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Tag: Miley Cyrus

  • American Idol Season 8 – Will The Save Be Used?

    Let’s get it on.

    Ryno comes on and says that Miley Cyrus is performing tonight. I’m guessing Jamie Foxx is nowhere to be found.

    Also, Jennifer Hudson is performing tonight, which should be really good.

    The group song is performing Maniac from Flashdance. Where are the leg warmers? Adam has to be wearing them. Nope, and a special moment was lost.

    Anoop almost bailed on the stairs.

    Zac Effron is in the audience wearing a beanie for no good reason whatsoever. He has nothing on the Jonas Brothers.

    Ryno asks Allison to stand up and she is safe.

    Jennifer Hudson with her Oscar
    Jennifer Hudson with her Oscar
    Adam is up next and he seems halfway interested knowing that there’s no way in hell that he’s going home. He is safe as well.

    Anoop’s upside ya’ head is in the bottom three again. That might be his new home since he’s been there so often.

    Jennifer Hudson is on stage singing If This Isn’t Love. I commend Danny Goakey for having the courage to sing on stage and holding it together for his deceased wife. But this is also real courage here. That’s a strong woman right there.

    It was also a very nice song. The album isn’t fantastic, but she sings everything well on it. It’s just not too inspired, unlike most of her great work in her young career.

    Paula says she’s surprised that Anoop is in the bottom three and when asked if Anoop deserves to be in the final three, Simon said, “Yes.”

    Kris and Lil are next. Simon says that Kris was brilliant last night. Ryno says one of them is in the bottom three and one of them is safe. Lil is not the safe person. She joins Anoop.

    Matt and Danny are up next. Danny is safe and Matt joins his friends in the bottom three.

    Out of Anoop, Lil, and Matt, the one who is sent back is Anoop.

    Miley playing keyboard
    Miley playing keyboard
    Miley Cyrus is out to sing The Climb.

    While Miley might not be a good singer, I think the girl has talent. She has such great comedic timing for a young actress and she’s such a goof ball, unafraid to act the fool. I’ve been able to watch her Hannah Montana TV show a few times with the kids and it’s such a fun show. She just does the music stuff to show people that she can, but her future is in TV or movies. I hate to compare her to Lindsay Lohan, but I always thought Lohan was such a great physical comedic actress. I think Miley might be able to do what Lohan couldn’t because of all her screw-ups. Ok, I’m done tooting her horn. I just needed to do something while she was singing so I didn’t have to pay attention to it.

    The judges have two weeks to use the save. Simon says that he’d think about using it on one of the two and that person might be surprised.

    Matt is a goner. It’s easy for me to say that it’s a mistake for Matt to be gone, but really, it’s his own fault. He’s been so inconsistent. But now he’s singing for his American Idol life.

    The crowd is calling for the save to be used. While they were deciding, Paula’s boobs nearly ate Simon’s face. I think that helped Simon make the decision to save Matt, though he said he didn’t think Matt had a chance to win the competition. Then why use the save?

    Simon says that next week, two people will go home. He also warned us that it’s disco week.

    Photo of Jennifer Hudson shared via creative commons

    Photo of Miley Cyrus by Mike Schmid and shared via

  • 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.

  • Chart Chat 4/4/09: Now That’s What I Call a #1 Album

    now30

    A lot of folks have been complaining about the dearth of music releases so far in 2009, and I’d be inclined to agree. I can’t remember a year in recent memory when we’ve gotten to April and I’ve only bought maybe 5 new albums (Franz Ferdinand, The Fray, Lily Allen, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Hicks). However, this week’s Billboard album charts features a cornucopia of new albums-12 new ones in the Top 20, actually. It’s the highest number of new releases to land in Billboard’s Top 20 since…well, since ever.

