Your Billboard Awards Wrap Up

Last night, ABC aired the resurrected Billboard Music Awards honoring the best in sales and airplay in the recording industry over the past year. However, they couldn’t resurrect this dull and unnecessary awards show (and that’s coming from someone who loves awards shows!). They might as well have called it the BillBORED awards as the performers were less than exemplary and some were even tragic. (Oh dear Britney!) Plus, all the winners were pretty obvious to anyone who follows the record charts, not to mention they seemed rather dated considering Billboard does a year-end chart and special issue at the end of the calendar year. It just felt like a network attempting to make money and get some ratings by airing yet another show. Unfortunately, it failed on all accounts. The writing was terrible, the skits were boring and poor Ken Jeong (The Hangover, Community) was not funny despite a galiant effort. With that said, take a look at the list of winners below and my grades for the performances. And head to Billboard here for more on the show and the winners.

2011 Billboard Music Award Winners:
Top Album Artist: Taylor Swift

Top New Artist: Justin Bieber

Country Song of the Year: Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now”

Millenium Award: Beyoncé

Top Duo/Group: Black Eyed Peas

Radio Artist of the Year: Rihanna

Hot 100 Song of the Year: Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart”

Digital Artist of the Year: Justin Bieber

Country Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift

Top Touring Artist: U2

Fan Favorite: Justin Bieber

Female Artist of the Year: Rihanna

Icon Award: Neil Diamond

And now let’s Grade the Performances~

Rihanna & Britney Spears- “S&M”- hello, that was awkward lazy and lascivious. At least Rihanna sang live, but this was a huge letdown and when Britney lulled her way onto the stage to lip synch like a mess, the song completely collapsed. Grade: D+

Black Eyed Peas- “Just Can’t Get Enough/I Gotta Feeling“: channelling Tron and boring me to tears, the Peas did their thing but it seemed to lack the fun and energy of other perfs. It doesn’t help that “Just Cant” is a terrible song. And I love how Fergie just picks any ole key for each verse… Grade: C-

Keith Urban- “Without You”: strong vocals, good musicianship, solid performance. Grade: B

Pitbull, NeYo & Nayer- “Give You Everything”: entertaining perf of the current top ten smash. Pitbull class’d it up and NeYo did his best Michael Jackson and they used Vegas dancing girls! Grade: B

Beyonce- “(Girls) Run the World”- Beyonce is a consummate performer and she did her best, but relied too heavily on video graphics that didn’t translate from stage to screen… Grades~ Beyonce: B+, Her Speech: A, The Song: F

Cee Lo Green- “Crazy/Bright Lights Bigger City/Forget You”: easily the best performance of the night. Cee Lo’s vocals were great. His enthusiasm was infectious and that awesome piano defied gravity. Grade: A-

Lady Antebellum- “Just A Kiss”: with lovely vocals, Lance Bass and Carnie Wilson, ahem, the kids of Lady Antebellum I mean, delivered a fine if nondescript version of their current hit. It was nice, that’s all. Grade: B

Taio Cruz- “Dynamite/Break Your Heart”: showing Usher how he should be singing, Brit singer Cruz showcased his smash hits from last year with a good if not great performance. And he needed to pull his pants up! Grade: B

OneRepublic- “Good Life”: wow, Ryan Tedder needs to stick to writing and producing cuz he sings live like Taylor Swift. And by that I mean~ AWFUL. He was screechy, pitchy, flat and all over the place…. at least it was a good song. Grade: C-

Far East Movement w/Snoop Dogg & Ryan Tedder- “Like a G6/Rocketeer”: these rappers were ok, but upstaged by the Dogg and Tedder was terrible again. Grade: C

Mary J. Blige & Lil Wayne- “Someone to Love“: Blige was giving you ’94 with the bangs and one piece suit tonight as she growled through her latest single. Her vocals were decent and Lil Wayne was ok, but by the end of the night, I remembered her pony tail and bangs more than the song. Grade: C+

Ke$ha- “Blow”: powering through her admittedly catchy current hit, Ke$ha gave arguably her best live tv performance to date and she was singing LIVE too. I was sorta impressed. She still has a way to go, but at least she’s on the right track. Grade: B

Nicki Minaj- “Super Bass”: um, what the heck was that? I clearly do not understand Nicki and I didn’t like the song, but I like her. Grade: C+

Britney Spears/Nicki Minaj “Til the World Ends“: a lazy disastrous mess and Britney should be ashamed. She wasn’t even trying with her atrocious lip synching and indifferent attitude. Just appallingly bad. Grade: F

Neil Diamond- Medley: well, it was fun and I’m sure the middle-aged Republicans really dug it. I do have to say he can still entertain a crowd, so good for you Mr. Diamond. But watching at home left a bit to be desired. Grade: B

And here’s the one really memorable perf from last night~ Cee Lo…

My Top 11 American Idol Power Rankings!

