Alt rockers Vampire Weekend take a bite out of the competition on the Billboard Charts this week as they debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with Modern Vampires of the City. It’s the group’s second chart topper and they hold off strong debuts from George Strait and Demi Lovato. Last week’s chart topper, Golden by Lady Antebellum, drops down to # 5. For more on the album charts, head to Billboard here and take a look at the new top ten below.
Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Modern Vampires of the City- Vampire Weekend (debut)
2. Love is Everything- George Strait (debut)
3. Demi- Demi Lovato (début)
4. The Great Gatsby- soundtrack (last week~ 2)
5. Golden- Lady Antebellum (lw~ 1)
6. Now 46- Various Artists (lw~ 3)
7. The 20/20 Experience- Justin Timberlake (lw~ 6)
8. To Be Loved- Michael Buble (lw~ 4)
9. Annie Up- Pistol Annies (lw~ 5)
10. Based on a True Story- Blake Shelton (lw~ 9)
Over on the Hot 100 Singles Chart, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis make it 3 weeks on top with “Can’t Hold Us” which holds off P!nk’s former chart topper “Just Give Me a Reason” yet again. In fact, the whole top five is at a standstill and the only new entry in the top ten belongs to Daft Punk. The dance music icons nab their first top ten hit in their career with their awesome song “Get Lucky” featuring Pharrell Williams which charges up from #15 to #10… For more on all the singles charts, head to Billboard and check out the new top ten below.
Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “Can’t Hold Us”- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (lw~ 1)
2. “Just Give Me a Reason”- P!nk w. Nate Reuss (lw~ 2)
3. “Mirrors”- Justin Timberlake (lw~ 3)
4. “When I Was Your Man”- Bruno Mars (lw~ 4)
5. “Stay”- Rihanna w/ Mikky Ekko (lw~ 5)
6. “Cruise”- Florida Georgia Line w/Nelly (lw~ 7)
7. “Come & Get It”- Selena Gomez (lw~ 6)
8. “Radioactive”- Imagine Dragons (lw~8)
9. “I Love It”- Icona Pop (lw~ 9)
10. “Get Lucky”- Daft Punk w/Pharrell Williams (lw~ 15)
And here’s Daft Punk’s first top ten. Enjoy “Get Lucky”!
County superstars Lady Antebellum land their 3rd #1 album on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart with their latest, Golden, this week selling 167.000 units. They also top the country charts for a third time. The Grammy winning group hold off a stronger than expected debut from the awesome soundtrack to the fantastic film The Great Gatsbywhich comes barreling in at # 2 with 137,000 copies sold. Also debuting the top ten are another compilation in the Now That’s MusicSeries at # 3, Pistol Annies at # 5 and Rod Stewart at # 7. Take a look at the new list below and head to Billboard here for more on this chart.
Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Golden- Lady Antebellum (debut)
2. The Great Gatsby soundtrack (debut)
3. Now 46- Various Artists (debut)
4. To Be Loved- Michael Buble (lw~ 2)
5. Annie Up- Pistol Annies (debut)
6. The 20/20 Experience- Justin Timberlake (lw~ 3)
7. Time- Rod Stewart (debut)
8. Life on a Rock- Kenny Chesney (lw~ 1)
9. Based On a True Story…- Blake Shelton (lw~ 6)
10. Unorthodox Jukebox- Bruno Mars (lw~8)
Over on the Hot 100, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis makes it two weeks on top for their second consecutive # 1 single, “Cant Hold Us”. They hold off P!nk and Justin Timberlake again while Selena Gomez makes a splash leaping from # 14 to #6 with “Come and Get It”, her first Hot 100 top ten single. Take a look at the new top ten below and head to Billboard for all the Singles Charts.
Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “Can’t Hold Us”- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (last week~ 1)
2. “Just Give Me a Reason”- P!nk w/Nate Reuss (lw~ 2)
3. “Mirrors”- Justin Timberlake (lw~ 3)
4. “When I Was Your Man”- Bruno Mars (lw~ 5)
5. “Stay”- Rihanna w/Mikky Ekko (lw~ 4)
6. “Come & Get It”- Selena Gomez (lw~ 14)
7. “Thrift Shop”-Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (lw~ 6)
8. “Radioactive”- Imagine Dragons (lw~8)
9. “I Love It”- Icona Pop (lw~ 7)
10. “Cruise”- Florida Georgia Line w/Nelly (lw~ 9)
And here’s Selena Gomez’s first top ten hit, “Come & Get It”. Enjoy.
Teen sensation Justin Bieber may have been the big winner at last night’s American Music Awards taking home 3 trophies, but the true victor from the show was P!nk with an astounding performance of her new single “Try”. In fact, pretty much everything from the show was a bit forgettable when compared with P!nk’s gorgeous moving and intense performance. With that said, take a look at my rankings of all the performances below. And can we please stop with all the lip synching? It was an atrocious lip synched mess for like 70% of the “singers” last night! .. As for the winners, a rather annoying Bieber took home Artist of the Year, Male Artist and Pop Album and he really needs to learn how to make an acceptance speech and get a sense of humor. A sense of humor would also help Taylor Swift, a winner for Country female, whose fake humility and incredibly irritating persona is grating on mine and a lot of other people’s nerves (and don’t get me started on that horrible performance)… Other big winners included Nicki Minaj with two awards and one apiece for Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Adele, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Usher, Beyonce and Best New Artist Carly Rae Jepsen… For more on my take on the show and the winners, check out my twitter feed from last night here. (Yes, I live twatted the whole show!)…. And take a gander at all the winners below.
2012 American Music Award Winners:
Artist of the year: Justin Bieber
New artist of the year: Carly Rae Jepsen
Pop/rock female artist: Katy Perry
Pop/rock male artist: Justin Bieber
Pop/rock band, duo or group: Maroon 5
Pop/rock album: Justin Bieber, Believe
Country female artist: Taylor Swift
Country male artist: Luke Bryan
Country band, duo or group: Lady Antebellum
Country album: Carrie Underwood, Blown Away
Rap/hip-hop artist: Nicki Minaj
Rap/hip-hop album: Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Soul/R&B female artist: Beyonce
Soul/R&B male artist: Usher
Soul/R&B album: Rihanna, Talk That Talk
Alternative rock artist: Linkin Park
Adult contemporary artist: Adele
Latin artist: Shakira
Contemporary inspirational artist: tobyMac
Electronic dance music artist: David Guetta
Ranking the AMA Performances~
1. P!nk “Try”: this performance was simply stunning as P!nk married lyrical contemporary choreography and gorgeous emotional vocals to perfection in a duo with dancer Colt Prattes. It really defies words. Take a look below. Amazing. Grade: A+ 2. Kelly Clarkson “Miss Independent/Since U Been Gone/Stronger/Catch My Breath”: with arguably the best vocal of the night, Clarkson paid homage to her American Idol roots and gave a flawless and fantastically fun performance. Now, that is how you sing LIVE people! Grade: A 3. Stevie Wonder “Dick Clark Tribute”: there’s a reason he’s a legend people and he proved it again… and he werrrrrked some serious purple to boot! Grade: A- 4. Linkin Park “Burn It Down”: giving you early 2000′s realness and a rocking good time, Linkin Park brought intense energy and precision to their industrial rap rock fusion hit. Grade: A- 5. No Doubt “Looking Hot”: they’ve still go it! Gwen is definitely still hot. Adrian is still crazy and Tony still looks stoned. Grade: B+ 6. Carrie Underwood “Two Black Cadillacs”: despite a little pitchy start, Underwood nailed the rest of her delightfully dark and dramatic single. Grade: B+ 7. Psy with Hammer “Gangnam Style/2 Legit 2 Quit”: there is no escaping the Korean Macarena and you know you loved it when Hammer showed up for a mashup of these dance hits… However, billing Hammer as an “international superstar” was a big much AMA’s… It’s not 