stage at 9:30 p.m. Friday, she had Toyota Center under her spell. Sensual, confident, and brimming with energy, the Latin pop star electrified the capacity crowd for two hours. With our Spanish lim ... More >>

Wax Audio's Tom Compagnoni: Portrait Of A Mash-Up Artist

Courtesy of Tom Compagnoni​Rocks Off is quite keen on YouTube mashups. Whether it's famous ones like the contentious "Boulevard of Broken Songs," which melds Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" with Oasis's "Wonderwall" - and Noel Gallagher still says Green Day should pay him for ripping ... More >>

Mucho Mediocre

After new owners take over a Houston haunt, the engaging music is intact, but the food is not.

New Dynamo Stadium May Not Change Concert Climate Much

Marco TorresLady Gaga at Toyota Center, July 25​Conceivably, today's announcement that the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority has agreed to act as landlord for the proposed Houston Dynamo stadium in downtown's East End could present a serious challenge to the Houston area's reigning concer ... More >>

10 Sexually Suggestive, Food-Related Album Covers

​ If there are three things we report on quite well here at Houston Press Blog Central, it's food, sex and music. So, hell, let's merge 'em! Here is a rundown of ten of the most sexually suggestive, food- related album covers that caught our eye and gave us the craziest cravings. 10. Katy Pe ... More >>

Our Favorite Music-Video Dances of All Time

Hipster Scum​This Saturday morning, the Houston Press and our sister blog Art Attack will be hosting a dance party, starting at 10 a.m., to celebrate National Dance Day. They even made a few videos to get Houston ready for the event, featuring yours truly in the only dance get-up that matters, ... More >>

New ZZ Top Tribute Disc Frightens, Titillates, And Confuses Us

Photo By Jim Bricker​If you don't know that Rocks Off is a ZZ Top-friendly place, then you have probably only been reading the blog for the past two or three hours. The two men who run this blog love Billy, Frank, and Dusty with the energy from one thousands suns, and their whole catalog runs ... More >>

If the American Music Awards Fell in the Forest, Would Anyone Hear Them?

Male street dancers are powerless against J-Lo's Fiat-powered hips.​Last night, the American Music Awards were broadcast on ABC to record low ratings. A show that featured typically lackluster performances from artists far more interested in choreographed dance moves than actually singing and ... More >>

You Bettah Work: 10 Rock/Pop Musicians Who Could Take Up Modeling

​Lucky for Lana Del Rey -- whose awkward-at-best Saturday Night Live performance last weekend left indie critics second-guessing her skill -- she has a backup career on which to fall, if needed. Last week, days before becoming a poor bundle of nerves on SNL, the up-and-(maybe)-coming songstres ... More >>

Enjoy Your Lunar New Year With Some Of Music's Greatest Butts

​According to Chinese reckoning, today marks the lunar new year. It's the Year of the Dragon. Specifically, the Year of the Water Dragon, which I'm told will bestow a peaceful energy on the coming year, favoring the ideals of negotiation and forward thinking. I know, right? BOOORING. We Ameri ... More >>

Great GIFs Of Shakira Shaking What Her Mother Gave Her (Semi-NFSW)

​There are no words that I can put into this space to describe the majesty of Colombian pop star Shakira. The only thing that would probably come close to succinctly putting into prose how amazing her body is digging up poet Robert Frost and using voodoo to have him pen a few lines. Can we do ... More >>

Supreme Cinderella-Like Dysfunction Reigns in Gay-Related Lufkin Sibling Steak-Knife Stabbing

Angelina County JailShakira Walker: No magic pumpkin ride for this bullied sister.​Family dysfunction and domestic disharmony are kind of our stocks-in-trade, but this sick twist on a Cinderella story out of Lufkin shocks even us in its callousness. According to KTRE, on Friday evening 18-y ... More >>