Last night, John Legend celebrated the release of his new CD, Evolver (out now), with a sold-out concert at Manhattan’s Bowery Ballroom, followed by an invite-only fete at Bagatelle’s subterranean Rendezvous Lounge. Though his new music was well received at both events, many guests had no idea what they were missing.

Back in February, Legend invited me to hang out with him at a recording studio in Atlanta, where he gave me an exclusive preview of several tracks that suggested Evolver was shaping up to be a decidedly sexier album for the soulful singer-songwriter. But as it turns out, many of those songs — including seductive grooves produced by Rich Harrison ("The Only One") and Pharrell Williams ("Aim High") — didn’t make the final cut.

"We ended up doing so many new songs that things got bumped," says Kawan "KP" Prather, who co-produced Evolver with Legend. "It just came down to what made the best body of work." So, will fans ever get to hear any of those fabulous unreleased tracks, perhaps on a deluxe edition of Evolver to be released at a later date? "If that were to be the case," says KP, whose production credits on the album include the current single, "Green Light," featuring André 3000, "we have the material all ready to go."

Last night, New Kids on the Block played New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first time in 19 years. Before the show, I caught up with the guys — Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood — backstage to find out how it feels to be back on the road now that they’ve matured from boys to men. But rather than answering the same old questions about themselves (What’s it like to see your fans all grown up? Do you see more guys at your shows now? How is your tour rider different from back in the day?), it turns out they were more interested in dissing Diddy‘s shenanigans on MTV’s Making the Band. The best part? I caught it all on camera for your viewing pleasure. (Shout-outs to Danny and Joey for being my cameramen!) Here’s a highlight clip.

From stumping for Obama to appearing on T.I.‘s latest CD, Paper Trail, Justin Timberlake‘s pretty busy for an artist who doesn’t have any new music of his own to promote. Does that mean he’s working on the follow-up to 2006′s FutureSex/LoveSounds? "No," the singer recently told my coworker Lindsay Soll. "I’ve gotten that question a lot lately, especially since I just played a show in Las Vegas. I love putting out records, but it’s such a task that I feel like I’ve always been the type of person to let it just come up when it comes up." Here’s hoping J.T. comes up with something fresh and sexy soon. My booty is stiff (sorry, Usher!) and I need something to make it bounce.

Some of the hottest names on the Island Def Jam roster — including Mariah Carey, Duffy, and Ne-Yo — dropped by Bergdorf Goodman last night for the exclusive premiere of Le Métier de Beauté cosmetics, hosted by label chief Antonio "L.A." Reid. Fledgling soul singer Chrisette Michele was also spotted among thecrowd, as super chic guests sipped champagne, receivedcomplimentary makeovers, and grooved to a stellar playlist of R&Band hip-hop classics. Mariah’s handbag husband, Nick Cannon, was there too, doing his best to look relevant, along with Eve, who will appear in Drew Barrymore‘s upcoming directorial debut, Whip It!, co-starring Ellen Page and Juliette Lewis. Speaking of Eve, I’m glad she found work because I was starting to wonder why she’s still famous. Also, whatever happened to that album she was supposed to drop more than a year ago? The one with "Tambourine" on it. That song was cute, no?

So many events, so little time, too many scheduling conflicts. It was another chaotic night in New York City yesterday. After waiting until early evening for Sean Kingston to call from Nigeria to give me the skinny about his new album only to be stood up at the final hour, I dashed across town for Beyoncé‘s CD listening session at the Sony Club. Though her dad, Matthew Knowles, presented the tracklisting and other details about the album (out Nov. 18) to the media in Hollywood last week, I was hopeful that Mrs. Carter, who lives in Manhattan, would make an appearance so that I’d have something juicy to write about. No such luck. Once again, papa Knowles did all the talking, explaining that B wouldn’t be able to join us because she was busy doing international press interviews. That’s when I bolted for the exit door.

