Songs of The Year

This is going to be hard, but I will try to list the best songs of the year (in my opinion). The order was hard to come up with so don't take it as final. It could be rearranged.


1) Just Dance-Lady GaGa feat. Colby O'Donis

I have to thank Perez Hilton for putting this song on his website at the beginning of the summer. It took until October to get onto the radio and is finally a big hit, currently #1 on iTunes. I've never really watched a song grow as this one did. It was exciting to love it and know about it for months before it really blew up. RedOne's fresh and exciting production along with his hard-hitting, churning beats make this a classic. There is so much amazing shiz going on in this song and the video suits it perfectly. I found a new love for it after I heard it on the radio. It sounds crazy ridiculous good on the radio. All hail the GaGa.



2) Hot N Cold-Katy Perry

Katy Perry's second single from her debut album is better than I Kissed A Girl. It doesn't matter if you love her or hate her, you have to admit, Hot N Cold is one damn catchy piece of pop. This song is what pop should be, mindless fun. It is so danceable and fun to bop around to. Simply, it is pop perfection.



3) Disturbia-Rihanna

My current favorite singer went and released her best song to date this year, Disturbia. It's dark, slinky, kooky, snapping, futuristic, and yes, catchy. "Bum bum be dum bum bum be dum bum" is genius. Well done Rih Rih. You made me love you even more.



4) The Loving Kind-Girls Aloud

My favorite girl group went and released one of their subtlest, best songs. This beautiful piece of "sad disco" was co-written by pop royalty, the Pet Shop Boys. It's a super sad song but you can't help but dance to it. Best parts: "I'd do anything..." sung by redhead Nicola Roberts after the first chorus followed by the slow down moment: "Somewhere on a Monday morning" sung by party girl, pixie cut Sarah Harding. It's similar to their hit from last year Call the Shots, but better. So kiss me then make up your mind, I'm not the loving kind. Amen, girls.



5) Radio-Beyonce

This crazy cool jam off B's third album, I Am...Sasha Fierce, is full of synths and zany love for a radio. It's a kooky song with a wall of sound effect after the chorus. The lyrics are funny, full of love for music, and Beyonce sings it perfectly. She really knows how to sing a song and the layered vocals send it sonic heaven. The second verse is divine (the whole thing about the car). One of Beyonce's best.



6) Boyfriend-Alphabeat

These happy, neon-colored Danes made my day this year. They love pop and aren't afraid to show it. This song literally could have come out in the 80's with it's super funky beat. It is insanely amazing with a delicous chorus and pre-chorus and a terrific middle part (This boy really drives you mad...). So much fun.

7) American Boy-Estelle feat. Kanye West
I'm so glad this song got big here. It seems pretty rare for a popular British hit by a British artist to make it over here (Leona Lewis being another one who has bucked the trend). This song was perfect for summer. The beat was funky, funky, funky and the lyrics were clever and cheeky. Kanye West's hilarious rap makes it even more awesome.



8) Viva La Vida-Coldplay

Epic, string laced pop from the British rockers. I adore this song by Coldplay. It literally soars and echoes with church bells and an orchestra. Also, you can sing practically any lyrics to the tune. I love the "Whoa oh oh oh" part. This is one to blast.



9) Fascination-Alphabeat

Another irresistible burst of joy from the Danes. It's so happy and fun, you can't help but dance crazily around the room. The chorus is a rollicking good time (Whoa oh) full of genuine zany happiness. This is what pop should be.



10) Hometown Glory-ADELE
The first time I heard this song, I was struck by how beautiful, wrenching, and moving it is. The piano is gorgeous in how it builds and recedes. ADELE's amazing voice is the real kicker here though. Also, two contestants on SYTYCD did a beautiful dance to this song this past summer on the show. ADELE's best song so far.

11) Breaking It Up-Lykke Li
Crazy pop filled with yelling voices, megaphones, and the urge to make anyone who hears it dance like an animal. This song feels organic and extremely fresh. It gets inside you. The chorus is such a beautiful release. The Swedish songstress truly impressed me with this one.

12) Untouched-The Veronicas
I had forgotten about these twin sisters from Down Under until I saw a couple dance to this song on So You Think You Can Dance back in June. This song is such a mix of styles: classical (the strings are great), new wave, pop, and 80's. There are also handclaps which are okay by me anytime, anywhere. It's finally being played on the radio which is very exciting. The way they sing the lyrics super fast and repeated creates a cool vibe. A great, truly exciting song that really made me sit up and listen when I heard it.

13) The Saturdays-Up
The British girl band really made an impression with this herky jerky, super modern piece of pop. This song is perfect and dare I say, a classic. The beep and stomp beat is plain awesome. Well done, gals.