1991. I’m just saying…. Grade: B 8. Justin Bieber “As Long As You Love Me”: I don’t know about you but I was shocked at how good and surprisingly authentic this acoustic performance was. It was easily the best thing I’ve ever seen him do. Grade: B 9. The Wanted “I Found You”: the hotter British boy band (sorry One Direction) actually sang live for most of the song and I’m kinda sucker for their rocking Ibiza dance party vibe. Grade: B 10. Christina Aguilera “Lotus/Army of Me/Let There Be Love”: Ok, the lip synched “Lotus” beginning was bad, but the let your freak fly positivity message was great. Plus she can wail like no other. It was just a bit of too much overall though. Grade: B- 11. Pitbull “Don’t Stop the Party: Ptibull is a fantastic performer and this generic but incredibly infectious song got everyone on their feet. However, did you really need to lip synch too Pit? Um, you’re rapping! Automatic point deduction. Grade: C+ 12. Usher “Numb/Cant Stop Wont Stop/Medley”: it was a half sung/half lip synched vogueing laser show with a treadmill! He literally threw in everything but the kitchen sink. Grade: C+ 13. Ke$ha “Die Young”: It was Game of Thrones meets Day of the Dead with a touch of Stomp at a gay circuit party. Oh, and another lip synched, but it was fun. Grade: C 14. Carly Rae Jepsen “This Kiss/Call Me Maybe”: it was fun but forgetful and this girl really needs to learn how to lip synch for her life. Grade: C- 15. Justin Bieber w/Nicki Minaj “Beauty and a Beat”: it was a second-rate wannabe NSYNC number, that was lip synced to boot. And Bieber looked rather tired. He is no JT people! Grade: C- 16. Nicki Minaj “Freedom”: here’s something I never thought I’d say about a Nicki Minaj performance~ that was BORING. Seriously boring and lip synched to boot. I had more fun staring at her Staypuff Marshmellow man meets Mariah Carey Christmas costume outfit. Grade: D+ 17. Taylor Swift “I Knew You Were Trouble”: this was atrocious! It was a lip synched crapfest that stole from everyone including Madonna (“Vogue” at the VMAs), the Backstreet Boys (the “Everybody” video), Annie Lennox (the “Walking on Broken Glass” video) not to mention Gaga and Rihanna and more. Just belch. And Taylor would you please admit you’re not a country artist for once? That song is total pop meets dub step. Grade: D- 18. Swiss Beatz/douchebag Chris Brown/Ludacris performance: in a word, AWFUL. Grade: F
To end on a positive note, here are my two favorite performances. Enjoy the astounding P!nk and the fabulous Kelly Clarkson.
Country pop superstar Taylor Swift destroyed the competition with her brand new album, Red, as it debuted atop the Billboard 200 Albums chart with a giant 1.2 million copies sold. That’s by far the biggest debut of 2012. It’s also the biggest sales week since 2002 when Eminem‘s The Eminem Show sold 1.3 million and it gives Swift a record as the only female to have two albums to sell over 1 million copies in one week. (Her last set Speak Now also debuted to over a million). While she was shut out at the CMA’s last night, Swift can rejoice in the fact that she will probably reside atop the album charts for a few weeks to come. Debuting in a distant second was Kendrick Lamar while Tony Bennet, Gary Clark Jr., Stone Sour and Lady Antebellum also begin in the top ten. Take a look at the new list below and head to Billboard here for more on Swift’s accomplishments.
Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Red- Taylor Swift (debut)
2. good kid, mA.A.d city (debut)
2. Night Train- Jason Aldean (last week~ 1)
4. Babel- Mumford & Sons (lw~ 2)
5. Viva Duets- Tony Bennett (debut)
6. Black and Blu- Gary Clark Jr. (debut)
7. House of Gold and Bones… – Stone Sour (debut)
8. The Truth about Love- P!nk (lw~ 6)
9. On this Winter’s Night- Lady Antebellum (debut)
10. Two Eleven- Brandy (lw~ 3)
Back on the Hot 100 Singles chart, Maroon 5 lands a seventh week at the summit with “One More Night” holding off Psy‘s “Gangam Style” in the runner up spot for a sixth week. Both singles will have a new competitor for # 1 next week with Bruno Mars’ fast flying single “Locked Out of Heaven” which charges up from # 15 to # 7…. For more on all the singles charts, head to Billboard here and take a gander at the new top ten below.
