The Music 5 & 1 12.19.11: The Don't Hack This Edition
Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 12.19.2011
Shania Twain takes on Taylor Swift in Vs and Katy Perry is named MTV's Artist of the Year but does she deserve it? Plus Rihanna is a big hit on Facebook, Gene Simmons is Hacker Public Enemy #1, Coldplay commissions wristbands from a sex toy maker, Britney Spears is your "& 1" Model of the Week and more!
STUFF I WANT TO TALK ABOUT
Welcome to the Music 5 & 1, my loyal readers! I hope your December is going well. Before we get into the content you all came here to read (and vote on), a very important message from...well, we have no sponsors, so a very important message from me. I've censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet--a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/20273/uncensor
Do you ¦¦¦¦ the ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ the way it is (¦¦¦¦, ¦¦¦¦¦¦ at ¦¦¦¦¦)? Do you ¦¦¦¦ to see ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦, ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦, ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦, ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ and ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦? ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ the ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ Act and the ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ IP Act. ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ and ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦, ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦, ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ the ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦, and ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ for ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ to ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦.
All right, I'm down off my soap box. Let's get to the G&G (Girls & Gossip)!
Good gods, it wasn't even pretending to be close this week. Shania Twain first stopped Roselyn Sanchez in her tracks and this past week she absolutely obliterated Ciara. The pop country star wiped the floor with Ci by a possible record margin of 204 - 39, earning no less than 83% of the vote. That's an impressive win for Shania and she may well go the distance to become the second country-related star in the Hall of Bang after Jewel. Still, lopsided win or not she has two more wins before she can make it into the Hall and this week a new challenger steps up in the next generation of pop-country star, Taylor Swift. Does the old generation win or the new gen? It's up to you to decide!
Shania Twain Vs Ciara
VOTE BELOW!
If there are any future participants that you would like to see in Vs, let me know either in the comments section or by email!
TWITTER BREAK!
Twitter is a powerful thing! Make sure you're following all the comings and goings around 411mania in 140 characters or less.
Being a Music Zone, you would think that we have a lot of people who love to talk about music. You would not be wrong. As such, when an album comes out that we have something to say about, we just can't help ourselves. We call that the Review Section…not the most original name, but it gets the point across! Anyway, the review section is a great place to find new music as we cover all sorts of genres and styles, from mainstream artists to lesser known acts. Here's an overview of our latest reviews.
Lady Gaga - A Very Gaga Holiday EP(6.5) "In just four songs, Gaga aims for numerous things. She wants a home-for-the-holidays feeling, a classic vocal pop record, and a unique rapport with her loyal Little Monsters. It could also feasibly be a Gaga record for people who don't really take heed to her usual style. Or it would be had it not been for her own personal traits and excesses that still manage to permeate the EP (still laughing that she stopped a song to tell a story about cookies). Worth hearing if you like that old style, or if you long to have a taste of Gaga without the beats and craziness. For the most part, though, it's for fans, even if this is all still pretty good music. Here's hoping she tries this style again one day." - Wyatt E.
Rammstein - Made In Germany, 1995-2011(7.5) " To condense such a visceral body of work into an hour and five minutes is awfully tricky, and mistakes are certainly made here - not the least of which is the lack of "Feuer Frei" - but it's a damn good sampler, though. Most of the big moments are here, and thanks to good presentation, it's a captivating experience unto itself. Rumors have swirled for the past few years that Rammstein's breakup could be any time now, and if Made In Germany is the band's swan song, well, a compact, unmerciful attack of huge riffs and thudding drums is certainly a heck of a way to go out in style (even if, as a fan, I'm hoping otherwise)." - Wyatt E.
