Ah, Blender.

This venerable music publication is renowned for its hard-hitting journalism. Not. Just the same, you can’t be hoping for much credibility if you’re plastering Britney Spears nude on your cover here in 2008. You’ve just sold out.

Not that we blame you, Blender.

This photo of a naked Britney Spears does beg the question - is this a body double, which had been rumored, considering how “out of shape” Britney is?

Take a look at the picture and let us know if this is a real image of a nude Britney Spears, or if someone has put mad photoshopping skillz to use…

Her newest single is called “Piece of Me.” Tell us, fans, would you want a piece of Britney Spears? Or whoever this nude, sexy body actually belongs to?

Today’s Video of the Day is “Teardrops on My Guitar” from Taylor Swift (lyrics). The young country star has created a crossover hit with this one, as the song (sometimes remixed slightly) is played on many mainstream pop stations.

The music video also stars Tyler Hilton, a singer-songwriter and actor of One Tree Hill fame. But the true star of this video, of course, is the lovely Taylor Swift. She’s a great singer and this is a cool video if you haven’t seen it …

Beyonce, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood and the Foo Fighters are among those scheduled to perform at the 2008 Grammy Awards ceremony.

Reports say Beyonce may perform with the legendary Tina Turner, while the Foo Fighters will perform in conjunction with the My Grammy Moment contest - where one winning instrumentalist will perform with Dave Grohl’s group.

 Beyonce is ready to heat up the Grammy Awards. 

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 10 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, free of interference from the striking writers.

The union announced earlier this week that while the strike continues, its members will not picket outside the awards venue.

No word on whether Amy Winehouse will make it.

American Idol judge and famed producer Randy Jackson has revealed a who’s-who list of names on his upcoming compilation album.

Music Club, Volume 1 features vocals by artists from almost every music genre, including hit-makers like Mariah Carey, Three 6 Mafia, Joss Stone, Anthony Hamilton, Travis Tritt and American Idol’s own Elliot Yamin.

The album also marks the comeback of fellow American Idol judge Paula Abdul. She stakes claim to the first single, “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.”

What’s more, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul will perform the song together on the Super Bowl pregame show on February 3.

Music Club, Volume 1 is set for release March 11. Here’s the full track list, which features a number of American Idol stars …

1. ‘Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow’ – featuring Paula Abdul
2. ‘Something To Believe In’ – featuring Jason Mraz, Van Hunt and Jon McLaughlin
3. ‘What Am I So Afraid Of ‘– featuring Keke Wyatt, Trisha Covington and Kiley Dean
4. ‘Just Walk On By’ – featuring Joss Stone and Three 6 Mafia
5. ‘Home’ – featuring John Rich, Anthony Hamilton and Sara Watkins
6. ‘Wang Dang Doodle’ – featuring Sam Moore, Keb’ Mo’ and Angie Stone
7. ‘Like A’ – featuring Crunk Squad
8. ‘Who’s Gonna Love You Now’ – featuring Kelli Selah
9. ‘My R&B’ – featuring Barbi Esco
10. ‘Real Love’ – featuring Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin
11. ‘Willing To Try’ – featuring Richie Sambora, Travis Tritt and Lucy Woodward
12. ‘I Understand’ – featuring Bebe Winans, Kim Burrell, Rance Allen, Mariah Carey and Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Tabernacle Church Choir

Sadly, Ghostface Killah does not appear.

Alicia Keys’ As I Am was the top-selling album of last week - and the second worst weekly sales tally for a #1 album since 1991.

Keys’ album sold 60,519 copies last week, just 455 more copies than the all-time bottom-dweller, the Dreamgirls soundtrack (2007).

Of course, As I Am has sold 2,786,000 copies in just 10 weeks, however, a tremendous total by any measure. So she’s far from a bust!

It’s noteworthy that half of this week’s top 10 are R&B-oriented. The great Alicia Keys is joined by Mary J. Blige at #3, Raheem DeVaughn at #5, John Legend at #7 and young phenom Chris Brown at #9.

