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Friday, September 30, 2011
Big News: Diana Vickers co-writes new Enrique Iglesias single!



Moments ago on Twitter, British singer Diana Vickers tweeted some exciting news - she co-wrote Enrique Iglesias' new single Mouth2Mouth featuring Jennifer Lopez!

It's a big deal considering Diana's status. The pop darling rose to fame on The X Factor, finishing fourth, before putting out her debut #1 album and single Songs From The Tainted Cherrytree and Once respectively. Unfortunately, the campaign took a beating when follow-up single The Boy Who Murdered Love fell short of the album and first single's success, stalling at #36 on the UK Singles Chart. Then back into the studio Diana went, before releasing My Wicked Heart, the first single released off a revamped version of Songs From The Tainted Cherrytree. However, despite landing a massive gig on The X Factor, the poor girl only made #13 on the UK Singles Chart. Then, the reworked album was scrapped, and Diana "parted ways" with RCA Records, which basically means she was dropped.

Cue tears.

Since then, Miss Vickers has kept herself busy, working on some new music in LA with various writers and producers to be released on an EP due out either later this year on early next year.

However, with Diana Vickers landing a songwriting cut on Enrique Iglesias' new single, will record labels start to be interested again? It's encouraging a pop artist like Diana herself is starting over again by building up her name writing for other artists. Not something you'd catch Rihanna or Selena Gomez doing. In a way, the pop industry needs people like Diana, pop artists that know what a good pop track should be about.

Get 'dem songwriting royalties Diana.

Take a listen to Enrique Iglesias' Mouth2Mouth featuring Jennifer Lopez below, and then some all of Diana's ace singles of her own.









Also, if you've missed Diana's speaking voice, you can take a listen to Diana confirming the Enrique co-write.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 6:28 PM | comment link here





Adele - Someone Like You [Music Video Premiere]



No colour, half a year late, shot in Paris. Really, what else were you expecting?

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Music Reviews 10 @ 6:22 PM | comment link here





Thursday, September 29, 2011
Big News: The Saturdays unveil new single "My Heart Takes Over"!



At a Polydor record label meeting, The Saturdays' upcoming third single was mentioned and rumours started flying, with the title supposedly being Heart Takes Over, before The Saturdays confirmed yesterday that the official title is My Heart Takes Over. Everyone was hoping Mollie would land an angelic middle eight, and that the girls would get themselves their own Girls Aloud's Call The Shots/Pussycat Dolls' I Hate This Part. However, the girls premiered their single on Radio 1 just moments ago, with Mollie phoning in herself to premiere the track.

And hey ho. What everyone thought it was, isn't. I always thought Missing You was their I Hate This Part/Call The Shots, and their new single isn't exactly Issues Part II either, it bites a lot harder than the tender, singalong track that Issues was, with Vanessa starting things off with an amazingly angelic verse, before the anthemic chorus hits you in the face like a ton of bricks with all five girls singing in perfect harmony. Rochelle starts the second verse, before the POWEERRRRRR chorus again, then we have Vanessa on the bridge again, before some belting and we launch into the final chorus.

I can't deal with how good Vanessa sounds on this. Let's hope she doesn't disappoint live.

The girls are flying to Iceland for this week to shoot the video, so expect a Christmassy video, much like Blue's Breathe Easy clip.

Peep the full track and official single cover below.





They're really not letting Pixie off with snatching their #1 earlier this month are they, with Pixie just premiering her new single and The Saturdays stealing her thunder now with this.

Also, the girls have squashed rumours they'll be taking a break with Una being pregnant. #SLAY

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Music Reviews 10 @ 4:48 PM | comment link here





Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Big News: Pixie Lott unveils new single "What Do You Take Me For"!



Apart from being a little sore Pixie Lott beat the likes of The Saturdays and Leona Lewis from getting the UK #1 spot on the Singles Chart, especially since All Fired Up and Collide >>>>>>>>>>>> All About Tonight, and with things being a little quiet over at Sats camp and Leona pushing the release of her album till early next year with Collide doing unexpectedly rather badly by Leona's standards, Pixie has unleashed her new single on us.

