The Saturdays - Notorious - live - The Graham Norton Show
When British pop girl group The Saturdays first started out, all eyes were on Vanessa White, their lead singer with a big voice. But anyone who's been following the girls know that Vanessa's vocals have been absolutely overworked to the point where it started cracking up and she was struggling to hit notes, and it was evident ever since their AOL Sessions gig last December. Though Vanessa's been doing the power parts of Notorious live, Rochelle has taken over Vanessa's solo, which has a note she's struggling to hit these days.
And it's the first time this has happened, and you can catch the girls in action on The Graham Norton show above, with Rochelle doing a line in Vanessa's solo "Closer baby look in my eyes, do you recognise me?", before Ness does her usual lines "I've been a bad girl, I'm a bad girl, I'm notorious".
However, what I'm seeing here is a sort of lack of interest, where the girls delivered one of the best performances of their career when they debuted Notorious live on So You Think You Can Dance. Something's missing. Smile more, girls.
Jennifer Hudson - No One Gonna Love You [Music Video Premiere]
Personally, I did not and still do not enjoy Jennifer Hudson's sophomore record I Remember Me for it leaves me cold in the same way Leona Lewis' second album Echo did. But, unlike Leona, Hudson's doing all the right things this era. Well, minus the album that is. After first single Where You At peaked at a dismal #64 on the Hot 100, hardly the crossover success her debut single Spotlight was, Hudson has decided to charge forward with the second US release No One Gonna Love You.
The music video just premiered and while listening to the album, it never really struck out as an album stunner, I think it's pretty decent and mildly catchy and could do just alright, the same way Where You At did. But this video changes this view entirely. In the clip, Jennifer channels a very Alicia Keys vibe that I love, and I think this is the most unique clip she's ever done. Sure, there's the product placement for BMW's 5 Series GT but it doesn't get to the point where it gets annoying.
There's nothing on the album that will get her a big hit this era, but she could very well straddle along nicely, being the dark horse and going platinum with the album, something most pop divas reigning the Hot 100 are struggling to achieve.
Selena Gomez & The Scene - Love You Like A Love Song [Music Video Premiere]
Selena Gomez has moved on to a new single Love You Like A Love Song a week before third studio album When The Sun Goes Down drops. Of course, Selena's Disney's only pop princess out with new music right now, so her single Who Says has naturally (see what I did there) become the dominant song on the minds of screaming tweens all over the world, eventually going Platinum. Not surprisingly, her label want to capitalise on this and dropped the music video for Love You Like A Love Song, which starts off with the Wizards of Waverly Place star singing in a Japanese karaoke bar.
Overall, it comes off as a little tacky, especially with the unrealistic computer graphics that give an overall meh feel. However, the two looks she had, the one with the heavy eyeliner, jet black straight hair and black outfit, and the other one where she tried to hit in the pink grass-filled with Mexican musicians surrounding her, both slayed me because she looked amazeballs there.
The Saturdays did a uStream just for kicks and performed their recent B-side Not That Kinda Girl, acoustic, which you can see in Part 1 above. In which Rochelle dials Flo Rida and then realises he's in jail. Rochelle continues the streak of being absolutely batshit crazy by accidentally giving out Chipmunk's number to everyone watching the uStream in Part 2 which you can see below. LOL. I love these girls. They ended the uStream by performing the chorus of Higher acoustic.
But my point of this post, is that a fan asked them if they had a support act for their upcoming All Fired Up arena tour, in which they said they didn't know yet. Now, I've got just the right solution. Belle Amie. Remember the girl group on Simon Cowell's X Factor show last season? I thought they had potential but were eliminated in the earlier rounds of the competition. Nevertheless, they just premiered the video for their debut single Girls Up, and has drawn comparison's to Cher Lloyd's frankly rubbish debut single Swagger Jagger. I know, Girls Up is a bit messy in terms of production, and might flop pretty badly, and The Saturdays' most recent B-side Not That Kinda Girl beats this a million times over, but Belle Amie are relatively unknown (for now) and I think with some better material, they could be a hit. But if they disappear into obscurity after Girls Up flops, The Sats could have Parade open their tour, I think their second single Perfume is pretty decent.
Well, this girl won't give up, will she? Girls Aloud member Nadine Coyle decided to follow in Cheryl Cole's footsteps and go solo, but her career tanked as debut single and album, both titled Insatiable had a poor showing on the charts, with the single at #26 on the UK Singles Chart and the album narrowly making it into the Top 50 at #47. Then, reports surfaced she was going to go Country to tackle the US, but more recently, reports stated she was going to release Runnin' in the States. But lo and behold, she's trying her hand in the UK again.