T-Pain - rEVOLVEr(6.5) "All in all the album is a typical T-Pain album. Nothing has evolved, with his auto-tune being replaced with the T-Pain effect, which sounds identical to auto tune. T-Pain limited the guests, but the best songs on the album have him sharing the mic giving you a very mixed album. You know what you are going to get with T-Pain. Some will love him, some will hate him, some will put up with him, but it is safe to say there is more than enough quality on here to ensure that AutoTune is indeed not dead." - Bill Wannop
Evolver - Evolver(7.5) "Mike Smith has spent a long time being a guitarist for other projects, and Evolver is his opportunity to stake his own claim as a singer/songwriter. The hard rock/alt-metal sound is not too surprising considering Smith's background, but the abundance of melody built within the songs may surprise a few. Acoustic guitars are prevalent, especially on the second half, and really bode well for the material present. It's a grower, but Evolver's self-titled debut has enough memorable songs to be worth a purchase." - Dan Marsicano
Korn - The Path Of Totality(4.5) "It's a neat little trick Korn have attempted, and for a while it's certainly a fun diversion, but in the end, The Path Of Totality is just the same Korn we've been stuck with for the past decade: going to great lengths to redefine themselves, or at least grab our attention, and inevitably coming up short. You're not surprised, are you?" - Wyatt E.
MUSIC VIDEO A-GO-GO
This week we continue with our holiday-themed humor videos. While last week saw Santa Claus get his own heavy metal theme, this week we move to the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. And who better to sing about Hanukkah than the man himself, Adam Sandler? No one, that's who.
CRAZY GALLAGHER QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I'm a fucking brilliant husband! I'd love to be married to me. I'm great. I'm easy going. I'm pretty well off. I don't do boys' things. I only just got a computer last Christmas. My biggest vice is watching football. I've been with Sarah for 11 years, there isn't a male/female divide in my house. It's just us, you know what I mean? I wouldn't consider myself laddish."
- Noel explains why he's such a good husband, which one would assume does not require humility in his eyes.
BUBBLING UNDER You know what time it is, folks...these are the stories that I found worth touching on but didn't quite make the Top Five and thus become little bites of snark as opposed to a full course of it.
The Super Bowl Was Almost Madonna-Free
You just know that someone's spitting nails over this. Ever since Madonna was announced as being the Halftime Show performer at this year's Super Bowl, some outspoken people have been throwing their voice of disdain out there. But it almost wasn't to be. The pop icon recently said that she nearly turned it down, being so busy with her film W.E. that she didn't think she could do both. "I was really torn about doing Super Bowl because I thought, 'Oh God, how can I do that and promote my film at the same time. It's a little bit much,'" she said. "But my manager talked me into it and I'm still punishing him for that." Listen people, I know that Madge isn't exactly anyone's first choice of a Super Bowl act, but don't send that manager any death threats yet and consider that outside of Madonna, the last two big-name acts that have played well-publicized halftime shows were The Black-Eyed Peas and Nickelback. Don't you think that this year's Super Bowl got off easy in comparison?
The BEP show would have been better if Fergie had been dressed like this.
Breaking News: Snoop Dogg Smokes Pot
Stop the presses! We have breaking, SHOCKING news for you, ladies and gentlemen. Try to brace yourselves for it...are you ready? Okay. Apparently, Snoop Dogg has smoked a joint. Everyone's favorite canine-named rapper who isn't Bow Wow is facing a lawsuit over smoking marijuana in Lebanon in 2009. Concert promoter Roger Kalaouz had Snoop at a concert in Beirut that year and claims that Snoop smoked out in the middle of an after-party, then featured footage of it in his music video "That's Tha Homie". Kalaouz says that after Lebanese authorities found out, they investigated Kalaouz' organization, damaging his reputation. He wants $280,000 in damages and Snoop's commitment to do two Middle Eastern concerts. Now really, you can't tell me a concert promoter didn't know that Snoop partook of the magical weed from time to time. I have to say that's the most creative way I've heard to book someone for a concert. Anyone else see an infinite loop here? With Snoop's pot habit, he could end up getting forced concerts piling up until he has to buy a summer home with all the luxuries a war zone can accommodate.
Snoop smokes out? The hell you say!