The next single isn't out till November 6th, but like how she released the video for All About Tonight ten years before its release, What Do You Take Me For looks set to do the same. Radio 1 premiered the track and honestly, I actually do quite like this one. I loved Pixie to bits when she was on her first album era, then she just milked Turn It Up all she could, shoving ten average to terrible songs onto the tracklisting to make a Turn It Up Louder. All About Tonight also didn't deserve the #1, but What Do You Take Me For is jazzy and sassy. All that I didn't like about the track is that never needed those features, and her voice sounds overly gruff when the chorus comes along.

Still, The Sats + Leona >>>> Pixie 2011

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Music Reviews 10 @ 6:02 PM | comment link here





Kelly Clarkson - Mr. Know It All [Music Video Premiere]



Kelly Clarkson premiered the video for the official music video for her new soulful tune out battling with the likes of Rihanna and Katy Perry on radio called Mr. Know It All. Promotion is already underway and following a few live performances, the video is finally here. The simple video shows Kelly singing in front of a "wall of doubt" which has the usual negative Kelly headlines ("Too fat", "still single" etc.) before we see her tearing them all down to walk towards a brighter future. It's a nice enough video, and she looks uber hot, but damn, couldn't they at least have filmed another scene with something happening instead of Kelly standing there looking pretty in front of a green screen?

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Music Reviews 10 @ 5:50 PM | comment link here





Friday, September 23, 2011
Billboard Update



Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger collaboration with Christina Aguilera is still dominating the Hot 100, trailed by Adele and Someone Like You at #2, picking up the Airplay Gainer Title. Rihanna just premiered her new single We Found Love, but last single from previous album Loud, Cheers (Drink To That) has just risen to a new peak of #8. Jason DeRulo's It Girl has gone up 8 spots to hit a new peak of #30. Kelly Clarkson's new single Mr. Know It All has fallen off the rails a little, dropping to #35 this week after a debut at #18. Hopefully with promotions in full swing, Kelly's single heads up next week. Colbie Caillat's Brighter Than The Sun is inching its way up, with the summery track hitting #71 this week while Adele's Set Fire To The Rain stays put at #72.

Lady Antebellum's Own The Night sits comfortably atop the Album Charts, while Adele's 21 holds strong at #2.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 7:05 PM | comment link here





Big News: Rihanna premieres "We Found Love"



She may have only dropped Cheers (Drink To That), the last single off her last studio album Loud, but one of the world's biggest popstars Rihanna is back with a new lead single. In between going on a world tour and single releases, Rihanna found the time to record a whole new album full of songs and is going ahead with the Calvin Harris produced We Found Love to lead into the new album era.

On first listen, We Found Love is underwhelming, but it's noticeably more dance than all the fusion of dance/pop at the moment. But it's not TOO house that radio would snub it. On repeated listens, it does get better, but there's no sugar rush ala Only Girl (In The World), and this song's longevity on the charts might suffer because of that.

It's a pleasant song, but I'm just tired of this type of sound dominating the charts.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 6:47 PM | comment link here





Sara Bareilles - Gonna Get Over You [Music Video Premiere]



Things have been on the quiet side for jazzy singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles, who even though released a #1 album last year with Kaleidoscope Heart with a big hit of a lead single, the smart and snazzy King of Anything, has been laying low ever since her last single Uncharted flopped due to its terribly lazy music video.

However, hoping to revive the album, Bareilles and her label have decided to breathe some life into the project, releasing a third single from the album called Gonna Get Over You and putting it out on iTunes with OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder whom she's collaborated with before on the achingly beautiful Come Home.

But back to Gonna Get Over You, Sara has dropped the video for it hoping to get people interested again, with the lovesick but positive Sara crooning about getting over someone soon, spreading joy and positivity throughout a grocery store with her hair up in a ponytail, heavy eye make up and leather jacket completing her fierce look.

Brilliant.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 3:45 PM | comment link here





Kelly Clarkson - Mr. Know It All + Since U Been Gone live @ Ellen



Promotions for Kelly Clarkson's most recent Top 20 hit Mr. Know It All kicked off recently with the soulful songstress hitting up the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and it appears Kelly's continuing the talkshow rounds, this time dropping by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to perform Mr. Know It All and specially for the Internet viewers and studio audience, a blast back to past with her massive hit Since U Been Gone. It's clear to see Kelly's voice isn't as great as it used to be, and she definitely can't sustain notes for such a long time now, but she looks gorgeous and is still an engaging performer.