    Leading the pack is the 30th (!) installment of the “Now That’s What I Call Music series”, which debuts just short of 150K. It’s amazing that this series continues to sell when iTunes playlists exist. Right behind is Miley Cyrus with the soundtrack to the “Hannah Montana” movie, and R&B vixen Keri Hilson debuts at #4 with “In a Perfect World…”. Look for this one to stick around for a little while. Allegedly, it’s knee-deep in hit singles. This may end up being my 6th new release purchase of 2009.

    Other debuts in the Top 20 include Papa Roach (yes, they’re still around), at #8, untalented Dipset-affiliated rapper Jim Jones at #9, coountry singer Martina McBride at #10, bone-crunching metal outfit Mastodon at #11, future one-hit wonders Blue October at #13, faded Houston MC Slim Thug at #15, songwriter/half of Big & Rich John Rich at #16, Eric Church (I don’t know who he is either) at #17, and Yanni at #20. Yes, Yanni is still making music.

    The glut of debuts means that there are some pretty prestigious drops on the chart. Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” falls out of the Top 10 for the first time since its’ release last fall. Static-X, however, gets the award for biggest drop on the chart, sliding 16-69 with their latest album.

    In a chart like this, it’s weird for an older album to actually move up considerably, but Adele’s “19” does. The Grammy winner for Best New Artist and her Gold album shoots from 41-23 on this week’s chart.

    The holdovers in the Top Ten include the “Twilight” soundtrack, which holds at #3 thanks to the recent DVD release of the film, Kelly Clarkson, who slides to #5 after two weeks at #1, U2 slides 2-6, while Lady GaGa drops two spots to #7.

    Speaking of Lady GaGa, she becomes the first artist in 10 years (since Christina Aguilera) to hit #1 with her first two single releases. again showing that the American music buying public has no taste whatsoever. “Poker Face” climbs to #1, unseating Flo Rida’s “Right Round” after 6 weeks on top. There are two new songs in the Top 10. Miley Cyrus climbs 11-8 with the appropriately titled “The Climb”, while Ciara shoots up 17 spots to #10 with “Love Sex Magic”, a collaboration with Justin Timberlake. With T.I.’s “Dead & Gone” at #4 this week, JT joins GaGa as artists with two songs each in the Top 10. Collaborating with Timberlake seems to be kind of a golden ticket these days, as Timbaland, Madonna, 50 Cent, T.I. and now Ciara have all scored Top 10 hits featuring the former ‘NSync-er.

    Next week’s #1 single may be lurking just inside the Top 40. Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” inches in at #39, but it’s digital release will catapult it into, at the very least, next week’s Top 10 and it just may unseat GaGa at the top of the chart, although the fact that Lady G performed on “American Idol” last week could keep her at the top. Anyway, here’s this week’s Top 20 album charts. Watch out next week, when Keith Urban, Prince, Flo Rida, Bow Wow and a passel of others debut in the Top 20 of the charts, leading to another round of mega-drops.

    Top 20 Albums

    01-“Now That’s What I Call Music 30”-Various Artists

    02-“Hannah Montana Movie Soundtrack”-Miley Cyrus/Various Artists

    03-“Twilight Soundtrack”-Various Artists

    04-“In a Perfect World…”-Keri Hilson

    05-“All I Ever Wanted” Kelly Clarkson

    06-“No Line on the Horizon”-U2

    07-“The Fame”-Lady GaGa

    08-“Metamorphosis”-Papa Roach

    09-“Pray IV Reign”-Jim Jones

    10-“Shine”-Martina McBride

    11-“Crack the Skye”-Mastodon

    12-“Fearless”-Taylor Swift

    13-“Approaching Normal”-Blue October

    14-“Love vs. Money” The-Dream

    15-“Boss of All Bosses”-Slim Thug

    16-“Son of a Preacher Man”-John Rich

    17-“Carolina”-Eric Church

    18-“Dark Horse”-Nickelback

    19-“Hazards of Love”-The Decemberists

    20-“Voices”-Yanni