Top Ten Singles on the Hot 100:
1. “One More Night”- Maroon 5 (last week~ 1)
2. “Gangnam Style”- Psy (lw~ 2)
3. “Some Nights”- fun. (lw~ 3)
4. “Die Young”- Ke$ha (lw~ 4)
5. “Diamonds”- Rihanna (lw~8)
6. “As Long as You Love Me”- Justin Bieber w/Big Sean (lw~ 6)
7. “Locked Out of Heaven”- Bruno Mars (lw~ 15)
8. “Too Close”- Alex Clare (lw~ 7)
9. “Let Me Love You (Until You Love Yourself)”- NeYo (lw~ 9)
10. “Don’t Wake Me Up”- Chris Brown (lw~ 11)
And here’s Bruno Mars awesome new hit “Locked Out of Heaven”. Enjoy.
Last night, Country Music Television aired their annual CMT Awardshonoring the best in country music videos and performances, and yet again, Carrie Underwood was the big winner. Having previously won 7 Golden Buckles, Underwood added two more to her collection including Video of the Year for “Good Girl”. She also performed that smash hit which is currently the # 1 country single in the nation (her 12th chart topper there), and she took home the award for Best Collaboration for “Remind Me” with Brad Paisley. Other big winners included Luke Bryan (who is seriously the hottest and most fun guy right now in country music), Miranda Lambert and Lady Antebellum. Take a look a the full list of winners below and for more on the performances and the show which featured a host of American Idol alumni, head here. Those Idols were everywhere on the CMT stage with Underwood, Casey James, Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery all performing and Jordin Sparks, Kellie Pickler, Skylar Laine (who is so gonna have a big country career), and Colton Dixon all presenting.
2012 CMT Music Award Winners:
Video of the Year: “Good Girl” – Carrie Underwood
Male Video: “I Don’t Want this Night to End”- Luke Bryan
Female Video: “Over You”- Miranda Lambert
Group Video: “We Owned the Night”- Lady Antebellum
Duo Video: “I Got You”- Thompson Square
Collaboration Video: “Remind Me”- Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood
USA Breakthrough Video: “The Trouble with Girls”- Scotty McCreery
CMT Performance of the Year: “Tattoos on this Town”- Jason Aldean
CMA, ACM, Billboard, American Music Award and Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood could add some more metal to her trophy room as she leads this mornings Country Music Television Award nominations with 5 mentions honoring the best in country music videos and performances. Carrie (who has also won several of these in the past) is up for her latest clip “Good Girl” and her duet with Brad Paisley, “Remind Me”. She’s also one of four American Idol’s vying for awards as Kellie Pickler, Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery also grabbed a nomination. Following Carrie with the most nominations were a ton of people who grabbed 3 nods: Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Thompson Square and Blake Shelton. Take a look at all the nominees below and see who wins the 2012 CMT Music Awards June 6th on CMT. (And to vote for your favorites, head here.)
2012 CMT Award Nominations:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video of the year; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration) and the video director. Final nominees announced during live telecast, with final voting held online at CMT.com during the show.
