Thursday 20 February 2014

Shakira Says Rihanna Is ‘Just Like the Girl Next Door’

Shakira has been making waves again. Her collaboration with Rihanna on her single “Can’t Remember to Forget You” has generated a lot of interest — especially the music video — for it’s clothing (or lack thereof) and the titillating relationship between this unexpected duo..

Shakira talked to Carson Daly on 97.1 AMP in Los Angeles (a Radio.com station) about the experience.

And while anyone who follows Rihanna on Instagram knows she keeps it really real, the last thing anyone expected to hear about here was the first thing out of Shakira’s mouth.

“She’s just like the girl next door and she is really, I think, the sexiest woman I’ve seen,” Shakira said.

“Hands down, because I can be sexy, but you have to give me a countdown. Like, ‘Shakira, be sexy. 3, 2, 1. Go!’ You know? But she’s sexy all the time… She’s so cool and mellow….Also, so down to earth.

That’s nice, to work with someone, because it is intimidating to working with a diva, you know, someone who is so, so successful. You never know how they’re going to be.”

It’s probably the first and last time anyone will refer to Rihanna as “the girl next door” but we get the jist.

Shakira admitted she had to ask her husband for permission before she shot the risqué video and joked that she won’t be able to shoot any more videos with men so now we can expect all of her love scenes to be sapphic.

Shakira also addresses her return to The Voice , her history as a rock chick and writing a Nashville song that she got Blake Shelton to duet with her on for her new album.

How Google Blew Its Chance To Buy WhatsApp

Page was willing to pay more than the
$19 billion Facebook paid for WhatsApp, according to a new report from Amir Efrati and Jessica Lessin at The Information .

But WhatsApp's founders turned down
Google because they believed the only
reason Page was bidding on WhatsApp
was to keep it out of Facebook's hands.

Efrati and Lessin say that days before WhatsApp closed its deal with Facebook, Page made a pitch: Come to Google. You'll be able to keep the company independent. You're a threat to Facebook.

That pitch wasn't good enough. WhatsApp decided to go with Facebook.

When Page heard that WhatsApp wasn't interested, he started talking to WhatsApp investor Sequoia.

He made it clear that he would outbid Facebook.
It was all for naught. The WhatsApp guys went to Facebook.

They thought that
Facebook had a better grasp on what they were doing.

And, apparently, they felt
Page was only interested in WhatsApp as a way to hurt Facebook.

For what it's worth, a source at Google told Efrati and Lessin that WhatsApp
misunderstood Page.

Page was merely
encouraging WhatsApp to remain
independent.

Google Wanted To Buy WhatsApp For $10 Billion

When Facebook announced that it was
buying WhatsApp for $19 billion , the first reaction from most people was shock.

After they picked up their jaws from the ground, and digested the acquisition,

eventually they started to wonder why Google didn't buy WhatsApp. After all, Larry Page likes to think big, and there was gossip of Google's interest in WhatsApp a year ago.

Well, it turns out Google did want to buy WhatsApp, it just failed.

Amir Efrati at The Information reports :

"More than six months ago, Google
approached WhatsApp with an odd
offer: It would pay the mobile
messaging startup in exchange for
the right to be notified if the
messaging app entered into
acquisition talks with other
companies, according to a person
involved in the process and two
people briefed on it."

The highly unusual right-to-know offer was worth millions of dollars. WhatsApp rejected that deal.

Efrati says this idea comes from Google's head of M&A, Don Harrison.

After Google got beat in the Instagram sale, it wanted to figure out a way to get an inside edge on acquisitions.

So, he concocted a plan to buy shares of a company in exchange for a heads up on sales. Jessi Hempel at Fortune has more details.

She says Google offered $10 billion for WhatsApp .

And it didn't offer a board seat to WhatsApp's CEO. Obviously, this was a no-brainer for
WhatsApp.

Facebook made an offer that was twice as big, and it moved in a much more decisive way.

50 Cent Leaves Interscope Records

After 12 years on Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records 50 Cent has parted ways with his label home in lieu of a distribution deal with Caroline/Capitol/UMG, the rap mogul announced Thursday (Feb. 20).

As it stands, 50 is technically a free agent.

A new label agreement means he and G-Unit are no longer tied to Eminem's and Dr. Dre's Shady/ Aftermath imprints, but there are no hard feelings between the parties.

"I have had great success to date with Shady/Aftermath/Interscope and I'd like to thank Eminem and Dr. Dre for giving me an incredible opportunity," 50 said in a statement to the Associated Press.

"I've learned so much from them through the years. I am excited to enter this new era where I can carry out my creative vision."

Em added some words of his own, stating that he is "grateful to have had a chance to play a part in 50's career," and credited the Queens MC with helping grow Shady Records.

"Shady simply would not be what it is without 50 Cent," noted Em.

"I've developed a great friendship with 50 over the years, and that's not going to change. We know 50 will have success in his new situation, and we remain supporters of both him and G-Unit."

50 has sold more than 30 million records on Interscope.

His departure comes after years of very public disagreements with the label, which is home to a host of other rappers including Kendrick Lamar , Game , Chief Keef and French Montana.

In Dec. 2011, 50 threatened to leave the label for delaying his fifth album.

"Ok I tried to be cool with my record company," he tweeted.

"I went to the meeting talk to everyone and s-feels like there [sic] moving in slow motion…I'm sorry to announce I will not be releasing a new album this year if we don't get on the same page."

Though the album never came out, 50's latest business venture will include a digital promotional push for his debut release on Caroline/Capitol/ UMG, Animal Ambition .

The project goes up for pre-order March 18, and will be marketed with weekly videos leading up to the drop date.