Also, check out a teaser for the Mr. Know It All video which drops Monday.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 3:25 PM | comment link here





Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Nicola Roberts - BBC Breakfast Show Interview



Nicola Robert's interviews have been pretty much the same lately, with the British singer being asked "how was it like stepping out of Girls Aloud? Were you nervous?" etc. and Nicola hasn't really had the chance to talk about just herself and her solo music. However, on Nicola's recent visit to BBC's Breakfast Show, sticks + stones' lyric video was played and they spent half the time properly getting into the song's personal subject matter of being called "ugly", which she spoke about openly so it's an interesting insight into Nicola's world.

Then there's her totally cute interview at The Crush earlier this week.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 4:12 PM | comment link here





Kelly Clarkson - Mr. Know It All live @ Tonight Show with Jay Leno



It appears the promotional campaign for Kelly Clarkson's new single Mr. Know It All has finally kicked off with the American Idol alum debuting the soulful single on television for the first time last night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Unfortunately, while Mr. Know It All is amazing as a track by itself, but it doesn't really work live. Perhaps it was just Kelly debuting herself again with a new album era, but it wasn't as confident as some of Kelly's better performances but hopefully after a few more performances with Mr. Know it All live, Kelly will start properly rocking the stage again.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 3:58 PM | comment link here





Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Jennifer Lopez - Papi [Music Video Premiere]



J.Lo may have hit the big ol' 40, but the Latina is still stopping traffic and the object of desire of many men in her new video for Papi and in real life. The video starts off with Jenny taking a bite out of a love cookie, before heading out the next day to be chased by every heterosexual male that sets eyes on her, and Jenny has the impossible task of running away from the group of guys in her white Fiat, before being dragged out of her car and having a dance breakdown with the guys.

However, I could've dealt with another high fashion, full of lens flare, exotic theme to the Papi video, but it was already utilised for the I'm Into You video. So unfortunately, Team Jenny have run out of a few ideas and pulled this one instead, which felt like a long running 5 minute commercial for Fiat than a new music video for Jennifer. Make no mistake, the video had it's entertaining moments, but it's not a great MUSIC video.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 5:38 PM | comment link here





Saturday, September 17, 2011
Demi Lovato - Skyscraper live @ ALMA Awards



You may have heard Demi Lovato perform her Top 10 single Skyscraper before, but she's never performed it like this before. The interesting thing about Demi is how her growth as a performer is staggering, when she used to stand and flick her hair to the music. These days, it seems the teen starlet is actually putting some effort in making each performance a special one. Her first televised performance at the Do Something Awards had her rising from the stage, and the second at America's Got Talent played around with fire, and now, we've got Demi performing the second verse and chorus of the song in Spanish, bringing out a choir and then rising "like a skyscraper" at the end of the performance.

Brilliant. Oh, and Demi's album has leaked. Nothing exceptional minus Skyscraper and All Night Long. It might need some time to grow on me.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 4:41 PM | comment link here





Friday, September 16, 2011
Billboard Update



It seems the MTV VMAs can only do so much. Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera's Moves Like Jagger dethrones Adele's Someone Like You from the #1 spot after only one week with Maroon 5 and co. picking up the Digital Gainer title while Adele settles for #2. Rihanna just sneaks into the top 10 of the Hot 100 with her bland new single Cheers (Drink To That) at #10, making it upteenth Top 10 single on the Hot 100. Despite RCA screwing her over and over, time and again, Kelly Clarkson powers through as her new single Mr. Know It All debuts at #18 on the chart this week. Jason DeRulo's It Girl is really leaping up the chart, vaulting up to #38 up from #61. Demi Lovato is still continuing on a upward trend as Skyscraper rises to #60. Poor Beyonce. It seems being pregnant only gets you so much press, and Love On Top plummets half the spots of the Hot 100, falling from #20 to #70 this week. Adele's got another track round the corner as Set Fire To The Train makes a new peak of #72. Colbie Caillat's latest Brighter Than The Sun moves up to #82 while American Idol winner Scotty McCreery lands himself at #84 with The Trouble With Girls. After a multiple year of absence on the Hot 100, everyone's favourite childhood pop star JoJo has finally made a return with the pop/rock stomper Disaster debuting at #87.