She recently released some darker promotional pictures, titled Nadine 2.0, which basically means Nadine Coyle from Girls Aloud with an edgier look and bolder artistic direction. So here comes Nadine 2.0 - her new single Sweetest High which you can check out below.
Personally, I don't like it at all because it sounds very much like a cheap club song put together in 5 minutes to get a hit, which she won't with this, by the way. But Nicola Roberts, whose debut single Beat of My Drum debuted at a lowly #27, one spot below Nadine's flop Insatiable, perhaps it appears the public does like Nuhdeen more. Huh. Well I think she's wasting her talent and voice on these tracks. Hon, get back in the studio with Girls Aloud hitmakers Xenomania. Thanks.
The Saturdays - Notorious + I Need A Dollar/Buzzin' (cover) live @ Radio 1 Live Lounge
Previously, The Saturdays said they'd do more promo for their most recent UK Top 10 single Notorious, which sees the girls explore the dancier side of pop music, favouring clubby beats over synthesizers and big pop choruses their previous efforts use to have by the truckloads. It's nice to see girlbands progress as artists, and a surprising thing since most seem to be stuck in a loop.
Nevertheless, it's nearing the CD single release, which is 27th June, and The Sats hit Radio 1 Live Lounge which sees the girls tearing Notorious down acoustically and it's fresh to see and listen to. What disturbs me is how unhappy Vanessa seems to be with herself vocally, especially on this video where she still continues to struggle hitting the notes.
Girl needs to go on vocal rest. But unfortunately for The Saturdays, it's go go go all the way.
UPDATE: The Saturdays have turned it all around with their Live Lounge cover, doing an acoustic mashup of Aloe Blacc's I Need A Dollar and Mann's Buzzin'. Check them out slaying below.
Britney Spears - I Wanna Go [Music Video Premiere]
Whatever it is that Britney has been doing since her robotic promotional performances for Femme Fatale till now, she should continue. Ever since Till The World Ends had a decent longevity on the charts, Britney seems to have been recharged, playing her Femme Fatale Tour to fantastic reviews, making an effort on stage, and now, the premiere of the I Wanna Go video. The song hasn't charted on the Hot 100 yet, but this video might be the one to do it.
The video starts off with Brit Brit strutting into a press conference before going into a daydream, having fun. Fun. Yes, fun. A word you never thought you could use on Britney again. Here, she actually looks happy. It's yet another video targeted at the ruthless paparazzis, though the British ones are definitely worse.
Still, it's a cool video, and it's nice to see happy Britney.
The Top 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 remain untouched for yet another week with Adele's Rolling in the Deep remaining at #1 while Pitbull's Give Me Everything follows closely at #2. Jennifer Lopez' Pitbull-assisted track On The Floor falls to #7 this week. Jason DeRulo and OneRepublic take a slight dip to #18 and #20 with their latest tunes Don't Wanna Go Home and Good Life respectively. Katy Perry, however, is rocketing up the chart with her new single Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) shooting to a new peak at #31. Brad Paisley's Remind Me, a duet with Carrie Underwood, debuts at #59 thanks to digital downloads, while Rihanna enters the Top 60 as California King Bed creeps up five spots to #60 and Man Down making a new peak at #63. Beyonce's new single Best Thing I Never Had momentarily moves up, hitting an all new high of #75. Moving up at the minute too is Nicole Scherzinger and Right There moving up to #80. Jennifer Lopez isn't about to be outdone, as I'm Into You also heads further up the chart at #88 this week from #96 last week. Selena Gomez & The Scene's iTunes promotional single Bang Bang Bang impacts the chart at #94.
Lady Gaga's Born This Way album has been replaced by monster album Adele's 21. As Britney Spears' Femme Fatale Tour kicks off to stellar reviews, the album the tour supports moves up to #23 up from #37 last week.
It looks like Britney will be adding some fun to her videos now that Gaga has gone all serious and bloody boring, while Beyonce.. What's she doing? Nevertheless, the lesser pop divas Katy Perry and Rihanna are the only ones bringing some colour into the pop world with Katy doing it excellently in her Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) video.
In this recently released 30 second teaser, Britney is under the glare of the media spotlight and attacks the paparazzi with her microphone, leaving them to die amidst the relatively not busy New York City street.
