It’s a big week for American Idol this week. Besides the crowning of the season 11 winner, Phillip Phillips, the singing talent show sees another of its alums rise to the top of the Billboard 200 chart. The first time in chart history, one Idol is succeeded by another, as…
Five months of auditions, live performances and rounds and rounds of voting led to last night’s big moment. Who would be crowned the American Idol champion after so much anticipation? Who deserved to win? Phillip Phillips. Beating Jessica Sanchez, the season’s runner-up, in a record-breaking 132 million total votes, Phillips…
So there you have it. Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez will duke it out during the final round of American Idol. This doesn’t come as much surprise, as Phillips and Sanchez have been early favorites since the beginning. Joshua Ledet, who appeared in the bottom three or two twice before…
Many of previous weeks’ big-performing albums have rebounded on the Billboard 200 chart, thanks to a Mother’s Day sales surge. Adele’s 21 is the best example of this boost, as the album shoots up from number four to number two this week. It’s still not enough to reclaim the top…
It’s down to the wire now. Last night’s performances will determine which of the three remaining Idol contestants will make it through to the final and ultimately win the entire competition, which, with the elimination of Hollie Cavanagh last week, is anyone’s game at this point. The contestants each sang…
Ryan Seacrest and Fox plugged last night’s Idol results show as another surprising one. “We’ve had a few surprises at this stage in the game,” Seacrest said during the show. Well, he, and a slew of promotional clips, misled us — the only surprise last night was that there were…
Carrie Underwood debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart this week with her fourth album, Blown Away, selling 267,000 copies. Underwood’s latest trails only Madonna’s MDNA, which sold 358,000, as the biggest-selling debut of 2012. Another noteworthy feat for Underwood this week: She follows in the footsteps…
It’s down to the wire on American Idol now. On last night’s show, each of the four remaining contestants brought out everything they had to be considered for the final three. No longer are any of the contestants resting on their laurels, except Phillip Phillips who stuck with his tried-and-true…
Flashbulb Fires (due this Saturday, May 12, at the hi-dive, with Princess Music and Shirley) has endured some changes and been rather active in the past year. Now a trio — the act parted ways with its bassist last summer and opted not to replace him — the act split…
James Morrison (due tomorrow night at the Fox Theatre) first started performing at open mike nights in England before he hit it big as a singer-songwriter with a crossover appeal between pop, rock and R&B music. Two of his songs, “Broken Strings” and a cover of “Man In The Mirror,”…
Well, that was a surprise. Fresh off having one of the best weeks yet, America voted to send Skylar Laine home last night. Laine, easily the most feisty of contestants that remained on Idol this far into the competition, had a stronger performance than her friend Hollie Cavanagh, who joined…
Last night’s episode of Idol saw the top five performing ’60s hits and Brit pop. For some, it was a swing and a miss; for others — hot damn! Hollie Cavanagh had an energy on last night’s show that leads the pack this week. She’s no Tina Turner , but…
It’s like Rihanna has to prove something. We know she can do serious, and sexy, and frightening, and strong, and addicted. But now, in one of her less controversial music videos post-Chris Brown, she really wants to remind us that she can dance. And Rihanna can dance if she wants…
Music sales were slow last week. Jack White’s debut solo album, Blunderbuss took the top spot with 138,000 copies sold — that’s less than half of what Madonna ‘s new one, MDNA , shifted its first week on the chart this time last month: 359,000 (although sales subsequently plummeted the…
See Also: • Nicki Minaj’s “Beez in the Trap” video plays into stereotypes and fails to entertain • Nicki Minaj’s “Stupid Hoe” video takes aim at Gaga and other fellow pop stars • Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, is a Minaj-à-trois of pop, dance and hip-hop After months of waiting, Nicki…
Following a strong showing on Wednesday night by almost all of the Top 6, Elise Testone, one of the best of the Queen-covering bunch, was sent home during last night’s results show. She was joined by Skylar Laine and Hollie Cavanagh, only the latter of whom belonged there. Nevertheless, someone…
We expected a lot from the collaboration between Ke$ha and The Flaming Lips — something rocky, guitar-heavy and feisty, Ke$ha bringing the personality and The Flaming Lips bringing an unmatched quirkiness. What we got, however, was the first decidedly brilliant collaboration Ke$ha has ever done. Even 3Oh!3 must realize this…
See Also: • Madonna’s MDNA falls harder than Lady Gaga’s Born This Way did • Madonna’s MDNA outsells Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee (what year is this again?) Madonna and Lionel Richie — who would have thought that after four weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart, only Richie would remain in…
This time last year, the most contagious pop trend was working with Pitbull, and what a bandwagon trend that was. As much as we’re glad the Pitbull days are over, we’re not too hot for this new thing, either. And this new thing, somewhat strangely, is serving as a judge…
And just like that, America got it wrong. On last night’s results round of American Idol, one of the stronger, consistent contenders, Colton Dixon, was eliminated after two solid performances on Wednesday night. Apparently, fans didn’t like his take on Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” or Earth Wind & Fire’s “September”…
The folks over at Yahoo! Studios have delivered an epically messy music video for “We Are Young.” The parody isn’t quite as funny if you can’t relate to the plight of these almost-middle-aged men and women, but as far as “We Are Young” YouTube covers go, this one is easily…
Last night’s episode of American Idol saw the Top 7 tackle a new set of songs — one produced between now and the turn of the century and one school classic. Some performances worked, some didn’t, but there was certainly a lot of Lady Gaga and Alicia Keys for one…
