The reviews for Britney Spears’ Planet Hollywood show are in, and it appears that the pop princes delivered the powerhouse performance she promised. The 90 minute show includes a retrospective set-list that the fans feverishly fought for, along with two new tunes off her latest record, ‘Britney Jean.’ As for her dancing, the videos indicate that she’s close to her old self. While she still appears nervous, who wouldn’t be on opening night? Give the girl a month to tighten up her choreography and acclimate to the awe-inducing venue, and I’m sure she’ll rid the kinks. Overall, one thing is clear. Britney is back! Watch Miley Cyrus lip-syncing on opening night. I’ve also included a clip from the show. Enjoy!
Category: Music
Paulina Rubio’s Sings ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ — Kills It
If you’re wondering how it’s done on X Factor, watch Paulina Rubio sing, ‘Boys Will Be Boys.’ She not only sleighed the competition, she set a new standard for every pop tart on the planet. In fact, if you watch Simon Cowell’s reaction, it’s quite possible this is the moment he fell in love with her.
Jared Leto’s ‘Artifact’ — Man v. The Machine
“Give me the name of a band that’s had continued worldwide success without a label.”
-Jared Leto
The music industry has many faces, and most people don’t understand precisely what those faces are. For years we’ve heard the horror stories about how record labels treat their artists, but its victims consistently failed to articulate the details of its destruction. Artifact has officially opened those doors with a never-before-seen look inside the dinosaur’s lair.
The film’s story is told through the eyes of Thirty Seconds to Mars’ frontman, Jared Leto, during the band’s war with EMI. According to Leto, his second record sold over three million copies but despite this success, the band didn’t see a dime. In fact, they shockingly landed 1.7 million dollars in debt to the label. Though the details are complex, that debt would apply to their next album until EMI made its money back, thus decreasing the likelihood that the band would ever benefit from their sales. When Thirty Seconds to Mars got wind of this wild injustice, they predictably attempted to leave the label. This resulted in a thirty million dollar lawsuit against the band, with EMI citing their airtight 9 year contract. Leto cited the statute in response, claiming that no contract can exceed 7 years. The rest of the story is in the details.
Weaved amongst the inner-workings of the band’s war with EMI is a more personal story about their creative journey and Jared Leto’s temperament, upbringing, and leadership. If any part of his directorial mission was to paint himself in a favorable light, he achieved his goal. One of the most moving moments in the film was listening to Leto describe his family life. His mother had both children by the age of eighteen, and Leto seemed unfazed by their financial hardships. His brother recounted his own personal struggle, saying that his role as a drummer served to center his wayward path. There are also touching moments in the film that shine a clear light on their brotherly bond. For example, when Shannon Leto struggles with a drum part, Jared kindly and gently encourages that he take a break and insists that he’s entirely capable with more practice.
One thing of note in ‘Artifact’ is there are more questions than answers. Leto humbly asks his band, his lawyer, and his manager (the legendary Irving Azoff), for advice. Almost everyone is at a loss. Is it possible to have “continued, worldwide success” without a label, Leto asks. To answer this question, there are numerous guest spots with other well-known band members and former executives, recounting infamous struggles that sank many musicians’ careers (see Prince and George Michael). Is it all worth it? Can anyone make money in a dying industry, and do we still need the costly dinosaur to do the dirty work? And what about the industry itself? When the public doesn’t buy albums, how does anyone financially succeed? Sure you can make money on tour, through merchandise sales, and via licensing deals, but the label wants a piece of that too, thus once again melting the pot of gold to mere nickels (see 360 deals).
As this story unfolds, Leto’s battle costs begin to bankrupt him, and one begins to wonder if he has become buried under the behemoth’s reign in vain. The more he fights for his artistic freedom, the tighter his shackles, and the less likely his prospects. In the first year of law school, they tell you that everyone loses in a lawsuit, and this story is no exception. I cannot speak to my perspective on what the band ultimately decided to do, but their journey is far more important than the result. Watch this film. If nothing else, you’ll certainly second-question your aversion to buying records.
RATING: 5/5 STARS
Are Alex & Sierra the Next Sonny & Cher? — Watch their Final Four Performance
Here at The Dishmaster, I pride myself on my ability to pick the next big thing. And if you question my taste, just head over to my interview section and judge for yourself. Having said that, I’d like to take a moment to gloat about The X Factor’s Alex & Sierra, who I smartly singled out as the season’s front-runners on September 12th. Since no one likes a braggart, I’ve posted their most recent performance so that you can judge their future success for yourself. Don’t forget to read my interview with Alex & Sierra.
Lea Michele Talks About Cory Monteith — Performs Cannonball
It’s nearly impossible not to root for Lea Michele. The Glee star tragically lost her love to his drug addiction, and the world has watched with bated breath to determine her state ever since. She’s releasing a record, and she sat down with Ellen DeGeneres to discuss her grief and her relationship with the late, great Cory Monteith. Though I was skeptical about her ability to produce a hit, Cannonball is a very catchy tune. Watch her performance and her sweet interview below.
Carrie Underwood in The Sound of Music Live! — How’d She Do?!