14) The Promise-Girls Aloud
The first single from Girls Aloud's latest album was a grower for me, but once it had finished growing, I adored it. It has so many different parts and the girls harken back to the sixties like everyone else in England did this year in music, but it sounds different and truly special when these gals do it. A deserved Number 1. Best part: Sarah Harding just belting: "Here I ammmmm, walking Primrose..."

15) Danny and Jenny-Ladyhawke
The New Zealand songstress brought the eighties back this year. I didn't love her at first, but now I'm all aboard the Ladyhawke train. She's gradually getting more popular, and I heard her song My Delirium in a store today. Anyway this jam has a reverberating, echoing chorus that rocks the house (and HANCLAPS). After the chorus, everything kicks into high gear with a head-banging, rock out-worthy guitar part. I really want them to use this song on Gossip Girl. It would be perfect. The guitar/synth part near the end is divine.

Best of the rest....(those in bold are very good)
-Poker Face, Money Honey, Summerboy-Lady GaGa
-Sick-Sam Sparro
-Pretty Please-Estelle feat. Cee-Lo
-No Air-Chris Brown and Jordin Sparks (reinvented and brought back the modern pop ballad)
-Damaged-Danity Kane (damn catchy)
-Spotlight-Jennifer Hudson (super classy R & B)
-Wow, In My Arms-Kylie Minogue (both ecstatic pieces of perfect pop)
-Mercy-Duffy (again, damn catchy, but also, so damn sassy)
-Bleeding Love-Leona Lewis (the prototype for the modern pop ballad)
-I Know Your Girlfriend Hates Me-Annie
-Denial (very different song for the girls, but they pull it off), No Can Do, Hanging on a Star-Sugababes
-Rolling Back the Rivers in Time-Girls Aloud (Kooky, but it really works.)
-I Decided, Sandcastle Disco-Solange (who would have thought Beyonce's sister could make music this awesome?)
-More Man Than Man-Antigone (FIERCE)
-Bathroom Gurgle and the whole Late of the Pier EP (crazy blend of musical styles-all pretty much danceable and awesome)
-Pumpkin Soup, Foundations, Merry Happy-Kate Nash (All great, but Merry Happy is way too long)
-See You Again-Miley Cyrus (Catchy, catchy, catchy-My best friend Leslie said "She's just being Miley" =genius)
-Revenge Is Sweeter Than You Ever Were-The Veronicas (I rediscoverd this twin sister band from Australia and their new stuff is awesome especially this)
-Lost!-Coldplay (that organ, that clap/bongo beat, such a pretty song)
-I'm Good, I'm Gone-Lykke Li (terrific piano, more looney pop)
-Be Mine!, Crash and Burn Girl-Robyn
-Closer, Miss Independent-Ne-Yo (he is the MASTER of poppy, smooth R &B)
-I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You, Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)-Black Kids (awesome band from Florida. So much pop, awesome choruses, chants, and handclaps=I'm in love)
-Lights & Music-Cut Copy (this song just builds until its absolute corker, as they say, of a chorus
-Give it 2 Me-Madonna
-Shake It-Metro Station (so catcy, likeable, and danceable)
-Off and On-Sophie Ellis-Bextor
-What Is Happening?-Alphabeat (I love how their choruses end up being delightful singalongs)
-Synthesizer-Red Blooded Women (that rip-roaring guitar)
-Beat Control-Tilly and the Wall
-Dusk Til Dawn-Ladyhawke
-Use Somebody (epic, catchy, moving-the lead singer's vocals are so soulful), Frontier City-Kings of Leon
-Shove It-Santogold feat. Spank Rock (awesome beat, sounds somewhat similar to Timbaland-esque songs, but with Santogold's own spin on it)
-Live Your Life-T.I. feat. Rihanna (Unavoidable. Rihanna's part owns it everytime though)
-If I Were a Boy, Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), Why Don't You Love Me?-Beyonce (New, thrilling territory for our beloved diva)
-The Boy Does Nothing-Alesha Dixon (Swingtime, big band, Mambo No. 5-esque pop awesomeness)
-Movie Star, You Know Me Better (simply amazing)-Roisin Murphy
-3 Little Words-Frankmusik (frenetic, frantic, urgent, hard-hitting pop genius from an up and coming talent)
-Trouble, Circus, Womanizer (so catchy)-Britney Spears
-The Fear-Lily Allen (she tries electro-pop, and she done good)
-Leeds United-Amanda Palmer (energetic, cabaret pop awesomeness-her voice is out of this world-you can feel her throwing herself with abandon into this song)
-You Belong to Me, Forever and Always-Taylor Swift
-Let It Rock-Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil' Wayne (crazy music hybrid with a killer rap by Lil' Wayne)
-Into the Nightlife-Cyndi Lauper (super modern pop, so much fun0
-Love Lockdown-Kanye West (bizarre and sensational new direction for the rapper)
-Elevator-Flo Rida feat. Timbaland (should have been a bigger hit)
-Spiralling, Better than This, Pretend That You’re Alone Now, Again and Again, You Haven't Told Me Anything-Keane (their new album is really good)
-Realize-Colbie Callait-Repetitive, but soothing and really pretty.
-Delayed Devotion-Duffy-A sassy midtempo kiss-off from the petite Welshwoman with a great chorus.
-Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, M79, Oxford Comma, A-Punk-Vampire Weekend-Clever and funny. This band has such a distinct, simple, and quirky sound:jungle beat-inflected, upbeat coolness. It's catchy too.
-Right As Rain-ADELE -Wonderful lyrics, old school sensibility, super jazzy piano, and a delightful chorus make this a gem from ADELE's great debut 19.
-Faces-Electric Youth-A young couple from Canda record delicious eighties inspired tunes. This wonderful ditty is one of them. It's called Faces, and I love the verses and beginning more than the chorus. I look forward to other things from them.
-Two Doors Down-Mystery Jets-British band record this delightful pop/rock confection. The chorus is splendid with its cheeky 80's homage. Also, a saxophone solo is always a plus.
-I'm Yours-Jason Mraz-A sweet, moving song that is very Jason Mraz. Perfect summer song that was overplayed so now I'm sick of it.