Over on the albums chart, Lil Wayne holds strong with Tha Carter IV hogging the top spot, closely followed by Brit sensation Adele at #2.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 8:48 PM | comment link here





Thursday, September 15, 2011
Big News: Demi Lovato debuts All Night Long



Skyscraper may be just picking up those radio spins, but Demi Lovato's moving on soon. The Disney starlet promised she'd be doing some hawt R&B/Pop/Dance in the vein of Rihanna and Keri Hilson. Then she laid a smackdown on us with the most sincere ballad from an American artist released this year with Skyscraper.

Now though, she's actually bringing the R&B/Dance fusion with her upcoming album Unbroken's lead single All Night Long. The song is a bratty track that isn't actually dancey, but it's bold and different from anything Demi's done before. The chorus subtly hits but you know when it hits, and the repetitive "all night long" hook keeps the song stuck in your head. In true R&B fashion, Demi's got a rent-a-rapper on board, with Missy Elliot sounding more like Lil Wayne than herself on the track.

It's a good track, but overall, a little messy. Looks like we're getting half of Demi's musical tastes from her previous work (Skyscraper), and keeping up with the trends with All Night Long for her upcoming album. Also, besides the fact that Alexandra Burke has a single with the same title, it actually sounds very Alexandra Burke-ish. Something I see her doing for her next album era.

You can check out the track in all its medium quality glory below.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 5:42 PM | comment link here





Big News: The Wanted premiere "Lightning"!



When boyband The Wanted went on their headlining theatre Behind Bars Tour earlier this year, they debuted a new song called Lightning which had an interesting sound to it - where it had a little rocky sound to it and had an amazing chorus that seemed to stop time. They continued playing the song at subsequent gigs. And above is Lightning receiving its radio debut. While I was head over heels for their live version, I'm not jumping about for this track in the studio version.

The verses seem very clogged up with haphazard production beats, and it's only when the beats and production clear up at the chorus that the song starts to shine. It might need some time to grow on me.

But to remind you this song is actually half decent, you can watch their performance of the same song on the iTunes Festival this year that sounds a billion times better than the radio rip.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 4:38 PM | comment link here





Big News: Nicola Roberts unveils "sticks + stones"



Firework. Raise Your Glass. Born This Way. Who Says. All of those songs above were released by Katy Perry (ridiculously successful pop artist with a gorgeous face and a lovely pair of tits); P!nk (an outspoken pop rebel that's scored with the masses); Lady Gaga (2009's breakout pop artist that have people believing she's a God); Selena Gomez (produced by the Disney machine and selling by the millions to little girls across the world). Then you have Nicola Roberts. Now, while Nicola's music and voice combined beats all those pop tarts I just mentioned, she hasn't exactly found success as a solo act, away from Girls Aloud.

But just yesterday, Nicola premiered a ballad called sticks + stones off her upcoming debut solo album Cinderella's Eyes. First single Beat of My Drum didn't go down well with British audiences, stalling at #27, and as for her upcoming second single Lucky Day, no one really knows how it's going to do.

But this is different. See, while Katy may be screeching BAABBYY YOU'RE A FIIIIIIIRRRREEEWOOOOOOOOORK off the top of a castle in Europe, Selena Gomez running around the streets telling her little fans "Who says you're not perfect?" etc., Nicola's telling the tale as the one getting taunted. And it's not that difficult to see why, since Nicola's always got a bit of a reputation as the "ugly one", "quiet one", "angsty one" in Girls Aloud, and has experienced this massive criticism in the public eye.

But through this album cut, Nicola tells the tale through her eyes. The simple piano-backed ballad has lyrics directly referencing to those comments such as:

Couldn't you tell lies to me? / Couldn't you say I'm pretty?
Sticks and stones hurt just a little
With all the mean words they're ugly / Starting to see I'm lucky
How funny that I was too young for so many things / Yet you thought I'd cope with being told I'm ugly / Over and over I'd read it, believe it
I am pretty in my mirror, easy to pretend


Then there's the line that directly reference to joining Girls Aloud and winning Popstars: The Rivals when she was 17 with:

17 and I thought I'd won the jackpot / Seems I didn't read between the lines of this one




I'm still gobsmacked by this brutal honesty, tbh

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Music Reviews 10 @ 3:07 PM | comment link here





Sunday, September 11, 2011
Billboard Update



After landing a slot at the Video Music Awards, Adele soared straight to the top of the iTunes Chart and is now standing proudly at #1 on the Hot 100 as well, pushing last week's #1 Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger to #2. Rihanna remains entrenched outside the Top 10 at #11 with Cheers (Drink To That). Also after a VMAs slot and the use of her pregnancy as publicity, Beyonce's Love on Top debuts at #20 while Lady Antebellum's promo single Dancin' Away With My Heart enters the chart at #50. Another Adele track is picking up speed as Set Fire To The Rain rises up to #80.