Lady Gaga - The Edge of Glory [Music Video Premiere]
Gaga has been on a downward spiral since her peak during the later part of The Fame era and after the brilliant Judas flopped, Gaga has returned to the generic sound ala Born This Way with her latest single The Edge of Glory. The video almost put me to sleep. It's just Gaga running around, gyrating her way about a street at night. Meh.
Selena Gomez & The Scene new track: Love You Like A Love Song + 3 album tracks!
Selena Gomez and her virtual band no one cares about, have premiered their next official single after Top 30 hit Who Says have gone platinum. They released an iTunes single Bang Bang Bang last week which has strangely grown on me. It's not an immediately amazing song, but with time, it's subtlety has won me over.
Love You Love Song somewhat falls into the same category, but sort of stuck halfway between the teen poppy beats of Naturally and the more mature danciness of Bang Bang Bang. It's alright, I supppose.
You can check out her debut performance on Love You Like A Love Song live on GMA below. She's still rather dull and has no stage presence whatsoever, but I'm not surprised.
Earlier this week, Selena also had the misfortune of having three of her songs from upcoming album The Sun Goes Down make their way online. Oh, they're all co-writes from major stars by the way.
First up is We Own The Night, a Pixie Lott co-write, which I wouldn't blame you for thinking it's Pixie's new single, simply for the fact this has Pixie and her vocals all over the track. A bit like Chris Brown Joe Jonas' See No More. It follows the campfire, sing along type of track that Jessie J's Price Tag sounds like. I would've preferred Lott's soulful vocals over this silky track then Selena's paper thin vocals but if it means Lott's upcoming music is better than this, I'm all for it.
Next is a Britney co-write, titled Whiplash, which follows the heavy beats of Hold It Against Me, and in fact, sounds like it could be its b-sides. When you're Selena Gomez, you settle for pop star rejects, especially since this Disney Teen Queen can't write her material at all. It's really just a bland Femme Fatale leftover.
Last, and actually least, is a Katy Perry reject called That's More Like It, with Selena Gomez playing spoilt princess as she orders people around to pamper her. With every Katy Perry song that's going out there, it's just getting worse and worse. From the markedly improved Long Shot and I Do Not Hook Up Katy tracks that were handed to Kelly Clarkson from her All I Ever Wanted album to.. This?
Once again, a Selena Gomez & The Scene album not worth buying. At all.
With international promotions for LOVE? well and truly in full swing, Latin diva Jennifer Lopez dropped by Alan Carr's talk show for a little chat. The interview consisted of Jenny talking about the kids, the music and Idol, as usual. Of course, JLo said the same rehearsed PR statement about not being too sure whether she would return as a judge for Season 11 of American Idol since their could be a world tour happening, promotions still under way, the Latina might not have time in her busy schedule to commit to something as big as American Idol.
But of course, the interview really came to life because of the hilarious host himself, Alan Carr. Jen also ended the show performing I'm Into You. She did it on the Capital Summertime Ball over a really, really loud backing track and she did the same here. Girl, if you're gonna lip synch, at least bring out some fierce dancing.. And it's funny how she performs her club banger On The Floor live but never sings R&B midtempo jam I'm Into You fully live.
Opening for NKOTBSB, namely New Kids On The Block and the Backstreet Boys, out on tour has left little time for Jordin Sparks to do proper promo for her new single I Am Woman. Her stint on American Idol managed to land I Am Woman at #72 on the Hot 100, but after that, it pretty much disappeared off the charts.
On Idol, Jordin was surrounded by a group of dancers and some choreography, and when it's just down to Jordin and two dancers, the focus was placed on her vocals and just basically her. Some flaws definitely showed up, because while I thought she was a decent dancer on the Idol performance, this just told me she can't, really.
Someone get her on a massive stage with some massive choreography that will slay us all please. Thanks.
Jennifer Lopez - On The Floor live @ The X Factor France
Jennifer Lopez has experienced a massive career resurgence thanks to American Idol. But now that Season 10 is over, the Triple Threat diva finally has time to do international promotion, with a series of gigs in the UK - So You Think You Can Dance and Summertime Ball, both of which were kinda meh. On the Summertime Ball, JLo didn't sing live, well she did but her mic was turned all the way down while a loud backing track was playing while the So You Think You Can Dance performance didn't have the fireworks her Idol performance did.
However, the stunning Latina turned things around in France, performing On The Floor on The X Factor France. She sang live (or at least a majority of it) while she got the crowd jumping. It was in a similar fashion as what Cheryl Cole did on the UK Show last year performing Promise This. But of course, JLo isn't 25 anymore, and didn't really wring the dancing by the neck, but she got the crowd involved and was electrifying on stage, playing to her strengths.