Foo Fighters Create an Act of God
Apparently the Foo Fighters have figure out how to surpass Spinal Tap and can make their amps go to 12. The band was performing a concert in New Zealand this last week when volcanic tremor-like ground vibrations emanated from the arena. The tremors in the ground were felt by no less than two seismic stations and according to a scientist from Auckland GeoNet, it had to do with the fans getting their groove on. "The cause of the shaking is most likely the weight of the 50,000 fans dancing, as 50,000 fans is equal to around 5,000 tonnes of mass moving (or moshing) on the ground for the duration of the concert," said the scientist. "This set up a nice harmonic vibration in the ground which was recorded in our nearby borehole seismometers." You know, it's all well and good that Dave Grohl and company are able to get their fans that excited, but you just know this is going to backlash on them when Courtney Love sues them claiming that she owns the rights causing the ground to split open and the depths of Hell to run amok when she hits the stage.
"Kurt gave the right to be God to me! Look at this will
Written in crayon if you don't believe me!"
50 Cent Wants a Peek At Lindsay Lohan's Lady Parts
If there's one thing you can count on with 50 Cent, it's that he'll always be a class act. Don't worry, the Sarcasmatron held out there, albeit barely. Fiddy recently told Hollywood Scoop during the American Giving Awards that he would love to check out Lindsay Lohan's Playboy spread because he wants to know if the curtains match the drapes. "I haven't seen it," he said in regard to the shoot. "But I always wondered what Lindsay's cooch looked like. Ever thought about it? I'll check it out and see what happens." Sadly, Fiddy will be disappointed since apparently Lindsay is not fully-frontal in the shoot, so I suppose he'll have to get a look the old-fashioned way: by being within view when she's getting out of a car.
Would they match? I legitimately don't remember
What her natural hair color is anymore.
Disgusting and Bizarre News of the Week
There was a time when I initially took over this column that I considered adding the "Two Truths and a Lie" section to this to shake things up. The reason I didn't is because I can't possibly make up weirder news than I see on a daily basis. Cast in point: a piece of Michael Jackson's hair is being turned into a roulette ball. An online gambling site has announced that they bought the late Gloved One's hair at auction for $10,871 and plan to make a roulette wheel ball out of it. The hair was collected at New York's Carlyle Hotel, after Jackson stayed there when attending a charity event. "As its proud new owners, we have decided to convert Michael Jackson's hair into a roulette ball – an appropriately unique way to immortalize a small part of a truly peerless entertainer," said the site. "The ball itself will be made to the highest professional standards, ensuring it will be eligible for use at any licensed casino's roulette table. Indeed, considering Jackson dedicated his life to entertaining millions, the prospect of this very special ball captivating crowds at roulette tables seems like a fitting use for it." Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what MJ figured his legacy would be; a clump of hair left in the shower rolling over a slotted spinning wheel for all eternity. Even Ke$ha has to think that's too messed up for words, and she puts beards in her mouth.
Facial hair = good; scalp hair = gross.
It's time to crank this mother up to 11 as we take a look at some random stuff from the last week and one smoking hottie.
*****
Katy Perry is MTV's Artist of the Year
Last week we point out how with the year being almost over, we should get ready for seeing a lot of Year-End lists and awards. Cue MTV...you guys know them. They're the guys who's name used to stand for "Music Television" before they became the network best known for 16 and Pregnant, The Hills and Jersey Shore. Despite no longer really having anything to do with music these days, the network has tried to stay relevant with the Movie Awards and Music Video Awards as if to say "Hey, we don't just do reality stuff!" Of course no one buys it, but good on them for the effort. Their latest attempts to avoid complete irrelevance involves coming out with year-end awards, hoping that people will care. No one does, but it's cute to see them try. And who is their inaugural Artist of the Year? Drum roll please...
Yep, Miss Cotton Candy Cloud Rider Herself.
Congratulations to the one and only Katy Perry. Some people might question the award; after all, technically Katy didn't even release an album this year, she just continued riding along on the success of her 2010 album Teenage Dream. However, MTV noted that very thing, saying "...Perry didn't rest on her laurels. Instead, she set the bar even higher by hitting the road on the California Dreams Tour, where night after night, decked out in candy-colored clothes, she belted out her greatest hits and empowered her fans with tracks like "Firework." They continue by pointing out that she took home MTV's Video of the Year for "Firework," hosted Saturday Night Live, had that whole "Most #1 Singles of an Album" deal and starred as Smurfette in The Smurfs.