Jason Aldean – “Dirt Road Anthem”
Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter – “You And Tequila”
Toby Keith – “Red Solo Cup”
Lady Antebellum – “We Owned The Night”
Miranda Lambert – “Over You”
Brad Paisley with Carrie Underwood – “Remind Me”
Rascal Flatts featuring Natasha Bedingfield – “Easy”
Blake Shelton – “God Gave Me You”
Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars – “Safe & Sound”
Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl”
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a male artist; awarded to the artist
Jason Aldean – “Dirt Road Anthem”
Luke Bryan – “I Don’t Want This Night To End”
Eric Church – “Drink In My Hand”
Toby Keith – “Red Solo Cup”
Blake Shelton – “God Gave Me You”
Keith Urban – “Long Hot Summer”
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a female artist; awarded to the artist
Sara Evans – “My Heart Can’t Tell You No”
Miranda Lambert – “Over You”
Martina McBride – “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”
Kellie Pickler – “Tough”
Taylor Swift – “Ours”
Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl”
GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a group; awarded to the artists
Eli Young Band – “Crazy Girl”
Lady Antebellum – “We Owned The Night”
Pistol Annies – “Hell On Heels”
Rascal Flatts – “Banjo”
The Band Perry – “All Your Life”
Zac Brown Band – “Keep Me In Mind”
DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video by a duo; awarded to the artists
Love and Theft – “Angel Eyes”
Montgomery Gentry – “Where I Come From”
Sugarland – “Tonight”
The Civil Wars – “Poison & Wine”
Thompson Square – “Glass”
Thompson Square – “I Got You”
USA WEEKEND BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video from an artist’s major breakthrough album; awarded to the artist (male, female, or group/duo)
Lauren Alaina – “Georgia Peaches”
Brantley Gilbert – “Country Must Be Country Wide”
Hunter Hayes – “Storm Warning”
Scotty McCreery – “The Trouble With Girls”
Pistol Annies – “Hell On Heels”
Thompson Square – “I Got You”
COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video that featured a special collaborative appearance by artists; awarded to the artists (individual, group or duo)
Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter – “You And Tequila”
Brad Paisley with Carrie Underwood – “Remind Me”
Rascal Flatts featuring Natasha Bedingfield – “Easy”
Lionel Richie with Shania Twain – “Endless Love”
Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars – “Safe & Sound”
Zac Brown Band featuring Jimmy Buffett – “Knee Deep”
CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Musical performance on a television show, series or variety special on CMT; awarded to the artist (individual, group or duo)
Jason Aldean – “Tattoos On This Town” from 2011 CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR
Lady Antebellum – “Dancin’ Away With My Heart” from 2011 CMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR
Little Big Town – “Fix You” from MUSIC BUILDS: THE CMT DISASTER RELIEF CONCERT
Blake Shelton – “Footloose” from INVITATION ONLY: BLAKE SHELTON
Sting and Vince Gill – “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You” from CMT CROSSROADS: STING AND VINCE GILL
Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood – “Just A Dream/Dream On” from CMT CROSSROADS: STEVEN TYLER & CARRIE UNDERWOOD FROM THE PEPSI SUPER BOWL FAN JAM
And here’s Carrie’s big nominated video “Good Girl”. Enjoy!
Tonight’s Academy of Country Music Awards honored several of the genres top stars like repeating Entertainer of the Year Taylor Swift. However, the show also welcomed a pop princess honoring Kelly Clarkson with two awards for her duet with Jason Aldean, “Don’t You Wanna Stay”. The beautiful ballad which hit # 1 on the Country charts and was a Pop, Hot AC and AC crossover smash has also sold over 2 million downloads, grabbed a Grammy nomination and won a CMA Award as well. That is one enduring hit…. Clarkson wasn’t the only former American Idol winner tonight either as last year’s winner Scotty McCreery won Best New Artist while former ACM winner Carrie Underwood opened the show with her new smash “Good Girl”. (Check out her sexy performance below)…. Other winners included Thompson Square, Lady Antebellum and husband and wife duo Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. For more on the show, head here and take a look at the big winners below.