Amazingness

Beyonce premiered two new videos yesterday for her next singles, the ridiculously epic, synth explosion also known as Halo and the crazy sassy Diva. The video for Halo is boring and doesn't really have a plot, but it's a great, soaring song filled with bombast moments. How appropriate that the co-writer of Bleeding Love, Ryan Tedder of One Republic, wrote it. At first, I thought Diva was awful. It didn't really have a beat and was annoying. Now after seeing the edgy video, I love it. Beyonce sings/raps the hell out of it with a ton of attitude. It's a total jam. The video has some awesome choreography and weird angled shots. I love the angular, modern, and fierce outfits (the fringe sunglasses are out of this world). This video is a different side of Beyonce. That dance routine throughout is awesome. 0:47 to 1:40 is perfection! The sassy head movements during the "Ima Ima a diva" are kind of hilarious and amazing. It's all nuts. Well done, B!

New Video!

Girls Aloud are releasing their superb collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys, The Loving Kind, as their second single. This video is perfect for the song. It's glamorous and fragile, in a weird way, with all the glass. The red, black, and white color palette for the windows is quite cool. The video is a lot of posing and wind machine blown hair. That don't matter to me. The girls hit those drama queen moments. Also, I love Nicola's (the redhead) bit around 1:36. This song is pure sad disco. Love it.

Circus Review

I still remember the first time I heard Britney Spears: I was probably six years old and her video for Sometimes came on the Disney Channel. My mom said "I think she's coming this summer." I loved that video (the white, the dancing on the boardwalk). I loved that album. I performed almost the whole thing for my parents one time. Her second album Oops...I Did It Again was the soundtrack to the trip I took to Europe with my parents back in Summer 2000. I fondly remember the red jumpsuit from the Oops video and the chair dance and car going over the cliff in the Stronger video. I think there was a period where I lost interest for awhile, but when I discovered her third album Britney, I loved it. There are so many great songs on that album, and it's underrated. Overprotected and Anticipating are amazing. Then, when I heard about In the Zone coming out, I was obsessed. I bought it the day it came out I believe. I loved Me Against the Music with Madonna, and I liked Toxic before it became a single and modern classic. That album wasn't as great as the past three, but that was okay. Then, came the crazy years where the Britney I knew and loved went downhill. Then, came the genius Gimme More last year and she released Blackout: a really great dance album that I didn't appreciate when it first came out. It included such choice cuts as Piece of Me, Heaven on Earth, Toy Soldier, Radar, and Break the Ice. All things weren't right in Britney world though, but finally she started to get things together this year with help from her dad and various others.