Now I'm not one to questions MTV's justifications--okay, that's a lie, I am one to do that. Because that's exactly what I'm going to do here. If you break down each of these things, none of them really hold all that much water in saying that Katy is the musical artist of the year. Okay, so she had a tour...good for her. Notice that MTV doesn't talk about how it was the most successful tour of the year, or the biggest or any of that. That's because they don't want to turn their spin-doctoring into flat-out subterfuge. Tons of people have had bigger tours than Katy. Fellow sex symbols like Britney Spears and Rihanna who both had highly successful world tours that likely eclipsed Katy's. As for winning Video of the Year, I don't think you can use that as an objective criterion when it was an award that you guys gave her, MTV. That about a single shade of credibility above Katy being given a fake "Greatest Musician Ever" award by her record label, which it then uses in promotional materials for her new single.
"Wait, are you saying that's not allowed?"
Speaking of her new single and her ubiquitous attempt to become the sole holder of that "Most #1 Singles Off a Single Album" nonsense, that's more a feat of promotion than it is anything else. I'm not saying that "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" or "The One That Got Away" are terrible songs per se, but after her the former of those started getting close to #1, Capitol started busting out every tactic, legit or not, that it could think of in order to get Miss Perry to steal that record away from Michael Jackson. Particularly in the last couple weeks, where "The One That Got Away" has been discounted in the iTunes store and now B.o.B. is getting remixed into a new version, which is the same tactic that Capitol used to push "Last Friday Night" to the #1 spot. Listen, if you have to rely on marketing trickery to get a record, it's not really your record. As for the other accomplishments, anyone who actually saw her Saturday Night Live skit probably downgraded her chances on being Artist of the Year, not upgraded. And her voice work in The Smurfs was about as memorable as Avril Lavigne's in Over the Hedge.
Now, I need to point out that I have nothing against Katy Perry. I think that all accounts show her as a very nice person who makes solid if somewhat bland and contrived pop music. In 2010, I don't think many people would have argued against her being Artist of the Year, but 2011 belonged to several people besides her. Adele is the most obvious that comes to mind, having broken through the public consciousness and getting the biggest album and singles of the year. But I know, Adele isn't a major-league sex symbol so she gets the "Song of the Year" consolation prize. Yeah, keep digging herself into that hole, MTV. I'm sure at some point you'll get so deep that you can come out the other side and be considered somewhat respectable again.
Maybe they were trying to fill their diversity quota by giving the award to an extra-terrestrial.
Facebook Likes Rihanna
To her credit, she did legitimately earn this one instead of having MTV give it to her as a marketing tool. Rihanna followed up her win last week as Esquire's Sexiest Woman of the Year by being named the most "Liked" musician on Facebook in 2011. A Facebook app called Facebook Memology tracks such things and lists Miss Talk That Talk as fastest growing page on the social network in the past year. Rihanna placed ahead of Bob Marley, Avril Lavigne, David Guetta and Enrique Iglesias, who round out the top five. Rihanna also had the most-listened to song on the social networking site as "We Found Love" topped "Last Friday Night," LMFAO's "Sexy And I Know It," Guetta's "Titanium" and Skrillex's "First of the Year" for that particular honor.
"I have lots of friends. Wanna guess why?"
With all kidding aside, let's give Rihanna her due respect on this one. We can joke about Facebook all we want (trust me; I do) but there's a reason that Billboard started their Social 50 chart over the last year and that's because social media has become a powerful indicator of someone's popularity. One only need look at Justin Bieber to see how sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have become important in the current entertainment scene, and Lady Gaga's billion YouTube views certainly count for something as well.