It was adios to our Latina lady last night on American Idol as the affable singer with the poor fashion and song choices, Karen Rodriguez, got her walking papers. It wasn’t much of a surprise due to her forgettable perf of Taylor Dayne’s ballad “Love Will Lead You Back”, but it was a little sad because the girl can actually sing…. Anywho, I wish her well on her way and now I count the days til the other lady in the bottom two, Haley Miley Cyrus Reinhart, gets the boot… Hopefully, it will be before Naima who is certainly on shaky ground as the third woman in the bottom 3 (and the three I predicted would be in danger)… Also, on the show last night some guy named Lee Dewyze came back and sang his new song “Beautiful Like You”. Oh yeah, he was the winner from last year. Forgive me for forgetting him and most of last year’s dreadful season… Then, the incredibly irritating Black Eyed Peas assaulted us with a horrendous new song “Just Cant Get Enough” that I had enough of about 10 seconds in. (And this just in from my roommate~ he was like “is that Fergie or LeAnn Rimes singing with the Peas. What happened to her face?” lol) … Overall, it was a pretty uneventful results show, but what makes this post exciting is that it’s time for my new totally unscientific American Idol Top 11 Power Rankings! And away we go…

American Idol Top 11 Power Rankings (season 10)~

1. Pia: my current pic to win the whole shebang delivered her 3rd fantastic vocal in a row and even showed some spunk in her clip package. Plus the touching footage about her Grandpa will keep the older viewers happy. Pia is the total package and she holds on top of the Power List again this week. (last week~ 1)
2. Stefano: the little Italian engine that could keeps climbing up the list all the way to the runner-up spot this week. His Simply Red cover was by far the best on Wednesday and he was fantastic in the group number again tonight. He is the consumate performer and a fantastic singer. (lw~ 4)
3. Scotty: he may be missing baseball season, but I think it’s all worth it for this teen as the country crooner holds steady with another strong song on Wed night. He’s pretty much a lock for the final five. (lw~ 3)
4. Lauren: taking a few steps forward this week our teen country girl was back on track with her Melissa Etheridge tune. She has great pipes and a fun personality. Now, she needs to conquer the flu and her terrible outfit choices. (lw~ 5)
5. James: he may have held back a little on his Bon Jovi track this week, but I enjoyed the tasteful move and he continues to look solid every week. (lw~ 2)
6. Jacob: despite a little bit of a wonky turn on “Alone”, Jacob has the fans and the voice to cruise into the top ten. Plus, he has Jesus on his side! hehe (lw~ 6)
7. Casey: ok, this fun guy took a big chance with his woeful Nirvana cover the other night. However, the audience and judges have mad love for him. I just want him to wow us again and see if he can contend for the upper regions of the power list. (lw~ 7)
8. Thia: clearly somebody out there likes this robotic but cute teen as she has avoided the bottom three despite a couple of lackluster performances. She does have a cool voice, if only she knew what to do with it! (lw~ 9)
9. Paul: yes, he’s cute, funny and incredibly likable with a blinding smile, but holy hell, he was horrible on Wed night. Get it together mister! I don’t know how many “Get out of Jail Free” cards you’re gonna get. (lw~ 10)
10. Naima: after a nice surge up the list last week, our most interesting female singer took a hit after her misguided attempt at covering Tina Turner. At least she is taking the “pitchy” notes the judges are giving her to heart. Let’s see if she can regain some ground next week because she is certainly good tv. (lw~8)
11. Haley: how on Earth is this girl continuing to survive on this show? Everything about her is an affront to artistry, performance and good singing. Blech! (lw~ 12)

Oh, snap, that’s who has “The Power”! … What do you think? Are you favorites still doing well? Are you the ones voting for Miley Cyrus, oops, Haley and keeping her in the competition? Are you still loving the judges like me? Sound off below. And be sure to watch next week when Scotty may take a tumble as the singers attempt “Motown” week! … and here’s one final treat for you… Please enjoy the first actual “LIVE” singing from the Idols on a group number in ages.

The Top 12 “Born to Be Wild/Born This Way”

What a Naughty Top Ten!

With all the news of Lady Gaga grabbing the # 1 spot on the new Hot 100 with a record-breaking debut, I totally forgot to mention the rest of this week’s new top ten… and what a naughty top ten it is! … Take a look at the filthy titled hits ranked # 5-8 below. The “F” word is all over it and then Rihanna is bringin’ us some S&M! I love it! What’s even more exciting, for me at least, is that I really like 8 of the songs. (Yes, I could do without the Black Eyed Peas and Wiz Khalifa~ who?)… Anywho, well done America for enjoying songs I’m currently enjoying too. Now, if Pink can just make it to # 1 next week, I’ll be thrilled. Check out the new top ten below and head to Billboard for more chart news.

New Top Ten Singles
1. “Born This Way”- Lady Gaga (debut)
2. “Firework”- Katy Perry (lw~ 3)
3. “Grenade”- Bruno Mars (lw~ 2)
4. “Black and Yellow”- Wiz Khalifa (lw~ 1)
5. “Fuckin’ Perfect”- Pink (lw~ 4)
6. “Tonight I’m Fucking You”- Enrique Iglesias w/Ludacris (lw~6)
7. “Fuck You”- Cee Lo Green (lw~ 17)
8. “S & M”- Rihanna (lw~ 33)
9. “The Time (Dirty Bit)”- Black Eyed Peas (lw~ 19)
10. “Hold it Against Me”- Britney Spears (lw~ 10)

And here’s a Rihanna’s naughty new video for “S&M” too
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DKdS6HFQ_LUc%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded

Oh, and before I go, I mentioned in my last post that the Glee cast just broke the record for most Hot 100 chart entries with 113 charted songs beating Elvis Presley. Well, they also chart more singles in one week than they’ve ever done before with 9 songs. Here they are below.

Glee songs charting this week~
34. “Firework”- Rachel (Lea Michelle)
38. “Thriller/Heads Will Roll”- The Cast
44. “Bills Bills Bills”- Blaine (Darren Criss) & the Warblers
45. “Silly Love Songs”- Blaine & the Warblers
47. “When I Get You Alone”- Blaine & the Warblers
56. “Fat Bottomed Girls”- Puck (Mark Salling)
58. “P.Y.T.”- Artie (Kevin McHale)
62. “Need You Now”- Rachel & Puck
87. “She’s Not There”- Finn (Cory Monteith) & the Boys