Now we have her sixth album, Circus which came out Tuesday. When Womanizer, the first single came out, I thought it was kinda bad, but then it really grew on me and now I really like it. It's such a good song to dance to, and the video is funny and well done. The second single called Circus is really great. I think it's my favorite off the album. My favorite part is when the song slows down between the verse and the chorus and she sings "When I put out a show....". It's such a cool, slow-mo moment, and it works so well. Kill the Lights is another notable song. It's really different, and I love the ominous brass in the background. The lyrics are good, and I like how she sings it. I love after the chorus when she sings: "I killed the lights". The ways she says killed is perfect. Then comes Shattered Glass which I really, really like. It has another one of those slow-mo moments like the one in Circus when she sings: "You're gonna see me in your dreams tonight...". I love how that part is the chorus. I do wish the song was longer. Then, comes the somewhat infamous If U Seek Amy which I think is very clever. It's very in your face, stomping, taunting, and kind of obnoxious at points. The chorus has circus-kind of music in it. The song is done by producer/writer Max Martin who has done a lot of Britney songs along with So What by Pink and Hot N Cold by Katy Perry. It's very catchy. Unusual You is a very different song for Britney, nice electro. The rest of the songs are pretty good, but not amazing. Mmm Papi is amusing, and Lace and Leather has a funny guitar solo that I enjoy. It's a pretty funky song. I really think she should have one of the bonus tracks, Trouble, on the album. The beat is awesome, and the synths are perfect. The way they bounce around reminds me of the very first video game: Pong and the sound it would make in song form, if that makes sense. It's just a very good song, and I love it. Another good bonus track is Amnesia which has a chunky, bang-bang beat with a tinge of 80's going on in the chorus along with lots of synths. It's another song that's very different for Britney. Overall, this isn't the masterpiece I was expecting, but that's okay. There are some classic Britney songs here, and that's good for me.

Lazerboy!

The video for Sergey and Timati's elector-pop song Lazerboy has arrived and it is super cool, filled with lasers and Kanye West sunglasses. Sergey's wears amazing outfits especially the ripped suit. I like how I don't know what the heck they are saying in this song. That fact that it's in Russian just makes it even cooler to me. I like the call response bit when Sergey says something in Russian then Timati says "Say oooh" and when the skanky woman does her little bit after the chorus and says Lazerboy. The slow part starting at 2: 15 is another great part of the song even though the laser making out scene is really out there. The whole thing with the phone cord is amazing though and same with the skanky woman holding the scissors after having cut up Sergey's suit. Also, they shoot lasers out of their fingers at the end. I love Sergey and this song.

Tidbits

-Emily Blunt (the sharp-tongued Emily in the Devil Wears Prada), one of my favorite young actresses, is dating Jon Krasinski of The Office. I'm so happy for them. Both of them are simply amazing.

-Taylor Swift's album, Fearless, topped the charts this week. Congrats, Taylor!

-Russian popstar Sergey performed a super colorful, deliciously poppy live cover of Erasure's Love to Hate You at this Latvian concert thing a few months ago. I LOVE his purple tank top! The choreography is also amazingly late 90's/early 00's!! Also, I love his expressions. He's so campy and pop. I love it.

Sergey Lazarev Covers "Love To Hate You" by Erasure from EQ Video on Vimeo.

New Sugababes!

The Sugababes have released the video for their second single off Catfights and Spotlights, No Can Do. This video is amazing. It is very smexy and very feminist, and I love it! Also, they all look really glam. I love the part when they walk over the bridge of men and how the men wince in pain as one of the gals steps on them with her super high heels. Also, its very cool how the men are just there to serve the gals (ex. the part when the two guys make themselves like tables). Another great part is at the end when Heidi (the blonde) is going down the line of men with a megaphone. Also, the song is very good too, very old school, but with slight modern touches like the reverb/echo of the horns and brass. The melody and tempo are very upbeat and sunny, but the lyrics are most definitely not. The best part is at the end when they sing: "Don't try and even call me on the telephone, it don't mean a thing cause I'm on my own". This is their hot-men-in-their-underwear-are-jerks-so-we-will-treat-them-as-servants video. Every girl group needs one of those. Brilliant.

Sasha Fierce Has Arrived

Beyonce's third album, the amazingly titled I Am...Sasha Fierce was released Tuesday. Surprisingly, I'm not going crazy over the album. It doesn't have the singles Dangerously in Love had (the classic Crazy in Love, Baby Boy, Naughty Girl) or the consistency and lack of filler that B'Day had. I usually adore Beyonce's upbeat numbers, but only a few have grabbed me on this new album. The slower songs are quite good though. I don't like how she split the album up into ballads and upbeat songs. I know she's trying to make a point, but it's kind of silly. People want a mix of ballads and dance tunes on pop records or in my case, all upbeat tunes. I love my Beyonce though, and I admire her for the risk she's taking. She's expanding her horizons. I'm liking Halo, Disappear, Ego, Scared of Lonely, Sweet Dreams, Radio and Single Ladies at the moment. The other songs on the album just didn't really jump out at me. The rest of the ballads sounded kind of the same and could have been sung by anyone. Radio, Scared of Lonely, and Single Ladies are great though. Radio and Scared of Lonely are very modern and of the moment especially the screechy synth laser sounds in Radio. I also love how Scared of Lonely has this hard bouncy walking beat. Single Ladies is a dazzling, dizzying mess of fierceness, sassy lyrics, and hard-hitting, super fast, back-breaking, workout-inducing beats that works pretty darn well. It's super catchy. The video is also amazing with the sick nasty choreography and crazy silver glove. It really shows how talented Beyonce is. The video for If I Were a Boy is even better. It's truly moving and enhances the song, giving it more meaning and context which is rare for a video to do. I watched her AOL Sessions and her voice is just crazy good (obviously). It can soar or it can have grit as she shown in a cover of Etta James' At Last. The photo on the left was taken at the AOL sessions. I love it. It's simple, and I love the Suga Mama in the background. All my love Sasha.