Alright Jenny, promote On The Floor all across the world, but make sure you return to the States to perform I'm Into You. I'm still hungry for a great performance of that.
Oh, speaking of Jennifer, when questioned whether she was returning to Idol, she recently told BBC Radio 1′s Scott Mills, “I don’t know. I haven’t been forced to make a decision and I’m glad about that because honestly I’m very on the fence about it.”
Of course, her involvement in a revamped American Idol, to me, was a business decision and we should keep in mind the millionaire mother Lopez signed only a one-year deal with the show in October for a reported $12 million. Idol has served it's purpose for JLo, introducing her music to the younger generation who buys records, and I don't think she had very much to say on Idol when it came to giving constructive criticisms, and I don't think she should return to Idol, if only for the fact her career depends on Idol, which it doesn't. But of course she wasn't god-awful like Steven Tyler was, but it's time to move along now, Jen. And doesn't she have a LOVE? World Tour coming up?
But with an empty spot, I'm hoping Cheryl Cole will take that spot instead. There're reports that Cheryl went to Simon Fuller for advice, also known as Simon Cowell's rival in the industry. The two Simons have been at loggerheads for a long time, and if Cheryl does join the Idol panel, which Simon Fuller produces, it'd be a nice way to spite Simon. And I'm all up for giving virtual bitchslaps to Simon after he publicly humiliated the Geordie lass. But it could also be the British tabloids trying to make up some bull, which they are known to do. But I'll be waiting and I'm definitely interested to see if The X Factor US will succeed, the original UK show, now without it's core judges Simon, Cheryl and Dannii Minogue, and whether Jenny will return to Idol next year.
Carrie Underwood - Undo It live at Sunrise Australia
Country powerhouse Carrie Underwood finally started taking promotion for her music international with her debut performance of Undo It on the Australian version of hit show Dancing With The Stars. While she looked good, she was awkward and slightly uncomfortable for the most part.
Thankfully, with that nerve-wracking performance over, Underwood hit Australian breakfast show Sunrise to perform Undo It again, this time a lot more relaxed and altogether markedly better. So if you ever had doubts about nerves preventing Underwood from really shining live overseas, scrap that Dancing With The Stars performance, pretend it never happened, and just watch this one.
Underwood's also rising up the Australian iTunes Chart so it's nice to see her finally doing international promotion and succeeding outside of the States.
Carrie Underwood - Undo It live on Dancing With The Stars
Carrie Underwood, the gorgeous blonde country bombshell and American Idol Season 4 winner who sold 12.5 million albums in the United States alone, seven time Grammy winner, six American Music Awards, and a stellar 15 Billboard Music Awards to her name, yet is a virtual unknown outside of the United States.
Well then. Her label has finally realised that countries do exist outside of America and Underwood went Down Under to perform Undo It and released her album Play On there as promotion for her debut film role in Soul Surfer.
You can check out her first performance on Australian television Dancing With The Stars below. Nothing spectacular, and I wish she did one of her soaring ballads instead. But hey, gotta come on the scene with an uptempo right? Let's just hope her label finally starts turning Carrie into an international superstar instead of being confined to the States.
Nicole Scherzinger - Right There live on Graham Norton Show
Only recently did news break that dream snatcher Nicole Scherzinger would be robbing Cheryl Cole of her seat on The X Factor USA, but the former Pussycat Doll was back in the UK for some promotion as her recent single Right There got released. The performance on Graham Norton was noticeably smaller than any she'd done on American Idol or a week earlier, Britain's Got Talent, so instead of all the flowery hairography and choreography to distract you, all focus was on the vocals. And they were mediocre at best. This song, though a nice summery pop jam, definitely does not show off her powerful voice at all.
Oh don't cha wish you could rewind time back in the Doll Domination era.. Anyway. You can check out the entire show below with Tom Hanks and Simon Pegg, and Nicole showed shades of personality but Tom totally steals the show here. Her performance is in part four.
Big News: The Saturdays announce All Fired Up Tour!
After headlining their sold-out Headlines! Tour just months ago in February, Britain's biggest girl band of the moment The Saturdays announced they'd embark on another headlining tour in December, this time an arena one. Of course, while that might sound a little too soon, in between the last tour and the one at the year, the girls will be releasing a new album which helms the first single Notorious, which earlier hit #8 on the UK Singles Chart earlier this month.
