And with Selena's brand new album Artistry set to debut next month, the legendary Latina artist's longtime fans are gearing up for another round of Selenamania. The singer, now 41, has slowed her songwriting career down considerably in the past few years, but she'll be touring throughout 2013, and her album is expected to be one of the best sellers of the holiday season. It's the first of Selena's albums to launch in the era of digital music streaming, but most of her fans say they'll be buying the CD in stores, and Selena herself says she designed the entire album to be listened to in one go, rather than release the album with singles in mind. With that said, singles are making their way to radio airwaves, with the album's first big single, "Dazzled By You", landing at #8 on the Hot 100. Selena's album features several collaborations with numerous popular artists, including Nathan Benz, Usher, and a particularly intriguing young artist who shares a name with the singer and is also signed to her label: Selena Gomez. Gomez, who was named for the elder Selena by her parents when she was born in Texas 20 years ago, has enjoyed a fruitful career in music thus far, with her debut album selling more than 500,000 copies and reaching #3 on the Billboard charts. She's one of the top artists to come out of Selena's Corpus Christi record studio, and she's also a budding actress, though lately she's been more focused on her music after being involved in a number of controversies related to her acting career. She'll be traveling with Selena as the opening act on the first leg of her tour, before resuming production on her second studio album. Her collaboration with Selena on Artistry, a song entitled "Double Trouble", is expected to chart highly as the second single from the album, and the two will perform the song together on the tour. Selena (Quintanilla-Perez, not Gomez) says that she's greatly enjoyed the opportunity to mentor young artists, and that it's also been good practice for mentoring her own daughter Crystal, who has already expressed a desire to embark on a singing career once she's old enough. Selena says that she's enjoyed the production phase of her career just as much as the singing phase, and that as her studio continues to sign more artists, she hopes that she'll help influence the next generation of music, which she says could use some influence from the artists she grew up enjoying.
-from an article on Billboard, posted on October 11, 2012
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Pharrell To Produce New Broadway Musical
Grammy Award winning music artist and producer Pharrell Williams has announced that he'll be working on a new musical for Broadway, featuring several established hip hop stars alongside longtime stage talents. The musical will be co-written by Williams and actor/playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was nominated for a Tony Award in 2010 for his work on the musical Mushroom Farm, and has been identified as a rising talent by many close to the Broadway scene. The musical is expected to star Grammy Award winning singer Nathan Benz, a close friend of Miranda's and an occasional collaborator with Williams, and other talents including Andre "3000" Benjamin and Missy Elliot are expected to appear as well. The musical, which has not yet been named, will take place in a world where gang wars are settled with rap battles instead of guns, but with all the drama and intrigue of a real life struggle for turf. The project is one of many that Williams is currently taking on, as he is also collaborating with the band Daft Punk on an album expected to be released early next year. His longtime friend M.S. is also expected to release an album next year, an album expected to be an early front-runner for multiple Grammy Awards. It's rumored that M.S. will also be appearing in Williams' musical, though it's unknown whether she'll be contributing as an actor or simply as a musical collaborator.
from an article on Broadway Beat, posted on October 26, 2012
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"2013 may well be the year of the music-themed musical, as we're expecting at least three musicals based on genres of popular music to debut on the stage next year. Pharrell Williams' highly anticipated rap battle musical is expected to be the most successful, but we've also known for quite some time that a musical based on J-Pop is expected to debut as well. Unlike Williams' musical, which features established rappers in numerous acting roles, the J-Pop musical will be cast entirely with stage actors, and is expected to be somewhat less serious in tone, with more of a comedic feel. It won't be mocking J-Pop, but it will be adapting the hyperenergetic tone and wild lyrics of J-Pop music for the Broadway stage, with little chance that we'll see an epic ballad or tragic love story. Then there's the country music musical, produced by Dolly Parton in collaboration with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Country music seems like an extremely strange choice for the Broadway stage, about as far from the typical Broadway crowd as it gets, but Parton, a longtime fan of Broadway musicals, has stated that she's crafting the play for longtime fans and country music neophytes alike, and that she expects everyone to have a really great time. It'll be tough for her musical to compete with some of the heavy hitters expected in 2013, but the country legend says she's up for the challenge and that she has some surprises in store."