Next, after meeting up with co-workers for a few rounds of drinks and appetizers, I dropped by the opening of the new Hugo Boss concept store in the ultra chic meatpacking district. With music by Alexandra and Theodora Richards, along with a design installation by architect Matteo Thun, it promised to be the destination event of the night, which it was (guests included Brooke Shields, Mena Suvari, and Maggie Gyllenhaal). Unfortunately, I arrived a tad too fashionably late — by the time my friends and I elbowed our way past the pushy swarm of overly perfumed fashionistas buzzing around the velvet rope, the list-checkers claimed the party was full to capacity. Over it and nauseous from the ’fumes, we didn’t put up a fight. My friends departed for a benefit to raise funds for a gay elephant polo team (no lie!) and I headed home.

By then, it was almost 10 p.m. — too late to make an appearance at the premiere party for the CW’s Stylista, which, frankly, I planned to skip anyway after watching an advance screener of the beyond awful first episode. I had also missed the performance at Universal Motown’s industry showcase for Shontelle, an up-and-coming R&B singer from Barbados who looks and sounds a lot like the old Rihanna. Of course, no sooner than I arrived at my apartment, my BlackBerry started vibrating again. It was an email from the publicist for the Hugo Boss event "Hi. Are you in?" Bless his heart.

Usually, I like to end these posts with a few questions to help generate your feedback to give me a better sense of what does and doesn’t interest you. But today, I’m at a loss. Where do I begin? Are we annoyed that Mrs. Jay-Z was too busy to show up for her listening session? Or does it not even matter because she’s far too fabulous, fierce, and flawless to bother mingling with the proletariat?

PS: Did I forget to mention that I’m kicking myself for making a premature exit from the Beyoncé preview (even though my colleague Leah Greenblatt stayed so that she can review the album for the magazine)? Not only was the rest of my night a total bust, but now I have to wait until the album drops to hear it. Lesson learned: never chase the party.

Jamaican rapper/R&B singer Sean Kingston is working on the follow-up to his 2007 self-titled debut CD. It’s called Tomorrow and features assists from Stephen Marley, Polow Da Don, and J.R. Rotem, who produced Kingston’s ubiquitous 2007 hit "Beautiful Girls." But while he’s eager to complete the disc, which is due out in March 2009, he recently took a break from recording to go on a South African safari adventure. Kingston was scheduled to call me today to give me more details about his new music during a layover in Lagos, Nigeria, while en route from Cape Town to Los Angeles, but his cell reception was terrible and we were never able to make it happen. (His loss!)

At any rate, based on what we do know, does this sound like a winner to you? Do you think he will ever be able to top or at least match the success of "Beautiful Girls"?

It’s been eight long years since Michael Eugene Archer, the Grammy-winning soul stirrer known as D’Angelo, released his acclaimed second CD, Voodoo. During his hiatus, he was arrested for drug possession and DUI, suffered injuries in a car crash, and checked into rehab. But just when it seemed like he’d gone the way of Lauryn Hill, his rep confirmed to me that he’s currently recording his third studio album in Los Angeles. Though no release date has been set, the still-untitled disc will be distributed by RCA/SonyBMG and will feature collaborations with John Mayer and Raphael Saadiq, who co-produced D’Angelo’s 2000 hit "Untitled (How Does It Feel)."

In addition to keeping busy in the studio, D’Angelo’s also working out with celebrity trainer Mark Jenkins, who helped the singer-songwriter get in famously chiseled shape for his deliciously sexy "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" video. I just got off the phone with Mark, who called from Los Angeles to give me the scoop about both of the singer-songwriter’s hot new bodies of work.

MARGEAUX’S MIX: What did D’Angelo look like when you first got the call to start training him again?
MARK JENKINS: He had already dropped a significant amount of weight on his own, so I didn’t see him at his craziest stage. He knew better than to show up training with me like that. It would be too painful for him. So he got in shape before we got together, somewhat — he got in shape to get in shape.

When was that?
Maybe three or four months ago.