Previously in an interview with MSN, Una confirmed that at that time, they didn't know what they were going to title the tour yet, as the tour would be taking the name of their upcoming single after Notorious, and it appears that single would be called All Fired Up, and the tour would take that name called the All Fired Up Tour. Of course, while all this news takes fans unexpected as the release of Notorious hasn't exactly worn off yet, (it's still racking up plays in my iTunes), rest assured their new single shouldn't be due till perhaps around late July or August, as Notorious will only be physically released right at the end of June where they've confirmed they will be doing some promotions for Notorious then. Even if they aren't bringing the tour to the rest of Europe, I do sincerely hope they promote their new music throughout Europe.
You can check out the dates for the All Fired Up Tour below and a little teaser clip they've released to YouTube, announcing the dates of the tour.
December 2 - Bournemouth, BIC December 3 - Liverpool, Echo Arena December 5 - Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena December 6 - Brighton, Brighton Centre December 8 - Birmingham, LG Arena December 9 - Manchester, MEN Arena December 10 - Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena December 12 - Nottingham Capital FM Arena December 13 - Glasgow, SECC December 15 - Sheffield Motorpoint Arena December 16 - London, Wembley Arena
Here's something unexpected. The X Factor (UK) winner Alexandra Burke has left Simon Cowell's record label. After an overall of four million sales in the UK, Alex has left SyCo Records, home to many X Factor acts such as Leona Lewis, JLS, Olly Murs and most recent winner Matt Cardle, but dropped two X Factor artists from its roster this year - Shayne Ward and Joe McElderry. Personally I think SyCo are a bit rubbish at promoting their male acts, so with the subpar material Joe and Shayne got for their most recent albums, I'm not surprised they both tanked and eventually got dropped. I honestly see Matt Cardle heading the same way but you never know.
But I digress. Alex has left SyCo to be under RCA Records, which ironically, is home to Diana Vickers, who came in fourth on The X Factor the same season Alex eventually won. Previously, the deal was for Miss Burke to release her sophomore studio album jointly under RCA and SyCo, but obviously that deal has been scrapped and she's now solely an RCA artist.
It's not known exactly what caused the sudden move, but numerous online reports claim the move was mutual. Perhaps Alex and Simon's relationship turned sour when her mentor Cheryl Cole was booted off The X Factor USA and Simon being an overall arsehole about the entire situation. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, and with Simon getting more cocky and obnoxious, perhaps it's the right thing Alex chose to do.
Katy Perry - Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) [Music Video Premiere]
Katy Perry released the music video for new single Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) recently, but a brand new eight minute one has been released with added scenes. Basically the video starts off with Katy Perry, playing Kathy Beth Terry, wakes up to find a hot young man beside her and realises what happened the previous Friday night when she showed up to a party Rebecca Black through. Yes, the viral star Rebecca Black. Next to Rebecca, Katy would sound like Mariah Carey in her glory years, I would imagine.
But nevertheless, the video's all a big party with some big names pulled into the video to aadd some star power to the clip, besides the aforementioned Rebecca Black, there's cameos by Glee's Darren Criss and Kevin McHale, Kenny G, and some washed up 80s pop stars who no one really cares about anymore.
Adele's Rolling In The Deep spends yet another week at #1 while Pitbull fails to nab the top spot for the second week in a row as Give Me Everything gains the Airplay Gainer Title but stays strong at #2. With no promo, Bruno Mars launches into the Top 4 with The Lazy Song making a new peak at #4. OneRepublic's sleeper hit Good Life is heading nowhere but up as it makes a new peak of #16 this week while Jason DeRulo rises a spot to #17 with his latest tune Don't Wanna Go Home. Selena Gomez & The Scene's Who Says sits right outside the Top 30 at #31 while Scotty McCreery's Idol coronation single Love You This Big slips to #35 in its second week out alongside runner up Lauren Alaina who falls to #60 with Like My Mother Does. After making a new peak at #29 last week, Beyonce's Run The World (Girls) falls a sharp drop to #55. Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) re-enters the Hot 100 at #63 now that it's released as an official single. Rihanna's California King Bed and Man Down are both on the rise as they both make a new peak at #65 and #66 respectively. Album release week, second single Judas, though considered a flop by Gaga's standards, has re-arrived at #78. Beyonce's new rush released single Best Thing I Never Had enters at #84. Girl.. Get yourself together and save this era before 4 becomes flop fodder. Oh wait. It already is. Regardless, 1 + 1 rounds out the Top 90 at #90 this week. All this X Factor USA controversy has paid off for Nicole Scherzinger as Right There moves up six spots to #91. Jennifer Lopez' current single I'm Into You has found its way to the chart again at #96.