-from an MTV News Update on October 28, 2012
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Chris Hardwick: And as PSY's "Gangnam Style" enters its 10th week at #1 on the Billboard charts, all of us here at the Nerdist have been asking ourselves: has K-Pop jumped the shark? Joining me here today to discuss is a panel of self-proclaimed music experts, including my wife Brittany...
Brittany Saldita: *rocking a pixie cut now* Heyo. *smirking and waving* Yes indeed, being married to you makes me an expert in music. It also makes me an expert in your taste in literature, which I have to say is not exactly the best, but that's neither here nor there.
Chris: I'll have you know that the Berenstain Bears are literary classics, and deserved the Newbery Medal way more than that Wrinkle in Time book you love so much.
Brittany: It's "BerenSTEEN", not "BerenSTAIN".
Chris: It's BerenSTAIN! Maybe the panel should be discussing that instead.
Riki Lindhome: Brittany, it is indeed BerenSTAIN.
Brittany: You're dead to me, Riki.
Chris: Our next guest is actress and musician Riki Lindhome, and she is of course qualified for this panel because she actually performs music.
Riki: I brought my ukulele, which I plan to use to cover Gangnam Style. *tries to play it on her ukulele*
Chris: Please don't do that.
Riki: It's too late!
Chris: And the final member of the esteemed panel today is actor and star of the kickass video game Terror Trip, Jason Ritter, and what are your qualifications for discussing the merits of K-Pop today?
Jason Ritter: I can't get that song out of my head!!!
Brittany: To be fair, that would qualify about a billion people for this panel.
Chris: Okay, so for those of you who don't know what we're talking about, and considering that this song has been everywhere for the past few weeks that's pretty much impossible, here's a clip of the music video for "Gangnam Style", which is already the most viewed video in Videocean history and #2 on Youtube, right behind M.S.' video for "Gets Me Harder".
*A clip of "Gangnam Style" plays on the screen, the song and video are much like they are IOTL, with a few minor butterfly-induced changes in the video. As the clip ends, Brittany and Jason are bobbing their heads to it slightly, while Riki tries to play along on her ukulele.*
Chris: And I can already see you three are getting really into it so I'm going to stop before I drive myself crazy. Brittany, what do you think, has K-Pop jumped the shark?
Brittany: They were saying that about Latin pop when the Macarena came out, and that was right before it exploded.
Riki: To be fair, you could get away from the Macarena if you wanted to. Just stay away from weddings, and you could avoid hearing that song.
Brittany: It was harder for me to avoid it since I was working at MTV at the time, had to walk past TV monitors playing the music video every day.
Jason: Was it worth it to get the chance to play all the video games you wanted?
Brittany: *groans* Barely. I'm Mexican, I couldn't go anywhere without some moron stopping me and asking me to translate the song.
Riki: Wait, so they'd ask you about the Macarena BEFORE asking you about GameTV?
Brittany: The morons who asked me about the Macarena mostly didn't watch GameTV. So yes, they would. They didn't care. But on the subject of Gangnam Style and K-Pop, no, I don't think K-Pop has jumped the shark. Or J-Pop, or any of the Asian pop music that's coming out now. Gangnam Style is a popular song. It's annoying but it's also popular and no, I don't think it's going to kill K-Pop.
Chris: Riki, what say you?
Riki: Okay, Kate and I have already had this discussion amongst ourselves, and we think that yes, it's a lot harder to listen to other K-Pop music after Gangnam Style. It's poisoned the well.
Brittany: You don't think it's making K-Pop more popular?
Riki: At first I think it did but now I think people are just sick of it and want to listen to Rihanna and Taylor Swift again. And that's kinda sad, because for a while it was really fun to see all these K-Pop and J-Pop bands topping the charts, and it was a change of pace, but now...
Jason: Yeah, say what you will about Taylor Swift, but she's never done a song even half as annoying as Gangnam Style. It's EVERYWHERE. It's soured me on the whole K-Pop fad for sure. They're running this song into the ground, even 2NE1 and Wonder Girls have been covering it at their concerts. It's like an infection, it's spreading, and if Gangnam Style was the bad guy in Terror Trip, that game would not have had a happy ending.
Brittany: *laughing* You don't think Kim and Claudia could have resisted?
Jason: They would have dug each other's ear drums out with spoons just to get away from it, that's how bad it is.