Now, I'm not saying that this qualifies her for the greatest musical act of 2011 or anything. Ultimately that criteria still falls to those silly things like record sales, airplay and fan and critical reception, pretty much all of which Rihanna did well but not to the point i would consider her to be in contention for that kind of label. If we as 411 readers and writers known anything, it's that as much as people might want to put stock in how many Twitter followers someone has or how much they're trending it doesn't much matter until it translates into success in more weighted venues. The rise of social media can't be discounted when determining how an artist can capitalize on it but it only creates opportunity; that opportunity has to be seized upon and capitalized because having 47,923,000 Facebook friends doesn't mean a thing if none of them are buying anything. Still, it is an indicator of popularity and kudos to Miss "Umbrella" for taking this particular top spot.
Coming Soon: Facebook Friends With Benefits. Hey, a guy can dream, right?
Gene Simmons: Hacker Public Enemy #1
You can't say he didn't kind of open himself up for this one. The one and only Gene Simmons of KISS has apparently become the top target of hackers due to his outspoken views on internet piracy. Simmons has been an outspoken critic against internet piracy, to the point that he told a convention in October of 2010 that artists should sue anyone and everyone who participates in file sharing. "Make sure your brand is protected," Simmons told the convention. "Make sure there are no incursions. Be litigious. Sue everybody. Take their homes, their cars. Don't let anybody cross that line."
Strong words, to be sure, though there are many who would not disagree with him. As it turns out though, there are some that do and quite strongly. Soon after that his websites were taken down by hackers, one of whom is believed to be part of the Hacktivist group Anonymous and there is reason to believe that the intrusions were due to his comments. Senior technology consultant Graham Cluley told NME this week that the attacks on artists such as Simmons, Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse have increased due to of a rise in politically-motivated hacking groups. "We have seen a rise in the last year of 'hacktivism', hacking groups like Anonymous and Lulzsec who hack for political reasons or because they have an issue with somebody," said Cluley. "Sometimes entertainment figures have suffered as a result because people find it entertaining. In Gene Simmons' case he was quite outspoken regarding peer to peer file sharing and people who pirated music and that obviously angered a lot of people who are part of that community."
Who would have thought that this guy
Would become a symbol of the establishment?
Now, we'll start with an important caveat: file sharing of copyrighted is obviously a crime and anyone who does so should not be surprised if they end up facing jail time or lawsuits as a result. Under no circumstances do I or 411mania endorse or support the illegal downloading of an artist's work. Neither do we endorse or support illegal hacking of someone's website or any other computer crimes. That being said--and this doesn't invalidate any of that--what Simmons, Lars Ulrich and other outspoken advocates against file sharing are doing is the equivalent of walking down a dark alley at night in the bad part of town after seven too many beers. I'm not saying that they're wrong for speaking their mind, but they are sort of unnecessarily sticking their heads up into the line of fire. The RIAA and MPAA are already doing tons in order to combat internet piracy and they don't need the help of guys like Simmons to do their job. More to the point, when artists come out spouting the kinds of things that Simmons does, they risk associating themselves with the nastier elements of the anti-piracy movement...the people who are trying to get this like SOPA enacted that will hurt the internet and have galvanized non-pirates into action. That's like stepping on a land mine right there.
I know that there are people who consider what Simmons is doing brave, because he's risking his fanbase to stand up for what he believes is right. And in truth, I applaud him for that. But as we've discussed before there are smart ways to invoke your First Amendment rights and there are stupid ways to do it. Artists like Lil Wayne, Drake and Beyonce have acted fairly wisely in terms of internet piracy; they express their disappointment and ask fans to buy the record despite the leaks, and you know what happens? All three have records in 2011 that, despite leaking, were very successful. More to the point, they are clearly coming out against the idea of piracy but in a way that doesn't try to demonize every kid who downloaded a single track of The Pirate Bay and demand that others stand up to take his mom's house away. Simmons frankly comes off as a bit ignorant as to the specifics on file sharing, speaking his thoughts without being fully informed. Many people who do file share end up buying the albums anyway--not exactly a justification for their activity, but it doesn't mean the artists are really losing something. The fact is that internet piracy will not go away by virtue of lawsuits and if Simmons thinks that they will, he's got another thing coming.
Then again, he might be too busy with Shannon Tweed to really read up on all this.
