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Tag: Jason Aldean

  • American Idol Season 10 – Who Makes The Final 7?

    Last week, the Idol contestants could do no wrong. Well, except when J. Lo gave Pia some pretty subtle criticisms about her lack of dancing and swagger. Last night, the Idol contestants could do no wrong. But wait, there was one person the judges slammed last night. That person was Haley. I fully expect Haley to go home tonight because when everyone gets praise, it’s the criticisms that stick out like a sore thumb. And also, I think Casey’s fanbase was out in droves last night voting for fear that he’d leave again after his interesting song choice (though really good performance).

    J. Lo Booty Alert
    Finally, she showed it. She waved to the crowd behind her and turned her back toward the camera and it was out there in display. I’m still waiting for the tight, white pants to show up, so she can show it off in all its glory.

    Scotty and Lauren are duetting on stage together and they are so cute together singing in their country twang. I think those two are the easiest artists to sell out of the contestants this season. If those kids don’t sell at least 500,000-750,000 albums in their rookie releases, someone needs to be fired. It’s easy money.

    Haley and Casey are singing together and they aren’t as cute together as Scotty and Lauren were. They are battle scatting out there and all the ten year old little girls are losing interest. But their mothers who actually enjoy music are probably getting a kick out of it.

    Ryno pulls both twosomes out on the stage. Predictably, he sends Scotty back to safety. I’m sure Lauren is going to be safe as well. Yep, she’s safe. Well, it’s Haley who is in the bottom three. And Casey just told her that he loved her, at least I think. He’s done for next week after doing that.

    Because the majority of voters seem to be young girls, it’s paramount that the dudes at least pretend that they’re single. If those little girls saw what I saw, they’re probably majorly bummed and will leave him for Scotty. Scotty gets it. Casey doesn’t get it at all. He just makes so many rookie Idol mistakes.

    Rob Reiner is on the show for whatever reason. None of those young kids watched When Harry Met Sally. Please.

    Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson are on stage singing Don’t You Wanna Stay. You can barely see Jason as he’s tucked underneath the brim of his cowboy hat. Kelly sounds really good. I’m sure they’ll see a boatload more on iTunes tonight.

    The rest of the four dudes are on stage together with Paul and James in the middle with their guitars and Stefano and Jacob tapping their feet and singing. It was fun, but nothing to write home about.

    Ryno pulls the dudes into the center. Ryno sends Big Game James back to safety. Stefano is in the bottom three. Paul is also in the bottom three. Jacob is safe.

    So, our bottom three is Paul, Stefano, and Haley. I had Casey in the bottom three, but had Haley and either Paul or Stefano in the bottom three as well. So I was close.

    Chaka Khan and Anita Baker are in the audience to help introduce Rihanna. I wish Turbo and Ozone were with Chaka. Rihanna’s a ginger-head. I’ve never heard a love song about a California king bed until now. I guess she’s grown out of bunk beds. Rihanna is great and all, but I want to see who is eliminated.

    Teflon Haley is safe again! Casey is way too happy with his mischievous grin. I would’ve bet money on Stefano leaving here, but it’s Paul who goes home. The quirky dancing, drunken singing, and floral suits stop here.

    Notice the judges weren’t heartbroken that Paul was leaving tonight. If you don’t think there’s heavy favoritism on that table, you don’t watch closely. They know that he wasn’t selling a milli for Jimmy.

    Seacrest out!

    Photo of Rihanna via Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

  • Chart Chat 4/16/09: We’re Country!!

    flatts1

    How scary is it that we’ve completed almost four months of 2009 and NOT ONE album has hit the million mark in sales yet? Actually, only 7 albums have passed the 500,000 mark. If that’s not a sign that there’s some serious problems going on, I don’t know what is.

    However, this week we have reason to celebrate! For the first time in 2009, sales last week were higher than sales for the same week in 2008, due to the ACM Awards as well as the Easter holiday. That leads to some nice and robust numbers on this week’s chart (which would have been an ordinary Top 10 in 2003, but I’m just sayin’…).

    As expected, country trio Rascal Flatts debuts at the top spot with their new album “Unstoppable”. It’s their fourth #1 album, and it boasts the second biggest debut of the year, scanning 351,000 units, second only to U2’s first week total earlier this year. However, let’s put that into perspective. That total is less than half of what their “Me & My Gang” album did just three years ago.

    Elsewhere on the album chart, Jadakiss debuts at a surprising #3 with his third album, “Kiss of Death”. I thought people had forgotten about the guy, but his Roc-a-Fella debut proved that the former LOX member could still move units. The week’s final big debut comes from country star Jason Aldean. Aldean, who is easily the most popular indie label country artist around, enters at #4 with his third album “Wide Open”.