Riki: *hammering away on her ukulele* Hey, sexy lady...
Jason: Stop that!
Riki: *playing even louder*
Chris: You know what I think? I think that for Gangnam Style to be #1 on the charts for so long, someone has to like it, and a billion people can't all be wrong.
Brittany: A billion people can be wrong about a lot of things.
Chris: Such as?
Brittany: The BerenSTEEN Bears books being fun to read. They're not! Papa Bear is a dumbass!
Riki: Hey. Hey. I will fight you.
Jason: Yeah, don't go knocking the BerenSTEEN Bears.
Riki: BerenSTAIN! *plays Gangnam Style on her ukulele some more*
Chris: So the verdict... it's a tie, 2-2, K-Pop music hasn't jumped the shark.
Riki: You don't get a vote, you're the moderator.
Jason: Yeah, so it's 2 to 1.
Brittany: Well in that case, it's BerenSTEEN then.
Riki: We weren't talking about the bears!
-from a video posted on the Nerdist website on October 12, 2012
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Whitney Houston To Enter Rehab After "Altercation" With Gangnam Style Singer At American Music Awards
Whitney Houston, the 49-year-old singer and pop legend, will be entering rehab for her third stint in the last five years after an expletive-laced rant directed against Korean singer PSY shortly after his performance of "Gangnam Style" at the American Music Awards last night. The singer, who was scheduled to perform at the ceremony before the incident, claimed that PSY was taking "too long" to perform his hit song, and was "disrupting" the show by inviting singers up from the crowd to perform with him. The incident, which was broadcast live on ABC, saw Houston come up onto the stage toward the end of PSY's performance and accost him before being escorted away by event security. Houston, who was said to have been intoxicated at the time of the incident, later apologized in a statement published on her website, while PSY shrugged off the incident and said that it made his time in Los Angeles "memorable and unique".
-from an article on Yahoo News, posted on November 19, 2012
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I agree with Whitney. To quote the legend herself: "Fuck this guy, fuck this song, fuck this shit."
-a Twitter post made shortly after the Whitney Houston AMA incident, posted on November 18, 2012 at 9:41 PM
ABC's getting fined for that, right? They didn't bleep ANYTHING.
-a Twitter post made shortly after the Whitney Houston AMA incident, posted on November 18, 2012 at 9:43 PM
No fine today for ABC. Jon Huntsman, who got re-elected a couple weeks ago, has quietly neutered the FCC over the last few years.
-from Drew Carey's Twitter, posted on November 20, 2012 at 9:12 AM
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Billboard #1 Hits Of 2012
January 7: “To Hell With Heartbreak” by Rihanna and Taylor Swift
January 14: “To Hell With Heartbreak” by Rihanna and Taylor Swift
January 21: “To Hell With Heartbreak” by Rihanna and Taylor Swift
January 28: “She Is Me” by Chloe Wang
February 4: “She Is Me” by Chloe Wang
February 11: “She Is Me” by Chloe Wang
February 18: “She Is Me” by Chloe Wang
February 25: “She Is Me” by Chloe Wang
March 3: “You Get Me Worked Up” by Pitbull ft. CharStarr
March 10: “You Get Me Worked Up” by Pitbull ft. CharStarr
March 17: “Over” by 2NE1
March 24: “Trademark” by Donnie Glass
March 31: “Trademark” by Donnie Glass
April 7: “Trademark” by Donnie Glass
April 14: “West Side” by Nathan Benz ft. Janelle Monae
April 21: “West Side” by Nathan Benz ft. Janelle Monae
April 28: “I Wasn't Even Looking” by Bruno Mars
May 5: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
May 12: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
May 19: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
May 26: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
June 2: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
June 9: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
June 16: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
June 23: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
June 30: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
July 7: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
July 14: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
July 21: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye ft. Chloe Wang
July 28: “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” by Pink
August 4: “Soooooo...” by Sakura
August 11: “Soooooo...” by Sakura
August 18: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
August 25: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
September 1: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
September 8: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
September 15: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
September 22: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
September 29: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
October 6: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
October 13: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
October 20: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
October 27: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
November 3: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
November 10: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
November 17: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
November 24: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
December 1: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
December 8: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
December 15: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
December 22: “Gangnam Style” by PSY
December 29: “Gangnam Style” by PSY