Lil Wayne tops the Billboard 200 Albums Chart with his latest Tha Carter IV selling close to a million records while Adele and Beyonce enjoy some sales resurgence after the VMAs with Adele staying strong at #3 and picking up the Greatest Gainer Title and Beyonce's 4 pulling up to #7. Jessie J's debut album Who You Are makes a re-entrance at #79.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 4:38 PM | comment link here





Nicola Roberts - Lucky Day live @ Sainsbury Super Saturday



Growing in confidence with each live performance is Nicola Roberts, who's moved on from her tanked debut single Beat of My Drum to the safer in comparison second single Lucky Day. The summery pop tune was televised live for the first time at Sainsbury Super Saturday where Nicola turned in one of her better live performance, with much emphasis placed on her vocals, sung along to a backing track that doesn't get too loud, since Nicola tends to get ahead of herself and let her warbling opera-tic vocals run amok.

Also, I'm slayed by that intro. And my Ginger Princess is really looking gorgeous now.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 3:10 PM | comment link here





The Saturdays - Jonathan Ross Interview



British girl group The Saturdays still have about a day left to claim the #1 spot away from Pixie Lott and her generic single All About Tonight, so on Saturday night, the girls dropped by The Jonathan Ross Show for a little chat and they're starting to really up the fashion stakes and look amazing now. Apart from looking pretty, the girls also discussed Rochelle's keen sense of smell with Jonathan. Ha.

Although who are we kidding, a #2 or #3 spot is more likely now.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 3:06 PM | comment link here





Saturday, September 10, 2011
Big News: Leona Lewis talks upcoming album 'Glassheart'



Just over a week ago, pretty much everyone thought Leona Lewis was going to bag the #1 by the end of the week with the anthemic club banger Collide to be debuted on Simon Cowell's new show Red or Black? which attracted millions of viewers, easily beating out Pixie Lott's new single All About Tonight and The Saturdays' new tune All Fired Up. However, when all three singles hit iTunes, The Saturdays pulled ahead quickly, making mincemeat of Pixie Lott and especially Leona Lewis. However, after hitting #1 on iTunes, The Saturdays took a dip, overtaken by Pixie Lott while Leona Lewis took her own sweet time to crack the upper reaches of the Top 10 on iTunes. However, over on the Irish Singles Chart, Leona beat Pixie and The Saturdays, landing at #3 while The Sats arrived at #6 and Pixie at #10.

Nevertheless, Leona Lewis had a chat with Digital Spy and we've learnt a few things about her upcoming third studio album Glassheart to be released at the end of the year and upcoming single promotions.

1. Leona will be heading overseas to promote Collide.
For Collide, Leona will be dropping by "Japan, Australia and maybe Germany; just travelling and taking it week by week", no sign of the States there then?

2. The much buzzed about title track off the album is another Tedder tune.
Ryan Tedder may have given her her best work so far in the form of Bleeding Love, but there's no excuse for the terrible Happy. So to see Leona's booking studio time with the OneRepublic frontman is very much an ugh thought. Nevertheless, the title track, "we wrote, I remember, when I was a little bit down. I went to Denver to hang out with Ryan - to see him and his family - and see if we could come up with something nice. I remember just not wanting to sing a ballad or anything that would make me more sad. I was like, 'Can you give me a song where I can just dance and jump around?', and he was like, 'What about this?' - he played this beat and it was really hypnotic. So I was like, 'Yes! We have to do this'." As for the track itself, you can take a listen to it below when Leona premiered it performing at G-A-Y.



3. A track called Trouble might be the next single.
"Yes, I think 'Trouble' will be the second single. I can't wait for everyone to hear it. I'm really excited about it. It's one that I really love."

4. Glassheart will have only ten tracks on it.
When an album has only ten tracks, it might seem like a rip-off as it'll probably be priced at the same cost as the album sitting next to it on the shelf with two, three, maybe four more tracks. But, Leona wants Glassheart to be a strong body of work. "I want the strongest [tracks] and that's it - no fillers or anything. I want the strongest songs and I think we have them." No fillers? Leona, I'm holding you to your word.

