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  • American Idol Season 8 – Which Two Go Home Tonight?

    Because of Matty being saved last week, two folks will go home tonight. We’ll see if using the save on Matty will bite them in the rear as I think they had this week to use it if they hadn’t already.

    David Archuleta performs tonight. Woohoo! Please, please, please sing Crush tonight. I mean, um, ya, David Archuleta sings tonight.

    David Archuleta performs in Malaysia
    David Archuleta performs in Malaysia
    Paula choreographed the contestants for the group song tonight. The woman can still move like nobody’s business.

    They’re performing a one of my all time favorites, Shake Your Body Down To The Ground, and are trying to hit all the classic J5 moves. At least they tried. This was probably the most fun performance thus far. And all the dudes got to try their MJ falsetto.

    Let’s dance, let’s shout (clap), shake your body down to the ground.

    It’s time to get down to business. Lil Rounds isn’t showing off the badonkadonk like she was last night. Ryan sends her to the left side of the stage and just says that it’s the end of the road for her.

    She performs I’m Every Woman again. Paula says that Lil Rounds should’ve sang like that last night. Randall says it’s just the beginning for her. Simon says he’s going to miss her family screaming every week. Kara’s boobs are exploding as she leans forward. I didn’t even hear what she said.

    Freda Payne’s corpse is on stage singing Band Of Gold. I’m kidding. For someone in her mid-60’s, she looks pretty dang good. Her vocals were pretty shaky, but her moves were on point.

    She introduced Thelma Houston who looks very much like the lady in the bright canary yellow dress that they made fun of from a couple seasons ago. But her vocals were strong.

    I don’t know why I chuckled, but she introduced KC from KC & The Sunshine Band. Ok, now I know why I chuckled. He’s terrible. Where’s David Archuleta when you need him?

    Let’s get back to the second elimination tonight. Kris and Adam are safe. Danny is also safe. Anoop is not.

    Matty is safe and Allison is not. Ugh. This is why you keep the save. Allison is the second best contestant and doesn’t deserve to be hanging out with Anoop Doggy Dog.

    It’s Archie time and he’s doing Touch My Hand. The last time I saw him was on iCarly. Shows you what kind of television I watch these days. American Idol and iCarly – where amazing happens.

    I can’t even describe young Dave. When he came out, he looked like he’d been out on a 3 day drinking bender with Bo Bice. But then he came out smiling like he was at Disney Land for the first time. And then when he was done, he was completely out of breath. What a weird performance that was.

    If Allison goes home tonight, I’m going Kanye on everyone.

    This is bad, real bad Michael Jackson
    Now I’m mad, real mad Joe Jackson

    Thankfully, Anoopy is the one to go home. Allison lives to sing another day.

    Tonight, Carrie Underwood is singing Anoop and Lil Rounds, home sweet home.

  • Chart Chat 4/22/09: The Ascension of Hannah Montana

    miley1

    It’s a good time to be Miley Cyrus. Not only is she achieving film success with “Hannah Montana”‘s soundtrack, but the movie’s soundtrack rises to #1 in its’ third week on the Billboard charts, scanning over 133,000 copies. This catapults the album past Gold status, with about 554,000 copies sold in four weeks.

    The chart’s light with debuts this week, as things relax a bit following the big Easter rush. Diddy’s Day26 settle for a #2 debut with their “Forever in a Day” album, scanning just over 113,000 units. The only other debut in the Top 50 comes from rock band Silversun Pickups, who are new at #7 with 43K.

    Most albums on this week’s chart nosedive in sales this week, but there are a select few that buck the trend. Kings of Leon’s American breakthrough, “Only by the Night”, moves up 31-18 on a 4% increase to 20K, while other albums that show staying power include Darius Rucker’s “Learn to Live” (+6%) and 3Oh!3’s “Want” (+10%). Jennifer Hudson’s performance on “American Idol” last week spurs a 36% jump in sales for her eponymous debut, which moves 103-42 on this week’s chart.

    On the singles side, the biggest news is a #3 debut for Eminem on Hot Digital Songs with “We Made You”. The Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” and Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” hold the top two positions.

    Next week, Rick Ross should lead the charts, with expected high debuts from the likes of Depeche Mode and Asher Roth.

    This week’s Top 20 albums (courtesy of Billboard Communications)

    1) Soundtrack “Hannah Montana: The Movie”

    2) Day26 “Forever in a Day”

    3) Rascal Flatts “Unstoppable”

    4) Soundtrack “Twilight”

    5) Various Artists “Now 30”

    6) Jadakiss “The Last Kiss”

    7) Silversun Pickups “Swoon”

    8) Lady GaGa “The Fame”

    9) Jason Aldean “Wide Open”

    10) Taylor Swift “Fearless”

    11) Diana Krall “Quiet Nights”

    12) Keith Urban “Defying Gravity”

    13) Keri Hilson “In a Perfect World…”

    14) Nickelback “Dark Horse”

    15) Prince “Lotusflow3r”

    16) U2 “No Line on the Horizon”

    17) Carrie Underwood “Carnival Ride”

    18) Kings of Leon “Only by the Night”

    19) Kelly Clarkson “All I Ever Wanted”

    20) The-Dream “Love vs. Money”

  • First Listen: Teena Marie “Can’t Last a Day”

    teena

    Underrated?  Teena Marie is underrated as all hell. Pop fans that do remember will know her for 1985’s “Lovergirl”, but the California-bred singer has been a near-constant fixture on the R&B charts for thirty years now.

    A protege of Rick James, Marie scored her first wave of hits on the Motown subsidiary Gordy in the late Seventies and early Eighties. Her buttery, emotional vocals created a couple of disco classics (“I Need Your Lovin’”, “Behind the Groove”), some memorable slow jams (“Portuguese Love”), a couple of scintillating duets with her mentor (“Fire & Desire”, “I’m a Sucker for Your Love”), and the funk classic “Square Biz”, which some of you younguns may recognize as the theme from the recent, Whoopi Goldberg-headed revival of “Hollywood Squares”. Leaving Motown for Epic, she ventured further into a Prince-like rock & soul fusion with the albums “Robbery”, “Starchild” and the criminally overlooked “Emerald City” before returning to traditional R&B with the #1 hit “Ooo La La La”. Her success waned a little after that, as she took the late Nineties off to raise a family, but she returned with 2004’s “La Dona”, a Grammy-nominated Gold album and an amazing comeback effort.

    Now signed to classic soul label Stax, Marie is back with “Can’t Last a Day”, a song that features Faith Evans, who has been M.I.A. for quite some time now. It’s a smooth soul groove, and a bit of a grower, although I’ll admit that Marie’s vocals at the beginning of the song sound a bit strained. Either way, it’s good to have Lady T back, and I’ve also included a classic of hers for those of you who aren’t hip to her yet. Enjoy and let us know what you think.