2012 ACM Awards Winners:
Entertainer of the Year: Taylor Swift (* fan voted)
Male Vocalist: Blake Shelton
Female Vocalist: Miranda Lambert
Vocal Group: Lady Antebellum
Vocal Duo: Thompson Square
Vocal Event of the Year: “Don’t You Wanna Stay”- Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson
Single Record of the Year: “Don’t You Wanna Stay”- Jason Aldean & Kelly Clarkson
New Artist: Scotty McCreery (* fan voted)
Video of the Year: “Red Solo Cup”- Toby Keith
Album of the Year: Four the Record- Miranda Lambert
Song of the Year: “Crazy Girl”- Eli Young Band
And here’s Carrie Underwood’s hot performance of “Good Girl”
Last year, Grammy Award winner and one of my faves, Carrie Underwood ruled the inaugural American Country Awards winning 6 trophies and she’s up for four again this year. However, she doesn’t come close to Jason Aldean and the Zac Brown Band who lead this morning’s nominations with 8 apiece for the second ACA’s. Next up were Thompson Square with 7 and Taylor Swift and the Band Perry with 6 apiece. The show will be live on Fox on Dec. 5th hosted by Emmy and Tony winner turned country crooner Kristin Chenowith and country star Trace Adkins. To vote for these awards (and I highly recommend voting for Carrie and my Kelly Clarkson whose duet with Aldean “Don’t You Wanna Stay” is up for two awards), head to the ACA website here and check out all the nominees below.
2011 American Country Award Nominees~
Artist of the Year
Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Lady Antebellum
Taylor Swift
Zac Brown Band
Artist of the Year: Male
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
Artist of the Year: Female
Sara Evans
Alison Krauss
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Artist of the Year: Duo or Group
The Band Perry
Lady Antebellum
Rascal Flatts
Sugarland
Zac Brown Band
Artist of the Year: Breakthrough Artist
Eric Church
Eli Young Band
Chris Young
Justin Moore
Jake Owen
Artist of the Year: New Artist
The Band Perry
Scotty McCreery
Jerrod Niemann
The Pistol Annies
Thompson Square
Albums
Album of the Year
Jason Aldean, “My Kinda Party
Kenny Chesney, “Hemingway’s Whiskey”
Brad Paisley, “This Is Country Music”
Taylor Swift, “Speak Now”
Keith Urban, “Get Closer”
Zac Brown Band, “You Get What You Give”
SINGLES
Single of the Year
Billy Currington, “Let Me Down Easy”
Tim McGraw, “Felt Good On My Lips”
Thompson Square, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not”
Chris Young, “Voices”
Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson, “As She’s Walking Away”
Single of the Year: Male
Jason Aldean, “My Kinda Party”
Luke Bryan, “Someone Else Calling You Baby”
Billy Currington, “Let Me Down Easy”
Tim McGraw, “Felt Good On My Lips”
Chris Young, “Voices”
Single of the Year: Female
Sara Evans, “A Little Bit Stronger”
Miranda Lambert, “Heart Like Mine”
Reba, “Turn On The Radio”
Taylor Swift, “Mean”
Carrie Underwood, “Mama’s Song”
Single of the Year: Duo or Group
The Band Perry, “You Lie”
Rascal Flatts, “Why Wait?”
Sugarland, “Stuck Like Glue”
Thompson Square, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not?”
Zac Brown Band, “Colder Weather”
Single of the Year: New Artist
The Band Perry, “You Lie”
Craig Campbell, “Family Man”
The Jane Dear Girls, “Wildflower”
Jerrod Neimann, “What Do You Want?”
Thompson Square, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not?”
Single of the Year: Vocal Collaboration
Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson, “Don’t You Wanna Stay?”
Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter, “You and Tequila”
Brad Paisley with Alabama, “Old Alabama”
Zac Brown Band with Jimmy Buffet, “Knee Deep”
Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson, “As She’s Walking Away”
TOURING
Touring Headline Package of the Year
Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Toby Keith
Tim McGraw
Brad Paisley
Rascal Flatts
George Strait
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Keith Urban
VIDEOS
Music Video of the Year
Sara Evans, “A Little Bit Stronger”
Jerrod Niemann, “What Do You Want?”
Blake Shelton, “Who Are you When I’m Not Looking?”
Thompson Square, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not?”
Josh Turner, “I Wouldn’t Be A Man”
Music Video: Male
Jason Aldean “My Kinda Party”
Jerrod Niemann “What Do You Want?”