5. There will be at least one collaboration on the album.
"I've a song called 'Fireflies' which I really, really love and hope we get to do as a single. it's a really good one. And it's got a guy on it!"

So it's a collaboration with someone we know?
"Yes! But I'm not saying who! [laughs]"" Hmm.

6. Contrary to reports, she didn't actually work with British duo Hurts.
"Not yet! I love them so much. I'm obsessed with them. I love their album and their sound. And I want to meet them!" So no gothic diva then?

Read the full interview here.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 12:39 AM | comment link here





Avril Lavigne - Wish You Were Here [Music Video Premiere]



Pop rebel Avril Lavigne has always released at least one slow ballad as a single during every album campaign and for her latest moderately successful fourth album Goodbye Lullaby, the acoustic album standout Wish You Were Here has been lifted as the album's third single following the happy-go-lucky lead single What The Hell and pop/rock anthem second single Smile. Of course, it's not going to set the charts on fire, but I think this song'll stick around on the charts a longer time than Smile ever could, and could be on heavy rotation on radio, picking up those Hot AC spins.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 12:15 AM | comment link here





Monday, September 5, 2011
The Saturdays - All Fired Up live @ Alan Titchmarsh Show + Pixie Lott - All About Tonight live @ Red or Black



It's single release week for The Saturdays and they're battling it out with Pixie Lott's All About Tonight and Leona Lewis' Collide on iTunes at the minute. So hoping they can overtake Pixie Lott on the iTunes Chart, the girl group dropped by the Alan Titchmarsh Show to perform the Xenomania-produced club banger. It's pretty much the same as their performance on British breakfast show This Morning, with the same pre-recorded vocals except in black dresses this time. So they sounded good, looked the part, and when they hit the final chorus, there was a surge in energy and volume as well. Brilliant.






Then we arrive at Pixie Lott's performance of All About Tonight on that new Simon Cowell gameshow to keep his reign over British telly and a slot where his favourite acts can pimp their new singles. If The Saturdays don't land an X Factor promotional slot, I will cut him. Nevertheless, Pixie managed to land herself this performance slot a night after Leona Lewis debuted Collide, and it's unfortunate Pixie didn't do great with this performance.

The whole performance was rather cheesy, starting off with Pixie standing in the middle of four other Pixie holograms, and lip-syncing her way through the performance until she left her holograms and walked out towards the crowd. Shame. Then there was that shameless dubstep dance breakdown a la Cheryl Cole where Pixie tried to show she could dance as well. No, it wasn't impressive. It came off as contrived.

Overall, it was a bland performance. I want Mama Do and Boys And Girls Pixie Lott back. And since she keeps harping on the fact her upcoming sophomore album will be more soulful, I'm going to take her word for it. Or else she'll be lost in the shuffle of generic British pop stars.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 11:59 PM | comment link here





Matt Cardle - Run For Your Life [Music Video Premiere]



When a person wins a reality tv singing competition watched by millions every week, it's quite a scary step to take when you release your first single outside of the hype machine. Particularly when you're Matt Cardle. The former painter in his late 20s falls into what I'd call "the perfect X Factor winner" stereotype. He appeals to a different kind of audience. The older demographic that's less iTunes-savvy, more "oh this lad's got a lovely voice, I think I'll vote for him", but this fanbase isn't a strong fanbase to fall back on.

Also, while you may have heard of Leona Lewis or Alexandra Burke who've all gone on to do rather well for themselves, you have the male winners who've all been screwed over by Simon's label and either faded into the darkness (everyone minus Joe McElderry and Shayne Ward) or found other ventures to go into (Joe McElderry - opera singing. The boy's got a good voice, you can't deny that).

So who's to say this bearded chubby guy with a rather bland personality (if I'm being totally honest) will do otherwise?