My Two New Interests

1) The amazingness that is CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. Now I've watched Mr. Cooper before and appreciated his talent and divine weave, but watching him on Election Night was absolutely delightful. He was smart, aware, and funny. Well done my Silver Fox.

2) Taylor Swift. I know, I know, she is country and I don't like country. I tried to get into it when I was younger: I bought a Kenny Chesney CD, but who was I kidding? I was making myself like it. Carrie Underwood, Shania, and Faith are good though, but they are more pop-country than country-pop. Anyways, Taylor Swift's songs are just really pretty and the melodies are pleasing. I like her voice too. I disliked Teardrops on My Guitar from her last album, but quite liked Our Song. Her new album, Fearless, came out on Tuesday, and I'm liking a lot of the songs. Her songs are very soothing and comforting. The lyrics are also quite good too, sometimes cliche, but sometimes very sweet and specific. She really knows how to sing a song and what to emphasize. That was my spiel.

New Girls Aloud

The new album is out!! I'm so happy! The songs I've heard are very good, but I don't know if it will match the near masterpiece status of last year's Tangled Up. I 'm loving the song the Pet Shop Boys contributed to the album. It's called The Loving Kind and it is honestly, one of the most beautiful and sad songs of the year. The first time I heard it, I loved it. It's similar to last year's Call the Shots, but I think it's better. I love the part after the first chorus when Nicola Roberts, the fragile voiced singer of the group (center in the picture above) sings "I'd do anything sing songs that lovers sing if I could change your mind am I not the loving kind" She sings it with so much sadness and heart; it's beautiful. Then, the song slows down and goes into this equally sad part about a train station and a crowded platform: "Somewhere on a Monday morning in the rush hour of another day standing on a crowded platform carelessly we lost our way". Amazing lyrics. The transitions in this song are seamless and it's a very subtle song as well. I love after they sing "disinclined" in the chorus how there's the subtle "ah ah ah ah" in the background. This song sounds shiny, metallic, and sophisticated. So pretty.

Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's president. I'm so happy. All is right.

Watching last night I noticed a few things:

-Watching CNN is the most intense bombardment of information. I love the dramatic noise that comes on when they make a prediction.

-The holograms, also on CNN, were hilarious. CNN was bursting at the seams with the most ridiculous technology. I particularly enjoyed when Will.i.am, lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas, was being interviewed by Anderson Cooper via hologram and how he did a little dance. Anderson Cooper didn't even react. Ahh, holograms. Everyone looks like a complete tool as a hologram, by the way. You just can't be taken seriously.

-I also just love Anderson Cooper. He just has something about him. He's a great reporter and journalist.

-Also, Jon King (I think that's his name) was having a lot of fun with that touch screen map last night. He was zooming in here and zooming out there. I loved when he was speculating how McCain could get up to 270 and he was saying "I'll give him this state and this one too,". Even he clearly wasn't going to win the state, he pressed it. It was just ridiculous after a point.

-Another great moment was when a black man on the CNN panel responded to Obama's win. All he said was 100 years ago the NAACP was formed and he didn't go into great detail. He let the facts stand for themselves. He was getting emotional, and it was truly moving.

-Also, I swear, Loni Love, the black woman who does the commentary on all the I Love the... on VH1 was on CNN crying and smiling in a bar in LA after the results had come in.

-Now on to the speech:

The part about the 106-year old woman really got me especially hearing it a second time. Also, Obama was talking about how the campaign started on the back porches of..., and the backyards of..., and I thought that showed how far he'd come.

-Oprah was in the audience

-Michelle Obama's dress was bold and modern, very metallic. I had mixed feelings, but I think it again showed how she is a modern American woman. I love her.

So much more to say. So much history made. Obama...congratulations! You are an inspiration to all. I don't know what else there is to say. It's just amazing.