    The rest of the Top 10 includes the “Hannah Montana” soundtrack at #2 (expect this to make a run at #1 next week after Miley Cyrus’s “American Idol” appearance), the 30th installment of the “Now That’s What I Call Music” series is #5, Taylor Swift, who still has this year’s top selling album,  moves back up to #6, padding her total, while Keith Urban, who had last week’s #1 album, slides down to #7, while the “Twilight” soundtrack hangs around at #8, Prince’s Target exclusive set falls to #9 after entering at #2, and Lady GaGa holds the #10 spot down (can the music business really be in trouble if people are still buying tripe like this?).

    This week’s Epic Fail comes from Shad Moss, who you all know better as Bow Wow. After a run of five consecutive Gold or Platinum albums, his latest “New Jack City Part II”, falls to #43 in only it’s second week on the chart. This is despite the fact that his latest single, “You Can Have it All”, is currently rising up the charts. Ain’t no love left for a kid rapper, I guess. Especially when he doesn’t write his own lyrics.

  • New Release of the Week 4/7/09: Rascal Flatts

    flattsBased on this week’s articles so far, you might think we’ve turned into a country website. Never fear, the cowboy hat is only temporarry, but country music informs this week’s new release column as well.

    Fresh off their ACM win for Best Country Group (unseating Brooks & Dunn after something like 14 straight wins), Rascal Flatts release their new album, “Unstoppable”, today. Now, I don’t have a problem with these guys per se. Let’s face it, most modern country acts are pretty vanilla. But, as I’ve said in a column before, Rascal Flatts is basically *Nsync with tight jeans and cowboy boots. I’ve honestly got no desire to seek out music by them, but if something’s playing, I won’t change the station. Nevertheless, these guys sell kajillions of records without my help. Watch for them to challenge U2 for the best-selling first week of the year so far.

    Here are some of today’s other hot releases:

    Billy Ray Cyrus “Back to Tennessee”– Talk about improbable comebacks. Turns out all Billy Ray Cyrus had to do to remain relevant was cut his mullet off and have a kid. Since Miley’s career blossomed two or three years ago, Billy Ray has undergone a career resurgence. “Back to Tennessee” is poised to continue that hot streak. Not so coincidentally, it contains duets with Miley, as well as a song that will be featured in Miley’s upcoming “Hannah Montana” movie.

    Fat Joe “Jealous Ones Still Envy 2”– Fat Joe is one of those guys who has just kinda stuck around for no good reason. A couple of catchy singles here and there shouldn’t take away from the fact that Mr. Cartegena is pretty much a one-note rapper. A head-scratcher in my eyes is how he seemed to improve as a rapper as soon as Big Pun came on the scene. While I believe that the man hires some solid ghostwriters, that has yet to be proven. “J.O.S.E. 2” features guest appearances by (surprise) Akon, (bigger surprise) T-Pain, and (oh my God!) Lil’ Wayne

    Jadakiss “The Last Kiss” -Five years between albums for a moderately successful rapper should be a career-killer, and I don’t think anyone expects the former LOX member to break any sales records with this album-he’s simply been away for too long, and as everyone knows, the tastes of rap fans are very fickle. “The Last Kiss”, his first album for Roc-a-Fella Records (does Jay-Z even have anything to do with this label anymore) thankfully does not feature Akon, T-Pain or Lil’ Wayne, but does feature Ne-Yo, several members of the Wu-Tang Clan, and Faith Evans on “Letter to B.I.G.”, which was released earlier this year on the “Notorious” soundtrack.

    Jason Aldean “Wide Open”– Quiet as kept, Aldean’s career has gotten off to a pretty solid start. His 2005 debut went Platinum, and the follow-up went Gold. Current single “She’s Country” has blasted up the charts, which augurs good things for his third album. Will this album bring Jason up to the ranks of guys like Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban and Brad Paisley? Hard to tell, but this is one to definitely keep an eye on. He’s pretty easy on the eyes, too.

    James Taylor “Other Covers”– I love JT. Really I do. But damn man, think of some more original album titles, PLEASE. His first covers set, released last year, was called simply “Covers”. So he’s releasing a follow-up EP and what does he call it? “Other Covers”. Maybe his next album will be called “Album”. Or “Songs”. Anyhow, Taylor’s getting a little soulful here. Among the songs he tackles are Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” and Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood”. I just got a mental picture of JT doing “Knock on Wood” in disco style a la Amii Stewart. Gave me a little chuckle. Ha.

    You can get a full list of today’s releases here.