Introducing Run For Your Life, the first single lifted off his debut album Letters. The Gary Barlow-penned track talks about not being good enough for the one you're with. Perfect if you're lovesick and having messy emotions then. But the track itself feels more like a theme to a movie like Twilight or the kind of song that gets played in the background on The Vampire Diaries. It's a good song, but it's not great. But for those that thoroughly enjoyed his X Factor coronation single When We Collide and wanted more mushy big ballads from the mushy big guy, they've gotten their wish.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 11:19 PM | comment link here





Sunday, September 4, 2011
Adele - Turning Tables live on The Jonathan Ross Show



British talkshow host Jonathan Ross returned to British television screens yesterday with a new studio and a star-studded line up including Hollywood actress Sarah Jessica Parker, Formula 1 racing driver Lewis Hamilton and British breakout star Adele. Adele has had a massively successful year, but she hasn't done much promo recently, but dropped by The Jonathan Ross Show to perform Turning Tables and have a little chat. She came down with a flu, but still soldiered on, performed and confirmed during her chat she'll be hitting the recording studio to do a one-off song for a theme, which Internet readers have said to be for the upcoming James Bond movie.

With her trademark black dress and big, coiffed up hair, she also talked about being at the VMAs where she felt out of place and wished she was "at home with my girlfriends", which was visible during the ceremony even though she performed her new US single Someone Like You. She seems most at home in the UK, definitely.

Next week, The Jonathan Ross Show will have The Saturdays on, but he mentioned in the clip above Red Hot Chilli Peppers would be performing. So no performance of All Fired Up then?

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Music Reviews 10 @ 1:29 PM | comment link here





Leona Lewis - Collide live @ Red or Black



It's single release week for Leona Lewis, Pixie Lott and The Saturdays so it's promo promo promo for the race to get Sunday's #1. So here we are with Leona Lewis performing her new single Collide on Red or Black. Beats me, I've never heard of the show either.

Nevertheless, it's clear to see Leona was a bit nervous performing the anthemic Kelly Rowland-esque dance number on a big stage, her vocals were a little shaky and hey ho, she almost couldn't catch her breath at certain points. But overall, she nailed the big chorus and brought some life and energy to the stage, something we could never say when she performed the rather dreary Happy.

Collide, All About Tonight or All Fired Up for #1? I'm rooting for The Saturdays right now but things could turn around by the time Sunday comes.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 12:48 PM | comment link here





Saturday, September 3, 2011
Big News: Leona Lewis unveils Glassheart album cover!



It looks like British singing sensation Leona Lewis has gone for a retro look for her new album artwork for upcoming third disc Glassheart to be released later this year on the 28th of November. This artwork follows the single cover for Collide which also has a vintage feel to it.

Interesting. And if you haven't seen it already, the video for Collide has premiered. Nothing groundbreaking, but she looks good.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 1:14 PM | comment link here





Friday, September 2, 2011
Billboard Update



Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera launch to the top of the Hot 100 with Moves Like Jagger and they have nothing but The Voice to thank. They're trailed by Party Rock Anthem following closely at #2 while last week's #1 Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.), Katy Perry's own summer anthem, takes a tumble to #5. OneRepublic hit a new peak of #8 with Good Life. Rihanna picks up the Digital Gainer Title for her new single Cheers (Drink To That) and sits comfortably outside the Top 10 with the track hitting an all time high so far. Lady Gaga and Adele both see bumps to the Top 20, with Gaga's You And I flying from #35 to #16 while Adele's ballad Someone Like You vaults from #34 to #19. Demi Lovato is slowly rising again with Skyscraper rising a few notches to #60 this week. David Guetta's promo single with Jennifer Hudson Night of Your Life debuts at #81 while Colbie Caillat follows closely behind at #82 with Brighter Than The Sun. Adele's anthemic track Set Fire To The Rain re-enters the Hot 100 at #92 while singer/songwriter Christina Perri's Arms re-enters as well at #97.

Over on the Billboard Albums Chart, Game's The R.E.D. Album bows at the top with Adele at #3. Rihanna's Loud picks up the Greatest Gainer Title and rockets to #20 up from #38.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 10:23 PM | comment link here





Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Saturdays - All Fired Up live @ This Morning



It's release week for The Saturdays and that means nothing but promotion. The British girlband hit Radio 1 over the weekend for a little interview, but dropped by British breakfast television show This Morning to perform All Fired Up. While it might seem weird to hear a club track blaring on a breakfast television show, the girls actually stayed really in tune. Backing track? Obviously, the choreography wasn't mindblowing but they did well with what they had.

You can watch their pitch-perfect performance above and interview below.

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Music Reviews 10 @ 11:03 PM | comment link here