Tina Fey News

The premiere of 30 Rock the other night was great. Also, it had 8.6 million viewers which are the best ratings the show has ever had. Yay!! There were so many clever and hilarious moments. Here are a few:

-Jenna's commercial for Tokyo University
-Tracy Jordan saying Noblesse Oblige
-Jenna saying: "I met Liz back in '93. I was dating O.J. Simpson then. He was really a gentleman," to the woman who is evaluating Liz to see if she is fit to adopt a child
-Jack having to seduce Don Geiss's "special" daughter who loves Mark Wahlberg and soap operas to the sounds of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
-Liz saying to Jack: "I had to hide all my Colin Firth movies in case they were considered erotica," Hahah. I love Liz. Also, how she had penis pasta.
-The fact that Liz keeps calling one of the black guys at work the name of the other black guy who works there. Also, the fact that the adoption agency evaluator has a black husband.
-The evaluator was played wonderfully by Megan Mullally (Karen from Will and Grace)
-When Jack and Liz had to have a pretend love scene in front of Don Geiss' daughter

Also, apparently Jon Hamm (Don Draper of Mad Men) will be doing a few episodes of the show playing Liz's love interest!!! So exciting. I love Jon Hamm. He was pretty darn funny on SNL last weekend. Ah yay! Oprah guest stars next week. Amazing.

New Music!

Lady GaGa-Poker Face
My favorite Lady GaGa song finally has a video, but it's a little bit of a disappointment, for me at least. There are fierce moments especially when she gets out of the pool in the beginning, but it doesn't capture the raw energy of a party the way the Just Dance video did. I like the part in the end where's she's in the room with the guy, and she's wearing a bow. Her album came out on Tuesday!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdpSmNMg1is

Alphabeat-What is Happening?

Danish band Alphabeat's new single is so good. It's such a rousing song, but I didn't expect you could dance to it. The video really matches the song's energy perfectly. I love the concept of the video, and the lead singer really throws himself into the song. I love that. Around the 1: 50 minute mark there's a great part where they sing "ooooo" really softly and dance around. It's beautiful.


The Saturdays-Work

The Saturdays' debut album was released this week in the UK and from the clips I heard, it's very good. This is supposed to be the third single from the album. It's called Work, and I like it a lot, but not as much as Up which is absolute genius and one of the best songs of the year.

Girls Aloud Madness

Girls Aloud's latest single The Promise was Number 1 on the UK charts for the week. The song had been number one on the UK iTunes all of last week. This is so exciting. This is their first original number one, as in not a cover, since their debut, Sound of the Underground, back in '03. Very exciting.

Here are the gals performing the song on various British shows: T4, X Factor (kind of like American Idol) on which Cheryl-farthest on right-is a judge this season, and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. They look gorgeous in all of the performances, but the dresses in the X Factor one are particularly stunning.





T4-


Friday Night with Jonathan Ross-



X Factor-

True Class

Selena Gomez at a Tinkerbell DVD release event yesterday looking divine. Simple and elegant. That is all.

Class

-Rowdy pics of Miley's main man, Justin Gaston, have popped up on the internet. They are of him at a Hollywood Hillls house party. They are amusing. See them here: http://bauergriffinonline.celebuzz.com/2008/10/mileys-boyfriend-justin-gaston.php

-He also churched it up with some of the Cyrus clan the other day when Miley was sicky poo.

-And he was modelling in a show last week and when he walked down the runway, Miley stuck her tongue out suggestively at him . It's possibly my favorite picture of her ever. Team Selena! Gaston is on a roll!

Justin is a fox though.

Tidbits

-Franz Ferdinand's third album, called Tonight: Franz Ferdinand will be released January 27. I'm excited. They are a fun band with some truly great songs. The first song, not a single though, from the album that I've heard is Lucid Dreams. I heard it twice on FNX yesterday and it is a tempo-changing romp. I really like it.

-Girls Aloud's new album Out of Control will now be released on November 3, a week sooner than originally planned! I heard a clip of their collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys on Popjustice the other day, and it was good, very good. The song is called The Loving Kind. The album cover is lacking though. I like the outfits and poses but too many words, too busy. The Promise was released to the UK iTunes today. Here's the link for The Loving Kind clip:
http://www.popjustice.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3075&Itemid=206
-The new Keane album, Perfect Symmetry, is really good. Spiralling, The Lovers are Losing, Better Than This, You Haven't Told Me Anything, and Pretend That You're Alone are standouts, but the whole album is delightfully poppy and wonderful. I love the lead singer's soaring voice.

-The Saturdays' second single Up was the number 5 song on the UK charts for the week. Congrats, girls.

Fashion Queen

Rihanna is the shiz. The outfit she wore at the Justin Timberlake and Friends concert the other night was hip, high-waisted, and sleek with a burst of color. I love the yellow top and jacked weave! Bossay!

