¡viva la graham!

don’t recognize this blonde beauty? i didn’t either.

it’s none other than “say it right” singer nelly furtado, who decided to shock the world by showing off a questionable new dye job the other night on the red carpet.

perhaps furtado has been spending too much time in hollywood, or maybe she just went through a break-up or something. lord knows why she else she’d opt for such a drastic change!

here’s a side-by-side comparison of nelly now and then (click to enlarge). i much prefer her natural dark locks to this head-scratching peroxide experiment. let’s hope this is only temporary.

[images via dlisted]

timbaland, justin timberlake and nelly furtado have become somewhat of a powerhouse pop triumvirate, and their latest collaboration, “give it to me,” is pretty much as good as it gets. at the moment the single sits at no. 1 in the u.s., u.k. and pretty much everywhere else in the world, so how could i not feature it here?

the video clip isn’t the most inventive or well done, but the visuals here take a back seat to the beats, not to mention the three artists who are currently at the top of their game. the stars have definitely aligned for the trio. it’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts.

congratulations are in order for nelly furtado, who scored her second u.s. no. 1 single today with “say it right.” her rise to the peak of the billboard chart ends the seemingly eternal reign of beyonce, who remained on top with “irreplaceable” for basically as long as i can remember.

nelly better enjoy it while she can, cos she’s got some stiff competition hot on her heels. if things go according to plan, gwen will overtake her in the next week or two with “the sweet escape”… just don’t let fergie ferg get to no. 1!! it will only encourage her to punish us with another dreadful solo record.

it turns out i was wrong about nelly furtado’s new single. a few weeks ago i expressed my disappointment with the choice of the u.s. lead single off her upcoming album, loose (at the time i preferred “maneater”). since then, “promiscuous,” featuring timbaland, has totally grown on me - and it has become a massive hit. it sits at no. 3 on the billboard hot 100 this week after only 4 weeks on the chart! it’s only fair for me to eat my words… and name “promiscuous” the video of the week.

the video’s actual plot (if you could call it that) is somewhat amusing. the director decided that portraying ms. furtado and timbaland as lovers wasn’t the most appealing visual - and i have to admit that i agree. they’d make quite the odd couple.

also, get ready to hear this track all summer long. i have a feeling we will all be sick of it by august.

…and it’s much better than expected! i’ve been a casual fan of the sprightly, funky canadian in the past, but after her last album failed to really take off (though i did think folklore’s second single, “try,” was achingly beautiful), i feared miss furtado would fade into pop obscurity.

as is often the case after any artist’s prolonged hiatus, record execs probably worried that the public had moved on. in nelly’s case, there has been a question as to which song would be the lead single off the new disc, loose - a duet with timbaland called “promiscuous” or a tribal stomper called “maneater.” i’m not sure which track her u.s. record label has chosen, but the rest of the world has smartly picked the latter.

you can watch the video for the track below… the pointless intro does go on a bit, and the rest of the video isn’t terribly original (check out the sexually-liberated songstress steal madonna’s moves - in front of fire, even!)… but i think the song is fantastic. welcome back, girl!