Legendary British music show Top of the Pops, on which Janet has been a frequent guest from the start of her career, is to air its final show later this year. Janet’s last appearance was just over two years ago in June 2004 when she performed All Nite (Don’t Stop). It is still unknown whether Janet will appear again during her promotional tour before the final show on July 30th. The BBC show has been running for 42 years.
Jermaine Dupri has said, in an interview with MTV, that he’s hoping to feature a Janet and Mariah Carey duet on 20 Years Old. Although it has not been recorded yet, he says that if it’s not ready in time for the album launch in September, it’ll make for an extra track if and when the album is repackaged.
Earlier this month, Jermaine Dupri demonstrated he’s a true showman by bringing out Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson during his set at the Summer Jam radio festival in New Jersey. Now, Dupri is thinking about how to pull the ultimate trump card and get the two legends on the same song.
In April, Carey hinted that she was very open to the collaboration. “He never talked to me about that, but if Jermaine has a concept, we should go and write something,” she told MTV Radio. “I love Janet. I’ve been a big fan of Janet since ‘Con-tro-ol!’ ”
On Friday, JD said he is, in fact, developing an idea for Carey and his longtime girlfriend to do it up right on a song.
“It’s gonna happen on this record,” he said about the collaboration. “Please believe that. I got a mean idea, so look for it. We definitely gonna do a repackage on [Janet’s 20 Years Old] once it comes out. Hopefully it’s successful and people buy into it, then I’m going back in the studio.
A new promotional photo of Janet has been released and can be found on the AOL Music website. The site also offers users the chance to stream the new single Call On Me.
And it’s out! Call On Me has been played for the first time on New York radio station Z100. The song, which is officially released to stations across the US on Monday, features Nelly and is a mellow track with trademark seductive whisperings from Janet.
Billboard is reporting that rapper Snoop Dogg has enlisted the help of a wide range of other singers to appear on his new album, including Janet. Blue Carpet Treatment, which has yet to be given a release date, may not actually feature Janet though.
“It’s coming together so good,” Snoop tells Billboard. “I’ve been working on it for nine months. I’ve been working with Pharrell, Timbaland, will.i.am, Stevie Wonder, James Ingram, Warren G, R. Kelly, Ne-Yo, Akon, Jermaine Dupri, Janet Jackson, on and on. I have so much good material — it’s about [figuring out] what I’m going to use on my record.”
Call On Me, the first single from Janet’s upcoming album 20 Years Old, has been given a preliminary release date of Monday September 11th in the UK. Keep checking Janet Love for any changes to the planned date.
With just days until Janet’s new single, Virgin Records are being extremely careful that Call On Me doesn’t leak before its due date. With the saga surrounding Janet’s Damita Jo album and the first single Just A Little While being leaked to the internet far too early, Virgin Records will distribute Call On Me to radio stations across the United States by digital download on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, a new photo of Janet has surfaced to promote the single. Whilst the single will hit US radio on Monday, it will not be officially released to stations worldwide until a later date.
Janet stopped by the Us Weekly headquarters in midtown Manhattan, New York last night to celebrate the fact that her recent cover had become one of the best selling of all time. Mingling with magazine staff and ensuing media, Janet posed for photos and sipped cocktails whilst offering Us Weekly staff advice on dieting.
Janet was also interviewed by Us Weekly editor Ian Drew whilst at their offices. Asked about her new single, Call On Me, and the inspiration behind it Janet said, “It’s actually a duet. You know, I can’t even say what the inspiration is behind it. I didn’t have anything to do with it other than singing on it. Jermaine and Nelly were in Atlanta and they came up with this idea, they got me on the phone and asked me how I liked it so they could move forward with it or move onto something else. I liked it so they kept going and that’s how it all actually turned out.”
Janet also said that Hype Williams will direct the video to be shot in Los Angeles. According to Janet the idea was touted to shoot the video overseas. “We were going to do it in Dubai or Argentina, but it was a scheduling issue and [would have meant] having to run out of the country immediately after. I think it’s gonna be different. It’s gonna be fun.”
“Some of the inspiration from Control is part of this album”, Janet said speaking about the album. “We pulled out some of the same actual synthesisers we used on Nasty. We’ve sampled music music that I grew up with 25 years ago and put it on this record.”
Janet also confirmed that she will be touring with rehearsals starting around November this year. “I miss dancing so I’m really looking forward to that. It’ll be a world tour and there’ll be a lot of music to sing!”
Janet has posted yet another message on her official website, JanetJackson.com, for fans:
Hey u guys, it’s me again, how are u? I can’t tell u how great u all have been. Showing me so much love with all of your notes on the website. I love reading what u have to say. And guess what? You made my US Magazine cover the biggest selling cover in the history of the magazine! Thank you soooo much.
I’m excited for everything that we have coming up. You know my new single, “Call On Me,” will be released this coming Monday, June 19th — don’t forget to call the request lines. I’ve also had so much fun hanging out in New York going to the CFDA, a Cartier benefit and LA Reid’s birthday party. And I’m still here preparing to be the cover girl for both FHM and Giant Magazines. Then I’m off to LA to start shooting the video with Nelly. It’s going to be an amazing video — directed by Hype Williams. I can’t wait for u to see it…and I can’t wait to see u!
So let me know how things are going…..I love hearing from you.
Until next time…
Much Love
J
Virgin Records have issued a press release to hype up Janet’s new album, 20 Years Old.