Blake Shelton “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking?”
Josh Turner “I Wouldn’t Be A Man”
Keith Urban “Put You In A Song”
Music Video: Female
Sara Evans, “A Little Bit Stronger”
Reba, “Turn On The Radio”
Ashton Shepherd, “Look It Up”
Taylor Swift, “Back To December”
Carrie Underwood, “Mama’s Song”
Music Video: Duo, Group or Collaboration
Jason Aldean with Kelly Clarkson “Don’t You Wanna Stay?”
The Band Perry “You Lie”
Lady Antebellum “Hello World”
Thompson Square “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not?”
Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson “As She’s Walking Away”
Music Video: New Artist
The Band Perry “You Lie”
Craig Campbell “Family Man”
Brett Eldredge “Raymond”
Jerrod Niemann “What Do You Want?”
Thompson Square “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not?”
And here’s the new video from three-time ACA nominees this year Lady Antebellum with “We Owned the Night”
Grammy winning country supergroup Lady Antebellum make a big splash on this week’s album charts as their third album, Own the Night, sold 347,000 copies to give them their second consecutive # 1 on the Billboard 200 Album Charts. It also lands atop the Country Album chart and follows their recent # 1 Country/ # 7 Hot 100 hit “Just A Kiss”. Antebellum was the first of five new entries into the top-tier of the Album ranks. Take a look at the new leaders below.
Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Own the Night- Lady Antebellum (debut)
2. 21- Adele (last week~ 2)
3. The Carter IV- Lil Wayne (lw~ 1)
4. Halfway to Heaven- Brantley Gilbert (re-entry)
5. Staind- Staind (debut)
6. 1- The Beatles (lw~ 4)
7. Here for a Good Time- George Strait (lw~ 3)
8. A Dramatic Turn of Events- Dream Theatre (debut)
9. Watch the Throne- Jay Z & Kanye West (lw~ 6)
10. Dead Throne- Devil Wears Prada (debut)
Over on the Hot 100 Singles chart, Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera made it three non-consecutive weeks at # 1 with “Moves Like Jagger” while Adele and Foster the People are still hot on their heels… This week’s noteworthy debuts come from the new Coldplay single “Parachutes” at # 16 and Tony Bennett who debuts at # 87 with the late Amy Winehouse on “Body & Soul”. This new entry gives Bennett the distinction of being the oldest artist to ever grace the Hot 100 at a spry 85 years young. Congrats Tony! (And watch for him to hit the chart again next week with his collaboration with Lady Gaga, “The Lady is a Tramp”)…. For more on these feats and all the charts, head to Billboardhere. And take a look at the new top ten below.
Top Ten Songs on the Hot 100:
1. “Moves Like Jagger”- Maroon 5 w/Christina Aguilera (lw~ 1)
2. “Someone Like You”- Adele (lw~ 2)
3. “Pumped Up Kicks”- Foster the People (lw~ 3)
4. “Party Rock Anthem”- LMFAO (lw~ 4)
5. “Stereo Hearts”- Gym Class Heroes w/Adam Levine (lw~ 6)
6. “Lighters”- Bad Meets Evil w/Bruno Mars
7. “You Make Me Feel…”- Cobra Starship w/Sabi (lw~ 11)
8. “Cheers (Drink to That)”- Rihanna (lw~ 10)
9. “Super Bass”- Nicki Minaj (lw~ 7)
10. “You and I”- Lady Gaga (lw~8)
Finally, here’s a little treat for you. Enjoy Lady Antebellum’s smash “Just a Kiss” from their brand new # 1 album.
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 herefor 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…
Alt rockers Vampire Weekend take a bite out of the competition on the Billboard Charts this week as they debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with Modern Vampires of the City. It’s the group’s second chart topper and they hold off strong debuts from George Strait and Demi Lovato. Last week’s chart topper, Golden by Lady Antebellum, drops down to # 5. For more on the album charts, head to Billboard here and take a look at the new top ten below.