How much did he weigh at that time?
It’s hard to say how much he weighed because of the way he stays covered up. He’s very anti-body, anti-press. He’s interesting to train because you don’t really get a good look at his physique because he’s always covered up. I guess I would say he was over 200 pounds. And he’s not that tall of a guy — about five feet six inches.

How big was he at his worst?
I don’t use weight when I’m training people; I use body-fat measurements. In the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" video, he was around 6 percent body fat. At his worst, he must’ve got up to the high 20s or 30s in body-fat percentage, which is a big departure from 6. That’s drastic.

As his trainer, how did it make you feel — no pun intended — to see him let himself go like that?
I was very upset and I told him. I was like, "Hey, man, I really felt bad because I left you in great shape but apparently, I didn’t instill in you what you needed." And he was like, "Nah, you know, circumstances and things happen in life." But you can’t get somebody in great shape and do all this press, and then say when they get out of shape, "Hey, that had nothing to do with me!" So I feel bad as a trainer about that. He understands. He knows. But of course, it’s not 100 percent my fault because it is his body and ultimately his responsibility.

What’s his workout regime?
He’s very much into mixed martial arts and boxing. I’ve also got some dirt bikes, so we’re gonna hit some moguls and trails this week. I’m actively trying to find sports that he’s genuinely interested in so that he has motivation to train for his sport as opposed to going into the gym and just doing curls and looking in the mirror, because this way he’ll be more apt to stay in shape for a lifetime. The mistake we made the last time is that it turned into more of a superficial thing: How do I look? How do my arms look? How do my abs look? And a lot of that was due to the media as opposed to a lifestyle thing.

What’s his fitness goal? Is he striving to reclaim his sex symbol status?
I doubt you’ll see him naked again, but you never know. For him to be so musically talented and to look like that at the same time, I think it was a lot for people to see. He felt like people were looking at his body and not listening to his music. And I think that was a big contributing factor to him subsequently getting so out of shape. So instead of us working out for an aesthetic or the look, I tried to make it more of a spiritual thing, like this is the vessel that houses your spirit, so let’s get that in tune so your music will be better, you’ll be a better parent, and you’ll be a better citizen.

How close is he to reaching his goal?
He’s 20 pounds above how he looked in the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" video, so he’s looking pretty good. We got cheekbones and everything. I’m pleased to say he’s been following his diet and his training regime. If everything goes according to plan, I think he should be right back there in a month and a half.

After going through so much personal drama in the last few years, does he have a renewed commitment to his health?
Yeah. I think he took it for granted the first time out and he really appreciates being in shape and training. In the course of making fitness a part of your life, it’s normal to backslide. If you drop 40 pounds, you might gain 10 to 15 back. That’s normal — although it was a little bit more extreme in his case.

Do you guys listen to music when you work out?
Oh, yeah! Right now, he’s hitting strictly old heavy metal pretty hard, like Anthrax and stuff like that. When we did the "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" video, it was classic hip-hop — Mobb Deep, Nice & Smooth, Wu-Tang, and vintage ’80s stuff.

Have you heard any of his new music?
Yeah! It’s pretty hot!

What does it sound like?
I can’t tell you. He’s sensitive with that. He’ll get real mad. But it’s a departure, I will say, and it’s just as good, if not better.

Is that all you can tell me?
Believe me, just to hear something, I gotta go through two hours of, like, "Yo, Mike, you got me in the studio and you’re not going to play anything?" He’s like, "Aw, man! It’s not finished yet." I’m like, "Dude, I’m only a trainer! Do you think I’m gonna be able to detect whether it’s finished or not?" But it’s really hot.

Has he hinted about when his next CD is going to drop?
I don’t know yet because he’s still recording. He’s in the zone right now.

I, for one, am beyond thrilled by this news! What about you? Do you think D’Angelo’s upcoming CD will be worth the wait? Which are you most excited about: (a) seeing his sexy body, (b) hearing his new music, or (c) all of the above? Oh, and how much do you love the image of D rocking out to Anthrax in the gym?!