Damn, Girl

We have a budding fashion icon in our midst. Disney's new princess, Selena Gomez, star of the Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place, has been showing off some glam outfits this past week at various events (the HSM3 premiere, for example). Very impressive little Se-Se. She is just so likable and sweet, and she's friends with Demi Lovato who I secretly adore. Go Se-Se. Your clothes are already way better than Miley's. I especially like the plaid number on the left.

Tidbits

-First off, M.I.A. is pregnant!!! What?! That came out of nowhere! Congrats.








-Taylor Momsen of Gossip Girl rocked the premiere of Sex Drive last week. She has a really cool, edgy style. I like it.

-Here are some pictures of the boys from Twilight. That is all. Bask in them.

-The Scissor Sisters played two shows in New York earlier in the week and debuted new material! Yay! I love lead singer Jake Shears' nerdy glasses. His outfit is very 40's/50's all-American high school boy. (see photos below)

-Posh just knocked it out of the park with this ensemble. Love the new weave, the classy black dress, and the shades! Perfection.

-Here's an outtake of Zac Efron's from his photo shoot with Entertainment Weekly. Why must he look at me with those puppy dog eyes? Also, yesterday was his twenty first birthday. Happy birthday, Troy.

-Leighton Meester, rocked the Sex Drive premiere as well just in a simpler way. Here she is with the funny Katrina Bowden of 30 Rock.

New Britney!

Britney's new video for Womanizer arrived Friday night, and I saw it for the first time this morning. Oh my word, it is freakin' amazing. Britney has returned!!! It is uber sexual and nasty like all great Britney videos. She also looks competent. She's dancing around, having fun, switching costumes. This is a complete 180 from last year's grainy Gimme More video which was basically a close up in black and white of her dancing around a stripper pole. This video is campy and flirtatious. The part where she drives the car with her high heel is genius as is the part when she photocopies her butt. I also enjoy when all the Britney's attack the womanizer at the end. The womanizer is also a total fox. His name is Brandon Stoughton and he is big surprise, a model (see below-I did not write Yummo on his photo). His expressions are priceless. He is an expert at the smoldering gaze. Well done, Brit. This video is crazy good. Also, she's naked at various points.

New Video!

Alesha Dixon, who I mentioned a few weeks ago, has released the video for her genius, awesome song The Boy Does Nothing. The video is a big band, dancehall-style romp with fun choreography and Alesha oozing sass and gold fringe. I finally heard the whole song thanks to the video. The middle part of the song is absolutely delectable. Well done, Alesha. There are also clips from other songs off her new album on her Myspace now, and they are good and different too. Check it out!
www.myspace.com/aleshamusic

The Boy Does Nothing Video:

Daddy-o, You Got the Swagger of a Champion

In other Scarlett Johansson news, her new husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, will be running the New York Marathon next month to fight Parkinson's Disease, joining Michael J. Fox's Team Fox. I basically wrote this post so I could use the title above.

Tidbits

- Here's a recent picture of Shawn Johnson. Just because a little Shawn Johnson makes any day better.


-Scarlett Johansson embarrasses herself with the new Cosmo Girl cover. The outfit is just....no. I still love her though.



-Miley's man, Justin Gaston, performed at her huge Sweet 16 bash at Disneyland this past weekend. Here's what Miley's dad, Billy Ray, has to say about the Gas: "He actually reminds me a lot of myself when I was 20 years old and I was living and searching for the dream. He's got a great heart and soul, and a lot of determination. I think that's the true measure of a man, is when you measure his heart." (Billy Ray told this to Access Hollywood). This relationship is so weird but I love it. No way is she still a virgin. Look at that picture of him in his underwear model days (above). No way! Well, her excuse is....she's just being Miley.

-Katy Perry graces the cover of the November Blender looking vintage chic. I like her style. It's very 40's pinup.

-Krysten Ritter, one of Rory's college friends on Gilmore Girls in the last two seasons, rocks it out at a recent event. I love the puffy high waisted black skirt. She's pictured here with redheaded comedienne Isla Fisher who I love. The two of them will be starring in February's romantic comedy Confessions of a Shopaholic which actually looks decent. Hugh Dancy (!!!), Joan Cusack (I LOVE THAT WOMAN....the water bubbler scene in Sixteen Candles), and Kristen Scott Thomas also star.

-Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist stars Jonathan B. Wright and Aaron Yoo appear in an article at Out Magazine's website talking about the movie. They were both so great in that movie. I heart them.

















-Britney Spears new video for Womanizer will premiere during 20/20, of all shows, tomorrow night on ABC. 20/20 is a news magazine show. I don't see the connection. Check out these photos from the video shoot. Look at her as a shmexy secretary! Anyway, I bought Womanizer out of love for my Brit Brit, and I like the song more now. Dancing to it immediately makes it better. Also the lyric "Daddy-o, you've got the swagger of a champion" is an undeniably genius lyric. Not Brit's best though. Gimme More was way better.