Lady Gaga's Born This Way still reigns supreme over on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart but suffers a huge sales drop after it's million-selling first week while Adele holds strong at #2 with 21.
While The Saturdays have moved on to a much wiser promotional strategy of releasing a single around the same time as the music video premiere to capitalise on the hype, it seems many other British bands are still stuck with the same old formula of releasing the video almost a month ahead of the single release. And so comes The Wanted's music video for their lead single from upcoming second album Glad You Came.
The dance/house track follows a similar structure as their UK Top 3 hit Gold Forever and breakout debut #1 smash All Time Low, starting out with a piano-based verse before the track explodes into a dance number. Glad You Came is markedly better than the rather old-fashioned Gold Forever. All the better for it then.
The video, however, is something I can't quite figure out. Yes, the boys are having fun on the beach, hooking up with random hot girls throughout the video, but at the end of the video, it's all a big "WTF?". Granted, most pop videos have the stars dancing around in a club but for some reason, I just don't get this one. But I still like the track. I'm just waiting for them to ditch this way overdone promotional strategy alongside pretty much all the other UK acts.
Another day, another record deal for Katharine McPhee. The American Idol Season 5 runner-up released her self-titled pop/R&B debut album with RCA Records almost immediately after Idol, her second album Unbroken was more targeted to Adult Contemporary and was released under Verve Forecast along with her first Christmas album Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You. Of course, the latter two albums more than underperformed, but that's no surprise with absolutely rubbish promotion. RCA didn't do any better and the only reason that disc even sold more than 200, 000 copies should be credited to McPhee herself.
Of course, talent reigns, and she could finally get her big break after announcement came today that Kat signed a new solo record deal with Columbia Records after Columbia won a bidding war to land the rights to McPhee's new show Smash. But for McPhee to be a hit, Smash needs to live up to it's name. It currently has a lot of promise, but that could go either way.
Just one thing, Kat? Please return to pop. If you ever want to return to the Hot 100 please do not do show tunes on your Columbia record.
Nevertheless, if you previously missed out the trailer for Smash, you can check it out below.
The world of Destiny's Child has gone absolutely topsy turvy after the firing of Matthew Knowles, Beyonce's father, as her own manager. Michelle Williams will be coming out with her comeback single, Kelly Rowland has gotten her first charting hit with urban single Motivation on the Billboard Hot 100 with no promotion at all in addition to a high-profile judging role on The X Factor UK, while Beyonce, who usually comes out on top, has been doing far from stellar after a series of underperforming singles Run The World (Girls), 1 + 1 and Best Thing I Never Had.
All these singles precede upcoming album, simply titled 4. When Beyonce discussed 4, she cited influences and you might have scoffed because she mentioned Adele, who as we all know, is the dark horse of 2011, and thought Beyonce only mentioned Adele just to get on the Adele train. But without Daddy by her side as manager, Beyonce has ditched the glossy soul-less pop/R&B she has been doing all her career so far.
So how's it then? Songs like Love On Top sound like tracks that hark back to the glory days of Motown, with big melodies and big vocals. However, losing the contemporary sound she had with previous albums does have some drawbacks. For one, the songs on 4 rarely ever wedge themselves into your head like some of her bigger hits did effortlessly. Beyonce is still very much considered a pop star with glittery pop songs that radio ate up. This time, Beyonce's material sounds left-field, almost alternative at points.
This album works best when Beyonce is doing the ballads like she means it this time, with 1 + 1 being one of the album's standouts. Other album stunners include End of Time, a song that brings to mind Cheryl Cole's Parachute in points, and rather surprisingly, Run The World (Girls). As said before, Beyonce's ballads trump the uptempos on this record, and the album ends perfectly with I Was Here, a track that fits Beyonce perfectly and highlights her strength as a vocalist.
Overall, the entire album is a solid effort and works, somewhat, as a whole with the songs sounding similar to each other, unlike a mish mash of hit singles smacked into one compilation like pop tart Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. It'll be interesting to see how this album will chart, it's probably going to go the way of the singles released off the album did, rather than her usually safe approach to music that was I Am Sasha Fierce.
But unlike the Beyonce we saw on I Am Sasha Fierce, I think we're seeing the real Beyonce Knowles as a human being, and not a manufactured pop star who flicks her weave and pops her hip to shiny pop/urban joints.
Big News: Britney premieres I Wanna Go single cover!