Coldplay Think X-Factor Is Bad But XXX Wristbands Are Good
Okay, it's not an entirely true headline but it's a good one. Everyone's favorite sleep-inducing rock band Coldplay were reportedly warned against doing The X-Factor UK by their management team. According to one of their roadies who posts a regular blog on the band's website, before Chris Martin and company accepted the gig there was a lot of discussion, with a fair amount being arguments against the idea. "I remember first hearing that it was a possibility," says Roadie42. "'Man, you're handing haters some pretty huge bullets there,' was my first thought. The downsides are obvious. It now becomes effortless for the cool kids to lay out their case against the band. For some, The X Factor is the devil. It is regularly painted as the source of all evil in the current music industry. Indeed, as an angry young man back in my own student days, I'd have ranted at length against it...The TV audience is much larger and indeed is not at all Coldplay's crowd - many would be watching hoping to be able to hate them."
Obviously the band ended up doing it, and it seems to have gone over well. And to be honest, I don't know what Roadie42 and the band's management team were so worried about. Are they so blind to the internet that they don't realize Coldplay already has its share of haters? I personally don't mind them at all and I enjoyed portions of Mylo Xyloto, but the band didn't earn that title of "Most Sleep-Inducing Band" by way of good-natured affection. My point is, people who want to hate Coldplay are going to hate them. There's no getting around that and whether the band performs on one of Simon Cowell's three thousand singing competition shows or not isn't going to change that. People wouldn't have tuned in to the band and thought "Oh hey, I liked them before but screw them after this." People are savvy enough to either accept them for who they are and know that an X-Factor performance is just smart marketing, or to hate them whether they kill it on the show. The odds of fan attrition are low but the chances of gaining fans are not terrible (there are some people who don't know the band), making it a gambit well-worth playing out.
Coldplay pics are boring, so enjoy Larissa Riquelme instead.
There may have been some debate about the band's X-Factor performance, but apparently one thing that no one was opposed to were concert gifts for their fans that were made by a sex toy inventor. Martin recently revealed that the band's trademarked Xylobands--wrist bands that light up with different colors that they hand out at their concerts--were made by Jason Regler. Regler has created vibrators that work with mobile phones for his company RB Concepts and according to Martin it was Regler who came to the band with the idea, which they loved.
"There's a guy called Jason who likes Coldplay," Martin told XFM radio show Smart On Sunday. "He used to make mobile phone vibrating sex toys. Basically, he's an inventor. I think he came to Glastonbury this summer and he had an idea while we were playing to make these glowband things. He contacted us and said, 'What do you think?' And we said, 'It sounds like the best idea ever'… and now we have them for every person who has a ticket."
I'm sure that there's someone out there who is decrying Coldplay for employing a maker of vibrator for wristbands that are worn by teens. I'm sure that person is righteously indignant and may even organize an internet petition to boycott the band. Hell, they might even get twelve whole signatures. Personally, I say good on them if they found a guy who was able to create something they could offer to their fans as a memento. Xylobands don't vibrate and I can't think of any legitimate way they could be used to "corrupt" people, with the possible exception of corrupting them into being Coldplay fans. Love Coldplay or hate them, you have to appreciate that they care about their fans and do their best to cultivate loyalty in said fans. That, at the very least, deserves some respect.
Damn it, that's two in one issue. Anyway, how many people have we been told that Gaga is "fixated on" at this point? I find it difficult to believe that one person can have this many fixations. Maybe I'm wrong; maybe Gaga is actually Sybil and each of her ninety-seven personalities has a different fixation. ...actually, now that I think of it, Gaga having ninety-seven personalities would explain a hell of a lot about her fashion sense. But anyway, this sounds very blown out of proportion to me. I don't doubt that Gaga worries about death by paparazzi; it's a legitimate concern considering how much they love following her around. I won't argue that she brings it on herself, but still there's a difference between courting media attention and asking to die in a fiery wreck while the cameras flash. I think this is probably just a vague comment she made to a friend that got blown hideously out of proportion. I could be wrong; she's certainly arrogant enough for me to believe this possible, but in this case I doubt it.
