Metallica to do Good October 2, 2008

Metallica’s first album in over five years ‘Death Magnetic’ is projected to do fairly well. The record is actually on track to take the number one spot on the US album charts. According to preliminary estimates, their new album will make it big by having sold 450,000 to 500,000 copies last week even though the album was only on sale for 3 days. Something that might be helping the band is the fact that some stores are bundling the album with Guitar Hero or some Metallica headphones. Ticketmaster is also offering ticket/album deal for buyers. It’s a great deal but I don’t think that it’s enough to put them back in the spotlight.

Kanye on Lockdown October 2, 2008

Kanye West debuted the song ‘Love Lockdown’ at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards and has recently dropped the studio version of the song. The rapper is reportedly releasing another album before the end of the year. I’m not sure if the song is going to be a single or not but it’s going to be interesting to see how radio is going to respond to his song. It’s a great song but it’s an artist’s song – a prestige piece. It’s a risky move but you have to give kudos to Kanye for having balls. He has the whole world listening and this is the message he wants people to listen to.

Britney Spears Birthday CD October 2, 2008

It’s official! Britney Spears will be releasing her sixth studio album ‘Circus’ on her birthday, December 2. Her label Jive/Zomba announced that her first single ‘Womanizer’, which was produced by the up and coming Atlanta production team The Outsyders, will drop on September 22. That’s this Monday! Britney also enlisted the help of established producers and writers for her newest effort including Dr. Luke who wrote and produced the album’s title track, Danja, Max Martin, Bloodshy & Avant and Guy Sigsworth who has previously worked with the likes of Madonna, Alanis Morissette and Bjork. From the list of her producers, her album is shaping up to be a hit.

Kelly Clarkson Rocks Out March 15, 2008

Kelly Clarkson continues to work hard and it seems like it’s paying off. The original American Idol rocked out the Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia last Thursday night. Over the weekend, the 25-year old singer performed at two more locations in Australia, more specifically, the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in Broadmeadow, New South Wales and the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Boondall, Queensland. Opening the show for Kelly in Australia was none other than Mandy Moore who spoke about wanting to perform in Australia for quite some time. After her stint in Australia, Kelly went off to jolly old England for the European leg of her tour.

American Idol at Risk March 15, 2008

One of the most recent American Idol cast-offs, Danny Noriega, has issues. Of course, everyone may be aware of that already after watching his video rants wherein he looks more Goth than sassy. Here’s something to back it up further – Danny attended Sierra High School in Azusa, California, a school dedicated to “at-risk” kids. Students at the school are said to be “significantly behind in credits — and at risk of not graduating — who want a second chance to succeed and achieve a high school diploma.” Danny graduated last year but sources say that he had a tough time especially when he was going through his gothic phase.

Mariah Carey’s New Single February 20, 2008

Mariah Carey’s new single has dropped this week and not just that. The singer has also revealed the name of her new album as well as other new details about its release. Her new album is called “E=MC²”, it will be out in stores on April 15th. The first single off of the album is ‘Touch My Body’ which was written and produced by Mariah, C. ‘Tricky’ Stewart and The Dream. It hit radios on February 12th. A video for the song, which is directed by Brett Ratner, will premiere soon.

Other guest producers on her album include Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, will.i.am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate ‘Danjahandz’ Hills and James Poyser.

Hannah Montana’s Alter Ego January 22, 2008

After rumors of body doubles and fans crying foul, Miley Cyrus and her crew responded. As you know, Miley performs as both herself and her TV personality Hannah Montana. In a fast paced concert, how’s she supposed to do it?

According to her rep, “To help speed the transformation from Hannah to Miley, there is a production element during the performance of ‘We Got the Party’ incorporating a body double for Miley.”

Supposedly the double only hits the stage for a couple of minutes during the song she performs with the Jonas Brothers. This time allows her to remove the Hannah costume, including wig, and reappear as Miley for her solo performances.

The Jonas Brothers Jingle December 28, 2007

The Jonas Brothers have really hit the big time. The musical trio of brothers Kevin, Nick and Joe were seen attending the 2007 Jingle Ball pre-event at The Hammerstein Ballroom on Friday in New York City.

Another mark of their success is that they were recently announced to be performers during ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Even 2008’ along with Carrie Underwood and Miley Cyrus. They will have live performances from Times Square with the show airing on Monday, December 31 on ABC. What a hot way to rock in the New Year – an American Idol and two big names from Disney.

Madonna Gets Leaked December 28, 2007

Madonna’s new album isn’t expected to drop until well into the next year but that isn’t stopping Timbaland from leaking one of the songs that he worked on with the Queen of Pop. The producer played ‘4 Minutes to Save the World’ at the Jingle Ball in Philadelphia on Sunday night. I just hope that he got her permission to do so.

The song also features Justin Timberlake and it’s pretty hot. How could it not be when you’ve got all that great talent working on it? I’m also hoping that the finished version has a lot less of Timbaland though.