In a large contrast to the theme of the Femme Fatale era, Britney recently gave her followers on Twitter a look at the single cover of her next single I Wanna Go, the follow up single to the massive hit that is Till The World Ends, and the single cover, as you can see above, is a lot more upbeat, happy then the understated silver, white and black colours they've used for the Femme Fatale single and album covers. It brings to mind old school Britney, so it could be a sneak into what could be a old school Britney style for the I Wanna Go video. I'm intrigued.
Big News: OFFICIAL - Cheryl Cole out of X Factor US
I haven't been posting much, actually I haven't posted anything, about Cheryl Cole's X Factor drama because there were many reports flying around, none official, not a word from Cheryl, Simon or The X Factor, but it turns out, after filming two audition cities, Cheryl Cole is off The X Factor. Recently, The X Factor UK panel was announced and it consisted of Tulisa from N-Dubz, Kelly Rowland, Take That's Gary Barlow, and the only remaining judge Louis Walsh aka the Randy Jackson of the UK.
With nowhere turn to, BBC have apparently approached Cheryl to do the UK version of The Voice. God no. Whether it may be true or not, please do not let this happen. The Voice is not big enough to have someone like Cheryl Cole, Britain's best pop star, on the panel.
So as it turns out, Steve Jones will be the sole host of The X Factor US, and Nicole Scherzinger will take her place on The X Factor US. I'm just saying, but Paula should be off that panel, but of course FOX execs are banking on Saula to sell the show rather than Chimon. But Cheryl and Simon have a lot more chemistry between each other.
Hopefully Cheryl breaks the States on her own, without The X Factor, and hopefully without will.i.am meddling in her career any further.
All I can say is this is completely humiliating for Cheryl, for someone who left the UK to devote all her time to judge a singing competition to help introduce American audiences to her and her music, and getting fired only two months after, returning to the UK with the British press claiming she's grown too big for her boots. I'm guessing Cheryl will take some quiet time alone, before launching herself back into recording a new album and the supposed Girls Aloud 2012 reunion. But if I'm being completely honest, I don't want Girls Aloud to return. Yes, unpopular opinion. Cheryl > Girls Aloud.
Big News: Listen to Nicola Roberts b-side Porcelain Heart!
With the release of debut solo single Beat of My Drum comes the premiere of a new track from the Ginger Princess better known as Nicola Roberts in the form of a b side and Porcelain Heart is the track I'm talking about. Many have commented it sounds like it could be a Girls Aloud track, and they're right. It sounds like it could serve as a b side for Untouchable, except only with Nicola taking the vocals over the pop ballad layered with a shiny pop sheen. Then there's that last note that she works her vocals into overdrive. Brilliant. If only for the fact it could be Girls Aloud track and a pretty smashing last note.
British girl group of the moment The Saturdays embarked on their headlining sold out tour The Headlines Tour in February and in the middle of the tour, The Saturdays stopped by London and announced that the gig would be filmed. Some shortened versions of the track were seen on their T4 special What Goes On Tour, but T4 recently aired a 30 minute special where they showed full length performances of their hits Higher, Ego, Issues, Forever Is Over, Just Can't Get Enough, and album track Puppet lifted off from their Top 3 UK album Headlines!. You can check all the performances below.
Unsurprisingly, Adele has collected another week at #1 with Rolling In The Deep spending yet another week at the top, trailed by Pitbull's new single Give Me Everything, Katy Perry's E.T. and JLo's On The Floor in that order. Lady Gaga has launched back into the Top 10 with The Edge of Glory getting the Digital Gainer title and leaping 11 spots back up to #8 thanks to the American Idol performance. American Idol winner Scotty McCreery however, has debuted right outside the Top 10 at #11 with Love You This Big and runner up Lauren Alaina's Like My Mother Does debuting at the rim of the Top 20 at #20. In just its second week, Jason DeRulo's latest chart assault Don't Wanna Go Home has skyrocketed from #92 to an amazing feat of #18. Ever since Run The World (Girls) debuted on the Hot 100, Beyonce's female-empowering anthem has been heading nowhere but down, but she has actually headed up this time, launching herself to a new peak of #29 while new single 1 + 1 debuts at #57. Glee's Light Up The World debuts at #33, Pretending at #40, For Good at #58, I Love New York/New York New York at #81, and As Long As You're There at #93. Lady Gaga's album tracks You And I and Marry The Night debuting at #36 and #79. Rihanna's on her way up with California King Bed making a new peak of #66 alongside urban single Man Down at #94. Nicole Scherzinger on her second week, and probably last with Right There has fallen 20 spots to #97.
