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  • First Listen: Allison Iraheta’s “Friday I’ll Be Over U”

    Allison Iraheta was the female favorite in last season’s American Idol. She was one of the younger contestants, but carried a voice well beyond her years.

    It was impressive to watch her be a teenager on the stage, slightly nervous and had a look on her face that said, “I can’t believe I’m here.” But once the music came on, she turned into one of American Idol’s most polished singers.

    Allison Iraheta with her American Idol brethern
    Allison Iraheta with her American Idol brethern
    With her new single, Friday I’ll Be Over U, she and her producers do something that’s going to be very necessary with her. They’re keeping her young. She has such an “adult” sounding voice, but in order for her to sell records, her young spirit is going to have to not only shine through, it’s going to have to slap us across the face when we’re listening to her songs.

    When I sent this over to Money Mike to listen to, I said they were turning her into a younger Kelly Clarkson. He was in agreement, though with a little bit of Avril Lavigne thrown in.

    Check out for yourself. You can listen to her single at popeater.com and also read the interview they have with her.

    Come back here and let us know what you think. Is this as strong of a single for her as I think it is?

  • First Look: Carrie Underwood’s Cowboy Casanova

    Is it too soon for me to say that Carrie Underwood is leaving Kelly Clarkson in the dust?

    I’ve always compared the two American Idol winners because they were both the most commercially successful acts to come out of the show. Because of how successful her second album was, I figured that Clarkson was going to be untouchable. But the one who seems to be untouchable is Underwood.

    Cowboy Casanova is the first single off her new album and she looks great throughout the video. It’s a fun song about a man who will break your heart; the kind of song that she’s perfected.

    And is it just me, or does everyone else think all of these songs are about former love Tony Romo? If they are, I’d say her season is shaping up to be better than his.

    Let us know what you think about the video in the comment section below.

  • Friday Throwback: “State of the Heart”

    I send you off for the weekend with a little Rick Springfield for that ass.

    Rick was one of the first teen idols that I was aware of. My cousin Sharon had a massive crush on him. She would make sure to get home in time to see him play Dr. Noah Drake on “General Hospital”, and I can distinctly remember going to Kings Plaza Mall in Brooklyn and watching her buy a framed black-and-white photo of Rick in his leather-jacketed glory. I also remember him having very hairy arms in the picture. Interesting the things you retain…

    The Aussie conquered the worlds of both prime-time TV and pop music for a while, scoring hits in the skinny-tie power-pop fashion like “Jessie’s Girl” (which actually beat Bruce Springsteen for a Grammy…I remember this!) and “Don’t Talk to Strangers” (one of my favorites). Synthesizers began to creep into his music over the next couple of years with songs like “Human Touch” and “Bop ’til You Drop”, and he released what I understand to be one of the incredibly all-time bad rock movies with “Hard to Hold”. However, 1985’s “State of the Heart” is a moody midtempo gem that gets overlooked when most people look at Springfield’s string of hits.

    Rick’s vocal is expressive, moreso than his pained facial expressions in the video, and the song has a very cool instrumental motif, with that whacked out synth solo in the middle. This pretty much marked the end of the road for Rick, as he only had one more hit with 1988’s “Rock of Life”. However, he’s still performing today, even in his early Sixties (actually, a quick Wiki check reveals that he just turned 60). Still looks good too…better than most 60 year olds I know. He still makes and puts out albums and also returned to “GH” for a time, too. Anyway, enjoy the video, sorry about the subtitles, and have a great weekend!