The low-down on this week’s top 10 …

• Alicia Keys, As I Am, 61,000.
• Juno soundtrack, 58,000. The movie, which was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, has grossed $85.4 million in seven weeks.
• Mary J. Blige, Growing Pains, 52,000. This week’s sales pushes Blige’s album over the 1 million mark.
• Radiohead, In Rainbows. The album has sold 246,000 copies in four weeks, less than the 300,000 that the band’s previous album, Hail To The Thief, moved in its debut week in 2003. But what do you expect when you let fans download it for any price they choose.
• Raheem DeVaughn, Love Behind The Melody, 45,000.
• Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift, 34,000. Swift’s new single, “Umbrella,” debuts at #68. It’s possible that she’ll soon have three tracks in the top 30. “Our Song” is #20 this week; “Teardrops On My Guitar” is #22.
• John Legend, Live From Philadelphia, 33,000.
• Various Artists, Now 26, 30,000. It has scanned 1,370,000 copies to date.
• Chris Brown, Exclusive, 29,000.
• Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, 27,000. (Current total: 5,965,000).

We know you’ve probably seen / heard this one before. We’ve even made note of it on this very site already. But Britney Spears’ latest music video, “Piece of Me,” is still Video of the Day material for many reasons …

• There appears to be orgasmic moaning mixed into the beat
• The way Britney says “derriere” is downright hilarious
• Spears’ indictment of the paparazzi is particularly interesting given her recent romantic relationship with Adnan Ghalib
• It’s nothing great, and she doesn’t really have to do much other than show up and sort-of sing, but it’s amazing, given Britney Spears’ recent meltdown, that her people even got her new album (Blackout) made

We could go on. But just enjoy the video …

Ghostface Killah is known for telling it like it is.

That extends to how he feels about lower-than-expected sales.

On his website, the Staten Island, N.Y., native expresses how disappointed he is with fans that decided it would be cool if they just downloaded his new album, The Big Doe Rehab, instead of purchasing the actual disc.

C’mon ya’ll. Ya gots ta buy tha sh!t.

Having crunched the numbers, Ghostface told his 115,000 MySpace fans that 30,000 units sold in the first week is “not going to f—ing work.”

“If ya’ll are really rolling with the kid, snap out that s—,” the rapper says. “Ya’ll n—– gonna make me leave the game. I thought ya’ll loved me.”

Ah, hip-hop news.

Ludacris has always represented his hometown of Atlanta, but the rapper’s latest venture will bring a taste of Singapore to the Dirty South.

The star plans to bring the upscale restaurant chain Straits to Atlanta in April. Straits Atlanta will be the fourth eatery in the chain developed by Chef Chris Yeo, who spoke about the venture in a statement.

“I love Atlanta’s charm, architecture, food and, most of all, the people,” Yeo said. “Chris Bridges’ commitment to his community and his family sealed the deal for me. This market is ideal for Straits and likewise Straits is perfect for the city.”

Chris “Ludacris” Bridges has embarked on a tasty new venture.

Atlanta Straits is set to stand apart from the chain’s other locations by adding some character ingredients to capture the attention of natives that might not be used to Singapore cuisine - a combination of Southeast Asian food such Thai, Indonesian, Chinese, Malay and Indian cooking.

“During my travels, I’ve experienced some of the most diverse international culinary flavors in the world,” Ludacris said.

“After experiencing Yeo’s modern spin on Singaporean cuisine combined with a sexy dining experience, I wanted to bring this restaurant to Atlanta.”

It’s nothing new to hip-hop fans by now, but here’s the video for “Sweetest Girl,” by Wyclef Jean, from his new album, Carnival, Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant.

It’s pretty bad-ass and political with its imagery, and a great song to boot. Even if it does feature Lil Wayne. Newcomer Niia and hook master Akon also appear.

Contrary to numerous published reports, Amy Winehouse did not enter rehab yesterday, and was merely visiting a doctor she has been seeing regularly.

Meanwhile, officers from Scotland Yard have confirmed that they will investigate the video footage of Amy Winehouse apparently smoking crack out of a pipe.

Amy Winehouse was thought to be in rehab… but isn’t.

“We will assess the footage to ascertain whether any action needs to be taken,” a police official said of the disturbing footage, which was reportedly shot recently.