I hear "Sex Toy" and Kylie Minogue comes to mind. Strange but true.
New Music Monday
This is the home of some of the best new music that will soon be available, where you get to hear the hottest new tracks and find out about forthcoming albums and videos as well.
Adam Lambert has released his new single from his upcoming album. Check it out below, titled "Better Than I Know Myself":
A new track from the one and only Ashanti has hit the net. Here it is, "The Woman You Love" featuring Busta Rhymes:
Now it's time for the reason you're here, the ‘&1 Model of the Week'.
This week's Model of the Week has a lot to celebrate as she's freshly engaged to her longtime boyfriend Justin Trawick. We make a lot of jokes at her expense but few can deny her hotness...ladies and gentlemen, congratulate and say hello to your "& 1" Model of the Week, Miss Britney Spears!
NOW THAT I'M DONE…
You can go and read some more greatness on 411.
Let's start by giving a shout-out to the rest of the 5&1 Illuminati! There's Steve Gustafson, who brings you the hottest in movie tidbits and girls with the original Hollywood 5 & 1; Greg DeMarco, who brings you the hottest chicks who could kick my ass in the Wrestling 5 & 1 and now Stewart Lange, who has brought the 5&1 to the Octagon with the MMA 5 & 1! The 5 & 1 Illuminati is expanding and growing ever stronger; world domination isn't far behind!
When you are done checking out how the other zones roll, go read all the goodness in the rest of the Music Zone.
Make sure to click the Facebook and Twitter "Like" links, as well as the new Google +1 option, and support 411mania, your home for the best in pop culture entertainment news.
And that's all, folks! I'm out...have a good Monday and come back for more 411 tomorrow!
"In just four songs, Gaga aims for numerous things. She wants a home-for-the-holidays feeling, a classic vocal pop record, and a unique rapport with her loyal Little Monsters. It could also feasibly be a Gaga record for people who don't really take heed to her usual style. Or it would be had it not been for her own personal traits and excesses that still manage to permeate the EP (still laughing that she stopped a song to tell a story about cookies). Worth hearing if you like that old style, or if you long to have a taste of Gaga without the beats and craziness. For the most part, though, it's for fans, even if this is all still pretty good music. Here's hoping she tries this style again one day." - Wyatt E.
" To condense such a visceral body of work into an hour and five minutes is awfully tricky, and mistakes are certainly made here - not the least of which is the lack of "Feuer Frei" - but it's a damn good sampler, though. Most of the big moments are here, and thanks to good presentation, it's a captivating experience unto itself. Rumors have swirled for the past few years that Rammstein's breakup could be any time now, and if Made In Germany is the band's swan song, well, a compact, unmerciful attack of huge riffs and thudding drums is certainly a heck of a way to go out in style (even if, as a fan, I'm hoping otherwise)." - Wyatt E.
"All in all the album is a typical T-Pain album. Nothing has evolved, with his auto-tune being replaced with the T-Pain effect, which sounds identical to auto tune. T-Pain limited the guests, but the best songs on the album have him sharing the mic giving you a very mixed album. You know what you are going to get with T-Pain. Some will love him, some will hate him, some will put up with him, but it is safe to say there is more than enough quality on here to ensure that AutoTune is indeed not dead." - Bill Wannop
"Mike Smith has spent a long time being a guitarist for other projects, and Evolver is his opportunity to stake his own claim as a singer/songwriter. The hard rock/alt-metal sound is not too surprising considering Smith's background, but the abundance of melody built within the songs may surprise a few. Acoustic guitars are prevalent, especially on the second half, and really bode well for the material present. It's a grower, but Evolver's self-titled debut has enough memorable songs to be worth a purchase." - Dan Marsicano
"It's a neat little trick Korn have attempted, and for a while it's certainly a fun diversion, but in the end, The Path Of Totality is just the same Korn we've been stuck with for the past decade: going to great lengths to redefine themselves, or at least grab our attention, and inevitably coming up short. You're not surprised, are you?" - Wyatt E.