A Return to Form

Ashley Tiz must have been listening when I called her out on her poor fashion choices at various promotion events for HSM 3 around Europe this past week because she stepped up her game for the premieres in Germany and London. The outfit at right is the one she wore in Germany and I kind of love it. The gold top is almost like battle armor. Also, it's metallic. I'm so into that. Her weave looks good too. At the London premiere on the left, she went for more of a cutesy look, but I like it. It's soft and the high waist is always good in my book. Well played, Tiz.

So Good

Here is a remix of Kanye West's new single Love Lockdown done by DJ Earworm . It's a mash up with Radiohead's Reckoner, and it's freaking amazing. http://www.earwormmp3.com/reckoner_lockdown.mp3

Here is a song called Lazerboy by Sergey and Timati. Sergey (left in pic above) is a fox and also a campy Russian pop star. Timati is a Russian Hip Hop DJ and the two of them together is amazing. A real groove. Also, it's in Russian which I kind of love.

Also, Perez Hilton, who has gotten into The Saturdays, posted one of the songs off their debut album on his website the other day. It's called Why Me, Why Now. I really like it. It's midtempo, and it has that swirling 80's background thing going on. The harmonies are nice. Also, I still can't get over how good their second single Up is. I listened to it again today and it is really, really good. BBC Radio 1 gave it a good review! Also, the girls won't be releasing their album on the 20th anymore. It will now be released on the 27th. They probably didn't want to release their debut the same day as the Sugababes new album comes out.

http://perezhilton.com/2008-10-06-new-from-the-saturdays

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Review

A funny thing happened the other night at the movies: as I sat there watching Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, I saw myself up there on the screen; I saw people I knew. This was the first teen movie I had seen that I could actually relate to. Sure, Mean Girls or Bring it On, are funny and all, but I don't particularly relate to any of the characters in them. With Nick and Norah, I recognized the characters. They had the same sense of humor as me (somewhat awkward and sarcastic with odd emphasis on certain words). The movie takes place over one night. Nick (played by the super cool Michael Cera) plays in a gay band where he is the only straight guy and he is also getting over his break-up with mean, nasty girl Tris (Alexis Dziena), who goes to Norah's (Kat Dennings) school. It turns out Nick has been sending Tris all this mix tapes in hopes that maybe she'll come back to him. She just throws them out and Norah collects them and relishes in them. Norah has a best friend named Caroline (Ari Graynor) who gets inebriated on said night that Nick and Norah's have together. All of these characters end up in New York where Nick's band, the wonderfully named The Jerk-Offs are playing a gig that Norah happens to be attending. After a chance encounter Nick and Norah end up meeting and Nick's friends in The Jerk-Offs decide Norah is the person Nick needs after the horrible Tris. Various amusing hi jinx ensue. They involve Caroline going missing and a quest to find her, locating a secret concert by Nick and Norah's favorite band, Where's Fluffy? Also, it turns out Norah's has some boyfriend issues of her own to resolve. The movie glides along and is the perfect length. The whole cast is wonderful. Michael Cera brings his usual awkward sweetness to the role and it really pays off. He is perfect for the role of Nick. Kat Dennings as Norah is amazing. She is smart, witty, clever, sarcastic, and just is Norah. You want to be friends with her. This girl Kat has really got something. She was the character I saw myself the most in with her sarcasm and endearing awkwardness. Ari Graynor is a hilarious scene-stealer as, Caroline, the inebriated friend. She has great comic timing and is a joy to watch. Rafi Gravon (Dev) and Aaron Yoo (Thom) are funny, sweet, and caring as Nick's gay bandmates. The fact that they are gay and that Nick is friends with them isn't addressed, and that's extremely refreshing. They are also not stereotypes, and come off as genuine, living, breathing characters. Also, Jonathan B. Wright is amusing as Lothario, Dev's boyfriend. New York is wonderfully depicted by director Peter Sollett as a place of adventure and youthful sponteineity. The city is an essential part of the movie. The script by Lorene Scafaria is smart, clever, and much funnier than the preview led me to believe. The humor gives us insights into the characters and we laugh because we see ourselves in them or at least, I did. The music, as expected, is very good. There's this great moment near the end where everyone involved with Nick and Norah and their big night, meet on the rooftop of this building where the Where's Fluffy show is happening, and the movie goes into slow motion and as Nick and Norah get pulled different ways by an ex-boyfriend and girlfriend they just stare at each other knowingly. It's a sublime movie moment that I appreciated for its simplicity and its depiction of a moment of connection between two cool, indie kids. Bottom Line: I loved this movie. Kat Dennings is the shiz!

P.S. Fistful of Assholes (see the movie and you'll know what I mean)