Predictably, Lady Gaga has taken the poll spot with million-selling Born This Way bowing at #1. Scotty McCreery's Idol recordings has been compiled by iTunes and the album debuts at #12 while Lauren Alaina's set debuts at #42. Christina Perri's Lovestrong falls to #32.
Nicola Roberts - Beat of My Drum [Music Video Premiere]
Nicola Roberts has just dropped her video for Beat of My Drum which is pretty alright. Apart from the little side ponytail look nearing the bridge of the song, she looked pretty good throughout the video. It's fun, but I kind of wished it would be more playful with colourful animations a la Allison Iraheta's video for Friday I'll Be Over U which would've definitely suited this video.
I previously compared her to Avril Lavigne during The Best Damn Thing era, but I've decided she's more like Diana Vickers, let's just hope D Vicks can fire back another pop missile along the lines of her previous stellar three singles, and we've got ourselves a pop competition. But I wouldn't count for new music from Diana till July/August.
Just yesterday I did an introduction post on Nicola Roberts and her forthcoming summer smash Beat of My Drum. The full track has made it's way online now after the world premiere of the track on Radio 1. Beat of My Drum in it's entire length is pretty good with some slick verses but some of the production on the track is a hit and miss here. Some parts of the track have a retro-tinge, and I'm not complaining, but there's something a little off here but I can't put my finger around it. Nevertheless, it's probably a grower and I'll most probably be bopping to the track all summer long.
Debut album Cinderella Eyes will be out in the UK in the Fall.
If you're familiar with the British pop music scene, you'll know that Girls Aloud have been girl group giants until their ever-extending hiatus when the girls all went to pursue different projects. Cheryl Cole has already had much success while Nadine Coyle flopped harder than Bey's Run The World (Girls). (By the way, Nadine will be releasing Runnin' in the US, totally forgettable, probably bringing her flopness to the States). Still, there's another dark horse that could very well threaten Cheryl's success. With Cheryl's X Factor drama still very much a PR disaster, Nicola's turning the spotlight to herself with the release of her solo single Beat of My Drum on the 5th of June.
If you're a Girls Aloud fan, you'll know that Nicola had the best voice in Girls Aloud, second to Nadine, but she's definitely a lot more quirky and her new single Beat of My Drum definitely highlights that with the Ginger Genius chanting dance to the beat of my drum! repeatedly over a chorus The Best Damn Thing era Avril Lavigne wouldn't snob at. It comes across as more playful and younger than bratty Avril's Girlfriend and sounds like it could be very well go on to be a summer hit.
The song will premiere tomorrow on Radio 1 with Scott Mills and the video will premiere on the day of the track's release. Check out a little snippet of the video for the song below.
Damn.. Who knew the Ginger Genius could move like that?
Poor Bey. After flopping harder than the likes of Christina's Not Myself Tonight, her female empowerment anthem Run The World (Girls) is pretty much a gone case right now, and her recently released single 1 + 1 hasn't exactly set the world on fire either. So Bey's doing the let's-pour-out-all-the-new-songs-it's-not-a-shit-album-i-promise tactic to try and save her upcoming album 4 from flopping with a new song called Best Thing I Never Had. It's as generic as they come and totaly and completely devoid of any emotion whatsoever. I don't see this doing really well either. But I do have a confession to make: Run The World (Girls) is growing on me right now. Like I said, poor Bey.
Still, if you can't bear to see Bey flop with yet another single, you can check out her new single below.
If it weren't for the red hair, you'd have thought Bajan beauty Rihanna's new video for urban single Man Down was shot during the Rated R era. The clip shows Rihanna living her life as an island girl, before getting with the wrong company in the local club, before being stalked and raped, leaving Rih in tears in the dangerous streets of the country.
The video starts off with Rih pulling the trigger and shooting him at a train station, but the description above is pretty much what follows that. Deeply dramatic and stunningly shot, definitely one point for Rih right there.
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Artist Of The Month. (November 2011)
The Power Rangers of British pop, The Saturdays, are returning this year with a more mature sound and image, with the girlband taking a stab at the pop/dance wave with their fourth album On Your Radar's first single Notorious being a total flip in direction in their sound, and was noticeably more clubby compared to their previous singles and albums. They then took things a level further with the complete rave-tastic All Fired Up, which is without a doubt their best single release, not surprising since the track was produced by production powerhouse Xenomania, the machine behind pretty much all of Girls Aloud's discography. The pop five-piece are charging forward with the Christmassy ballad My Heart Takes Over before their album On Your Radar drops November 21st!