Risk-takers are worth celebrating, especially when those risks encourage families to take time together, in a world dictated by the demands of multi-tasking, technology, and endless email-checking. For one of the first times in a long time, NBC thought outside the box and produced The Sound of Music Live! with Carrie Underwood as its star. Though there are inevitable assaults on Underwood’s acting chops and unfair comparisons to Julie Andrews, the country crooner held her own and rose to the occasion.
Carrie Underwood’s career trajectory has consistently impressed me. She began on American Idol and could have easily rested on her laurels with expected albums and tours, but she’s instead pushed herself in unpredictable ways. She’s hosted awards shows, poked public fun at her cohorts (see Jimmy Fallon), and now — The Sound of Music Live! There are stories about her insane talent at memorizing lines and devotion to the project, and it showed. Overall, I loved it. And judging from the 18 million viewers, so did the public. If you missed it, check it out below.
X Factor Winners Alex & Sierra: Full Interview
When I began watching this season of The X Factor, it became immediately clear that Alex & Sierra are the ones to beat. They’re the show’s most authentic performers, avoiding all the standard network pitfalls of cheesy backup dancers and sparkly outfits in favor of stripped down songs. The two semifinalists took some time to answer all my probing questions about their journey in the competition and their future plans. Enjoy!
You have a very unique, indie style to your performances. On such a mainstream show, is it difficult to keep your identity intact?
Thank you. We look at it like this; if we perform the songs the way we want to perform them on the show, whether we get voted off for it or not, we’ll leave the show with supporters who like what we do. We came in with an idea of what we wanted to do on the show and we want to leave with as much of that idea intact as possible. Everyone we work with on the show knows we have extremely strong feelings on how we want things to do and they have been really cooperative in helping us grow, while still staying true to ourselves.
I can’t imagine working beside my significant other. I like to keep my personal and professional life private. How do you successfully manage that overlap?
We are just having a lot of fun, and when things are going so well it’s tough to get upset about things. We aren’t really consciously managing our relationship along with the show, we’re just taking things as they come and trying to enjoy all of it.
X Factor is largely predicated on the mentor aspect of the show. What have you learned from Simon Cowell since the show began?
We’ve learned that we should continue to be who we are. It seems as though people in the business like to work with strong willed people who know what they want. And that’s good for us because we really like fighting for what we believe in! We’re grateful that Simon respects our opinions and always wants to hear what we have to say.
Being on a network show almost fast-forwards your journey as artists. How are you dealing with this immediate attention in such a short period of time?
This whole thing is so much fun. When people come up to us in public it’s really exciting, when we see commercials that were on it’s a surprise. We absolutely love this experience, however I think something that has made it easier to deal with such immediate attention is the people that we are going through this with. We’ve made incredible friends with the other contestants and we’re all able to share this new experience with each other.
How tough are you on yourselves after you receive the judges feedback? Do you watch your performances back to discover things you could have done differently?
Alex: Sierra is a little bit tougher on herself than I am, but we also agreed to come on this show knowing full well that we’d get criticized. It’s a new experience to sing and then be immediately criticized after, but we’re dealing with is as well as we can.
Sierra: It was definitely tough to deal with receiving criticisms on national television, but I think I’ve gotten to the point where I know it’ll happen so as long as I’m happy with our performances I don’t take negative responses as “hate” I use them as motivation.
Both: And we do watch our performances back, we like to hear how our performances sounded on TV and we like to hear what we can improve on.
Lastly, have you thought of what you’d like your record to sound like and where you’ll go from here?
I don’t think we know what a record would sound like. I think we’re both just taking things as they come and if the prospects of a record come along then we’ll start diving into that. But as of right now we just want to get through each week!
Britney Spears Releases ‘Britney Jean’ — A FULL REVIEW
There’s no bigger Britney Spears fan than The Dishmaster, but ‘Britney Jean’ is an unfortunate misfire. For a hit-making monster diva, there’s only two catchy tunes, which is shocking. As for the rest, the tempo is too low for treadmill tracks, and any club tunes will require a massive remix.
When Spears declared it the “most personal album yet,” I was intrigued. And though the lyrics are likable, the melodies are not. There’s a plethora of malcontents that are panning this record with lots of detailed jargon about Britney’s lack of talent, and the machinery that manages her success. I won’t do any of that. I don’t care that she’s a produced pop-tart with a limited vocal range. She gets handed the best material, and I like to listen to her while I’m cleaning my apartment. Does it matter that she’s part of a powerhouse team? Not to me. It matters that she makes hits. And there just aren’t enough on this record.
Listen to one of her better tracks, ‘Perfume,’ below.
Mariah Carey Says American Idol Was “Working in Hell” — LISTEN NOW
Somewhere inside Mariah Carey there’s a girl-next-door New Yorker who tells it like it is. Though she’s perpetuated her diva persona throughout the years, my long-term fandom floats my love. When asked about American Idol, Carey finally came clean, saying it was like working in hell with Satan, and explaining that she signed on the dotted line under the ruse of a 3-person panel, which was later changed despite her objection. Listen to her tell Angie Martinez the true story below.